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

Hey everybody, it's that time of the week again, where there's local metal concerts to preview for you guys! Following that, I have another new local band that I found on MySpace, and some more updates, so let's get right to it!

We shall begin in Sault Ontario, where tomorrow night, there will be some hard rock on an indie show! Locals Quite Frankly will be among the performers at a concert tomorrow night at The Speakeasy at Algoma University! This show will be headlined by indie rockers The Outside Lights (featuring Lorax bassist Nathan Bouliane), with fellow locals The Narrow Door Band and Caddy Street Avenue also on the bill! Sure, this show isn't entirely metal, but I know some of you guys like indie/alternative music, so click on each band's name to check out their material!

Tickets are just $5 at the door, doors open at 6:30 PM, and yes, it is ALL AGES! The bar will also be open for those of you 19+ers who wanna have a wobbly pop! As for Quite Frankly, they'll make this show even more rocking with their unique brand of hard rock! Sure, they just play covers, but the band are very talented, including ex-members of bands like No Arrow and Devastation of the Heavens, and will no doubt put on a great show tomorrow night! I don't have any videos to show you guys yet, but I hope to real soon! Check them out on Facebook!

Also, on Friday night, Windsor rock and roll band Time will be playing at Coch's Corner! The first in a number of shows at Coch's Corner in the next couple weeks, Time will take the stage at 10:00 PM! Admission is free, as is standard there, but remember to buy some drinks and have a good time! Time are a really good band with a nice classic rock sound, but with an added modern/heavy flair! Give them a listen at their official MySpace page, maybe you'll be a fan and wanna go see them on Friday! And for a preview, here's a video slideshow set to their original "White Window"!



Now we'll head to Sault Michigan for the rest of the weekend metal shows! Now, when you hear of shows in Sault Michigan, they generally occur over consecutive nights on Friday and Saturday, right? Well, here's a little change to that trend! Michigan hard rockers Nudge are playing THREE consecutive shows this weekend at The Satisfied Frog, starting with a special "Nudge-coustic" set tomorrow night, followed by two normal shows on Friday and Saturday! All three shows will take place at 10:00 PM! Though I haven't found any video or audio to show of these guys either, they definitely seem very good, from their extensive tour schedule to the bands they cover (everything from Cheap Trick to System of a Down), so these shows should be well worth attending!

And before I get to the last shows, I do believe the Graveyard Tan shows scheduled for this weekend at The Satisfied Frog are off. Though they still list the shows on their official MySpace page, the Nudge shows make no mention of Graveyard Tan, so I take it they're not playing this weekend. But don't worry, they'll be back here in October!

Finally, Nixxon Dixxon return for a pair of shows this weekend at The Rapids Lounge at Kewadin Casino! Just one week after their appearance at The Sugar Island Fest, they'll play at Kewadin at 9:00 PM Friday and Saturday nights! I've said loads about Nixxon Dixxon in the last few months, they're a great great band with loads of potential, and they're definitely worth your time to go see live! Check them out on MySpace to hear some of their songs! I hope that I can see them one of these days, and now that I'm going to LSSU, and turning 21 in May, it might be a lot easier soon! For a video preview, check out this live clip of Nixxon Dixxon covering the Def Leppard classic "Pour Some Sugar On Me" from a show at The Bird!



Remember, if you guys are going to see any of these bands this weekend, we'd love to hear from you! Now, it's time to alert you guys to a brand new local band I found last night! They are 7/47, a new band who describe their sound as a mix of classic rock and metal! You may recognize frontman Mike Pascoe and lead guitarist Tyler Wall as the guitarists from fellow locals Free Refill! Their MySpace page was launched on August 3rd, and between then and now, they've already played three shows: August 9th at The Satisfied Frog, August 16th at Foggy's, and August 18th at The Soo Theater, but as I didn't know of these guys until yesterday, I never knew of these shows. My bad, but I'll be sure to keep tabs on 7/47 shows and updates from here on out! Check out their official MySpace page, and they're now in the Local Metal Band Links to your right!

Next, I have another new local metal-related business to add to the Other Local Metal Links! It is The Guitar Studio, a new guitar/bass lesson studio started by Shift/Wild Fate guitarist Joey Beairl! They feature personalized guitar and bass programs, and promote a yearly Summer Rock Camp to help budding young musicians form bands and play live shows! Hey, maybe some of you Sault Michigan metal fans wanna learn how to play guitar, this could be a good way to start! If you're interested, contact Joey at this location!

