It's now time for our last monthly feature post of the month, as it's our first Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile of 2014! As you may remember, this series looks at a metal or hard rock band that, though not based out of the Soo, does feature at least one past/present Saultites in any of their lineups. This month's selected band feature a known metal veteran in their current incarnation, so read on below for this month's profile! (Updated on November 27th, 2014)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Curse The Witch (Kitchener, Ontario)
Lineup: (Saultites in RED; ex-members in italics. This information is incomplete. E-mail me at robertfigures@outlook.com if you have any additions or corrections!)
Sarah Leventic (vocals)
Frank Leventic (guitar) Brian Musgrave (guitar) Jon Kaye (bass) Gary Publicover (bass) James Farquhar (bass) Kevin Hinsperger (drums) Vinnie Milosevich (drums) Jeremy Day (?????) John Vella (?????)
Local Info: A long time veteran of local metal bands, recent Curse The Witch drummer Vinnie Milosevich may be best known for his work with 1990s and early 2000s with bands like Hollow, Carbon Black, and Metal Militia, even reuniting with the former in 2011 for a pair of one off dates at local venues! In recent years, Vinnie has lived out of town, where he's been part of projects like the St. Thomas metal band Buster Cherry (alongside frequent local bandmate Terry Eaton) and most recently with Kitchener cover rockers Knee Deep, though you can may have also seen him with Curse The Witch's sister band, the Evanescence tribute My Immortal.
Band Bio:Well publicized in the Kitchener & Waterloo areas since their launch in the fall of 2011, Curse The Witch immediately made an impression with the release of their debut CD "Chapter I" that November, before beginning full live dates in January 2012. Led by Sarah & Frank Leventic alongside various other musicians, one of their more recent lineups included the Soo's own Vinnie Milosevich, who replaced Kevin Hinsperger on drums circa last summer. Along with the release of their "Chapter II" CD in April 2013, Curse The Witch have been an increasingly frequent sight at Southern Ontario concert venues, including a set opening for L.A. Guns last July, along with recording numerous original songs, some of which will be on their forthcoming third album. Though online sound descriptions don't point to heavier styles, Curse The Witch have an entertaining and well performed hard rock sound that's definitely boosted by Sarah Leventic's skilled and melodic singing, and she's a great fit in the band!
Her husband Frank is also a great guitarist and he has some very catchy riffs, and while the bass and drums are generally very good for the media I've heard, I haven't seen enough of Vinnie's work with Curse The Witch to directly comment on his contributions yet. I do like the ambition and prolific songwriting that they've displayed since their debut, and their sound is accessible yet heavy, giving me vibes close to that of former Sault Michigan standouts Bad Side, if less bluesy. Give Curse The Witch a listen via the above links for plenty of solid original alternative rock songs, and buy their first on iTunes at this link! As for videos, there aren't a ton from their live concerts, but their YouTube channel above is the best source, and it includes this music video for their song "Empty Nights", so check it out!
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I hope you guys liked this month's Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile! Next month in this series, we'll be looking at Chainbreaker, the new Toronto speed metal band featuring Sault native Curtis Faux (Maximum RNR, ex-Detroit) on bass! Watch out for that on or around February 26th, and stay tuned for more news and notes this week! Thanks everyone!
Now it's time once again to preview this weekend's slate of metal and hard rock concerts! Mostly in Sault Ontario, but some cool stuff is there's a bit of good stuff going on across the river too, so hopefully you guys find some concert action to hit over the next few days! For the record, unless his set was halved, it doesn't look like Tym Morrison will be playing a solo concert at the Service Grill on Saturday, as a Facebook event page confirms he'll be playing a show in Richards Landing on St. Joseph Island that afternoon, but if I hear anything different, I'll let you guys know. Now, to the announced shows!
First up, it's TONIGHT'S 31st Roosevelt Hotel metal night, and we have a major update to the lineup, as promoters have confirmed the 3rd band, who just happen to be out of town headliners! Vancouver death/thrash quintet Tribune will hit The Rosie tonight to melt faces with their extreme and melodic take on death metal that you shouldn't want to miss! I apologize for the short notice on the headliner announcement, we only got confirmation of it via a Facebook event page earlier today. Hopefully the news of Tribune's presence will get some more fans out to raise their horns and mosh the end of summer vacation away! As previously reported, local hardcore quartet Changing Waves and local punk trio Redundant will open tonight's concert, so don't miss them either! Changing Waves should fit right in with their hard hitting sounds, but hopefully Redundant's mostly-punk based setlist won't seem out of place. Their talent speaks for itself though! Doors open at 9:00 PM tonight with a likely 10:00 PM start time, you must be 19 to attend, and there will be a cover charge of $2. That's low for Dismembertainment shows with out of town headliners, so you have even less reason to skip out! Check the above links for more details on TONIGHT's concert!
This should be a solid night of metal (and punk), so if you can make it out, do it! I have classes in the morning, so it'll be tough for me to swing it (having Friday classes after not having them for 2 years sucks), but hopefully a huge crowd turns out! For a preview, here's Tribune's music video for their song "Coming Of Cain"!
Next up, Sault Michigan hard rock quartet River Witch are back at The Rapids Lounge at Kewadin Casino this weekend, or, what used to be River Witch. Of course, with no Facebook page updates to speak of since April, I wouldn't have known about any changes (like their split with guitarist Darian Causley earlier this year), but it looks like the band has changed their name to PowerSlug, as confirmed on guitarist Chris Gurnoe's personal Facebook page. No reason was announced for the name change, but it looks like they switched to this name in early August, and I have no clue if Darian was replaced or if the lineup had any adjustments to go along with it. I have to say, I find that the name's a downgrade, but I imagine I can get used to PowerSlug with time! That said, I have missed River Witch/PowerSlug concerts at The Bird & The Merchant's Bar over the past month due to lack of advertising from the band and/or venue, so I apologize for not plugging them here! I'll try to stay on my toes better when it comes to future PowerSlug concerts, and I actually have a couple new ones to plug in our next news post tomorrow! So I have changed their name in our band links, and now, back to their shows this weekend!
As I said above, PowerSlug (the former River Witch) will rock The Rapids Lounge at Kewadin Casino for two concerts tomorrow night & Saturday night, with likely 9:00 PM start times both nights. I'd expect a 21+ age limit and no cover charge either night as well. Should be good shows, hopefully PowerSlug deliver some great hard rock! Stay tuned for more news from them as it comes in, including a couple more confirmed shows of theirs in our next news post!
