Defunct Local Band Profile Series: Blind Baby & Squirrelboy And The Smiling Giraffes

Before we get our review of the Dayglo Abortions concert on here, we have this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles! This monthly series looks at 1-2 defunct or inactive local bands (as randomly selected from our band links), so we can profile them and jog memories on their run, material, and successes for interested readers! This month marks our first two-band profile since May (as the first band didn't have enough surviving information), so we randomly picked another band, with both covering each side of the Soo border, so read on below for this month's profiles!
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Blind Baby

Genre: Modern Hard Rock

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

Members:

Tadd "Booze" Gravelle, vocals
Darian Causley (River Witch), guitar
Bill Ogston (Dirtbag In A Dress), guitar
Chris "Crib Bisque" Leask (Power Slug, Kilacel, River Witch), bass
Ivan Schliska (Scofflaw, River Witch), drums 

Info/Analysis: Originally named Stone Circle, Blind Baby were a short lived hard rock band that was active in the Eastern U.P. circa late 2009-mid 2010. Frequently seen at local bars on weekends (including The Rapids Lounge & The Bird, among others), Blind Baby played a mix of covers & varying originals during their run, but they quietly dissolved circa July 2010. Their members (sans Tadd Gravelle & Bill Ogston) formed the similar new band River Witch the following month, and took on existing Blind Baby bookings in the process, before they evolved into Power Slug (with only Chris Leask remaining) in late 2011. Though surviving online information on Blind Baby is minimal, they have 8 original songs on their Reverbnation page that I recently posted on our YouTube channel, and they show a diverse gritty sound that has a lot of softer & mellower moments! Tadd's vocals remind me of Erik Rintamaki's, and they're an interesting contrast on ballads like "Someday", but there's a lot of visible talent, and on heavier tracks like "2 Blind 2 C", they show a solid groove that hopefully carried over to their successor bands! I've embedded one of my favourites "In Spite Of You" below, but stream more at the above links!


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Squirrelboy & The Smiling Giraffes

Genre: Experimental/Industrial Metal

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Members: (E-mail me at robertfigures@outlook.com if you have any additions or corrections!)

Chase James Wigmore, all instruments

(Note that the band's MySpace page credited "Squirrelboy", "Chase Cox", and "Neuroma Fay" as their respective singer, guitarist, and programmer, but this was very likely a solo project.)

Info/Analysis: Squirrelboy & The Smiling Giraffes was a rather unique solo project maintained by local solo musician Chase Wigmore from 2007-2009, operating under a creative alias & theme, which included describing themselves as "the infectious & pointless waste of human flesh" and comparing their sound to "Yoko Ono, if she was a squirrel". Their 6 MySpace songs (which are also now on our YouTube channel) include frequent use of effects, samples, sped-up "squirrel" vocals, extreme metal screaming, and solid guitar work, to create a sound that's honestly hard to describe in text. There's a lot of originality & humourous moments, but I have a feeling The Smiling Giraffes won't be everyone's cup of tea, so it depends on if you like the included elements. Myself, I appreciate what Chase did, but some songs are better than others ("Pretty Baby" stands out, for example.) Hopefully he keeps up his talents in his current solo work (which does feature & acknowledge some Squirrelboy material), and here's one of their more popular songs "Mr. Chik'n"!



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I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles! So, who's up for October in this series? After random selection, we'll again be looking at two bands on each side of the border, as the first band I picked definitely doesn't have enough surviving information. With that said, next month's bands will be inactive Sault Michigan hard rock trio Elements of Madness & the former Sault Ontario comedy metal band No More Landmines, so watch out for them on or around October 10th! That's all for now, but stay tuned for our Dayglo Abortions concert review later today! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (That's Chester & Tym Morrison) And Our Recap Of Posted Around!!

Lets keep the news coming on this Tuesday night, so in this post, we've got LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS over the next couple of weeks in Sault Ontario and a recap from a recent exhibition with a metal relevance, so read on below for these latest stories!