And finally, remember a few weeks ago when I mentioned that No Arrow might be returning to the local scene and finally releasing their debut album "Souls For Sale"? Well, it appears more progress is being made towards that! Frontman Dann Pichette has uploaded two promo videos for the album onto Youtube, featuring two studio-quality songs expected to be featured on the album! The videos feature some well-edited slideshows of band images, but were obviously made with the free pared-down version of a pay video program. You'll see once you check it out. But the songs sound great, here's hoping "Souls For Sale" will definitely see the light of day real soon, it's been so long to wait! Check out the video with "The Pissing Song" at this location, but here's the promo video posted for the song "Genocyde Revealing"!



That's all for today, more news to come very soon! Thanks everyone!

Woods of Ypres In The Press & A New Stillbroke Song, Plus Poll Results & This Month's New Poll!

Bonjour, Sault metalheads! This post has a double purpose: to update you guys on some news items, and to update this month's local metal poll with last month's results and a new question! But before we get that far, it's time for a few updates!

Now as you're all aware, Woods of Ypres rocked Sault Ste. Marie last night (my review's immediately below; check my photos out on Facebook), but recently, they've also been getting lots of press! In Saturday's edition of The Sault Star, Brian Kelly wrote up an article on Woods of Ypres, featuring an interview with frontman David Gold! The article discusses the band's future plans, the meaning of "Your Ontario Town Is A Burial Ground", why he and Woods returned to Sault Ste. Marie on a full time basis, and even the band's possible end! I know it's late to mention this, especially when it plugs yesterday's show, but again, I don't get the paper. It's still a good article, with some interesting hints to the band's future and some cool information on the band's history! If you have Saturday's paper, you can find it there, or online at this location!

But that's not all! Now, if you were at the Woods of Ypres merchandise area at last night's show, you may have noticed a few flyers on the free table, and a couple were of interviews with Woods of Ypres! One is from the May issue of Windsor Arts & Music Monthly (remember, Woods were based out of Windsor originally), and the other is an interview with the now defunct Metal Maniacs magazine from last year! Both are really cool reads, and hopefully some of you guys thought to yank them off of the free table! If they were smaller, I'd scan them to show you, but the copies are bigger than my scanner, so it'd take some work to get a good copy to show. However, WAMM are in the process of re-uploading back issues to their site, so stay tuned to their official website for when Issue 2 returns, cause there will be a Woods interview there!

Finally for Woods-related stuff, I've added the official MySpace page for Woods of Ypres' label, Krankenhaus Records, to the Other Local Metal Links on the right of the page! Krankenhaus is an independent label owned by David Gold that have released all of Woods of Ypres' CDs, among other bands! If you were at Saturday's show, you could have grabbed two free CDs from a pair of Krankenhaus artists, Oshawa death metal band Wetwork (featuring former Woods drummer Chris Mezzabotta) and Vancouver black metal Vanquished! I'll have to give both a listen! The Krankenhaus Records' MySpace page hasn't been updated recently, but for anything Woods of Ypres and Sault-related, I'll be sure to let you guys know!

Now, for some news from a different local band! Local hard rockers Stillbroke have quietly replaced one of the originals on their official MySpace page with a brand new song,"Tear Me To Pieces"! It has taken the place of "Forget", but no worries, we'll still get to hear it on their upcoming EP "Never Enough" when it's released! I like the new song, but I promise to hold full judgment until the EP comes out! As well, the band have announced that some of their songs have been added to the playlist on American internet radio station K94! They'll apparently be on the playlist Mondays between 8:00 and 11:00 PM, so stay tuned to K94 online at this location to see if you hear Stillbroke on a major internet radio station!

Before we get to the poll, I just wanna alert you guys to a few changes I made to the SMS CD review schedule. I had been planning to review the new Sykotyk Rampage album this month, but I haven't heard any word on it yet. August 1st has long since came and went, and with no imminent release being reported, I'm pushing my review of it to next month. In it's place, I have plans to review Lion Ride's debut EP, Awesome, pending my ability to get my hands on a copy! Hopefully, if nothing else, they'll be available at their show August 28th at Coch's Corner, which I fully want to attend! So there's your changes, Lion Ride this month, Sykotyk Rampage next month, and October....no surprise here, Woods IV: The Green Album. I'll keep you guys posted!

