LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (That's Chester), Sault Ontario Weekend Concert Previews & More!!

It's time to begin our weekend concert previews, but for the sake of not overloading a post or de-emphasizing the Stryper/Slaughter concert tomorrow, I've broken up the previews of this weekend's metal & hard rock concerts by which of the Twin Saults they're in, so we'll start with Sault Ontario today, and preview Sault Michigan's (with Stryper headlining) tomorrow morning! That said, along with the Sault Ontario previews, today's post also features details on a concert/booker search connected to an upcoming major event in town, and the identity of this month's CD review, so here's what you need to know!

Local classic hard rock quintet That's Chester will be rocking Docks Riverfront Grill TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT!! I apologize for the short notice, these shows were only just announced earlier today. Seven weeks after their last rocked Docks (or any local venue, for that matter), this talented veteran outfit will be sure to deliver an action packed set of classic and newer hard rock covers tonight and tomorrow, and after some rumours I'd heard about Docks, it's nice to see more live music going down there! From what I can gather, these shows have 11:00 PM start times, 19+ age limits, and likely cover charges of $4. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Short notice or not, it's nice to see That's Chester back on the local stage finally, and you know that their dependable and well-performed brand of classic hard rock covers will go over well this weekend at Docks, so keep these shows in mind in your weekend plans! For a preview, here's That's Chester covering Deep Purple's "Highway Star" at Docks in 2010!



Now to the previously announced metal/hard rock shows in Sault Ontario, starting with a special fundraising event at Coch's Corner on Saturday night headlined by local classic metal quartet Late & Loud! Not only is this their Coch's Corner debut, but it's also a fundraiser pub for the Sault College Campus Watch program, and as such, there will be door prizes, appetizers, and maybe some games to add to the festivities! Different, but it's all for a good cause, and with some solid metal on top of it all! A second band was sought for this show (including briefly advertising Half Past as a second band), but it's been confirmed that Red Carpet DJ Entertainment will fill that slot with tunes to dance to and wind the night away with, so if that's your thing, stick around! Given this event's fundraiser nature, this show will have tickets of $10, but if you can't buy any in advance, you can get them at the door for $12. Call (705) 987-3912 for ticket information, or contact band members on the Facebook event page to get hooked up! Also, this show has a 19 plus age limit and a 9:00 PM start time, but that's likely more for attached pre-band events. This should be an interesting event, and despite the atypical cost to attend a non-Halloween show at Coch's Corner, the music will be flowing for a great cause, so consider attending for some great metal from Late & Loud! For a preview, here's Late & Loud playing their song "Whisper of the Damned" at The Rosie last year!



Finally for Sault Ontario concerts this weekend is the return of Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison to Bossy's Pub N' Grub, though not at his usual matinee timeslot. After seven straight weeks of shows starting at around 1:00 or 2:00 PM, Tym's eighth straight acoustic solo show at this Pim Street restaurant will instead take place at 10:00 PM, which is more like his usual solo/band concerts in the area. I'm not sure whether this is a one week aberration, a permanent change, or an experiment to see if attendance is higher, but this should be easier to remember and more like normal for you concertgoers, so if you've missed Tym's afternoon shows, this could be more up your alley! Given this 10:00 PM start time, I'd assume a 19+ age limit would apply, but there shouldn't be a cover charge. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Tym's solo acoustic show always features a great selection of acoustic hard rock covers, and with a more normal timeslot, hopefully a good crowd turns out on Saturday night, so keep this show in mind for this weekend! For a preview, here's Tym covering Metallica's "Nothing Else Matters" at Bossy's last month!



Now to some extra stories, and first, you may have seen buzz online relating to National Youth Arts Week taking place in the first week of May. This is to unite young Canadians in a celebaration of creative expression & community involvement from May 1st to May 7th, and local organizers are launching celebrations and events to that effect in Sault Ontario. One of the organizers, Night Owl Meme Makers accordion player Rihkee Strapp, has been in contact with me for my input on the event and the integration of heavier music from young musicians and local figures into the week, and one of her ideas was for a metal concert to take place connected with National Youth Arts Week. She's looking for performers and bookers (preferably between the ages 13 and 30) to organize an official concert event for that week, or even to help or learn how to get involved with such an event. I'm not a concert booker or a performer, but I'll gladly get the word out, so if anyone out there is interested in being a part of a National Youth Arts Week-connected metal show in the area come May, give Rihkee a shout at this location, or at the local branch's Facebook group! This sounds like a packed week of local events, and hopefully there's some quality young metal representation, so get involved if you're interested, and I'll keep you guys posted if updates roll in!

And finally for today, I wanted to officially confirm our next CD review at the SMS, and it will be on Sault Ontario's original crash band Sykotyk Rampage's 27th album "Karrs"! This originally came out in August, and was one of five albums that the band either released or posted late last year via their Reverbnation page. The reason I'm reviewing "Karrs" this month is because there's no new local metal CDs to review, aside from End of Existence's album coming out on Wednesday, but I'd have to badly rush the review if I did it next. With the six month buffer passed between reviews for the same band's material, I'm trying to help clear out another 2011 Sykotyk Rampage album from the queue (after reviewing "Zombiez" last year), and I picked this over the other 3 albums from last year based on it's heaviness. If you're aching for a new album review though, March should have one, be it "Woods V" (if the full copy is at access), End of Existence's new album, or something else. As for our next Sykotyk Rampage album review, it will be no later than August, and it'll either be a new album ("Jonathan, Your Music Sucks"?) or probably "Bucket of Ham" based on it's heaviness level. For now though, stay tuned for our "Karrs" review on Wednesday!

That's all for today, but stay tuned TOMORROW for our Stryper & Swayze Train concert previews, plus some more Sault Michigan-related stories! Thanks everyone!