Garden of Bedlam At Foggy Notions Review, And News On Detroit's New CD!

How's everyone doing on this fine Sunday afternoon? Two things to get to at the moment: I have another concert to review, and there's a pile of news on Detroit's new CD, so let's get right to it! Garden of Bedlam played at Foggy Notions last night, I was there, so here's my review!

First of all, Foggy Notions itself. A lot of interest has built in it since they've finally re-opened, and on first glance, it's deserved! Remember, I was two months too young to get in legally in their first incarnation, so I can't speak for comparing the Foggy's of 2009 to then. I'll give it this, it was super busy! Interesting setup too, you walk in to the bar area with pool tables and such, you have to basically walk midway through, take a right, and you're at the stage area! I love the stage setup, a brick wall backdrop and a woodgrain railing along the stage, which works nicely to rest your arms or your drink! The large windows out to Queen Street work well for atmosphere too, and are good advertising, like when Buzz wrote "Garden of Bedlam" on the window during their set! Overall, Foggy Notions isn't bad at all, though I'll need to get some second and third looks at it when it's not as busy!

On to Garden of Bedlam themselves, and they were just as awesome as ever! They played 15 songs, including all 4 songs on their EP, their new or yet unreleased originals "Torment", "Everything Will Die", "Against The Grain", and "New Rain", along with covers from bands like The Deftones, Tool, Helmet, System of a Down, and Pantera! Buzz was singing great once again, Josh Belleau was excellent on guitar, Evan Belleau held his own on bass, and Derek Turner was awesome throughout the night on drums! Also, I love his new custom Garden of Bedlam drumkit (and the band's new banner!) Tonight more than most other shows I've seen, I noticed a good deal of on-stage humour from Buzz, and I always welcome humour at a concert! The band really seemed to enjoy playing this show, being at Foggy Notions must have helped with that, cause I know how popular it was before it initially closed!

Remember how at the Madison's Pub show, Lion Ride guitarist Marco Pedalino joined Garden of Bedlam to cover "The Trooper" by Iron Maiden? Well, the same thing happened last night too, which is awesome! The crowd was pretty lively, although there wasn't much space for a moshpit, the fists and devil horns were easily spotted, and there was enough headbangers too! Also throughout the set, a cameraman trailed the stage to get some video footage of the band for upcoming projects. I wonder how they turned out? Well, you'll never guess who was filming, cause it was actually former Amethyst frontman Rick DellaVedova! Yes, the very same "Rick Widow" was filming, and me and him chatted for a bit at the concert, which was really cool!

Overall, another fun concert from Garden of Bedlam, and if it really is their last one before they hit the studio, then it was one hell of a way to go out! They'll be back though! Another great night of music, I wish I could have stayed til the very end though! As you may have heard, I did get a new camera for Christmas, and it works really well! I just need a bigger SD card to hold more pics. Check out 20 photos from the concert by clicking here or visiting our official Facebook page! But why'd I only take 20? So I'd have room for this: A VIDEO!!!! I can finally shoot videos effectively with the new camera, and though only 3:06 in length, the quality is excellent! Check out this clip I filmed of the band playing "Everything Will Die"!



Hope you guys like the video, I'll film one at tonight's Lion Ride concert (likely "Slapdance" if I can time it properly!) Remember, that is your next local concert, at The Rockstar Bar tonight with Nebraska Arms at around 11:00 PM! Barring family obligations, I plan on being there!

Speaking of Lion Ride, it's time to update you guys on the new album from Detroit, the hardcore band featuring 3/5ths of Lion Ride in shuffled roles! Detroit bassist Mark Rand posted a pile of details on their new CD on a topic on The705Scene forums! Entitled "Brace For Impact", it will officially be released TUESDAY at their CD release show at Coch's Corner! For one, the cover art has been unveiled, which you can check out to the left! Ron Wineck did the cover art, who also did the band's skull and hammers logo, according to drummer Mikey Hawdon last night at the Garden of Bedlam show! The track listing was also announced, and it will feature four brand new songs: "Fortress, "Darth Vader", "Pyre Driver", and "Bloodlet"! As well, "Brace For Impact" will feature five re-recordings from the band's intial "Let The Hammers Fly" release! Check out the full track listing at this location! A preview of the concert is coming tomorrow!

Remember, pick up your copy of the CD Tuesday at Coch's Corner, with extra release info hopefully to follow afterwards! $5 cover, Detroit will be joined by local punk/metal rockers Destroilet and fellow punk band Talk Shit! This will be Detroit's first local concert since December 2008 at The Oddfellows Hall! I'll be there, and I'll be sure to review "Brace For Impact" on the SMS on FEBRUARY 1ST! January's reserved for Clownsack's first CD, but Detroit have February 1st locked up, so mark your calendars! (And yes, for those of you following the CD schedule, "22" by Sykotyk Rampage WILL be reviewed in the spring!)

That's all for now, Lion Ride concert review and a preview of the Detroit show are all TOMORROW! Hope to see everyone at The Rockstar Bar tonight, I hope to be there! Have a good one, enjoy the holidays!