LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Breaking The Fourth Wall) & Five Bands Looking To Play Here!!

Some big updates today, mostly of the concert variety! The bulk of today's post comes from FIVE new bands that want a local booking! Well, three, but one need help again to secure a date I'd already posted here about. I'll give you all the details in a second, but first, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!!!

Montreal hardcore band Breaking The Fourth Wall are coming back to Sault Ontario! A year after their planned show with Constructed Apocalypse quietly evaporated without notice, they will make their long awaited local return on July 30th at The Oddfellows Hall! Good, bookings there are picking up! Joining them are Calgary metalcore group Fall City Fall! This reminds me of some of the shows we used to get so often at The Oddfellows Hall from 2008 and earlier, maybe this is a sign of things to come? Well, that depends on how successful this show is. Click on the band names above to check out their material on MySpace, solid stuff from both bands! And the lineup doesn't end there, as local openers are needed! If you or your band would like to open at this all ages hardcore show, message Jasmin Nott at this location to show your interest! Start times and cover charges will be announced next week. Promoter Nathan Bouliane (Lorax/ex-As It Stands bassist) is hoping to bring lots of lights and a smoke machine to help make this show as good as possible! Sounds good to me, as soon as I hear more on this show, you'll be sure to find out here!

And now, pay attention, anyone who might wanna help these bands! FIVE more bands are looking for help getting a booking in Sault Ontario, and I'm always willing to help out, so I'm gonna tell you what you should know about these bands and how you can contact them! This goes for concert promoters, venue workers, and local band members who might want to play with them at a show, if you like what you hear and would like to help them get a show here, take the initiative! So, here's what you should know!

Firstly, we have a band I plugged a few months ago for a show here in July, but apparently had an issue with their planned promoter falling out. I won't say anything else about why here, but the band really would like to play here, and I've helped them in the past, so I've gotta try again! They are Aquila, a metal band from Windsor, and frontman Mark Arruda recently sent me a MySpace message seeing if I could help them with a date here for either July 6th or 7th. Trust me when I say this, Aquila kick ass! Very heavy band with some good thrashy qualities, and your head will sure be banging if you see them live! I'd love to see them here, and hopefully someone out there does too! Time's running out to lock up an Aquila show here on this tour, so if you can help in some way, send the band an e-mail through their MySpace page to show your interest, and check out their material! They really wanna come here, can you help?

Secondly, we have a band that I first heard wanted to play here today! They are The Great Sabatini, a progressive sludge metal band from Montreal, and if you want some slow grinding doom-ish heavy metal, this is what you'll be looking for! Very down-tempo and methodical, but very heavy, it's definitely something we don't see here often! The band itself actually didn't contact me, I was actually e-mailed by a booking company they're represented by, Tugnut Booking out of Cambridge, Ontario, and they're hoping to get The Great Sabatini booked here for...Halloween! Yes, Sunday, October 31st, and I was told that they always have trouble booking here for tours. If nothing else, this would be a unique show for here, and fitting too considering the night of it! Doom/sludge metal fans take note, if you want to help get a booking for The Great Sabatini here in Sault Ontario on Halloween, e-mail Tugnut Booking at this location! Click the above links to check them out too!

The other three bands I'm plugging concerning their search for a Sault Ste. Marie booking came to my attention me via e-mail, and in the case of this band, we've seen them here before! They are Fredericton, New Brunswick punk/thrash trio Hard Charger, and you may remember seeing them at a headlining show at The Oddfellows Hall in July 2008 with various local openers, including an early version of Bring The Fallen! I got an e-mail from drummer Tom Blizzard a few days ago, and he told me that Hard Charger would like to play here again on Wednesday, August 4th. I'd be up to see Hard Charger again! Despite a bad turnout for the 2008 show, I was impressed with their raw energy and mix of styles! I of course gave him some contact info, but if you'd like to help Hard Charger get a booking for here on August 4th, e-mail Tom at struggles999@hotmail.com or by messaging them through MySpace! There, you can check out some of their songs, lots of short, but heavy and relentless death/thrash/punk that will be sure to get a crowd moving! Want Hard Charger back? Then e-mail them and see if you can book them or help at all!

Finally, we have a double bill of bands hoping for a show here! Prince George, British Columbia electronic metal band Throat Kick (pictured) and Vancouver metal band GFAP are hoping to play in Sault Ontario on their upcoming Canadian tour! Looks like the show might be in September, but a specific date wasn't given, so there may be some flexibility here! The bands are both solid, Throat Kick have kind of a "breakcore" vibe and lots of electronic influences, interesting mix! GFAP are more straightforward groove metal with nice aggressive vocals, I'm really digging them too! Throat Kick frontman Kyle Pigeau e-mailed me today looking for some help to get both bands a show on their upcoming tour, anyone out there wanna help out? E-mail Kyle at kylepigeau@gmail.com or message either band at their above MySpace pages to offer your help to bring them here for a show! They're good bands, they just need a venue, or local openers, or a promoter, or something!

There's got to be someone out there that can help out these bands for a local booking of some type! We need more shows here, and if no one shows any interest, then these concerts won't happen! Even if you're just a local musician that would wanna play with them on that date, that would help! If you're interested in booking one of these bands for a show on the dates they'd like, playing with them on said show, or bring them to your venue, PLEASE e-mail them today! Let's bolster the scene with more concerts!

That's all for now, I don't know if I'll have a post tomorrow or not, it's actually my 21st birthday tomorrow so I could be busy, but I do have some cool things on the newsdesk to share, so keep an eye out, you may see something tomorrow!

Downtown Showdown & Hells Bells Concert Reviews!!

For the first time in Sault Metal Scene history, I am reviewing two concerts in one post! Last night, I was at the Downtown Showdown battle of the bands, and after it ended, I headed to The Canadian for some high voltage rock n' roll from a prominent AC/DC tribute band! Now, let's get these reviews started! (News and updates will return by Tuesday, likely sooner)

So firstly, after a quick detour to Galaxy Cinemas to get my ticket for The Big Four (See you guys on June 22nd!), it was off to The Oddfellows Hall for Downtown Showdown, my first concert there in 14 months! It felt like the good old days again, back when I was a short haired teenager off to see Gates of Winter. No really, Lee Maines and Brian Holmes were there volunteering and doing sound! Nice to see them again, but you know me, I wanna see Gates back! The Sault Youth Association were pulling out all the stops, they were selling lots of refreshments, including pizza (if it wasn't Mrs. B's, it was a close facsimile), and they also had the raffle for the Future Shop gift certificate too that many people entered! The judging panel featured SYA members and, much to my surprise, Len Ward from Turner Up and The Rad Zone! Slow to get going though, but when it did, we could feel it, as Bring The Fallen were first up!

