LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Tym Morrison) & Another New Local Band! Plus, I Was At A Sykotyk Rampage Jam!

Hello everyone, more news to share today, including a new local band I found yesterday and my recap of a Sykotyk Rampage jam session I was invited to! But first, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!!!

Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison's acoustic solo project is returning to The Bottoms Up Lounge! He will be there on January 23rd, for his first solo concert of 2010, and it should be another fun night of intimate covers of your favourite metal and non-metal songs! As is normal for his Bottoms Up Lounge shows, there is no cover charge, and he'll start at around 10:00 PM! Nice to see Tym back for another solo show, never hurts to tone things down a bit, hopefully there will be a good turnout! Confirm your attendance at the official Facebook event page! Remember to check out more information on Tym's solo work at his Facebook group and at his website!

Next up, I have found another new local band to talk about on the SMS! Honestly, I've seen this band before, but I wasn't sure if they were indeed metal or not until yesterday. But I can confirm that they are now, and they might just be the youngest band featured here, with ages ranging from 14 to 17! They are called 20 Pack Of Marshmallows, and if you're a student at Sir James Dunn Collegiate & Vocational School, these guys may be quite familiar! Featuring frontman Curtis McKenzie, his brother Travis on lead guitar, Michael Cachagee on bass, and Darren Vlasoff on drums, you may remember them from some of those Dunnplugged concerts that Sir James Dunn has held! Curtis has uploaded videos of the band performing at Dunnplugged shows onto his YouTube channel, including clips of 20 Pack Of Marshmallows covering songs by Megadeth, Puddle of Mudd, Pearl Jam, and Weezer, as well as two original songs, "That Cold Winter Breeze" and "Taoot: The Aliens Of Our Time"!

The originals are more reserved than some of their covers might suggest, I would like to hear some heavier original stuff from these guys. But all things considered, they have some promise, I wonder if they'll play some non-school shows one of these days! Head to their official website to check out videos, band bios, photos, and song lyrics, and more! I'll show you guys one of the videos Curtis has uploaded, here's their cover of "Black" by Pearl Jam from a Dunnplugged show in October! And 20 Pack of Marshmallows are now in the Local Metal Band Links on your left!



So last night, a first happened for me: I bore witness to a local band's jam/rehearsal session! Some band members have suggested that I come out to check them out while they jammed, but nothing got past suggestions until last night! Sykotyk Rampage guitarist Dirk Becker invited me and my mom (who is an old friend of Dirk's) to come see them jam! Their space is set up in Dirk and drummer Paul Becker's home's basement, and it definitely screams "Sykotyk Rampage"! They busted out a nice selection of band classics like "Drinking On The Weekend" and "Called In Dead", as well as some older classics like "Red Ball Jet" and "Clay Thighs", among many others! The joys of a casual jam with a small audience allows for a lot of loose interaction, which was nice! They sure were having fun just playing, no stress, and the beer flowed throughout the set, I got 3 beers without ever asking for one! But it was all good, and they took requests too, so I got to hear some favourites like "Treating You Bad" and one of the classic "Wanga Danga" songs, among many others! We also got to see many of Dirk's paintings and artworks, which was cool! The band discussed getting ready to play another show in March, which hopefully will be a success!

My only regret from last night: I forgot my camera (Stupid me!) Still fun, and make sure to see them the next time they play a live concert, you'll definitely see nothing else like them! Check them out at their official SoundClick page, and my review of their latest album, "22", IS COMING IN THE SPRING! I'm aiming for March or April, depends what happens!

And finally, Stillbroke have launched an event page for their concert next month at Rock N' Roll Heaven in Toronto! Though not a local show, they are a local band, so it's worth mentioning! Hopefully they'll play a show here soon too! That's all for now, I'll hopefully see you guys at The Grand Theater tonight for their screening of Anvil! The Story of Anvil! Get your popcorn!