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!
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