This was my first time seeing Bring The Fallen live in three months, and luckily, they're as brutal as ever! They played their originals "Defiling Despondence" and "Stand Before", along with a new original named "Nostalgia", and all were really good! Fast, heavy, and quite moshable, I saw people getting pits going! And yes, they only played three songs, that was the limit for each band. Seemed short to me, but I enjoyed what I heard! Josh Stephney gave his all for the show, you know how I could tell? In the photos I took, his face is very red, but it was worth it, he looked like he was enjoying himself! Brutal death growls, gotta love them! Andrew Chiarello and Dan Souliere continue to impress on guitar, I love Andrew's solos and Dan holds the rhythm well! He should use his backing vocals more though, he's got decent pipes! Bassist Nolan Rainville was absent, thanks to a trip up north, so Mike Kyle (formerly of O.B.C.D.) filled in on bass, and he held his own! And of course, Travis St. Amour was great on drums, I think he's underrated locally! Bring The Fallen sure kicked things off with a bang, and to me, it didn't sound far fetched for these talented young musicians to win their third battle out of four entered!

Local "no-genre" band The Fury were next, and you can tell they're popular cause the crowd seemed to double when they hit the stage! And the mosh pit was at it's peak for them too! Paul Stanghetta sure has a lot of energy vocally and on the bass, and sometimes, you can't really tell that there's no guitar, you just get into the music! Very unique and talented young band, they're well worth seeing live for one of their full sets, even if they're not really metal! Where else are you going to find a band with two bassists, no guitarist, and lots of energy?

After them, we witnessed the second live set from local experimental hard rock band SBD, and for my first time seeing them, it was a mixture of nostalgia and enjoyment! Nostalgia for No Arrow (great seeing Dann Pichette on stage again) and enjoyment for their weird, yet heavy and catchy tunes! They played an instrumental, "Ess", as well as "It Just Won't Work" and another song (I think it was "Pow! Right In The Kisser", correct me if I'm wrong.) "It Just Won't Work" was my favourite of the three, I love how they switch from slow and bouncy to fast and relentless like someone flipped a switch! Luckily, they retained much of The Fury's crowd and got some huge pits going themselves! Though I know they don't like being compared to No Arrow, they have more resemblances than they let on, and that's not a bad thing to say! Dann Pichette and Brad Griffith have good styles, raw and heavy, but not afraid to try things, and Shane Triplett was great on drums himself! It's not the type of highly refined music that the judges may have been drawn to, but it's just entertaining hard rock, that's what I expected! I hope to see a full set of theirs soon!

After revealing who won the Future Shop gift certificate (no luck on my end), it was time for the last band! Ending the battle were local indie band The Tenagens, and I do appreciate their musical talent, they play their instruments very well and appeared to love being on stage! Unique seeing Pat Bonne on keyboards too, you don't see much of that locally anymore! But I have to be honest, they weren't really my thing. They're talented to be sure, but you know me, I'm a metalhead! But The Tenagens did good, and they kept the crowd for the most part! The musical portion of the battle ended there, and after some thank yous to involved workers, we learned who won and in what order. So here is the final placement of the competing bands:

1st place: Bring The Fallen
2nd place: The Fury
3rd place: The Tenagens
4th place: SBD

They won the YMCA battle last March, the Algoma University battle in December, and now they're the champions of Downtown Showdown! Bring The Fallen have won their third battle of the bands out of the four they've entered (only losing the Kiss battle!) And they definitely deserved it, they're great young musicians that put their all into their songs! I agree with the order for the most part, except for SBD placing last. I'm not trying to put the other bands down at all, but I'd have at least given SBD third, maybe second! But hey, everyone's tastes are different. The SYA didn't announce prize details online, so I only heard about them last night when they were announced, so I'm 100% missing things, but I can tell you that Bring The Fallen will be on the cover of a future issue of The Fresh Magazine, and have won a photo shoot and lots of gift cards! The Fury and The Tenagens also won Future Shop gift cards, photo shoots, and Fresh Magazine articles on them, not sure if SBD won anything though. Also, thanks for the free pizza after, that was nice of them to give what wasn't sold to everyone!

Overall, Downtown Showdown was fun while it lasted, although limiting each band to three songs really took away from the experience. I'd have given them a couple more each to help make up for the fact that there was only four bands! But hey, it was free, what more do you want? The music was good, the experience of an Oddfellows show was in full force, and there were lots of familiar faces, be they from bands or not! Hopefully there's another battle of the bands soon, cause these are always fun to hit! And yes, I took pictures, so click here or visit The Sault Metal Scene on Facebook to check them out! Sorry for the lack of them (not much time to take lots) and the quality (the lighting was no help.) And yes, there are videos! I got SBD playing "Ess" and Bring The Fallen playing "Stand Before", check them out below!





So with Downtown Showdown ending at around 9:30 PM, there was plenty of time to get to The Canadian in time for Hells Bells! Part of me was still bummed that Phatstick got cancelled (which I can now verify was due to the pre-summer renovations), but at least I had a backup plan! I'm coming to realize something though: When a band plays there that isn't a typical three-set local "bar band", and they say 10:00 PM as the start time, they mean 11:00 PM. Still, I was able to kill time playing Ms. Pac-Man and Arkanoid in The Knights Inn lobby while I waited! When Hells Bells took the stage finally, they were instantly impressive! They really did sound like AC/DC, and at least on the part of the singer and guitarist, they looked it too! If you looked quickly, I wouldn't blame you for thinking that it was really Brian Johnson and Angus Young, they looked the part even more than Who Made Who did! The rest of the members didn't look like Malcolm, Cliff, and Phil, but as long as Brian and Angus are covered, most fans don't mind. They covered almost ever major AC/DC classic, along with a couple surprises like "Sink The Pink" and "Rocker"! I'd have liked to have heard "Let There Be Rock" and "Rock n' Roll Train", but no worries!

The singer really did sound the part of Brian Johnson.....at first. In the second set (following a lengthy break), he really seemed to overdo it. I don't know if he was overcompensating for something or just excited, but he was singing way too hard and missing some things in the process. The lead guitarist had Angus down pat though, he had all the motions spot on! The duck walk, the stepping in place, the schoolboy outfit, the spinning on the floor, he did it all! The rest of the band were solid too, my biggest gripe from them was the backing vocals, definitely not up to speed with what I was hoping! Some nice additional touches though, like the horned baseball hat that "Angus" wore, prerecorded bells and cannons for "Hells Bells" and "For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)", and "Brian" had some great onstage banter with the crowd! Also, it should be noted that Hells Bells take requests, which is a great touch! More tribute bands should do that, it's just a shame that the crowd wasn't as good as the one for Who Made Who at The Canadian last year.