After taking the month of April off, classic hard rock quintet That's Chester are returning to the stage THIS WEEKEND at The Roosevelt Hotel! This talented collection of local music veterans will bring their cover assault to The Rosie on Friday & Saturday night, in what are relatively rare stops at the Korah Road bar for them. From what I can tell, they have not played a public show at The Rosie since at least 2010, maybe earlier, but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong! Notably, this weekend's concerts will be with a special guest, as Cleveland Steamer drummer Mike Blair will be filling in for Ric Datson behind the That's Chester drumkit for both gigs, as per a comment on the Facebook event page. From what I understand, Ric suffered a joint injury last weekend that will prevent him from playing this weekend, but I hope he gets well soon! Both the Friday & Saturday night shows have 10:30 PM start times, no cover charges, and 19+ age limits, so check the above links for more details! If nothing else, these will be a unique pair of gigs to see That's Chester rock out their proficient classic hard rock covers, so if you love The Roosevelt Hotel and That's Chester, you know where to be this weekend! Stay tuned for our previews of these shows later in the week!

The other new shows I have this weekend are for the return of Tym Morrison's solo acoustic concerts! Though Tym has kept busy with his band Caveman Morrison in the past month, his shows next weekend at The Service Grill will be his first solo dates in 6 weeks and his first since his Yamaha acoustic guitar was stolen last month. The new guitar won't be all that's different from his usual acoustic shows though, as the Facebook event page says that his May 18th & 19th shows will start at 3:00 PM and run until midnight! I assume they'll be laid out as two 4 hour gigs at 3:00 PM & 8:00 PM respectively, which he's done before, as I can't see these being 9 hour sets with only normal breaks. Admission should be free for these concerts, and likely all ages given the restaurant setting. Check the above links for more details! It's always good to see Tym break out his unplugged set again, and hopefully the concerts next weekend are huge successes that can set off even more acoustic gigs! Stay tuned for more from Tym's projects as it all comes in!

We'll close this post with my recap of the Posted Around art exhibition, as it's last night helped end National Youth Arts Week yesterday! It was at the Circle of Creative Arts Centre on Queen Street East, in the space between Anipeg Tattoo & Top Hat Bar & Grill, so it wasn't completely obvious to find, but it has a nice setup inside! Kinda minimal, but there's an artistic sensibility for sure. The posters themselves were from a wide range of concerts and events from the 1980s through today, including posters by artists like Frightlight's Kevin Powe, local NYAW organizer Rihkee Strapp, and former Arcadia owner Matt Ceolin, alongside donations from Giwakwa's Nolan Rainville and other groups and artists. Very solid selection of posters, though it was skewed to recent years and the 1980s in many cases, and it'd have been cool to have seen more 1990s posters. Some of these brought back some good memories (I'd completely forgotten about Woods of Ypres' show here circa 2004), and others just had nice designs that I liked, even if I didn't know the band or their genre! One poster by Matt Ceolin for an October 2007 show at the former Eargasm Records headlined by a band named Mothra really caught my eye, and though I'm still not 100% on who they were, I'd have grabbed it if I had more cash at hand!

The evening also included the "Night at the C.O.C.A." open mic night with refreshments on sale, though there wasn't too much in the way of performers after I shown up. It was nice to finally see Rihkee play accordion live (I never got a chance to see The Night Owl Meme Makers live, sadly), and though I don't know him, the bassist that performed was really talented! The rest were varying levels of good too, but it'd have been nice to see more participation. There was some other artistic items dotted around, including some really solid work from Dayna Rainville (Nolan's sister), and a tree that somehow had a shovelhead in it, among other interesting works! As it was the last night, I was able to buy & bring home framed prints right from there (they'd be reserved if bought earlier in the exhibition until it closed), so now I have the posters from The Dayglo Abortions' show at The Rosie last year and Woods of Ypres' second-last local concert (August 2009 at The Speak Easy) hanging in my room, and they look very nice! I'll try and get pictures at some point. If there was one thing I'd change about the exhibition, it'd be having more posters. Probably the most glaring absence for recent posters was stuff by Destroilet's Matt Waples (he does awesome work), but if this exhibition returns, hopefully word is larger to encourage more submissions and involvement!

Overall, this was a fun display of local artistic talent, and I hope that these poster prints continue to be sold in some fashion! Either bring back the exhibition itself or sell them at the C.O.C.A. centre year round, because there's definitely an audience for all of this, and there's a ton of room to grow it! I got photos from the exhibition, including every poster I could prove had a metal band, and some select other posters that I liked or thought may have had heavier acts, so click here to see those, or visit our Facebook page! There's also some photos of the open mic performers and other works of art there. Kudos for a great National Youth Arts Week, and here's to an even bigger one in 2013!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for a new news post shortly, plus weekend concert previews and our next Defunct Local Band Profile! Thanks everyone!

