Nixxon Dixxon (25%, 11 votes)
Fitswitch (16%, 7 votes)
Gates of Winter (11%, 5 votes)
Lion Ride (11%, 5 votes)
Bring the Fallen (7%, 3 votes)
Half Past (7%, 3 votes)
Clownsack (5%, 2 votes)
Sativa Rose (5%, 2 votes)
Other (5%, 2 votes)
Dirty Virgin (2%, 1 vote)
Insipid Brutality (2%, 1 vote)
SBD (2%, 1 vote)
Soldiers of Misfortune (2%, 1 vote)
Absolute (0 votes)
Bad Side (0 votes)
Bent Rollercoaster (0 votes)
Borderline Divine/Stillbroke (0 votes)
Detroit (0 votes)
Elipzis (0 votes)
Integrated System of Machines (0 votes)
Oddfellow (0 votes)
Renderware (0 votes)
Sense of Truth (0 votes)
Shift (0 votes)
State of Misery (0 votes)
Fitswitch (16%, 7 votes)
Gates of Winter (11%, 5 votes)
Lion Ride (11%, 5 votes)
Bring the Fallen (7%, 3 votes)
Half Past (7%, 3 votes)
Clownsack (5%, 2 votes)
Sativa Rose (5%, 2 votes)
Other (5%, 2 votes)
Dirty Virgin (2%, 1 vote)
Insipid Brutality (2%, 1 vote)
SBD (2%, 1 vote)
Soldiers of Misfortune (2%, 1 vote)
Absolute (0 votes)
Bad Side (0 votes)
Bent Rollercoaster (0 votes)
Borderline Divine/Stillbroke (0 votes)
Detroit (0 votes)
Elipzis (0 votes)
Integrated System of Machines (0 votes)
Oddfellow (0 votes)
Renderware (0 votes)
Sense of Truth (0 votes)
Shift (0 votes)
State of Misery (0 votes)
What do you guys think? In ascending order, I'm surprised that half of the poll choices got no votes, including 7 of the 10 Sault Michigan bands we included. I'm most surprised that Bad Side & Sense of Truth (who themselves scored 3 votes last year) got no love, but I guess it's all in who votes! The votes with 1-2 votes didn't surprise me too much (aside from Clownsack), but I am glad to see the "Other" totals plummet compared to last year's poll! Maybe the American band choices helped level things out more? Bring The Fallen & Half Past's 5th place tie with 3 votes each is encouraging and where I expected for them, and the same goes for Gates of Winter & Lion Ride's 3rd place tie with 5 votes each (but early high totals for Lion Ride in this poll did taper off.) Second place was Fitswitch (who won last year's poll), which shows that their local following remains strong, even though 4 ex-members now play in the similar local quintet Frightlight at present, but while they won the Sault Ontario vote, the Sault Michigan (and total) winners were defunct local hard rock quartet Nixxon Dixxon!
Over two years removed from their disbandment, the result here does show that they are missed locally, and their talents and chemistry were always present during their late 2000s heyday! While most of the band kept active in the now-inactive Splitshot & Trail's End through early this year, their still-active members are now split up between The London Gentlemen & 415E, so there's that much, if nothing else. Hopefully the guys come together down the road to bring Nixxon Dixxon back in some form or another, and thanks to everyone for voting!
Now, what are we discussing with this month's poll? I'm addressing a topic that many Sault Ontario metalheads have been lamenting lately, and that's the lack of new concerts. Though we had a decent amount of local metal and hard rock shows through August, the last two months have been noticeably barer & more scattered for non-bar cover bands. Rich Moreland's move out west & the continued hiatus of the Roosevelt Hotel Metal Nights likely don't help, but we've also seen a few musicians move away and a few bands either break up or take a break in recent months (intentional or otherwise.) While the Halloween season is seeing an expected bump in new concerts, this happens every year, and the only announced heavier Sault Ontario shows beyond Halloween (that I know of right now) don't involve original material-playing bands. I know there are a lot of factors at play (like the new school year), but I'm sure there's a lot of people with ideas & preferences to get more concerts going around here, so this month, I'm posing this question to you guys: In your opinion, what does the local scene need most to ensure more metal/hard rock concerts?
I've picked 8 choices (along with "Other") that hopefully address most of the opinions relating to the lack of recent concerts and metal events in Sault Ontario, so what are this poll's choices? Read on to get a little background!
More active concert promoters: While some bands self-promote or go through venues, many major concerts locally depend on the right promoter to put them on, but lately, there hasn't been as many bookers scheduling heavier concerts. Do we just need more local concert promoters active to book some new shows, or is something else a more pressing issue?
More metal-friendly concert venues: This might be a larger issue in Sault Michigan, but you will occasionally hear complaints about there being a lack of local concert venues that are open to metal concerts beyond weekend cover bands. The Coch's/Foggy's merger & acoustic focus could be a contributing factor, but other venues likely have their own concerns and preferences to take into account. Do we just need more places to play?
More active live bands: Aside from the higher than normal amount of broken up/inactive local bands in 2012, of the ones that are still alive in Sault Ontario (41 at last count), only 23 have played live this year, and some only a couple of times or less. Would just seeing more studio-only or newer projects hitting the stage help create a larger pool of bands to encourage more shows, or do the ones we have just need to play more often?