Last time out, there were tons of fans, mostly 30 and up, dancing and enjoying themselves! This time, most people sat down and drank, no one got on the floor until the last few songs, but at least this time, the crowd was younger, I didn't feel so out of place! Even with my complaints, I had fun, you've gotta love AC/DC, and a tribute band is the next best thing to seeing them live! They, for the most part, had the sound accurately placed, and they looked like they were having a blast, crowd activity notwithstanding. Always a good time, hopefully Hells Bells are back soon, cause they're at least as good as Who Made Who, though both have points better or worse than the other! I got photos, but just to note something, they're not really close to the band or in detail because I didn't want to be "that guy". You know, that guy that wanders around in front of the stage taking photos and blocking everyone's view. I don't wanna turn into that, so I just took pictures where I knew I wouldn't be in anyone's way. Click here or visit The Sault Metal Scene on Facebook to check them out, and here's the video I shot, of Hells Bells playing the AC/DC classic "Shoot To Thrill"!



So there are my reviews! That's all I have for today, I will have a new news/updates post by Tuesday, though in all likelihood, May will have at least one more update! Remember, Turner Up are playing live in Sault Ontario and Orange October are in Sault Michigan, hopefully you guys can make it out to one of them! Myself, I'll be at Sault Area Wrestling, so if you like that, I'll see you there! Stay tuned for more news, updates, and other interesting stuff on the SMS!

Local Concert Previews For This Weekend!!

Hey there, metalheads, today's post is devoted to the topic of previewing this weekend's metal concerts! Five, to be exact, three in Sault Ontario, two in Sault Michigan, and all have a certain appeal higher than normal! There's a major tribute band, a battle of the bands at a popular underused concert venue, a long awaited return to the area, and a hyped debut performance at a venue finally taking notice of "rock music"! So here are your local concert previews for this weekend, but first, a cancellation.

The planned Phatstick concert for tomorrow night at Foggy Notions has been cancelled. This has been confirmed by bassist Keith Gillam in a status update on his Facebook page. I was first alerted to this by a wall posting on the Facebook event page by Kelly Taillefer (a relative of frontman Jason Taillefer), but I wanted to wait for additional confirmation, which I now have. No reason has been publicly advertised, though it should be noted that Foggy's recently closed temporarily for some pre-summer fix-ups (as posted in a status update on their Facebook page), so that could be the reason. Either way, it doesn't appear to be the fault of the band itself, nothing I've read has pointed to them calling it off themselves. I bet a number of you are disappointed, as am I, cause this would have been my first chance to see them live! No worries though, there's another metal band at a local bar tomorrow night at the same time, details of which are coming after our first concert we're previewing below!

First off, it's the second battle of the bands of 2010, as The Sault Youth Association presents Downtown Showdown tomorrow night! Four young local bands will hit The Oddfellows Hall to compete for "mad prizes", and this includes two metal/hard rock bands! Local death metal quintet Bring The Fallen hit the stage for their first performance since backing up Doom Cannon last Tuesday, and their first show at The Oddfellows Hall since October! Can Bring The Fallen continue their battle of the bands success and win their third battle in four tries? The other SMS-covered band on the lineup is local experimental hard rockers SBD, featuring two thirds of No Arrow and Shane Triplett from The Chintzy Slicks! In just their second live performance ever, how will they do in this battle? Though they're the newest of the four competing bands, don't count them out! The lineup is rounded out by The Fury, the local guitar and genre-less rock band featuring ex-members of Out Of The Mouth Of Babes and Devastation Of The Heavens, and local indie rockers The Tenagens! Both bands are quite popular and should have lots of their devoted fans out tomorrow for the battle! Click on all of the above links to check out the involved bands!

"Downtown Showdown" will take place at The Oddfellows Hall, which (believe it or not) hasn't hosted a metal/hard rock show since October's Upheaval of an Exorcist/Garden of Bedlam concert! I wonder why concerts are getting so rare there lately? Well, take notice of Downtown Showdown, cause who knows when good bands will be back. Oh, did I mention admission is FREE?! AND, it's ALL AGES! Yes, The Sault Youth Association is doing some awfully generous things to get people to come out, and they'll also be selling refreshments (chips, pizza, pop, et cetera) for $1 each, and there will be a free draw for a $100 Future Shop gift certificate! And all of this begins at 7:00 PM tomorrow night, so make sure you're there early! A battle of the bands featuring four talented young bands at The Oddfellows Hall, all ages AND free, what more do you guys want? Confirm your attendance at the Facebook event page, and I will see you guys there! A review, photo album, and videos of SBD and Bring The Fallen will be posted Saturday afternoon! And for a video preview, here's one of Bring The Fallen, their performance of "Defiling Despondence" from Algoma Hope4Haiti!



So when you consider that the battle starts at 7:00 and features just four bands, you'd be under the impression that it will end early, right? Well, if you need something to do with your evening, and you have nothing to do thanks to Phatstick's cancellation, here's something that just might work! Hells Bells, Canada's #1 Tribute To AC/DC will be at The Canadian Nightclub tomorrow night at 10:00 PM! The acclaimed Barrie-based group will bring another authentic AC/DC sound to Sault Ontario, just months after Who Made Who rocked Nite-Life Dance Club in February! Don't expect this to be "just another tribute band" though, Hells Bells bring an extremely authentic AC/DC sound to their live show, with over 2,000 concerts on their resume, and an extensive playlist of AC/DC classics new and old! From what I've heard, I'm impressed! They have loads of information, photos, samples, and more at their official website, so check it out! The show is at 10:00 PM tomorrow at The Canadian with a $5 cover, you must be 19 to get in, and there will be some new specials on bomb shots and alcohol tomorrow as well! Confirm your attendance by clicking here!

I'm glad I found out about this show, as now, I have a backup plan thanks to the Phatstick cancellation! I will be at The Canadian tomorrow night, and will have a review, photo album, and video on Saturday along with the ones I take/write up from Downtown Showdown! Yes, two concert reviews, two photo albums, and three new videos on Saturday, you'll wanna be here for all that! For a video preview, here's a live performance of Hells Bells playing the AC/DC song they're named after in Orillia!



Quick detour to Sault Michigan for the next two shows, as Muskegon hard rockers Orange October make their long awaited return to the area! I don't think they've been here since late last year, so it's been a long time coming! They're back at The Satisfied Frog tomorrow night & Saturday night at 10:00 PM both nights, there is no advertised cover charge, and you must be 21 to get in! Should be fun to see Orange October, they have a nice heavy radio hard rock sound, accessible but it has some bite! This is actually the last weekend where I can't go to Sault Michigan shows on account of age, so in the future, if I can't make a Sault Michigan show, it will likely be because of failure to get a ride there! Back to Orange October, they're a pretty good band, and if you want some heavy live music this weekend, you can't go wrong! Check them out on MySpace, and for a preview, here's a video of the band opening for Poison at a show in August 2007!



