Before we begin today's post, just a late heads up that there will actually be one more band joining Bone Yard and Skinbox at the Dragonfly Run (nee the Ride For ARCH) at Jay's Piston Broke Pub TODAY, namely a new local rock band named Nicky & The Southpaws, featuring Soo Fighters/Bourbon Blue alum Jules Cote. This is via Jules' personal Facebook page, as organizers have only confirmed Bone Yard's involvement publically. No word on what Nicky & The Southpaws play, but look for them TODAY during all of the festivities! Now, here's two big SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS & details on a familiar radio show's cancellation!
I spoke too soon about Slumshine being the only SMS-amenable act to play at the Fringe North Festival, as online page-less indie/punk
cover quartet Bookclub will actually be the opening band on TODAY's program! Apologies for the short notice, I completely missed their inclusion on the program when doing the write-up on missing Slumshine's show there on Thursday (not helped by Bookclub not having known social media pages to plug gigs with, alas). TODAY's set will be the very first performance on the third day of Fringe North, with Bookclub playing on the outdoor stage outside of the Sault Ste. Marie Museum, and you can read some biographical information on the band (like how they formed and got their name) on page 35 of the official program. As you can see, Bookclub aren't really "opening" for anyone directly on the outdoor stage, with DJ Manskirt and drag performers The Haus of Gore playing under the tent well later.
The Inner City Surfers/Room 206 alum-laden Bookclub take the stage TODAY at 2:00 PM for this all ages set, which has a "pay what you can" model ($10 is suggested, $20 if you really want to support the band), and 9&10 News is calling for mostly cloudy conditions with a temperature of 24°. Hopefully things go well outside of the museum for Bookclub and Fringe North at large, and keep this one in mind if you want some afternoon punk and alternative covers! Apologies again for missing this one until now, and for a preview, here's Bookclub live!
Next up, Bookclub aren't done there for the weekend, as they and classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations
will join forces again for a block party on Queen Street
East, this time TOMORROW! Again, I apologize for the short notice,
confirmation of the bands only came this week, and not entirely from
organizers. This is not a Downtown Association-held street party like the one that Bookclub and Generations played last week, as it is being put on by Wood, Resin, and Lye,
a store on Queen Street East that sells handmade soap and artisinal
products. The block party is 1980s themed and will be held in the
Heritage Block, with Queen Street closed from Pim Street to East Street.
Dozens of local vendors, refreshments, games, a beer tent, and much more will be on hand
for the festivities, so for complete details on the non-musical aspects of the block party, visit Wood, Resin, and Lye's Facebook page to see what's in store TOMORROW!
Organizers only confirmed Bookclub by name as playing TOMORROW, where
they will be the headline act, but Generations confirmed their
involvement on their Facebook group, as well as that local pop rock quartet Lime will also be playing, though be advised that Lime have not
publically acknowledged their involvement in this event. Also no public word
yet on who will be on guitar for Generations here (key
word: public). Curiously, Wood, Resin, and Lye said that "last year’s finalists from the Soo’s Got Talent
competition" will be performing TOMORROW too, but they did not offer
individual names. In case you forgot, six singers made the finals of The
Soo's Got Talent last year, so click here for more on them in case that is true. It would be interesting to see them back on stage like this! Worth
noting that Lime frontwoman Madi Schomogyi was indeed a finalist in The
Soo's Got Talent in 2018, in case some promotional wires were crossed.
The block party is FREE and ALL AGES, with festivities taking place from 11:00 AM-6:00 PM, with Bookclub on last and Generations playing at 3:00 PM. 9&10 News is calling for partly cloudy weather with a high of 25°, so the weather will be optimal for most TOMORROW! I wish organizers were more detailed about the lineup, but this should be a fun time for the whole family, so see above for details on TOMORROW'S block party, and for a preview, here's Generations live!
Finally for today, this has no direct bearing on our local radio market anymore, but the nationally syndicated radio show Nights With Alice Cooper will end its run during the first full week of September, as per radio news websites like this.
The cancellation is due to syndicator United Stations "going in a
different direction" (I hate that excuse) after the company was sold to
new management, and Alice did not end the show on his own accord. Alice
was heard locally weeknights on Classic Rock: The Bear's
old Newberry, Michigan affiliate (WIHC, 97.9 FM) from the fall of 2008 until WIHC was
closed in February 2010, but remained on The Bear through early 2013, when you may have picked up their Cheboygan feed
locally on 97.7 WCHY. Nights With Alice Cooper returned to The Bear in
February 2019, by this point airing regionally on 95.3 WWSS out of
Tuscarora Township.
Nights With Alice Cooper only aired on truly
local radio for just over a year, but as one of the last vestiges of The
Bear's Newberry affiliate beyond station branding, the playlist, and
the recent return of The Bob & Tom Show, I wanted to acknowledge it
here. Alice's playlist skewed towards classic rock more than metal, but
you got to hear an eclectic variety within, plus his own songs, and lots
of great stories from his career, and hopefully he continues hosting a
radio show in some form elsewhere! If you can't pick up 95.3 FM over the air, you can hear Nights With Alice Cooper on The Bear's free online stream. That's all for today, but stay tuned for lots more news and notes on the site next week! Thanks everyone!
Let's kick off the last week of March with this month's YouTube Channel Profile, as we continue our monthly spotlights of YouTube channels with posted content at least 50% centered around SMS-covered local bands and concerts! This month's randomly selected channel has a wide assortment of videos from a major concert 3 years back, so here's what you need to know!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MissOutDoors' channel (http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNk4UcPHupyKKlpSa1-QgsQ)
Owner: YouTube user MissOutDoors (real identity unknown, but I believe she's from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario)
Channel Timeline:Launched on June 27th, 2014; Videos posted from that day through the following month
Channel Summary:MissOutDoors visibly created her channel solely to upload videos from Alice Cooper's headlining concert at The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino, which took place the same as day as it's inception. Of her 30 videos, 29 are from the Alice Cooper show, the sole exception (and last video) being of her entering the annual Spartan Race in Ottawa the following month, which has no connection to local music, but shows her endurance via the obstacle marathon.
Why You Should Watch:You should check out this channel if you love Alice Cooper and/or his most recent local concert appearance, especially as MissOutDoors filmed 46 minutes of this show, albeit scattered throughout 29 clips! It's extremely hard to do an Alice Cooper concert justice this way, but at least she got a lot of videos that were generally clear & well filmed! However, the fragmented nature of these uploads may turn off some viewers, with only one video exceeding 4 minutes in length, and nine running for under one minute, including two videos that only last 12 seconds. Also, while she did film most songs at this concert, a few notable songs did miss the cut, like "Under My Wheels" & "Poison", but click here & here or alternate footage from other attendees if you're curious.
