Even More Kiss Stuff, A New Local Band, The Canadian's Return, And More!!!

Assorted news to share today, and...well, I knew it wouldn't last. We have more news about a certain face paint wearing hard rock band that are coming here. So yeah, let's get the new stuff out of the way!

We all hopefully know by now that Kiss are planning to come to The Essar Center in the second leg of their tour (we've been through why it's then and not in this leg, no need to re-explain.) But even still, one fan has another idea for this show! So, here's his idea: Rather than have Kiss play to 5,000 fans there, why not have it outdoors, where you could hold many more fans? This is the aim of a new internet petition entitled Kiss Me In The Soo, created by Matthew Waples of Sonigraphix Design Solutions. On the page, he suggests Runway Park (which held Bell Border Jam last year) and St. Joseph Island as possible locations for an outdoor Kiss concert that could hold around 15,000 fans. If you're interested in supporting this petition to have Kiss play a larger outdoor concert next year, all you have to do is e-mail your name and home city to wewantkiss@kissmeinthesoo.com, so a list of names can be compiled in a petition to send to Kiss!

My opinion? Honestly, it'd probably be better to satisfy ticket demand if it was outdoors. Remember, the Kiss show at Kewadin Casino drew almost 10,000 people, and The Essar Centre can't hold near that amount. St. Joseph Island may be a bit far for a concert of this magnitude, though Runway Park might work with enough promotion! At the same time, The Essar Centre has been the implied destination for the show from the beginning. They pushed to get people to demand Kiss on Eventful, they're the ones who've been in contact with the band, and they're the ones who broke the word to us that the show was next year. It might be a conflict of interest to yank the show away from The Essar Centre, even if a larger crowd is possible elsewhere. Either way, it'll be a great show when it happens, and if you wanna join the petition, e-mail wewantkiss@kissmeinthesoo.com!

Anything else Kiss-related today? ....Yes! Since Monday, The Sault Star has been updating everyone on the Kiss show issues, so let's just sum up everything that's been said this week. Monday gave us an announcement that we weren't on the tour schedule (we know why now), while Frank Dobrovnik wrote an article in Tuesday's paper entitled "Kiss this, fans", which was essentially talking about us not being on the fall schedule, with some optimism that we'd get a show next year, which ended up being the case. Jump to yesterday's paper, when Michael Purvis wrote another article, entitled "Band will be here, official tells Kissed off fans", which tells of how we are getting a Kiss show next year. Not a lot new to comment on in the first article, but in the second, yeah, I have stuff to reply to.

Councillor Terry Sheehan doesn't take a Kiss show next year as good enough, stating that Saultites were "shocked and awed" that we weren't on the fall tour schedule, and that we deserve to "get on the podium with the rest of the top-three finishers". So basically, he figures we should get a show this fall, like the other two top vote getters (Oshawa and Winnipeg) now have. But even he admits that there was "poor communication" between the city and the band. So what's my take? While I do think the band should have said straight from the outset that the top vote getters weren't necessarily getting the very first tour slots, I also think that as long as they are coming for sure, than we should accept that fact and be patient.

Besides, if we're gonna get added to this fall's tour, it has to be soon. Barring existing concerts being moved or cancelled, or a really crazy detour, they could only feasibly come here next month, likely before their first Detroit concert on the 26th. It could be done, but they'd have to announce something very soon. If it's not then, we won't see Kiss until December at the very earliest, more likely in the spring. It's not like we're right near a major city they're going to already, like Oshawa are, it'd be hard to slot us in this fall without throwing their tour off, or risking limited time to promote the concert. I know I'm repeating myself, but BE PATIENT! KISS ARE COMING!!!!!!

Enough Kiss for one day! Now, to some local band news! Specifically, I found a new one! They are Cherubic Red, an experimental band from Sault Michigan! Their MySpace page was started on August 15th, and there's not a lot there yet. Give it time though, it's not even two weeks old. The page says their original name was "Cash Only", they sound like "rhythmic destruction", and their influences include numerous metal musicians (and fellow locals Half Stupid!), though there's a wide variety listed! I'll be sure to keep tabs on Cherubic Red from here on out, and check them out on MySpace!

Next up, a local concert venue is making it's grand return! Remember last month when I reported on renovations being made at The Canadian? Well, on Tuesday night, it will make it's grand return! No concerts are scheduled there....yet, but there's a full slate of things going on this week, mostly involving parties and dances. Hopefully we'll hear some exciting concert news from there real soon, and I wonder how different it looks now? We'll have to see, but if I see any pictures or video from The Canadian, I'll be sure to share with you guys! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details on the re-opening!

Back to The Sault Star now, where the final edition of Hempfest is already in the news....and not for the best reasons! The O.P.P. had their R.I.D.E. program set up in Ophir once again, and checked 300 cars. The results? Two drivers got three day driving suspensions, one driver is charged with driving under the influence of a drug, a guy was arrested on an outstanding warrant, an unsafe vehicle was removed, and 18 people were charged under either the Highway Traffic Act or the Compulsory Automobile Insurance Act. Read the full article at this location! I know why they do this, but really, marijuana (from everything I've heard) is not harmful. Yeah, you shouldn't drive high, but leave these guys alone, they just wanna go to Hempfest, light one up, and have a good time! That's just my opinion though. If I hear anything else from Hempfest, I'll share with you all!

And finally, I at last have video to show you of a local band! Quite Frankly quitarist Joe Delbasso has uploaded two clips of Quite Frankly's performance at The Speakeasy earlier this month onto YouTube! Quality's not great, but it's a start! Check out both clips at Joe's Youtube channel, one of the band covering AC/DC's "Thunderstruck", and this one, featuring their cover of Metallica's "Fuel"! Thanks everyone, I'll see you all at the Lion Ride concert tonight! Reviews of the show and their EP are hopefully coming this weekend!