LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Soundcheck & The Northwest), Ravencore Updates, And More!!

With some big news that I didn't want to fall by the wayside being announced today, I'm postponing this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post to tomorrow so we can dive into the news and notes, including a new music video, early details on a new local hard rock band, and leading off, LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for the holidays!

Local indie punk quintet The Northwest will end the year with a headlining concert at LopLops Lounge on Wednesday, December 28th! The post-Christmas gig will be their first live appearance since their North Bay show in October, their first on a local stage since opening for Marianas Trench in September, and their first at LopLops since the pandemic began, so in the latter case, this is definitely a long time coming, and their upbeat indie and punk originals should fit right in there at month's end! The opening band is The Gambit, who are actually the newly renamed and revived Sick Sons, the 2019-2020 punk supergroup whose last public act before last month was to cancel a planned headlining gig at LopLops in March 2020 (we all know why), though they never fully disbanded during their pandemic hiatus. A reason for their name change wasn't announced, but it is great to see The Sick Sons Gambit back after well over 2½ years!

It is worth noting that LopLops are undergoing some type of redesign, including a garage door installed on the front of the Queen Street East building and some extra interior changes, as per this SaultOnline article, though I have no clue how far along things will be come the 28th. If this is a sign towards LopLops re-opening on a pre-pandemic basis, then fantastic! This 8:00 PM and 19+ event has $20 advance tickets that you can buy through Eventbrite at the official Facebook event page (no word on in-person availability yet). The Wednesday timing isn't ideal, but if you the next day off still for the holidays, don't miss out on the punk action on the 28th, and see above for more details!

Next up, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to Shooters Downstairs Lounge on Saturday, December 31st as their New Year's Eve party headliners! While not yet confirmed by the venue's Facebook page (which hasn't even plugged Soundcheck's shows there this weekend), the band announced the event via this Facebook event page. 2022 is profoundly lucky to have New Year's Eve proper on a Saturday night, so Soundcheck's hard rocking array of covers should attract a sizeable audience of revelers sending out 2021 the right way! No word yet on what kind of seasonal frills to expect for the occasion, but there should be something extra beyond the band & a New Year's countdown. As such, while a cover charge hasn't been announced yet, bring cash just in case. This is obviously a 19+ event and it starts at 8:00 PM. Visit the above links for more details!

Also today, let's answer an unanswered question from our Toystock coverage: Who are Ravencore? They still don't have an online band page that I'm aware of, but they actually got spotlighted on SooToday via this article by Darren Taylor this morning, confirming some of my suspicions from personal Facebook posts. As best as I can gather, their lineup features former Suicide Kings vocalist Mike Gaetano and guitarist Mitch Sirie (last seen together when that band reunited for the 2018 Rotaryfest) alongside ex-Gnaeus bassist Matt Fronzi and former Brutally Fatal/Revolution frontman Austin McCrae on drums. The article on SooToday actually primarily deals in Mike and his 10 year old son Gavin, who joined Ravencore on stage for their live debut at The Grand Gardens North last week, taking over on drums for a cover of Weezer's "Beverly Hills" that reportedly was well received!

A couple of brief, brief videos of Ravencore's set are on personal Facebook accounts, one seeing them cover Good Charlotte's "Lifestyles Of The Rich & Famous", but neither are publically shared. The article notes that Ravencore formed shortly before band applications for Toystock began, they have been working on original songs, and that they hope to record a debut album in the spring. The article has some minor mistakes (i.e. it wasn't 11 bands in 11 hours at Toystock), but it's a nice article especially for the sake of Mike's family, and hopefully we hear more from Ravencore ahead, especially if(?) they launch an online page of some kind!

Finally for today, here's a brand new video from Sault Michigan classical metal band Theatre of Night's YouTube channel! A rendition of "Silent Night", fans will have first heard it instrumentally on their debut album "Christmas Night" over a decade ago, but this new version features singer Rachel Mender and has recently been uploaded to streaming services like YouTube Music as "Silent Night V2". The video features Rachel, guitarist Steve Giles, and keyboardist Craig Harrison (no Luke or Erik) performing individually in close, low-lit monochrome, though the performances are sometimes layered over each other or included in inset windows. This is quite a good rendition of this classic carol if you like symphonic metal, and Rachel's voice is a nice fit as you'd expect, and with cool visuals to boot, so check it out for yourselves below!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post on the site next, guaranteed! Thanks everyone!