Our Recommended Videos To Check Out
Alice Cooper Kewadin 2014 Video 1: Though partially uploaded out of order, a great place to start is the opening song from the shock rock legend's concert set, where he covered Judy Collins' "Hello Hooray", as previously seen on his "Billion Dollar Babies" album. The 78 second video captures Alice in full command of the stage, complete with dramatic introduction, and then-new guitarist Nita Strauss is in fine form as well! A late set-suite also included additional covers of The Doors (continued here), The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, and The Who, if you're so inclined.
Alice Cooper Kewadin 2014 Video 18: The longest single video filmed by MissOutDoors from this concert was of Alice Cooper performing his classic "The Ballad of Dwight Fry", fittingly featuring him performing in a straitjacket to represent the title inmate. Solid performance of what could be considered a ballad, but still eerily done, and complete with requisite theatrics at the end! To see what happened to Alice, check out the 12 second "Video 19" and "Video 20" (the latter of which segues into his song "Killer".)
Alice Cooper Kewadin 2014 Video 27: Even though this is the second portion of MissOutDoors' video of this song (see the first chunk in "Video 26"), her latter upload of Alice Cooper playing his classic song "I'm Eighteen" is by far her most popular on YouTube, attracting well over 2,000 views. This may partly be due to Nita Strauss' guitar solo in the clip, as praised in the comments, but it's a nicely filmed clip overall, even if it didn't need to be uploaded separately from #26! This was her final song filmed prior to the "School's Out" encore in Videos 28 & 29, skipping "Poison" in between.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! Next month in this series, we'll be taking a look at 2 channels, as the first randomly selected channel only had one video, but the second had two distinct types, so things are rounded out sufficiently. Our next channels in this series will be the channel under the name of Quiet Riot drummer Frankie Banali (with a single video hyping up THIS THURSDAY'S show at The Machine Shop), and Noochy Lanterns drummer Amanda Brown's channel (featuring videos of related band The Apocalypse Afterparty), so look for these on or around April 27th! That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news this week! Thanks everyone!
Due to the amount of backlogged news and notes, we have a second post today to fill in some of those gaps, but if you're awaiting new punk band showcases, we'll roll three or four more in tomorrow! Today, we have a big LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next month, new videos from across the river, and some recent assorted notes, including a possibly inactive band, so here's what you need to know, and check out some more new shows and videos in the post below this one!
Local concert promotion agency Heavy North Entertainment will end a 3 month hiatus when they host Vancouver technical death metal quintet Archspire at an all ages show at The Oddfellows Hall on Sunday, August 3rd! Previously teased on H.N.E.-linked pages, this show takes place in the middle of Archspire's "Tech Trek II: The Next Degeneration" tour, and if you love brutal progressive metal and complex song structures (plus some of the fastest growling vocals you'll hear live), you won't want to miss Archspire's live set next month! Three local opening bands are signed for this concert, ironically all fresh off of their Touch of Death Festival appearances in Cochrane, and they include local death metal quartet The Bear Hunters, sludge/doom metal trio AlgomA, and local goregrind solo act Crucify The Whore, and all are great fits for this show, so don't be late for their sets, and C.T.W. might have copies of their new demo too! There will be a $10 door charge on August 3rd (no word on if advance tickets will be sold), this is an ALL AGES event, and start times are not yet announced. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page!
I'll also note that H.N.E. founder Tyler St. Amour revealed on their Facebook page on Saturday that this show "could be Heavy North's last & heaviest", which leaves open the possibility that he may stop promoting concerts after this one. Hopefully he doesn't, as he's put on some brutal and fun concerts since last fall, and the Archspire show should add to that catalog, so just in case, don't take this show for granted, and don't miss out on all of the metal action in 4 weeks!
Also today, I'd meant to share a new Theatre of Night video, but curiously, it (and everything else on their YouTube channel) was recently deleted for unknown reasons. That's a shame, hopefully something big's coming there though! Instead, we have a new guitar performance video from former Insipid Brutality/Swayze Train guitarist Scott Savoie's YouTube channel, marking his first upload there since 2012! This is Scott's submission for The Mayones/Seymour Duncan Worldwide Solo Contest, where the best guitar solo will earn the guitarist a new Regius 7 Custom guitar with Seymour Duncan pickups, and he shreds a pretty nice solo here that should get some consideration in the contest! Judge for yourself below, and hopefully we hear more from Scott soon!
Finally for today, here's three shorter recent news
stories from the last little while, and as usual, these are in
alphabetical order by artist name:
I've moved Sault Michigan hard rock cover quartet Dirtbag In A Dress to our inactive band links (under their more used older name Bucksaw) due to a year's inactivity. Unless we hear otherwise, we're treating LemmaFest 2014 performers Mr. Fister as a separate band due to the name change and 50% different lineup (Ryan Franklin & Mikey Bishop weren't in the latter band.) If they're the same, we'll add them back, but even still, I have not found a Mr. Fister online page yet. Hopefully we'll see the guys before next year's LemmaFest in any form!
Apparently, the all ages metal show at The Moose Lodge on May 13th (featuring what's now The Revolution, This Is Your Band On Drugs, and Rotopsy) also featured an additional late notice act, as local keyboardist/street performer Damjan "Spider Fingerz"
Binda played a set that night as well. Interesting addition, though
Damjan is quite talented and unique, so hopefully everything went well!
My source for this info is Revolution drummer Brandan Glew in a personal
conversation.
Since May 10th, you may have noticed photos of the stage setup for three events we didn't cover on here on local hard rock trio Stiffler's Mom's Facebook page, including at the round barn in Sowerby, a nurse's conference at a local hall, and the Sault Accessible Sports Incorporation's "A Night To Remember" fundraiser at The Bushplane Museum last month. The first two appear to have been private events, but the S.A.S.I. fundraiser was publically attendable, and it slipped us by completely when originally announced. Our sincere apologies for missing it, hopefully it was a great event!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for our second local punk band introductory post tomorrow! Thanks everyone!
In what could be our last news post of the month (though this month's CD review is still coming by tomorrow), we're 100% focused on Sault Michigan this morning, as new videos from two recent major events are now online, with one clarifying a new (or renamed) band's sound, if only for one song, so here's what you need to know! (Updated at 10:09 AM)
We'll start with the first new YouTube videos from Friday night's Alice Cooper concert at The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino, as there's a lot more now online than you might realize! "MissOutDoors" was the first known YouTube user with videos from the show, and believe it or not, she uploaded 29 videos from the concert onto her channel on Saturday! However, I will note that of them, only 8 are longer than 2 minutes (and only three run for over 3 minutes), while another 8 videos are all under 1 minute, including two running for just 12 seconds. Despite the amount of incomplete & abbreviated videos, many do capture readily recognizable songs, such as "Feed My Frankenstein", "Welcome To My Nightmare", "Dirty Diamonds", and this surprising cover of Pink Floyd's "Another Brick In The Wall", but be sure to check the above links to see all 29! MissOutDoors had a good central angle to capture everything, plus the on-stage theatrics that have became such a trademark of his sets, but it'd defeat the purpose to spoil them here!
