LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Tym Morrison), Weekend Concert Previews, And More!!

It's time to preview this weekend's slate of local metal & hard rock concerts! Though thin in the amount of concerts, there's a pretty big show going down on Saturday night that we'll be getting to, but first, if you were listening to Rock 101 this morning, you may have heard me being interviewed by Scott Cook & Brian Davie on "Scott & Brian In The Morning"! Though I was late due to bridge traffic, I think the interview went over well, and we discussed the site, how it started, bands in the scene, juggling the SMS with school, and so forth. It was fun and unique, and Scott & Brian are just as personable and friendly off-air as they are on the air, and I wanna thank them for the opportunity to come on this morning! If they ever want me to come back to talk local music, I'll be sure to come by again! If anyone recorded the interview, send it my way! Now, let's get to the news, starting with a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!

Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison is returning to The Service Grill for another solo acoustic concert TOMORROW NIGHT!! This will be the fourth straight week of unplugged hard rock and metal covers from Tym Morrison at this Korah Road restaurant, and it comes just a week before he brings Caveman Morrison back to the stage down the road at The Roosevelt Hotel, so go see him tomorrow night just in case his next solo show isn't for a while! Apologies for the short notice too, Tym only launched the Facebook event page for tomorrow's concert last night. As usual, Tym will be on at 8:00 PM tomorrow night, I don't think there's a cover to get into The Service Grill (it is a restaurant, after all), and there is no announced cover charge. For more details, check the above links! It's good to see Tym keeping busy in the buildup to Caveman Morrison's return, and if you wanna enjoy some great hard rock & metal covers, what better way then to head down to The Service Grill tomorrow night? Check the above links for more info, and for a preview, here's Tym & former Half Past singer Luke LeBlanc covering Extreme's "More Than Words"!



Now to the other concerts of the weekend, and first, we'll hop to Sault Michigan, as local hard rock quartet Powerslug are returning to The Rapids Lounge at Kewadin Casino! This will be their last concert weekend at Kewadin Casino's bar of 2011 and (from what I can tell) their first local shows since the day before Thanksgiving at The Bird. Now, as I've come to expect over the past year, Powerslug haven't updated band pages in any fashion since before their name change, so I don't have any official band confirmation for these shows TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT, but if Kewadin Casino's entertainment page confirms them, then they must have truth to them! As such, you can see the band featuring Scofflaw & Kilacel alumni tonight & tomorrow at around 10:00 PM both nights, there's no known cover charge, and you must be 21 to attend. Check the above links for more details! It's good to see Powerslug back on stage for concerts that I can cite, and hopefully we'll hear (and see) a lot more from them in 2012 (that includes videos, so I can't preview that area of theirs yet, but hopefully soon!) Check them out this weekend if you can!

And now, the main event of the metal concert weekend... gimme an R! (R!) O! (O!) C! (C!) K! (K!) Whatcha got? The return of Helix to Sault Ste. Marie, that's what! Over three years after last rocking the area, the Kitchener classic metal legends will return to town TOMORROW NIGHT at The Rockstar Bar to deliver a set full of their classic songs like "Wild In The Streets" & "Deep Goes The Knife", tracks from their latest album "Vagabond Bones", and of course, "Rock You"! No strangers to Sault Ste. Marie, you may remember last seeing them in July 2008 at The Canadian Nightclub in what was a great show, but older fans are bound to remember Helix's concerts here from their prime years, like their Sault Memorial Gardens headlining concert that took place exactly 24 years ago today on December 2nd, 1987! Even more coincidental, the surviving members of their classic 1980s lineup are back in Helix, so how's that for a flashback on Saturday night? The openers for this show are local dance rock quartet Boogie Fever, who may seem like an odd choice to open for Helix (a far cry genre-wise from Syre or Stillbroke), but they're a very talented band and they feature some local hard rock alums in their lineup, so their talent will speak for itself!

Admission is $10 in advance at either The Algonquin Hotel box office (downstairs from The Rockstar Bar) or The Rad Zone, or you can get them for $14 at the door. There will be a 9:00 PM start time and a 19+ age limit as well. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! It's great to see these Canadian metal legends back in town, and with most of their classic lineup in tow, you know they'll be ready to rock old fans and new fans alike! Check out the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Helix's music video for one of their newer singles, "Make 'Em Dance"!



With the known weekend concert previews out of the way, here's a bonus story, and it's the first videos of the new look Sativa Rose, who debuted at The Roosevelt Hotel on Tuesday night as openers for Toronto punk band The Unbelievers! As you may know, new singer Marisa Valois made her debut with Sativa Rose on Tuesday, where they also featured guest drummer Steven Flint in place of Alex Palmer, but how'd they sound after their over 4 month hiatus? We can now find out, as bassist Adam Veale's dad John has uploaded two videos from the show onto his YouTube channel! The videos feature Sativa Rose covering Ozzy Osbourne's "Bark At The Moon" and Iron Maiden's "Aces High", and I have to say, Marisa fits in well! She has a voice that meshes well with heavier songs, while being melodic at the same time, and a nice stage presence, though she doesn't hold her notes as well as I assumed on "Bark At The Moon". Steven's solid on drums too on short notice, I wonder if this will lead anywhere beyond this show for him and the band? Time will tell, but Sativa Rose's new formation sound very promising, so check out the new videos above, and here's their cover of "Aces High"!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news over the weekend! Thanks everyone!