LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Toystock VIII) & New Videos!!

Before we dive into another drawn out run of weekend concert previews, let's tackle some more recent news and notes, including some new video postings, and leading off, a big LOCAL CONCERT ALERT concerning an annual holiday event next month, so here's what you need to know!

The eighth annual Toystock fundraiser concert will take place on Sunday, November 24th, with "10 bands in 10 hours" entertaining the masses once again! As noted on the brand new Toystock website and Facebook page, this yearly Christmas Cheer benefit concert will return to The Grand Gardens North for a fifth straight year next month, and as always, organizers are aiming for this year's installment to garner even more Christmas Cheer donations of toys, food, and cash at this giving time of year, which is always a worthy cause! As usual, Toystock is an ALL AGES event, and expect the Stuff-A-Bus, local vendors, and Santa & Mrs. Claus to make appearances as well! Click here for ongoing non-musical details. Compared to last year, the musical roster for Toystock VIII is more of a throwback to early installments, with less of a focus on returning bands, as only 5 acts in 2019 played last year. That said, who can you see next month, and when?

As you may expect, the 9:00 PM headliners are country rock cover quartet Bone Yard in their sixth consecutive and seventh total Toystock set, while in a mild surprise, power rock quartet Re:Born will get the 8:00 PM co-headlining slot in their event debut. Also making their Toystock debut this year is classic/hard rock quintet Fluid 5ive at 7:00 PM, while fellow veteran rock quartet Soundcheck will play their third straight event at 6:00 PM (and yes, Glen Thomas is donating a few refurbished drumkits once again this year.) Country singer/guitarist Brendan Hodgson will return from last year with a set at 5:00 PM, while some young Toystock newcomers will hit the stage beforehand, including pop rock quartet L!me at 4:00 PM & solo artist Kaitlyn Parr (who I know very little about) at 3:00 PM. A group of unidentified Case's Music students will play Toystock for a fourth straight year at 2:00 PM, following the return of veteran country duo The Jeff & Jeff Show at 1:00 PM for a third year in a row.

Finally, rising young singer/guitarist (and Soo's Got Talent semifinalist) Cameron Oliver will open the day's proceedings at 12:00 PM in his own Toystock debut. Presented by (Choose) Maxx Entertainment, Toystock VIII is FREE with a canned good or toy donation to Christmas Cheer, but you can absolutely donate cash upon entry if you want. It's wonderful to see Greg and company bring Toystock back for another year to help kick off the holidays with style, and with some welcomed younger talent alongside in 2019, hopefully this is the biggest installment yet! Visit the Facebook event page and the above links for full details!

We'll close today with new videos, including footage from Saturday night's Femur-headlined concert at Room 21! Promoters Oh!No Collective (nee Six, Two, Oh) live-streamed three videos from the concert, including one of opening alt-folk act Slumshine, and two of the headlining Thunder Bay "pisscore" trio. One video is of their newer song "Brian Wells" (I presume this is the inspiration), but embedded below is this 7 minute video of them near the end of their set, though I can't make out the song names that Eric gave. Solid view of Femur right at the front of the stage, and they have a brutal noise rock attack that fans should enjoy, so give these a look!

Finally, here's a new song from local goregrind solo project Crucify the Whore, as uploaded to label Blood Shed Productions' YouTube channel on Sunday! Entitled "Pissed Off & Bouncing Back", this is slated to be on C.T.W.'s official third full length release, whose title and over artwork will reportedly be unveiled on Halloween in time for a December release. If you're not acclimated to Tyler's brand of one-man goregrind, then this will be more of the same (short length, programmed drums, pig squeal vocals), but after the opening photos, you do get some heavily filtered video footage in the second half from C.T.W./Malignant Neoplasm sets at the Oh!No festival and the West of Hell/Expain concert. As always, this style of metal is an acquired taste, but Tyler's brutality, enthusiasm, and determination is never in doubt, and it's great to see him finally getting some new studio material out there in a fuller form factor! Give this video a look below!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for mid-week concert previews and more next! Thanks everyone!