Hey guys, it's time to take a look back into what we saw and experienced in the local metal scene in the year of 2009. Gopefully I got to most major events and happenings in the past year, hope you guys enjoy it! We'll start with, for better or worse, the band that dominated the local metal headlines in 2009, without ever playing here. And if there's a mistake or accidental omission, let me know!
Going into 2009, a return visit to the Sault area for the legendary
Kiss seemed unlikely, but their announcement of a tour that Kiss fans decided the stops for gave Sault Ontario hope to lure Gene Simmons and company back here!
The Essar Centre and
SooToday kickstarted their own campaign for Saultites to demand Kiss on
Eventful, and we responded, eventually getting to third in the voting, behind only Oshawa and Winnipeg! Gene Simmons even confirmed that we would 100% get a Kiss concert, but it wasn't without setbacks. Councillor Susan Myers infamously declared Kiss as offensive and many other misconceptions, and tried in vain to stop a Kiss concert from being scheduled. Rumours abounded about The Essar Centre's ability to host a show of this magnitude in a 5,000 seat arena, and even the validity of the "fan-routed tour" concept.
Then, when the first tour dates were actually announced, many Kiss fans reacted very negatively when we weren't initially put on the first leg of the tour, despite announcements that we'd be on the second leg. Eventually, Kiss did put a Sault Ontario show on the first leg, on December 15th, 2009. Even then, not everyone was pleased, especially when Kiss's concert promoters AEG Live distributed a majority of tickets to places other than The Essar Centre's box office. Then, just two days before Kiss were to rock the Soo, they announced that the concert was postponed to the summer of 2010 due to inclement weather on the way up here from Pittsburgh. Many fans reacted negatively once again to yet another issue in the Kiss saga, but once reassurances of a Sault Ontario return became clear, things started to quiet down. What many were hoping would be the biggest concert in Sault Ontario history may be pushed back, but the hype and buzz surrounding it will continue into the summer, and rest-assured, Kiss will be here!
Kiss also surrounded another major metal event of 2009, when Kiss and Rock 101 launched a 20 group Battle of the Bands at
The Canadian Nightclub, where the winning band would open for Kiss at their show at The Essar Center! Understandably, the prospect of opening for Kiss attracted the interest of many local bands, as most major acts with originals in Sault Ontario (and one from Sault Michigan) signed on to compete for this major prize! Taking place from November 30th-December 2nd, it featured 20 local bands, including local metal bands
Bring The Fallen,
Caveman Morrison,
Dirty Virgin,
Garden of Bedlam,
Lion Ride,
Nixxon Dixxon,
Sense of Truth,
Stillbroke, and
Sykotyk Rampage! The lineup also feature 10 bands of other genres, including
The Billy Bastards,
Blues Harvest,
Flat Stanley,
Gsis Murphy,
Huckster,
Middle of Nowhere,
Nebraska Arms, Stiffler's Mom, Tiny Trebuchet, and
Wishbone! All 20 bands played two songs each on either November 30th or December 1st, to a packed house each night!
December 2nd saw Garden of Bedlam, Lion Ride, Nixxon Dixxon, Sense of Truth, Blues Harvest, Flat Stanley, Gsis Murphy, Nebraska Arms, Stiffler's Mom, and Wishbone return for the finals! In a highly competitive and close finals, opinions were divided, but most were excited when
Rock 101's Mark SanAngelo announced that Garden of Bedlam were the winners! However, disappointment and shock also rang out for supporters of Lion Ride, who had been pushing and trying for months to support Kiss at the Sault show. Garden of Bedlam beat Lion Ride to win the battle by a single point, a true testament to the awesomeness and great sounds of both of these bands! Garden of Bedlam will open for Kiss in the summer, though in my eyes, no band lost at the battle, with all gaining tons of exposure to new and wider audiences!
