First up last night wasn't "Pools of T-Rex" as previously advertised, as with their full lineup in tow, T-Rex Manning opened the night's festivities! Like Late & Loud, I haven't seen them since my judging stint at the Humane Society Battle of the Bands, and this is actually the first time I've seen them in a setting where I can "review" them, so what can I say? Well, they're definitely heavier than I'd heard in past videos and appearances, and yes, that means they're heavy enough for official coverage on the SMS! Their 11 song set included covers of Tool, Volbeat, Misfits, Bloodhound Gang, Blink-182, Judas Priest, Ramones, and Motorhead songs, along with their original song "She Banged The Mayor", and while they sound similar to frontman J.D. Pearce's other bands, they appear to cover more metal than Fitswitch and Frightlight, and with enough variance on the Misfits covers (only "Helena" is also done by Frightlight in most concerts), so things were varied even there! That all said, some of the covers sounded messy and had some screw-ups here and there, but I won't judge too harshly because of the lineup shakeups for this show, as T-Rex Manning were a late addition. Tiffany Stocco's guitar work was pretty good, Bill Bennett's bass playing was loud and kept up well, and Daniel MacDonald's drumming was on form!I wanna see T-Rex Manning live for a show with more advance preparation to really compare them to J.D.'s other bands (or even Pools of Booze), but they had a fun and energetic set, and the fans up front seemed to like them! And knowing how heavy a full set of theirs really is, T-Rex Manning are now in our active Sault Ontario band links, so stay tuned for updates and information on them as it comes in (though I have to ask, where were the fancy suits and ties?)
Second last night were the returning Late & Loud, in their first concert in four months and their last for who knows how long. As revealed last night on stage, the band are taking a hiatus following the show, and though a public reason hasn't been revealed, I've heard from band sources that it's at least partly due to out of town plans for a band member, though most of the guys will stay together musically in some form. Very surprising news, especially just one show removed from perhaps their biggest moment as a band (winning the Humane Society battle), but we'll continue to list them as active until most of the band forms a new primary group or visibly leaves the local music scene for a lengthy period. Remember, this is a hiatus, not a complete end, the length of a hiatus can vary from a few months to forever. That said, if this is the last time we'll see Late & Loud for a while, they made the most of it with a lengthy set that seemed to almost end various times, only to stretch out longer with even more classic metal mayhem! Their set included all of the songs from their unreleased EP (is that ever coming out?) along with some older originals like "Live For Excess" and "Never Again", and select covers that got a great reception that you're bound to remember from earlier concerts!Musically, they sounded as good as they ever did before, minus of course the vocal deficiencies that have been present since their debut, but they had the look, stage presence, and talent to encourage a wild response from the crowd, and we ate it up! Brendan and Jonathan's guitar work was stellar, Benn's bass playing was very good itself, and along with his drumming talents, it was nice to hear Josh sing on a song too! Overall, this was Late & Loud at their best, and hopefully this won't be the last we hear from them!
And finally last night was Toronto speed metal quartet Skull Fist in their long awaited third stop here, and predictably compared to their first times at The Canadian, they tore it up! You'll know as well as I if you saw them here before, but they unleashed a high energy set of speed and thrash metal originals that definitely called to mind the fastest metal bands of the early-mid 1980s! I will give them credit for their smoke machine not giving my camera headaches, but musically, they sounded just as good as last year with one exception: Frontman Jackie Slaughter's microphone seemed to be too quiet compared to last year, so at times, it was hard to make out words. That said, the rest of their show was wicked, as Skull Fist ripped through originals like "Sign of the Warrior", "No False Metal", and "Head of the Pack" with lots of intensity! Both Jackie and fellow guitarist Jonny Nesta played some blistering solos last night, and Casey Slade's bass work also deserves props from their very entertaining set, and huge kudos to Tiffany from T-Rex Manning for bringing Skull Fist here again! Hopefully there's a stop planned for 2013!Overall, this was a great concert to end the summer with, and despite the lineup changes and low attendance, everyone there had a great time as far as I could see! Hopefully we get some new metal shows soon on our schedule, but for now, check out photos from this one by clicking here or visiting our Facebook page (and I apologize for forgetting a crowd shot.) As for videos, here's T-Rex Manning covering Tool's "Jerk-Off", Late & Loud playing "Love Letter Lockdown", and Skull Fist playing their set opener "Ride The Beast"!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post tomorrow! Thanks everyone!
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