And now, we've come to the end of voting in this month's Local Metal Poll! The question I posed was "What was your favourite Sault Michigan metal concert in the first half of 2009?" Well, thanks to the 10 people who voted! I'll chalk up the low totals due to minimal exposure with Sault Michiganders, but I hope to slowly grow the SMS over there with time! The winner of the poll (with 3 votes) was Nixxon Dixxon, who have played numerous shows there this year! I'm a bit surprised, I thought more people would vote for a big show at The Dreammaker's Theater, but it looks like local support won out, and deservingly so! Free Refill and Staind tied for 2nd with two votes each, Bad Side, Kilacel, and "Other" tied for 4th with one vote each, and all the other choices tied for 7th with none.

And now, it's time for a new Local Metal Poll! I was debating a few choices for a question, but I decided to go a bit off-center for this one, and it concerns one way bands make money. Many local bands will produce various types of merchandise to help promote the band, make some money, and hope that the fans will support them. Many of you do your part and buy merchandise, some of you don't tend to. But there's definitely some things that seem more popular than others, and maybe should be more focused on for selling at shows. So I pose this question: What band merchandise would you be most likely to buy at local shows? Here are your choices!

CDs/EPs: Nothing beats getting some new studio material from your favourite local bands, at least to me. Are you the supportive type that will buy their CD at shows?

T-shirts: A standard for many bigger bands like Woods of Ypres and Garden of Bedlam, shirts seem to fly off the merch tables. Is that what you want to buy at shows first and foremost?

Stickers/Buttons: They're cheap to make and cheap to sell, often free! But its that the thing you most like getting, or is it just a side to your main purchase?

Patches: Though not as common in metal circles, patches are an affordable way to accessorize clothing with your favourite bands without paying too much. But are they even worth buying?

Hoodies: Lots of you wear hoodies, but bands don't often produce hoodies for merchandise. How about that, would you buy a hoodie if a local band had them for sale?

Hats/Toques: Some people wanna see their favourite bands on their heads. Are you among them? Would that be your first choice to buy if it was available more at shows?

Posters/Pictures: These aren't common either, but there's a market for them. Look at all the posters and photos at big time shows! Put em on your wall, get them autographed, why not?

Anything affordable: Some of you aren't picky, you'll buy anything if you like the band enough and have the cash. Is this the category you fall in, or do you have specific wants?

Other: Maybe there's some funky thing not listed above that you'd wanna buy with a local band logo on it...hell, it could be anything! Vote here if the #1 thing you wanna get isn't listed!

I'm really interested to see what you guys think in this poll, cause I know a lot of you wanna support local bands, so let's see what's most likely to result in you giving them your cash! That's all for this post, barring a major news story, expect a new post tomorrow night, when I'll preview the weekend's slate of shows, including Quite Frankly, Nudge, and more, so stay tuned for that! Thanks everyone, and VOTE TODAY!!!

Woods of Ypres Concert Review!!

Alright guys, it's time for me to share my thoughts of last night's Woods of Ypres concert at The Speakeasy! Before I mention the concert itself, remember the Fuck The Facts and Woods of Ypres shows last year? Well, as it turns out, I won the framed signed picture draws at BOTH shows, and almost a year later, David from Woods had the prizes and told me I won them both! I couldn't believe it, but hey, I'll take them late! Thanks David!

So the show started with locals Necropolis, and I've gotta say, they surprised me! I mean, I saw them at the YMCA Battle of the Bands, and on Youtube clips, but going in, I wasn't expecting them to be this tight and heavy! Frontman Josh Stephney (who drummed at the YMCA Battle) really got my attention, with vocals more reminiscent of death and grindcore than thrash, it was awesome! The band itself were straight thrash, and it made for a real good mix!

Also, unlike many young local bands, these guys had their entire main set consist of their own originals, only breaking out a Trivium cover for their encore! The band all have great stage presence, guitarists Dan Souliere and Andrew Chiarello also stood out, and they got some very intense pits going! I just wish they'd play more "metal" shows, they get on the lineups of a lot of punk shows, but here's hoping they'll get on more shows like this one!