Audio-wise, the songs do sound muffled and they may be hard to make out on the shorter clips, but these are solid videos otherwise, if chopped up a ton beforehand. Alice and company sound on form from other recent gigs, he's held up well! Embedded below is the longest of MissOutDoors' videos (of a straitjacketed Alice singing "The Ballad of Dwight Fry"), but be sure to check out the other 28 above!
The other currently known YouTube videos of the show come courtesy of the YouTube channel of user nottheonlyboy, who has shot concert footage at other E.U.P. events, but as far as I can tell, never in the Soo until yesterday. His videos include "Hey Stoopid", "Poison", "Feed My Frankenstein" and, as embedded below, Alice singing his classics "Hello Hooray" & "House of Fire", though note that his footage of "Hello Hooray" is incomplete. Filmed at a similar angle to MissOutDoors' videos (if more to the left), the audio quality on nottheonlyboy's videos is much clearer and louder, and he got some nice zoomed in shots of the band in action, so Alice Cooper fans should really like these videos! Check them out above & below!
We'll close today with new videos from the fourth annual LemmaFest outside of the Dondee last week, including 26 minutes worth of local alternative/hard rock trio Plastic's set that day! Shot by local filmmaker Wayne Kozeyah and uploaded to frontman Zac Crook's YouTube channel yesterday, this is all of a very nice quality on a largely stationary camera near the stage, but does the music match up? Edited into highlights with dead air between songs clipped out, the songs include covers of The White Stripes' "Ball & Biscuit", Stevie Wonder's "Boogie On Reggae Woman", and Tom Jones' "It's Not Unusual", followed by their originals "Be My Angel" & "Butt Touchers" (I think?), and covers of The Misfits' "Return of the Fly" and the previously filmed cover of Thin Lizzy's "Cowboy Song", so click each link to go to the individual songs! Eclectic cover choices, but the guys effectively grunged them up like they did last year, and the excellent video quality doesn't hirt at all, despite some heads occasionally getting in the way! Awesome video, and a good sign for the future, so check it out below!
Finally, we have a video glimpse of the (sort of) new band named Mr. Fister that played at LemmaFest, so what do we now know? They definitely are either successors to or a renamed version of Dirtbag In A Dress (formerly Bucksaw), who were one of only two bands to play at the first three LemmaFests, and their lineup does indeed feature Blind Baby guitarist Bill Ogston, Scofflaw bassist Barney Gravelle, and Chump Change drummer Jason VanLuven (returning to replace Mikey Bishop.) Jason also appears to have taken over lead vocals from the departed Ryan Franklin, as seen in the video below, while Ryan wasn't replaced on rhythm guitar either. I have yet to see either a new page or an update to the old D.I.A.D. page to reflect Mr. Fister (including on if this was a one-off performance or not), but the aforementioned Wayne Kozeyah filmed the guys covering Black Sabbath's "Fairies Wear Boots", which he posted on his YouTube channel on Thursday, so how's this clip turn out?
Well shot from two different cameras (one overhead), the band sounds good on this cover, and while Jason's vocals take some adjusting to, they end up fitting well! I will nitpick about the overhead camera though, as it accentuates the lack of fans up front during this song, but other than that, this is a very solid rendition with nice guitar work, and it's nice to see the guys keeping some ties to all four LemmaFests via their participation last weekend! Check out Mr. Fister below, and I wonder if Wayne got any more videos, perhaps of Nightmare Grin?
That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news this week, plus our review of Mike Haggith's newest EP by tomorrow! Thanks everyone!
For our second weekend concert preview post today, we're covering a major concert going down tomorrow in the Soo, plus a popular cover band's return north in St. Ignace this weekend! We also have new videos from two very different acts to round things out, so read on below for what you need to know, and get your Sault Ontario weekend concert preview fix (plus a new concert video) in the post below this one!
The legendary Alice Cooper will play his sixth Sault Ste. Marie-area concert TOMORROW NIGHT when he headlines at The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino! The Detroit shock rock icon was last seen locally at the same venue in August 2007, which followed two Kewadin gigs in August 1998 and one more in 2001, along with his Sault Memorial Gardens show in 1990, so Alice and company are definitely no stranger to the Soo! The second to last gig on his current Raise The Dead tour before he heads out with Motley Crue, Alice will surely have a lot of memorable songs like "Under My Wheels", "Poison", and "I'm Eighteen" in store for fans, as well as his iconic and highly elaborate stage show that has to be seen to be full appreciated, so don't miss out on all of this classic hard rock action tomorrow night! For reference, this will be among Alice's first live dates with new guitarist Nina Strauss, though aside from bassist Chuck Garric, his backing band is entirely different from his last local date in 2007, so take note of that just in case.
A few dozen tickets are still available for tomorrow's show, and while the center seating is sold out, some side section seats are still available from the fourth row and back. Tickets are $68.50 a seat or $58.50 for general admission, and you can pick them up at this link, at the in-person box office, or at 1-800-KEWADIN. This is an ALL AGES show, there's no announced opening band, and everything starts tomorrow at 7:00 PM. Check the above links for more details! Alice Cooper is well worth the money for his awesome stage show and classic repertoire of original songs, so if you missed his last 5 local dates, do not miss TOMORROW'S show! For a preview, here he is live last summer in Germany!
Finally for our announced weekend concert previews, Cheboygan classic/hard rock trio Driven will return to The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Last seen at this venue (or in our area in general) 9months ago, this weekend's shows will also end a short 2 month break that the guys have been on since April, so it'll be nice to see their hard rock cover attack back on stage this weekend! Notably, these shows coincide with St. Ignace's 39th annual car show weekend, and Driven are likely anticipating a great turnout to go along with it, so keep that angle in mind as well! Also note that Driven's Facebook page teases a St. Ignace gig on August 9th, but it's part of a "party", and won't be at the casino, so unless we hear otherwise, it's probably a private event. Admission should be free for this weekend's 21+ shows, and everything should start at 9:00 PM. Check the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's a rare concert video of Driven from last month of them covering Metallica's "Enter Sandman"! Short, and an odd choice for fans to dance to, but great to finally see!
