My first show of the night was Soo Music Mash-Up at The Oddfellows Hall, which was a nice surprise in that it was an all locals concert at an all ages venue, something we don't see nearly enough of nowadays! The stage extension was even brought out for this one, so you knew there'd be some good stuff in store! Not long after the doors opened, the first act took the stage, that being promoter Jeremy Hannah's new acoustic solo project Ocean View. I've never seen Jeremy perform live before, so this was new for me, but I will admit being more partial to his hardcore stuff with Lorax and Constructed Apocalypse. That being said, he is a talented singer and songwriter, and he played some good songs for the style he was going for! Without invoking genre preferences, my biggest complaint was that his set seemed very abrupt. Many songs just seemed to stop out of nowhere, and even his set ended suddenly without warning. I'll assume that's just first show jitters for this project, but for an acoustic indie project like this, it accomplished what it set out to do! Following them was local acoustic band Tea With Lincoln, who I had no familiarity with going into the show. They actually had a bit more of an edge than I had predicted going in, with some good sounding songs that, though not metal, were well played! They had a couple of covers, but mostly originals, and they will definitely attract a good crowd at shows more for their style, but they helped set the tone well with their music!
Next was that new local hardcore band Changing Waves, in just their second live concert. I still don't know a ton about them, but I did hear from Jeremy Hannah that at least one member was in the defunct local hardcore band Paraside, so take note of that! I think that they were even better than at their debut, but I honestly expected that, as with experience, they were bound to get better! The singer's been working on his stage presence a lot more, and he wasn't facing the sound guys on the right the whole time again, which I welcomed! I'm very impressed with their guitarist too, his solos were very proficient and I loved his riffs! Their hardcore cover of "Sweet Leaf" is also really cool, and they know how to get a good moshpit going! They're a very promising band, and I think they they have a bright future if they keep on with what they're doing! They just need more live experience and an internet page of some kind to get exposure up! Hardcore fans should pay attention to Changing Waves, they're quite impressive despite their new status in the local scene!
Next was Bring The Fallen, and to put it mildly, they were brutal! Despite the demotion following their short exit from the concert lineup, they delivered a heavy as hell set of covers and originals! Oddly, they started their set with covers, including their renditions of Trivium and Slayer classics, before launching into their own originals, like "Exposed Embankment", "Night Riders", "Nostalgia", and "Defiling Despondence"! I think Josh Stephney's vocal abilities are improving, he was able to sing "Entrance Of The Conflagration" pretty well without resorting to growling throughout, and his death metal singing is getting clearer with time! Plus, you have to give credit to Andrew Chiarello for his amazing guitar work, and Dan Souliere too, they mesh together extremely well! Nolan Rainville's bass work was dependably good throughout their set, and Travis St. Amour deserves more credit than he gets for his drumming! I missed their banner though, that'd have added to their presentation! The moshpits were awesome too, but luckily they didn't bang me up as much as at Total Chaos!I should note that I regrettably had to leave for the last chunk of their set, as I had to run to Dollarama at Station Mall to get AA batteries. Why? Well, I'm using a borrowed camera for SMS reviews while my camera charger is getting mailed back home (I forgot it in Detroit), and the battery life on the camera isn't great by any standards. Plus, if I didn't get the batteries before Bring The Fallen wrapped up, I might have gotten there past closing hour at the mall, so it was either leave then to get batteries, or have no camera the rest of the night. I bought 10 AA batteries, so things should be safe for tonight's Mark Rand Band show, so don't worry about that! But Bring The Fallen were awesome from what I saw, and I hope to see a full set of their death metal attack very soon!
Next was RedD Monkey, in my second straight night of seeing them live! Honestly, I can't say too much different about their set last night compared to their show at Foggy's on Monday, but they were just as good as at the Monday show! Steve Mozarowski's voice seemed a bit harsher, but that's about all. Their unique mix of punk with a cello is still a fun sight, and how many bands featuring classical instruments in Sault Ontario are ever going to draw a moshpit besides these guys? I still say that they shouldn't start and end their sets with the cello rap songs, cause they don't really seem like the best songs for those slots, but Steve's actually not a bad rapper! I'd rather listen to him than The Black Eyed Peas, for example! After them was the very popular local band The Fury (pictured), who looked a bit different, yet familiar last night. Bassist Tony Briglio was absent due to illness, so filling in for him was former bassist Josh McNally! Nice to see him back, he added to the band nicely during his tenure! Their set included many of their classic originals like "Rebel Scum" along with a new song, and they still pull off a unique style of rock that shoudln't be categorized, but still draws from many influences! Their lyrics actually show a nice maturity on some songs, while having some more light hearted fun lyrics on others! Fun band, they're proof that you don't have to have certain instruments to rock!
Second to last at The Oddfellows Hall was the return of The Crossed, the popular experimental emo quartet who gained quite the following in the mid-2000s. They only occasionally reunite nowadays, and this was actually the first time I've seen them live in about 4 years. I admit that back when they were a frequently performing band in the scene, I wasn't a huge fan, mainly because they weren't really in my preferred genres. I haven't heard them in a long time though, so I went in to this on a blank slate, and what did I think? They are talented, but they're still not my thing. Jordan Flesher is a very good singer, and they have some well thought out songs and messages, but for what I tend to listen to, they were just too light. Even on the faster paced sections, things seemed a bit poppy. Dan Iannelli's keyboard work was really nice too, but at times, it felt like it was part of another song entirely. The best parts of The Crossed's set were when they went screamo, including a guest appearance by former frontman Josh McNally, in his second surprise appearance of the night! He's a good screamer, you think he'd do it more! The crowd was super responsive and into their set, and sang along with the songs with enthusiasm! I appreciate their appeal and abilities, but I still wouldn't call myself a huge fan.