Posted Around Preview, New Videos, And The Return Of State Of Misery?!

Hey guys, I wanted to first apologize for the delays in getting our YouTube Channel Profile up, but it completely slipped my mind while trying to get the Humane Society battle recap up and other related stuff, but I promise it's coming TONIGHT! Until then, here's a new news post featuring a preview of a cool art exhibition this week, a local band's possible return, and some new videos, so here's what you need to know!

Firstly for today, I wanted to preview an art exhibition that you guys should definitely be interested in attending! In cooperation with National Youth Arts Week next week, some of the organizers are hosting an art exhibition named "Posted Around" starting today and until Friday that will showcase local concert posters from the 1980s through last year! Metal concert posters are among those being displayed at the event (including the poster from the 11-band Sewer Swampstravaganja show at The Oddfellows Hall last year), and prints of said posters will be on sale for as little as $5, so if you like any or fondly remember a specific concert, you can own the poster for yourself! I'm not sure of how wide or large of a selection there'll be, but I bet it'll be a great exhibition with lots of memories and talents on display, both in the posters and the bands that played them! The event will be hosted at the Circle of Creative Arts building across from The Grand Theater on Queen Street East, with the grand opening taking place TONIGHT at 7:00 PM, though if you miss it, the exhibition runs until Friday. Admission is free and all ages (to my knowledge), but proceeds from sales of the prints will go to arts programming in Attawapiskat. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page!

I will 100% be there this week to check out "Posted Around", and I will definitely have photos and a recap for you guys this week as well! I wanted to make the grand opening, but my exam schedule doesn't gel well with it, so I hope to be there Tuesday evening, and I wanna buy at least one print to help the cause and support local art and music! I hope to see some of you guys there this week, and hopefully this jogs some memories of the scene as it once was, while introducing old school posters and bands to a new audience! Go check it out if you can, and stay tuned for my coverage of it!

Next up, remember last August when local death metal quintet State of Misery returned to activity after a three month breakup, only to quietly dissolve and delete their Facebook page by the end of last year? Well, it may be deja vu all over again, as recent postings on their Facebook group are hinting that State of Misery may have reunited for a second time. Nothing officially indicating a reunion has been announced, but drummer Nick Kainula posted a status there yesterday that says "big news regarding May 4th!", followed by posting a link a live video from a January 2011 concert. I'm not sure what the allusion to May 4th would indicate, but for reference sake, May 4th is one week from Friday. If they're reuniting, I'm not sure what their lineup will look like (given Steve Rhodes & Ray Cowan's current work in The Valentine's Day Massacre & Social Suicide), but the fact that Facebook is hyping up a date in May must mean something. If I hear anything positive or negative towards a potential State of Misery return, I'll have it here, but keep posted for updates, as their hard hitting death metal originals would surely be welcomed back to the stage if this is indeed another band reunion!

We'll close today's post with some new videos, starting with a new solo performance video from Bear Hunters bassist (and "Best Bassist" winner at the Sault Humane Society Battle of the Bands) Justin Lam! The first solo video he's uploaded to his YouTube channel of him on bass in almost four years, it's a cover of Trivium's "A Grey So Dark", and I like that he plays in the video like he does on stage in terms of presence! He seems to know the song very well, and compared to some other musicians, he doesn't have the backing track at an overpowering volume level. Solid work as expected, so check out Justin's new Trivium cover below, and fingers crossed it isn't another four years before he posts a new bass cover!



Finally, here's another archive audio upload from Flat Stanley/Wishbone drummer Glen Thomas' YouTube channel! Posted last week, this is of one of Glen's early 1990s hard rock bands named J.A.B. (short for "Just Another Band") covering "Rock Candy" by Montrose at an unknown local bar (it was in the Jamestown area), and while this is newly posted, it's one of three J.A.B. videos that Glen has put on YouTube. He originally uploaded tracks of J.A.B. playing an untitled original and a song named "Solar Angel" onto YouTube in November 2009, and all 5 feature Glen on drums alongside vocalist Gigi Micelli, guitarists Gerald McKinnon & Jean Paul, and bassist Dan Jones. The three songs are pretty interesting, and they sound like they had talent way back when! Gigi's singing has that retro melodic feel that flows with the material, Glen's drumming is as great as ever, and the band seems to have good chemistry! I like when Glen posts old audio recordings from his bands, they're a nice glimpse back at the local scene's past, and I can see myself rocking out to J.A.B. 20 years ago if I was of age to!

