LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Battle Of The Bands), New Videos, And More!!

We've got even more news today, and leading off this post is a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for a notable local concert type's return after a lengthy absence from the Sault Ontario concert scene! That, plus some additional facts relating to it, are the main story of this post, but some new videos from a pair of local solo musicians are also featured here, and check out news from As It Stands, some Sault Michigan-area metal bands, and more in the post below this one from this morning. Now, to the new stories, so here's what you need to know!

For the first time in almost two years, a Battle of the Bands is going down in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario this spring, and metal bands will be a part! This battle is a fundraiser event for The Sault Ste. Marie Humane Society, and it will take place at The Grand Theater on Friday, April 20th. Five bands have been confirmed so far, including three metal bands, those being local hardcore quintet As It Stands, local melodic death metal band The Bear Hunters, and Desbarats death metal quartet For All That Is Lost, who all should deliver solid sets as they compete at this battle! Various Facebook posts from band members have indicated that Late & Loud will also be competing, but official sources have yet to confirm their addition. Joining them are local funk rock trio The Vertically Impaired and local acoustic duo Tea With Lincoln, with more spots presumably open for more bands. If you or your band want to enter this battle, fill out the registration form at this location! (There doesn't look like there's a registration fee.) Full details are not out yet for this battle (such as band limits, performance times, prizes, and possible age limits), but the battle will run from 7:00 PM to 11:00 PM on April 20th, and the winner will be chosen by audience vote, so make sure your fans and friends are in attendance if your band is playing! Admission will be $20, which sounds steep right now, but this should be well worth it, especially if the band lineup gets a lot larger!

For more details on attending or entering, visit the above links or the Facebook event page, and if you wish to volunteer your time for this event, e-mail hilary_fan_699@hotmail.com. It's great to finally see another battle of the bands in Sault Ontario (and a new concert at The Grand), as it's been way too long since the last ones! Here's some interesting facts about band battles to share with you guys, while we're on the subject: The last Sault Ontario battle of the bands that I know of was Downtown Showdown in May 2010 at The Oddfellows Hall, which was won by Bring The Fallen in their 3rd battle victory in four tries. Frontman Josh Stephney now plays guitar in The Bear Hunters, but will his good luck at battles of the bands carry over in April? Fans may also remember the YMCA Battle of the Bands which took place at The Grand Theater in March 2009, which featured both Josh and his current Bear Hunters bandmate Justin Lam (then Operation: Killdozer's bassist) among the competitors, along with current Late & Loud members Benn Garside & Josh Hatherly as members of the blues rock quartet The Glass Statues, so there's some familiar faces from past battles of the bands in the area this time around! Of course, stay tuned to the SMS for updates on this battle on April 20th as they come in, cause it's shaping up real well!

We'll close today with some new videos, starting with two more new solo performance videos from ApocalyptiCDistroyeR frontman Jesse Middaugh! Continuing with his recent trend of posting performances on electric guitars, Jesse's newest videos were posted onto the band's YouTube channel on Wednesday, and one is a cover of part of Metallica's new song "Hell & Back"! It's a little rough and not very long, but it's cool to see Jesse learn it so soon after it's release last month, so check it out at the above link! Embedded below though is a 2 minute intrio to an original song named "The Predator" which has some promise, but it needs to be filled out and a bit less repetitive. Good start though, so check out Jesse's performance of "The Predator" below, and much more at the above links!



And finally, here's the latest solo original song from local guitarist Mike Cliffe! As uploaded onto his YouTube channel yesterday, the song's called "Snow Ghost" and Mike describes the song as "something a little different", with a soft beginning like snow, but it ends hard. The song has sort of a grand organ-ish feel early as well, with accompanying nighttime winter footage on a grainy camera. True to the description, the end is heavy, but some of the guitar licks sound a bit out of place with the backing riffs. It's a solid track though, so give "Snow Ghost" a look below, with much more from Mike at the above links!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news this week (including likely Battle of the Bands updates and the Sault Star article on Buzz from Garden of Bedlam), our review of Foothill Road's second EP, and next month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post! Thanks everyone!