LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Soo Zombie Walk Afterparty), New Videos, And More!!

Now's a good time to get our first full news post of the month on the site, and within, we have some assorted recent notes, two new videos from two familiar local bands, and first, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for a familiar yet distinct Halloween season concerts! Here's what you should know!

The musical entertainment at this year's Soo Zombie Walk will see an unplugged encore, as the acts playing at The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Center on Saturday, October 24th will head to Coch's Corner that same night for the afterparty! After spending last year sans music at Wacky Wings, the afterparty returns to it's 19+ roots at the site of it's 2010 & 2013 incarnations in three weeks time, but like in 2013, all performers will be acoustic, going with Coch's Corner's focus since moving into the former Foggy Notions building. As recently (and quietly) confirmed on the Facebook event page, all four acts will pull double duty on the 24th, including alternative blues/hard rock quartet Sykotyk Rampage (in their first afterparty set since 2012), Sudbury cover hard rock band Aggressive Acoustic (who headlined 2013's afterparty), and solo musicians Greg Callaghan & Terry Becker, so if you'd rather see the bands at nighttime in a bar setting, or in the day before the walk with a family audience, you have options!

Sykotyk Rampage frontman Dirk Becker has also confirmed with me in a recent conversation that Aggressive Acoustic have not broken up (though there have been lineup departures), and Syktoyk Rampage's daytime pre-walk set will also be acoustic, which does sound easier given the double booking. This year's afterparty has a $2 cover charge (plus a canned good), it goes down at 9:00 PM on October 24th, and you must be 19 to attend... but never fear, you can see all four acts at 4:00 PM at the Bushplane Museum too! Check the above links for more details, and keep both of these Zombie Walk shows in mind for when the undead prepare to roam downtown!

Next up, we at last have confirmation: The Bear Hunters are in studio recording their second full length CD "The Dead Testament"! Details on progress are forthcoming, but the fan-favourite local death metal band confirmed on their Facebook page that sessions began yesterday, and they have posted two short videos to their new Instagram page of drummer Johnny Belanger tracking drums at Mission Control Studios (more on them in a bit), with the video embedded below crediting the song as "The Void". Both clips don't actually show Johnny, instead Dustin Jones at the controls during the tracking. Photos, and more videos, are planned to go up on Instagram in the coming weeks, but this is a great sign for fans of The Bear Hunters, so check out the other video at this link, see more above, and here's Johnny laying down drum tracks for "The Dead Testament"!

A video posted by The Bear Hunters (@thebearhunterscanada) on Oct 2, 2015 at 6:20pm PDT

Also today, here's the newest video from local alternative hard rock trio Mike Haggith & The Din, which gives us our first glimpse at their new guitarist! Posted to their Facebook page yesterday, it's of the new lineup playing Mike's solo original "Out Of My League", but perhaps intentionally, the new guitarist is filmed from behind, and aside from the long blonde hair and purple guitar, there are no dead-giveaway markings to their identity. I have a guess, but let's wait for the band to confirm the new axeslinger themselves, be it online or at the Speak Easy Battle of the Bands next month! In any event, it's a solid rendition, complete with post-production filters, so check it out below, and stay tuned for more from The Din!



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

• A concert event in remembrance of late local country musician & Case's Music founder Mike Case is in the works for July 9th of next year, and organizers are looking for bands to take part. It would be a 2:00 PM-2:00 AM event, but further details are not known as of this writing. This very well may be a special and huge occasion given Mike's outreach as a musician & instructor, so message co-organizer Christine O'Hara at this link or at her Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from September 15th for more info!
• A Facebook page has finally been launched for the aforementioned Mission Control Studios, the local recording studio ran by Dustin Jones & Tidal Records, and the site where a number of local bands are either recording or planning to record new studio material, like The Apocalypse Afterparty & The Pixo Control. The setup and reputation is all very professional, so check the above links for more info on Mission Control Studios, which are now in our "Other Local Metal Links"!
• After previously looking for a drummer in August, local musician Rob Charlebois is looking for a guitarist for his "fresh" new band. They have originals and covers, ranging from alternative to classic rock, and practice at night. If you're interested in trying out, message Rob at this link or via his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from September 25th!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for another new news post tomorrow! Thanks everyone!