Finally for concerts this weekend, local hard rock cover band Turner Up return to the stage for their first ever show at a venue not previously known for rock bands of any type! The band will play just one concert there this weekend too, unlike most weekends when they pull double duty. They'll be at The Royal Canadian Legion on Saturday night for the first time for them, and the first time that I can remember that they're hosting a hard rock band (not counting the seemingly-permanent postponing of last year's all ages Garden of Bedlam show.) There's an 8:30 PM start time on Saturday with no announced cover, I don't know if the show is all ages. No Facebook event page, the band haven't made any since the shows at the beginning of the month. Should be a good show, nice to see The Legion booking something heavier for a change, hopefully this isn't the last we'll see! I'd like to go, but the early start time makes it conflict with Sault Area Wrestling: Rise To The Top, so I can't make it, but hopefully you guys can! Got nothing else to do on Saturday, do you? For a video preview, here's a clip of Turner Up covering Wild Cherry's "Play That Funky Music", and remember, they have heavier metal stuff in their last set!



So those are your weekend previews! I might have a post tomorrow before I head downtown for my double concert Friday, and believe it or not, this will be the first time I've ever attended two separate concerts at two different venues in the same day! It won't be the most time I've ever spent at local concerts in one day (the Rock 2 Roll skatepark fundraiser has tomorrow topped), but this will be a fun concert marathon, and I hope to see you guys at either The Oddfellows Hall or The Canadian tomorrow night, or both! Reviews on Saturday too, so keep an eye out!

Kiss & Energy Rock Radio Updates, A New Detroit Video, And The Big Four In The Soo?!

I just knew I had to get a second post in today, I don't generally like doing that, but considering that tomorrow's post will likely solely deal with weekend concert previews, I thought I should at least space out this post from my last one. But just in case you didn't read the post from earlier, check it out below this one, it has news on Turner Up's show THIS WEEKEND, new videos from Stillbroke, Silver Dream, and Nixxon Dixxon, and pics from one of Rush's shows here in the 1970s! So, let's get into some more news!

And what better way to start with more news that's sure to produce a reaction from certain skeptics. We have more confirmation that Kiss are still planning to come to Sault Ste. Marie! SooToday's David Helwig posted an article exploring the topic, which includes reassurances from Essar Centre events manager Trevor Zachary that discussions are "absolutely" going on to bring Kiss here, and a date in September is being held for them just in case! David points out in the article that there is that long break between the September 5th and 9th shows in St. Paul, Minnesota and Toronto that could hold a Sault Ste. Marie show. Craig Huckerby from SooNews has also jumped on this story for an article there about the Kiss situation, which says stuff we've mostly already heard, but it does contradict the SooToday article by saying that the arena is holding TWO potential dates for the Kiss show. Either way, this show is far from being cancelled and proving skeptics right, so we'll have to wait and see!

Closing today's Kiss show updates, SooToday has a poll up on the front page with this question: Has your opinion of the band KISS changed over the past year?" Three choices are given to vote on: "No, my opinion hasn't changed", " Yes, it has changed for the better", and "Yes, it has changed for the worse". Click the above link to vote if you want to, and how do the current results look? 59.84% of the 1,016 votes cast picked "Yes, it has changed for the worse", with in second with 36.32% and "Yes, it has changed for the better" in third with 3.84%. This is about what I expected, though I figure that once Kiss does in fact play here, general opinions on them will climb back up!

Next up, we have updates from your favourite internet radio station (and our only Sault Ontario-based rock radio station), Energy Rock Radio! Ryan McQueen and the guys over at ERR have been keeping busy with the station in recent weeks, here's some of the recent updates! I didn't cover this on here (wasn't locally based), but they ran a contest where the winner got tickets to go see Drowning Pool, Seether, Hellyeah, and Five Finger Death Punch live in Detroit! The winner, Sault Ontario's own Dustin Grimard, also won backstage passes and got to meet Drowning Pool, which must have been awesome! Ryan McQueen also was there, and there's lots of photos from the show and backstage experience at ERR's website, including getting a video message with Drowning Pool drummer Mike Luce! Also, Ryan's definitely been loading up on Sense of Truth at the station, adding songs from their forthcoming E.P. to the playlist rotation! Nice snag there, I have to say! So make sure to listen to Energy Rock Radio for your potential first glimpse at their new album! Also, remember to read Energy Rock Radio's current playlist to see what all they currently have to play on the station! Lots of great songs there, and don't be concerned with the non-metal stuff, that's only for special occasions!

...but that's not all Energy Rock Radio related today! Starting next Friday, the station is holding live karaoke nights from 8:00-10:00 PM, click here for details! Any metalheads out there wanna show off their singing voice? Or how about your best metal face, cause that contest is ongoing until September! And, Energy Rock Radio now has a YouTube channel! It features a contest promo video for the Drowning Pool contest, a live clip of Ryan McQueen at The Fillmore Theater in Detroit for the show, an initial greetings video, and a live Sense of Truth video from their show with Lion Ride on Saturday! I've embedded the Sense of Truth video below, it's actually of the same song I filmed, "Land of Greed"! He got closer to the action than I did, not bad work! Of course, click here to listen in live to Energy Rock Radio and enjoy, it's a great station that needs more listeners! And, of course, huge thanks to Ryan for recording a promo commercial for The Sault Metal Scene, which you can check out by clicking here! That's awfully nice of him!



Next, another new video from a local band, and this time, it comes courtesy of local hardcore band Detroit! This comes from a show at The Bovine Sex Club in Toronto on January 19th of Detroit playing what I think (I stress "I think") is an unreleased original called "Crowned By Giants"! This comes from the Youtube channel of a user named dnahahaha, who has uploaded 16 other live Detroit clips from shows at The Bovine Sex Club since January of last year, click here and search for "Detroit" to check them all out! The video and sound quality is really good, though I don't know if having a stationary camera is best, it doesn't capture angles that'd be worth seeing, and you can barely see Mikey Hawdon behind the drumkit. Good video even still, hopefully we'll see more from Detroit sooner or later, I miss seeing Brenton on stage!



And finally, here's a little query for you thrash metal lovers. We've seen Megadeth here, right? (March 2007 with Heaven and Hell.) Well, how would you like to see Megadeth, Metallica, Slayer, AND Anthrax LIVE in Sault Ste. Marie?! Well, our chance is coming....sorta. As first alerted to us in a SooToday article entitled "Hey metal heads! You really wanna click here", it has been announced that on June 22nd, Galaxy Cinemas at The Station Mall will be showing The Big Four: Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax live as it happens via satellite from night one of The Sonisphere Festival in Sofia, Bulgaria, along with over 65 other Cineplex theaters across Canada! This will be the very first time EVER that the Big Four thrash bands will share the same stage on the same night, and knowing that this is a historic occasion, I bet there's a bunch of you intrigued by this! If you want to attend, tickets are $18 and go on sale online and at the box office at Galaxy downtown on FRIDAY. The concert streams live at the theater on Tuesday, June 22nd, so make sure you get your tickets early, who knows what kind of turnout this will get! Click here for online purchasing details, and make sure you consider a ticket, cause this could be a once in a lifetime event! I might just stop by Galaxy and pick one up on Friday!

That's all for tonight, tomorrow's post will have previews of this weekend's metal concerts, and maybe some extra news stories for good measure, we'll have to see! Stay tuned for much more, and remember, I'll see you guys at The Oddfellows Hall AND Foggy Notions on Friday!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Turner Up), More Local Videos, And Rush In The Soo?!