We'll close today with new videos, including another new clip from Sault Michigan hard rock cover trio Power Slug! Fresh off of a weekend road trip for shows in Manistique, the guys posted this new video of last week of their cover of Eric Clapton's "Cocaine" at The Savoy Bar & Nightclub in the Soo, presumably at their show there a couple of weeks back. While the filmer was quite far from the stage again, the angle is more central, so the quality's a bit better than on their Midnight Oil cover (also, is drummer Bob Helsten singing here? Solid job either way!) Check out Power Slug's new video below, and stay tuned for more from their camp!
Finally, here's a new cover video from the Lupine Festival in Brimley a few weeks back that I thought would fit on here! The largely acoustic festival played host to the local hard rock trio Train Wreck, but their frontman Erik Rintamaki filmed numerous other performers for his YouTube channel, uploading the videos last week. Mostly, the videos don't fit on the SMS (some could argue for this Black Crowes cover though), but embedded below is a cover of what is sometimes considered the first metal song, Steppenwolf's "Born To Be Wild". This was done by singer/guitarist Stephanie Sabatine (who recently sang with the acoustic band Aftermath) and two other unidentified musicians, and while this is a very different form to hear this song, Stephanie & company effectively soften it for this setting, so give it a look below!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile on Gatgas tomorrow! Thanks everyone!
We're still in our current upswing of Sault Michigan-centric news and notes, so this post includes a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for July in the E.U.P., related new video finds, and some more assorted notes, but we do have a Sault Ontario concert preview as well! With that said, here's what you need to know on this Sunday morning!
New local hard rock quartet The Bottom Line will play their second announced concert set on Sunday, July 20th when they'll be among the performers at the annual Music & Art Dockside festival in nearby Hessel, Michigan that day! My source is the band's Facebook page on May 5th, as organizers have not announced a performer lineup yet that I know of. Though The Bottom Line didn't detail the festival when they announced their involvement, the Music & Art Dockside festival will be held at the Hessel Marina grounds & gazebo, and if past years are any indication, there will be live music, arts & crafts, and regional shopping and merchants to take in at this annual event, which hasn't previously been a spot for heavier local bands. Times for the festival will likely be from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM, this is an all ages event, and there's no announced admission costs. For more details, check the above links and the event page for last year's festival, and stay tuned in case we get confirmation of other performers!
We'll get back to more from The Bottom Line in a second, but first, here's a new Sault Ontario topic (I haven't forgotten this side of the border!), as local alternative hard rock trio The Pixo Control will play a special Monday night show TOMORROW when they make their way down to Cafe Natura! A healthy foods cafe and natural medicine store at 75 Elgin Street that largely attracts acoustic and folk performers, Cafe Natura has found success with it's target audiences since opening, so keep it in mind for this special show! Also, The Pixo Control teased a guest performer for this show on their Facebook page yesterday, possibly cellist Emma N-K (heard here), so keep an eye out! They will be the local openers for Halifax folk/alternative musician Jon McKiel (who The Pixo Control have covered live) and Nova Scotia indie/experimental duo Construction & Destruction, both of whom have a talented sound in their genres, so be sure to check both out via the above links!
The first Cafe Natura show we've fully covered on here, this ALL AGES event has an 8:00 PM start time and $10 cover charge, so visit the official Facebook event page for full details! It'll be interesting to hear how this show does, but folk and indie fans would be best served to come for Jon McKiel's unique originals alone, and the openers (Pixo Control included) should set the tone well also! Keep it in mind for tomorrow night, and here's The Pixo Control live at The Oddfellows Hall!
Next up, here's one last note relating to The Bottom Line, as guitarist Joe Jenkins has a YouTube channel featuring solo guitar performances of his in the past couple of months! These mostly are of jamming and riff ideas, though two videos are of titled songs ("That Wicked Side" and "Pitch Black", which is embedded below), and it's unclear yet whether these are/will become Bottom Line originals. A mixture of harder riffs and softer compositions are on Joe's channel, but the heavier ones sound like good candidates for band expansion, and while guitar solos aren't a high presence, Joe has clear ability and can definitely produce some heavy material, so check out "Pitch Black" below, and click here for more!
Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news stories from the last little while, and fitting our recent topic trends, all relate to bands or events outside of Canada! As usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist or station name:
Sault Ontario goregrind label Blood Shed Productions have surprisingly announced the addition of a British one man goregrind project named Peppermint Green to their artist roster, making them obviously the first non-regional band with the Blood Shed. Their first song together can be streamed at this link, and label loyalists and grind fans will enjoy it, so give it a look if you want, and we'll see how the Blood Shed continues to spread in the coming months!
Rock 101 DJ Scott Cook announced on their Facebook page yesterday that he'll be interviewing shock rock legend Alice Cooper on the air at around 9:30 AM tomorrow morning during "Scott & Brian in the Morning", obviously in advance of Alice's Kewadin Casino show on June 27th. Awesome news, so be sure to listen in if you can at 101.3 FM, as Alice is a legend who's been very good for local appearances! Tickets are still available!
Courtesy of his upcoming solo album "This End Up!", Dafter solo artist Ken "SweetKenny" Sutton has posted a new track named "Rain" onto his Reverbnation page to stream, so give it a listen via the provided link! I won't give thoughts about it yet due to a likely review of the album this summer, but fans won't be disappointed!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and such this week! Thanks everyone!
In our last news post of the month (with our Shit Liver album review coming tonight), we have a huge LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, first news on an upcoming annual concert festival, and lots of other notes, so check everything out below, especially if you're a Yooper!
Detroit shock rock legend Alice Cooper will make his long awaited return to our area on Friday, June 27th when he rocks The Dreammakers Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino! No stranger to the Twin Saults, you may remember Alice and his solo band from two Kewadin dates in August 1998, followed by returns in October 2001 & August 2007 (plus his New Years Day show at the former Sault Memorial Gardens in 1990), and it will be awesome to have his wild stage show back for the first time in almost 7 years! This show is part of his 2014 Raise The Dead tour, and for reference sake, his band's lineup is almost entirely different from 2007 save for himself & bassist Chuck Garric. Get ready for Alice's hit songs like "Under My Wheels", "Poison", and likely cuts from his upcoming covers album on June 27th, with tickets going on sale THIS FRIDAY at 10:00 AM! They will cost $58.50 or $68.50, and you can buy them then at this link, at the in-person box office, or at 1-800-KEWADIN. For more details, visit the above and links and this press release via SooToday!
Alice Cooper's a legend and has entertained and shocked with his intense and highly theatrical live concerts for decades, and hopefully fans get more of the same in his return north in June, so stay tuned for updates as they roll in, and GET YOUR TICKETS A.S.A.P.!!
