Weekend Concert Previews & Three Assorted Other Stories!!

Hey guys, it's that time again! Well, it's actually a shorter post than I'm used to, but I gotta get the weekend concert previews out of the way, and I have some assorted smaller stories to share too, so it's not a horribly small post either! Let's start with your local metal concert previews for this weekend!

Two metal shows to my knowledge each in both of the twin Saults this weekend, and we'll start in Sault Ontario, when Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison takes the stage tomorrow night and Saturday night at Coch's Corner! If you're craving to hear some great covers of your favourite metal, hard rock, and other-genre songs in an intimate acoustic setting, you'll wanna be there this weekend! Both of Tym's shows start at 10:00 PM, and if you know his shows, and Coch's Corner's inviting environment, you'll know this will be well worth attending! No admission price either, just bring beer money, or maybe order some food, the guys there make some good grub too! And yes, it's 19+. Get more information at this location! As always, a Tym Morrison show will be worth attending, especially with the recent lack of Caveman Morrison shows (possible reason for that coming up), but head on down to Coch's and chill out to some great music this weekend, you won't be sorry! Check out more from Tym Morrison's solo and Caveman catalog at his official website!

The other two metal shows this weekend that I know about enough to report come courtesy of Sault Michigan hard rockers Nixxon Dixxon! The rising young stars return to The Bird across the river this weekend on the very same days and times as Tym Morrison's upcoming concerts: 10:00 PM Friday and Saturday! No admission price to enter that I know of, I believe there's a 21+ age limit. As usual for Nixxon Dixxon shows, expect a great night of hard rock and metal covers and some high quality originals from a band that will surely be one of the area's finest bands in the coming years, as long as they keep on with what they're doing! For more from Nixxon Dixxon, including photos, concert listings, and more, visit their official MySpace page! Go see them if you can this weekend, you'll have a good time! And if not, no worries, they'll be at Kewadin Casino next weekend! For a video preview, here's Nixxon Dixxon covering the Metallica classic "Master of Puppets" from their most recent New Years Eve show!



And now, three assorted updates to help clear out some smaller stories from my newsdesk...or the internet equivalent of a newsdesk. These are in order by band name!:

• If you've noticed a new band on the band links on the left of the page named April Eyes, that's actually not a new band. That's the new name for Lorax guitarist Mitch Sirie's solo project, which was previously called By The Gods. It doesn't look like much else is different, but check Mitch's stuff out! His solo stuff is surprisingly solid, I'd love to see April Eyes play a show if he got some other musicians together! After all, music described as the product of prog and death metal raping folk and indie rock can't be all bad!
• Bad Side's return to the concert scene is being bolstered with another upcoming concert! Not local, but worth mentioning, and it is closer to here! The local classic hard rockers will be a part of L3 Lucky Lake Live, an three-day-long August concert festival in Muskegon! No word on what day they'll be on (click here for as much details as I know), but notable bands like Pop Evil and Sponge will be among the performers! Great to hear that they're on another show, fingers crossed there's a local one too sooner or later!
• You guys wondering where Caveman Morrison have been in recent weeks? Well, it appears there's been a band member changeover. According to a Facebook status update from him yesterday, Social Play frontman Dutch Vanderploeg has officially joined Caveman Morrison! Click here for my source. Presumably he's replacing Rick White on bass, but the band have not made an official announcement concerning a lineup change. Looks legit, but when something 100% verified comes out, I'll let you all know!

That's all for this quick post, my next update will include news on an upcoming new local music webzine (not mine!), assorted news on Doom Cannon, the Downtown Showdown battle of the bands, Mike Libertoski, and more! Stay tuned!

When Might Kiss Be Coming? Plus, Lots Of New Videos, And More!

So, are you guys craving some new local metal news and updates? As always, I've got your fix! Today, we have potential news on a certain postponed major concert, more videos (seems like we're getting piled with those lately) and some cool Kewadin Casino related stuff!! I have more assorted news to tack on to tomorrow's post as well, so keep note of that! Here we go!

So Kiss fans, have you been voting in this month's poll about your current feelings on the upcoming Kiss show? Vote on the right if you haven't yet. I won't publicize vote totals, because I don't want to swing voting in any choice's favour, but if you're voting for "I don't think they're coming at all", this might make you reconsider. Now, because of the December postponement, Kiss guaranteed we'd be getting a concert this summer, right? Well, FINALLY, official band sources (as in, Gene Simmons' Twitter account) have confirmed that Kiss will kick off their next North American tour in August! Gene's latest tweet says "...And yes, KISS is coming to North America again, starting Aug. See you all then. " Sure, a Sault Ste. Marie date isn't explicitly implied, but they have promised they'd be back, and they are a band of the word. Locally, we should know that, because they did play a makeup show in 2006 at Kewadin Casino after backing out in 2005 for that Japanese tour. Mark my words, skeptics, Kiss are coming, they will keep their word, and though maybe the show won't be announced immediately, they will, I have faith! Remember, Gene loves cash, and Kiss fans here will help with that!