The news keeps flying in, and luckily, we'll get back to talk of local metal and hard rock bands today! If you were expecting more Kiss updates, I do have some, but I'm postponing that until later today or tomorrow, just to focus mostly on local bands today. Before we start, just a quick look at what to expect in the next few days: Tomorrow will feature previews of this weekend's concerts, I'm tabling Friday for a possible news post (if I have enough stories), and Saturday will have my reviews of the concerts I hit on Friday (Downtown Showdown and Phatstick, if you forgot.) Now, we'll begin with a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!!!

Thanks to the Facebook statuses of Len Ward and Jeff Gray for this: Local hard rock cover band Turner Up are back for another show THIS WEEKEND, and yes, that is in the singular! Rather than their standard pair of weekend shows, the band are playing just one concert this weekend, at a slightly unconventional venue, at a strange time to boot! On Saturday night, Turner Up will be headlining at The Royal Canadian Legion on Great Northern Road (across from A&W), with a start time of 8:30 PM! The Legion is mostly known for hosting country bands, but they have flirted with heavier bands on occasion, notably being the planned host for a Garden of Bedlam all ages show last year before it was indefinitely postponed. No cover charge for Turner Up's show has been announced, and I don't know if this show specifically is all ages or not. I wish the band made up event pages on Facebook again, they'd likely tell us more! According to Len Ward, the band really needs our support for this show, so there must be a more special/one-off significance to it. I'd go if I was free, but I have tickets for Sault Area Wrestling that night, so I can't make it, but if you guys wanna hear some great hard rock covers, head on out to The Legion on Saturday! And again, my apologies for the short notice, I only found out about this concert yesterday.

Three new videos to share with you guys in this update, so get yourselves ready! Firstly, we finally have new audio to share from local metal band Silver Dream! If you've been wondering why we haven't heard much from them in recent weeks, it's part their originality in issuing band updates, and partly my own ignorance. Frontman Matthew Silver does frequently update people on Facebook on Silver Dream's status and progress, but not through typical means. He actually issues them in pictures, uploading image files onto Facebook with many different band updates, ranging from songwriting to how they're doing in jam sessions, to even song lyrics! It's unconventional, which I applaud, but also hard to keep track of when searching for news and updates. To sum things up, they are close to playing live! The band are currently working on 10 originals for their live set (and presumably their first album, which they want to release sooner rather than later.) They haven't played live yet due to some outside problems, but hope to soon! Click here to check out Matthew's photos, where he has posted these updates, along with some other goodies from when he first started working on this band project to now!

That being said, Matthew uploaded the first public Silver Dream demo onto his YouTube channel! This really reminds me of a slower hair metal song from the '80s, and that's not a bad comment! I like his voice, his singing ability we've seen at his solo shows really comes through! Nicely mixed too, this sounds like it could be on an album already! However, I'd love to hear some heavier stuff from Silver Dream too, but this'll do for the time being! Check it out below, and thanks to Matthew for taking my advice to upload it to YouTube! Facebook Video's alright, but they don't let you embed videos on external sites, which can be bothersome. No matter, here's your first taste of Silver Dream!



Next up, we have new video online of Nixxon Dixxon to share! YouTube user myangels1266 has uploaded two new clips of the Sault Michigan hard rockers from their show this past Sunday at The Rapids Lounge at Kewadin Casino! The audio is fantastic on both, but the stage lighting hurts the video, you can't even see Chris or Kyle's heads most of the time! Aside from that, the videos are great, now how about the music? One video has the band covering the Van Halen classic "And The Cradle Will Rock...", which really turns out well, they played this almost to a T! Chris Hubbard continues to impress on guitar especially, he's a guitarist to watch out for! The other video, which I've embedded below, has the band covering the Ozzy Osbourne classic "No More Tears"! Aside from a bit of patchy vocals, I have no complaints! Great singing, great instrumentation, I see big things in Nixxon Dixxon's future! Check out "No More Tears" below, and more live videos from the band at this location!



Today's last video comes courtesy of Stillbroke, or, half of Stillbroke! A new video has been uploaded to the band's YouTube channel featuring frontman Jesse Frigault and new guitarist Chris Villeneuve performing a new song called "I Don't Wanna Say Goodbye"! It sounds like a hybrid of their heavier and softer material, it's a good mix! Nice to see some solo work from Chris in here, and the presence of a bit of a solo duel as well, that'll be interesting to see live! Jesse, as always, sings with a mix of passion and aggressiveness that works really well, and the lyrics are good too! Check it out below, and click here for more Stillbroke videos!



And finally for today, you know how Canadian rock legends Rush played in Sault Ste. Marie in the 1970s? Well, if you're a fan of Rush, here's a treat. Local drummer Glen Thomas has uploaded two photos from Rush's show at Sault Memorial Gardens in 1975 onto his new local music news site The Barking Eye, and you can check his post about them at this location! This picture is one of the two he uploaded, of Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart in action at the show! Glen also shared some interesting tidbits on Rush's local appearance, including the fact that they played here more than once, they were quite LOUD (as he intentionally capitalized), and their stage setup at the time included shag carpeting! Rush have got to be the biggest Canadian band to have not played here in the last 30 years, and Glen surmised that it might be because of their massive current stage setup. Maybe, but I'm sure they could scale it down if they did a smaller tour and knew there was demand here! Glen noted that he also sent these pictures to "Castle Stories" author Duane Roy for inclusion in his upcoming book about concerts at Sault Memorial Gardens, which is really cool! Check the above links for more, and cross your fingers that one of these days, Rush will come back!

Alright, that's all for now! I just realized that maybe I shouldn't promise certain things to watch out for in my next update, cause there was a few things not in this update. Well, I guarantee these are coming either later today or tomorrow: Updates on the Kiss show (or lack thereof), Energy Rock Radio, and WinkStinger! Stay tuned!

Kiss Tour Dates: The Latest Debate, Plus More Local News On Out Of Town Bands!!

Firstly, before we get to local metal news, we have yet another tragic metal death to mention. The Sault Metal Scene sends huge condolences out to the friends, family, and bandmates of Slipknot bassist Paul Gray (a.k.a. #2, or "The Pig"), who was found dead in an Iowa hotel room yesterday at the age of 38. The cause is currently unknown. Slipknot have a pretty big fanbase here, and I'm sure this is hitting fans pretty hard. I was lucky enough to see Slipknot on Ozzfest a few years back, they were awesome, and I've always liked Paul's bass style. R.I.P. Paul, your music lives on! I can't believe we've lost Paul, Peter Steele, and Ronnie James Dio in a six week span, that's a completely unfortunate run.

Alright, keeping with yesterday's fifth monthly profiles on out of town bands with local members, today's SMS update is all about out of town bands with a local connection! The updates concern local concerts from these bands, be they upcoming, to be determined, or past! And, I bet there's one topic you're all expecting to be the top story, right? Well, let's start with that!