Following them was Inflict, themselves making their long awaited return to the Soo! And they were equally as brutal as they were last year! Frontman Dan Rogers was definitely channeling much evil with his singing, and the rest of the band tore it down! I've always seen some Lamb of God-ish sounds in these guys, and it definitely shown again tonight! They also got lots of pits going, and with good reason! They also played two brand new songs off of their soon-to-be-released album, which sounded real good as well! I can't be alone in saying I wanna see them back here in the near future!

And closing the night were the band I have been waiting to see live again for 9 months: Woods of Ypres! They delivered on all counts with their music, and they actually sounded heavier and angrier than I remember from last year! David Gold's singing verged on death growling at parts, which was really cool! He and Bryan Belleau were also solid on guitar, and despite no real "solos", the harmonizing and riffs were excellent! New bassist Shane Madden was solid, while his brother Evan did awesome on drums as well! They played fan favourites like "A Meeting Place And Time" and "Thrill Of The Struggle", among others, and (as we expected), "Your Ontario Town Is A Burial Ground"!

Plus, they unveiled two brand new songs for their forthcoming release, "Woods IV: The Green Album", the first of which was very doom metal-like, the second was more black metal. Both sound good, and I can't wait to hear the studio version! I do wish they'd played longer (no encore either), or at least thrown in some more classics, like "Shedding The Deadwood" and "The Northern Cold", but regardless, they kicked ass and lived up to my expectations! It might be the only local show of the year, but I already can't wait for their next concert here in this burial ground we call home!

So yeah, I had loads of fun last night, and I bought myself a Woods t-shirt and a limited edition cassette tape of their first album! That, plus loads of free stuff and the two pictures I won last year, and I'm more than happy! Great great show, and if you weren't there, you missed out! As you can tell, I took lots of pictures, check them out at our official Facebook page! If I hear anything more from the show (i.e. pics, reviews, videos, etc.), I'll let you guys know!

I'll have a post later tonight as well, I have some Woods of Ypres-related stuff to mention, plus a newly posted original from a local band, a CD review schedule change, and maybe some more things, so stay tuned for that tonight! Also, I will have a brand new poll posted on the SMS tomorrow, so if you haven't weighed in on your favourite local show in Sault Michigan in the first half of 2009, VOTE NOW BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!!! I'll see you guys later on!

Interesting Local Metal Videos I Found On YouTube!

Before I begin this post, did anyone notice some things looked a bit different on the SMS lately? Well, I did some minor tweaking to it! I brought back the old "barbed wire" background, and using some HTML edits, I was able to remove the rounded corners from the posts and sidebars (round isn't metal!) Also, all the arrow icons pointing to posts and sidebar items are now blue, and slightly extended so they flow better with their respective backgrounds. Hopefully you guys don't mind the changes, I think they work pretty well!

Now, it's time to share some videos with you guys, videos of the local metal variety! You know I like finding old local metal stuff people may not remember or have heard about, and YouTube is no exception to that! As part of my SMS-related activities, I often search YouTube for anything local metal related, and I figure it's high time I show some vids you guys might be interested in!

First, we'll start with a defunct local metal band named Chillum. They were active in the early-mid 2000s, and I know little else. No pages, no sites, and no band bios. However, they are definitely local, and they have plenty of videos! YouTube user DingersProduction posted seven live videos from a Chillum concert on YouTube in April 2007! Not sure where it is, or when it was shot, but Chillum sound real good in these clips, covering bands like Sepultura, Down, Superjoint Ritual, and Zao! I'd love to find out more about Chillum, and if you can help at all, let me know! For now, check out this clip of Chillum covering the Gwar song "Jack The World"!



Next, I have a video featuring a metal band from a popular cartoon series. No, not Dethklok, I'm talking about Sons of Butcher! These guys are best known from their Teletoon show of the same name that aired from 2005-2007, but they're a real band that release albums and tour as well! They've come to Sault Ontario twice, in November 2006 & June of last year! There's no videos of either concert floating around online, but there is this clip of Sons of Butcher after the 2006 show at a LAUNDROMAT in the Soo, doing (what else) their laundry! Kinda funny, and if you like Sons of Butcher, you should check out this vid! (Thanks to YouTube user crustafarian for the upload!) Also, anyone know what laundromat that is?



Now, here's something you don't see often: A sit down interview with a local metal band! Karen Johns from SooNews.ca conducted an interview with Gates of Winter and producer Miguel Gauthier last year during the recording of their album "Lux Aeterna", and the video is online! The band are asked questions about their music, influences, and how they used the internet for promotion, among other topics! SooNews.ca are kinda infrequent with their video articles and interviews, but when they do a piece like this, it usually turns out well! The band seem happy and close in the interview, and really dedicated to their music, and as we all know, the album was stellar! Nice interview, check it out below!