In the year that was, many local metal bands released their newest albums! Probably none were more high profile than
Woods of Ypres' fourth studio release, "Woods IV: The Green Album"! It featured 16 tracks of conceptual doom metal of a very high order, with lots of well written stories and issues intertwined with some really good music! Many international media outlets have also became aware of "The Green Album", with positive results! Woods of Ypres also released their first best-of collection, "Independent Nature: Best Of 2002-2007" in 2009, as well as a special vinyl single release of their 2004 track "Allure of the Earth"! Aside from Woods of Ypres, 2009 also marked the debut EP releases for Garden of Bedlam and Stillbroke! While Stillbroke haven't played a full local show since April, "Never Enough" was released in the fall and has proven to be a very good hard rock release! As was the case for Garden of Bedlam's self-titled EP! All four songs on it have became live staples, and the album remains a steady success around the Sault area! As well, "blue Chinese metal crash punk" rockers Sykotyk Rampage put out their two newest albums in their ever expansive catalog, "Moments of Misery" and "22"! Though not as widely known as some other bands, these are two very unique and often amusing albums that deserve more attention! Capping the year for new releases was Tuesday's release of "Brace For Impact", the first real CD release from local hardcore band
Detroit, featuring 9 short, but blistering hardcore numbers, helping to end 2009 on an excellent note!
2009 was another major year for big name acts to return to the Sault area at the two biggest venues for major names, The Essar Centre and
Kewadin Casino! Canada's own
Three Days Grace returned to Sault Ontario for the first time since January of 2008, and despite a lower attendance, they were on fire, literally! It was the first major hard rock show there since Jackyl last May, hopefully we won't have to wait that long for Kiss! The past year also saw five major metal/hard rock shows hit The Dreammakers' Theater at Kewadin Casino, starting with Los Angeles hard rockers
Great White on January 10th, their first Sault area show since backing up Alice Cooper at Sault Memorial Gardens 19 years prior! March 5th saw
Skid Row and
FireHouse make up for previously cancelled Sault gigs by hitting Kewadin Casino, while multi-platinum hard rockers
Staind returned to Kewadin Casino on April 28th with special guests
Hoobastank in tow! The summer was quiet for major metal names locally, but November 2nd saw
Papa Roach make their Sault-area debut with special guests
Aranda and
Stilrize! Just 11 days later, original Kiss guitarist
Ace Frehley (and openers
16 Second Stare) rocked Kewadin, just a month before Ace's old band would have played in Sault Ontario! Each show had varying levels of success, and rightfully so! With so many major bands hitting the Sault area, it shows that we can still attract big names, and hopefully 2010 will be no different!
Numerous bands came through Sault Ontario for some huge concerts, some local, some not!
Ministry of Zen,
Cattle Decapitation,
Inflict,
Grady,
Today I Caught The Plague,
Blind Witness,
Carnifex,
Upheaval of an Exorcist,
Beyond Within,
Norris,
Psyopus,
The Last Felony,
Ultraviolence,
Domenica,
Blessed By A Broken Heart, and many other out of town bands made their way here for concerts of varying success! Locally, many bands made their presence known with their own concerts! Garden of Bedlam made their own impact at a series of headlining shows in the second half of 2009, while Lion Ride came home to rock the Sault in August and December! Both bands also appeared at the final Hempfest! Woods of Ypres also marked their grand return back to our burial ground when they rocked
The Speakeasy in August! Sense of Truth continued their successful run with a handful of well recieved concerts, and Stillbroke returned to prominence with a high-quality concert in April at
The Verdi Hall! Sykotyk Rampage continued their cult success with high energy shows in 2009,
As It Stands played their last concerts before their breakup, and just two days ago, Detroit returned home for a night of hardcore mayhem! 2009 was a big year for many of these bands, with hopefully much more success to come!
I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the bands of Sault Michigan, who I feel are underrated on the Ontario side! Only one, Nixxon Dixxon, made their way north for an Ontario concert, but Sault Michigan's vibrant metal scene continued it's success this past year!
Bad Side played many great concerts at Kewadin Casino, hopefully they'll be back with more! Nixxon Dixxon played throughout the year at numerous venues, continuing to establish themselves as major players in the local scene!