Let's head back to Sault Ontario for the rest of the weekend previews, and first, local classic hard rockers Full Circle will return to The Roosevelt Hotel tomorrow night! The talented quartet featuring 3/4s of the classic Lois Lane lineup and frontwoman KT Antler will have a weekend full of classic and hard rock hits to end summer in the best way they can! As is standard, they'll be on at 10:30 PM tomorrow & Saturday night, you must be 19 to attend, and there is no cover charge for either show. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Sounds good to me, hopefully Full Circle can rock The Rosie all weekend long and bring fall in with a bang! For a preview, I've decided to finally upload the only video footage I've came across of the current Full Circle lineup to YouTube as this week's classic video! I know it's not even 2 months old, but seeing as their only posted videos that I know of are from the Turner Up days, I'll make an exception this week. That said, this week's classic video is a 1 minute clip of Full Circle covering "Alone" by Heart at this year's main stage at Rotaryfest on July 16th!
This clip came from Mike Caruso's video coverage of Rotaryfest's main stage for local news site Local2, which was part of a 16 minute long video of all of the bands that played at Rotaryfest that day. To see the original video, head to http://local2.ca/ssm/viewarticle.php?id=1872 and move to 13:20 to see Full Circle's set. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED! All credit for the Full Circle clip below goes to the band, Local2, and Mike Caruso, they put in all the hard work! I'm just sharing it with a wider audience like it deserves! Sure, it's not too long or all that heavy, but Full Circle's talent is evident here, and KT Antler's voice is strong and powerful, so give this first Full Circle video a look below, and go see them at The Rosie this weekend!
And finally, Sault Ontario hard rock quartet Sneaky Pete will return to the local stage for the first time in over a month when they rock The Rockstar Bar on Saturday night! It was odd not seeing them around town in August, but they're back in full force this weekend, so don't miss them on Saturday night for a concert full of hard rock classics, and maybe some stickers! Remember, they are NOT playing tomorrow night, just Saturday. You must be 19 to attend this show, it all starts at 10:30 PM, and though no cover charge is announced, bring cash just in case, as The Rockstar Bar usually has a cover for concerts even if none are announced ahead of time. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! This should be a solid night of hard rocking good times, so if you have nothing to do on Saturday night, head to The Rockstar Bar and get sneaky! For a preview, check out some sadly unembeddable videos from some Rockstar Bar concerts on their Facebook page!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news very soon, including our next "Where Are The New Albums?" post tomorrow! Thanks everyone!
One more post before we unveil this month's CD review (prepare yourselves, Gates of Winter fans), as we have concerts to preview this weekend! Shorter weekend than we've been normally been seeing this summer, but there's some notable shows on both sides of the border to get to either way! And before anyone asks, I'm going to preview Monday's Alcoholic White Trash concert on the weekend to spread things out. So let's get straight to the previews, starting with some SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!!
Firstly, local classic hard rock quartet Full Circle are back this weekend to rock The Nicolet Tavern! Last seen at The Rosie (and Rotaryfest) two weeks ago, this talented group have lots of great covers in store for their fans tomorrow night & Saturday night! Apologies for the short notice, drummer Scott McClurg only announced the shows yesterday, and this weekend's shows weren't listed on the old Turner Up schedule seen here, so they're likely a newer addition to their local itinerary. Late notice or not, they'll be ready to tear up the stage with their well received repertoire of classic and hard rock covers! So head down to The Nicolet Tavern either tomorrow or Saturday night to check out Full Circle, who will be on at 10:00 PM both evenings. You must be 19 to enter, and there's no announced cover charge. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Sounds like a fun weekend of music, keep Full Circle in mind for some solid hard rocking! For a preview, click here and move to 13:20 of the video to see a short clip of Full Circle covering "Alone" by Heart at Rotaryfest! It's unembeddable, but it works!
Also in the realm of new shows is Tym Morrison's return to Service Grill Pizza as his weekly summer engagement there continues! The Caveman Morrison frontman will be back there to rock out two sets of unplugged covers of varying genres for his fans, which should be fun to check out! Again, I apologize for the short notice, Tym only announced the show last week, and though we do know he has a weekly arrangement set up, I don't want to falsely announce anything in the event a show was cancelled, especially with no updated schedules to access. Still, prepare yourselves for two great sets of acoustic hard rock covers at 3:00 PM and 8:00 PM-ish on Saturday! Both sets have no announced cover, and I have a feeling they're all ages, given the setting. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Should be some good shows, as Tym's solo sets are always full of great music, even if there's no electric guitar! For a preview, here's Tym's cover of Eric Clapton's "Tears In Heaven" from a 2009 concert at Foggy Notions!
Now to the other weekend concerts that I know of, and first, it's the 26th Roosevelt Hotel metal night taking place TONIGHT! Just two bands again, a trend we've seen off an on this summer, but it's a good lineup, including one frequently seen band and another making their debut! One is As It Stands, the fast rising local metalcore quintet, who'll be making their record 12th appearance at the Rosie Thursday metal nights! Their hard hitting hardcore is always worth checking out live, so do so tonight! However, the announced headliners are local punk trio Redundant (formerly known as Motion Carried) in their first ever metal night appearance & first Roosevelt Hotel show since their renaming & addition of new bassist James White! Odd to see them at a metal night, but hey, punk can be seen here and there (like RedD Monkey & The Endprogram), and Redundant are a talented band with metal backgrounds for each member, so they'll be sure to impress! As usual, there's no cover charge, a 19+ age limit, and a 10:00 PM start time. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page!
Sounds like an entertaining show for punk and hardcore fans, so definitely consider heading out to The Rosie TONIGHT for all the excitement! For a preview, here's As It Stands covering Blink-182's "Stay Together For The Kids" from earlier this month!
And finally, we close in the Sault Michigan area as local hard rockers River Witch return to The Cozy Corners Tavern & Grill in Barbeau! Despite a badly forgotten about Facebook page, I can confirm that this popular local band are hitting Cozy Corners this weekend thanks to their own website's calendar, which I commend them for posting! So head to Barbeau (just outside of Sault Michigan) to hear River Witch lay down some entertaining hard rock covers at 9:00 PM each night! Expect no cover charge and a 21+ age limit both nights as well. Check the above links for more details, and for reference sake, a walleye fishing tournament of some type goes down in or around Cozy Corners on Saturday, in case that may influence your decision on going that night. Sounds like fun, but I wish River Witch would post some audio or video to give us a taste, or promote their shows better, as it'd probably help for exposure! Still, they are a talented band, so check them out in Barbeau tomorrow night & Saturday night!