Check out the songs above, and their Montrose cover below, but note that the audio fades in and out here and there on these recordings. Also, click here for an interesting story relating to what happened after the concert that the song below came from!



That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes very soon, including our overdue next YouTube Channel Profile! Thanks everyone!

David Gold Updates & How You Can Help, Plus Assorted Band Status Updates!!

I hope everyone's Christmas Eve is full of joy and good cheer, even in this rough time for the local metal scene. I decided to squeeze in one more news post before Santa arrives with presents for all the good boys & girls, so today, we've got news on a band's breakup and the members' current projects, lineup news for two local bands, and some updates on their future plans as well, but first, let's update everyone on the sad story out of Barrie that's been at the top of the newspile over the last couple of days, but now, there's ways you can help and contribute, so here's what you should know!

Let's start with some additional Woods of Ypres/David Gold updates. David's sister Marie has made numerous posts on his personal Facebook page over the past few hours alerting fans to news about future arrangements, notably that the family will be selling existing Woods of Ypres merchandise that David had stock of to help cover funeral costs. This includes copies of Woods of Ypres' past albums on CD & vinyl (some of which are autographed), t-shirts, posters, bags, coffee mugs, and possibly more. If you're interested in buying anything, asking what's available, knowing prices of the items, or so on, message Marie at this location or call (705) 975-2700 A.S.A.P.. This could be your last chance ever to get new Woods of Ypres merchandise, so if there's something you want or are missing, consider taking the Gold family up on this offer and help lessen the burden for his final expenses. Also, Marie mentioned in posts today that if you can't attend the get-together in his honour at The Canadian on Wednesday, you can still be involved by e-mailing Marie your name along with your own rememberances, photos, memories, and moments you have with David or his music. Submissions will be printed off and displayed at the get-together on Wednesday. If you can't make it and have anything to share, e-mail Marie at mariechristinegold@hotmail.com. This is a very nice way to help everyone be a part of this day, which I'm sure will be important to remember his life and legacy, so definitely consider sending a rememberance in if you're unable to attend.

She also added today that there were plans in place to make a documentary about his life and music, with hopes to do a tour to venues that Woods of Ypres played at to interview fans and people he's impacted, helped, and inspired in the past. If you have any ideas for the documentary or the tour for people to contact, give Marie a shout at the links or phone number above. David himself dabbled in documentary filming, including the unreleased "Metal Korea" film he was working on from his experiences in South Korea, so I'm sure he'd be very appreciative of this idea from his family, and if it goes through, it'll definitely be a must watch! I'll of course keep updates on all of these stories as news comes out on them. For what it's worth, I haven't heard too much extra concerning the accident in Barrie on Wednesday afternoon, but I am keeping tabs on news reports there and here for any possible details. Also, from what I understand, the leak of "Woods V: Grey Skies & Electric Light" from yesterday no longer works, so either it was pulled or the download limit was reached (hopefully the latter.) If it was an accidental leak, at least it was in memoriam of a talented musician taken too soon, and hopefully Earache Records still releases "Woods V" next year as I'm sure David would have wanted. Stay tuned for more updates on David's future arrangements and Woods of Ypres stories, and keep him and the Gold family in your hearts over the holiday!

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Now to some other news, and first, prominent local progressive metal band Gates of Winter have disappointingly parted ways with keyboardist Brian Holmes. He reportedly left the band last month so he could follow other endeavours, though the band's statement on their Facebook page two weeks ago clearly shows that this is an amicable (and hopefully not permanent) decision. They also announced that they are not replacing Brian, and will use orchestral samples where needed for studio material, and approach alternatives for any future concerts. Brian was an original Gates of Winter member and had featured on all of their previous live concerts and CDs, along with early demos and samples towards next year's new album "Perihelion", though it's unknown if any of his recordings will be included. This completely surprises me, as it seemed like regardless of outside concerns and commitments, that the members of Gates of Winter would stick together to write great music until they could fully focus on it again, but I know that Brian's doing what's best for him at this time. Besides, he's still the bassist with local prog rockers Machines Dream, so he's not leaving music! Best of luck to Brian and the rest of the Gates of Winter crew, and apologies for being two weeks late on this story! I'm surprised I didn't hear about this until now. Stay tuned for more updates on Gates of Winter & "Perihelion" as they come in!