According to their official website, Kiss will embark on their newest North American tour, titled "The Hottest Show On Earth", starting on July 23rd in Cheyenne, Wyoming! And since Kiss postponed their planned December concert here at The Essar Center, Kiss fans have been waiting patiently (or impatiently) for a rescheduled date. The full tour dates are available at this location, and many have noticed a glaring omission: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. The band's management had already confirmed our show would be rescheduled for this summer, but current dates list nothing implying a local stop. SooToday have already posted the same press release at this location, with the title "KISS announces summer tour. Crap! We're not on it!" No other local news outlets have picked up on this to my knowledge.

I can hear the skeptics now: "I TOLD YOU KISS WEREN'T COMING! WHY WOULD GENE BOTHER, WE'RE TOO SMALL, BLA BLA BLA", and so on. But hold your horses before you start saying "I told you so" or sending the band hate-mail. First off, Kiss PROMISED US a show. Gene even guaranteed it in an interview I quoted on here last year, search the blog, it's still there! We finished third in the voting for the fan-routed tour contest that the band held with Eventful last year. If they suddenly backed out without explanation, it would look horrible on them and many people here would be calling foul. That being said, the band haven't said "We're not coming, here's why" either. The postponed December date for here is still listed on the band's official tour page on their website, and if the show was called off with no plans to reschedule, would it still be there? Plus, SMS reader Natalie Belleau replied to my SMS Facebook page status update yesterday to say she e-mailed the band's website, and got a reply saying that Kiss WILL be coming here, and an announcement will be made soon! I trust her word, I imagine other people here are doing the same exact thing also to make sure, let's just hope there's no contradicting replies!

So, though I'm sure there is many skeptics still floating around that will believe Kiss will come here when they see it, I think they will. This show SOLD OUT originally, it will sell out again, and it will make Gene Simmons lots of cash! They rescheduled the Kewadin Casino show after an even more questionable cancellation (a Japanese tour instead or inclement weather, which is worse against us?) Have faith, Kiss fans, and as for skeptics, show some optimism! As for when to expect the Kiss show to be, I've narrowed it down to three likely time periods, if we're indeed part of this leg: Between the end of their current European tour on June 27th and their tour kick off show on July 23nd, between their September 5th and 9th shows in Minnesota and Toronto, and late September following their last scheduled show in Phoenix. We could be tacked on the beginning or end (that's what happened last year), or we could be slotted in along with their current routing, and the early September span makes the most sense if you look at their full tour schedule. FINGERS CROSSED, I'M PRETTY SURE THEY WON'T FAIL US THIS TIME!

Next up, I have updates for next month's Tesla concert at The Dreammaker's Theater at Kewadin Casino! The hair metal legends will indeed have a support band, luckily I heard about it before the show this time! (I didn't want a repeat of missing 16 Second Stare from last year's Ace Frehley concert.) Detroit hard rockers Fifth Way will play direct support for Tesla at the show, which will be June 26th at 7:00 PM, with doors opening at 6:00! So, how are Fifth Way? Well, they've actually got more of a radio hard rock sound, but they're not bad at all, they have some good melodies and some nice heavy vocals! They should do pretty good as support, check them out at their official MySpace page! The poster for the show points out that Fifth Way's newest CD is now available at Grooves Music, so if you like what you here, buy it there! Hair metal fans rejoice for this little piece of additional Tesla concert news: It's not sold out yet! There are still general seats available for just $38.50 American, click here to visit Kewadin's ticket page and see about picking up a ticket! And now that I'm smarter about remembering this, if you're interested in asking about a possible meet and greet with Tesla, call Kewadin Casino at (906) 341-2951 and see if there is one, and when! Confirm your attendance for Tesla's return to Sault Michigan at this location!

Thirdly today, updates on Bret Michaels, who is still scheduled to headline the first night of Kewadin Casino's 25th Anniversary Summer Festival! Now, I'm sure much of the Bret Michaels-related headlines lately are from his victory on the finale of The Celebrity Apprentice, which won him $250,000 for the American Diabetes Association, but of course, his health is first priority! Apparently, he suffered a "warning stroke" four days ago related to a hole discovered in his heart, which he plans to get surgery for in September, AFTER his tour. He's tough, I'll give him that! And yes, now that he's completely alert and can fend for himself out of hospital, he plans to resume playing live this weekend with a show in Mississippi! Will this mean his future tour dates are on, including the Kewadin festival? Maybe, not even Bret knows. According to some articles, he wants to take baby steps back and see how this weekend's concert goes. Personally, I would rather he was 100% than performing at less than that while in pain, so no matter what Bret decides to do going forward with future dates, I won't complain! Brain hemorrhages, strokes, apendectomies, and a hole in the heart are all big deals, keep that in mind! But if he does play here, I hope he's pain free and has a great time here, as he's had in his previous two stops!

Speaking of his previous two stops, here's an interesting article that The Sault Star uploaded last month! It's an interview they had with Bret Michaels in advance of his October 2005 show at the now-closed Eastgate Hotel in Sault Ontario, where he talked about his includion of country music in his sets, why he was playing in a small venue like The Eastgate, one of his box set releases from around then, and some of his film work! Nice article, I don't remember it from back then, give it a look at this location! And check the links below for updates on Bret Michaels' health, the previous 2005 article, and an additional one from The Sault Star last month where Kewadin representatives confirmed no changes to the festival lineup at the time.

Bret Michaels hospitalized with warning stroke
Bret Michaels not sure if he's ready to start touring
Bret Michaels After Brain Hemorrhage: Still Gets The Headaches
Bret Michaels still on for Kewadin
Bret Michaels: The 2005 Sault Star Interview

Alright, tomorrow, I PROMISE we'll get back to talk on local bands! I just had to group the Kiss, Tesla, and Bret Michaels stories together because they all have shows coming up here, and it made sense to clump them together. Updates from Nixxon Dixxon, Stillbroke, WinkStinger, Energy Rock Radio, and possibly more, will be in store tomorrow, so keep a look out!

Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile: Human Disorder & Summon

As promised, it is now time for our newest monthly profiles of two out of town hard rock/metal bands that feature at least one Saultite in their lineup! This month, we take a look at two bands that feature local guys we've already talked about here, but are by no means not worth profiling! One's broken up, the other is very much alive, and both are very talented! So, here we go, and of course, if there's something incorrect, missing, or lacking info/details, please tell me! (UPDATED: November 24, 2014)
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Human Disorder (Port Colborne, Ontario)

Lineup: (Saultites in RED; members not in their final lineup in italics)

Scott Bowen (vocals)
Jason Taillefer (vocals/guitar)
Tim Letkemann (guitar)
Keith Gillam (bass)
Joe LaVergne (drums)

Official MySpace page: http://myspace.com/humandisorderon

Local Info: As mentioned in our Phatstick profile, Jason Taillefer and Joe LaVergne were born and raised in Sault Ste. Marie, where they played in various local bands in the 1980s and early 1990s! You may recognize Jason from his work in Alyster and Scrooge, for example. Both moved to the Niagara Falls area in the early 1990s to further their musical career, where they eventually both found their way into Human Disorder in 1994. In 1999, the pair formed Phatstick, and have since relocated to St. Catharines. Though neither Jason or Joe live in Sault Ste. Marie anymore, they were known to come back home for the occasional Phatstick concert, so take note of that in case the band reunites!

