The first brand new studio material from Lion Ride's forthcoming full length album was posted online yesterday, and is now available for streaming! Entitled "Stick It In", it's currently available to check out on the band's official MySpace page! Of course, this will be one of the many songs on their new CD, tentatively scheduled for a summer release! I highly recommend checking it out, seeing as it's the first new studio material from them that we've heard since 2008. What do I think of the song? I'll hold judgement until the album comes out, I try to do that with new studio material from local bands. I wonder what you guys think though, will your opinion differ from the mostly positive feedback I've seen so far? The band even started a Facebook event page to hype the new song's unveiling, click the link to "join" and post your opinion! As I hear more on Lion Ride's new album and recording sessions, I'll be sure to let you all know! 
Next up, are you classic rock fans missing 97.9 Classic Rock: The Bear still? Well, here's some news that I'm positive will get your attention: It's back in the Upper Peninsula, and a good radio here can pick it up! WLJZ out of Mackinac City (94.5 FM) is now broadcasting The Bear, basically replacing our old local WIHC feed from Newberry. The switch was made late last month, the latest format change for a station that has had a bit of an identity crisis. WLJZ was a soft rock station from 1989-1992, then an adult contemporary station until 1995, then playing a smooth jazz simulcast until 1998, then simulcasting with Northern Michigan's Modern Rock: The Zone out of Traverse City until 2006, then becoming a variety station (to my chagrin) until 2008, when it became Big Country Gold. And NOW, the Big Country Gold feed has been moved to 1240 AM (WCBY), replacing the old adult standards format on that station, paving the way for The Bear's return to U.P. FM radio on 94.5 FM!Though I honestly wouldn't have wanted to have disrupted a station's format to get The Bear back (I feel bad for old fans of WCBY), I am glad to see it return to the area! Now it will pick up about as well as Real Rock 105.1 out of Cheboygan, if not better, and it gives us four local hard rock/metal radio options in the Sault area: The easy to pick up Rock 101 and WLSO, and The Bear & Real Rock 105.1 from the Mackinac Bridge area, which are admittedly patchy to recieve in the Sault, but can still be picked up! Great news, hopefully you guys take notice, be you fans of Bob and Tom, Alice Cooper, the great classic rock, or all of the above! When I get home, I'll be listening to 94.5 FM! And for your reference, The Bear now has a feed in Mio, Michigan too, giving them four Michigan affiliates at present!
Thirdly today, great news concerning Bret Michaels' health, and this will definitely be encouraging for those of you still hoping to see him on July 22nd at Kewadin Casino! At yesterday afternoon's press conference in Phoenix by the doctors who are treating him, it was revealed that Bret has been discharged from his initial hospital and is currently recieving physical therapy at another location. His hemorrhage is by no means completely cured, but his doctors believe he will make a 100% recovery! According to his doctor, he's talking well and is completely aware, but is having trouble walking. He also is suffering from a sodium deficiency and has some back and head pain from blood drainage, and will be monitored closely in the event that there's a downturn in his condition. Great news mostly, I want you guys to keep Bret in your thoughts still, cause he's not out of the woods yet! No guarantees he'll be here as scheduled in July, but things are looking up! Check the links below for more news on Bret Michaels' health, and to watch the doctors' press conference:(P.S. If anyone is wondering why we've donated so much coverage to Bret Michaels lately when he's not a local musician, the reason is because of his health's potential impact on the Kewadin Casino 25th Anniversary Summer Festival. There is a clear local connection, and Poison/Bret Michaels fans definitely want to be kept updated. Besides, when's the last time a major hard rock musician got sick/hurt before a planned concert? Probably David Lee Roth and his back injury before his planned 2005 show at Kewadin, and if the SMS was alive then, you'd bet I'd be covering that! So in short, this has a local connection, and many people do care!)
Closing today's post is new local metal videos from local blackened doom metal mainstays Woods of Ypres, and no, they're not continuations of the vague Krankenhaus Records shut-down/merch sell-off video from last week. In fact, they're five new concert clips from shows 2008 onward, and one that's a bit lighter hearted! Four come from the band's Western Canada tour from last August, including a clip from their Regina show of the band playing "By The Time You Read This (I Will Already Be Dead)", one from their Toronto show of the band playing "Your Ontario Town Is A Burial Ground", and most excitingly, two videos from their most recent local show during that tour, when they rocked The Speakeasy! One is also a performance of "Your Ontario Town Is A Burial Ground", the other features the band playing "Crossing The 45th Parallel"! Among the new uploads, there's also a lighthearted 15 second clip from their time in Edmonton on that tour as frontman David Gold played air drums with barbeque ribs to an Amon Amarth song! Amusing!But the one I'm going to link here comes from the band's tour in the fall of 2008, during the brief period where the Woods of Ypres lineup included the entire 2008-09 lineup of Gates of Winter (or as I affectionately call it, the "Gates of Ypres" era!) This clip comes from a show in November 2008 in Sudbury, of the band playing the songs "Shams of Optimism" and "Crossing The 45th Parallel"! Check it out below, the rest of the videos by clicking the above links, or by visiting David Gold's YouTube channel! Great stuff, good quality for all the videos, hopefully there's more lurking around!
That's all for now, tomorrow's update WILL include previews of this weekend's Derelict, SBD, Destroilet, and Blind Baby concerts, all of which I hope you'll consider hitting! I'd try and be at at least a couple, so I'm counting on you guys to make them successes! Also look out for a new video from a major local metal concert from way back in 2007 that recently made it's way to YouTube! Stay tuned everyone!
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