Wednesday, July 20, 2011

This Weekend's Concert Previews!!

Now it's time to preview this weekend's slate of local metal and hard rock concerts! Tonight's Bear Hunters/Sanktuary concert aside, there's six shows from five different headlining bands that I can 100% verify the hard rock/metal calibre of., but there's some big shows to talk about, so let's start off this week's preview post!

The 25th Roosevelt Hotel metal night goes down tomorrow night, and the headliners are none other than local metal standouts Garden of Bedlam in their Rosie debut! After just two Rockstar Bar shows in a 10 month span, the prominent local quartet will play at a different local venue for the first time since opening for Kiss when they rock the Rosie tomorrow with their trademark originals and some fan favourite covers! Awesome to see them finally at a Rosie metal night, hopefully there's many more to come! The opening bands will be local death metal quintet The Bear Hunters (fresh off of TONIGHT's all ages show at The Oddfellows Hall) and extreme metallers Winkstinger, who'll both deliver a furious and brutal sound to the stage to kick off the night! As usual, there will be no cover charge, a 10:00 PM-ish start time, and a 19+ age limit. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Sounds like an awesome time, I'll be there for sure, but the review of it might be a tad late due to a weekend family trip to Manitoulin Island (we leave Friday morning), but I'll get it up as soon as I can! I don't wanna miss a note! I'll see you guys there, and for a preview, here's Garden of Bedlam playing their new original "Emptiness Without A Name" last month!



Also happening tomorrow is the live debut of Kinross hard rock trio Banned, who'll play an outdoor show at the Rudyard Township Park in nearby Rudyard, Michigan as part of their "Music In The Park" series! Featuring former Traynwreck guitarist Alex Traynor, his dad Don on drums, and bassist Alex Schrovenwever (all three share vocals), Banned hope to rock your night away with a wide ranging set of rock n' roll, metal, and maybe even some country?! Though this is the first Banned concert, Alex and Don played together at a talent show in January, which you can see footage (and possible sound samples of) at this location, so give those a look! This show will be an all ages event at 7:00 PM tomorrow night, and there is no cover charge. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! It will be interesting to see how Banned do tomorrow, hopefully they can carve a rightful spot in the local scene! Head out to Rudyard for some Banned music, and when official video of them in action comes online, I'll let you guys know!

Sticking with Sault Michigan briefly, we'll head to The Rapids Lounge at Kewadin Casino, where local hard rock quintet Splitshot will return for a weekend full of rocking covers! A later addition to their concert schedule, the band featuring half of the former Nixxon Dixxon lineup will rock The Rapids Lounge tomorrow night and Saturday night at 9:00 PM both nights, with a 21+ age limit and no cover charge applying to both dates. Check the above links for more details! Should be fun shows, there's talent present, but I still wish someone would post something to give us an indication of their sound. Videos, a setlist, something! Still, I did find out a bit more about the band's lineup, as Tony Hubbard is both Splitshot's drummer & guitarist Chris Hubbard's father, so we know a bit more than we did! I assume Dave Menard and Gary Beaumont (Kyle's dad?) are singer and rhythm guitarist respectively, but online descriptions are vague. Still, Splitshot should do great, so go see them this weekend, and stay tuned to the SMS for some cool videos related to Chris Hubbard that I found on YouTube recently!

Back to Sault Ontario to close things out, and first, Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison is back at Service Grill Pizza on Saturday to rock out with two sets of acoustic hard rock covers! His newest weekly local concert arrangement seems to be going well, so definitely consider a trip down to Korah Road on Saturday to chill out with a beer, some pizza, and some great tunes from Tym Morrison! There's no cover charge, a 19+ age limit is unlikely (unsure about the evening set though), and he'll be on for two sets at 3:00 PM & 8:00 PM on Saturday. For more details, check the official Facebook event page, and note that Tym is scheduled to play a solo show in Hilton Beach (on St. Joseph Island) on Sunday afternoon too, which is a bit far out of "local" range, but click here for that show's details! Sounds like a good time, so head down to Service Grill Pizza on Saturday for some acoustic action from Tym Morrison! For a preview, here's Tym Morrison (and ex-Half Past frontman Luke LeBlanc) covering Extreme's "More Than Words" in 2008!



And finally, get ready, Guns N' Roses fans, as Toronto tribute band Gunz N' FN' Rosez are coming back to The Rockstar Bar on Saturday night! The local favourites were originally scheduled to play here on July 7th, but the show was later postponed for unexplained reasons, dislodging a planned Half Past show this weekend. Saturday works well for GNFNR, probably better than the original Thursday date! Look for an authentic sounding (and looking) Guns N' Roses set from this frequently seen tribute band, who always entertain when they come up to the Soo! Tickets are $7 in advance, and can be purchased at The Rockstar Bar or The Rad Zone. If you buy at the door, the price jumps to $10. Steep, but for the GNR experience you get, it's worth the money! There will be a 10:30 PM start time, and you must be 19 to attend. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Guns N' Roses fans everywhere should take note of this show, as GNFNR bring a great and close sound to the real thing to every show, so definitely consider picking up a ticket and heading to The Rockstar Bar on Saturday night! For a preview, here's Gunz N' FN' Rosez playing the classic "Paradise City"!



That's all for today, but I'll see you guys at The Oddfellows Hall in around an hour for The Bear Hunters & Sanktuary! Thanks everyone!

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