Three new videos to share with you guys today, and kicking things off is a clip from the TV series Aux Weekly, which airs on the Canadian specialty channel Aux. And this video features none other than Lion Ride! Now, why would a local band be on a national cable channel? Well, it's because of their participation in The Great Canadian T-Shirt Battle, which took place on March 25th at The Hideout in Toronto! As it turns out, this battle of the bands had more going for it than just giving the top band 200 free t-shirts. The clothing company that put the battle on, Me To We Style, use organic cotton in their clothes and ensure fair wage distribution, as well as donating half their profits to Free The Children! Me To We Style put the battle on due to their affiliation with The Juno Awards and to promote sustainability within the entertainment industry.

Lion Ride themselves appear at 1:29 during some mid-performance clips for about 8 seconds. Then at 2:01, all four official members of Lion Ride are featured for a 16 second interview segment, where drummer Iron Mike Bison talks about the musical benefits this kind of event can have. Nice to see them get this kind of profile, but I have one complaint: Barely any Lion Ride music to hear, just some muffled background music of theirs during the interview. But it's still great to check out, even though they didn't win, they're winners to us! Ignore the ad at the beginning and check it out, hopefully more local bands get exposure like this soon!



Next up, SBD, the new experimental hard rock project from members of No Arrow and The Chintzy Slicks, have launched their very own YouTube channel! SBD videos had previously been hosted on frontman Dann Pichette's YouTube channel, but now those, and much more, have their own home to themselves! And by "much more", I mean 56 videos already! A number were jam session clips uploaded a few months ago, including the excessively fragmented clips of their song "Rock Paper Scissors" from Dann's channel, along with some newer jam stuff uploaded last week. But most excitingly to me is a whole pile of videos from SBD's first ever live concert, from last Friday at Foggy Notions! Looks like the band had a few camera guys filming the show, and as a result, there's tons of clips from the show online, of varying quality and length! Some even have some post-production effects (that mirrored effect in particular), and even some clips from their set breaks, including a performance by "Homeless Harry" outside of Foggy's during one of the breaks!

As for the SBD material itself, sounds good to me! Amongst covers of Pink Floyd, Mystery Machine, and Link Wray, there's lots of intriguing originals with odd titles and experimental trippiness! Some songs are more like No Arrow than I think they'd like to admit, while others try lots of unique stuff! Hard to describe some SBD stuff in ways, but that's a positive comment! It sucks that I missed the show, but thanks to the band for all the video uploads! Click here to check out dozens of SBD clips, and right here, I'll show you their performance of the song "POW! Right In The Kisser" from their debut concert!



My final video is a third demo clip from new local rockers WinkStinger! Once again, we have a video slideshow featuring a fragment of a new song, this time entitled "(Deeeerp)", which was uploaded onto YouTube user joeyvelcro's channel on Saturday! Sounds good too, more of the punk influenced hardcore I'm coming to expect, though this time, there's a slower jazzier interlude in it too, which is interesting! Hopefully we'll see more from WinkStinger in the near future, maybe a MySpace page or a show? If I hear more, I'll be sure to let you guys know! For now though, check out their newest demo clip!



Finally for today, here's a little goodie of sorts that I recently found on Kewadin Casinos' website! If you highlight "Entertainment" on the navigation bar at the top of the page, one of the choices that pops up is "Concert Pictures", and if you click that, you're taken to a photo page with photos and some related captions and info from various concerts/events at The Dreammakers Theater and outdoors, including Saving Abel, Kenny Rogers, MMA legend Dan Severn, Hoobastank, and Keith Urban (did you know his show had a higher attendance than Kiss?!), along with (for us metalheads) Kiss and Staind! These photos are NOT high resolution at all, but it's cool to see Kewadin recognize their past shows! And though I am NOT a fan of country music, the overhead crowd shot from the Keith Urban show is really cool!

That's not all though! Above the photos, it says "If you attended a meet and greet, view our photo page." Click "photo page", and you will get pictures from meet and greets at Kewadin involving bands who performed at The Dreammakers Theatre! I never even knew they had so many meet and greets, why isn't this plugged on their page more often? Well anyway, there are pictures (still none that are high res) from meet and greets with Brenda Lee, Wynonna Judd, and....Ace Frehley! Yes, he had a meet and greet/photo session with fans prior to his November show, and 13 pictures from it are on that page, including a couple faces that look slightly familiar! Nice to see Kewadin recognize their old shows and performers, they should update these pages with newer and older shows as well! Just plug the meet and greets more and make the pictures bigger! See, if you just explore websites more, who knows what you'll find, like all the band links on the SMS!

