Local melodic death metal quintet The Bear Hunters have been confirmed as part of the lineup for the first annual Searchmont Music Festival! Yes, the popular area ski resort is throwing their hat into the festival ring with a fundraiser festival scheduled for September 10th inside and outside of the resort, and The Bear Hunters are confirmed for this year! Odd choice of a picture though, as "The Bear Hunters" implies that they're hunting bears, not that a bear is hunting. Full details on the festival are not out yet, but admission will be $10, it looks to be all ages, and the outdoor portion will consist of open mic and acoustic performers, with plugged in bands like The Bear Hunters rocking inside. Music for both stages will run from 12:00 PM to 11:00 PM on the 10th. Other announced performers include solo artists Al Davis, Douglas Cousineau, and Rusty McCarthy, along with local bands Moondance, The Trippy Hippies, The Dirty River Band, and Green Cafe, with more likely to be announced. Most of the acts are new to me, but this should be an entertaining festival, and thanks to The Bear Hunters, some metal will easily be welcomed! Stay tuned for updates at the above links and at the SMS as they come in!
Next up, we have some new videos, and first, local hardcore quartet Changing Waves have their own YouTube channel! Launched in April, I only just found out about it the other day, and yes, there's some concert footage there! One concert video from an undated Roosevelt Hotel performance (metal night on August 4th?) was posted there twice on Thursday, and both are of the band covering System of a Down's "Suite-Pee"! Why was it uploaded twice? Well, the first upload is sideways, possibly due to the original video dimensions, so they corrected it in a later upload, but you can still see the sideways version at this link. Overall though, it's nice quality, and it shows their hardcore take of the S.O.A.D. favourite well, with each member visible, though the camera shakes a bit and the video missed the beginning of the song. Good stuff overall, and it's nice to see more videos of Changing Waves, so check out their "Suite-Pee" cover at the above links and below, and also visit their channel for an interesting acoustic song by band members(?) called "Gimme My Cat"!
The other new videos is courtesy of Brimley hard rockers Half A Man, who are still hard at work on their upcoming debut album! On Thursday, the band uploaded a rough mix of their original song "Drunk" onto their official YouTube channel, and you can check it out below! It sounds good, and it's nice to hear a studio version finally (especially given that this is one of the first Half A Man originals we heard last year), but I'll hold on detailed comments until the album comes out and I get a chance to review it. Also featuring video footage of the band members playing the song individually and shots of their recording computers and equipment, check out "Drunk" below and get ready for the new album!
And finally, here's three assorted shorter stories from the last little while from Sault Michigan-area bands, in alphabetical order by band name:
- I'll likely be moving Sault Michigan quartet 7/47 (featuring members of Free Refill & The Highest of Fives) to our inactive Sault Michigan band links tomorrow due to inactivity. The Guitar Studio products were last visibly active on August 21st of last year when bassist Jack Slater uploaded videos from a Mackinac City concert onto his YouTube channel. 7/47 had promise, but hopefully the members' current bands remain successful!
- According to their respective Facebook pages, young local rock bands Abstract & Banned competed at a battle of the bands of some type outside of Joe's Bar in Rudyard earlier today. For the life of me, I couldn't find official information on this battle, which is why we didn't plug it here, but keep an eye out in case we hear any fallout! For what it's worth, Banned's Facebook page indicates they didn't win.
- Pickford hard rockers Beyond The Surface have quietly welcomed guitarist Blake Mastaw back to the band, and are also now looking for an official singer again, presumably to replace the long-since departed Danielle Petingalo. Click here if you live in the Pickford area and are interested in singing for Beyond The Surface!
for this band, their songs seem to be based around a pretty basic riff that has a pinch harmonic at the end.. repeat.
ReplyDeletechug, chug, chug, cha, cha-chug, cha, chuugggggg, Sqweeeeee~~
repeat for 4 mins.
its great that theyre having fun and im sure there are folks that enjoy it.. but the music is uninspiring and boring. this band should take what they have, re-focus and learn how to write a song. singing lessons couldnt hurt.
also.. the last 1:15 mins of "drunk" should be edited out. goes on way too long.
ReplyDeleteHey, at least you gave an honest opinion, I appreciate that! They do have more varying songs than that, but I can understand your view!
ReplyDelete