LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Soo Zombie Walk) & Haggith Updates!!

Barring some more late notice show announcements, we'll close this weekend's hard rock & punk concert previews today with a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT concerning a well anticipated annual event's band lineup for this year! At the end of the post though, we also have some added updates from one of the bands at said event, so read on below to get caught up for the weekend!

The band lineup for this year's sixth annual Soo Zombie Walk TOMORROW has finally been officially announced, so now we can detail this year's musical entertainment! Apologies for the short notice, organizers only just detailed the bands this weekend on the walk's website, and we held our announcement of them for this weekend's previews. Like last year, the Zombie Walk (which will see many Saultites dressed as the undead and roaming downtown for brains) will return to The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre, and once again, bands will be rocking out pre-battle at the museum as part of the expanded event schedule at it's current location. If you liked last year's zombie walk bands, you'll enjoy this year's lineup, as every act (save for James Watterworth) is returning to entertain the zombies, with local grunge/alternative quartet Haggith returning for their third straight zombie walk set, and first public concert appearance of the fall!

With this talented band's upcoming CD "Apocalypse II" nearing release, look for more zombie-themed originals from that and it's predecessor in their set! Also, local "blue Chinese metal crash punk" quartet Sykotyk Rampage will join them for their fourth straight zombie walk set, and their first local concert appearance in 5 months! The Beckers and company should entertain with their crash rock sounds, and they have plenty of new material to source from for their set, so don't miss their first set of the fall tomorrow! Northwest guitarist Greg Callaghan (again credited as Greg Calhoun) will also return from last year for a solo opening set, and while it remains to be seen if his set will be "evil" like in some past appearances, he should have some entertaining covers in store to kick things off! According to a conversation with Sykotyk Rampage's Dirk Becker, they and Haggith have switched places from the announced timeslots, so Haggith are apparently headlining at around 4:00 PM, with Sykotyk Rampage on at 3:00 PM & Greg Callaghan on at 2:00 PM.

For the rest of the schedule (which includes brain eating contests, food, vendors, face panting, photos, and games) from the 2:00 PM opening until 5:00 PM, click here, while the walk itself will take place from 5:00-6:00 PM on Pim, Queen, Brock, and Bay Streets, starting and ending at the Bushplane Museum (click here for the full map.) Admission will be $2 plus a non-perishable food donation, while kids 12 and under just have to bring a food donation to enter. For more details, visit the above links! It should also be noted that no official Zombie Walk pages for this year make mention of an afterparty, so it's looking like this will be the first year since the inaugural walk in 2009 where there wasn't an afterparty, which admittedly took a back seat to the new expanded afternoon lineup after the event moved from The Grand Theater last year. The Zombie Walk is always a fun addition to the Halloween calendar, and I just hope organizers have worked out the kinks from last year after all of the changes (particularly the confusion regarding when the walk itself actually began.)

As last year's walk moved to the Halloween weekend, it conflicted with the Ripcordz concert that night, so I only went to the one event, but as it's back on the weekend before J.D.'s party this year, I can definitely return for the zombie walk tomorrow! It will be great to join the walking dead once again, and to take in some artists I haven't seen in a while too, so I hope to see you fellow zombies there, and for a preview, here's Haggith live last month!



Closing today's post, we'll touch on some more news from the aforementioned Haggith, including news on their upcoming CDs "XIV" and "Apocalypse II"! At this point, it's looking like the latter concept sequel album will be out first, as the band revealed on their Facebook page last week that it will be released this coming Tuesday (October 28th) for $5, and copies can be pre-ordered via their online store. Additional streaming media and sale availability is to be announced, but I'm a bit surprised that they aren't rushing the release for tomorrow given their Zombie Walk involvement and the CD's zombie themes (maybe there's a surprise in store?) The release date for "XIV" (whose name refers to it's release this year, thanks Curt!) is to be determined, but the store above referenced an October 14th date that has since came & went, though whether or not drummer Mike Haggith's recent personal break was a factor isn't stated. Given it's impending release, is "Apocalypse II" next for a CD review on the site?

I'd have to say it's not going to be reviewed next, mostly because it's a sequel to a prior concept album, so it'd be a disservice to the story to cover them out of order. That said, the original "Apocalypse" from 2012 isn't new and doesn't have precedence in our queue for that reason, so Northwest's new EP is still most likely for November. However, if the non-concept "XIV" comes out next month, then that's likely next, but I'll keep you guys posted in any case! We'll leave you guys with this short 12 second cell phone video from Haggith's Facebook page on Saturday of singer Curtis McKenzie singing his track from one of the band's upcoming originals. Sounds good, but stay tuned for more updates as the weeks progress!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for a new news post tomorrow, and of course, we'll see you guys at the Zombie Walk tomorrow! Thanks everyone!