Thursday, August 19, 2010

Weekend Concert Previews, Barking Eye Updates, And A New Concert Video!!

Hello there, local metalheads! I have more stuff to share on this fine Thursday, including previews of this weekend's (known) local hard rock concerts, the latest notable news articles on The Barking Eye, and a notable concert video from a concert from last year that was recently posted online! But first, we'll start with your local concert previews for this weekend! Before we kick that off, note that Tym Morrison's show scheduled for tomorrow at The Roosevelt Hotel has been cancelled for some genre conflicts, let's leave it at that. Now, onto the scheduled concerts!

I'm starting with the two shows in Sault Michigan because these could be the last time you see this band for a while, at the very least. Tomorrow night and Saturday night at The Bird, local hard rockers Nixxon Dixxon hit the stage for the last time before drummer Jake LaLonde heads to California to attend the Musicians Institute (and yes, I'll have updates on if he made the next round of the Full Ride contest when they come out.) With Jake's plans out west, and from comments made by frontman Brandon Carr on his personal Facebook page, the band appear to be going on a hiatus or break in the meantime, if nothing else. So this could very well be your LAST CHANCE to check Nixxon Dixxon out for a long time, make note of that! They'll be on at 10:30 PM both nights with no announced cover charge, and you must be 21 to enter. They're a great band with loads of metal covers and select originals in store, so at least consider going, because who knows when you'll see the band back playing shows.

No matter what, they've accomplished a great deal for a band their age, and we already remember them fondly, whatever the future holds! For more, visit their official MySpace page, and for a video preview, here's Nixxon Dixxon covering Alice In Chains' "Rooster" from the Pop Evil show in February!



Now, in Sault Ontario, we have two hard rock shows, this time courtesy of Turner Up once again! The local classic hard rock quintet return to Foggy Notions this weekend for a pair of concerts, and disregard the Facebook event page, they ARE playing on Saturday too, as confirmed in band members' Facebook statuses. Nothing that I can tell about these shows that are too different from normal Turner Up shows, so there'll be a 10:30 PM start time, a likely $3 cover charge, and a 19+ age limit for both concerts. Should be fun, as usual, though if you miss them this weekend, you're bound to see them again very soon, cause they have a solid weekend booking schedule! For more infomation, visit the above links, and for a preview, check out a video of Turner Up (with current frontman Brent Royer) covering Gavin DeGraw's "I Don't Wanna Be" at a recent Rockstar Bar concert at this location! I can't embed it here, but hopefully something embeddable pops up soon!

And now, for two news stories to close this post, and first, we have the newest metal-relevant stories from Glen Thomas' informative music blog, The Barking Eye! The largest & most intriguing revolves around the ongoing rumours that would see Northern Raceway (formerly 5th Line Speedway) become an outdoor concert venue. In case this is before your time, Northern Raceway was a former local racetrack that was active from 1965-1987, and is now unused, with the old track and grandstands still there unattended. Glen backed up a lot of the positive speculation about this rumour in saying that Northern Raceway is a "gold mine" waiting for development, and it's size & location (near a KOA campground and away from most of the city) would be perfect for holding major outdoor concerts. However, he pointed out that residents around the area had spoken out AGAINST turning it into a concert venue when the rumours started due to the noise issues, and property damage concerns were also raised. That being said, there's no definite facts about the possibility of turning Northern Raceway into a concert venue, just lots of ongoing speculation, but what do you guys think?

Glen pointed out that rumours picked up after Castle Farms in Charelvoix stopped hosting concerts in the 1990s, which makes sense to give the area another big concert spot. I could submit that Runway Park could fill that void, given that they hosted Bell Border Jam and WOULD have hosted the cancelled Skid Row outdoor show had it stayed on, but there hasn't been a major concert there since 2008 that I can remember. If there was actually a devoted group with the right funds to turn Northern Raceway into a concert spot, I'd be for it, but honestly, I just take these as rumours. Interesting rumours, but rumours nonetheless. Check out the article for yourself by clicking here! Among other notable articles, Glen weighed in on Garden of Bedlam's huge opportunity opening for Kiss, the new local pop rock band Cherry Crush (featuring Foggy Notions owner Taryn Bugyra on lead vocals), and a mini article about the old Sault Music Scene Facebook group from shows in the 1970s and 1980s! Good stuff, click the above links for much more, cause Glen has a lot of interesting things to say about the scene, past and present!

And finally, here's another major local concert video, and shockingly, it's not from Kiss' show last Tuesday! Nope, I can't forget about other major shows in the area, and this fits the bill. YouTube user escherich1987 uploaded a video from Papa Roach's concert at The Dreammakers Theater at Kewadin Casino from last November onto his YouTube channel! It's a video of Papa Roach playing their song "Forever" from the show, but note that the video quality is quite jittery and shaky. That being said, the audio holds up better, but it has clippy sound with washed out bass, especially in the heavier choruses. Not the best video we've seen from the Papa Roach show quality-wise, but it never hurts to have more local concert videos, especially this late after the show. Check the video out below, and yes, I have at least one more Kiss video to share, so stay tuned!



That's all for today, but guess what's tomorrow? The new SMS poll, that's what! And of course, the results of last month's poll. What did you guys vote as your favourite show of the first half of 2010? We'll find out tomorrow, and as for the new poll topic? It's about local radio, and not about station issues or the controversy from early in the year. Let the debate begin! Stay tuned for that, and more, very soon!

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