(Also, on the subject of River Witch, it looks like guitarist Darian Causley left the band. In the photos of their set from Lemmafest, one posted above, you can see Aaron Fasel, Chris Gurnoe, Chris Leask, and Ivan Schliska on stage, but no Darian. Plus, his personal Facebook page hasn't made any blatant band references since the spring. Now, with their lack of recent page updates, nothing has came out to suggest he left, but it sure looks like it. If so, it's disappointing, as I liked his guitar skills with Blind Baby, and hopefully he pops up again soon! Of course, if he never left & simply just missed LemmaFest, let me know, as I may be wrong.)
That's all for now, but stay tuned later tonight for my review of Gates of Winter's 2008 full length album "Lux Aeterna"! Thanks everyone!
It's time to preview this weekend's slate of local metal concerts, and there's a lot of notable shows this weekend that you should be aware of, including a debuting new local music festival! First though, here's some SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, so here's what you need to know!
Local classic hard rockers Full Circle are indeed playing THIS WEEKEND at The Nicolet Tavern! I apologize for the short notice, drummer Scott McClurg only just announced the shows on Tuesday, and they weren't previously listed on the old Turner Up pages (Full Circle don't have a page with their new name yet.) The band's schedule through September (as seen here) listed this weekend as an off weekend, so this appears to be a newer booking. My apologies again! So head out to The Nic TOMORROW NIGHT & SATURDAY NIGHT to enjoy some classic hard rock covers from this talented quartet, including talented frontwoman KT Antler and past and present members of Lois Lane & Asylum Country! There is no announced cover charge for either night, you must be 19 to attend, and everything starts at around 10:00 PM! For more details, check out the official Facebook event page! Sounds like fun, make sure to check out their classic hard rocking sounds at The Nic this weekend, and apparently next weekend too if you can't swing the next shows! When videos of the band live surface, I'll have them here!
And now, to the other new show! Last weekend, you may remember that Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison played a solo acoustic show at an unfamiliar venue, that being Service Grill Pizza on Korah Road. Well, the show appears to have been successful enough to warrant a comeback, as Tym's back at the Service Grill THIS SATURDAY! As far as differences between the two shows go, the only thing I can gather is that this show will indeed be an evening concert, starting at 7:00 PM, unlike the afternoon show the last time around. There is no cover charge, and given that this is a pizza joint with an earlier start time, I can't see it being 19+ either. So if you want to enjoy some more intimate takes on metal and hard rock classics, make note of this short notice concert, and apologies for it being late, Tym only just announced it earlier today. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page, and here's a preview video, of Tym covering Eric Clapton's "Tears In Heaven" at Foggy Notions last year!
Now we come to the previously announced shows, and first, it's the 21st Roosevelt Hotel metal night taking place TONIGHT! For the first time in six months, there will be an all-local lineup with four bands, so here's who to look out for! The advertised headliners are local melodic death metal band The Bear Hunters, who will become the first band to play a Thursday Rosie metal night 10 times when they play tonight! Officially confirmed by Dismembertainment for the show yesterday as a late addition, look for The Bear Hunters to deliver a brutal set of originals and covers at tonight's show, just their second with their current lineup! Shit Liver will bring their grimy blend of crust, death metal, and punk back to the Rosie tonight as well as the co-headliners! I've heard rumours that this could be their last show for a while due to a band member going out of town for a few months, but nothing official has been posted on band pages. Go see them tomorrow just in case this is true! Also, Winkstinger will return to the Rosie metal nights for the first time in five months tonight for what should be an intense set of extreme mosh-worthy originals! We've seen them at shows in the interim, but don't you miss them on Thursdays? They should be on fire tonight!
And finally, new local death metal band Bring The Misery will also hit the stage tonight for their second ever show, and first without Dan Souliere on guitar. I have not heard word on a replacement, so I'd expect them to be a quartet for at least this show. The band said on their Facebook page that nothing new is planned for their set, but it's tightened up, so hopefully they improve on their debut! This concert, which is also Dismembertainment owner Rich Moreland's fiancee April Fogal's birthday show, is 19+, with a 9:30 PM-ish start time and no cover charge. Check the above links for more details! Sounds like a good and brutal night of metal, maybe I can make it out if I'm not too busy! For a preview, here's The Bear Hunters playing "Casualties Of War" earlier this month!
Now we'll move to Sault Michigan, and first, a local hard rock quintet returns to the stage this weekend to rock The Rapids Lounge at Kewadin Casino! The band in question is River Witch, who are fresh off a show this past Saturday at The Merchant's Bar! This time around, they're back at Kewadin Casino's bar/concert spot once again, and though the band hasn't officially announced the shows (they haven't posted anything on their Facebook page in over two months), Kewadin confirms the shows on their entertainment page, and that is definitely a reliable source! I'd expect the concerts, which are tomorrow and Saturday night, to have 9:00 PM start times, no cover charge, and 21+ age limits. For more details, check the above links! Sounds like good times, though I really wish River Witch would update their page more often and/or post videos or audio of their concerts. Then we could really get a taste of their talents! Still, go see them this weekend, and if you don't go Saturday, there is another chance to check them out that afternoon! What do I mean? Read on to find out!
Then on Saturday, it's the first annual LemmaFest, a local music and family festival at Dondee Lanes from 12:00 PM to 2:00 AM! The festival is in honour of the late Michael Lemma, a beloved Dondee employee who suddenly passed away last summer, and activities are planned all day at the Dondee, including a barbeque, bowling and drink specials, raffles and prize draws, and even horseshoes and beach volleyball! Event glasses and t-shirts will also be sold on a limited basis for this special event, click here (and the link above) for all current details! But I bet you guys wanna hear about the bands, so here's the lineup from start to finish! Each band has one hour slots for their sets, and local southern/party rockers The Hixx will open the festivities at 12:00 PM sharp, followed by local acoustic rock duo Fallen Heroes at 1:00 PM! The band at 2:00 PM isn't currently known, but I wouldn't be surprised if local comedy acoustic rock duo 2PumpChump are playing in this slot, due to their displacement from a later timeslot. I will keep you guys posted on that! Petoskey solo rock project Minus Everyone will replace the dropped-out local metal band Hammerspace at 3:00 PM, and the aforementioned River Witch will rock the outdoor Dondee stage at 4:00 PM before heading back to Kewadin Casino that night!
