Here's another news post to check out on this Monday night, and while it mostly revolves around updates from half of the lineup of an upcoming metal show, we're leading off with a somewhat unique LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next month, so here's what you should know! (Updated on Wednesday)
Local party metal trio The Apocalypse Afterparty will open for another major rap concert at Soo Blaster on Sunday, April 27th when they support Guelph rapper Robbie G once again! Hip-hop fans may recall seeing The A.A. inject a dose of rock into the proceedings when they opened for Tech N9ne, Madchild, Afroman, and Robbie G in early 2020s headlining concerts at Soo Blaster, with this being their first such booking since opening for Robbie G back in December 2023. Good to see the Stanghettas and Mikhal back for another genre hybrid concert, and their guitar-devoid brand of original metal has sure turned heads and made fans across sonic lines at prior rap shows! Robbie G (a regular of Soo Blaster rap shows) will be joined by DJ Bizick on April 27th, while the other opening hip hop artists will be unspecified representatives of No Filter Records, Bold Noize (good to see him back out there, albeit likely sans his punk material), 1Don, Strangers, and Q-Bone.
For reference, Q-Bone is the handle being used by two-time The Soo's Got Talent finalist Demoy MacSamuels. Admission for this all ages concert is $20, though VIP packages also exist that will get you a meet & greet with Robbie G, included merchandise, and more depending on level, so click here to get your tickets in advance or get your in person at Soo Blaster. Rap fans will definitely want to circle April 27th on their calendar for some pre-election live music crossing genre lines, so visit the official Facebook event page and the above links for more details on this rap/rock hybrid show!
Next up, here's some updates relating to the local metal concert named The Pit at Soo Blaster on April 18th! One of the four local bands that night will be the debuting Maynard Hayes, so who are they? There are still some unanswered questions about them, but according to personal Facebook postings, they are the new local metal band from guitarist Damon King, who you may recognize from a smattering of mid-2010s gigs like Sault Band-O-Rama and the 2015 VM Radio Battle of the Bands with his prior group Infamous. Convergence drummer David Peredun will reportedly be drumming with Maynard Hayes next month, but I don't know who else is in this band, let alone if there's anyone involved named Maynard and/or Hayes. This new band does have an Instagram page, but not much is there yet, and time will tell if they launch something more substantive as social media goes. If nothing else, we'll learn more on Good Friday!
Speaking of local progressive metal trio Convergence, they have posted some new content on their Facebook page as they begin the lead-up to their own live concert debut at/in The Pit, to the extent of deleting most of their old postings, even. Signalling a new era for the band, I'll assume? Five teaser videos can be seen on their Facebook page from the past couple of weeks, though unfortunately, all are "Reels", so I can't embed any of them here, and all are vertical and short. Granted, they are teasers by design, but still. The first "Reel" sees the band reflecting that their live debut (which they are hinted as promoting) is jut over a month away, but there's still gear that they need for their concert sets that they didn't have at the time. The second "Reel" has guitarist Jake Valois talking to the camera while his bandmates work with producer Dustin Goodall in studio (still finishing "Gemini", or is this even newer studio material?)
As of that "Reel" (episode?) being posted, Convergence was still tracking drums, and planned to track lyrics with "Steve" (not Rhodes) while they also planned to fine tune how they would sound, be positioned, and perform on stage as a live unit. An ultimate goal from their recent work is to make an official electronic press kit (or EPK), so having some live performances in their back pocket will make that look better! The third "Reel" focuses on David tracking drums and showing off the kit that he's using for the recordings, and the fourth "Reel" is more of the same, but with more empahsis on the recording setup with explanations from Dustin about what the rig is like. The last "Reel" from earlier today features the band asorting out the planned live setlist and some of their recording equipment. Lots of behind the scenes details that local bands often don't share, so these are pretty neat to see!
It can be easy to take for granted the act of playing live concerts, but this will be Convergence's live debut, let along playing a much more technical and proficient brand of metal than members are known for in prior bands of theirs, so getting a window into their preparation for The Pit is fun to see! Granted, I'd far rather these videos were horizontal, embeddable externally, and longer, but you still learn a fair amount, and more should be in the pipeline. Visit the above links for more from Convergence, Maynard Hayes, and The Pit, and stay tuned for more on the site soon! Thanks everyone!
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