And finally for this post, we'll go to another interview with a local band, but this one is by a WAY bigger network. Back in 2003, when they were still based in Windsor, Woods of Ypres were interviewed and profiled by CBC's Eric Rosenbaum for a CBC News piece on black metal, and the video is online! Frontman and then-drummer David Gold is interviewed in (where else) the woods, while him and the other members of the band talk about everything from their sound and appeal, to their future and what their music means. There are mistakes ("The Woods of Ypres"? "Black metal, also known as death metal"?!), and you can tell that the CBC knows little about metal in general, but it's a nice piece that explores Woods of Ypres and black metal, and hopefully it gave them some much-deserved exposure! Check it out right here, and thanks to David from Woods for uploading it to YouTube!



So there's some local metal videos you guys should check out! Visit The Sault Metal Scene's official YouTube channel to check out the over 400 local metal videos I've favourited, including concert clips, music videos, jam sessions, single songs, anything as long as it involves a local metal band or concert in some way! ADD US AS A FRIEND OR SUBSCRIBE TO US TOO! That's all for today, I'll see you guys at The Speakeasy tomorrow for the Woods of Ypres show! A review and photos will follow, and I WILL HAVE FREE CDS!!!

This Weekend's Local Concert Previews!

Before I get to local metal news, I gotta mention this, as it is a big story and a sad loss to music. Les Paul, the inventor of the solid body electric guitar, and namesake of the Gibson Les Paul, died today. His pioneering work with guitars and music effects helped make music what it is today, and music as we know it might not be the same today if it wasn't for him. R.I.P., Les! Now, it's time to preview the remainder of this weekend's local concert lineup, as I promised, so here we go!

First, we'll head to Sault Michigan, where a pair of young local metal bands will take the stage at this year's Sugar Island Fest! Tomorrow night at 10:00, Nixxon Dixxon are performing, while Free Refill will play on Saturday night at 8:00 PM! The Sugar Island Fest is an annual event on Sugar Island (the island directly east of the twin Saults) featuring family entertainment from Friday-Sunday to raise money for keeping the area beaches safe! Admission is $10 for all three days! Get more info on The Sugar Island Fest at this location!

I'll talk a bit more about Nixxon Dixxon later in the post, but I'll talk about Free Refill for you guys right now! They're a talented rising young band with lots of promise, and some solid covers of songs you may recognize! Here's a clip of Free Refill covering the Black Sabbath classic "Paranoid"!



Next up, another local band from Sault Michigan will be playing twice this weekend! Hard rockers Jager are back at The Rapids Lounge at Kewadin Casino tomorrow night and Saturday night! Both shows will begin at 9:00 PM! These shows come three weeks after their last shows at Kewadin, which isn't too long of a wait! Check out Jager on their official MySpace page, they have some very solid material, and are well worth checking out live if you can! For a preview, here's a live video of Jager covering the Jet song "Cold Hard Bitch"!



Remember how I said I'd mention Nixxon Dixxon later? Well, later is now! They will also be in the area for a concert Saturday night in Kinross at The Malamute Saloon! This show will take place at 9:00 PM! These guys are really good for their age, they play some great sounding covers, they play lots of shows, they even backed up Bret Michaels last year, so you know they've got the goods! And if you miss them this weekend, never fear, they're at Kewadin Casino next weekend! For a preview, check out this video from a concert this year of their acoustic covers of songs by Seether, Daughtry, and Puddle of Mudd!



And finally, you knew I wouldn't leave you Sault Ontarians out, would I? Especially not with a show of this magnitude! On Sunday night, local black metal band Woods of Ypres make their long awaited return home for what should be a great concert! This will be Woods' first local show in 9 months, and their first featuring their current lineup of David Gold, Bryan Belleau, and Shane & Evan Madden! Joining them will be North Bay metal band Inflict, themselves returning to Sault Ontario for the first time in months! If you like Lamb of God, you should like Inflict! Check them out at this location! Opening will be local thrash band Necropolis, who you may recognize from numerous local shows over the past few months! Check out Necropolis at their official MySpace page!