More musicians to start/join bands: Maybe the problem isn't in encouraging bands with no recent concert history to play live, maybe we just need those who are actively looking (no matter the age) to join bands with a missing piece, or form a new act from scratch. There's always band turnover locally, so do we just need new blood or new band units to inject some life into the local metal concert scene?
More news coverage from local media: The SMS aside, local newspapers and websites do occasionally cover metal concerts and festivals, depending on the size, cause, and if promoters send a press release. SooToday are arguably the best for covering local metal shows of the major local news media, but I know many people would prefer better or more extensive coverage from these sources. Are you among them?
More touring bands playing locally: Especially during the existence of Dismembertainment, touring out of town headlining bands were fairly common at local metal concerts, but in the last couple of months, the amount of metal touring bands in the Soo has dropped off a bit. Do we need to encourage or book more out of town bands to stimulate local concert development, or should locally-focused concerns come first?
The scene's cyclical, it will naturally improve soon: This is a belief that I hold about the local scene (for any genre), and it's that concert activity and related stuff is cyclical. There will be low & high points and turnover as people get older, move, focus on school, and so on. In the short term, things seem to peak in the mid-summer, Halloween, and Christmas, with shows and activity fading and/or rising in between each. Aside from holiday bumps, things should improve by next year, but is this an opinion you share?
Nothing, everything's perfect as it is: Though I'm not sure how someone could prefer the current activity level (unless you dislike metal), this option's here in case any readers actually think the recent slow activity for metal concerts is just fine by them. If you like the slow pace and scattered shows, vote here!
Other: Do you have another idea for what would encourage local metal concerts locally? Maybe integrating Sault Michigan more, or forming a committee/grant to fund/put on shows? Maybe something completely different? If your preferred idea isn't above, vote for "Other"!
VOTE TODAY!!! You have until November 18th to vote in this month's poll, which might be our last before starting our "Favourite ________ of 2012" polls, so make your votes count over the next four weeks or so! Our next post will likely focus on weekend concert previews, so stay tuned for that shortly! Thanks everyone!
I've picked 8 choices (along with "Other") that hopefully address most of the opinions relating to the lack of recent concerts and metal events in Sault Ontario, so what are this poll's choices? Read on to get a little background!
More active concert promoters: While some bands self-promote or go through venues, many major concerts locally depend on the right promoter to put them on, but lately, there hasn't been as many bookers scheduling heavier concerts. Do we just need more local concert promoters active to book some new shows, or is something else a more pressing issue?
More metal-friendly concert venues: This might be a larger issue in Sault Michigan, but you will occasionally hear complaints about there being a lack of local concert venues that are open to metal concerts beyond weekend cover bands. The Coch's/Foggy's merger & acoustic focus could be a contributing factor, but other venues likely have their own concerns and preferences to take into account. Do we just need more places to play?
More active live bands: Aside from the higher than normal amount of broken up/inactive local bands in 2012, of the ones that are still alive in Sault Ontario (41 at last count), only 23 have played live this year, and some only a couple of times or less. Would just seeing more studio-only or newer projects hitting the stage help create a larger pool of bands to encourage more shows, or do the ones we have just need to play more often?
More musicians to start/join bands: Maybe the problem isn't in encouraging bands with no recent concert history to play live, maybe we just need those who are actively looking (no matter the age) to join bands with a missing piece, or form a new act from scratch. There's always band turnover locally, so do we just need new blood or new band units to inject some life into the local metal concert scene?
More news coverage from local media: The SMS aside, local newspapers and websites do occasionally cover metal concerts and festivals, depending on the size, cause, and if promoters send a press release. SooToday are arguably the best for covering local metal shows of the major local news media, but I know many people would prefer better or more extensive coverage from these sources. Are you among them?
More touring bands playing locally: Especially during the existence of Dismembertainment, touring out of town headlining bands were fairly common at local metal concerts, but in the last couple of months, the amount of metal touring bands in the Soo has dropped off a bit. Do we need to encourage or book more out of town bands to stimulate local concert development, or should locally-focused concerns come first?
The scene's cyclical, it will naturally improve soon: This is a belief that I hold about the local scene (for any genre), and it's that concert activity and related stuff is cyclical. There will be low & high points and turnover as people get older, move, focus on school, and so on. In the short term, things seem to peak in the mid-summer, Halloween, and Christmas, with shows and activity fading and/or rising in between each. Aside from holiday bumps, things should improve by next year, but is this an opinion you share?
Nothing, everything's perfect as it is: Though I'm not sure how someone could prefer the current activity level (unless you dislike metal), this option's here in case any readers actually think the recent slow activity for metal concerts is just fine by them. If you like the slow pace and scattered shows, vote here!
Other: Do you have another idea for what would encourage local metal concerts locally? Maybe integrating Sault Michigan more, or forming a committee/grant to fund/put on shows? Maybe something completely different? If your preferred idea isn't above, vote for "Other"!
VOTE TODAY!!! You have until November 18th to vote in this month's poll, which might be our last before starting our "Favourite ________ of 2012" polls, so make your votes count over the next four weeks or so! Our next post will likely focus on weekend concert previews, so stay tuned for that shortly! Thanks everyone!
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