Remember how I said that Lion Ride pulled out all the stops on Tuesday? Well, other bands picked up on that, and there was much more band paraphernalia last night, including Nebraska Arms, Sense of Truth, and Garden of Bedlam merchandise populating The Canadian Nightclub, along with Wishbone's banner, and likely more! MC Mark SanAngelo from Rock 101 brought along Brian Davie (from "Scott & Brian In The Morning") to help with MCing and judging, which was cool! Mark revealed to us last night that no matter who won, Kiss trusted the judges decision and wouldn't change the final results, which is awesome! We assumed Kiss would make the final call, so hearing this is a huge plus! Also, we found out the whole lineup before bands actually started, and learned the judging criteria, which were nice touches!
Also, huge, HUGE props to Mark for plugging the SMS on stage as one of the news/information sources for the battle, that was awesome and totally unexpected! Thanks to Kev from Sense of Truth for the t-shirt, all the band members and attendees for saying hi (You all know who you are!), and thanks to everyone for all the compliments to me & the SMS, especially anyone who suggested I could get paid or get a career in media! You guys are too nice!
Kicking off the night's festivities were Blues Harvest, who totally surprised me with their talent on Monday, and thankfully, they were just as good last night! Something about Blues Harvest really impresses me, they're all good blues rock musicians! Jake Rendell's a great singer, Josh Norling gives the band a huge kick with his saxophone work, Keith Conway does some nice stuff with his guitar, I'm just really impressed! Blues Harvest are definitely among my favourite non-metal local bands now, I'm gonna have to buy their album! One thing I noticed was how they played one song on both nights. I thought that was odd at first, but as the night went on, multiple bands repeated songs, so I got more used to it. But it don't matter, all their songs are really good! Note to self: Head to Lop Lops one of these days to see them!
Second band were Nebraska Arms, and their on-stage energy and rapport with the fans was just as good as it was on Monday! Very talented for their genre, their sound admittedly isn't my cup of tea, but their energy levels are really good, and frontman Guy Thiffault was pretty funny with some of his on-stage banter! Also can't deny their fan support, they had loads of people going nuts for them! Not bad at all, though I'd love to see Nebraska Arms try their hand at a metal song, they'd probably pull it off! Following them were Flat Stanley (pictured), who had another strong performance following their show Monday! They played two completely new songs, both were very good! Luckily, frontman Jim O'Leary's mic worked throughout, unlike on Monday when it didn't work for part of the first song. Glen Thomas handled the drums well, while every member up front pulled off some nice riffs and songs! Nice to see the younger fans appreciate these guys, they should get some more exposure!
Then, the metal kicked in as Garden of Bedlam hit the stage, and to sum them up in two words: Mindblowingly awesome! After tearing it up on Monday, they did just the same last night, no frills or extra gimmicks, just some great heavy metal! Once again, Buzz was singing his ass off, Josh Belleau was nailing some excellent solos, hell, the whole band were on fire! They played a pair of new songs (One, "Against The Grain", was brought back from Monday), and both got the crowd going a hell of a lot! One fan even had a "GARDEN OF BEDLAM ROCK!" sign to hold up, which was cool! I was headbanging away, and I wasn't alone! If you didn't consider Garden of Bedlam a favourite to win after that performance, you're likely insane!
Next were Stiffler's Mom, and after their return to their Sin Stereo days on Monday, they broke out two different originals last night, which definitely more resembled their more recent "bar rock" sound, if that's an appropriate description. Still, they sounded very good, I know they have detractors who say they're just a cover band and whatever, but they handle originals really well, and last night was more proof! They're really good at the harmony singing, Jon Ferguson and Greg Simpson match up well on lead! Hell, Greg Simpson deserves the praise for singing lead while drumming, only him and Paul Becker from Sykotyk Rampage do that locally to my knowledge! While not quite "metal", Stiffler's Mom showed that they're an entertaining band once again, I've really got to see them live again!