Local metal trio Scofflaw will reunite for a rare publically announced set at 5:00 PM, and will be followed by the local band Bucksaw at 6:00 PM. Aside from the names of two members (Jason VanLuven & Mark Bowen), I can't tell you a thing about them cause they have no pages or material that I've seen online, so if you can shed any light on Bucksaw, let me know! Munising hardcore metal band Infathom (pictured) are next at 7:00 PM, and though not locally based, they have a nice brutal sound, so click here for samples! Local metal supergroup Great Bodily Harm (featuring past & present members of Hammerspace, I.S.O.M., Half A Man, and River Witch) are now on at 8:00 PM, and though I don't know of a page or media from them (any help?), there is definitely talent there! The outdoor festivities wrap up with local acoustic quartet Electric Motor Fish at 9:00 PM, though I'm hearing conflicting things about their set regarding a possible different band with similar members. Again, I'll keep you posted if I hear more! Though not officially a LemmaFest set, The Hixx will close the night out inside the Dondee for a normal 10:00 PM-2:00 AM set of their party classic sounds, so if you're in the mood for more music after 10:00, head inside and enjoy yourselves!
Admission is $10 for this ALL AGES festival, with all proceeds (tickets and otherwise) going to Michael Lemma's dad to help cover his final expenses. Lawn chairs are recommended as this is an all day outdoor festival, and there's a ton of things going on, so definitely check out all of the above links for details as they come in! This is a huge event with a lot of careful effort and planning, and I give huge kudos to Scott Green and everyone else behind LemmaFest for all their work in Michael's honour! I never knew him, but I bet you he'd be proud! Now I'm still uncertain on some details on the lineup (specifically, when 2PumpChump are playing, whether Electric Motor Fish are on or not, and info/media from Great Bodily Harm & Bucksaw), but if and when I hear news on these details, I will update this post and let you guys know as soon as I find out! I don't have vehicle insurance yet to drive across for LemmaFest (hopefully soon), but I give my best wishes that this will be a huge success that leads to many more LemmaFests to come! For a preview, here's Infathom covering Atreyu's "The Crimson" in 2009!
And finally, we head back to Sault Ontario for a prominent Ontario band's return to Sault Ontario! Fresh off their well recieved local debut in March, Kitchener hard rockers The Saigon Hookers are returning to The Rockstar Bar for another night of mayhem and entertaining originals! Like their show in the spring, this well traveled band (who are good friends of Lion Ride) will be sure to rock the stage with songs like "Stray Dogs", "She Blows My Mind", and "Devil To Win", among many others! Like in March, local punk supergroup Brad Example & The Role Models will open for them with a set of punk rock covers! I know that the band will feature veteran local singer/bassist Brad "Example" Lacell and Lion Ride guitarist Marco Pedalino, though whether Brad's longtime bandmate Dave Bahun and veteran local drummer Phil Greco will be back or not isn't currently known, especially when The Role Models' new MySpace page implies that their "cast of characters is always changing". We'll find out for sure on Saturday! This show will have a 10:00 PM-ish start time, a 19+ age limit, and my money's on a $5 cover charge. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page!
This should be an awesome show, I will absolutely be there! The Saigon Hookers were great in March and well worth seeing again, so hopefully you guys come out too! For a preview, here's The Saigon Hookers playing their song "She Blows My Mind" in a 2007 music video!
That's all for now, but I have a new news post coming either tonight or early tomorrow, so stay tuned for that! Thanks everyone!
Hey guys, hope last night's Unleash The Archers show was a blast! Today, we have a bunch of scattered news stories, including a lineup switch at an upcoming concert, a lineup change for a newer local band, tons of videos from a recent show, and LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, but first, here's a new local solo project!
Local metal guitarist Andrew Angelic is likely well known locally for his work in bands like Sativa Rose (among many others), but now he's launched a solo project! Andrew opened up a solo MySpace page on Thursday, and despite listing his genres as crunk and pop, you have nothing to fear by listening! The mostly-bare page does have one posted track, untitled at present, and it's really nice! It's basically a slow extended solo piece that flows really nicely, and though it has a softer atmosphere about it, his guitar work really shines, and his talent is clear as clear can be! The audio quality isn't as good though, there's some background fuzz, but it doesn't take away from the track too much. Very nice work, I hope Andrew puts his songwriting skills to continued good use with some more solo (and Sativa Rose) material, and hopefully his solo project grows further from here! Check the above links for more, and yes, he's now in our band links on your left!
Next up, here are those LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!! Remember on Thursday when I mentioned that I missed a couple of concerts at The Cozy Corners Tavern & Grill in nearby Barbeau, Michigan featuring Sault Michigan hard rockers River Witch? Well, I won't miss any more this summer (hopefully), as Cozy Corners' website has an event calendar that lists a bunch more River Witch dates for the next few months! Five dates are announced for River Witch in Barbeau through September, including shows on July 9th, 29th, and 30th, and September 23rd & 24th! All but the July 9th show are weekend sets, with the Friday on the July 9th weekend reserved for another band, Florida duo Case & Davidson. All of these shows have 9:00 PM start times, there's no announced cover charge, and a 21+ age limit is likely. Check the above links for more details! Of course, River Witch's spotty history of Facebook updates means they haven't announced these shows officially, but if the venue says they're on, then that's as good a source as any! Nice to see them back at Cozy Corners, it looks like a nice venue, and their hard rocking sounds will fit in there! Stay tuned for River Witch updates as I hear them, and remember to see them at the end of the month at Kewadin Casino & Lemmafest!
Now to some more cool updates, and first, if you were at The Roosevelt Hotel on Thursday and saw a camcorder & tripod set up across from the stage, were you wondering why? Well, it's because The Bear Hunters filmed their entire set! I'm not sure who did the filming itself, but 10 songs are now posted on the band's official YouTube channel, including their songs "Overthrown", "Condemned", "Bloodthirst", "Casualties of War", "Karma", "Succumb to Eternity", "Dominate", "Collapse The Sun", and "Render This Void", along with their cover of Amon Amarth's "Guardians of Asgaard"! Their encore set without Josh Stephney hasn't been posted (at least not yet), so their additional covers and work-in-progress new original aren't up to watch yet. The quality's nice on these videos, better than my new camera (remember, they used a pro-quality camcorder), though it can be dark, especially when fans crowd near the front of the stage. Audio's nice too, everything comes through really well! Nice to see some more good quality video footage of a band like this, especially with this amount of videos! Because it's one of their newest songs, I'll embed "Render This Void" below, but check out the rest of the posted videos (with hopefully more to come) at the above links!