That's all for now, I have a pile of assorted news to come tomorrow, along with previews of this weekend's Tym Morrison and Nixxon Dixxon shows, so stay tuned for all of that! Rock on!

A New Battle Of The Bands, A Concert Cancellation, Bad Side's Return, And More!

I'm home! And now, SMS stuff gets back on a normal schedule, and today's a nice packed post! I have lots of assorted stories to get to, some more positive than others, and we'll start with a newly announced battle of the bands!

Yes, we're getting another Battle of the Bands in Sault Ontario, the first one since the Scotties Tournament/Sault College battle in February! Called "Downtown Showdown", it will be put on by The Sault Youth Association and The Fresh Magazine, and will be taking place at The Oddfellows Hall on May 28th! Finally, another new show there, what's up with the lack of concerts there in recent months? This is a "battle royale for band supremacy" according to the poster, and we can witness this for FREE! Now who doesn't love free concerts? A start time of 7:00 PM is listed for the battle, so it could be feasible to go to this AND Phatstick at Foggy's in the same night! Now, metalheads, are you asking yourself which bands are playing? We don't know, and that's where you come in!

The call is out for bands to sign up to compete in the battle, so here's what you need to know! The only restriction is that your band MUST only have members 25 years old or younger (remember, it's the Sault YOUTH Association putting this on.) The registration fee is just $25, nice and affordable! If you and your band are interested in taking part, e-mail joe@thefreshmagazine.com or tiffythompson@thefreshmagazine.com, or call the SYA at 946-1299! No definite word on any specific bands yet, but when I hear something, especially if it concerns a metal band, you'll be sure to hear it here! But think about signing up, cause there's mad prizes at stake! Get more information on this battle at this location!

Next up, it looks like an upcoming concert was cancelled. The planned show next Monday with Alaskan and Killing Queens at The Rockstar Bar appears to have been dropped from their tour itinerary, as neither band lists the show on their respective MySpace page right now. What happened to the concert? No idea, but The Rockstar Bar haven't plugged the show at all, so who knows. Sad to see the show get apparently called off, I was really looking forward to it, and I was glad to have helped the bands get a booking here! Both are great sounding extreme bands, hopefully they actually will be here one of these days!

Alright, let's get to more positive news now! And it concerns the return of a prominent local band! Sault Michigan hard rockers Bad Side are coming back from their "break" for their first live performances since last fall! Sadly, they're not local shows, but they are back, so here's what you need to know! On June 27th, Bad Side will hit Milwaukee, Wisconsin as one of the supporting performers on that night's portion of this year's Milwaukee Summerfest! No word on when that day or on what stage, but they'll join notable performers like B.B. King, Less Than Jake, and Justin Bieber on that day's lineup! The day before, Bad Side will play their first show in months when they play at Smokin' Joes in West Allin, Wisconsin, which should be awesome! It's great seeing Bad Side back, I was worried about their future last fall, hopefully they'll be back home for some shows soon! My sources for the above information come from Bad Side's Facebook page. Oh, and for your reference, guitarist Jason Mapes' solo project is still going strong, he recently finished recording a new solo demo called "Time Has No Mercy"! Can't wait to hear that either!

Now, just some minor updates on Bret Michaels, who is definitely on the road to recovery from his brain hemorrhage! He's the cover story of the new issue of People Magazine, where he talks about his health ordeal, so if you're a fan of his, you will want to pick up a copy! Some excerpts from the interview are available to read at this location. Nothing I've heard in the last week has pointed to any major downturns in his condition, nor have they caused a complication for his show here in Sault Michigan in July, and really, the slowing down of news on his condition is good! Nothing bad to report, he must be getting better! If there's something else of note I could share on Bret, it's this: His co-headliner on July 22nd, Vince Neil, was interviewed about his thoughts on Bret's medical problems, and you can see what Vince had to say by clicking here! Things are definitely looking up, if I hear anything that will positively or negatively impact Bret's show here at the Kewadin Casino 25th Anniversary Summer Festival, I'll be sure to let you guys know!