This show will take place at The Speakeasy at Algoma University Sunday night, with Necropolis opening at 7:00 PM! Tickets are $10 IF you RSVP that you're attending on the Facebook event page! If you don't, the price is $15, so RSVP TODAY!!! Crank Sound Distribution are providing the sound, lots of merchandise will be on sale, and yes, this show is ALL AGES, but still with an open bar!

You can bet your collective asses that I will be at this show, I've been hyped for Woods of Ypres' return for months now! They're arguably the highest profile metal band ever based out of Sault Ontario, they have tons of great songs, and they always put on a great live show! And yes, I will have free CDs to give away as part of The Sault Metal Scene's Free CD Giveaway (At least 5, maybe 10!) As for a video preview of Woods of Ypres to show you guys, here's the music video for their 2007 single "The Northern Cold"!



So there's your previews for the weekend, if you guys are going to any of these shows (or Mr. Denton on Doomsday tonight), let us know! Upon my return, I'll have a review of the Woods of Ypres show and picutres at some point on Monday! Before then, I have a special post planned this weekend where I'll share some interesting local metal videos I've found on YouTube, cause there's some I'd like to show you guys! For now, enjoy this weekend's metal concerts, and I'll see you guys at The Speakeasy on Sunday night!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Garden of Bedlam), A Local Concert Preview, And More!!!

Hey guys, how's everyone doing? I have some news to mention, and I'm gonna do the local concert previews for shows in the coming days, but first, we have a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!!!

Despite no official word on the complete lineup yet, I can now confirm that there will be another metal band at this year's Hempfest! And it's none other than locals Garden of Bedlam! This will be their second performance at Hempfest, having played there last year as well! Garden of Bedlam will take the stage on Friday, August 28th, at 5:00 PM for their set, which should end by 6:30 PM! Garden of Bedlam join Lion Ride as metal acts on this year's Hempfest, though Lion Ride are playing a day after Garden of Bedlam! For more information, visit the official Facebook event page for Garden of Bedlam's set at Hempfest!

Remember, this will be the last Hempfest, due to increasing costs and stricter R.I.D.E. program enforcement, so if you wanna support marijuana use & legalization, and enjoy some live entertainment, this is your last chance! If you want tickets, they are $40 in advance for the entire event! If you're showing up at the gate, tickets are $50 for four days, $40 for three, and $30 for two. It is obviously 19+, and for tickets, call 1-888-215-8970, or go to Planetary Pride's official website! Stay tuned to Hempfest's official website as well for full festival details and updates! And of course, if I hear of any new metal bands on the lineup, I'll be sure to let you guys know!

Now, there are tons of concerts in the next four days, including two shows each for Jager and Nixxon Dixxon, plus concerts featuring Mr. Denton On Doomsday, Free Refill and Woods of Ypres! I contemplated previewing all the shows today, but I figure I'll break it up a tiny bit for length. So I'll preview the Friday-Sunday concerts tomorrow as usual, and I'll give you guys the preview for tomorrow's show right now!

Lansing experimental metal band Mr. Denton on Doomsday return to Sault Michigan tomorrow for a special benefit show! They're playing to raise money for the McCorkle family, whose 11 year old daughter Claire needs a heart transplant. They're hoping to raise $25,000, and hopefully they can raise a lot of money towards that tomorrow! It's a great cause, best of luck to the McCorkle family! This show will take place at The Big Bear Arena (across the road from Kewadin Casino, inside the Chi Muk Wa Community Recreation Center) at 8:00 PM tomorrow!

Check out Mr. Denton on Doomsday on MySpace, cause they're quite an original band! For a preview, here's a video of the band playing an acoustic version of their song "It's Rock And Roll Bitch"!



Next up, a local hard rock band is hitting the road, and it's not who you might be thinking! Stillbroke have booked a pair of out of town shows next month! They will be in Baysville, Ontario for a show on September 4th at The Baysville Pavilion, followed by a show the next day in Bracebridge, Ontario at The Purple Pig! Nice to see Stillbroke bringing their music to some new places, hopefully they can make some new fans and get some more exposure! Of course, if I hear of any more out of town shows from Stillbroke, and local shows too, you'll find it here, and at their official MySpace page! Both of these shows are also now in the Out of Town Concert Listings!

