Friday, February 18, 2011

Last Month's Poll Results & This Month's New Poll!!

Hey guys, here's another special post, as we close up our last poll and open our new poll for you to vote in! These tie together very well, and when all is said and done, we'll be one step closer to deciding the top choice on this topic! But first, last month's poll, which had a healthy 39 votes, not too bad! Thanks to all who voted! As you may remember, the question I posed was "What was your favourite metal concert in Sault Ontario in the first half of 2010?" Without any further adieu, here are the results, with my commentary following!

Other (8 votes, 21%)
Total Chaos at The Oddfellows Hall on Nov. 21st (7 votes, 18%)
Endast & Blood Drunk at Foggy's on September 2nd (6 votes, 15%)
Sativa Rose at Foggy Notions on December 31st (5 votes, 13%)
The Mark Rand Band at Coch's Corner on December 29th (3 votes, 8%)
Garden of Bedlam at The Rockstar Bar on Nov. 12th (3 votes, 8%)
Sativa Rose at The Roosevelt Hotel on December 23rd (2 votes, 5%)
Gunz N' FN' Rosez at The Rockstar Bar on Sep. 23rd (2 votes, 5%)
Kiss at The Essar Center on August 10th (2 votes, 5%)
Grady at The Grand Theater on November 16th (1 vote, 3%)
That's Chester at various locations all year (0 votes, 0%)
Frightlight at Coch's Corner on July 10th (0 votes, 0%)
Skull Fist at The Canadian Nightclub on August 11th (0 votes, 0%)
Crued at The Canadian Nightclub on September 4th (0 votes, 0%)
Browbeat & Fitswitch at Coch's Corner on October 9th (0 votes, 0%)
WinkStinger at Coch's Corner on October 30th (0 votes, 0%)
Breaking The Fourth Wall at The Rosie on Nov. 11th (0 votes, 0%)

Of the no vote choices, I can understand why most may have got no votes, but the Halloween show at Coch's Corner AND Skull Fist got no votes? Neither seems right, both were great shows! Grady finished 10th with a single vote, which seems low considering their talent, but I imagine the ticket price scared some people off. Of the three shows who scored two votes (seventh place tie), none surprises me more than Kiss. Only two votes for a show of this magnitude? Honestly, it baffles me, I heard the reaction at the arena for them! The Mark Rand Band's debut and Garden of Bedlam's Rockstar Bar show tied for fifth with three votes each, they had solid finishes in the poll overall, though a higher finish for Garden of Bedlam wouldn't have surprised me. The New Years Eve metal show at Foggy Notions (headlined by Sativa Rose) finished fourth with five votes, which is a great sign for youg local metal bands going forward, if it can place high like that! The Endast show at Foggy's from September finished third with six votes, which makes sense, as it was a well attended and very heavy concert! Second, the highest rated actual concert, was the Total Chaos punk show in November featuring local metal opening bands. Nice high placement for it, I figured it'd do well in the poll! But first place really shocked me, as "Other" won. There was that much sentiment for shows that didn't make the actual poll? Well, there were some notable shows last year that featured metal bands, but not the majority of the lineup, so it's understandable on that level!

Of course, as I previously promised, it's now time to tie up all the loose ends on this poll subject, as we pose this question to you for this month: "What was your favourite local metal concert of 2010?" We asked you your favourites for each half of 2010, but now, the top votegetters will face off one last time to determine a favourite, once and for all! The choices this time around are all of the concerts that got a vote or more in one of the above polls (except Ultraviolence's concert in January 2010, as it got just one vote despite having the longest gap between show & poll, so it was removed on that basis.) As a referesher, here's the details on each choice for the poll, with changes and edits made where needed, so you guys know what's available to vote on!

Bands: Bring The Fallen, Out Of The Mouth Of Babes, and DJ Spruceau
Venue:
Nite-Life Dance Club (last seen as GLOW Nightclub)
Date: February 20th
Info:
SooToday's Donna Hopper organized February 20th's Algoma Hope4Haiti event across numerous local venues in Sault Ontario to raise money for Haiti earthquake relief, and the most notable metal-wise was at Nite-Life, where young local metal bands Bring The Fallen & Out Of The Mouth Of Babes delivered a moshing good time! Also notable as O.O.T.M.O.B.'s only live concert appearance before As It Stands' return, it was an excellent show, but do you agree?

Bands: Sense of Truth & The Groove Committee (now Call Me Allen)
Date: February 26th
Info:
A slightly impromptu show, Sense of Truth played their first headlining concert of 2010 on February 26th at The Canadian with the debuting local rock band now known as Call Me Allen, featuring former Soldiers of Misfortune bassist Alex White! Sense of Truth treated fans to many of their great originals and select covers! Finally got to end my bad-luck streak of missing their shows with this one, and it was great! Would you say the same?