Finally for today, did you guys happen to turn your radio dials to 89.5 FM at 5:00 PM on Saturday? Well, if you didn't, you missed something cool, in a local music sense! Amanda Putz from CBC Radio One's art/culture program Bandwidth conducted part one of an interview with SooToday's own Donna Hopper about the local music scene! The two discussed how the Soo could be compared to Memphis, Tennessee for it's strong blues/roots scene (Sudbury would be Nashville), and discussed a selection of notable local bands, including The Floyd Lee Band (due to local guitarist Joel Poluck's involvement), Al Wood & The Woodsmen, DJ Seith, Kalle Mattson, and The Granola People! Nice interview, Donna shared some cool information on the above bands, and I learned how to finally pronounce a few names correctly too!

Now why am I mentioning this when none of the bands were metal? Simple: That's just part one, part two will have some heavier bands, Donna Hopper confirmed this in a Facebook status update! So if you wanna hear some CBC Radio One plugs and info on some heavier bands, and some blues/country stuff as well, the second half of Amanda Putz' interview with Donna on Bandwidth will be in about a month! Once I find out a confirmed day, you guys will for sure know about it! I wonder who'll get mentioned? CBC Radio One needs heavier stuff, but either way, local press of any genre is always welcome!

That's all for today, my next update will have another new demo from WinkStinger, the event page for some upcoming shows, and hopefully much more! Stay tuned!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Phatstick), Sneaky Pete Updates, And Three New Local Videos!!!

Hey there, metalheads! Another exciting post chock full of local metal news today, including three new videos that should interest you all, the first audio samples from a new local band, and starting things off, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!!!

They're baaaaaaack! St. Catharines metal band Phatstick, featuring Saultites Jason Taillefer and Joe LaVergne, are coming back to Sault Ontario near the end of the month! They'll be back at Foggy Notions on May 28th for what has to be their first local show in at least a couple of years! I can't tell you much else about the show yet, the Facebook event page does not go into detail, but it looks like a done deal! A 10:00 PM start time is listed, and knowing shows at Foggy's, I would expect a cover charge of around $3. After hearing about Jason's solo show here on April 27th, I never would have guessed Phatstick would be back so soon! And you can guaran-damn-tee I'll be there! I'm a fan of Phatstick's, I've never had the chance to see them live before (thank you, drinking age), and this show's over my 21st birthday weekend to boot! I'll keep you guys posted as I here more on this special show, and of course, I recommend heading to Phatstick's official website to check them out!

Next up, the first audio recordings from new local hard rockers Sneaky Pete have been posted online! Recorded on a mounted handheld recording device, the songs are not of any amazing quality, but these are our first glimpses into the Sneaky Pete sound! The band uploaded four audio clips onto their Facebook page, including AC/DC, Velvet Revolver, Kiss, and Neil Young covers! On first listen, I do see some promise, these guys are definitely good musicians and handle the covers pretty well, though I don't know if AC/DC is the best band for them to cover vocally. I like their version of "Cold Gin" especially! I also think the band were too hard on themselves for the recording quality, it's not like we were expecting Stereo Soul-esque production on live covers from a jam session. Pretty good stuff, I can't wait to hear more from Sneaky Pete, hopefully they'll take the live stage before you know it!

The end of today's post will have three new local metal videos! There's been no shortage of new videos lately, has there? The first new video I have today is a performance from Thursday's Derelict-headlined death metal show at Foggy Notions, which I heard went very well by most accounts! I haven't seen video of Derelict, Thekillingfield, or Bring The Fallen yet, but there is video online from Beyond Within's set, courtesy of their official YouTube channel! It's of their performance of their song "Mechanical Infection", and it makes me wish I was there for it even more! Sound is slightly muddled at parts, but I'm impressed, as always! I miss seeing Beyond Within live, can't beat Northern Ontario death metal! Check out the clip below, hopefully there's more from the show floating around!



Secondly for new videos is the clip I promised a few days ago before a bunch of new news stories got bunched in the way. And this is newly posted video footage from Megadeth's set from their March 2007 show with Heaven and Hell and Down at the now-Essar Center! YouTube user exyurock uploaded this just 5 days ago, and he got the year wrong on dating the video, but it still has pretty good audio quality, and not just because Megadeth are an awesome band! The video's far from the stage though. The clip includes Megadeth's performance of "Symphony of Destruction", followed by the very beginning of "Hangar 18", and you can check it out immediately below! Nice to see more video pop up online from this show, I wonder what else is floating around from older shows like this?

Finally for today's update is another new Woods of Ypres live video, courtesy of frontman David Gold's YouTube channel! Amongst some new videos of his vacations to Vietnam and Finland is a new clip from the band's Western Canada tour last August, this time coming from their show in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan! It's mostly of their performance of the song "Crossing The 45th Parallel", but it also features a lighthearted opening "warm-up" segment where David goes...a little bit country? I won't spoil it, just watch it! Oh, and it's pretty good quality. I've always enjoyed this song too, so that helps!