Band Bio: Human Disorder was formed in 1994 by guitarist Tim "TbOnZ" Letkemann and Joe LaVergne, eventually acquiring the services of Jason Taillefer on vocals and guitar and Keith Gillam (Jason and Joe's future Phatstick bandmate) on bass. The quartet played numerous gigs in the Niagara Falls area in the mid-1990s, recording their debut album "Twisted Sane" in 1995, before independently releasing it in October 1996. After it's release, St. Catharines' based Blue Summit Records (now Stumble Records) signed Human Disorder under the Ruptured Discs imprint. In the late 1990s, the band was joined by vocalist Scott Bowen, and recorded their second and final CD, "Ugly Modern Aggression", which was released in 1999. The band toured all over Canada and The United States in support of the album, and the success of "U.M.A." helped get Human Disorder into the top 50 on FMQB's "Top 100 Metal Bands" list in 1999! The band broke up the next year, playing their final show on April 30th, 2000. Jason, Joe, and Keith went on to form Phatstick, while Tim and Keith launched the industrial metal band InterVenom. In their heyday, Human Disorder did play in Sault Ontario, which I bet would have been awesome!

Human Disorder are the perfect example of why I often curse my age, cause I missed a band this cool! They had a definite Pantera influence that comes through on their songs, though it had a bit of a "nu" flair that made it a bit more accessible, but not enough to sell out with! This is especially evident on "Ugly Modern Aggression", thanks to Scott Bowen's aggressive vocal style! Jason Taillefer, whether as lead or co-lead singer, also shown off some impressive singing, which fans surely saw with Phatstick too. Some of their stuff with Jason singing lead definitely reminds me more of "nu metal", but I like a lot of nu metal, so it works for me, though if you're not big on that style, you my not be as appreciative. The instrumentation is great, though the guitar solos that I've heard aren't the best. To be fair though, I haven't heard any of their full albums, but from what I have heard, I'm very impressed! Very heavy with some good melodies, great singing, and lots of energy! Pantera and nu-metal fans will have a field day with Human Disorder, and if you're craving something a touch heavier than Phatstick, look no further!

Three songs (two from "U.M.A.", one from "Twisted Sane") are on their MySpace page, along with a remix from their last album! Also, you can still buy unopened copies of "U.M.A." on Amazon for as cheap as one cent, click here to check it out for yourself! As for a video, I have found just one video online of Human Disorder, a 1999 music video for their song "Puzzled"! This was originally uploaded on Google Video 3 years ago and was filmed by Black Walk Productions. The original link is at this location, and I've uploaded this video to YouTube to spread it to the masses like it deserves! NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED!! So with that in mind, take a trip back a decade and check out "Puzzled"!


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Summon (Lansing, Michigan)

Lineup: (Saultites in RED; members not in their last lineup in italics)

Chas "Necromodeus" Schoals (vocals/bass)
Ed Ryan (lead guitar)
Mike Jasso (rhythm guitar)
Mikey Bishop (drums)

Sean "Xaphan" Peters (vocals/guitar)
Dan McNeil (guitar)
Mark "Akhkaru" Garcia (guitar)
Chad "Haborym" Metzger (guitar)
Ryan O'Neil (guitar)
Matt "McGoat" McClelland (guitar)
Craig "Oze" Wilson (drums)
Mark "Supmur" Hague (drums)
Joshua "Dominus" Moore (drums)
"Asteroth" (drums)

Official MySpace page: http://myspace.com/cemetarydesekrator666
Official Facebook page (1): http://facebook.com/pages/summon/107242069317984
Official Facebook page (2): http://facebook.com/pages/summon/115792518441039
Official ReverbNation page: http://reverbnation.com/summon666

Local Info: The only local member of Summon wais drummer Mikey Bishop, who is sure to be familiar to local metalheads, especially ones from Sault Michigan! A veteran of numerous metal bands stretching from Ontario to Nashville, Mikey's probably best known nowadays as drummer for Brimley hard rockers Half A Man, along with former bands like the Grand Rapids death metal band Sadomasochism, playing with them in some high profile tours in the mid-2000s. Mikey's body of work includes stops in bands like Bludgeoned, Cement Pond, Dry Rot, 13 Mile Style, and most prominent of his former local bands, mid-90s groove metal rockers Lower S.E.S.! Look out for more exciting news and updates from Mikey's current projects in the near future!

Band Bio: Mikey joined Summon in 2009 upon the return of the band after a 4 year hiatus. I think Mikey replaced Joshua "Dominus" Moore as the band's drummer. The current lineup also includes founding member Chas "Necromodeus" Schoals on lead vocals and bass, Ed Ryan (who, like Mikey, is also formerly from Sadomasochism) on lead guitar, and Mike Jasso on rhythm guitar. Summon were initially formed in 1991 by Necromodeus and Xaphan, recording one demo before breaking up to focus on their work in another Michigan black metal band, Masochist. In 1995, the duo reformed Summon, releasing a demo that year and their first full length album, "Dark Descent of Fallen Souls", in 1997. Amidst numerous lineup changes, Summon released four more studio albums up to their most recent release, "Fallen", in 2005. The band went on hiatus after the departure of Xaphan in 2006, but returned in the late 2000s. Though beginning a new CD  "A New Beginning" and playing a number of concerts in Michigan in the late 2000s, Summon fell inactive after 2010, though you can now see frontman Chas Schoals with the Lansing death metal band Inebriated.

I have to be honest, black metal isn't a genre I listen to a lot. That being said, Summon are pretty good! From the songs I've heard, I've detected some very skilled black metal vocals from Necromodeus and Xaphan alike, and though I'm sure many fans will miss Xaphan in the current lineup, Necromodeus is more than capable of carrying the total vocal burden! At least with their black metal singing, it's not toneless shrieking like some other bands, so that's great! Excellent drum work too, they made sure they got top of the line guys behind the kit, especially Dominus, and I know Mikey's going to do just fine in Summon! The various lead guitarists from their early albums were good too, though when listening, I just enjoyed the assaulting heaviness of Summon, they have tons of face-melting qualities, and hopefully they return to activity and come up to the Sault area sooner or later! Here's their music video for their song "Sacred Nothing"!


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That's all for today, unless there's some major, must-be-posted-today story that comes out later on. So, are you wondering what bands I'll profile next month? Well, after some thinking and searching, here's who I plan to profile: The Disciples of Rock, the inactive Blind River hard rock band featuring Saultites Aaron LeBlanc & James White, and Violet Fuse, the London Ontario hard rock band featuring the Sault Ontario-born Thom Edwards on drums! Expect that around the last week of June!

