Christmas Weekend Concert Previews, And Anvil In The Sault, Sort Of!

Well guys, because I don't anticipate I'll have a post tomorrow, I want to wish everyone a metal Christmas and a headbanging New Year! I don't have any special "surprises" planned for tomorrow, so to speak, but I am planning an extensive look back on the local metal scene in 2009 at some point next week, where I'll talk about the big events, bands, shows, and such that took place in 2009. Should be a fun post!

But for today, let's preview the three concerts taking place on this Christmas weekend, with a little Anvil-related story to cap it off! So let's begin with this weekend's lone metal concert in Sault Michigan!

Sault Michigan hard rockers Riot! By Night (featuring 3/4ths of Absolute) are back for their first show since November, when they hit the stage at The Satisfied Frog! They'll be on at around 10:00 PM! The band are hyping this as their "post Christmas party", which is fitting! There is no announced cover charge either, and seeing as it is a bar, I can't see it being all ages. No word on much else, but it should be a good concert! Absolute are a great band, and Riot! By Night feature all but the singer, so the talent's there! I wish I could tell you how they sound, but their MySpace page still has no audio or video, but judging by what I've heard, they'll rock! And if you miss them on Saturday, no worries, they'll be back at The Frog on New Years' Eve!

And now, back to Sault Ontario, and if you want some hard rock on Boxing Day, we have our own option! And it comes courtesy of Garden of Bedlam! In what may be their last concert before they hit the studio to record their first full length LP, the Kiss Battle winners will return to Foggy Notions, the very spot where they played their first ever concert at way back in February of last year! But this time, it's newly renovated with nice bathrooms, and it's not a month away from closing now! Doors open at 9:00 PM, but the band won't begin until 11:00 PM. No openers, you must be 19 to get in, and there will be a cover charge of no more than $5. Be sure to get there early, because Christmastime business + the novelty of Foggy's return = a likely packed house! Confirm your attendance at the official Facebook event page!

For a preview, I'm pleased to say that I have Garden of Bedlam video footage that actually comes from shows in 2009! Here's a clip from YouTube user sparrrk420 of the band playing their original "Sovereignty" from their December 5th show at Madison's Pub (Thanks Brigitte!)



And finally for this weekend's metal shows, Lion Ride are back! One month after their heartbreaking one point loss to Garden of Bedlam at the Kiss Battle, Lion Ride will play their first full local concert since the final Hempfest in August! This time, they'll be at The Rockstar Bar for the first time, which is a great venue that should fit well for this concert! Joining Lion Ride are fellow Kiss Battle finalists Nebraska Arms (featuring ex-Renderware members Wayne Watkins and Adam Sauve!) Both these bands played together at Coch's Corner in August too, so they're no strangers! This concert will take place on Sunday night, December 27th, at 10:00 PM! Cover charges have not been announced, and I imagine it's 19+ too (Rockstar BAR, remember?) Confirm your attendance for this concert by visiting it's Facebook event page too!

For a preview, here's a classic clip of Lion Ride from two years ago, in December 2007, of the band playing their song "Sneak Attack" at Foggy Notions! (Thanks to ex-bassist Nathan "Lionel Itchy" Sauve for the upload!)



Will I be at any of this weekend's concerts? Yes! I 100% plan on being at the Lion Ride show, though Garden of Bedlam will depend on my ability to sneak out of any possible family activities. Both of these shows, and Riot! By Night, should be awesome, hopefully you guys can make it out to some of them! Hopefully I'll have a new camera for this weekend's shows too! And yes, I will preview Tuesday's Detroit concert on Sunday or Monday, so stay tuned for that!

And finally for today, a double shot of news concerning a local concert venue, and a metal-related event happening there in January! Remember The Lock City Grand Theater, the excellent local concert venue across from Top Hat Billiards? Well, they have officially launched a website, which is great to see, cause their old Facebook group hadn't been updated in months! Through there, I also discovered that they've dropped "Lock City" from their name, so they are now just known as "The Grand Theater". To be honest, most people I knew never included "Lock City" anyway, so this shouldn't be too major of a change. But the new site looks nice, including photos, an event calendar, a blog, and ways to become a member of the site through the page's host, Ning!

Still no metal concerts on the horizon for The Grand...I think the last metal band to play there was Sense of Truth at the free Skate4Cancer show in MAY! Not sure what the deal is there, cause it's a great venue, but metal hasn't completely left! The Grand are going to start showing documentary films on Friday nights, with the first on January 8th. And the first movie they're showing is....Anvil! The Story of Anvil! Yes, the acclaimed 2009 documentary about Toronto metal pioneers Anvil will air at The Grand on January 8th at 7:30 PM, with a ticket price of $7 plus tax (yes, they can be bought at the door!) For those of you unaware, the movie focuses on the members of Anvil, a band numerous major groups were influenced by, as they try to continue their dream and make it big in music, despite years of little success and a fall to obscurity. I really want to see this film, it's awesome that it's finally being shown locally, and I'm a fan of Anvil's too! This should be a great movie! I just might go to this, and maybe you guys should too!

That's all for now, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy whatever else you celebrate, hope you get lots of metal gifts! Cause in my opinion, all metalheads should be on Santa's nice list! I'll see you guys at this weekend's concerts!