Next up, we have the first official details on this year's fourth annual LemmaFest, so what should you know? As revealed on it's Facebook event page, the Michael Lemma tribute concert event will return to it's home outside of the Dondee Lanes once again, and it will take place this year on Saturday, June 21st (which is close to past years on the calendar, but not on the fourth Saturday of the month for the first time.) Similarly to past years, there will be a pig roast (with "all the extras"), door prizes, drink specials, a 50/50 draw, and commemorative t-shirts and mugs, while all proceeds will be going to the family of "Hot Tub" Johnny Hackworth, though I'm yet unsure of the cause. The band lineup will be announced in the next few weeks, but according to an event page post, former Integrated System of Machines drummer Bart Rennels will be coming back home to play at 8:30 PM with a band he formed for this event named Nightmare Grin, though we await confirmation of their full lineup and sound.
As well, local alternative hard rockers Plastic are hoping to play this year pending the addition of a new drummer to replace the departed Paul Burns, so if you know anyone who'd like to try out, message the band at this link! Any other lineup notes are just speculative at this point, but for reference, the only bands to play each of the last 3 LemmaFests were Scofflaw and Dirtbag In A Dress (formerly Bucksaw.) Admission will be $10 this year, so stay tuned for updates on the bands and more, and hopefully this year's LemmaFest is the best yet!
Finally for this post, here's six assorted shorter news items from the last while (including some from Sault Ontario), and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist or event name:
A free & all ages live music showcase named The Coffee House Concert will take place at Superior Heights Collegiate & Vocational School's front foyer at 7:00 PM tomorrow, which will feature grade 11 & 12 students in their guitar class. Though not classified by genre, a few students with metal & hard rock ties will be among the performers, including Brutaly Fatal drummer Tyler St. Amour and Ashes To Dust alumni David Peredun & Kyle Breckenridge, so keep this event in mind!
Local concert promoter J.D. Pearce has indicated on his promotional Facebook group that he has upcoming local dates to be announced for both The Ripcordz and The Dayglo Abortions, who you may remember from major & well received local dates last year. Stay tuned for official announcements when they occur for both bands!
Speaking of his concerts, local thrashers Pillory were recently removed from the lineup of the Havok/Anciients show at The Canadian on June 24th. A reason hasn't been announced, though Pillory have dropped out of a number of recent and upcoming shows following recent inactivity and their bassist departure, so this may be related. Hopefully things are alright in their camp, but if you're interested in replacing them at the Havok show, message J.D. at this link!
After a quiet start to the year, local hard rock cover trio Power Slug will return to the stage for the first time in 5 months when they rock The Team Spirits Bar at the Manistique Kewadin Casinothis Saturday! Nice to see the guys back at it, so if you're up for the drive west, go chug your mug with them this weekend! (For reference, they have scattered dates there after this, but none yet at the regional Kewadin branches.)
I've added Brimley, Michigan recording studio Scholomance Studio to our Other Sault Michigan Metal Links! Owned by local metal musician and Werehold Records founder Jason Mills, this is (I think) a newer studio that is being used by Werehold artists. I'll assume we'll hear work from there on June 13th for Werehold's next Friday the 13th event, so keep an eye out for that!
The long teased Earache Records reissue of Woods of Ypres' second album "Pursuit of the Sun & Allure of the Earth" is now available to pre-order! Copies will soon be available on CD and on limited edition coloured vinyl records (along with bundle deals involving shirts), with the official re-release coming on June 23rd. Awesome news, so click here for complete pre-order package details!
That's all for now, but stay tuned tonight for our review of Shit Liver's debut album! Thanks everyone!
Hey guys, hope the week is going alright for you! I have some more assorted news to share today, and before anyone asks, weekend concert previews are coming TONIGHT! But for now, I have the latest Woods of Ypres updates, a new concert video from a major local concert (not the one you're likely expecting though), and more, but first, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!! (EDITED 11:28 AM)
It's official: The Total Chaos concert scheduled for November 25th is a go, with a confirmed venue and everything! This long awaited show will indeed be taking place at The Oddfellows Hall, in a (sadly) rare concert there! This was confirmed on the Facebook event page and in an e-mail sent by promoter Aisha Day to attendees on Facebook yesterday. A run time of 7:00 PM-11:00 PM is listed, with no announced ticket prices or cover charges yet. Aisha stressed in the e-mail that she doesn't want people at the concert to be openly drinking or starting a scene at the show as a result, lest the cops show up. So if you're there and are drinking/drunk, be sneaky about it! And before you guys say that this isn't a metal show, remember who's opening! Local horror punk/metal quartet Frightlight and debuting grimecore band Shit Liver are still scheduled to open, along with Toronto-based classical punk outfit RedD Monkey, featuring ex-Gates of Winter drummer Kevin Overton! Note that the previously announced Bring The Fallen are now no longer playing at this show, likely because of their current lead guitarist search (more in a second.) More details are forthcoming, so be on the lookout!
Also, I recieved an e-mail yesterday from former Bring The Fallen guitarist Andrew Chiarello, where he explained why he left the band. Basically, he left to pursue other musical interests, namely in a more "rock based" band, though he is also working on an instrumental project with former BTF bandmate Dan Souliere as well. Nice to clear that up, best of luck to Andrew in whatever's in store next! And of course, Bring The Fallen are still searching for a new lead guitarist, so click here for more details!
Next up, here's the latest from Woods of Ypres, who have NOT broken up, just in case you missed the word! Their new record label, Earache Records, has released a full official press statement to hype the signing, and you can read it at this location! It's largely made up of stuff we've already read from frontman David Gold where he explained why the band made up the whole "band break-up" story and their excitement to work with Earache, but there are a couple of new notes! There's some nice comments and sound descriptions from the label, and at the end, it was announced that Earache Records will release "Woods V: You Were The Night" and reissues of their entire back catalog next year! I wonder if this puts to rest David's original claims of only releasing "Woods V" on vinyl and iTunes? It's also great to see Earache reissuing their older albums, but I wonder if they'll do just Woods I-IV or include everything, including "Independent Nature" and the "Allure Of The Earth" vinyl? Time will tell, I suppose!
Check the above links for more on this huge news from Woods of Ypres, as well as no less than TWO articles on the signing from Blabbermouth, which is (for my money) the best metal news site on the internet! Click here and here to check them out, and note that these are the first Blabbermouth articles with Woods of Ypres as a title subject in almost two years, since their December 2008 article announcing their performance at the Adrian Bromley Tribute show in Toronto! Good stuff, I'll keep you all posted!