Next up, here's some updates and clarification on what's been going on with Brimley hard rockers Half A Man. As it turns out, they did in fact part ways with guitarist Denny Breslin, who actually left in July before they were scheduled to record their debut album in St. Paul, Minnesota. A reason for his departure wasn't publicized. There was ambiguity because he was never formally removed from lineups, nor was an official announcement made beyond allusions to their then three-piece status last month, but it's nice to get official word. It's disappointing to see Denny leave, as he is a talented guitarist, but the new Half A Man lineup already seems to have a lot of promise and momentum behind them! A statement made on their Facebook page highlights the excitement they have now that Dillion Semasky of Infathom is their singer, which honestly does open up possibilities to improve and expand into heavier territory! Plans are now in place roughly to head to St. Paul to record material towards a debut album next year, and from what I'm hearing, their material and sound may be very different from what we heard from Half A Man last year and early this year. There seems to be a lot of excitement in the Half A Man camp and their new lineup, so stay tuned to band pages for continuing updates!

Finally today, remember last month when a new version of local classic hard rock band Turner Up was launched, though separate from the original Turner Up, who had morphed into Full Circle this spring? Well, the two bands didn't co-exist long, as drummer Scott McLurg confirmed in a post on his personal Facebook page yesterday that Full Circle had parted ways earlier this month. The breakup was due to personal issues with a band member, but I don't wanna put anyone down or highlight conflicts, especially not at this time of the year, so I won't elaborate. This ends a successful 2 year run for the original Turner Up/Full Circle that featured tons of entertaining concerts amidst numerous lineup changes, but Scott & guitarist Robert Brown are sure to keep the hard rocking going with the new Turner Up, and also now, local rock band Havadder! You're bound to be familiar with them from many local concerts, and though they're not a hard rock band so to speak, they now share 4 members with Turner Up (all except Krista Marshall.) Nice work on Jason Roy's part to bring in Scott, Rob, and Travis for the new Havadder lineup, they should go far themselves locally! Stay tuned for more from Turner Up as it comes in!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for a special Christmas autopost tomorrow afternoon, and have a Merry Christmas if I'm not online at all tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

The Return Of Turner Up, New Videos, And Lots More!!

Let's keep things going on a busy note today, as we have some more news to share from the local metal scene! Today, we have new videos from a local guitarist, a full concert video from a band with some metal covers, and recent news coverage of a local concert series, but first, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT relating to a local band's return!

Classic hard rockers Turner Up are back! But wait, didn't they change their name to Full Circle in May? Yes, but drummer Scott McLurg confirmed with me in recent e-mails that he & bassist/founding member Robert Brown have decided to bring back Turner Up as a new band separate from the still-active Full Circle! As such, from what I understand, the new Turner Up will have a noticeably heavier setlist than Full Circle, who I think will now be reserved for the softer edged rock material. The new Turner Up lineup will see the return of Krista Marshall on vocals, and Robert will handle guitar again as he did before their spring lineup overhaul, though the rest of the new Turner Up lineup will have new members. Their new guitarist is Havadder frontman Jason Roy, who definitely has some heavier chops from his past musical work, while former Carbon Black singer Travis Sharpe will take over on bass! How's that for some surprising, yet cool lineup news? Nice to see Travis back in an active band! From what I've heard, Turner Up will not play live as often as Full Circle, but it's good to see a band with this name back after six months!

That all said, Turner Up have a return concert lined up for next month, but I'll wait for more official confirmation before plugging it here. Thanks again to Scott for telling me about Turner Up's return! It's great to see them back, and some great & busy times are ahead for Scott & Robert's two bands! That said, I'll probably be slowing down our coverage of Full Circle as I don't believe they'll play a consistent hard rock set now with Turner Up back, but they're still a talented band you should see live! And yes, I've restored Turner Up to our active band links, so check them out!

