Pop Evil, Garden of Bedlam, Sense of Truth, and Nixxon Dixxon Concert Previews!

(EDIT 5:28 PM: I added a section about a conflcting lineup for the Sense of Truth show in the Sault This Week, and a band replacement for Saturday's Pop Evil show!)

Firstly before we get into the news, I wanna apologize for the lateness of the Pop Evil concert custom banner and Facebook logo, I should have had them up on Sunday but it completely passed my mind. I'd had it made up for a few weeks, but the rotating banner idea took over any of my thoughts about that. In response, I will likely leave them up late to make up time, so if you see them still up on Monday and point it out, it's intentional. Sorry everyone!

This weekend is quite notable for local concerts, there's only four unique shows, but there's some pretty big ones in that list, so it's time to preview what's going on this weekend!

Let's start in Sault Ontario, when tomorrow night, Sense of Truth return to the live concert stage at The Canadian Nightclub! The local hard rockers will play their first concert since last month at Coch's Corner, and will play their first live set at The Canadian since their finalist performance at the Kiss Battle of the Bands! As you may know, the band are wrapping up the recording of their debut E.P., so I wouldn't be surprised if we hear some brand new songs tomorrow night! Also joining them for this show are Groove Committee, a new local rock band featuring former Odd Man Out frontman Nick Roy, ex-Scary Uncles guitarist Matt Sibilo, bassist Alex White, and drummer Anthony Gagnon! I wouldn't say they're "metal", but they play a very wide variety of rock covers, from bands like Pearl Jam, Modest Mouse, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, and a lot of Ween songs too! We'll have to see how they sound live, click here to check out some videos of Groove Committee! This show starts at around 10:30 PM tomorrow night with a $3 cover charge, nice affordable way to start the weekend! Click here and here to confirm your attendance on the two Facebook event pages, and click on both bands' names to check out their pages and hear them in action!

This should be a fun concert, but I am not saying I'm going because every time I say I want to see Sense of Truth live, something happens and ruins it for me. So I'm either not committing or saying I'm not going to avoid jinxing myself. Let's just say that if you see me there, my reverse psychology worked! In the event I'm there, I'll take videos and post a review either right after the show, or after I get to Detroit on Saturday. For a preview, here's a clip of Sense of Truth covering the Tool song "Stinkfist" from a show at (I think) The Grand Theater last year! And here's a fun fact to close: One of Nick from Groove Committee's bandmates in Odd Man Out was Sense of Truth guitarist Steve Myers!



Also, let me quell any possible confusion about the lineup for this concert: When reading this week's Sault This Week, you may notice that the Hot Spots section plugs a show at The Canadian tomorrow featuring "Sence Of Truth" with special guests "Rightous Roxid". Spelling errors aside, I believe Rightous Roxid are one and the same as Groove Committee, so if you're confused about the band lineup, don't worry, the internet hasn't lied to you!)

Then on Saturday, the metal will wreak havoc at Foggy Notions when Garden of Bedlam take the stage for the first time since Boxing Day at the same venue! Though a Garden of Bedlam concert is noteworthy in itself, it's even more special once you notice who's opening: Papa Fogals Chair!! Yes, the Saultite-comprised, London-based metal quintet will reunite for the first time in almost two years for this special show in honour of percussionist Adam Chillman's birthday, with drummer Derek Turner pulling double duty as member of both bands! It's also cool to see both bands playing together at Foggy's again, seeing as the two bands joined forces for Garden of Bedlam's first ever concert in the spring of 2008! How time flies, huh? Rounding out the lineup on Saturday are London punk/hardcore rockers Pistols At Dawn, who should deliver a high energy fury before the two main bands get into gear! This concert is sponsored by PFC bassist Joey Grisdale's local tattoo shop, Forsaken Tattoo Studio, and will take place at 11:00 Saturday night with the doors opening at 9:00 PM. There will be a $5 cover charge at the door, and yes, it's 19+ (Aren't most shows nowadays 19+ anyway?) Confirm your attendance for this show by clicking here!

This should be one hell of an awesome concert, all three bands are extremely talented (click on their names above to head to their MySpace pages), it's always great to see Garden of Bedlam, and how often will we get a chance to see PFC, one of London's finest metal bands, back in the Sault? I glowingly praised them on here before, so make sure not to miss them! But of course, Garden of Bedlam are headlining, and deservingly so, as they'll once again rock Foggy's to the core! I wish I could go, but I will be in Detroit, so do me a favour: GO TO THIS CONCERT!!!! Make it huge, make it the success it deserves to be! For a video preview, check out their music video for "The Truth Shall Set You Free"!



Now we'll head to Sault Michigan, where Nixxon Dixxon will be tomorrow night for a show at The Rapids Lounge at Kewadin Casino! If you're wondering why I haven't mentioned a show on Saturday as well, you'll know why in a second. I believe there's no cover charge with a 9:00 start time, as I've read from earlier weekend concert descriptions at The Rapids Lounge. Expect another solid night of metal and hard rock covers (and likely some originals) from these rising local stars! Click here to check them out on MySpace! Go check this out if you're in Sault Michigan and need something to do on Friday night! For a preview, here's Nixxon Dixxon's entire preformance from night 1 of the Kiss Battle of the Bands in November!



So why I haven't I mentioned a Saturday show? Because they're playing something much bigger that night. Muskegon hard rockers Pop Evil will be headlining a special benefit concert at The Dreammaker's Theater at Kewadin Casino on Saturday night, of which Nixxon Dixxon are opening! This will be Pop Evil's second trip to Sault Michigan, after playing here last year as one of the supporting acts for Saving Abel! Also on the lineup are Toronto alt-rockers Evans Blue and Evart, Michigan's Graveyard Tan, replacing The Spider Rockets on the lineup! All three bands have varying levels of success, Pop Evil have been making some big inroads into the mainstream, and have released a number of hit songs like "100 in a 55" and "Hero"! Evans Blue have a solid radio rock sound, and it's been a long time coming for Graveyard Tan's return to Sault Michigan, they're a really good band! (Thanks to Chris McKee for the update on that!)

This concert is a benefit show for two young girls from the area that tragically died in recent accidents. Kim Rogers and Kelsey Raffaele died in separate accidents in December and January, and this concert will place all ticket proceeds to scholarships in their name. This is why there's black ribbons with their names in the current SMS banner. I never knew them, but they sounded like nice girls and this is a tragedy that they never deserved. The good will towards supporting this cause has been rapid, as many local businesses and people have bought tickets with no intention of using them all themselves, or even going, and then donating them free of charge to fans who will use the tickets. That is an unbelievably nice gesture, and it's great to see so many people jumping on the bandwagon!

I know many people got tickets free, but you can still buy them for the low low price of $15, a great deal in itself for four talented rock bands! Click here if you want to buy a ticket, and remember, even if you don't like the bands, you can do what so many others are doing and donate your ticket to someone that will! A start time of 6:00 PM has been announced. This should be a fun and emotional show, I can bet that Kim and Kelsey would be very proud and happy of all that is being done in their names! But don't forget the music, as a lot of mainstream hard rock standouts will rock this weekend as well! It's great to see Pop Evil back here, they have a lot of fans and some good songs! Click on all the names above in this preview to check out all the involved bands, and here's a Pop Evil video to get you psyched up, their video for "100 in a 55"!



I'll be back with a new post real soon with some stuff I've missed, so stay tuned! Remember to go see this weekend's concerts, and my review of "22" by Sykotyk Rampage is posted on Monday!