Thirdly tonight is a brand new video clip from a major Sault Michigan concert, and no, it's not from the Sevendust show. Stuff from that is bound to show up on YouTube sooner or later! This is a 68 second video of Alice Cooper's most recent concert at The Dreammaker's Theater at Kewadin Casino, from August 18th, 2007 (Thanks to Duane Roy for letting me know which show this was from!) It was uploaded by YouTube user Duguay1711 on Tuesday, who oddly has mostly Detroit-area rap concert videos on their channel, so this is a clear outlier of a video. I'm admittedly not well knowledged in Alice Cooper songs, so I don't know which song is playing during the clip, but it's the portion of one of his more famous stage theatrics, where he's led to the gallows and hung! Nice quality too, but it is short. Check it out below, especially as videos from Alice Cooper's local shows are hard to come by online.
And finally, here's three quick smaller news stories in order by band name:
Sault Ontario hard rockers Browbeat have launched a brand new Facebook page, replacing their now closed Facebook group! It currently has photos, basic band information, and a forum topic where you can discuss their best song, with more likely to come! Check the above links to become a fan!
If you hadn't heard, Lion Ride's return to the stage last week at The Bovine Sex Club in Toronto was a successful one, as they made the Toronto Indie Week Semifinals at The Hard Luck Bar on Saturday! I don't believe they made it past that round, but congratulations regardless!
Local experimental grunge trio SBD have released a new original song onto their Soundclick page! Named "HUAW!!! I'm The Best", it's short and very hard to define, it seems to meld a couple of genres together while still rocking! Not a bad song, it keeps their experimental style well, and hopefully they have more to come! Check it out!
That's all for now, but stay tuned TONIGHT for previews of this weekend's concerts, including everything you should know about the Zombie Walk and it's attached afterparty! Thanks everyone! Lion Ride Semifinals New Browbeat Page (group closed) SBD - Huaw!
Well guys, it's news day again at The Sault Metal Scene, and can you believe this is already our 15th post in July? We're on pace for our busiest month ever if this keeps up! Today, we have a bunch of LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, the full band schedule for the Kewadin Festival, a new video from a major concert, and more, so here's what you need to know!
For the first time, local rock cover band Turner Up have announced a full listing of their upcoming concerts, rather than their past trend of usually announcing just the next ones a week before! Guitarist Robert Brown has posted a topic on the band's Facebook page listing upcoming concerts for the band running through December, so we likely won't have any short notice issues to deal with anymore this year! Curiously, the band are only booked at two venues through the year according to the listed dates, when there are venues they've played more than once since their inception that aren't mentioned. Turner Up will be playing at The Nicolet Tavern for shows on July 16th & 17th (THIS WEEKEND), August 6th & 7th, September 3rd & 4th, October 8th & 9th, November 12th & 13th, December 3rd & 4th, and December 31st! The band also have some sprinkled dates at The Vibe Lounge, where they'll perform on July 30th, August 27th & 28th, September 17th, and October 29th & 30th! So if you wanna hear some classic hard rock covers, you'll wanna be at some of these concerts! Also make note especially of this weekend's shows, which will mark the live debut of Turner Up's new singer, Brent Royer! An event page for them can be found at this location, and ignore the fact that it only lists a Friday show, they're definitely playing Saturday too! All of the above shows will likely have start times of 10:00 to 10:30 PM with no announced cover charge and a 19+ age limit. I'll keep you guys posted!
Now, onto the latest updates from NEXT WEEKEND'S Kewadin Casino 25th Anniversary Summer Festival! The full band schedule has just been announced on the festival's official blog, click here to check it out! There's some new bands added and a few removals, as well as two notable day changes, so here's what you should know for the schedule! Local metal band Nixxon Dixxon will be on-stage at 5:00 PM on Thursday, July 22nd for a 45 minute set, with local acoustic band Electric Motor Fish (featuring Shift drummer Tony Rogers) performing at 6:00 PM. Motley Crue frontman Vince Neil will be on stage from 7:15-8:30 PM, with Poison frontman Bret Michaels closing from 9:00-10:30 PM. Grand Rapids pop punk band Dannison open the second night of the festival (Friday, July 23rd) at 5:00 PM, and they're followed by the newest announced band: Fifth Way! Yes, the Detroit hard rock band that recently opened for Tesla at Kewadin Casino will be back here at 6:00 PM next Friday at the festival! They will be followed by Essexville, Michigan indie rockers Finding Clyde at 7:00 PM, and Boston rockers StilrizE at 8:00 PM. Three Doors Down headline that night from 9:00 PM-10:30 PM.
Saturday, July 24th's band schedule opens with another newly added performer, International Idol winner Kellan Perron, performing at 5:00 PM for just a half hour, followed by Lansing classic rockers Showdown at 5:45 PM for the normal opening time of 45 minutes. Local band Elipzis (Can anyone give me information on them?) will be on at 6:45 PM, with local funk hard rockers Clownsack performing at 7:45 PM for a full hour. Meat Loaf will close from 9:15 to 10:45 PM that night to cap off the festival! So there's the schedule, and it's nice to see a little metal on each day of the festival! Now if you've noticed some changes and omissions to previously announced bands, here's what I can confirm. Because Fifth Way and Kellan Perron were added to the lineup, there were two acts that dropped off, which I can confirm were local country singer Paul Perry and the "Rock Camp" youth group. No reason was given as to why they're off. For what it's worth, I found a YouTube video of a 2010 Rock Camp band named Aux, and though I don't know if they're the same band that were scheduled, click here to check them out! Also, two bands have had the day of their set changed, with Clownsack moved from the Thursday to the Saturday, and Electric Motor Fish being pushed back to the Thursday from their original slot on the Friday. No other previously confirmed bands have been moved.
Looks good all around, it should be one hell of a festival, though it seems like each day has that one band that really contrasts the styles of the other bands. I'd switch Clownsack with Electric Motor Fish and Finding Clyde with Elipzis to fix that. Then, the different genres and sounds would be clumped better to attract more of those genre's fans! That's just me though. I'll keep you posted with festival updates, and remember, tickets are still on sale!!!
Next up, we have an apparent concert cancellation. Remember the planned hardcore show at The Oddfellows Hall on July 30th featuring Breaking The Fourth Wall and Fall City Fall? Well, it looks like it's cancelled. The bands both still list the concert on their MySpace pages, but the event page for it has been deleted from Facebook, and I know from experience that if the promoter deletes their own show's event page, then that can't be a good sign. When doing some research, I found no mention of the show at all on the promoters' Facebook pages from the last two weeks either. Now for all I know, the show could be alive and well, but I'm not comfortable enough to say that, so at least for now, I've deleted this concert from the listings on the SMS. I will of course let you guys know if it is still on, but for now though, it doesn't look terribly promising. Shame if it is cancelled, cause both bands are talented and would have been a moshing good time!