Bands: Garden of Bedlam, Papa Fogals Chair, and Pistols At Dawn
Date: February 27th
Info:
Garden of Bedlam hit the stage for the first time in 2010 for this special concert on February 27th, where they were joined by drummer Derek Turner's old band Papa Fogals Chair in a rare live appearance! Also featuring London's Pistols At Dawn, the bands played to honour PFC percussionist Adam Chillman's birthday! It must have been a very special (and metal) night on February 27th, but was it your favourite show so far in 2010?

Band: Turner Up
Venue: The Canadian Nightclub
Date: March 27th
Info:
Turner Up played numerous concerts in 2010, but I'm including their March 27th specifically show here for the extra hype it received, thanks to professional recording at the show and the kick-off of t-shirt giveaways! If you were there, would you consider it your favourite show of 2010 so far? (Note, you can vote for other shows from Turner Up here if you want, as they had numerous shows and many different singers, so you could feel differently for others.)

Bands: Garden of Bedlam & Half Past
Venue: The Canadian Nightclub
Date: April 2nd
Info:
In their last concert in Sault Ontario before they hit the studio to record their first full length album, Garden of Bedlam rocked The Canadian Nightclub to it's core at this April 2nd concert which also served as the official launch party for their official website! They were also joined by local hard rockers Half Past in their last concert of 2010, and they also delivered a great set themselves! Awesome concert, would you agree?

Band: Caveman Morrison
Date: April 9th-10th
Info:
Caveman Morrison also played numerous concerts in 2010, but because this was their first weekend set at The Rosie since it's return to metal concert booking, I'll give it placement on the poll! Tym Morrison and company delivered more of their heavy metal covers and great sounds to The Rosie on this April 9th weekend! Were you there? If so, was one of these shows your favourite? (You can vote for other Caveman shows here too, they had many in 2010.)

Band: Crued
Venue: The Canadian Nightclub
Date: May 1st
Info:
Another notable tribute band hit The Canadian on May 1st for a night full of Motley Crue classics as Crued rocked Sault Ontario! Possessed with an authentic Motley Crue sound and look, Cured delivered on all accounts for this show, and even brought along Alleykatz Studio to do piercings and tattoos at the concert! Likely the next best thing to seeing Motley Crue live, how'd you enjoy this show, if you went?

Bands: Lion Ride & Sense of Truth
Venue: The Canadian Nightclub
Date: May 22nd
Info:
Despite playing during the May 2-4 weekend and having to compete with good camping weather, Lion Ride and Sense of Truth delivered a high octane night of hard rock to the fans in attendance for this show! With new material in hand, they made sure to pack in as much good music as they could for us to enjoy, including new originals! Also notable as Sense of Truth's most recent local show, this was one of my favourite concerts of 2010, how about you guys?

Bands: Bring The Fallen, SBD, The Fury, and The Tenagens
Venue: The Oddfellows Hall
Date: May 28th
Info:
Despite the absence of bassist Nolan Rainville, Bring The Fallen captured their third battle of the bands win in four attempts at Downtown Showdown on May 28th, the Sault Youth Association-hosted battle designed to promote and find young local talent! Local experimental hard rockers SBD also impressed in their second live appearance! This then-rare concert at The Oddfellows Hall went over very well, what do you guys think though?

Band: Frightlight
Venue: Coch's Corner
Date: June 16th
Info:
Ah yes, the "secret" show. Frightlight played an unadvertised concert at Coch's Corner on June 16th, their first with Jeff Richards on drums and their first since their Halloween 2009 debut! Great crowd reportedly for this one, among them, a certain band named The Misfits! Can't divulge much else, it was secret for a reason, but it was a show you'll have wanted to be there for! If you were among the lucky attendees, would it be your favourite?

Bands: Kiss, The Envy, and Garden of Bedlam
Date: August 10th
Info:
In terms of sheer scope, this was arguably the biggest concert (of any genre) in Sault Ste. Marie last year! A rescheduling of the postponed December concert we won in Kiss' tour routing contest, the hard rock legends finally came to The Essar Center with pop rock band The Envy in tow, and of course, Kiss Battle of the Bands winners Garden of Bedlam in the opening slot! This was one hell of an experience, and would you rate it similarly high?

Band: Endast, Blood Drunk, and As It Stands
Venue: Foggy Notions
Date: September 2nd
Info: More
devastating out of town bands came to Sault Ontario to rock Foggy's on September 2nd, including Montreal death metal quintet Endast and Kamloops experimental grindcore band Blood Drunk! Though they both delivered a heavy and brutal concert, this was also notable for featuring As It Stands' local return after over a year away from the stage! With loads of moshable music in store, was this your favourite show from last year?

