Applications for bands for this year's Tenaris Second Stage at Rotaryfest are now open! The annual second stage for local bands with original material and select out of town acts outside of The Grand Theater on Queen Street East is back once again, and as usual, they're seeking applications for bands to perform at Sault Ontario's annual summer festival over the July 19th weekend. With Bear Hunters guitarist Mitch Sirie's recent public campaign for a greater metal presence at Rotaryfest, there are hopes for either more metal bands or a third day for heavier acts this year, so the odds may be better than ever to see more than one heavy act among this year's Second Stage lineups! As you may remember, the last metal act to rock the Second Stage was 2010 headliners Garden of Bedlam, and with no heavy bands last year, we're definitely overdue. So, what do you need to know to formally apply for consideration for this year's Second Stage lineups? Click here to apply online, where you must include your name & e-mail address, your band's name & online pages, along with a full band photo & a brief biography & history. Once past there, you can submit your band's original material, where at least three good quality original songs must be submitted.
You can also submit Second Stage applications physically with press clippings and discs of your audio/video material to the mail address at this location, but note that you must include the listed materials there, and regardless of if you're selected, the materials you send to the selection committee can't be sent back. You have until May 31st to submit your applications for the Second Stage, and remember, you must send an application in to be considered to play there. With the recent campaigns for an increased metal element this year, there's even more optimism in the local scene to widen the general playing field beyond indie rock at the Second Stage, but no matter your genre, send in applications for your band with original material A.S.A.P. at the above links! I'm still of the opinion that original bands of any genre shouldn't be sequestered away from the main stage at Clergue Park, but again, I understand that all cover bands there is more familiar for a general audience. Still, let's try and make this the best and most diverse Second Stage lineup yet, so send in your applications today, and maybe you'll be rocking the Queen Street outdoor stage in July before you know it!
Next up, here's some more recent concert updates! First, this Friday's free all ages metal show at the Roberta Bondar Pavilion has had it's fifth band added to replace As It Stands, and they are local extreme metal quintet Winkstinger! This will be their first concert in almost three months, their first since their recent recording sessions wrapped up, and it should be their first outdoor gig as well, so they'll add to this concert nicely! They'll be the opening band, and for reference sake, previously scheduled openers For All That Is Lost have been shifted to the middle of the band lineup. Also of note: the start time is now given as 5:00 PM on Friday, and participants at the drag queen/king event "Drag It Out" at Sault College will be in attendance later that evening, so that'll add a unique touch to this concert! For all this and more details, visit the official Facebook event page, and stay tuned for our preview of this show! The other news that I had for a recent Sault Ontario concert was that next Thursday's Die Mannequin-headlined punk concert at The Roosevelt Hotel (featuring Frightlight & Pools of Booze) now has tickets on sale for $10 at Music Depot, Northland Music, and The Rosie itself, alongside some local band members and The Rad Zone. Get your tickets while you can, and stay tuned for more updates!
Also, here's an update concerning the next albums from the original crash band Sykotyk Rampage! As you may remember, this unique local alternative hard rock quartet are one of the most prolific bands in the area, and their back catalog currently includes no less than 28 albums, 5 of which were put on sale or posted within a 2 month span last year. Since then, the band has yet to release their (chronologically) 25th album "Genius Mushrooms With Thoughts of Stupidity", but since then, they've also announced a new album named "Jonathan, Your Music Sucks" in January, along with posting a partial Proclaimers cover named "Roll A Doobie" on Reverbnation a few months back. Well, it looks like there's more where that came from, as guitarist Dirk Becker announced via this photo on his personal Facebook page in March that their 33rd album will be entitled "Smells Real Good On A Bad Night"! This appears to be the album cover, and the album is slated to feature 12 songs. More details on it haven't been announced, but if you count all of their released albums, the second "Genius Mushrooms" CD, and the two recently announced ones, that only adds up to 31 albums, meaning that to get to 33, there's likely another two in the pipeline!Time will tell how Sykotyk Rampage's next albums come along, but if we get 5 new albums again this year, I sure won't complain! Note that the band has changed album names and plans in the past though (such as the planned 2007 release "Urges For Green"), but with their prolific nature, there's bound to be a lot more material to come, so stay tuned for more Sykotyk Rampage updates as they come in!
And finally for today, here's three assorted shorter stories from the last little while, and as always, these are in alphabetical order by band name:
- Brimley metal quartet Half A Man are looking for people to film their set on stage at LemmaFest on June 23rd, so if you're interested in helping record their first live concert footage in over a year, give them a shout at their Facebook page!
- It looks like Humane Society Battle of the Bands winners Late & Loud are taking another hiatus, and though specifics weren't announced, it's likely for similar reasons that led to their summer break last year. Their Facebook page promises a return in July though, so this break won't be as long, and get ready for their summer comeback!
- I apologize for being badly late on this, but in March, I heard that Sudbury hard rock band Set were looking to play here in the future, and were looking for possible bookings. Thanks to frontman Jamie Rowlings for letting us know on the SMS' Facebook page! Solid catchy hard rock sound, so if you wanna help book them in Sault Ontario this year, give them a shout at the above links!
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