Finally for today is a video that is actually the first clip I've seen on YouTube from any of this act's local concerts! You know how Alice Cooper's played the Sault area numerous times, right? Well, until the other day, I had never seen a video from any of his shows here, be they at Sault Memorial Gardens or Kewadin Casino. That ends now, as a video has been uploaded featuring a montage of clips from his most recent concert here, at The Dreammaker's Theater on August 18, 2007! The quality is patchy, it's clearer at certain points than at others, the audio is muddled, and the first 14 seconds of the video are SIDEWAYS, but you know something? Alice Cooper videos are rare as far as local concerts go, so this is way better than nothing! The video features clips of Alice singing "Only Women Bleed", "Feed My Frankenstein", "Be My Lover", "Public Animal #9", "Muscle of Love", and many more, check it out below! Thanks to YouTube user PTStudios for the upload!
That's all for today, stay tuned for more news in the next couple of days, along with the final installment of the GarageBand Profile Mini-Series on Thursday, where we take a look at Gates of Winter! Also, our current SMS poll closes Sunday, stay tuned then for results and a new poll! Lots of stuff coming up on the SMS, keep an eye out!
First off, before we get to scheduled news and updates, I'm sure some of you are aware of a "secret show" that took place at Coch's Corner last night. I know who played and some general details, but will not divulge anything until public stuff about it comes out. Let's just say that punk fans and metalheads will definitely be interested, and if you were in attendance, you are EXTREMELY lucky! I couldn't make it, I couldn't secure a ride back from Coch's last night so I sadly wasn't able to go, and I'm kicking myself over it. When updates and information from this secret concert become public, I'll have them here!
Now, it's time to preview this weekend's slate of scheduled known metal concerts, including a returning Michigan band and a major tribute act! Stay tuned after for news on a Woods of Ypres lineup change (plus another hint to their future), and two possibilities of bands coming here!
The streak of rock tribute bands at The Canadian Nightclub continues tomorrow night as Second Coming: The Tribute To Alice Cooper make their way to Sault Ontario! The Toronto based-band will deliver a very authentic Alice Cooper stage show to The Canadian tomorrow night, which I guarantee will impress! Frontman Robby Cooper looks and sounds the part, the band cover Alice Cooper songs extremely well, and they have a great stage set-up featuring stunts and theatrics that will instantly remind you of the shock rock legend's own concerts! Click here to check them out! In terms of the sheer spectacle of it all, this could be the best of The Canadian's 2010 summer tribute band performances, but you won't know unless you go, will you? The show is at 10:00 PM tomorrow night with an $8 cover charge, which will completely be worth it for the music and theatrics you're going to get! You must be 19 to get in, because this is still a bar. To confirm your attendance, visit the Facebook event page!
Alice Cooper fans, wherever in town you are, you'll wanna be here for Second Coming! This is definitely the next best thing to seeing the real Alice until he comes back, and for just $8 for a complete stage show (and requests too), what have you got to lose? For a video preview, here's a clip of Second Coming performing at The Kathedral in Toronto in February 2009!
Meanwhile in Sault Michigan, Peril are back in town for a pair of concerts! The Northern Michigan hard rock trio return to The Rapids Lounge at Kewadin Casino for two shows this weekend, naturally taking place tomorrow night and Saturday night! This will be their first weekend stop in Sault Michigan in three months. Their MySpace page lists a 9:00 PM start time, there is no cover charge, and you must be 21 to enter. It's always a treat to see Peril back in Sault Michigan, they have a great classic metal sound that goes well any time of the year, and you'll have a good time with their original songs and covers this weekend! For more from Peril, including band information, photos, songs, and more, click here! For a video preview, here's Peril covering the Ozzy Osbourne classic "Crazy Train" from a show in January!
Now that this weekend's concerts are previewed, we will now move on to news, and starting things off is a major lineup change in a local band. Woods of Ypres have parted ways with lead guitarist Bryan Belleau. The band haven't released an official statement as to why, but his replacement can be confirmed in new band photos and press materials. Replacing him on guitar is Joel Violette (first on the left), who is one half of the Fredericton, New Brunswick black metal duo Thrawsunblat, which also features Woods frontman David Gold on drums! Shane and Evan Madden remain in Woods of Ypres on bass and drums respectively. Bryan initially joined Woods of Ypres in 2008 when the entire lineup of Gates of Winter became members, and was the last original Gates member remaining. He recorded just one album with Woods of Ypres, last year's "Woods IV: The Green Album", which was the first to include guitar solos. I still say that Bryan helped make the best guitar work ever on a Woods album, even if it was low in the mix. It's definitely a shame to see Bryan out of Woods, but hopefully he's got some more good stuff with Gates of Winter coming up in the near future! Photos of the new Woods of Ypres lineup can be viewed at this location! And don't worry about the musical quality with the new guitarist, Joel has some great skills, his Thrawsunblat work is proof!
As for the ongoing questions as to why David Gold is ending Woods of Ypres merchandise and album sales, and why he's hinted so often as to leaving for somewhere, here's another lead. On August 25th in Toronto, "David Gold's final night in Canada" will be celebrated at a pub/restaurant named C'est What. An event page for what David hopes will be both a parting and a party can be found at this location. So it looks like David's moving out of country, but questions still remain. Where is he going? Why is he leaving? What does this mean for Woods of Ypres? Time will tell, I suppose, but I will say that David's doing a good job of keeping us guessing!
Capping today's update are two bands that COULD play here, one if there's demand, and one if there's a booking at all. Firstly, here's a potential show that could do some huge business! Sault Michigan concert promoters Allstar Promotions (the ones responsible for most of the "newer" hard rock shows at Kewadin) alerted fans of theirs on their Facebook page that they have an opportunity to bring Los Angeles hard rockers Buckcherry to Kewadin Casino in August! Best known for songs like "Lit Up", "Crazy Bitch", and "Sorry", they'd definitely put on a good hard rocking show, but there are risks involved to getting them there. The promoters fear that with it being so close to the Hinder show in September, it might not do as well as they'd anticipate. Buckcherry would have three to-be-announced support acts along with them. So, SMS fans, would you want to see Buckcherry at The Dreammakers Theater in August? If you do, voice your opinions at Allstar Promotions Facebook page! The more demand, the more likely they'll try and put it on, right? If I hear updates on this front, I'll have them here!
Finally, here's another band that's hoping to play in Sault Ontario in 2010! I was e-mailed yesterday by Dan Angus, the guitarist for Barrie hardcore band TakeThisDarrel, and he's looking to get the band a booking in Sault Ontario this year! They don't have a date in mind, they're just playing a mini-tour lasting no more than two weeks this summer, and are hoping for input from local promoters to find a suitable available date that they could play on. And you know me, I wanna help get as many metal shows here as possible, so I'm telling you concert promoters and venue workers to jump on this if you want to bring TakeThisDarrel to Sault Ontario! Solid metalcore sound, they have some nice breakdowns and are pretty heavy, with a bit of a Southern rock twang in some of their riffing! They sound tailor made for an Oddfellows Hall show, but anywhere would work! If you're interested in booking TakeThisDarrel for a show here this summer, e-mail Dan at this location, or contact the band through their official MySpace page, where you can also check them out! Not a bad band at all, let's see if we can help get them here!
