Zombie Walk Afterparty & Half Past Reviews!!

For the first time in two months, I have concert reviews to share on The Sault Metal Scene! School commitments and bad timing have threw me off from too many concerts lately, so what better way to get back into the swing of things then by hitting two in one night? Before the shows though, I was at the Zombie Walk, and it was fun like last year's, and there was a couple metal zombies lurking around! We had fun trolling for brains and fighting the resistance, and after all was said and done, I checked out Feedback to see how it looked. Aside from some hanging artwork and the new back wall on the stage with the lines, there wasn't a lot changed, so Foggy's regulars will enjoy the familiarity! Heard some interesting things from Rich about concert plans too, but we'll let those come out officially as they come. Now, to the reviews!

My first concert last night was the Soo Zombie Walk afterparty at The Grand Theater, and it was nice to finally be back there for a concert! I only stayed for the opening band, which was the original crash band themselves, Sykotyk Rampage, in their first public concert in four months! However, it was only 3/4ths of the band, as bassist Brian Cattapan was absent (I presume he couldn't come up from Sudbury for it.) Luckily, the band still delivered a nice unique set of blue Chinese metal crash punk for the zombies in attendance! It was somewhat smaller than their usual sets, featuring an assortment of newer songs to start and their trademark drinking songs at the end, including some Modern Lovers and Dropkick Murphys covers that fans seemed to enjoy! The stage lighting wasn't great, but the smoke machine was a nice touch! Minus the bass, the band seemed to be rocking as well as you'd expect, and both Dirk Becker and Shane Kokis had some solid riffs and decent energy, but they seemed to be more reserved than I'm used to. Maybe it was Brian's absence or the crowd atmosphere, I'm not sure. It'd have been nice to hear more of a connection to their new "Zombies" album, like costumes and such, but we took what we got and still liked it!

Sykotyk Rampage (well, most of them) delivered an entertaining set of harsh music for harsh zombie minds, and though they've had better sets with more active crowds, they still rocked! I had to miss their last few songs (and The Salty Mollies & DJ Seith) to get cleaned up from my makeup in time for the second concert, but what I saw was solid, and fingers crossed that we'll see the full band again soon, like for their Christmas show at Feedback! I did get photos (apologies for the quality, no one got near the front of the stage), so click here to see them or visit our official Facebook page! No "Tag Yourself" photo, I forgot about it until I'd already left. I did get a video though, so here's Sykotyk Rampage covering their version of The Modern Lovers' "Road Runner" last night!



So after I turned back into a human, I made it to The Rockstar Bar to catch Half Past's return show, and this was honestly the first time I've seen them in a year and a half! Things sure have changed since then though, with Jordan Rains replacing Luke LeBlanc and former bassist Harley Syrette filling in for Arthur Lacasse last night, but how'd they sound overall? Pretty good! They played two sets (more on that in a second) of hard rocking covers from bands like Godsmack, Disturbed, Seether, Incubus, and System of a Down among many others, and they pulled them off pretty well, for the most part! A few songs sounded empty with only one guitar, but Alain Fletcher was nailing it all night! Chris Thompson's drumming was really good too, proving why he'll be an asset for Frighlight when he makes his debut with them later this week too! Harley proved to be a quality fill-in for Arthur last night also, and though I don't think he'd agree, he'd be a good permanent bassist again if he stuck around! Harley told me that the band had a timing issue on their cover of S.O.A.D.'s "Hypnotize", but I got there during the song, so I didn't notice. Even still, we all make mistakes!

As for Jordan, how'd he do last night? Well, I'll say you shouldn't compare him to either Luke or original singer John Barber, as he has a different style of singing and a higher tone to his voice. On his own, I will say that he's a very good singer with a nice range, and his stage presence has sure improved from the Hempfest videos I've seen, even leaving the stage to sing on the floor at times! However, like I thought before, he sings better when he actually sings, cause when he tries harsher sung-material, it gets messier and doesn't sound as good. Their covers of "Toxicity" and "Inside The Fire" shown that, but on melodic stuff, he absolutely has it! Also, I am disappointed that they didn't play their old originals like "War Inside My Head" and "Dead Again", but maybe those were more of a Luke thing, I'm not sure. Half Past rocked it for two great sets, but their show was abruptly cut after the second set due to noise complaints from staff. I won't go into details and don't know specifics (Half Past outlined their thoughts on their Facebook page), but I will say that it's odd that this happened for this show and not their Rockstar Bar show in February. Maybe their sound was lower then? I have no idea, but I won't pass judgement.

Still, I had a great time, and hopefully Half Past return to the stage soon! They're improving with their new lineup, and it'll be cool to see a longer show and new stuff from them! I also got photos from their set, so click here to check them out or visit the SMS on Facebook. Yes, I did get a "Tag Yourself!" photo as well, so if you were in attendance, check it out and tag yourself! And here's my video, as Half Past covered Alice In Chains' "Them Bones" last night, so give it a look!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news tomorrow, including Joan Jett concert videos, as well as this month's Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile on Wednesday! Thanks everyone!