Now here's a couple of notes relating to Roosevelt Hotel metal nights. First, this completely slipped me by until after their debut last week, but new local death metal band Bring The Misery have parted ways with bassist Kory Derasp and replaced him Tyler St. Amour, who is drummer Travis St. Amour's brother. No explanation was given for Kory's exit, but Tyler was quietly added to Bring The Misery's lineup on their Facebook page. Tyler was indeed on bass on Thursday for their debut, but I still had the old lineup info when I did my review, which has since been edited to fix the mistake. I don't know Kory or Tyler personally, and without hearing about the switch beforehand, you can understand my error, hopefully. That said, best of luck to Kory, and Tyler seems like a good fit with Bring The Misery!
My other note is for the Rosie metal night on June 16th, as there's been a band change. Local hardcore quartet Skull After Betrayal have replaced WinkStinger as the headliners for that night's show. No reason has been given for why WinkStinger dropped out, and Dismembertainment haven't confirmed the switch yet, but I have two reliable sources that should help confirm the news. Skull After Betrayal announced their involvement on their own Facebook page, and Frightlight announced it on their own event page for the show, complete with updated event poster! Looks like a Kevin Powe creation, nice work! It'll be interesting to see how Skull After Betrayal sound with their new genre and material in hand, especially as headliners! Hopefully I can make it out! For more on both of the above stories, check the above links!
That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes very soon, including our Defunct Local Band Profile on Bad Side later in the week, and much more to come! Thanks everyone!
Hey guys, I know I promised the next "Where Are The New Albums?" post today, and that's still on, but it's coming later tonight so I can secure some possible added info on one of the three new additions to the post for this month. So in the meantime, here's a new news post featuring some new videos, a local band breakup with a metal relevance, and a new page for an area concert venue! Let's get this post started!
Skull After Betrayal frontman Mike Vincent has launched his own YouTube channel that now features two jam videos of new original songs! If you've been hoping for some new footage of these guys, then these should work nicely, especially compared to the awful quality audio tracks that are on their MySpace page. These videos feature the band's current lineup (no new singer yet), and regardless, there's no singing from either Mike or Adam Brett, who does backing vocals. Even still, you can hear their sound in these videos transitioning more into hardcore than the death metal sound they employed at their first couple of shows. The songs do sound promising, and with a move away from death metal, it will probably help Skull After Betrayal make a more unique local impression! Adam's bass work still needs improvement though, he's only plucking one string for most of the two posted songs. Click here to check out their new original "Dagger To The Heart", but I'll embed the longest of the two here, so take a look at Skull After Betrayal jamming their song "Enemy" below!
Also for new videos, local solo guitarist Mike Cliffe has posted three new videos onto his YouTube channel that feature new visualizations for three of his newer songs! One is for "Spring Storms", which features some cool rain and sand effects that suit the song, while "Salsa On My Shoes" gets a spacey visualization like you might see on Windows Media Player. Not bad, though if you're seeking heaviness, these songs won't be among the Mike Cliffe songs you'd go for. I'll embed his video for "Wedding Dress/Handsome Boy" here because it's the "rockingest" of the three songs, and it has the coolest video. It was taken from a DVD series called "Animusic" featuring a lot of futurist technological instrument stuff that looks cool, even if it's not synched to the song! Good stuff, nice to hear a well played Frank Zappa cover! Check it out below!
Thirdly today, I wanted to apologize for missing a pair of concerts last weekend. Apparently, Sault Michigan hard rockers River Witch played at The Cozy Corners Tavern & Grill in nearby Barbeau, Michigan last Friday and Saturday. I apologize for missing them, but in all fairness, River Witch didn't promote these shows on their page in any fashion. I hadn't looked there recently because they don't update it often (their last update was in April), but the venue actually did! Cozy Corners now have an internet presence thanks to an official website and a Facebook page that was launched in February! They describe everything well in terms of menu, events, specials, and so forth, and their Facebook page is frequently updated as well! And yes, they do have a history of occasionally booking concerts, it's not just for this past weekend. You may remember that Nixxon Dixxon played there a bit during their heyday, and the calendar on their website lists concerts through the summer that I will elaborate on in our next complete news post! Nice to see Cozy Corners with an online presence, definitely check the pages out, and if you wanna head to Barbeau for some good food, drinks, and music, it's not a far drive!
Oh, and I added Cozy Corners, Dan's Place in Rudyard, and the Facebook page for The Bird to our Sault Michigan concert venue listings, so check them out on your right!
And finally, I wanted to make reference to a band breakup that, though not metal related on the surface, does have a metal connection. On Tuesday, local rock trio Stiffler's Mom announced their amicable breakup after 13 years together. No reason was given, but they didn't close the door on future reunion concerts. Why mention this on the SMS though? Because, if you remember correctly, Stiffler's Mom were once the local metal trio Sin Stereo! In one way or another, Greg Simpson, Michael Davies, and Jon Ferguson have played together since 1997, though their Sin Stereo existence seemed to wrap up by 2006. Locally, they were best known as Stiffler's Mom, and they had numerous high profile concerts from the late 1990s through this spring, including backing up INXS at The Essar Center! Though Stiffler's Mom did have more of a "party rock" style that suited bar weekends really well, their Sin Stereo originals were a frequent sight, as you may have heard at the Kiss Battle of the Bands. Hell, I remember seeing them play live at a dance event at Bawating way back in 2004, and I enjoyed them then too! It'll be odd not seeing Stiffler's Mom around locally, but the memories remain, and you can still check out Sin Stereo's old profile from our GarageBand Profile Mini-Series last year at this location!
That's all for now, but stay tuned for our next "Where Are The New Albums?" post tonight, and I will see you guys at The Rosie tonight as well! Thanks everyone!
The news keeps coming today, and hopefully the rain's not getting you guys down at all! In this post, we have news on an upcoming concert, a new local band's lineup additions, some updates to one of our monthly series, and to start, LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, including one rather SHORT NOTICE one! Also check our post below this one from this morning for FIVE new shows that should get your attention! Now, to this post, so here's what you need to know!
I REALLY apologize for having this concert so late, I only just heard about it within the hour. Cheboygan hard rockers The Darwin Project are playing a concert TONIGHT in Rudyard, which is just outside Sault Michigan! Unlike their usual shows there at Joe's Bar, this show will be at Dan's Place, another Rudyard bar which is 18794 South Tilson Road. You may recognize it as a frequent stop for defunct local hard rockers Absolute, if that's any help for a reference. This show was officially announced in a Facebook event page on May 4th, but it somehow slipped me by completely, and I'm only just mentioning it tonight. Again, I'm really sorry! So the show tonight will have The Darwin Project taking the stage at around 9:30 PM, there's no announced cover charge, and you must be 21 to attend. Check the above links for more details! This should be a fun concert, hopefully it goes over well! The Darwin Project have a lot of entertaining hard rock songs that appeal to a diverse crowd, and hopefully a good crowd turns out! For a video preview, here's The Darwin Project playing their song "Disco Rockstar" in Traverse City in January!