That's all for today, I promise to have a new post tomorrow with the results of our current SMS poll (CLOSING TOMORROW), plus a brand new poll to vote on. But what could it be about?! Find out tomorrow! Also stay tuned for news on Garden of Bedlam in studio, The Barking Eye, and maybe that secret Coch's Corner show? Come back tomorrow and find out!
There we go, I have a new update ready for you guys a lot faster this time around! And there's some cool things to talk about today in the local metal scene, including news on Browbeat, Kiss, a possible upcoming concert, and much more! But first, here is a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!!!
On Thursday, I told you guys that The Canadian Nightclub was plugging an Alice Cooper tribute band as playing there on June 18th, this Friday. Well, I can now confirm which band it is, along with details on the concert! Second Coming: The Tribute To Alice Cooper will be at The Canadian on Friday for a night full of shock rock classics! Based out of Toronto, Second Coming deliver a very authentic Alice Cooper experience, both visually and musically! I've seen a few videos of these guys on YouTube, and not only do they pull off the Alice Cooper sound very well, they have a really good stage show full of theatrics similar to those you might have seen at the real Alice's shows here, just pared down to fit smaller stages! Singer Robby Cooper especially looks and sounds the part! They perform songs from Alice's 1970s albums all the way to more recent fare, and they do take requests too! Jay Perron, who you may have seen DJing at The Canadian, highly praised Second Coming to me, and I can see what he sees, I'm impressed myself! Check Second Coming out at their official MySpace page!
The show is at 10:00 PM Friday night, you must be 19 to get in, and admission is $8 at the door. Steep for a bar show? Maybe, but keep in mind the amazing theatrics you're going to get for your money along with all the Alice Cooper classics! This will be a tribute show unlike any you're likely to see here, so make it on out for this one! I'll have to see how my schedule lines up, but this sure sounds like fun! Confirm your attendance at this location, and in case you're wondering if the weekend tribute band streak continues next weekend for The Canadian, it does, as Led Zeppelin tribute Black Dog comes back to Sault Ontario!
Next up, wanna help book or play on a concert? Two bands that have recently been searching for a local booking are pairing up for a tour and wanna play here in August, so here's what you should know! It's for August 11th and it will feature Toronto instrumental progressive metal trio The Isosceles Project! You may remember me mentioning this possible show in March, the date hasn't changed from my initial posting on it. This time though, they're opening for another band that was recently searching for a local concert: Toronto classic metal band Skull Fist (pictured), last seen trying to slot us in for a concert last month! The show may also include North Bay's Thekillingfield, who just played here last month at Foggy Notions with Derelict. The e-mail I recieved couldn't 100% confirm them, but The Isosceles Project list them as opening for the Sault date on their MySpace page.
Tiffany Stocco e-mailed me, she's been trying to help set up this show for here, though not everything's finalized. The Canadian was pointed to as a likely spot for the concert, but they still need an actual booker. If you want to either book this show or play on it (cause they're looking for local openers) on August 11th, e-mail Tiffany at this location! I guarantee some awesome music if it happens, though it'd be quite the diverse lineup of bands. Click the links above to check them out, and HELP GET THIS SHOW HERE!!
Thirdly, I have more Browbeat news! Yeah, I know, I've had them a lot lately, but they've had some big stuff to share, and today continues with that pattern! Frontman Dutch Vanderploeg has uploaded some audio demos onto their new Reverbnation page, on which he played all instruments! Nothing with the current lineup yet, though I imagine it can't be too far off. This is the first time I can recall that they've had audio on a band page, previously I think it's just been jam and live videos. Three songs are uploaded there, a slower song named "Days Gone By", a mid-tempo tune named "Delays", and my favourite, "So They Think", which has an awesome intro and some nice heaviness to it! Dutch is definitely better on guitar and bass than drums, but these are cool samples into what to expect from Browbeat going forward! Solid stuff, heavy enough to headbang to but with nice melodies and structure as well, check the songs out by clicking here! Can't wait to hear some songs with the current lineup too, I've heard nothing but good things about the band as they are now!
Next, I have a news story that I frankly should have had up on the weekend but it got pushed aside a couple times too many. You guys remember that Kiss are planning to play here, right? Or are you still a skeptic on the subject? Well, let's see what you guys think of this. Craig Huckerby of SooNews.ca posted an article on the site on Thursday where it's mentioned that Rock 101 was teasing radio listeners that Kiss ARE coming here, they just can't say when. Essar Center events manager Trevor Zachary wouldn't confirm or deny what Rock 101 said on-air, saying that nothing would be announced without word from the promoter, though Scott Cook from Rock 101 said that a date had been tentatively reached. My take on this: It's at least a sign of life that the show will happen, I have faith that it will, I'm certainly not a skeptic. Kiss are good with their word, and we'd be sure to make Kiss happy with the turnout and all that! Click here to read the article!
And finally, three quick news stories in order by band name:
Another new band has announced their involvement in the Kewadin Casino 25th Anniversary Summer Festival! Grand Rapids pop punk band Dannison are listed as playing at Kewadin on July 23rd, which is night two of the festival, with Three Doors Down as headliners. Not metal, but seeing as they're on the same festival as confirmed metal acts, they're worth mentioning! Check them out above if you want! Dannison join Finding Clyde & StilrizE as confirmed openers on night two, no openers for other nights are known yet.
Sault Ontario hard rockers Half Past have joined Reverbnation! Their page there includes a short band bio, member listing, and three videos of live performances of their originals! Nice to see another band taking advantage of Reverbnation, more should! Check out their page there at this location!
A couple quick Woods of Ypres updates! The band are currently in Sault Ontatio, though sadly not for a concert, just for pre-tour rehearsals. No local show yet, hopefully they'll play one here at some point! Their North American tour kicks off on Friday in Thunder Bay, with the band heading west, then through the States, before a handful of Ontario shows to cap off the tour! Also, remember how the band are closing up merchandise/CD sales? Well, according to a status update on their Facebook page, you will still be able to buy their stuff on iTunes, so keep that in mind!
That's all for now, I will have more news and updates by Thursday, hopefully sooner! Friday, there will definitely be a post though, as I will close down our current poll on battles of the bands, share the results, and launch a new one! Oh, and expect my next CD review next week! Which Sault Ontario album release will get a review? Time will tell!
