LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (The Golers & The Bear Hunters) & Sault Ontario Weekend Concert Previews!!

Keeping with our busy recent news, today's all-Sault Ontario news post is divided into two halves: previews of this weekend's metal/hard rock concerts (Sault Michigan previews will be tomorrow to spread them out a bit), and LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for two big and differently notable metal shows in Sault Ontario next month, so here's what you need to know! (Updated at 1:45 PM)

Less than a week after rocking The Roosevelt Hotel, Vancouver crossover/thrash quartet The Golers will return there on the Fourth of July for their second local show in two weeks! Their show last Thursday was a hit to be sure, and their hardcore & punk hybrid sound should definitely be welcomed back in open arms next Thursday for local promoter J.D. Pearce's 7th Thursday night concert at The Rosie since last spring! Two local opening bands have been signed, including local grunge/alternative rockers Haggith (in their first Rosie appearance since last year), which comes just days after their private Goulais Mission concert for Canada Day, which I'll touch on a bit in an upcoming post. The other confirmed local opening band is local punk trio The Northern Tragedy in what (I think) is their Rosie debut and their first announced show since the Rockstar Bar Battle of the Bands, so it'll be good to see more of a punk angle for The Golers' next show! Also, I swear I saw Sykotyk Rampage briefly advertised as an opening band, but if I'm right, they've since been removed, so that may have been a premature addition. At least one more band is to be announced though!

Admission will be a lower $7 for this 19+ concert, and doors open at 9:00 PM once again, so check the Facebook event page for more details! This is shaping up to be another can't miss show, especially for another hit of The Golers and some different local openers who aren't frequent Rosie sights, so if you missed The Golers last week, you have a makeup date! Stay tuned for more as it comes in!

Also in new concerts, local metal singer/guitarist Josh Stephney will say goodbye to Sault Ste. Marie with Oddzfest 2013 Metal Mashup, a special ALL AGES concert headlined by his local bands The Bear Hunters & Giwakwa that will take place at The Oddfellows Hall on Friday, July 26th at 6:00 PM! As announced at the Striker concert on Thursday, Josh is moving out of town later this summer to pursue other ventures, and he's throwing this party next month to repay his friends, colleagues, and fans for their support in recent years, though he stressed on the Facebook event page that both The Bear Hunters & Giwakwa will continue on without him. As part of the gratitude, Josh is providing FREE ADMISSION if you wear local band merchandise to the show (any band works), though a $5 admission charge will be in effect you can't wear/don't have any. Local death metal notables Crimson Crusade & Shit Liver are among the local openers, with one more band to be announced, and we'll of course let you guys know when they're confirmed. For all current details on the Oddzfest 2013 Metal Mashup, check the above links!

This is sure to be a bittersweet day, as while the metal will surely be awesome, it will be sad to see Josh go, especially with how prominent and successful he's been in the local scene in the past 4 years with his current bands, plus Bring The Fallen & March Into Regression. I'm sure he's making the best choice for him right now by moving, and of course, we wish him the best of luck no matter what happens, and hopefully he stays active in music! Note that The Bear Hunters are playing the night after this event at The Algonquin Pub with Frightlight, but I don't know yet if Josh will play that show too or not. Stay tuned for updates as I hear them!

We'll close today's post with previews of this weekend's metal concerts in Sault Ontario, starting with what was gonna be quite the unique all ages concert TONIGHT at The Oddfellows Hall, as it would have featured no less than three two-man bands, including Vancouver experimental grind/crust duo Ahna and Montreal grindcore project Powercup, but both have cancelled for unannounced reasons, as per promoter Jamie Vincent on Facebook this morning. A replacement local band was sought, but none has been signed, so instead, the show will be headlined by an open jam session, so if you wanna play, bring your gear! I assume the previously announced acts are still on, including a new local project named Bad Back (no online pages yet), whose only sound description is that they're "grungy". Their lineup features the aforementioned Jamie Vincent and a musician named Nathan (possibly Lion Ride alum Nathan Sauve?), but I know very little else. I'll let you guys know when I hear more!

The show's opening band is the aforementioned Crimson Crusade in their Oddfellows Hall debut, so be there to hear their exciting Death-inspired sound, and pick up their EP as well if it's on sale! Admission will be $5 for this ALL AGES concert, which starts at or after 7:00 PM tonight. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! I normally wouldn't post this without full info given the band dropouts, but this is already later than I'd have liked, so I'll edit this when/if band details come in relating to a replacement act. There should be some good all ages noise going down no matter what, so keep it in mind, and for a preview, here's Crimson Crusade playing their song "Here We Lay" earlier this month!

Lastly for today, local metal cover trio Caveman Morrison will make their first Roosevelt Hotel appearances in almost two months TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT, so let's preview those as well! Coming off of their successful Soup Kitchen Gala set at Mill Square, it'll be great to see Tym, James, and Johnny back at it for another weekend of hard hitting and varied metal & hard rock renditions, so don't miss the Caveman onslaught this weekend! As usual, these shows have 10:00 PM start times and 19+ age limits, while like their past shows at The Rosie, there is no cover charge. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Caveman Morrison's lengthy and always entertaining cover sets are sure to draw a crowd, so don't miss their Rosie return this weekend as you make your plans, and for a preview, here's the guys covering Judas Priest's "The Ripper" at The Rosie a couple of years back!



That's all for now, but keep an eye out for details on what band (if any) will replace Ahna & Powercup at The Oddfellows Hall tonight, and for this month's Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile on Caste of Shadows tonight as well! Thanks everyone!