Then came Sault Michigan's Nixxon Dixxon, who I had as a wild card pick on Tuesday, and I knew to watch out for them last night. Luckily, they were just as incredible for their age! I'm amazed that these high school kids sound so good already! Chris Hubbard was playing well beyond his years (the solo on "High Life" was proof), Brandon Carr is a born frontman (he has the confidence, manner, and quality voice for me to say that), while Kyle Beaumont and Jake Lalonde have huge talent on bass and drums already! These guys are the definite future of the music scene in Sault Michigan, they'll be the total package in a few years, and I am not kidding at all! Now, we've just got to get them back in Canada, or I've gotta turn 21, whatever comes first!
Sense of Truth continued the metal onslaught in the 7th position! The band even told me that they were taking my advice and not play "Vicious Cycle", which was nice of them, as they stuck to their heavier material, and it worked extra well! The crowd were vibrant for these guys, and they deserved it! Cory Murchison sang his heart out, and the whole band had some good energy and were nailing every note! They definitely proved they were one of the favourites themselves, and with all the fans in Sense of Truth shirts, you knew they'd get a good response! Also, HUGE, unfathomably HUGE props to Cory for giving me and the SMS a shoutout on stage, that was completely unexpected and way too nice!
The eighth band were Gsis Murphy (pictured), and they may have had the loudest screams the night, thanks to many devoted female fans who crowded near the front of the stage! They played exactly the same songs as on Tuesday, which isn't a problem, but I'd like to see them try some different songs! Though it's not really in my range of genres, they did a good job, and Tony Marcello was really good at getting the crowd involved in singing with "21st Century Loser"! Solid stuff! They were followed by Wishbone, who had a good set as well! Some nice songs, Jeremy Salatuk nailed some good solos, and their enthusiasm was clearly visible! But I think what will stand out most came at the end of their second song, when Jeremy SMASHED HIS GUITAR ON STAGE! No, not the Razorback luckily, a different guitar. I have never seen that from a local band, and it was really cool! I'm sure that left an impression! Fans ate it up too, chanting their name and holding their banner up for support, which was well deserved!
The night ended with the pre-battle favourites, the final metal band of four, Lion Ride! And they continued to live up to every single bit of hype they were given! Their energy was even higher then on Tuesday, and the music? Excellent, they were firing on all cylinders! Mikey Hawdon had a wooden box to stand on to get higher and closer to the crowd, and was rallying the crowd between songs! "IF YOU WANT LION RIDE TO OPEN FOR KISS, SAY FUCK YEAH!", he yelled, and the crowd obliged! Mikey was even climbing the posts at the sides of the stage, while the band played their asses off! You know these guys wanted it the most, and they showed it! Nice hearing "Cocaine Crazy" too, great song, still missed "Slapdance" though! Mark Rand & Marco Pedalino did some great guitar work, and the crowd was extremely packed, I barely had breathing room from the corner of the stage where I was! Awesome performance, further proving their status as one of the favourites to win it all!When all was said and done, we waited for the results, and everyone I heard from had two bands in mind as their picks to win it all: Lion Ride and Garden of Bedlam, very few people I talked to had other picks! When Mark SanAngelo and Brian Davie came out to announce the pick, we were all ears! Brian said that Sault Ste. Marie is definitely a rock and roll city, which I definitely agree with, looking at all the talent we have here! Mark revealed that just ONE POINT separated first and second place. First, Mark revealed that the runner up in the battle was......LION RIDE!
This got a decidedly negative reception from a good segment of the crowd, but in my opinion, they did everything they could to win this, they pulled out every trick and got every bit of support they could, and lived up to all the hype they were given! I couldn't have asked for more out of Lion Ride, and with just a point away from first, this really could have been a flip of a coin decision. I'm happy they did so well, it'd be nice to see them open for Kiss (they will if the winning band can't for some reason), but they should keep their heads high, they owned it the last couple nights, they made loads of fans, increased their local profile, and proved they're one of the best metal bands this city has to offer!
And then, Mark announced the winner! Who won, you ask? Look below:
No surprises here, most people thought that if Lion Ride didn't take it, Garden of Bedlam would, and that's exactly what they did! I love Garden of Bedlam, so I'm very happy with the choice, though a Lion Ride win wouldn't have disappointed me either! It was literally too close to call between these two bands, and even though I've seen people online are mad that Lion Ride lost, Garden of Bedlam also really deserved this too, and congratulations to them on winning! Garden of Bedlam will receive 10 tickets to the Kiss concert, they will open for Kiss at The Essar Center on December 15th, and they'll get their picture taken with the band, which is awesome!
