Last Month's Poll Results & This Month's New Poll!

With the 18th of the month now upon us, it's time to shut down last month's poll at the SMS and launch a new one! As you may remember, last month's poll posed this question to you guys: Do you want to see more metal/hard rock concerts in nearby communities outside of Sault Ontario? 12 votes, which isn't huge, but it did give clear results, so thanks to people who did vote, and now, here are the final results!

Yes, it's a great idea! (8 votes. 67%)

Depends on the location/distance (3 votes, 25%)

Depends on the promotion (1 vote, 8%)

Depends on the bands (0 votes)

No, I don't think many of them will be successful (0 votes)

No, I don't want to/can't leave the city for concerts (0 votes)

What do you guys think? In ascending order, I'm glad that no one voted for a flat out "no" in the poll, indicating that the idea of more out of town regional concerts would work, and I like that people didn't leave it up to the band selection either! The third place choice with a single vote was "Depends on the promotion", which I can understand, as a promotional push for an Echo Bay concert could do a lot of good or non-results on it's eventual success. Second place with 3 votes was "Depends on the location/distance", which again is valid, as there's it does take a while to get down the highway, and even if the path is straight, Desbarats or Bruce Mines might be just too far for some people (or did you think Thessalon was a better cutoff?) But the runaway winner (with 8 votes & over 66% of the total) was a resounding "Yes!" to the idea of more regional nearby metal concerts in Sault Ontario! The Big Loonie Bus Show last month must have been a solid success, and/or we have a lot of readers just outside of city limits, but if Sault Michigan can have successful frequent concert venues on the outskirts, why can't we if done right? Hopefully such concerts pick up by 2014!

Thanks again to everyone for voting! As for this month's poll, I wanted to address the topic of battles of the bands, but this time, how/if you guys percieve bands differently after competing at them. It's no secret that I like covering battles of the bands when they come up, as they usually bring a solid array of local talent together to put in their A-games and make a larger name for themselves, so their return to Sault Ontario after a two year hiatus last year was welcomed as far as this site went. A past poll we did on here saw a favourable response to battles as an event, but the bands that come out at/near the top of them have seen mixed success after their wins in terms of added notoriety, longevity, and awareness. Bands like Garden of Bedlam and Bring The Fallen were assisted by their battle wins in their rise up the local ranks, but groups like Fountain of Betrayal didn't sustain themselves past the calendar year of their victories. Did the battle wins help, hurt, or play no effect in their natural rises and falls, or your awareness of them?

With Viva La Battle fresh in our minds (congratulations again to The Bear Hunters), I'm posing this question to you guys this month: How significant are battle of the bands finishes to you in terms of a local band's recognition & success? I've found the significance varies by the event as a whole, and I know some bands enjoy the feather in the cap of saying that they won a battle (or in Bring The Fallen's case, 3 battles), but where is the line drawn to put weight into the idea of a battle of the bands win meaning something for a given band or you as a fan? I've picked 6 choices for the poll, so read on below for more information on each!

Very significant: Does the victory (or high placement) of any local band mean a lot to you as a fan, and for them as a band? In most cases, a local band who does well at a battle of the bands will see increased success and notoriety for at least a honeymoon period after the fact (possibly buoyed by any career-furthering prizes they might win), and they can give new or unfamiliar bands (like Sense of Truth) a running start to their local runs. Do you find any battle success to be a significant event for any band?

Depends where the band placed: Simply put, does a higher placement or win mean more after a battle? Most recent battles of the bands have seen the winner outdo the first runner up in their concurrent runs (for example, who had more sustained success after 2009's YMCA Battle: Bring The Fallen or Dirty Virgin?) At the same time, in the case of a band like Lion Ride, second place didn't negatively affect them at all. A winning band will get more marbles out of a battle of the bands naturally, but does that hold water with you, and should losing a battle mean less success automatically?

Depends on the judges/judging method: Should the winning/top bands at a battle of the bands see more success based on who judged them, and how? In the case of the recent 3 Inches of Blood & Bam Margera battles, a fan vote decided them, but did Winkstinger & The Bear Hunters win on their merits, or did they win popularity contests? On the flipside, a judging panel could mean a lot if the judges are known music personalities, or very little if they're not (or you don't like them personally), or if the judging criteria is too strict or loose. Does the manner of how the band is chosen hold any bearing on this subject?

Depends on the prizes/stakes: No battle of the bands is equal, and the prizes/stakes vary along with them. Concert opening opportunities, cash, recording time, photo shoots, gear, and more can be offered, and some of the more successful battle winners have won big battles, with Garden of Bedlam's well publicized 2009 win over 19 other bands to open for Kiss arguably being the largest of recent memory (I mean, look at them now!) Do the spoils of the winner help them in the long run?

Depends what the band does afterwards: The impact of a battle of the bands victory can be lessened if the top bands fail to achieve long & sustained success after their wins, especially if the results end up seeming anticlimactic. 2010's Sault College Battle is a good example, as of the 4 bands that played, only 3rd placers Sykotyk Rampage survived into 2011, with Blackwater, Nebraska Arms, and Middle of Nowhere all falling inactive by year's end. Also, of the 9 bands in the 2008 Case's Music Battle, only 2 (Stillbroke & Caddy Street Avenue) saw any clear longevity outside of Case's Music events afterwards, and the latter only won for "Best Drummer". Would a high battle placement only matter if the band made something of it?

Little to no significance: Are you someone who doesn't like, care, or pay attention to battles of the bands? Do you find the idea of bands "competing" to be abhorrent or unnecessary? Do you find results of such events to be irrelevant to your tastes? It is worth noting that successful active metal bands like Frightlight, Shit Liver, Destroilet, and Crimson Crusade have gotten to their current levels without competing in a single post-2007 battle of the bands, so such events aren't a necessity. Would you say that a band's battle of the bands' success (or lack thereof) means nothing to you as a fan?

VOTE TODAY!! You have until December 18th to cast your votes via the voting form on the right of the page, and hopefully we get a solid sampling from fans as to what weight a battle victory has in your opinion on local bands. Stay tuned for more news shortly, and get those votes rolling in! Thanks everyone!