And finally, your headliners were As It Stands, and I'll say right off the bat, I didn't even see half of their set. I wanted to, but I had plans to go see Lion Ride at The Canadian after this show wrapped up, and with the show running a bit late, I had to leave early to ensure I didn't miss Lion Ride. But what I saw was very impressive! As It Stands are still improving as musicians, they're a far cry from their emo days, or even their earlier run with Justin Pregent before the Out Of The Mouth Of Babes era. Justin's screaming and singing are both better than ever, and the rest of the band have awesome chemistry! Angelo Huckson's very energetic on stage, and the guitar riffs and breakdowns are great on each song, but I do wish either Garrett or Albert would incorporate more solos! Their new originals are awesome metalcore tracks, and I'd love to hear studio versions of their newest songs, which are all heavy and great to mosh and rock out to! Alas, I can't comment on the last half of their set, having missed it, but I want to see a full set of theirs very soon, as they're definitely a band to watch!Overall, despite my camera issues and my early exit, I really enjoyed a lot of Soo Music Mash-Up, and it felt good to be in an all locals all ages show again! Of course, there were bands that I normally don't tend to see, but variety never hurt anyone, and every band had their own levels of talent that shown readily in each set! Kudos to Jeremy Hannah and Nathan Bouliane for making everything sound and look awesome, and hopefully there's more on the horizon in 2011! For my concert photos, click here or visit the SMS' Facebook page, and here are my videos from the show: Changing Waves' original song "Lockdown", Bring The Fallen's cover of Trivium's "Entrance of the Conflagration", and As It Stands' new original "Conception"!
So then it was off to The Canadian Nightclub for Lion Ride, but with my arrival at The Canadian not coming until around quarter to 12, I had no idea how much I had missed. Before I could figure that out though, I had to contend with the line. Yes, a line at a bar concert, this was new for me. It went all the way up the stairs almost to outside when I shown up. I think this was a combination of two things: A. Lion Ride were back home, and B. It was $2.50 Tuesday at The Canadian, and you know how people like discounted alcohol. Still, I've never had this happen before, maybe it's because I was late. Luckily, Marco from Lion Ride spotted me peering through the railing on the stairs to get in, so he had security let me in free through the exit, which was super nice of him! Thanks again, Marco! Now I missed The Pinecones entirely, as their set started and finished before I ever left The Oddfellows Hall, so I regrettably can't tell you anything about their set. When I got there, The Billy Bastards were roughly halfway done their set, but by the time I managed to finally get inside, they had just finished their set, so I couldn't get any pictures. With that said, their country/punk mix sounded good as I waited in line, and they sounded like they had good energy! If it wasn't for that line, I guarantee I would have pictures of them in action and a more detailed take on how they did!
Because of the crowd (looked like over 300 people were there), I planted myself firmly in the first few rows and stayed there. I could tell that the floor would be packed when Lion Ride hit the stage, so I wasn't going to risk losing my spot. I think this is the busiest I've seen The Canadian since the Kiss Battle of the Bands, maybe even moreso! When Lion Ride took the stage, they immediately launched into an energetic hard hitting set of metal and hard rock, and believe me when I say this, they were AWESOME! They were basically a bottled up rush of energy from start to finish, and the crowd loved every second of it! Their set included most of their classic originals, like "Sneak Attack", "Trust", and "Slapdance", the two previously heard cuts from their upcoming album ("Stick It In" and "Snail Trail"), and covers of hits from Kiss, Motley Crue, and (of course) The Pointer Sisters! They also played a brand new song live for the first time in town, called "Bang Bang", which is a familiarly exciting track that'll be cool to hear the studio version of! The most unique turn of the night came when Lion Ride invited some of the women in attendance to dance on stage during "Stick It In", which went over pretty well!
The whole band were in top form last night, and if there were any glaring errors with their playing or sound, I was having too much fun to notice! Mikey Lion's singing retained his familiar punk-edged attitude, and he kept the crowd on their feet all night, whether he was on stage or climbing the speakers! Marco & Marky Lion's riffing was great, as was Marco's solos, and Marky's screaming was in top form, in a bit of a preview of tonight's Mark Rand Band show! Carmine "Cobra Carmander" Romano's becoming an established addition to Lion Ride, even if his slot in the band isn't full time, and he has a very good handle on their songs to boot! Iron Mike Bison's drumming was solid all night as well, he keeps up well and is very talented himself! The whole band were expending lots of energy, moving all over the stage amidst a loaded smoke machine, all their great fans, and photography from Curt O'Neil and SooToday's Donna Hopper! Despite my initial issues with the line, I actually liked the crowd and the atmosphere they provided, as this show was MUCH better attended than their May 2-4 weekend show at The Canadian, which I greatly welcome!Overall, this was one fun as hell show from Lion Ride, I just wish it was a bit longer! They could have broke out "Lazer Lover" or another new song and kept the party going longer, we'd have welcomed it! When I left, my feet were aching from eight straight hours of concerts, but my head and my heart wanted more! I hope we won't have to wait another seven months for another Lion Ride show, cause they never cease to impress (or rock) whenever they come home! Again, apologies to The Pinecones and The Billy Bastards for missing your sets, but I'll make up for it! As always, I got a bunch of photos, so click here to check them out, and here's my video of Lion Ride playing their brand new song "Bang Bang"!
That's all for today, but I will see you guys at Coch's Corner TONIGHT for The Mark Rand Band, Destroilet, and The Scary Uncles! I'll have a review tomorrow, along with previews of the New Years Eve concerts this weekend in another post! Stay tuned!
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