LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Havadder), The End Of Pillory, And Much More!!

As we continue to clear out our recent news cache, we have an inactive band to take note of, big changes for a yearly music event, and some more assorted notes, but first, here's SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for THIS WEEKEND! (Edited at 10:49 AM)

Local classic hard rock cover quartet Havadder will return to The Rednecks Saloon for headlining concerts TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, frontman Jason Roy only just announced the shows yesterday via their Facebook event page. Keeping with their recent trend of playing one weekend a month at the former Nicolet Tavern, this weekend's shows are apparently Havadder's last of the year, so if you want one last 2014 show with Jason and company, you know where to be for their often heavy covers! The event page implies that they have both new songs in their setlist and "old members", though it's not clear if they're meaning guest spots by ex-members or not. We can confirm though that ex-drummer Scott McLurg will fill in for T.J. Case for at least a third straight weekend, at least partly due to T.J.'s conflicting date with Mourning Wood TOMORROW at The New American, so keep that in mind also! Our source is Scott's personal Facebook page.

Admission for TONIGHT & TOMORROW is likely free, both shows have 10:00 PM start times, and you must be 19 to attend. For more details, check the above links, don't miss Havadder's cover attack this weekend, and here are the guys at The Rednecks Saloon this fall!



Next up, we have a band to move to our inactive band links, that being Sault Ontario thrash metal quartet Pillory. While their Facebook page hasn't been updated in over 8 months, we can confirm their demise via their entry on the Encyclopaedia Metallum, which confirms that the band split up in August, after being "on hold" since April. Any update there must be sourced when a report is submitted, so it's likely that a band member sent it in to confirm their status. Pillory had been active since 2012 as one of the Soo's few pure thrash bands of recent years, debuting live at The Canadian Nightclub that November. After founding guitarist Andres Duchesne's sudden passing the next month, the band wouldn't hit the stage again with a full lineup until the winter of 2013/14, where they played a handful of all ages gigs and released their only EP "Cringe At The Cross" in December 2013. Later updates were sporadic and mostly concerned lineup changes, though it should be noted that frontman Robert Sartini's other recent projects have all quietly closed most of their online pages this year as well.

Pillory were a talented and brutal band that had a lot of promise, especially on their EP, but Andres' death and other delays didn't help their live concert frequency. It would be nice to see Robert get back into bands again (Pillory or otherwise), as he has the skill and drive, and the same goes for Josh, Devon, Bret, and other surviving ex-members in the future!

Also today, remember The Marquee, which is the outdoor concert stage from the last two years of the Bon Soo Winter Carnival? Well, it will return for a third year in February, but with a changed format. According to Bon Soo's website, The Marquee will be retracted from a daily event throughout the festival to a one-day event on Friday, February 6th (Bon Soo's opening day for 2015), with acts only playing from 5:00-9:00 PM. A reason for the retraction hasn't been announced, but as you may remember, The Marquee struggled with attendance issues earlier this year, as addressed in our review of the night I attended, which could be blamed partially on the cold weather and poor advertising, among other factors. According to a post on a local music Facebook group by co-organizer Jessica Bolduc, The Marquee will move indoors from The Roberta Bondar Pavilion to The Mill Market, which goes along with the whole festival's move to Mill Square at the former St. Mary's Paper site for 2015.

With all of that said, if you or your band wants to play at The Marquee on February 6th, message co-organizer Aislyn Ireton A.S.A.P. at aislyn.ireton@student.saultcollege.ca. I'm disappointed to see The Marquee shrunk so much this year, as I do think the concept of a multi-day outdoor winter music stage has potential (especially if it's well advertised online), but if the shorter one-day indoor version can prove more sustainable, maybe they can expand The Marquee again for 2016? We'll keep you posted if hard rock or punk bands are on the lineup next year!

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

• The Bloody Boxing Day Basement Jam at 11 Hearst Street later this month has had a slight lineup adjustment, as the vacant slot will be filled by Brutally Fatal frontman Austin McCrae in a solo acoustic set, perhaps a throwback to his old Re-Born work? However, his solo set will now open the show at 6:00 PM, with the rappers bumped up a half hour, and Mikey Thomas now in the previously vacant 8:00 PM slot. Interesting, so visit the Facebook event page for more info!
• Leading from our addition of Telephone & Address' next album plans to yesterday's "Where Are The New Albums?" post,the Chris Shoust-led solo punk/grunge project is now distributing copies of their recent albums "The Rotten EP" and "Need Not Apply" on the online music store Interpunk! Nice to see, so keep that in mind also if you want to order physical copies! Both albums retail for $11,75 there, minus shipping fees.
• Danger Cats frontwoman Kate Drew will replace Greg Callaghan at the second annual X-Mess acoustic punk revue at The Algonquin Pub on  December 20th, and will be playing an acoustic set of Distillers covers under the handle "Ms. Tillers". Promoter J.D. Pearce revealed the change on the Facebook event page on Tuesday, confirming that Greg's out due to a scheduling snag. Disappointing for him and fans, but it's great to see Kate back, so stay tuned for more updates when they come in!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for a Toystock fallout post next on the site! Thanks everyone!