LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Banned), The Rosie Metal Nights' Future, And Much More!!

Before we get to the meat of this post, I just wanted to send my condolences to everyone up in Wawa following the major flooding and highway closure and everything else that's been going on there over the last few days. Hopefully everyone's OK and I hope you guys can bounce back from this and emerge stronger and closer than ever! Today at the SMS, we have more updates to our monthly CD reviews, clarification on a local solo project, the whereabouts of a popular concert series, and more, but first, here's a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!!

Were you Sault Michigan-area fans hoping for a heavier Halloween weekend concert? Well, good news, as Banned are back TONIGHT for a Halloween show in Moran! Almost two months after their last announced concert, the Traynors and company will return to Todd's Tavern (the former Bullwinkle's) this evening, and it'll be great to see them back on stage a few weeks of quiet updates! Apologies for the short notice, it was only just announced last night on Banned's Facebook page. Halloween costumes are encouraged, as you might expect, and like their other recent concerts, I expect they'll be without guitarist Alex Schrʚvenwever due to him being out of town for college. There is no announced cover charge for tonight's concert, which goes down at 8:00 PM, and a 21+ age limit is likely. Check the above links for more details! It's great to see Banned back on stage this weekend, and there's no better weekend to break out their entertaining hard rock originals and covers, so if you're up for the drive, don't miss them tomorrow night in Moran! For a preview, here's Banned playing their song "Cocaine Riot" last month in Sault Michigan!



Next up, have you been curious as to the status of the Roosevelt Hotel metal nights? The Thursday concert series has been dormant since the 47th installment on July 5th, but yesterday, I heard some information on it's future from Bear Hunters guitarist Mitch Sirie, who was the metal nights' latest promoter. Mitch told me through Facebook conversations that he's no longer booking the Rosie metal nights so he can focus on other musical projects right now, including The Bear Hunters' demo & some solo work. However, Mitch did tell me that the series will likely be handed over to a new promoter to relaunch it in the near future, although I'll wait until official details are announced before mentioning future prospects. Mitch promoted the last four Rosie metal nights after picking up main promotion duties from Stephane Vincent in April, and he also holds the record for most appearances as a performer, playing at 21 Rosie metal nights to date as a member of The Bear Hunters & Borderline Divine.

It's disappointing to see Mitch no longer book the Rosie metal nights, but he's making the best choice for himself as a musician right now, and everything will pay off the way it's meant to, I'm sure! Hopefully the promoter he has in mind will be able to sustain the series for the long term as well, and when/if updates roll in, I'll have them here! On a related note, Mitch also told me that his newest solo project The Sorrow Fields (who have been alluded to online recently) is actually one and the same as his April Eyes/Animas project & not something separate like Eden Plague was. The name change is due to him finally finding a solo project name that he liked, referring to the earlier names as placeholders until he found something better. However, public updates specifically referring to The Sorrow Fields have been scattered and minimal to date, and their Facebook page that was launched in June was later deleted, so while the project is alive and being worked on, not a lot is public about it under it's new name yet. Still, I've restored this project to our active Sault Ontario metal band links with the new name, and stay tuned for Sorrow Fields updates as I hear them!

Fourthly today, here's three assorted shorter news stories from the last little while, and as always, these are in alphabetical order by artist or website name:

• Pillory bassist/Late & Loud alum Jonathan Tiberi posted on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group on Thursday to extend an open offer for local bands to message him if they want to play a show in "late November". No word what type of concert is in the works (Pillory's live debut, maybe?), but if you're interested in playing live next fall for this concert, message Jon at this location or visit the above links!
• The aforementioned Mitch Sirie is also apparently looking to work on another local band project, as per his own Musicians Wanted group posting yesterday. He doesn't wanna play anything country or pop, and is open to covers, jamming, and songwriting anything from soft rock to metal. We know he's got the talent, but if you wanna do anything musically with Mitch, message him at this location or the above links!
• Keeping with the Musicians Wanted theme, this topic is now the basis of it's own section on SooToday's classified page! It remains to be seen how often this is used, but hopefully it picks up steam, so keep it mind for your band member searches! I've added it (and the Facebook group) to our "Other Sault Ontario Metal Links" section on the page's left, and kudos to local drummer Steve Porco for suggesting it to SooToday!

Finally for today, here's some more updates and edits to our monthly CD reviews! As previously stated, these generally have all had photo restorations due to dead links, and don't have actual content edits to the review portion of the post out of respect to their original intent.  In our review of Mike Haggith's 43rd solo album "Suspended Animation", I've updated references to his label Rotten Records' renaming to Galactic Records, and added links to the album's free YouTube posting, with each song linked in the review itself now as well, while I also edited our review of Destroilet's debut EP to note it's likely out of print status, given their newer album plans, including re-recordings of the EP's tracks. Finally, I also edited the reviews of Foothill Road's self-titled EP and their first disc "Seventy" to note guitarist Mario Carlucci's later departure from his most recent band Sneaky Pete. Keep an eye out for updates to our 2012 and Sault Michigan CD reviews hopefully soon, and check the above links for the updated reviews!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news next week, and I'll see you guys TONIGHT at The Algonquin Pub for the 7th annual Halloween Party! Thanks everyone!