LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Big Wreck & Bizotic), Plus New Videos!!

At last, here's our first full news post of November 2017, which contains some new videos and a pair of LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS featuring returning headline bands, including one we haven't seen in over a decade and a half! Here's what you should know!

A big new Rockstar Bar show will take place Saturday, November 18th, where a few punk/alternative bands will open for Montreal power pop band Dany Laj & The Looks in that band's fourth local headlining appearance in the past two years! Last seen in July at The Canadian, Dany and company have proven to be a fan favourite band in their recent local stops, and while not a hard rock band per say, their upbeat and free-flowing originals should get another solid response next month! Local openers will include indie/hard rock quartet Bizotic, alt-punk trio Handsome Sandwich, and former Lion Ride bassist Brenton Ellis' new acoustic solo project Slumshine, who you can check out at this link if you haven't seen or heard yet. Solid choices, with some heavier and punk flourishes for genre fans, so don't miss out on the opening acts! Notably, this show is being co-promoted by photographer Josh Pace and Larry Babic, in the latter's first public show booking since his apparent departure from Live705.

For what it's worth, Live705 no longer list Larry on staff, but there has not been a statement publically on his status as singer with A Dire Setback. Hopefully nothing too serious happened, but stay tuned for potential public announcements on either! Admission for this 9:00 PM & 19+ show is $10 at the door or $8 in advance, though advance ticket sale details are not public yet. This is shaping up to be another entertaining concert, so visit the official Facebook event page for continuing details!

Next up, here's our first hard rock concert announcement of 2018, and it's a big one, as Juno-nominated Toronto/Boston hard rock quartet Big Wreck will make their long awaited return to Sault Ste. Marie on Tuesday, February 13th when they headline at The Machine Shop! Familiar sights to fans of Canadian rock dating back to the mid-1990s with hits like "The Oaf (My Luck Is Wasted)", "Albatross", and "One Good Piece Of Me", this show will mark Big Wreck's first local stop since (as best as I can tell) October 2001 at Sault College. Not only will fans waiting for the past 16 years be rewarded by their return, but the show will come at the mid-point of Big Wreck's tour celebrating the 20th anniversary of their debut album "In Loving Memory Of", so if you love that multi-platinum CD, expect lots of it in February! At press time, potential opening bands (local or otherwise) have not been announced, and unfortunately, this is an 18+ concert.

Tickets for this concert are $35 and go on sale THIS FRIDAY at The Machine Shop's box office, at the community box office at the Station Mall, and online at this link, while there will be VIP passes available with many intriguing perks, so click here for full details on that front as they roll in. It's great to finally see Ian Thornley and company back on a local stage, and I know that many fans will be curious to hear selections from their debut album and other hits in three months' time! Stay tuned for more updates when they roll in!

We'll close today with new videos, starting with the long awaited sixth episode of local promoters Six, Two, Oh.'s in-studio performance webseries Live at Six, Two, Oh.! After a nearly year long hiatus following the Blessed episode in December (with their cancelled online battle of the bands coming in between), the new episode went online on Wednesday via the series' Facebook page, with a potential YouTube channel posting in limbo. At least they're back, hopefully we're not waiting until next fall for episode #8! Like their last episode with Vancouver pop punk band Blessed and their second with Montreal electronic artist Citadel, this episode revolves around a touring act that wasn't playing a local concert when they stopped through to tape live at Six, Two, Oh., and the band in question is Winnipeg death metal quartet Entity. In a slight change in format, the episode was broken into two chunks for it's initial upload, including their songs "Instinct to Exterminate" (embedded below) and "Scaphism".

While it is a shame that Entity didn't get a local concert booking, these Live at Six, Two, Oh. episodes are a great consolation prize, with multiple camera angles capturing their brutal death metal sound, and they have very solid guitar work and clear vocals to boot! Remember, this episode is broken in half, so check out "Scaphism" above, but give the first song a look below, stay tuned for more on future Live at Six, Two, Oh. installments, and hopefully Entity can play here down the road!



Finally, here's a new video from Sault Michigan area-independent label Werehold Records' YouTube channel, which features label founder/Life's Eclipse guitarist (among other bands) Jason Mills trying out his new nine-string guitar! A rare video for the Werehold channel in a few ways (such as not being on Friday the 13th & featuring Jason talking to the camera), this is a nice demonstration of Jason's new toy, and it'll be interesting to hear it factor in to his future music, so give it a look below!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates as this week and month roll along! Thanks everyone!