LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (The Merves, That's Chester, And The Danger Cats) & Much More!!

News has been slow lately, but for the first time since Monday, we have a post without any concert previews, and there's some big things to take note of! Just to clarify, this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles are coming, but given the recent quiet news stretch, I'm bumping it to tomorrow to spread things out better. Today, we have some random assorted recent news, some new drum cover videos, and first, some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, so here's what you need to know!

Remember The Merves, the Toronto-based Ramones tribute band featuring ex-Lion Ride frontman Mikey Hawdon? Well, they'll be back at The Rockstar Bar next Friday (January 17th) for the first time in almost a year, but with a hard rock twist. They're splitting the song selection to cover Joan Jett & The Blackhearts for half their set, so now there's a hard rock edge to this popular band! Featuring respected Toronto-area punk musicians, and with talented Toronto-area singer Amy Zucchetto channeling Joan Jett, it should be nice to have The Merves back in town after such a long time away, so don't miss their return next week! A $5 cover charge is likely for this 19+ concert, and a 10:30 PM start time is advertised. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! It's great to have Mikey back for another local concert, and hopefully punk and hard rock fans get an equal dose of great tunes from The Merves' Ramones & Joan Jett covers next Friday! If any updates roll in, we'll have them here!

Next up, local classic/hard rock quintet That's Chester will return to Docks Riverfront Grill's Playroom for a full weekend on February 14th & 15th! Though yet unannounced on their Facebook page, we can confirm these dates through Docks' event calendar on their website, so there's my source. Last seen at Toystock on December 1st (and at Docks that same weekend), these currently sit as That's Chester's first shows of 2014, and it will be nice to have their diverse and often heavy covers back after a two and a half month break, so keep these shows in mind next month! These are 19+ events, 10:00 PM start times are likely, and like other recent Docks events, there is NO COVER CHARGE. For more details, visit the above links! Though live gigs for That's Chester have been more sporadic since their reunion, That's Chester's talents and skill are still ready and present, so keep their (presumably) first shows of 2014 in mind for next month, and stay tuned for updates!

Lastly for our recent batch of new Docks concert announcements, all female hard rock quintet The Danger Cats will make their official Docks debuts on Friday, February 28th and Saturday, March 1st! Apologies for the late announcements on these shows, as they were originally announced on December 20th, but they slipped through our radar until today. Barring an interim announcement, these will be the girls' first live dates of 2014, but not the first time that they've played there, as Stiffler's Mom invited them to play a few songs during their October 2013 weekend there. That should be some solid experience for these early March dates, so don't miss their entertaining covers and slowly expanding original repertoire then! Like the aforementioned That's Chester shows, there is no cover charge, a 19+ age limit, and a 10:00 PM-ish start time. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page, and stay tuned for more as we hear it!

Also, As It Stands drummer John Mignacca has posted a pair of new drum cover videos onto his/the band's YouTube channel on Wednesday! His first solo postings in 9 months, these are (once again) electric drum covers to songs you may not expect, including Ke$ha's "Tik Tok" and (as embedded below) Christina Grimmie's cover of David Guetta's "Titanium". John's drum skills are on full display, and he adds well to these tracks, but the volume of his drumming is too muted, and it could stand to be louder. Note that while it's great to see some new work from John, As It Stands have not made any public updates since October (or played live in almost a year & a half), but John has stayed busy as a drummer with the Hamilton djent studio project Rancor. Hopefully we hear some more from As It Stands soon, but see Jon's new solo work above & below!



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

• Local metal/punk quintet Jack Spades aren't just opening for Anvil & Caym once in the Soo on March 15th, as they're actually hitting the road to open for the Canadian metal legends during their Sudbury & North Bay gigs on the surrounding days. Awesome news, and hopefully these are just a start for Jack Spades' rise and Anvil's northern takeover! Check the above links for more details on the other Northern Ontario dates!
• Are local classic metal quartet Late & Loud reuniting? A post on their Facebook page saying "Get stoked for February more details soon." was added this morning, and if it points to a reunion of some kind, it would end (at least temporarily) their inactive period since their Rockstar Bar Battle appearances last April. When we hear more, we'll be sure to let you guys know!
• Dafter, Michigan hard rocker Ken "SweetKenny" Sutton now has an official Android/Google Play application! Created through Reverbnation (similarly to Sykotyk Rampage's application), you can download it or get more details at this link, so give it a look!

That's all for today, but stay tuned TOMORROW for this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles! Thanks everyone!