Over the next couple of days, expect brand new posts with updates on Bret Michaels, Tesla's show here next month, Stillbroke, Nixxon Dixxon, Energy Rock Radio, and more! Stay tuned for more!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Hells Bells) And My Lion Ride/Sense Of Truth Concert Review!!!

Good afternoon, guys! Well, good afternoon to those of you who are at a computer and not camping...ah, the joys of the long weekend, huh? Well, if you weren't at The Canadian last night, you missed one hell of a show! But before we get to my review, I have a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!!!

So when I was leaving The Canadian Nightclub this morning (well, technically, it was around 1:30 AM), I noticed that the marquee board outside was updated with some upcoming shows, and one caught my eye, a band named Hells Bells on May 28th. Using quick logic, I surmised that Hells Bells must be another AC/DC tribute band. So when I got home, I looked up Hells Bells to see if I was right, and after a fair bit of searching, I can now confirm that they are an AC/DC tribute band from Barrie! The search to prove this was a bit longer than normal because they're not on MySpace, but there you go! On their website, Hells Bells are hyped as "Canada's #1 Tribute to AC/DC", there's tons of photos, a live video, merchandise, a song list, and of course, a tour schedule where they confirm a show at "The Knights Inn" on May 28th, THIS FRIDAY! Again, sorry for missing this for so long, The Canadian haven't been hyping this in advance to my knowledge. This is shaping up to be a good year for AC/DC fans, as Hells Bells are the second AC/DC tribute band to play here in four months, after Who Made Who rocked Nite-Life Dance Club in February! Search for "Hells Bells tribute Ontario" on YouTube to find lots of videos, they really are quite good! And visit their official website for more!

Will I be at the Hells Bells show? Believe me, I was tempted, AC/DC classics by a great cover band right near my house on my birthday weekend. But, I'm gonna stick with my original plan to head downtown for the Downtown Showdown battle of the bands, and then to see Phatstick at Foggy's! But Hells Bells will be awesome, so go there if you want, you won't regret it!

Now, to review last night's Lion Ride/Sense of Truth concert! So I got there a little before 10:00 PM, but nothing got started til after 11:00 PM. Good thing I didn't mind too much! Both bands had new merchandise available, including some killer new Lion Ride shirts (I bought one!), and Sense of Truth loaded up too with plenty of new t-shirts and stickers bearing a new band logo! Looks really cool, it's an ambigram, where if you flip it upside down, it still reads the same way across. I grabbed a bunch of stickers, and I already have one on my computer! Sense of Truth kicked off the concert, and they sound just as good as ever, if not better! The more I hear their new originals live, the tighter they get and the more they seem to improve! Cory Murchison is definitely improving as a singer, he can pull off some good aggressive screams now, and still keep a great melody in every song! He also made fantastic use of the new sub woofers in front of the stage, by walking on them and getting closer to the crowd, as Steve Myers and Curtis Beauchamp would do as well!

Curtis actually provided a lot of on-stage energy, he was all over the place and played the bass as good as ever! Steve and Ron Baxter continue to impress on guitar, I especially enjoyed Steve's guitar solos, and Ryan Haryett was great all night on drums, the stuff he can do is really special! Sense of Truth played 8 songs last night, including all of the songs that have samples on their MySpace page, "Vicious Cycle", "Crawling", and a new version of "Pieces of a Mirror" which is heavier than the original! They also whipped out two covers, Tool's "Vicarious" (which we've heard before) and Karnivool's "Set Fire To The Hive", which we have not heard before! They always do a good job on Tool covers, and as for Karnivool? I'm not familiar with them, but I know that Sense of Truth members have sure became huge fans of theirs recently, and the song sounded like organized chaos (that's not a bad remark!) The band have great on-stage presence and a great sound, I can't wait to hear these songs on the E.P. (I imagine all 6 originals they played last night will be on it), but I'd love to see them be even heavier on future originals, cause they sure do pull it off! Great set, here's hoping they're back soon!

Lion Ride hit the stage next, and despite some derision to campers for not going to the show, they delivered a great set! It had been 5 months since we last saw Lion Ride, and they delivered in their return to be sure! The sheer amounts of energy these guys have is still amazing, especially that of Mikey Lion, who was all over the place! On the subwoofers, climbing the side-stage speakers, jumping all over the place, and he managed to sing really good in there too! His vocal work to me is still underrated compared to his drumming, but he's got a great hard rock voice with a punk edge, it fits their sound perfectly! Marco Lion continued with his excellent guitar work, he was hitting some great solos, with Marky Lion holding down the rhythm end nicely throughout! I like how he adds screaming backing vocals on some songs, I wonder how he'd sound on lead vocals? Nice on stage banter between Mikey and Marky too! Iron Mike Bison was incredible on drums, he seemed to be drumming for his life, great job! This was the band's first local stop without Diamond Brent Panther, but Cobra Carmander did a very good job filling in, though he was hard to spot sometimes, usually stuck behind Marco. He's a very talented bassist, he seemed to enjoy being there, and hopefully he'll bring The Saigon Hookers here for a show one of these days!

The band delivered most of the songs from their original E.P. "Awesome", as well as a few unreleased songs, two brand new songs, and two covers! The new songs were "Stick It In" (the studio version of which is on their MySpace page) and "Snail Trail", and I especially like the latter's catchy heavy qualities! The covers were "Red Hot" by Motley Crue, which we've heard before, and much to our surprise, "I'm So Excited" by The Pointer Sisters! That was completely out of left field, but you know what? They completely improved on the original! Also, during "Red Hot", Mikey said "Horns to Dio" and raised his devil horns to the sky, which was an awesome touch! Lion Ride are one of those bands that can effectively straddle the punk and metal crowds and appeal to a really wide fanbase, and they sure shown it last night! I'd be hard pressed to come up with a major criticism of their set, I'd say just keep up the great work and here's hoping the next batch of new songs will turn out as awesome as their first E.P. was! Overall, this was a great concert, and I wish there was more people there to see it! Both bands are killer, and I hope to see them both back here soon, and I can't wait to buy their new CDs!

As you likely noticed, I got plenty of pictures, so click here to check them out, or find them at The Sault Metal Scene's official Facebook page! And yes, I got video! Hopefully these turned out alright, I think they look and sound good! So here they are, Sense of Truth playing their song "Land of Greed" and Lion Ride playing their song "Stick It In"!





That's all for today, tomorrow I will profile two more out of town metal bands with local members: Human Disorder and Summon! Barring a huge, can't be avoided news story tomorrow, my next updates will be on Tuesday, so keep an eye out! A post on Wednesday, if need be, will likely be more news and updates, while Thursday will bring you weekend concert previews! And on Friday night, I'll see you guys at The Oddfellows Hall and Foggy Notions for a double shot of live metal madness! Stay tuned, everyone!