That's all for today, my next post (which in all likelihood will be after I get home tomorrow night) will include news on a local band's return, Bret Michaels' health, what appears to be some local hard rock/metal mention on CBC Radio One, and more! Stay tuned, everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Tym Morrison & Turner Up) And Weekend Concert Previews!!

Ah, the joys of being out of town, you're more likely to miss certain things, and I missed some concerts over the last couple of days to give you guys. But luckily, they haven't happened yet, so there's still time to push the cause and get you all out to them! So here are some (apologetically) short notice LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!!! Stay tuned afterwards for the rest of the previews of this weekend's stacked concert lineup!

Firstly, Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison will be back for four more solo sets, the first two of which are taking place THIS WEEKEND! Tym will bring his acoustic solo show to The Nicolet Tavern tomorrow and Saturday night, at a venue I don't think he's played before as a solo artist, though Caveman fans will no doubt remember seeing the full band there in December! Then, he'll be at Coch's Corner for shows next Friday and Saturday as well! Those two shows aren't publically announced, but Tym confirmed them with me via e-mail and asked if I could plug them, so I'm doing just that! This weekend's shows at the Nicolet are posted with 9:30 PM start times, I'd expect next weekend's Coch's Corner shows start at a similar hour. I wouldn't expect a cover charge either, but make sure you're 19! Sorry again about the short notice for these new shows, being away is rough. Confirm your attendance for Tym's Nicolet Tavern shows at this location! If you want to hear some great acoustic hard rock and metal covers and enjoy a cold one, you'll know where to be this weekend! Check out more solo material from Tym Morrison (and some Caveman stuff) at his official website!

The other new shows this weekend, and again, with my apologies for the late warning, come courtesy of local hard rock cover stars Turner Up, who will be back at The Rockstar Bar this weekend themselves! From 10:30 PM onward tomorrow and Saturday, get ready to rock out and dance to some great rock covers, and some heavier stuff later in their set! No cover charge, you must be 19. These should also be good shows, and for the record, these were announced late too, so it's not completely my fault for their late announcement. So if you want to get on the dance floor with one of the area's more prominent local cover bands, The Rockstar Bar is the place to be! Confirm your attendance at the Facebook event page, check out more from Turner Up at this location, and for a preview, here's video of the band covering the Def Leppard classic "Hysteria"!


The rest of the shows this weekend are next, so these are just weekend concert previews, and we'll start with possibly the biggest one of all! TONIGHT, Holy Hell Productions presents Derelict, live at Foggy Notions! The Montreal-based progressive death metal rockers will make their way here on their Northern Shores tour, and will deliver an onslaught of death metal we don't see here nearly enough! Awesome band, they've supported bands like Job For A Cowboy live and have three albums to their credit, all full of unrelenting yet melodic death metal! Joining them are Sudbury's Beyond Within and North Bay's Thekillingfield, both making their first stop in Sault Ste. Marie since their show supporting Cattle Decapitation last March at The Oddfellows Hall! Beyond Within's extreme death metal sound will be quite familiar to local concert goers, themselves a frequent sight here, while Thekillingfield will bring their more experimental style here for just the second time! Rounding out the lineup is the Soo's very own Bring The Fallen, in their first local concert since performing at the Nite-Life portion of Algoma Hope4Haiti! No disrespect to any other local bands, but Bring The Fallen are the absolute best fit to open this concert, what with their awesome death metal sound and all! Click the above links to check out all four bands!

The concert will take place TONIGHT at Foggy Notions with an advertised start time of 10:00 PM. Despite past history for Beyond Within shows in town, this concert will NOT be all ages. Tickets have been adjusted to $7 flat at the door, a dollar cheaper than they were to cost at the door, so there's some good value! It's not often that we get such great value out of one bill at a local concert, it seems rarer and rarer that we get a package show like this with so much heaviness! You guys have gotta hit this, make it a success and encourage more shows like this one! That way, out of town multi band metal concerts can become normal again, not just a one off event. Confirm your attendance at the Facebook event page, and for a preview, here's the music video for Derelict's single "Machete"!

