LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Catgut), Bad Back & Sailor's Tongue Updates, And More!!

After a surprisingly slow day given the usually busy month that we're in, we're back with more news on this Monday night, so what have we got today?  Along with some recent updates to one of our monthly feature series and some big updates for two very different local bands with shows coming up, we'll start with a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next month, so here's what you need to know!

Local concert promoter Jamie Vincent's next hyped concert is now official, as Edmonton grunge/punk quartet Catgut will indeed make their local debut on Monday, August 12th! Featuring Jamie's former Flint bandmate Jesse Silkie on drums, Catgut have a unique and noisy blend of styles that calls to mind grunge and alt-rock from the late 1980s and early 1990s, and there's some solid heavier songs within, so check them out and see what you think! Two local bands will open for them, including local grunge duo Bad Back (more on them in a bit) and Small Town Rivals frontman Wayne Watkins (ex-Nebraska Arms, Renderware, etc.) in a solo acoustic punk set, and each should compliment Catgut's softer and faster songs well! My hunch on the location was correct, as the host venue will be The New American Pub House at 602 Bay Street (beside the Tim Hortons near the "Algoma's Friendliest City" sign), in the first heavier concert I've heard of here since starting the SMS! I have no clue on how it'll handle for a non-cover band, but fingers crossed it fits and will get further use for original acts!

Unfortunately, this will be Jamie's first 19+ show since starting his usually-all ages concert promotion agency (it is a pub, after all), but doors will still open at an earlier start time of 8:00 PM, and admission is just $5. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! This should be a different show for both location and bands, but grunge and alternative rock fans should find a lot to like, so don't miss it, and stay tuned for potential updates!

Next up, here's a bit more on the aforementioned Bad Back! Before going to see their second live show next month, video from their first is now online courtesy of member Jamie Vincent's AlgomA bandmate Boyd Rendell's YouTube channel (though the video is unlisted on YouTube for unknown reasons.) Filmed at their headlining show at The Oddfellows Hall on June 27th (and covertly uploaded on July 1st), it clears up a lot of unknowns on Bad Back, including their performing roles, as Jamie's actually their singer and guitarist, with his ex-Fuller bandmate Nathan Sauve on drums (with a sideways kit, a'la Robert Sweet from Stryper.) Both handle vocals, though Jamie appears to sing more. The video includes six songs, including originals named "Lung Bucket" and "Gotta Really Open Up", covers of The Refused's "Rather Be Dead" and "The Deadly Rhythm", and two more originals named "Breeding Weak" and "Drive My Way Home", so click each to go directly to the song! As for the video itself, it's black and white and filmed at a solid angle with a high quality camera, but the audio quality isn't that good, oddly enough.

The songs are heavy and have a punk edge to them too, but I can barely hear either sing through the often staticy audio, and I can't 100% comment until I hear them in clearer quality. Boyd also hinted at an EP release from Bad Back in the video's description, but I have yet to hear anything concrete on Bad Back recording sessions. I'll keep you guys posted for sure, but for now, check out Bad Back's first concert set below, and don't miss them at The New American on August 12th!

Next up, here's some news I thought people should know relating to local hard rock band Sailor's Tongue's set at Rotaryfest's Second Stage on Queen Street East on Saturday night! This news comes from frontman Kyle McKey's personal Facebook page, as the band's Facebook page hasn't been updated in 4 months. First off, Sailor's Tongue will perform as a quintet (for the first time?) on Saturday, as guitarist Blake Jackson will return to the fold this weekend after missing their reunion gig at last year's Rotaryfest. However, his replacement Liam Seymour has been retained, so we'll have three guitarists (counting Kyle) in their lineup now! Intriguing on it's own, but the other news that Kyle shared is that they'll have some kind of CDs available at Rotaryfest this year! I have no idea if they're being given away or sold (or if they're demos or fully packaged albums), but this isn't a huge surprise if you've followed the band, as drummer/Kyle's brother Dean McKey posted new Sailor's Tongue demo tracks on his SoundCloud page earlier this year, and they may be/comprise part of the hyped CDs.

I'd like to check out Sailor's Tongue's set (just their second since reuniting last year) and get a CD, as they're a very entertaining band! Unfortunately, it runs concurrently with Bushplane Musical Madness II, and when in doubt, I'll usually pick the show with more hard rock/metal bands, and the music surrounding Sailor's Tongue's 8:00 PM set on Saturday isn't really my thing. Hopefully they'll play again before next year's Rotaryfest, but if you're there, check out Sailor's Tongue and grab their CD if you can!

Finally for today, here's some new updates to our past Battle of the Bands Rewind profiles to make them more updated and current! First, I changed many MySpace links (due to their content deletions from their "upgrades") and made videos embedded on each larger (as the post area on the site is now bigger) on each profile. On our Skid Row Battle profile, I replaced the still-undebuted Crawfather with Scary Uncles frontman Justin Langlois' newest band The Thrill Junkies in the section on battle alumni's later bands. In both our 2008 Case's Music & Algoma University Battle profiles, I updated info referencing Fountain of Betrayal/Bring The Fallen drummer Travis St. Amour's run with the latter band, as he wasn't B.T.F.'s drummer at the time of their YMCA Battle win in March 2009. It was actually Joey Graham (who missed the event with a sprained wrist), and I also noted that in that battle's profile, along with replacing the defunct Faithless Sin with Operation: Killdozer bassist Justin Lam's newest band Jack Spades in the newer bands section. Finally for now, on all profiles on battles that Bring The Fallen was in, I noted their upcoming reunion set at The Oddfellows Hall on July 26th!

I have some more updates for this and other series to make, and I'll outline more of those in an upcoming news post, but that's all for today! Stay tuned for more news, last month's poll results and our next poll, previews of a huge concert weekend in the area (Rotaryfest, Shinedown, Bushplane Musical Madness, etc.), and more soon! Thanks everyone!