Shift hit
The Satisfied Frog numerous times this year with some great covers, while
Absolute and
Riot! By Night rocked around the area as well!
Clownsack resurfaced to rock the King of the Cage event in July, while
Integrated System of Machines also came back at The Corner Pub earlier in the year! The now renamed-Jager played some well recieved shows at local bars earlier in the year before undergoing lineup changes and becoming
Monkey's Uncle. Other young bands like
Half Stupid and
Free Refill played a bunch of shows, with big things in the future for both! New bands like
Analog Deficiency and
In Memorandum made their first impacts, while
Guitar Studio rock camp alumni
7/47,
Unleashed, and
Intrepid helped prove the value of the youth in local music circles by playing live this year as well! Finally, some out of town bands made their way up here, like
Peril,
Nudge, and
Kilacel, adding to what has been a stacked concert scene in Sault Michigan in 2009!
Though many bands continued their success from past years in 2009, many others only formed in the past year, with many carving out a major presence! In Sault Ontario, none made a greater impact than death/thrash metal quintet Bring The Fallen, who won two Battles of the Bands in 2009, played numerous punk and metal concerts throughout the year, and commenced work on their debut EP! The future looks bright for them, as it does for many other new bands! Ex-members of As It Stands regrouped in
Out Of The Mouth Of Babes, while three former members of
Fitswitch bottled their love of horror movies into a new band,
Frightlight! Local punk and metal veterans formed in the new thrash/punk outfit
Destroilet, while other younger local musicians came together in the hard rock cover band
Quite Frankly, who immediately gained attention with frontwoman Jacky Alisat's excellent vocal range! Also, Jeremy Hannah of
Big Voiced Records launched a new hardcore band named
Lorax,
Time of Ruin's Jason Bourcier came back to front Operation: Killdozer, members of
Driving Dave Home formed the R.A.T.M. tribute band Renegades, and more local music veterans formed a new group,
Meatplow, near the end of the year! Notable local musicians like Gates of Winter's
Lee Maines and local guitatist
Brendan Christie also commenced work on notable solo projects! These bands, among others, planted their feet into the local metal scene in 2009, and hopefully we'll hear many bright things from them in 2010!
But where new bands emerge, others are bound to leave, and that was the case in 2009. None was more impactful than the disbanding of
Gates of Winter, who'd built a huge local fanbase in the mid-late 2000s! Though a future return is possible, Gates of Winter's legacy lives on with their great album releases and always entertaining live concerts! Also disbanding in 2009: Local hardcore band As It Stands, although four members did later form Out Of The Mouth Of Babes, many were sad to see them go. They had carved a good reputation locally, and released a popular EP a few years back! Other local bands like Browbeat and
Silent Despair also ended their runs in 2009. Though not a band, marijuana supporters around the Sault area were disappointed when
The Northern Ontario Hempfest closed it's doors after 11 years, although the last Hampfest was a rousing success! In a sense, a couple bands left by moving, as
Sue Inside and
Angels of Suffering relocated elsewhere to further their musical goals this year as well.
2009 was also a big year for comebacks, and when all was said and done for the year, the one that generated the most buzz was for the return of
Foggy Notions! After closing in March of 2008, Foggy Notions was completely renovated, came under new ownership, and by December 2009, it was back open with fans back in droves! Coincidentally, it's V.I.P. Night was headlined by
Caveman Morrison, who also made a major comeback this year! After three years in Calgary,
Tym Morrison came back home, reformed Caveman Morrison, and haven't looked back since!
The Canadian Nightclub also returned from extensive summer renovations in 2009, which have recieved a largely positive reception! Elsewhere, other notable local bands came back from hiatuses, inactivity, or break-ups in 2009! Fitswitch reformed for a one-off reunion show in March at
Coch's Corner, while Fingerbone changed their name to
Half Past, and returned to the stage 10 months after their last concert with a noticeably different lineup! And although they played no shows,
No Arrow came back with new song previews online, giving hope that maybe "Souls For Sale" will get an official release in the near future!
