LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Frightlight), Giwakwa Updates, And New Videos!!

Here's another news post for this Saturday evening, and apologies if there's any formatting issues, as I'm on a different computer, and Internet Explorer + Blogger don't mix well. Today, we have new videos from the Sault Michigan area, the latest news from a pair of Sault Ontario metal bands, and a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next month, so here's what you need to know!

Two local metal bands are among the openers at an upcoming all ages punk concert at The Oddfellows Hall! Horror punk/metal quintet Frightlight and local death metallers The Bear Hunters will rock the Dennis Street venue on June 20th for the first time in 2012 as two of the opening bands for Saskatoon hardcore punk quartet Weak Ends that night! Punk fans should enjoy Weak Ends' old school sound and fitting attitude, so don't miss them if you dig punk as it should be played! Local punk trio Redundant will also join in as a third local opening band, so expect some fun banter and new original material from them in what may be their Oddfellows Hall debut as well! Tickets (which aren't on sale yet) will be $10, this is definitely an all ages event, and other details (like times) have yet to be released. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! It may be more of a punk show than a metal one, but Weak Ends sound very good, the local bands always deliver, and hopefully a big crowd turns out! Stay tuned for more updates on this show as they roll in!

Before we move to our next story, I just wanted to note that when guitarist/booker Mitch Sirie confirmed this show on The Bear Hunters' Facebook page yesterday, he also announced that the band has scrapped their previous album recordings in order to implement a metronome to help make cleaner and tighter new recordings. A late summer release is now projected for the album, but good art takes time, so stay tuned for more on this CD, and follow the link above for details on how to buy Bear Hunters merchandise outside of their concerts!

Next up, here's the latest news from new local stoner metal quartet Giwakwa! First, there's been a lineup change, as the band has added Frightlight/Half Past drummer Chris Thompson to the fold, replacing fellow Fitswitch alum Larry Mousseau. Guitarist Chris Page confirmed the switch yesterday on the band's Facebook page, but opted not to go into details on why Larry's out. Chris is a very talented drummer, so he should add well with his newest project, and while I hope nothing bad happened with Larry, hopefully we'll see him in another band soon! Chris Page also confirmed that the band are "going back to the drawing board" on their original material this summer, and they hope to be ready to hit the stage this fall after bassist Nolan Rainville returns home from his out of town work commitments. I assume this will lead to a break from major activity similar to Bring The Fallen's summer 2010 break when Nolan was away, but hopefully Giwakwa can finetune their sound and originals over the next few months so they can take the Soo by storm later this year! Keep tuned to the SMS for more on Giwakwa as it comes in!

We'll close this post with some new videos, starting with a new jam session video of Half A Man! Uploaded to the band's YouTube channel on Thursday, it features singer/guitarist Erik Rintamaki and drummer Mikey Bishop jamming for over 13 minutes worth of footage, and there's a lot of heavy and promising stuff here from this talented Brimley metal band! That said, bassist Gary Croad is absent, and the camera could have been positioned in such a way where we could see Mikey in frame too, but this is still a solid look at some new riffs and material from Half A Man! Also in recent news, the band confirmed on their Facebook page that they're getting closer to recording their debut album out west, with 13 songs tracked so far, while also running a poll asking if their LemmaFest set should be all originals or have some covers. Weigh in at the above link, and check out their new jam video below!

And finally, here's a new video of Trail's End guitarist Chris Hubbard on the... drums?! Usually, we're seeing Jake LaLonde behind the kit when talking about Chris' bands, but this video features Chris drumming primarily on his Alex Van Halen-style snare drum, and he shows his skills as a multi-instrmentalist here! Posted on his YouTube channel on Wednesday, the camera could have been pulled back a bit, but I know he's showing the snare off to the public. Nice to see some variance from generally Van Halen guitar covers (as great as they are), so give Chris' turn as a drummer a look below!

That's all for today, but in case there's nothing new tomorrow, I'll see you guys at The Canadian TOMORROW NIGHT for West of Hell, Tribune, and two big local metal band returns! Thanks everyone!