Bands: Gunz N' FN' Rosez & Turner Up
Date: September 23rd
Info:
As Crued's numerous stops here would suggest, tribute bands have a definite place locally, and that shown once again on September 23rd, when Gunz N' FN' Rosez returned to Sault Ontario for a night of Guns N' Roses classics at The Rockstar Bar! With local classic rockers Turner Up as openers, a lot of high quality music was in store for attendees at this concert! So, GNR fans, was this the best concert of the last twelve months?

Band: Garden of Bedlam
Venue: The Rockstar Bar
Date: November 12th
Info:
After many months of album recording and some high profile gigs with Kiss and at Rotaryfest, Garden of Bedlam returned to the site of their Kiss afterparty for a hard hitting metal concert at The Rockstar Bar in November! Despite some issues with the audio equipment (not the speakers, apparently), fans had a great time in their return to the stage, with anticipation growing for their next album! Was this your top show last year?

Bands: Grady and The Motorleague
Date: November 16th
Info:
After over a year and a half without metal shows at The Grand Theater, one popped up in November, headlined by Austin, Texas country metal trio Grady! Their loud but proficient brand of southern fried hard rock left fans satisfied and wanting more, with openers The Motorleague setting the pace with a high energy punk sound! It was great being back at The Grand for a concert, but would you say it was your favourite 2010 concert?

Bands: Total Chaos, Bring The Fallen, Frightlight, RedD Monkey, Shit Liver, and Changing Waves
Venue: The Oddfellows Hall
Date: November 21st
Info:
Even though the headliners at this concert were punk legends, there was more metal than punk on this lineup! California's own Total Chaos returned to Sault Ontario for this concert, featuring a great supporting lineup, including Bring The Fallen, Frightlight, cello/punk rockers RedD Monkey, and the live debuts of Shit Liver and Changing Waves! A stacked lineup and lots of punk and metal attitude made this a very notable concert last year, but do you agree?

Bands: Sativa Rose, State of Misery, Shit Liver, and The Bear Hunters
Venue: The Roosevelt Hotel
Date: December 23rd
Info:
New local bands were the theme of the day at this Roosevelt Hotel metal night concert! With classic metal trio Sativa Rose and death metal bands State of Misery, Shit Liver, and the debuting Bear Hunters enlisted on the lineup, fans were treated to some of the best in the new wave of local metal bands in the area scene! I couldn't make this one, but I heard it was awesome, and if you were there, would you agree?

Band: The Mark Rand Band, Destroilet, and The Scary Uncles
Venue: Coch's Corner
Date: December 29th
Info:
The holiday season kept getting heavier thanks to Lion Ride guitarist Mark Rand, who enlisted some of his local musician friends to lay down live versions of his solo project's original material for fans back home at Coch's Corner! With the returning Destroilet and local punk trio The Scary Uncles playing support, old school hardcore and punk fans were right at home at this concert! For a great night of aggression, would this have ranked #1 for you?

Band: Sativa Rose, The Bear Hunters, State of Misery, and WinkStinger
Venue: Foggy Notions
Date: December 31st
Info:
If there was a heavier way to end 2010, I don't know if it! The Rosie's lineup from December 23rd (save for Shit Liver, who were replaced by WinkStinger) hit Foggy Notions on New Years Eve to ring in the New Year with tons of extreme and brutal metal! Family commitments precluded me from attending, but those who were there can speak to how heavy this show was! Was the last metal show of 2010 the best?

Other: If you wanna vote for another concert, metal or not, Sault Ontario or Sault Michigan, pick this choice! Remember, for ideas, bands like Three Days Grace, Browbeat, Tym Morrison, Stillbroke, Sykotyk Rampage, 40 Sons, Black Dog, Who Made Who, Hells Bells, Ultraviolence, The Entropy, 2112, Crush, Phatstick, Skull Fist, The Isosceles Project, That's Chester, Breaking The Fourth Wall, and more rocked Sault Ontario in the last half of 2010, along with extra shows from some of the bands in the above choices! Vote here if your choice isn't above!

VOTE TODAY!! I'm interested to see if voting trends continue from original half-year polls, or if new support will pop up! Time will tell, and the results of this final poll on 2010 concerts will be unveiled next month! Stay tuned! That's all for now, but our next post SHOULD be our next CD review, of Bad Side's final album "...Bad Things Come In Threes"! Watch out for that hopefully tonight, but if not, tomorrow. Thanks everyone!

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