Some News Updates, Link Section Changes, And Lots Of New Local Message Boards!!

Hey guys, time to update you all on some news and updates I've found over the weekend. As well, I've done some modifying and adding to the Other Local Metal Links, I'll get to those changes later. But now, some news!

One week after his piece on Woods of Ypres, Brian Kelly from The Sault Star has wrote up another local metal related article, this time dealing with the upcoming Kiss concert at The Essar Center! The article mentions that Essar Center staff are hoping to hear a firm date for the show by early September, with one of the sticking points to the show's planning being proper electrical setups to support all of Kiss' pyrotechnics. And you guys know, if they have to do that much extra for pyro, then we'll be in for something special! Also, lots of people are already calling The Essar Center looking for ticket information, which I expected. After all, Kiss have very loyal fans!

But don't expect any word on tickets until we find a concrete date, which WON'T be this year! The Sault show isn't on the first leg of the tour, so they won't be here until 2010. Don't worry, they'll be here (I hope), just not as soon as we expected. The article also compares this show to the 2007 Kiss concert at Kewadin Casino, for which there were people camping out for TWO DAYS before tickets went on sale. It's a good article, and it's worth a read if you're at all interested in seeing Kiss next year! You can find it in Friday's issue of The Sault Star, or by visiting this location to read it online!

Next up, a couple updates on a pair of local bands! Sault Michigan grunge band Half Stupid have posted a rough demo of their song "The Letter E" on their official MySpace page! The demo doesn't feature bassist Matt Williams, but it no doubt will in the final version! It's not all that heavy, not what I was expecting, but it has a good groove and is kinda catchy! Check out the new song on Half Stupid's official MySpace page! As well, there are now videos of fellow locals 7/47 online! One's of the band covering The Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Higher Ground" from their show at Foggy's in Christmas, while there's two from their show at The Soo Theater on the 18th! One's a cover of Black Sabbath's "Paranoid", while the other has 7/47 covering Chevelle's "The Red", and you can view it immediately below! Check out the other videos at YouTube user Jackds24's channel!



And now, off to talk about a pile of updates I made to the Other Local Metal Links! First, I removed the link for the torrent file of Gates of Winter's album Lux Aeterna. This is of no offense to the band, I just felt it was a bit unnecessary to link to it like it was an actual site. But, I've done some adding! I added The Sault Star's official website (which makes sense, with all the articles I've mentioned from there), as well as the official MySpace page for Sault Michigan music store Steve's Music! Located on 126 Ridge Street, Steve's Music has been open since 2000, and acts as both a store for all your instrument needs, and as a guitar/bass lesson studio as well! They're open Tuesday-Saturday from 11:00-6:00, and you can get more details on Steve's Music at this location!

And finally, I've decided to do some reorganizing of the Other Local Metal Links. I felt that section was getting longer and longer, and some categorizing was needed to make things easier to locate and read. A long general link list isn't as easy to navigate as it could be. So I've started slowly by making a new link category: Local Metal Message Boards. Message boards are great resources to discuss things with like-minded peers, and can be great to get news and updates off of too! Sure, my attempt at an SMS forum was a miserable failure, but there's a good number of forums (past and present) that discuss local music in some fashion, and there was enough to warrant their own category!

You can find the Local Metal Message Boards section ABOVE the Other Local Metal Links! Along with the forums already featured on the SMS, I've added three more! One is the now-inactive message board for inactive punk/metal band Fitswitch. Known as The Fitswitch Asylum, it featured plenty of local music discussion of many different genres, as well as general music, Fitswitch news, and anything else. It's been inactive since 2007, but you can still check it all out at this location! I also added the original forum for The Sault Music Scene to this section. This forum was last used in the summer of 2006, just a few months before The Sault Music Scene itself ended, but the forum is still online! Lots of local music discussion there too, and it's interesting to read as well! Check it out at this location, and remember, it's successor forum, The 705 Scene, lives on to this day!

But I did add a local music forum that is very much still alive! It is Freq's Music Planet, a forum ran by veteran local drummer Glen Thomas, who you may recognize from numerous local bands like Flat Stanley, Fingerbang, The Rainhorses, Wishbone, and Route 69, among many others! Though his body of work isn't entirely metal (more progressive rock than anything, though Route 69 are heavier), he's definitely a great and accomplished musician! And at his official forum, there's lots of ongoing music discussion, from local bands and shows, to any of Glen's bands, to even a board dedicated to prog legends King's X! Lots of intelligent music conversations there, and it's through his forum that I found out that Wishbone backed up Time at their Coch's Corner show last week (sorry for missing that!) I recommend checking Freq's Music Planet out, and you can do so at this location!

So that's all I have for today, I will have a post tomorrow to preview this week's Old Roger and Lion Ride shows at Coch's Corner, plus stay tuned for any updates on Kiss' show here and Hempfest, and anything else I can locate! Thanks everyone!