Then tomorrow night, head back to Foggy Notions for the debut live performance from local experimental hard rockers SBD, the new project from No Arrow frontman Dann Pichette and bassist Brad Griffifth! In what is being hyped as "a rare public performance", expect some CD giveaways and lots of unique, hard to categorize music far from the grunge sound that No Arrow brought to the table in the 2000s! Also joining in support is The Fury, the local genre-less band featuring ex-members of Out Of The Mouth Of Babes and D.O.T.H.! 19+, $3 admission, the fun starts at 10:00 PM. This should be a fun concert and one of the most unique shows you'll be likely to see this year, as both bands are hard to categorize, but will no doubt entertain! Personally, it's nice to see Dann back on stage, I really miss No Arrow, and even if this isn't close in sound, it's still been a long time coming! To confirm your attendance for this show, click here, click the above links to check out the bands, and for a video preview, here's the beginning of a jam room clip of SBD playing the song "Rock Paper Scissors"! (Click here to view the rest of the song)



Quick detour to Sault Michigan for the only two local metal concerts there this weekend that I know of, as local hard rockers Blind Baby appear to be returning to the local stage! Well, I'm going by Kewadin Casino's entertainment page for this, as Kewadin is advertising Blind Baby as playing there this weekend at The Rapids Lounge. As best as I can tell, the concerts (taking place tomorrow night and Saturday night) will be at 9:00 PM both nights with no cover charge. But that's as much as I can tell you, as Blind Baby's lone page (on Facebook) is rarely updated so I don't have band confirmation. But, Kewadin Casino's website is valid proof in itself, so I'd say believing it isn't a bad idea! They look like a good band, no idea how they sound, but if you want a band to check out this weekend in Sault Michigan, there's an option! If I hear more on Blind Baby, I'll let you all know!

Finally this weekend is one of the strangest genre clash concerts we're likely to get this year, and the metal band that's taking part will be local punk/metal band Destroilet! Returning to Coch's Corner for their second ever concert, the band chock full of local music veterans will take the stage with two acts you wouldn't expect, both of which come from the rap world! Toronto underground rappers The Hobo Banditos and solo artist Unknown Mizery will make their way up here for this unique hybrid concert, hyped under the name "Hobo Banditos & Unknown Mizery vs. Destroilet"! Does the "vs." imply a collaboration? We'll have to see! The show starts at 10:00 PM on Saturday night, it's also 19+, and will have a $10 cover at the door. I honestly think this show will draw more rap fans than punk fans, but if you go for Destroilet, you're bound to be entertained! Hopefully they'll have some great old school punk and metal to rock the rap fans to the core on Saturday! Click the above links to check out the involved bands, confirm your attendance at this location, and for a preview, here's Destroilet covering the Hank Williams III song "Tennessee Driver" from their debut show from December!



There, all of this weekend's shows are previewed, hopefully you guys can make it to some of them and make them successes! I'll miss them all because I will still be out of town (sadly, I REALLY wanted to see Derelict), but PLEASE go to some shows this weekend! My next update should have that video from the older major local concert I found, possibly some Bret Michaels health updates, and more depending on what I can locate! Stay tuned!

Lion Ride's New Song, The Bear's Sort-Of Local Return, Bret Michaels Update, And New Woods Of Ypres Videos!

Packed update for today, including some pretty big stuff all around! New material from a prominent local band, very encouraging news concerning Bret Michaels, the return of a greatly missed local radio station, and some cool new local videos! Let's begin!

The first brand new studio material from Lion Ride's forthcoming full length album was posted online yesterday, and is now available for streaming! Entitled "Stick It In", it's currently available to check out on the band's official MySpace page! Of course, this will be one of the many songs on their new CD, tentatively scheduled for a summer release! I highly recommend checking it out, seeing as it's the first new studio material from them that we've heard since 2008. What do I think of the song? I'll hold judgement until the album comes out, I try to do that with new studio material from local bands. I wonder what you guys think though, will your opinion differ from the mostly positive feedback I've seen so far? The band even started a Facebook event page to hype the new song's unveiling, click the link to "join" and post your opinion! As I hear more on Lion Ride's new album and recording sessions, I'll be sure to let you all know!

Next up, are you classic rock fans missing 97.9 Classic Rock: The Bear still? Well, here's some news that I'm positive will get your attention: It's back in the Upper Peninsula, and a good radio here can pick it up! WLJZ out of Mackinac City (94.5 FM) is now broadcasting The Bear, basically replacing our old local WIHC feed from Newberry. The switch was made late last month, the latest format change for a station that has had a bit of an identity crisis. WLJZ was a soft rock station from 1989-1992, then an adult contemporary station until 1995, then playing a smooth jazz simulcast until 1998, then simulcasting with Northern Michigan's Modern Rock: The Zone out of Traverse City until 2006, then becoming a variety station (to my chagrin) until 2008, when it became Big Country Gold. And NOW, the Big Country Gold feed has been moved to 1240 AM (WCBY), replacing the old adult standards format on that station, paving the way for The Bear's return to U.P. FM radio on 94.5 FM!

