LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Ripcordz), Iskra Concert Updates, And New Videos!!

On this Saturday morning, we have a stacked new post to touch on, so what's in store for today? Some archive song finds from 20 years ago, recent concert video footage, and big updates for an upcoming show, but first, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for later this summer!

Montreal hardcore punk legends The Ripcordz will return to Sault Ste. Marie for a headlining concert on Saturday, August 13th at The Canadian Nightclub! Talk of an ALL AGES Ripcordz show in the Soo has been teased in recent months, but this is the apparent fruition of the idea, so if you want some all ages punk and metal action with Paul Gott and company, you know where to be this summer! This will be The Ripcordz' first local stop since the release party for their "Fed Up!" split CD with local punk/metal quintet Jack Spades and hardcore punk quintet Destroilet at The Algonquin Pub in October, and in a fitting encore, both local bands will be back to open on August 13th as well! While Jack Spades have been seen often lately, this will be Destroilet's first announced concert appearance since the "Fed Up!" release show. No idea where they've been in the past year & a half, but hopefully Destroilet tear up the stage in this rare Canadian Nightclub appearance later this summer!

Unlike in October, an additional opening band is to be announced, and we'll let you know when they are publically confirmed. This ALL AGES stop on The Ripcordz' Night of the Living Punks tour will have a door opening time of 7:00 PM, as well as $10 advance tickets (availability to be announced), with the door price jumping to $15. This sounds like a great concert for hardcore punk fans, and a nice make-up date if you missed the "Fed Up"! release party, so keep it in mind for in three months time, and visit the official Facebook event page for more info!

Next up, here's some big updates for the Iskra-headlined concert at The Moose Lodge on Thursday, July 14th, starting with it's relocation from The Moose Lodge to The Oddfellows Hall, as per the show's new Facebook event page! A reason for the move wasn't announced, but it followed the surprising deletion of the original event page, leaving some fans worried that the show was cancelled. All is well, it's just downtown now, and it's still ALL AGES! The lineup and start time are unchanged, but the bands' set-times are now confirmed, with the Victoria, B.C. goregrind headliners on at 11:30 PM, local death/thrashers Pillory co-headlining at 10:45 PM, goregrind duo Rotopsy on at 10:00 PM, and in a surprising placement, doom metal trio AlgomA opening the show at 9:15 PM. Given that members are promoting the show with Six, Two, Oh., maybe this is intentional so they can get back to running the event? However, ticket fees have been hiked up from $5 to $8 (again, for unannounced reasons), with the door charge now at $10.

Advance tickets are on sale at The Rad Zone and through AlgomA members, and the tickets will also serve a double purpose, namely as tickets for a planned door prize: AlgomA's split vinyl EP with Chronobot, or if you have it already or don't want it, $20 of AlgomA merchandise. Despite the raise in admission fees, things seem to be shaping up well for July's Iskra show, so visit the above links for full current details, and stay tuned for confirmation on the planned August 2nd Iskra show when/if it's venue is confirmed!

Also, here's an almost full concert video from local alternative/hard rock trio The Din, courtesy of their set opening for Sulfur City at LopLops Lounge last week! Filmed at a stationary camera angle, the video was uploaded to the band's YouTube channel on Monday, and features audio remastered by Pretoria Hill Productions, the upstart independent studio where The Din's debut CD is largely being recorded. The 36 minute set is notably 100% comprised of original compositions (be they from The Din, Mike Haggith's solo material, or the defunct band Haggith), with covers reserved in case there was an encore. In order, The Din played "75" (complete with the lengthy intro labelled as "Leamington, Ontario" from "The Din Does Laundry"), "In Search of the Perfect Moment", the newer "Alleyways & Apartments", "Out Of My League", "Differences", and most of "Analog Palace", and after a brief Star Wars-esque intermission to restart the camera, "Flux" & "This Potato May Be Used As A Flotation Device".

Overall, this video is very solid for fans of Mike and company's original compositions, with solid audio quality, fun banter between songs, and a nice view of the band, though it's a little tight, so Mike sometimes wasn't in view when he left his microphone's area. Fans of The Din will be right at home, so give their full set a look below, click the above song names to go directly to individual songs, and stay tuned for more from their Facebook page soon!



Finally for today, here's a neat find from the local metal scene's past, as YouTube user schwazemoto has uploaded 10 studio-recorded songs by defunct local punk band Gutwrench to their YouTube channel in the past week! Given that their original run ended no later than 2002, and no online pages survive (or ever existed?) for them, I can't verify a whole lot on this band with existing online sources, but their lineup did include future Hangdowns guitarist Jordan Cumming (pictured) and drummer Marc Muto (ex-Lion Ride) alongside guitarist Paul Melanson, who's now a prolific metal usician in the Lethbridge, Alberta area. The Gutwrench songs on YouTube are dated from 1996, and include various paintings as the featured picture (if these were from an album of some kind, the cover isn't included.) The included songs are titled "Stranded", "Pictures Blur", "Phobia", "Part II", "Identity", "Human Nature", "Good Riddance", "D.S.U.F.", "Another Song", and as embedded below, "Dead", so click each link to hear each song!

Gutwrench have an entertaining skate/speed punk sound that hasn't aged badly at all, with good enthusiasm and strong guitar work, and good production to boot, and it'd be interesting to see or find more from Gutwrench at some point! And yes, this is definitely the local Gutwrench, not one of the out of town bands with the same name, Paul and Marc were reminiscing on one of these uploads on Facebook. Give Gutwrench's studio tracks a listen above & below!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more updates and reviews shortly! Thanks everyone!