Sewer Swampstravaganza IV Concert Preview!!

TOMORROW NIGHT marks the fourth annual Sewer Swampstravaganza, as once again, local/Toronto musician Steve Mozarowski (in association with Sykotyk Rampage guitarist Dirk Becker) will put on another all-day marathon of local music at The Oddfellows Hall, with a heavy emphasis on metal and hard rock bands once again! With support from the Arts Council of Sault Ste. Marie, the Swampstravaganza returns to the spring months for the first time since the first installment in April 2011 (albeit after a week's postponement to avoid competing with the A Tribe Called Red show), and this is definitely the biggest version of this yearly event to date, with 10 scheduled performers and an open mic block to kick off the day's events, while tacos will be sold for fans if they're hungry, limited edition yellow t-shirts with the event poster will be on sale for $12, and I believe there'll be some local art on sale as well like during previous years! The poster on your right has not been updated to reflect recent lineup changes, but we'll address them as we go, so who's playing at this year's Sewer Swampstravaganza? Let's take a look at the lineup!

Though the on-hiatus RedD Monkey will miss this year's Swampstravaganza for the first time, local death metal quartet The Bear Hunters will keep one link for the past three years, as they headline this event for the first time tomorrow at midnight! Fresh off a well received set at Sunday night's Fuck The Facts show at the same venue, look for a brutal blend of originals to cap the night tomorrow, so don't miss them! A pair of bands from last year's Swampstravaganza will take the stage right before in their first concert appearances of 2014, including "blue Chinese metal crash punk" quartet Sykotyk Rampage (perhaps with some new material in tow?) at 11:00 PM and a reunion set by local alternative/grunge quartet Haggith at 10:00 PM, though it's yet undetermined whether this will be a one-off gig or the start of something more (source here.) Both bands have been missed lately, so get ready for some fun, if radically different, alternative sounds tomorrow night, whether you're drinking on the weekend or shouting "All Hail Haggith!"

Blood Shed Productions goregrind duo Rotopsy will get a chance to make up for their abbreviated Dank Fest set at 9:00 PM in a rare showcase outside of a house party or Heavy North Entertainment event, so be prepared for their minimalistic brutality then, while Sudbury unplugged hard rock band Aggressive Acoustic will make their second local concert appearance tomorrow at 8:00 PM! Featuring former Sykotyk Rampage bassist Brian Cattapan on vocals & guitar, personal Facebook posts indicate that their lineup may be abbreviated with just Brian and guitarist Sean Trottier making the trip, but we'll find out for sure tomorrow! 2011 Swampstravaganza performers Ye Olde Mold Pickers will hold their own reunion tomorrow at 7:00 PM, so be prepared for Rihkee & company's unique folk/acoustic sound after a long absence from the local stage! Note that their set was originally scheduled to be split between Y.O.M.P. and their partial successors The Filthy Cur, but it's no longer advertised as such, possibly because only 2/3rds of The Filthy Cur will be present tomorrow.

The current version of Brutaly Fatal (replacing Pillory) will take the stage at 6:00 PM in their first public set since their relaunch & with their expanded lineup, now including founding frontman Austin McCrae, bassist Rainey Vincent and new drummer Brandan Glew, who recently replaced Tyler St. Amour for unannounced reasons, as per their Facebook page. Hopefully Brandan fits in well, and hopefully we see Tyler in a new band shortly! How will Brutaly Fatal's new stoner/doom metal originals and fuller roster sound tomorrow, and will Austin's sprained hand affect things? The 5:00 PM slot is currently allocated to local funk/metal trio The Strange Coyotes, but given their lingering drummer vacancy and their replacement at their last two gigs by frontman Chase Wigmore solo & his new project This Is Your Band On Drugs (neither of which involved bassist James Watterworth), will there be a similar replacement tomorrow? We'll let you guys know when/if we hear anything, but I imagine Chase will be playing something then!

The 4:00 PM slot currently belongs to promoter/RedD Monkey frontman Steve Mozarowski in an acoustic solo set (replacing student vocal groups The Neon Stars & The Runaway Voices), though he's credited on Facebook under the name "faceityoureametalband". It'd be nice to see Steve play tomorrow, but his performing involvement has always been tentative and conditional, and to that effect, a discussion on the Facebook event page hints that local death metal trio Shit Liver (who dropped out of the first Swampstravaganza) might finally play this event at 4:00 instead. That's not official, but it'd be awesome if confirmed, so stay tuned just in case! The first formal act on the lineup will be Haggith drummer Mike Haggith in a rare solo set, which he hopes to use to showcase his own original hard rock material, so be there early to see what he has in store! The Swampstravaganza will begin at 1:00 PM with a 90 minute open mic block hosted by Northwest guitarist Greg Callaghan (similarly to his Coch's Corner open mic nights), though a performer list has not been announced as of this writing.

The open mic angle is a first for the Swampstravaganza, but like ones at local bars, it could be a mixed bag for if you like the performers or not. Greg has experience with this sort of thing though, and at last word, he was still looking for additional performers, so message him at this link if you want in! Note as well that local hard rock quartet Ashes To Dust (who played this event in 2012) have dropped out of the Swampstravaganza for a second straight year for unannounced reasons, and were not replaced. Hopefully things are alright in their camp, it's been forever since we've heard of them outside of a school function! Admission for tomorrow's show is just $5 (and for 10 bands and open mic, that's an incredible deal), this is definitely an ALL AGES event, and the open mic performers kick off the day at 1:00 PM. For more details, check the above links! This should be another awesome installment of this yearly event, but will the lineup hold together, and will the immense size this year amount to more fans?

Be there tomorrow to find out, and I'll absolutely see you there! That's all for today, but see the above links for more information, and for a preview, here's The Bear Hunters at last year's Swampstravaganza! Thanks everyone!