Though I honestly wouldn't have wanted to have disrupted a station's format to get The Bear back (I feel bad for old fans of WCBY), I am glad to see it return to the area! Now it will pick up about as well as Real Rock 105.1 out of Cheboygan, if not better, and it gives us four local hard rock/metal radio options in the Sault area: The easy to pick up Rock 101 and WLSO, and The Bear & Real Rock 105.1 from the Mackinac Bridge area, which are admittedly patchy to recieve in the Sault, but can still be picked up! Great news, hopefully you guys take notice, be you fans of Bob and Tom, Alice Cooper, the great classic rock, or all of the above! When I get home, I'll be listening to 94.5 FM! And for your reference, The Bear now has a feed in Mio, Michigan too, giving them four Michigan affiliates at present!

Thirdly today, great news concerning Bret Michaels' health, and this will definitely be encouraging for those of you still hoping to see him on July 22nd at Kewadin Casino! At yesterday afternoon's press conference in Phoenix by the doctors who are treating him, it was revealed that Bret has been discharged from his initial hospital and is currently recieving physical therapy at another location. His hemorrhage is by no means completely cured, but his doctors believe he will make a 100% recovery! According to his doctor, he's talking well and is completely aware, but is having trouble walking. He also is suffering from a sodium deficiency and has some back and head pain from blood drainage, and will be monitored closely in the event that there's a downturn in his condition. Great news mostly, I want you guys to keep Bret in your thoughts still, cause he's not out of the woods yet! No guarantees he'll be here as scheduled in July, but things are looking up! Check the links below for more news on Bret Michaels' health, and to watch the doctors' press conference:

Sister: BRET MICHAELS 'Not Faking' Illness

BRET MICHAELS Will 'Make A 100 Percent Recovery'

Doctor: BRET MICHAELS Has Been Discharged From Hospital

BRET MICHAELS' Sister Says Singer Is 'Starting To Walk A Little Bit'

BRET MICHAELS Making An 'Amazing Recovery'

(P.S. If anyone is wondering why we've donated so much coverage to Bret Michaels lately when he's not a local musician, the reason is because of his health's potential impact on the Kewadin Casino 25th Anniversary Summer Festival. There is a clear local connection, and Poison/Bret Michaels fans definitely want to be kept updated. Besides, when's the last time a major hard rock musician got sick/hurt before a planned concert? Probably David Lee Roth and his back injury before his planned 2005 show at Kewadin, and if the SMS was alive then, you'd bet I'd be covering that! So in short, this has a local connection, and many people do care!)

Closing today's post is new local metal videos from local blackened doom metal mainstays Woods of Ypres, and no, they're not continuations of the vague Krankenhaus Records shut-down/merch sell-off video from last week. In fact, they're five new concert clips from shows 2008 onward, and one that's a bit lighter hearted! Four come from the band's Western Canada tour from last August, including a clip from their Regina show of the band playing "By The Time You Read This (I Will Already Be Dead)", one from their Toronto show of the band playing "Your Ontario Town Is A Burial Ground", and most excitingly, two videos from their most recent local show during that tour, when they rocked The Speakeasy! One is also a performance of "Your Ontario Town Is A Burial Ground", the other features the band playing "Crossing The 45th Parallel"! Among the new uploads, there's also a lighthearted 15 second clip from their time in Edmonton on that tour as frontman David Gold played air drums with barbeque ribs to an Amon Amarth song! Amusing!

But the one I'm going to link here comes from the band's tour in the fall of 2008, during the brief period where the Woods of Ypres lineup included the entire 2008-09 lineup of Gates of Winter (or as I affectionately call it, the "Gates of Ypres" era!) This clip comes from a show in November 2008 in Sudbury, of the band playing the songs "Shams of Optimism" and "Crossing The 45th Parallel"! Check it out below, the rest of the videos by clicking the above links, or by visiting David Gold's YouTube channel! Great stuff, good quality for all the videos, hopefully there's more lurking around!



That's all for now, tomorrow's update WILL include previews of this weekend's Derelict, SBD, Destroilet, and Blind Baby concerts, all of which I hope you'll consider hitting! I'd try and be at at least a couple, so I'm counting on you guys to make them successes! Also look out for a new video from a major local metal concert from way back in 2007 that recently made it's way to YouTube! Stay tuned everyone!

Lion Ride & Bret Michaels Updates, Duane Roy's Next Book, And New Local Videos

Hey there, local metalheads! I finally have a moment to update you all on some of the new stories and happenings in the Sault metal universe! There's probably more stories I haven't heard about, but let's get 5 up for all to see, and we'll get to the others in the coming days!