Overall, 2009 has been a very good year for us local metalheads, and 2010 promises to be huge as well! I can only hope it will be even bigger, but we'll have to see! Hope you guys enjoyed that look back at the year that was, a preview into what we'll expect in 2010 is TOMORROW, so stay tuned for that! And yes, normal news and previews will be back too!
Going into 2009, a return visit to the Sault area for the legendary Kiss seemed unlikely, but their announcement of a tour that Kiss fans decided the stops for gave Sault Ontario hope to lure Gene Simmons and company back here! The Essar Centre and SooToday kickstarted their own campaign for Saultites to demand Kiss on Eventful, and we responded, eventually getting to third in the voting, behind only Oshawa and Winnipeg! Gene Simmons even confirmed that we would 100% get a Kiss concert, but it wasn't without setbacks. Councillor Susan Myers infamously declared Kiss as offensive and many other misconceptions, and tried in vain to stop a Kiss concert from being scheduled. Rumours abounded about The Essar Centre's ability to host a show of this magnitude in a 5,000 seat arena, and even the validity of the "fan-routed tour" concept.
Then, when the first tour dates were actually announced, many Kiss fans reacted very negatively when we weren't initially put on the first leg of the tour, despite announcements that we'd be on the second leg. Eventually, Kiss did put a Sault Ontario show on the first leg, on December 15th, 2009. Even then, not everyone was pleased, especially when Kiss's concert promoters AEG Live distributed a majority of tickets to places other than The Essar Centre's box office. Then, just two days before Kiss were to rock the Soo, they announced that the concert was postponed to the summer of 2010 due to inclement weather on the way up here from Pittsburgh. Many fans reacted negatively once again to yet another issue in the Kiss saga, but once reassurances of a Sault Ontario return became clear, things started to quiet down. What many were hoping would be the biggest concert in Sault Ontario history may be pushed back, but the hype and buzz surrounding it will continue into the summer, and rest-assured, Kiss will be here!
Kiss also surrounded another major metal event of 2009, when Kiss and Rock 101 launched a 20 group Battle of the Bands at The Canadian Nightclub, where the winning band would open for Kiss at their show at The Essar Center! Understandably, the prospect of opening for Kiss attracted the interest of many local bands, as most major acts with originals in Sault Ontario (and one from Sault Michigan) signed on to compete for this major prize! Taking place from November 30th-December 2nd, it featured 20 local bands, including local metal bands Bring The Fallen, Caveman Morrison, Dirty Virgin, Garden of Bedlam, Lion Ride, Nixxon Dixxon, Sense of Truth, Stillbroke, and Sykotyk Rampage! The lineup also feature 10 bands of other genres, including The Billy Bastards, Blues Harvest, Flat Stanley, Gsis Murphy, Huckster, Middle of Nowhere, Nebraska Arms, Stiffler's Mom, Tiny Trebuchet, and Wishbone! All 20 bands played two songs each on either November 30th or December 1st, to a packed house each night!
December 2nd saw Garden of Bedlam, Lion Ride, Nixxon Dixxon, Sense of Truth, Blues Harvest, Flat Stanley, Gsis Murphy, Nebraska Arms, Stiffler's Mom, and Wishbone return for the finals! In a highly competitive and close finals, opinions were divided, but most were excited when Rock 101's Mark SanAngelo announced that Garden of Bedlam were the winners! However, disappointment and shock also rang out for supporters of Lion Ride, who had been pushing and trying for months to support Kiss at the Sault show. Garden of Bedlam beat Lion Ride to win the battle by a single point, a true testament to the awesomeness and great sounds of both of these bands! Garden of Bedlam will open for Kiss in the summer, though in my eyes, no band lost at the battle, with all gaining tons of exposure to new and wider audiences!