The other new concert today is now official as a "metal" show, and it's LemmaFest at Dondee Lanes on June 25th! In case you forgot, this is the first annual festival in honour of the late Michael Lemma, a well-liked Dondee employee who tragically passed away last July at the age of 38. There will be activities going on all day that you can get details on at this location. That said, a schedule has been released for the bands playing at LemmaFest next month, so here's who to look out for! At least 5 metal/hard rock bands are confirmed, starting with Great Bodily Harm at 2:00 PM! This is the local metal band featuring ex-members of I.S.O.M., Half A Man, Hammerspace, and Kilacel, and they have the talent to deliver a great set! If anyone has any band info, internet pages, or videos of them, please tell me, as I have very little on them! Speaking of Hammerspace, they've officially re-united and will be on at 3:00 PM themselves! It's true, they returned late last month, as cited here, and will be back to rock the Dondee at Lemmafest! At 4:00 PM, local hard rock quintet River Witch will take the stage to play some entertaining songs of their own! I wish I could tell you how they sounded, but I can say that guitarist Chris Leask will pull double duty as a member of both River Witch & Great Bodily Harm, which is cool in itself!
Then at 5:00, Scofflaw (also featuring a River Witch member, drummer Ivan Schliska) will return for a set of their unique metal music! Nice to hear about one of their shows in advance for a change, they'll fit in well here! Finally for metal bands, Munising metal quartet Infathom (featuring Sault High graduate Dillion Semasky on vocals) will hit The Dondee at 7:00 PM, and if you wanna check out their promising brand of metal, click here! Hopefully they play here more often! As for the other bands scheduled for Lemmafest, the show will be opened at 12:00 PM by classic/Southern rockers The Hixx (featuring Grooves Music owner Gary Hatch). A local band named Bucksaw may be playing at 6:00 PM, although band member Jason VanLuven expressed uncertainty about their status due to some lineup concerns. I'm not familiar with them at all, so if you guys know of a page or videos or something, let me know! A pair of local acoustic duos are at 8:00 PM & 9:00 pm, including indie cover duo Fallen Heroes at 8:00 PM (they opened for Buckcherry in March) & the more "offbeat" 2PumpChump at 9:00 PM. The last advertised band is Electric Motor Fish at 10:00 PM (featuring Shift's Tony Rogers & Clownsack producer Fran Blackwood), though The Hixx are also advertised to perform inside in the evening, implying that the LemmaFest stage itself will be outdoors.
The lineup is subject to change (it's in fact already changed once), so stay tuned to all of the above links for details! Also, I should note that Half A Man are NOT playing, despite their own preliminary confirmation, as they're focusing on writing and working on new songs towards their album. This sounds like a great event, and who knows what will happen for this great cause? Stay tuned for LemmaFest updates as I hear them!
Next up, here's the latest updates from new Kincheloe metal band Chained Memories! First, they've announced the additions of guitarists Jacob Zeeryp & Ryan Nicklas to the band, replacing Brandon Mason & Isaac Suggitt. Jacob is best known as the singer & keyboard player in the inactive area Christian hard rock band Outshined, and it will be interesting to see how he does as a guitarist! He was a good singer in Outshined, maybe he'll sing a bit with the new band? As for Ryan Nicklas, I'm largely unfamiliar with his work, we'll have to see how he does! The band (including drummer Mike Rynberg) are still looking for a bassist and singer to complete their lineup, so head to their Facebook page for details on how you can try out! I'm interested to see how the band sounds, hopefully they succeed where Silent Despair failed! Check the above links for more, and as details come in, I'll have them for you guys!
Finally, I wanted to go over some edits I made to one of our monthly series for accuracy, that being our Defunct Local Band Profile Series! There's enough changes to warrant a block mention like this, so here's what you should know! The AtrophiA profile was edited to further downplay the Bring The Fallen references, given their breakup, and include a couple mentions for Bring The Blood, which is AtrophiA guitarist Dan Souliere's new band. Both the M7K & Death Rise profiles now reference the fact that Mike Vincent (from both bands) left The Bear Hunters. The Lower S.E.S. profile now links to my review of their EP at the end, and The White Knights profile has a minor edit related to Justin Langlois' work in Motion Carried, as I mentioned his work with multiple White Knights members in later bands. Finally, the Life's Eclipse profile now features a new embedded video (for their song "Out Of The Cold", as it has vocals), as well as minor updates on the reason for their original breakup, their current album statuses and info, some extra personal thoughts on the band, and a tiny reference to Jason Mills' work in Moss. Hopefully everything's up to date now, check the above links to see the newly updated profiles! Any profiles not mentioned above were still basically accurate.
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes very soon, including more from Woods of Ypres! Thanks everyone!
Second post of the day is now, and remember to check out our Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile on The Heatseeking Moisture Missles in the post below! Today, we'll start with a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, but we'll cap off with the latest SMS March Mayhem updates, as we hit the halfway point of the second round! And yes I have a news post coming tonight as well in a rare triple post day, so let's get right to it!
This was partially a Facebook exclusive from yesterday afternoon, as I wasn't planning to post a new news post yesterday, but I had to get the word out on this before it was too late. As it turns out, this weekend certainly was busier than we had predicted, as River Witch also played/are playing this weekend! At 6:00 last evening, the band announced on their Facebook page that they'd be playing at The Bird last night and TONIGHT, which has to be one of the closest short notice announcements I've seen for a show in quite a while. So I plugged it on our Facebook page last night to ensure it wasn't forgotten about, and I promised to lead off one of our posts today with it, so here we are! Remember, TONIGHT'S show (just like last night's) is a 21+ affair with no announced cover charge, and it starts at 10:00 PM tonight. Apologies for the short notice, but it's out of my hands. I wish River Witch would update their shows and pages in further advance than they tend to do, but hey, what can I do? They'll still deliver some solid hard rocking shows this weekend, so check the above links for more details, and if you saw them last night, hopefully you had fun! Remember, they're back at The Bird TONIGHT at 10:00 PM!