Firstly, we finally get to the Lion Ride updates I promised over the last while! Again, my apologies for pushing them ahead, I didn't want them to get lost among the new stuff that needed to be mentioned as soon as possible. Lion Ride have begun recording sessions for their first full-length album which they were working on at BWC Studios in Brampton from Tuesday to Friday! The yet untitled disc will of course be their first with Iron Mike Bison on drums, and will feature guitarist Marky Lion playing bass on the four tracks that were just recorded! Daily updates from the recording studio were published on the band's Facebook page, and with terms like "crushing jams" and "the loudest, rudest, raddest songs ever recorded" being thrown around, you know this must be good! During the span of the recording sessions, Lion Ride also played a show at The Foxx Lounge in Barrie, all accounts say it went well! There's also a photo album from the recording sessions on Facebook featuring producer Greg Dawson and most of the band! All sounds good on the Lion Ride front, I can't wait for their show here in three weeks, maybe we'll get a taste of their new album? Fingers crossed!

Next up, let's go over some assorted updates on the health of Poison singer Bret Michaels, who still does indeed hope to play here at the Kewadin Casino 25th Anniversary Summer Festival in July! Tuesday at noon, doctors treating him for his brain hemorrhage and related ailments will hold a press conference in Phoenix, Arizona (where he's currently located) to further detail his progress, condition, and future outlook. As of Thursday, he was still recieving testing and treatment, and from what I've read, things are no worse for his health, so there is reason to be hopeful! One of his doctors was quoted as saying that "his sheer will to live and fully recover is undeniable." Very nice to see! I haven't heard a whole lot else, but nothing seems to indicate a major step back in his health, so that's a welcome sign. Maybe he'll be here after all! As always, when I hear more major news on Bret Michaels' health, I'll have it for you guys! Here's more links for my above information:

Doctor: BRET MICHAELS' Sheer Will To Live And Fully Recover Is Undeniable

BRET MICHAELS' Doctors To Hold Press Conference Next Tuesday

BRET MICHAELS: 'Behind The Music' Episode To Re-Air Tonight

RATT Drummer Wishes BRET MICHAELS A Speedy Recovery

Alright, so do you remember when we gave some coverage last year to Wawa author Duane Roy and his book "Castle Stories: A Rock N' Roll Scrapbook" about concerts from the old Castle Farms in Charlevoix, Michigan? Well, work on his next book has officially begun, and this definitely has a major local connection! If you remember correctly, his next book was planned to be similar to "Castle Stories", but would instead feature stories, restrospectives, pictures, stubs, and assorted goodies from shows at Sault Memorial Gardens! And that is exactly what this new book will be about, and he needs YOUR help! He's apparently close to finishing the book, but the call is still out to find people who attended concerts at the Gardens to submit stories and artifacts, and if you have any, he'd love to see them! If you attended a Sault Memorial Gardens concert and would like to submit stories and/or concert memorabilia to Duane for his new book, e-mail him at duane@duaneroy.com! Remember, metalheads, the Gardens played host to bands like Rush, Ted Nugent, Alice Cooper, Helix, and Great White, among likely others, and Duane's a definite metalhead (his tales in "Castle Stories" are proof), so this will be a must-read! Read David Helwig's SooToday article about it at this location, and yes, I WILL REVIEW "CASTLE STORIES" THIS SUMMER!!!!

Closing today's update are two new local metal videos! Firstly, want a glimpse into the next Stillbroke CD? This very well could be one, so pay attention! It's an acoustic solo perfomance of what could be a new Stillbroke song by frontman Jesse Frigault that was uploaded onto the band's YouTube channel on Friday! Entitled "Drifting Away", Jesse performs it on the hood of a car at nighttime, interesting setting choice! Well performed, though I can't help but think that this would sound much better plugged in. Jesse's using his heavier vocals a lot here while keeping a nice melody, I think this would fit much better with an electric guitar. Good though, I wonder how this will sound in concert? Check it our below!



Finally, we come to a new 98 second demo clip from that new local band WinkStinger that I discussed in my update last Monday! Entitled "CheeseGraderFace", it's not mixed or mastered, but it has lots of promise! Reminds me of newer metalcore bands in ways, with punkier vocals, if that makes sense. Hopefully they start gigging soon, I'd love to see them live! Check out the clip below, thanks to YouTube user joeyvelcro for the upload! Oh, and for your reference, they DID find a bassist, thanks to Jason Ladouceur for confirming that on the SMS Facebook page!



That's all for now, I guarantee I'll have another post by Wednesday! Tough being out of town, but I'm managing! I'll be back this weekend though, but until then, I'll update when I can, so keep your browsers pointed here!