In the year that was, many local metal bands released their newest albums! Probably none were more high profile than Woods of Ypres' fourth studio release, "Woods IV: The Green Album"! It featured 16 tracks of conceptual doom metal of a very high order, with lots of well written stories and issues intertwined with some really good music! Many international media outlets have also became aware of "The Green Album", with positive results! Woods of Ypres also released their first best-of collection, "Independent Nature: Best Of 2002-2007" in 2009, as well as a special vinyl single release of their 2004 track "Allure of the Earth"! Aside from Woods of Ypres, 2009 also marked the debut EP releases for Garden of Bedlam and Stillbroke! While Stillbroke haven't played a full local show since April, "Never Enough" was released in the fall and has proven to be a very good hard rock release! As was the case for Garden of Bedlam's self-titled EP! All four songs on it have became live staples, and the album remains a steady success around the Sault area! As well, "blue Chinese metal crash punk" rockers Sykotyk Rampage put out their two newest albums in their ever expansive catalog, "Moments of Misery" and "22"! Though not as widely known as some other bands, these are two very unique and often amusing albums that deserve more attention! Capping the year for new releases was Tuesday's release of "Brace For Impact", the first real CD release from local hardcore band Detroit, featuring 9 short, but blistering hardcore numbers, helping to end 2009 on an excellent note!
2009 was another major year for big name acts to return to the Sault area at the two biggest venues for major names, The Essar Centre and Kewadin Casino! Canada's own Three Days Grace returned to Sault Ontario for the first time since January of 2008, and despite a lower attendance, they were on fire, literally! It was the first major hard rock show there since Jackyl last May, hopefully we won't have to wait that long for Kiss! The past year also saw five major metal/hard rock shows hit The Dreammakers' Theater at Kewadin Casino, starting with Los Angeles hard rockers Great White on January 10th, their first Sault area show since backing up Alice Cooper at Sault Memorial Gardens 19 years prior! March 5th saw Skid Row and FireHouse make up for previously cancelled Sault gigs by hitting Kewadin Casino, while multi-platinum hard rockers Staind returned to Kewadin Casino on April 28th with special guests Hoobastank in tow! The summer was quiet for major metal names locally, but November 2nd saw Papa Roach make their Sault-area debut with special guests Aranda and Stilrize! Just 11 days later, original Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley (and openers 16 Second Stare) rocked Kewadin, just a month before Ace's old band would have played in Sault Ontario! Each show had varying levels of success, and rightfully so! With so many major bands hitting the Sault area, it shows that we can still attract big names, and hopefully 2010 will be no different!
Numerous bands came through Sault Ontario for some huge concerts, some local, some not! Ministry of Zen, Cattle Decapitation, Inflict, Grady, Today I Caught The Plague, Blind Witness, Carnifex, Upheaval of an Exorcist, Beyond Within, Norris, Psyopus, The Last Felony, Ultraviolence, Domenica, Blessed By A Broken Heart, and many other out of town bands made their way here for concerts of varying success! Locally, many bands made their presence known with their own concerts! Garden of Bedlam made their own impact at a series of headlining shows in the second half of 2009, while Lion Ride came home to rock the Sault in August and December! Both bands also appeared at the final Hempfest! Woods of Ypres also marked their grand return back to our burial ground when they rocked The Speakeasy in August! Sense of Truth continued their successful run with a handful of well recieved concerts, and Stillbroke returned to prominence with a high-quality concert in April at The Verdi Hall! Sykotyk Rampage continued their cult success with high energy shows in 2009, As It Stands played their last concerts before their breakup, and just two days ago, Detroit returned home for a night of hardcore mayhem! 2009 was a big year for many of these bands, with hopefully much more success to come!