And now, it's time to update our SMS March Mayhem tournament brackets, as we hit the halfway point of the second round, and determine the first four quarterfinalists in this poll tournament! I'm glad to see votes picking up in the second round, and there's some interesting results, so here they are!
What do you guys think? I figured As It Stands would win given their solid local following, though The Bear Hunters kept it close and proved their own growing prominence in the scene, which is about what I expected! Destroilet pulled out a second straight blowout win, though the fact that Browbeat 101 officially broke up didn't help matters for them. Still, leaving them in was only fair! Frightlight got tons of votes, again showing the fanbase that's helping them do so well in the Vans Warped Tour Battle of the Bands voting, though it did come at the expense of Garden of Bedlam, who I thought would have finished closer! I'm really surprised at that, though their slow activity of late couldn't have helped. And Lion Ride's win over Half Past was what I expected, though I should note that Half Past had a solid lead for the first half of the week before Lion Ride surged in front to lead the week's voting. Good on Half Past though for a solid finish! With all that said, here's how the brackets now look for the tournament!
As you can see, As It Stands will collide with Destroilet in the quarterfinals, and Frightlight will continue their gauntlet run against Lion Ride, with these promising to be two highly voted matchups! The voting for these begin next week, along with the other quarterfinal matchups from the rest of the 2nd round winners. Speaking of which, those remaining second round contests begin TODAY, including the remaining seven first round winners and the last byed entrant. Without any further adieu, here are the final second round matchups!
Can solo artist Mike Cliffe pull off an upset against fast rising metal quartet Sativa Rose? In the battle of young local death metal bands, can Shit Liver's grime sounds take out the more extreme stylings of State of Misery? Who'll win the matchup of crash punk & classic rock when Sykotyk Rampage take on That's Chester? And can WinkStinger continue their run by spoiling the tournament debut of noted local doom metal quartet Woods of Ypres? The Cliffe/Sativa Rose & Shit Liver/SoM winners face each other next week, as well as the Sykotyk Rampage/That's Chester & WinkStinger/Woods winners in a quarterfinal matchup next week too, along with the winners from this past week, so keep an eye out! The second round ends with these four matches, so to decide the last quarterfinalists, VOTE TODAY in the polls on the left! No risks, no biases, just pick your favourites and help get their support up for the next round push! YOU HAVE ONE WEEK, so make your votes heard!
That's all for now, but we have a new news post coming tonight featuring a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, Cinderella fallout, the return of a promising local band, and more! Thanks everyone!
Hey guys, it's time for another news post, in this 30th straight day of new postings! Today's a mix of good news and bad news, including two band breakups, the latest Woods of Ypres news, and kicking things off, a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!! Here's what you need to know!
I apologize for this being later than you'd assume, but it was only just announced yesterday. Sault Michigan hard rockers River Witch will hit The Merchant's Bar in Sault Michigan TOMORROW NIGHT for a short notice concert! The news came courtesy of this Facebook event page by The Merchant's Bar, which noted that drummer Ivan Schliska works there (I never knew that) and there will be drink specials as well! With that said, the band has not promoted the show on their Facebook page, but in all fairness, they don't frequently update it. A 9:00 PM start time is listed for this show, there is no announced cover charge, and you must be 21 to attend tomorrow night. Check the above links for more details! I still don't know much about River Witch's sound, but they sound like a good and entertaining hard rock band, so give them a chance and check them out tomorrow night if you're in the area! Stay tuned for River Witch news and notes if they come in!
Next up, here's some bad news, as two notable area bands have broken up. One of these bands is Sault Ontario hard rock trio Browbeat 101, which is really surprising given their new lineup's chemistry and the recent news we've heard from them. Frontman Dutch Vanderploeg announced the breakup on his personal Facebook page on Wednesday, thanking James White and Johnny Belanger and saying that they were "done forever". When I talked to Dutch yesterday about the breakup, he told me that it's partly due to some recent medical issues that have impaired his singing, and partly due to musical differences with the other members. There was more said, but I won't go in-depth publically unless band members do. Though the idea of a new singer was briefly explored, Dutch is looking to join a new band instead of fronting one, a concept he appears to have drifted away from. With the breakup, it looks like their concert at The Vibe Lounge next month is now cancelled, and coincidentally, Dutch's Knownaym solo project's page has also been deleted. Their MySpace page is still online, but knowing past trends of deleting pages to update new lineups, it might not be long for this world.
Despite numerous lineup changes and lengthy breaks, Browbeat (101)/Social Play were always a great and catchy hard rock band, and it was always fun seeing them live! Dutch had big plans for Browbeat, and it's too bad he's throwing in the towel, as there's definitely an audience for his solo work! I'd love to see him post some old Browbeat songs online just for archival sake, as he really is a good songwriter and musician, but who knows. I'll miss Browbeat, and I'd be there to see them if a reunion ever happened! Best of luck to Dutch, James, Johnny, and all former members in the future, we'll be watching!
The other newly broken up band is Sault Michigan metal quartet Hammerspace, which is also very surprising given their recent local prominence! Just a year after their MySpace page was launched, frontman John Bergeron announced on their Facebook page that the band was "dead in the water". He elaborated by saying that "everyone is moving on to different things right now" and a reunion may happen in the future when "all of our heads are on straight". This should shut the door on their planned April shows (sorry I never saw them until now), including their downstate concert in Topinabee. This is really surprising, especially with their frequent area concerts over the past few months, and they really seemed like a promising local band! I enjoyed their posted demos, no matter who was singing, and they seemed to have everything thought out for a successful local future, but hey, if life's getting in the way like it sounds, it's best to take care of that first. Hopefully Hammerspace reunite down the road, I know they'd pick up where they left off! Check out the above links for more from Hammerspace, and best of luck to John, Justin, Paul, Tim, and the other former members in the future!
How about we close with some good news for today? Best not to end this post on a down note, and we'll cap things off with Woods of Ypres! Part 3 of their Barrie tour vlog is now online, having been uploaded onto frontman David Gold's YouTube channel on Wednesday, and if you enjoyed the live concert clips from Part 2, then good news: There's much more here! Only the last 33 seconds of this video don't involve the concert itself in some fashion, so there's loads of performance footage to rock out to here! The last 30 seconds only really feature the band making it to their hotel post-concert, with more from there presumably starting their Toronto vlog when it's posted. Check it out below for over 9 minutes of new concert footage, and I have much more on Woods of Ypres to share in the near future!
That's all for tonight, but I'll see you tonight at one of the bars for a concert, still debating on which one. Stay tuned for my review tomorrow! Thanks everyone!