Overall, the finals were awesome, the bands all put on good shows, and hopefully you all discovered some awesome new bands and got to hear some great music over the last three days! Thanks to George Ravlich and Crank Sound Distribution for keeping everything sounding great, Mark SanAngelo and Rock 101 for sponsoring the battle, all the bands for keeping us fans entertained, The Canadian Nightclub for hosting the event, and of course, as a personal note, thanks to every single person who's visited the SMS over the past week, or talked to me or said hi at the battle, I appreciate all the help, support, and praise for me and my work on the SMS! Congrats to Garden of Bedlam, remember to check them out this Saturday at Madison's Pub, and on December 15th at The Essar Center with Kiss!
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And finally for this morning, a very short notice LOCAL CONCERT ALERT! I got word from Tym Morrison after the battle finals that his metal band Caveman Morrison are playing at The Nicolet Tavern TOMORROW AND SATURDAY NIGHT! They're coming off their very solid performance Monday at the Kiss battle, and will be playing their first full concert since August, and their first full show with new bassist Rick White! Tym's promising an awesome light show, which should be cool! No word on cover charges, but expect some great metal covers (they know tons of songs), and maybe some originals too! Both shows start at 10:00 PM! Get full details on this concert at the Facebook event page!
I can't go Saturday, I've reserved that night for Garden of Bedlam. I dunno if I can make tomorrow's, it depends on how busy I am tomorrow night, but it'll be awesome if I can make it out! If not, I will ABSOLUTELY be at The Rockstar Bar for their show next weekend! Oh, and I've updated the Sault Ontario Concert Venue Info section on the left of the page to include the Nicolet and The Rockstar Bar, so get phone, address, and website details there!
That's all for now, next post will likely be a preview of this weekend's Caveman Morrison and Garden of Bedlam concerts, so stay tuned for that! And remember to check out my review of "Woods IV: The Green Album" in the post immediately below this one! Stay tuned everyone, hope you enjoyed my battle coverage! Thanks again for all the support!
Overall, the finals were awesome, the bands all put on good shows, and hopefully you all discovered some awesome new bands and got to hear some great music over the last three days! Thanks to George Ravlich and Crank Sound Distribution for keeping everything sounding great, Mark SanAngelo and Rock 101 for sponsoring the battle, all the bands for keeping us fans entertained, The Canadian Nightclub for hosting the event, and of course, as a personal note, thanks to every single person who's visited the SMS over the past week, or talked to me or said hi at the battle, I appreciate all the help, support, and praise for me and my work on the SMS! Congrats to Garden of Bedlam, remember to check them out this Saturday at Madison's Pub, and on December 15th at The Essar Center with Kiss!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
And finally for this morning, a very short notice LOCAL CONCERT ALERT! I got word from Tym Morrison after the battle finals that his metal band Caveman Morrison are playing at The Nicolet Tavern TOMORROW AND SATURDAY NIGHT! They're coming off their very solid performance Monday at the Kiss battle, and will be playing their first full concert since August, and their first full show with new bassist Rick White! Tym's promising an awesome light show, which should be cool! No word on cover charges, but expect some great metal covers (they know tons of songs), and maybe some originals too! Both shows start at 10:00 PM! Get full details on this concert at the Facebook event page!I can't go Saturday, I've reserved that night for Garden of Bedlam. I dunno if I can make tomorrow's, it depends on how busy I am tomorrow night, but it'll be awesome if I can make it out! If not, I will ABSOLUTELY be at The Rockstar Bar for their show next weekend! Oh, and I've updated the Sault Ontario Concert Venue Info section on the left of the page to include the Nicolet and The Rockstar Bar, so get phone, address, and website details there!
That's all for now, next post will likely be a preview of this weekend's Caveman Morrison and Garden of Bedlam concerts, so stay tuned for that! And remember to check out my review of "Woods IV: The Green Album" in the post immediately below this one! Stay tuned everyone, hope you enjoyed my battle coverage! Thanks again for all the support!
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