LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Soundcheck & Fort Creek), An Unreleased Woods Of Ypres Song Clip, And Much More!!

Before we begin this post, I wanted to apologize for missing a late notice concert this past weekend, as local hard/funk rock cover band The Wyld Stallyns played at The Water Tower Pub on Saturday night. The band never promoted the show on Facebook publically, but the venue announced it on ultra late notice that day (personal Facebook posts indicated that the Stallyns were late replacements for an unidentified act). I hope the show went well, and I profusely apologize for missing this one on here, I'd have covered the show if it had even one day's notice! Last weekend was a nightmare for late notice shows, alas. Now, here's some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, an unreleased song clip, and much more in today's news post!

Local southern hard rock quintet Fort Creek will make their debuts at two different downtown venues this spring, as they'll head to Shooters Downstairs Lounge on Dennis Street on Saturday, April 16th before rocking Soo Blaster on Queen Street East three weeks later on Saturday, May 7th! Both were confirmed via separate concert poster uploads on the band's Facebook page over the last few days The Shooters gig next month is one of many Saturday night shows that this venue has been booking since their re-opening in February, helping give cover-centric bands on the weekend circuit another venue to play at, and clearly Soundcheck's show there went well if they're going full steam ahead! Soo Blaster may seem like a very large venue for one band alone, but Fort Creek definitely seem to be approaching it as a bigger deal, with advance ticket sales, a guitar draw, and even the live debut of an original single from their planned EP!

Both of Fort Creek's upcoming concerts are 8:00 PM affairs with 19+ age limits, and while the Shooters show next month has no announced cover charge, the Soo Blaster concert in May has tickets running for $5 in advance, $7 at the door. If you want to buy tickets ahead, call the number on the poster or head to Trio Auto Supply at 20 Second Line East (the band did not specify if Soo Blaster would have any, or if you could set something up by contacting band members directly). Visit the above links for complete details on both of these shows, and stay tuned for more from Fort Creek!

Next up, aforementioned local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to Shooters Downstairs Lounge themselves for their second show at the Memorial Gardens-adjacent nightclub on Saturday, April 23rd! While not yet confirmed by Soundcheck (who usually begin plugging their own shows on Facebook the week of, sometimes the day of), Shooters themselves announced the concert via their own Facebook event page on Sunday, so we have an uncharacteristically large amount of advance notice for this one! Yes, I am well aware of their Reggie's shows this weekend, but those are being saved for this weekend's concert previews due to only being announced this week, so check back on Thursday or Friday. Again, it's definitely a good sign that Soundcheck's Shooters debut went well, as the venue is ramping up their cover band bookings (albeit on Saturdays only), so their return seems very welcomed!

Like with Fort Creek on the 16th, you can take in Soundcheck's old school blend of hard rock, classic rock, and country covers on the 23rd at 8:00 PM with a 19+ age limit and no announced cover charge, but please be mindful of any and all extant public health recommendations at Shooters, especially as it's not a massive venue. Visit the above links for more details, and look for our preview of their late notice Reggie's shows later this week!

Also, here's something I'm surprised I've never addressed before on the SMS: A 45 second snippet of an unreleased Woods of Ypres song! Preliminarily titled "Song Five" as per the iTunes library used in the video, this was posted to Earache Records' Instagram page way back in May 2017 during the label's 30th anniversary celebrations. The caption says that this an "unreleased Woods Of Ypres song from Woods 5", but remember that this could be a song from the cancelled "Woods V: You Were The Light", a five song EP recorded locally in 2010 before their false breakup and signing with Earache, after which they reclassified that EP as "Woods 4.5" (but never released it) and began work on the "Woods V" we all know and love. To date, three of the songs from "You Were The Light" have surfaced: two were put out on 2011's "Home" single, while a remix of "Accounting For Your Cruelty" was officially posted online by frontman David Gold that year. Is "Song Five" the closing track of that cancelled EP?

In any event, potentially putting out "Woods 4.5" and/or unreleased Woods of Ypres content has been teased by Earache on Instagram before, but if you're at all active in the Woods of Ypres Facebook community, you'll know that David's mother Esther (a.k.a. Mama Gold) has an obviously deep interest in her son's music and legacy, and there have been occasions in the past where it seemed like she wasn't aware of/unequivocally on board with Earache's plans. While the hardcore fans would obviously want to hear this song (and more?) in full, I'd definitely want all parties in agreement. What we hear in the clip sounds promisingly dark and fitting of Woods' doom era, and give it a listen for yourself below!

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

 

• On Saturday, local goregrind solo project Crucify The Whore launched a new Facebook page to replace their previously deleted Facebook page, which Tyler implied was not his choice (I'd presume the content of many of their songs/albums were flagged on both of C.T.W.'s prior Facebook pages). So far, the page just features photos, videos, and links to concerts, music, and photos from their 2010s heyday, but Tyler did "promise a special little treat or 2 for everyone throughout this year". No idea what that's hinting at, but stay tuned for updates!
• After just two new episodes following their unexplained winter hiatus, local metal radio show Metal Morpheus aired reruns for the past two Sundays on The Borderline, specifically last year's doom metal & goregrind episodes. No word on why Josh didn't produce new episodes the last two weeks, but hopefully the fact that he went a few months with reruns or nothing at all and came back is a good sign that Metal Morpheus will return at some point. In case that is Sunday, tune in to The Borderline then at 9:00 PM!
• Local indie punk quintet The Northwest have confirmed that they are working on a new EP called "All In", and the first single will be entitled "Long Hair (Longer Nights)", with a release coming next Friday! Presumably that'd be April 8th, as April 1st would be this Friday. You can pre-order the single (which they say is "a post-lockdown anthem") on Spotify at this link, so stay tuned for updates, and get more at The Northwest's Facebook page!
  

 

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes in the days ahead! Thanks everyone!