Today's weekend concert preview post is mostly Sault Michigan-based, as this weekend is surprisingly light for concerts in Sault Ontario. We'll lead off with some SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS though, including what's going on at The Roosevelt Hotel tonight and a prominent local hard rock band's return (plus news on this band's lineup), so let's get this post started!
There will in fact be a punk night TONIGHT at The Roosevelt Hotel, and yes, there will be some metal content! Local grime/hardcore trio Shit Liver will return to the stage on short notice tonight as the middle band on tonight's lineup! If you wanna enjoy some dirty and crusty death metal with a punk attitude, The Rosie will be the place to be tonight! Headlining this punk night will be last week's opening band, RedD Monkey, whose cello/punk attack is always a welcome sight locally! Note of warning though, you may hear a Motorhead cover, so be prepared for that occasion! Opening tonight will be "The Midnight Meme Makers", who I believe are one and the same as The Night Owl Meme Makers, who opened at the Rebel Spell concert earlier this month which was also from the same bookers. They definitely have a unique sound, very hard to explain, so click on the link above to check them out! Apologies on the short notice of this show too, nothing about it was made official until this morning. As usual, it's a 19+ affair, there's no cover charge, and everything starts at 9:30 PM or later!
For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Sounds like a fun night of punk rock with a heavy edge, head to The Rosie tonight if you can! Check the above links for more, and for a preview, here's Shit Liver playing their original "(Friendly Old) Uncle Joe" at The Rosie in January!
Also new for this weekend is the return of Elipzis! They're back in Sault Michigan THIS SATURDAY for their first local concert in almost three months! The band were last seen on New Years Eve at The Corner Pub Bar & Grill, and they'll be back there on Saturday for a set full of original hard rock! Apologies for the short notice on this show, I only first heard about it early yesterday on band members' pages. Everything starts at 10:00 PM, you must be 21 to attend, and there's no announced cover charge, but have money just in case if you go! For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Sounds like fun, it's nice to see them back up here! They don't come up here as often as most other bands, so keep this one in mind! Again, apologies for the short notice! As it's on Saturday, here's a video preview as well, of Elipzis playing their song "Take Me On" in Warren, Michigan this past December!
With that said, there will be one changed element of the band on Saturday, so here's what you should know. Elipzis have parted ways with drummer Bob Helsten (a.k.a. Orb Hearthstone.) No reason for his departure has been given at present, though this could explain his absence from their TV performance in Grand Rapids earlier this month. Bob had drummed with Elipzis from their local debut last year through earlier this month, and it's a shame to see him leave! He's a very nice guy and a talented musician, but at least he's still going in End of Existence and with his solo work! So, who's drumming with them on Saturday night? As it turns out, it's Muskegon based drummer Wally David III, best known for his work in the defunct Muskegon hard rock band One Past Mars, who shared a similar sound to Elipzis. He also appears to be a talented graphic designer and coder, so those skills could be put to use by the band! I haven't heard too much of his work, but the guys in Elipzis know how to pick musicians, so this should work out well! So remember, check out Wally's debut with Elipzis THIS SATURDAY at The Corner Pub, and check the above links for more on all of the Elipzis news!
Now, we move to tomorrow night at The Eagles Club on Trout Lake Road, where Tym Morrison is scheduled to make his return! After the cancellation of his Big Cheese concerts due to outside issues, this will be his first local concert in two weeks, so if you've been missing his acoustic solo work, you know where he'll be next! I should note that Tym hasn't been promoting this show on levels compared to his earlier Eagles Club concerts, giving me a bit of doubt to whether it's "on" or not, but it's still listed on his website, so I'll treat it as if nothing's wrong for now. Regardless, this is his last verified solo show on his website's calendar, so who knows what's up in April and beyond! Friday's show should have a 10:00 PM start time and a 19+ age limit, and there is no announced cover charge. Check the above links for more details! If it does go forward, it should be a good concert with lots of entertaining acoustic versions of hard rock classics, so make it out to The Eagles Club if you can! For a preview, here's Tym covering Extreme's "More Than Words" at The Big Cheese circa November 2008!
Now to the remaining concerts in Sault Michigan, and we'll start at The Rapids Lounge at Kewadin Casino, where local hard rock quintet River Witch will return for their first of four concert weekends this year! They'll take the stage tomorrow night and Saturday night at around 9:00 PM to rock out with what I assume is a covers heavy set, but they haven't posted media or a setlist for me to know either way. Both concerts will have 21+ age limits, and neither have a cover charge. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! News on River Witch is sparse when we get it (even playing concerts in January that they never publically promoted on band pages), but luckily, we heard about these in advance! I wish I could tell you more about River Witch and their sound, but hopefully in time we'll know more! Check out the above links for more, and check them out this weekend!
Finally for this weekend, Marquette hard rockers Nudge will return to Sault Michigan on Friday night and Saturday night for a short notice weekend of rocking covers at The Satisfied Frog! These concerts are unique in that Nudge will be short a member, as guitarist Tim Prisk will be in California with prior commitments, so things will sound a bit different this weekend. Still, Nudge are proven as an entertaining hard rock band, so they'll do just fine this weekend! Both concerts will start at 10:00 PM, there's no announced cover charge, and you must be 21 to attend. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Sounds like these will be some good concerts, Nudge alsways entertain, and a short notice weekend is better than no shows at all! Check the above links for more, and for a preview, here's Nudge covering Ozzy Osbourne's "Mama, I'm Coming Home"!
That's all for now, but I'll have a new news post either tonight or tomorrow night, and yes, our new CD review will be on Saturday! Will it be "Woods I" or something new? Stay tuned! (Also, VOTE TODAY in our first 4 March Mayhem polls, time's ticking!)
Band Bio: Well publicized in the Kitchener & Waterloo areas since their launch in the fall of 2011, Curse The Witch immediately made an impression with the release of their debut CD "Chapter I" that November, before beginning full live dates in January 2012. Led by Sarah & Frank Leventic alongside various other musicians, one of their more recent lineups included the Soo's own Vinnie Milosevich, who replaced Kevin Hinsperger on drums circa last summer. Along with the release of their "Chapter II" CD in April 2013, Curse The Witch have been an increasingly frequent sight at Southern Ontario concert venues, including a set opening for L.A. Guns last July, along with recording numerous original songs, some of which will be on their forthcoming third album. Though online sound descriptions don't point to heavier styles, Curse The Witch have an entertaining and well performed hard rock sound that's definitely boosted by Sarah Leventic's skilled and melodic singing, and she's a great fit in the band!