Next up, here's a recent news article from The Sault Star that talks about the return of Roosevelt Hotel metal nights! On Tuesday, an article written by The Sault Star's Jeffery Ougler entitled "Pedal to the metal" was posted online and in that day's paper that profiled the Thursday metal nights' return. It features interview remarks from new booker/Rosie manager Stephane Vincent, where he talks about the reception for the metal nights, why the bar started putting them on, and the response to them. That said, while it's mostly well written, there are things I'd change. The article incorrectly says the metal nights are returning after "a couple month's hiatus" (they were only gone for three weeks), the article generalizes that there were 3 bands a week (16 of the past 37 metal nights had more or less than 3 bands), and neither original booker/founder Rich Moreland or his booking company Dismembertainment were given any name credit for their work starting or putting on the past year's Thursday nighters. I understand the emphasis on The Rosie & their current work, but Rich put in a lot of work, you think he'd get a bit of name credit. Still, it's nice to see The Sault Star giving local metal some notice, and I hope the return show on Thursday was a huge hit! Read The Sault Star's article on the Rosie metal nights at the above links!

We'll close this post with new videos, and first, here's a 40 minute video of local punk trio Redundant's entire set from their Halloween concert at Feedback last week! This was uploaded by drummer Rick White onto his YouTube channel yesterday. Now, Redundant are first & foremost a punk band, but they do occasionally cover metal, and you do see that here, as they covered a guitar solo-less version of Metallica's "Enter Sandman" midway through their set! It sounds good, if a bit rough, but it's what you'd expect a punk version of it to sound like, which isn't bad at all! The full video also features Redundant covering Johnny Cash, Green Day, Screeching Weasels, Weezer, Del Shannon, Blink-182, and NOFX songs with their usual punk swagger and sense of humour, and the camera's at a good angle and quality to capture their set! Regrettably, it was cut short due to (surprise surprise) noise complaints from a neighbour, a problem I hope gets resolved soon! The video also features Rick's former Fitswitch & Frightlight bandmate Larry Mousseau stepping in on drums for a portion of Blink 182's "Dammit", which is interesting!

Check out the full video of Redundant from Feedback on Halloween below, it's nice quality punk rock from some very talented musicians! And yes, there's metal to be had, so fast forward to 21:53 for their cover of "Enter Sandman", and for some short metal asides before launching into other full songs, move to 1:05 for another Metallica cover snippet, and head to 37:09 to hear them rock a portion of "Sober" by Tool! Good stuff!



And finally for today, here's a bunch of solo performance videos from a local guitarist! These come from T. Rex Manning guitarist and Skull Fist concert booker Tiffany Stocco, who has posted a number of guitar track covers of punk and metal songs onto her YouTube channel over the past year. She's posted covers of Metallica, Seether, Distillers, Bloodhound Gang, Foo Fighters, Misfits, Megadeth, Ramones, Anvil, and Tool songs on her channel, plus some original compositions with vocals. She's pretty good, and she seems to improve the newer the videos get! A couple messups here and there, but she's honest about them, which is good! I'd turn up the guitar though, it doesn't sound too loud on some of the videos. Makes me more curious to hear T. Rex Manning live, and remember, they make their debut at The Roosevelt Hotel opening for The Unbelievers on November 29th! Check out Tiffany's metal and punk covers at the above links, and here's her rendition of Anvil's "Metal On Metal"!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news as November rolls along, hopefully including a post by Tuesday! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Full Circle), Sault Ontario Weekend Concert Previews (Part 1), And More!!

The weekend concert previews keep coming today, and honestly, because there's so much going on over the weekend (Halloween weekend is always a busier concert stretch), I'm going to break up the Sault Ontario previews into two posts: Bands playing shows tomorrow night first, then bands playing only on Saturday or later in a post tomorrow, just to make sure things aren't buried and overposted. So today, we have five concerts to preview from three headlining acts, but I've thrown some assorted extra stories at the end to round things out. Let's begin with LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for THIS WEEKEND!!

After another off weekend, local classic hard rock quartet Full Circle will rock The Nicolet Tavern TOMORROW AND SATURDAY NIGHT for Halloween weekend! Apologies for the short notice, the band only officially confirmed these dates earlier tonight. It's always good to see the former Turner Up back out there, and with the Halloween season fully upon us, look for them to deliver some great classic hard rock covers for their fans all weekend long at The Nic! They'll be on at 10:00 PM tomorrow night and Saturday night, you must be 19 to enter either show, and there's no announced cover charge. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! We haven't been seeing Full Circle as frequently this fall as we have been this year, but you know they'll pull out some great tunes for the holiday weekend, so don't miss them! For a preview, here's Full Circle covering "Alone" by Heart at this year's Rotaryfest!



