LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Diemonds), Big Loonie Bus Show Videos, And More!!

In this Friday night auto-post (apologies if anything major isn't up yet, it's coming!), we have some assorted recent news and notes, a new live concert video, and a preview for a Sunday night concert in Sault Ontario, but first, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next month!

Toronto hard rock quintet Diemonds will make their long awaited return to Sault Ontario on Thursday, November 21st at The Algonquin Pub! Last seen locally at the old Coch's Corner in the summer of 2009, this female fronted outfit have a fun and sleazy swagger that should fit in well for their next local stop, and after missing their 2009 show until after it took place, it's nice to get a rain check to cover it fully on here! Local all-female hard rock quartet The Danger Cats will open the show in their fourth full concert appearance (and first at The Algonquin since debuting there last month), and they should be a solid fit as they continue to carve a local name with their entertaining and growing sound! The Facebook event page still hypes bands to be announced, and if any do get added, we'll let you guys know. Promoted by Frightlight/Jack Spades frontman J.D. Pearce (in his first Algonquin Pub show in over 4 months), admission will be $5 with a 10:00 PM start time, and you must be 19 to attend. Check the above links for more details!

It's great to have Diemonds back in town after such a long wait, and hopefully there's a big turnout next month for their return, and for The Danger Cats too! Stay tuned for updates as they roll in!

Next up, here's the first new videos from The Big Loonie Bus Show at La Cucina in Echo Bay last week, starting with local death metal quartet Crimson Crusade's entire set! Uploaded by 62nd Chamber Productions' YouTube channel yesterday, this gives us our first clear view of La Cucina (white interior with a hockey jersey motif by the stage), but the stationary camera's at a high side-stage angle for some reason, so while the view is close, we only see the band's upper body and not much else. The video captures 30 minutes worth of action, including their songs "Here We Lay", "Pillage", "For Him", "Crimson Crusade", "Reality", "Vanquish The Tyrant", and "Lost Memories", closing with a cover of Death's "Pull The Plug", so click each song name to go straight to it! Crimson Crusade sound as great and brutal as usual, though I am sort of surprised that songs from their EP like "Left For Dead" and "Consumed" were snubbed. Check out Crimson Crusade's full Echo Bay set below!

Also from Echo Bay, here's a video from an act who you might be expecting. As you may remember, a secret special guest was hyped by promoters Oh! Right Arm! Promotions in the lead-up to the event, but the original planned act fell through for unannounced reasons (no word on who they were either, but my guess was a BeeFMouTH reunion.) Regardless, promoters felt obligated to ensure that there would still be a secret act to play at La Cucina last weekend, so they signed on local musician Chris Shoust's acoustic/grunge solo project Telephone & Address to play the Big Loonie Bus Show, and 62nd Chamber Productions filmed his set and posted this 15 minute video onto their YouTube channel on Wednesday! Alternating between stationary black & white shots and more psychedelic filtered & mirrored effects (but all from the side-stage angle), these continue with Chris' lo-fi original recording style, but all still retain the grungy outsider feel that would definitely be interesting to hear expanded to a full band.

Check out Telephone & Address live in Echo Bay below, stay tuned in case there's more fallout from this show, and watch for some more recent Telephone & Address video discoveries! (Also, note that Telephone & Address' Facebook page has been deleted for unknown reasons, but I've since replaced it with Chris' website again for their link in our active Sault Ontario band links.)



Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news stories from the last little while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist, venue, or event:

• I've replaced the link for the now-closed Bottoms Up Lounge in our inactive Sault Ontario venue listings with their Facebook page, as their website has been shut down. The Queen Street bar/acoustic venue's been closed since June, so this won't be a major change, but I wanted to give the heads up!
• Sault Michigan solo guitarist Mike Libertoski has posted a rough demo of his/Galactic Alignment's original song "Abort the Export" onto his SoundCloud page, featuring vocals! They're done by his Toast bandmate Bob Helsten (a.k.a. Orb Hearthstone), who used to sing with I.S.O.M. & End of Existence, among other projects. His growling vocals fit really nicely on this technical death metal track, so give the new version a listen above!
• In terms of lineup notes from the Ray Brown benefit concert last week at The Verdi Hall, I can now confirm some additional performers, including that Mike Case's Junior Rockers (featuring ex-Jack Spades drummer T.J. Case) apparently replaced Redundant on the bill, and Ray's former The Chosen bandmate Taryn Bugyra sang guest vocals during Lucky 13's set. My source is performer Valerie Powley's photo album on her personal Facebook page, and I hope the event was a huge hit for Ray!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes soon! Thanks everyone!