Skynet/Chronobot Concert Preview, Swampstravaganza Lineup Updates, And More!!

In quite possibly our last news post before TOMORROW'S Anvil concert at The Canadian, we have our last of the weekend's metal/hard rock concert previews (barring something on late notice), big lineup updates for an upcoming all ages show, and some new videos related to a (possibly still alive?) hard rock act, so here's what you need to know!

On Sunday night, an interesting lineup of metal and punk bands will hit 180 Projects for that Gore Street venue's first metal show of the new year, including the long awaited local debut of Hamilton progressive metal quartet Skynet as the headliners! Featuring alumni of Straight Reads The Line, you may remember Skynet from briefly being scheduled to headline at The Locals Attack in November 2012, but now they're finally going to devastate the local stage with their groove & djent influenced originals, so you won't wanna miss them! Joining them are Saskatchewan stoner/doom metal quartet Chronobot, who have a space-influenced vibe that will definitely help them stand out among the other bands tomorrow, and of course, doom metal fans should be right at home too! The local openers include local sludge/doom metal trio AlgomA in their first show of the new year, and while they haven't played live in 7 months, they've hardly been idle due to the recording of their "Reclaimed By The Forest" EP, so might we hear some new material from them on Sunday night?

Local punk trio The Northern Tragedy will open this show in their second 180 Projects appearance, and while they're the only non-metal band on the bill, their entertaining originals should gain a solid audience all the same! Promoted by Jamie Vincent & Oh! Right Arm! Promotions in their first collective show of the year, Sunday night's ALL AGES show has a $5 cover charge, and a 7:00 PM start time. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! I like the diverse lineup of bands, and there should be a lot of heavy action going down on Sunday, so don't miss out! I hope I can go, but we'll have to see how busy I am that night. For a preview, here's Skynet's music video for their song "Deception"!



Next up, three more acts have been announced for this year's fourth Sewer Swampstravaganza on May 3rd at The Oddfellows Hall, though considering the combined lineup of one, it's almost four! One is local funk/metal trio The Strange Coyotes, in what will be the second straight Swampstravaganza appearance for bassist James Watterworth, but it remains to be seen how their drummer situation will look by then. For reference sake, their Facebook page has not made any drummer announcements yet, but their predecessor band Project Legion operated solely with temporary fill-ins, and the surviving members play solo often without the need for a drummer. Speaking of which, their former drummer Mike Haggith is also slated to perform this year in what's currently being advertised as a solo set (perhaps his first of this kind since his Outback gigs early in his local residence.) Mike did say on the Facebook event page that it could be expanded to a set by his acid jam band Mike Haggith & The Din, but he did admit that he'd like to showcase his original material live, so we'll have to see what happens in his own second Swampstravaganza!

The other new band is actually credited as a joint set, as remember local/Grand Rapids folk/acoustic trio Ye Olde Mold Pickers from the second Swampstravaganza in 2012? Well, they're reuniting for at least one night on May 3rd in a combined set with their successors, Grand Rapids ragtime/blues trio The Filthy Cur, whose lineup is almost the same (just swap out Rihkee Strap for Mickey MacKenzie.) It remains to be seen if the two bands will merge for a full set, or if each individual band will play short mini-sets, but Ye Olde Mold Pickers had a unique sound that will be interesting to see back on the local stage, if only for a day! If they do play a combined full set, would Ye Olde Filthy Curs be a fitting name? Finally, the advertised solo set from promoter/RedD Monkey frontman Steve Mozarowski under the "faceityoureametalband" handle has been removed from the event page's lineup for unannounced reasons, though Steve did say that his performing involvement was not final.

Disappointing, but kudos to him for bringing the Swampstravaganza back this year! This year's Swampstravaganza lineup now has 7 confirmed acts, and I would assume at least 2 or 3 more are forthcoming, so stay tuned for updates at this link and here at the SMS!

Finally for today, here's some new videos from Brutaly Fatal frontman Austin McCrae! Uploaded to their label Blood Shed Productions' YouTube channel on Wednesday, these join YouTube re-posts of two recent Facebook videos that Austin was featured in, and they're covers of Weezer's "Pork & Beans" and (as embedded below) Marcy Playground's "Sex & Candy"! Now, neither are metal songs, but I mention them here because they are both credited setlist songs of Austin and Tyler Gibson's punk/grunge band Re-Born, which morphed from the original Brutaly Fatal last month before they resurrected that band. I still don't know whether Re-Born are still operating independently or not, but either way, these are samples of what we can/could expect from that project. They do show Austin's development as a musician, and he can carry a tune, but the lack of a guitar here is noticeable, and will be more so live for this style. Check out his Marcy Playground cover below, and stay tuned in case we hear any updates on Re-Born's active status!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news soon, and I'll see you guys at The Canadian for Anvil! Thanks everyone!