Remember last August, when we mentioned that local marijauna culture/music festival Hempfest returned under new ownership under a new location in Moonbeam, Ontario? Well, brace yourselves, as Hempfest is coming back home! New Hempfest host/organizer Robert Neron has officially launched a Facebook event page to hype the return of this long running local festival to it's original home in Ophir, Ontario, which is roughly 45 minutes from town! Robert describes everything relating to the lead-up, changes, and expectations for Hempfest 2011 in very great detail, despite noticeable grammar/spelling issues, so if you doubt the return, he should cover your questions! He explains that previous host Robert Waddell offered the festival to him last year, and he hosted the 2010 Hempfest in his hometown of Moonbeam due to time constraints and to preserve it's annual status. He calls this "a new era" for Hempfest, and he's already started mass preparations for it! Robert plans to print 3,000 tickets for the 2011 edition of Hempfest, with hopes for at least 2,000 in attendance. and free promotional tickets to be offered to certain establishments and radio stations.He announced some major changes as well. Firstly, if you're a federal exemptee for medicinal marijuana with a photo ID exemption card, admission is FREE! Secondly, there are NO vendor fees this year, all you have to do is register through Robert Neron to secure your vendor's booth! For more vendor details and news on non-musical entertainment, click here! And finally, Hempfest will now be an around the clock event! Bands will be on from noon to midnight, with live DJs spinning music in the middle of the night and the morning. With that said, there won't be any parties at the river this year, and attendees who wish to sleep are recommended to camp further away from the stage.
Other than the above changes, the rules aren't too different from past Hempfests. Luckily for us, Robert is actually telling us announced bands for Hempfest, which the last local Hempfest in 2009 did not do officially. And it's not too early to mention confirmed bands, as a few have been announced! Burlington reggae rockers The Killin' Time Band and West Virginia rap outfit Northern Lights have been confirmed, along with two local hard rock bands! First, we have local horror punk quartet Frightlight, in their first ever Hempfest appearance! Nice to see them taking part, their sound should work well! Also making their Hempfest debuts are local hard rockers Half Past, in their first announced concert since this spring! I imagine more will be announced before August next year, but take note regardless! More are sure to be announced, as there are three days of music to fill! When more bands (and a full schedule) come out, I'll let you guys know! Tickets go on sale on June 3rd at http://planetarypride.com and http://chezwillysplace.com for $40 for a full weekend pass. There's no listed single/two day rates or physical ticket locations at present, and the ticket price jumps to $50 at the gates, with dogs costing $10 each if you bring them. For complete Hempfest details and for contact information for the event, visit this location! It's great to see Robert bringing Hempfest back, and he has great hopes for this year, so hopefully it's a huge success! Stay tuned to the SMS for all the updates you guys need for Hempfest over the next eight months!
Now for previews of the two known metal/hard rock concerts taking place over Christmas weekend! Most of the weekend bar hard rock bands appear to have the weekend off for the holidays, but if you desire to rock out, two shows will have you covered! And first, we head to Foggy Notions tomorrow for a Christmas concert like you don't tend to see anywhere else! Called "The Green Christmas After Party", it features five local rock bands converging for a night of diverse local music! And on the heavier side of things, there are two bands you guys should know about! One is local classic metal cover trio Sativa Rose, fresh off last night's show at The Roosevelt Hotel! They always impress with their take on many hit metal songs, so look out for them smack dab in the middle of tomorrow's concert! Right before they take the stage, local experimental grunge trio SBD return to the stage for the first time since August! It's been a while for them to hit the stage again, and expect a good impression from their unique brand of sonic experimentation tomorrow night! Who knows, they may even have CDs with them! Three other talented rock bands are on for this show, including headliners RedD Monkey and The Fury! Both of these talented trios featuring Smeltzer alumni will be sure to bring a lot of creative rock music to their fans tomorrow night, whether you want two bassists or a cello! They are your main attractions at this concert, with another new local band opening the show as well! That band is Whiskey Skidoo, a stoner rock band who made their live debut last month. I don't know much about their sound yet, but keep an eye on them! Check the above links for more on the confirmed lineup!This concert begins at 9:00 PM tomorrow night, with a 19+ age limit and no cover charge! For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! This should be a fun night of music from these five talented local rock bands! There's a little something for everyone, and for free, it's a nice Christmas present for any local music fan! Check the above links for more, and for a preview, here's Sativa Rose covering Dokken's "Dream Warriors" from their September show at GLOW Nightclub!
Meanwhile, Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison returns to Foggy Notions on Sunday for a Boxing Day acoustic solo concert! This is his last officially announced solo concert of 2010, but with weekly arrangements at both Foggy's and The Big Cheese now in place, expect official word on his January dates (at least) very soon! Foggy Notons is the place to be this weekend for rocking concerts, and Tym will cap the weekend on a high with his acoustic covers of songs from all genres, including a healthy selection of metal and hard rock songs! This show should start at around 10:00 PM, there is no cover charge, and you must be 19 to enter. It's always a good night of music when Tym Morrison takes the stage, so if you want some live music on Boxing Day, you can't go wrong! Confirm your attendance at the official Facebook event page, and for more, check out Tym's official website and this video of Tym covering Eric Clapton's "Tears In Heaven" from this past weekend!
And finally, here's a couple Christmas surprises for you guys! I would cap the post with the concert previews, as it's about as long as I would normally make it, but you know what? It's the Christmas season, I'll treat you guys to a little extra something! Do you guys remember Sue Inside? From their local heyday, you'll remember them as the experimental metal duo featuring singer/guitarist Shane Lipsit-Fraser and drummer Jeff Vogel. I best remember them from their entries in local battles of the bands between 2007 and 2009, though I'm fairly certain they had more gigs than that. Since their relocation following Shane's move to Oil Springs (roughly 45 minutes southeast of Sarnia), they've become a trio following the addition of bassist Adam Veen, but you'll likely better remember their two man local era! Over time, the band have deleted and added material from past and present band pages, but I've had a few older songs from Sue Inside's local tenure in my music collections, and as a bit of a Christmas present, I've uploaded them to The Sault Metal Scene's YouTube channel!These songs, entitled "Bigtop" and "Burned Tilant", were 2 of their heavier songs, and since the deletion of older songs and their older internet pages, they've became unavailable on the internet. These are all I have from their past material (my foresight sucks), but give them a listen, as you can't hear them online anywhere else! Their sound will likely be polarizing (you'll either like them or you won't), but give them a listen! I have more Christmas surprises in store too, but for now, check out these two Sue Inside songs from their local era!
That's all for now, but stay tuned for more tomorrow, including more Christmas surprises from the SMS, and hopefully some more news! Thanks everyone, and may Santa Claus bless you with tons of metal gifts!
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