Finally, two small items. First, I edited three venues for Woods of Ypres' upcoming Western Canada tour, as I forgot to change them when they last updated their itinerary. Their show on Tuesday in Winnipeg is now at The Royal Albert, their August 20th show in Prince Albert is now at The Jamspot, and their August 22nd show in Calgary is now at The Warehouse! The Out of Town Listings have been updated to reflect these! Secondly, I made a mistake. The Quite Frankly concert on Doncaster Road this past weekend was actually on Saturday, not Sunday. I can't believe I messed that up, and I'm sorry for the mistake!

Alright, that's all for today, stay tuned for the rest of the local concert previews for this weekend tomorrow, and any new stuff I may have to report too! Thanks everyone, and HELP GARDEN OF BEDLAM GET NOTICED BY ROADRUNNER RECORDS! CLICK HERE!

Garden of Bedlam, Quite Frankly, And Necropolis Updates!!!

Hey guys, I have some assorted news to share tonight, so let us begin!

Garden of Bedlam have officially started an account on Signmeto, a website set up by Roadrunner Records as a way to help discover and expose rising talents in metal and rock music. Bands can sign up for accounts on Signmeto, upload their music, and get it rated and reviewed by registered users, or "scouts". The higher the ratings, views, and critiques, the more likely Roadrunner Records will be to taking notice of your band for possible deals and promotion! Basically, they're giving rising rock bands a chance to get noticed, and it's really cool of them to set this up!

So how can you help? Sign up for a scout account at this location, and then you can find Garden of Bedlam's account by clicking here! (Or you can search for them on the search function there too.) Then, you can rate them as a band, as well as individual aspects of their sound, like their riffage, songwriting, power, and vocals! Also, you can post reviews! Spread the word, cause the more attention we can give to Garden of Bedlam, the better the chances that they may get noticed by more people outside of the Sault area! I've registered, rated, and reviewed, now it's your turn! They need your support! Thanks to Buzz for letting me know about this!

(Oh, and FYI, Roadrunner Records are very legit, they have bands like Slipknot, Killswitch Engage, Soulfly, Stone Sour, Dream Theater, Megadeth, Opeth, and Cradle of Filth on their label, among many others!)

Next up, I have a pile of updates for Quite Frankly's upcoming concert on August 20th at The Speakeasy! Local indie band The Narrow Door have also been added to the lineup (joining The Outside Lights, Quite Frankly, and Caddy Street Avenue), while the bands have been announced as getting 45 minute sets (save for The Outside Lights, who are getting an hour for being headliners.) The doors open at 6:30 PM, with the show starting at 7:30 PM, with no planned intermissions either!

Yes, it is all ages, but the bar will be open for those of you who are 19 or older! And tickets will be just $5, and you can get them at the door! Now, I know Quite Frankly are the only real "hard rock" band on the lineup, but I'm sure there's some indie fans out there, so maybe some of you guys will be even more interested! Thanks to Mike Gualtieri for the info, and check out Quite Frankly at this location!

Alright, now I'm happy to report that a local metal band have finally started an official internet page for themselves! Local thrash band Necropolis have created an official MySpace page! There's assorted band pictures there, a listing for their upcoming concert on Sunday with Woods of Ypres, and not a lot else. But it is new, more information and audio/video should be soon to follow! I'm just glad to see a page for these guys online finally! Check it out at this location, and stay tuned for news on their concert this Sunday, and any future Necropolis news! And you can now find Necropolis' official MySpace page in the Local Metal Band Links on the left of the page!

And finally, I will discuss Buskerfest. Now, you guys know it as the annual buskering festival on Queen Street where street performers from all walks of entertainment perform for us fans, who then give some cash if we choose! It's always fun to attend, especially for the stuff you don't see much any other time of the year in Sault Ste. Marie. But you're probably asking yourself "But what does this have to do with local metal?" Well, for one, Buskerfest general manager Donna Hopper is a frequent sight taking great photographs at local shows!

But also, a local musician was one of the performers! Half Past frontman Luke LeBlanc performed there this past weekend as "Kyle Bucket", one half of local sideshow performers "Karnival Of The Grotesk"! As evidenced in photos and video I've seen, he was doing everything from eating fire to having staples fired into his head with a staple gun! Speaking as a fan of sideshow performers, that's just cool, and insane! Check out lots of Luke's photos at this location, and this video from Buskerfest of Luke emceeing and getting stapled immediately below!



That's all for now, I will have more news and updates very soon! And remember, check out Woods of Ypres this Sunday!!!