Now to the previously announced concerts that at least partly take place tomorrow night, and first, metal returns to Feedback Nightclub & Bar tomorrow for the first tine since Napalm Death, courtesy of Toronto metal trio Laugh At The Fakes! In what I believe is their local debut, this unique and wide ranging outfit will surely rock the Feedback stage tomorrow night, and they have a little something for everyone while remaining very heavy, so make note of this show! Kudos to Dismembertainment for bringing them in! Joining Laugh At The Fakes tomorrow is local classic metal quartet Late & Loud, in their Feedback debut! It's always good to see them back on a local stage, and in this busy stretch of shows for them, hopefully they bring lots of talent and great music to the table tomorrow night! Nice package of metal, especially if you're not into more aggressive harsher vocals, so absolutely consider this show in your Halloween weekend plans! There will be a $3 cover tomorrow night, you must be 19 to attend, and a 10:00 PM start time is expected. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page!

This should be one heavy concert, so don't miss it tomorrow night, as you know the bands will deliver! For a preview, I have no full videos of L.A.T.F. in action, but here's a video slideshow set to their song "Better Than You", so give it a look/listen, and head to Feedback tomorrow night for all the metal!



Lastly for bands playing tomorrow night, local hard rock quartet Sneaky Pete will return to the stage for the first time in almost two months to rock The Roosevelt Hotel all weekend long! This talented band continues to make their name on the local concert scene, and in their first Rosie stops since June, you know they'll be ready to rock with some great heavier covers tomorrow night & Saturday night! Tomorrow's show looks to be your usual Rosie fun times, but Saturday night will give us a Halloween bash with awesome music and costumes encouraged, so don't show up in street clothes and be left out! That all said, they'll be on at around 10:30 PM both Friday and Saturday, you must be 19 to attend, and there's no likely cover charge. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! It's always good to see Sneaky Pete bring their hard rock show to a local stage, and who knows, I might be there this weekend! I'm debating which band to see tomorrow night, if any (I'm torn a few directions), but hopefully I'll get out there! Regardless, go see Sneaky Pete this weekend for some classic and harder edged sounds! For a preview, here's the band's audio mashup of two classics from Ozzy Osbourne and Judas Priest, and if I find an embeddable video of them, I'll let you guys know!



And finally for today, you know how we often feature three shorter stories from the last while together as bullet points at the end of a post? Well, let's double that today, as I have a lot of smaller news stories to get out of the way that have been pushed aside for far too long lately. So, here's SIX shorter stories from the last little while, in alphabetical order by band or channel name!:

• Local metal cover trio Caveman Morrison have quietly launched a new Facebook page! It's barely updated beyond featuring a band logo and a link to their website, but maybe in time it will be filled up! In the meantime, become a fan at the above links!
• Sault Michigan/Grand Rapids metal quintet End of Existence have revealed plans earlier this month to cover the country classic "Ghost Riders In The Sky" AND release a full length debut album this fall! Details are scant on both projects, but keep an eye on their Facebook page for updates as they come in!
• Local hard rock quartet Half Past are looking for fan input on which local concert venue they should play at next. A poll has been launched on their Facebook page where you can pick between Feedback, The Roosevelt Hotel, their Thursday metal nights specifically, or you can add your own choices. What do you guys think? Vote today to help them choose!
• I've edited our YouTube Channel Profile of YouTube user myangels1266's channel to edit the references to her son Chris Hubbard's local bands Nixxon Dixxon & Splitshot, mainly to refer to bandmate Jake LaLonde's current work in Splitshot. Not a huge change, but worth mentioning!
• New local metal trio Social Suicide have announced the addition of former Bear Hunters guitarist Andres Duchesne to their lineup, replacing Storm Perry. The news was broken on their Facebook page on Tuesday. Nice to see Andres back in a local band, he had promise from his brief Bear Hunters stint last summer, and hopefully this pays off all around!
• Local classic hard rock quintet That's Chester announced last week that they have finally begun working on their first ever original song! You'd think a band that talented would have originals by now, but better late than never! Stay tuned to their Facebook page for updates on this and other future band developments!

That's all for today, but stay tuned tomorrow for the rest of the Halloween weekend concert previews (including a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT) and possibly more! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Full Circle), The Napalm Death Concert Preview, And More!!

Well guys, we're one day out from a HUGE metal concert the likes of which you may have never seen, and we're giving it an extended preview on the SMS today, but we also have some assorted news at the end of the post, and leading things off, LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, so here's what you need to know!