I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the bands of Sault Michigan, who I feel are underrated on the Ontario side! Only one, Nixxon Dixxon, made their way north for an Ontario concert, but Sault Michigan's vibrant metal scene continued it's success this past year! Bad Side played many great concerts at Kewadin Casino, hopefully they'll be back with more! Nixxon Dixxon played throughout the year at numerous venues, continuing to establish themselves as major players in the local scene! Shift hit The Satisfied Frog numerous times this year with some great covers, while Absolute and Riot! By Night rocked around the area as well! Clownsack resurfaced to rock the King of the Cage event in July, while Integrated System of Machines also came back at The Corner Pub earlier in the year! The now renamed-Jager played some well recieved shows at local bars earlier in the year before undergoing lineup changes and becoming Monkey's Uncle. Other young bands like Half Stupid and Free Refill played a bunch of shows, with big things in the future for both! New bands like Analog Deficiency and In Memorandum made their first impacts, while Guitar Studio rock camp alumni 7/47, Unleashed, and Intrepid helped prove the value of the youth in local music circles by playing live this year as well! Finally, some out of town bands made their way up here, like Peril, Nudge, and Kilacel, adding to what has been a stacked concert scene in Sault Michigan in 2009!
Though many bands continued their success from past years in 2009, many others only formed in the past year, with many carving out a major presence! In Sault Ontario, none made a greater impact than death/thrash metal quintet Bring The Fallen, who won two Battles of the Bands in 2009, played numerous punk and metal concerts throughout the year, and commenced work on their debut EP! The future looks bright for them, as it does for many other new bands! Ex-members of As It Stands regrouped in Out Of The Mouth Of Babes, while three former members of Fitswitch bottled their love of horror movies into a new band, Frightlight! Local punk and metal veterans formed in the new thrash/punk outfit Destroilet, while other younger local musicians came together in the hard rock cover band Quite Frankly, who immediately gained attention with frontwoman Jacky Alisat's excellent vocal range! Also, Jeremy Hannah of Big Voiced Records launched a new hardcore band named Lorax, Time of Ruin's Jason Bourcier came back to front Operation: Killdozer, members of Driving Dave Home formed the R.A.T.M. tribute band Renegades, and more local music veterans formed a new group, Meatplow, near the end of the year! Notable local musicians like Gates of Winter's Lee Maines and local guitatist Brendan Christie also commenced work on notable solo projects! These bands, among others, planted their feet into the local metal scene in 2009, and hopefully we'll hear many bright things from them in 2010!
But where new bands emerge, others are bound to leave, and that was the case in 2009. None was more impactful than the disbanding of Gates of Winter, who'd built a huge local fanbase in the mid-late 2000s! Though a future return is possible, Gates of Winter's legacy lives on with their great album releases and always entertaining live concerts! Also disbanding in 2009: Local hardcore band As It Stands, although four members did later form Out Of The Mouth Of Babes, many were sad to see them go. They had carved a good reputation locally, and released a popular EP a few years back! Other local bands like Browbeat and Silent Despair also ended their runs in 2009. Though not a band, marijuana supporters around the Sault area were disappointed when The Northern Ontario Hempfest closed it's doors after 11 years, although the last Hampfest was a rousing success! In a sense, a couple bands left by moving, as Sue Inside and Angels of Suffering relocated elsewhere to further their musical goals this year as well.
2009 was also a big year for comebacks, and when all was said and done for the year, the one that generated the most buzz was for the return of Foggy Notions! After closing in March of 2008, Foggy Notions was completely renovated, came under new ownership, and by December 2009, it was back open with fans back in droves! Coincidentally, it's V.I.P. Night was headlined by Caveman Morrison, who also made a major comeback this year! After three years in Calgary, Tym Morrison came back home, reformed Caveman Morrison, and haven't looked back since! The Canadian Nightclub also returned from extensive summer renovations in 2009, which have recieved a largely positive reception! Elsewhere, other notable local bands came back from hiatuses, inactivity, or break-ups in 2009! Fitswitch reformed for a one-off reunion show in March at Coch's Corner, while Fingerbone changed their name to Half Past, and returned to the stage 10 months after their last concert with a noticeably different lineup! And although they played no shows, No Arrow came back with new song previews online, giving hope that maybe "Souls For Sale" will get an official release in the near future!
Overall, 2009 has been a very good year for us local metalheads, and 2010 promises to be huge as well! I can only hope it will be even bigger, but we'll have to see! Hope you guys enjoyed that look back at the year that was, a preview into what we'll expect in 2010 is TOMORROW, so stay tuned for that! And yes, normal news and previews will be back too!
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