LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Bon Jovi Forever), Assorted Recent News, And More!!

We're back with a new news post on this Friday night, so what's on tap? Mostly recent shorter updates to clear out, but we also have some updates to one of our battle of the bands profile features, and leading off, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for the spring, so here's what you should know!

If you've missed 1980s metal and hard rock tribute bands in the Soo, pay attention to The Rockstar Bar come Friday, May 6th, as Oshawa-based Bon Jovi tribute band Bon Jovi Forever will be rocking out that night! Announced by Martin Fiser on the venue's Facebook group last month, this will be the first local concert appearance on record for Bon Jovi Forever, but fans may recall seeing a different Southern Ontario-based Bon Jovi tribute (Keep the Faith) here twice at The Canadian in 2010. It's been a while, but if you're a Bon Jovi fan, you'd be hard pressed to miss their faithful interpretation of their classic hits, hair metal and modern era alike, on May 6th! No word yet on a cover charge or ticket fee for this show, but it'll be a 19+ event, and a 10:00 PM start time is likely. For more details, visit the above links, and stay tuned for more updates on this night full of Bon Jovi hits from Bon Jovi Forever!

Next up, here's six assorted shorter news items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist, event, or venue name:

• Sault Michigan nightclub & occasional concert venue The Back Door has re-opened under it's new ownership under a new name: Three One Three on Ashumn, obviously referencing it's address. After a year of renovations, the new bar returned on Wednesday in time for this year's I-500 pub crawl, and live bands are back for the new incarnation, with The London Gentlemen first up on Saturday. Great to hear, hopefully we hear more from Three One Three on Ashmun in short order, and click here for details on the "new" bar!
• Ex-RedD Monkey frontman Steve Mozarowski is holding a second band roulette concert event on April 8th! The catch: it's in Toronto (where he's back living again) at The Black Swan Tavern, but the same theme of musicians being randomly drawn into impromptu bands for a battle of sorts is back for this sequel to August 2014's band roulette. Steve did note in a comment reply that he'll host another band roulette in the Sault down the road, but if you're in Toronto, keep this in mind for April!
• In their most recent Facebook page update last month, local post-punk quartet Gnaeus confirmed that they've "been taking a little hiatus" while prepping for the release of their debut album "Loomings",  but they confirmed that "the songs are sounding amazing". Good to hear there's progress, but does this mean that they won't be defending their VM Radio Battle crown next month? Could you call their hiatus a "Gnaetus"? Stay tuned for more!
• Just as a reference note, the fourth annual Marquee outdoor concert at Bon Soo did take place today at Mill Market for it's second straight year as a one-night event, but online advertising for today's events only listed two acts: a Taylor Swift tribute, and local DJ Michael Babcock. Whether more acts are scheduled isn't clear, but in any event, we haven't seen any plugs of involvement via local hard rock or punk bands. Hopefully tonight's festivities are a blast though!
• Local alternative rock band Aldous will open for The Pixo Control at The Rockstar Bar next Saturday, as per the new official Facebook event page, which will mark the Nick Luck-fronted project's first show of 2016. Solid addition, and if you're not familiar with Aldous, prepare for a creative blend of sounds next weekend! For what it's worth, this show may be an evolution or replacement for the planned Valentine's Day-themed event from Project 421 members, possibly due to the family issue that has put their activities on hold. As well, the event page does not list Shit Creek Survivor as performing still, but we'll let you know if they're still playing!
• The first confirmed band for next month's second annual VM Radio Battle of the Bands at The Canadian Nightclub will be local pop punk quartet Stereo North, as per the official Facebook event page yesterday! They competed in the second semifinal of last year's battle (in just their second concert), and while they didn't advance to the finals, they were part of an incredibly close semifinal that saw 8.5 points separate the first & fourth place bands. Can Stereo North improve on last year's showing? Stay tuned for more details on this huge battle as it rolls in!

Finally for today, here's some more updated to one of our past profiles in our Battle of the Bands Rewind Profile series to keep it updated and current, namely our profile of 2012's Sault Humane Society Battle of the Bands! There, we restored all photos, and updated references to the statuses of competing bands, mainly concerning Late & Loud's 2014 reunion gigs, The Bear Hunters' current status, and the inactive status of As It Stands, Wishbone, and T-Rex Manning. In the section on performers' later bands, we replaced the inactive Caveman Morrison, D3athcharg3r, Frightlight, Hydra's Teeth, Punch, and Saints & Serpents with six more current acts, namely Jon & His Friends (Late & Loud frontman Jon Tiberi's current Hamilton band), Mourning Wood, local classic rock band The Peace Vibe, Rattlesnake Hotel (Valentine's Day Massacre guitarist Andrew Angelic's current London band), Skeyes of Seven, and Stereo North. Finally, we added references on last March's two battles of the bands, namely The Bear Hunters' performances in each, and Stereo North's run in the VM Radio Battle.

Hopefully things are updated for that profile now, and we'll touch on later battles in an upcoming post, so stay tuned then, and for more news and notes in the coming days! Thanks everyone!