Local classic hard rockers Full Circle will return to the local concert stage TONIGHT AND TOMORROW NIGHT after an off weekend to rock The Roosevelt Hotel! I apologize for the short notice, but I didn't want these shows getting overshadowed from other stories earlier in the week. This talented quartet of local mainstays will have some great covers in store for fans at The Rosie this weekend, so don't miss them if you can help it! I will note that guitarist Kyle McKey's other band Asylum Country are advertised for The Nicolet Tavern this weekend, but judging by the photo used on their shows' event page, I take it Kyle won't be there, so no worries about a conflict for the Full Circle dates! As expected, Full Circle will be on at around 10:30 PM tonight & tomorrow night, you must be 19 to attend, and there shouldn't be a cover charge. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Full Circle should do great this weekend, and if you're in the mood for some classic hard rock hits, head to the west end for some good times at The Rosie! For a preview, here's Full Circle covering "Alone" by Heart at this year's Rotaryfest!



And now, to what could be the metal event of the year, as British death metal legends Napalm Death are coming to Sault Ontario TOMORROW NIGHT! One of the highest selling death metal bands in history, Napalm Death have proven to be a resilient and influential band in death metal and grindcore circles, and albums like "Scum", "From Enslavement To Oblivion", and "Diatribes" have helped solidify their status in the metal elite! Huge kudos to Rich Moreland and Dismembertainment for bringing them to the Soo, this could be a once in a lifetime chance to see them locally! And with a band like Napalm Death coming to town, you know the openers have to live up to the hype, and Dismembertainment have stacked the deck for this show! Two out of town bands will take the stage as openers, one of which is Toronto death metal band Hallows Die! No strangers to the Soo, you may remember seeing Hallows Die at a Rosie metal night in May, and their melodic death metal assault should easily be welcomed back tomorrow night! They'll be third of 5 bands on the bill, while the concert will be opened by Calgary grindcore band Wake, in their local debut! If you want some grind to kick off the night, Wake will deliver it in spades, with some welcomed punk influences as well, so hopefully they make their mark tomorrow!

As well, two local opening bands are planned for this show, those being death metal bands Shit Liver & The Bear Hunters! Two nights after opening for The Dead Peasants Revolt, Shit Liver will play direct support for Napalm Death as the second to last band tomorrow night, so kudos to them for that, and expect a wall of grime when they take the stage! The Bear Hunters will be second after Wake, and their melodic death metal sounds will be sure to brtualize fans as well, so don't miss them either! Remember, despite what their pages said last month, Oshawa death metal band Strings of Ares are NOT playing tomorrow's show, though they did open for Napalm Death on Sunday in Sudbury, so all worked out! So with this package of bands, you know a big venue is needed to contain the metal onslaught, and that venue is Feedback, the bar formerly known as Foggy Notions! The show was moved from The Riuniti Hall to Feedback on Wednesday without a reason publically announced, but with the bar's re-opening and a more central downtown location, this should work out for the best! The buzz for Feedback's re-opening is growing, and you guys won't wanna miss the bar's new look and atmosphere, so what better way is there to kick off Feedback than at a HUGE metal show?

Despite the venue change, this show will still be ALL AGES, but you 19+ attendees will need ID present if you want to drink anything alcoholic. Doors will now open at 5:00 PM instead of the old 6:00 PM time from the original Riuniti plans. And as for tickets, they are still $20 in advance or $25 at the door, and you can still buy them at The Rad Zone, Northland Music, or through Dismembertainment or members of Shit Liver & The Bear Hunters, so get buying before it's too late! Yes, tickets purchased before the venue change are still 100% good. Also, The Rad Zone is running a contest to win TWO FREE TICKETS for the show, so click here and post your name on their contest status from this morning to enter! The winner will be drawn later this evening, so enter while you can if you want free Napalm Death tickets! For all current and complete details on tomorrow's show, visit the official Facebook event page!

This is going to be one of the biggest and heaviest metal concerts that Sault Ontario has ever seen, so you'll be kicking yourself if you miss it! Sadly, I already am, as I'll be out of town this weekend, but I'll be there in spirit, and when I come back home on Sunday night, I wanna hear everything about how brutal this show was, how Feedback is after the renovations, and how much fun you guys had! Have a moshing good time, guys, and make this the biggest show in Dismembertainment history to ensure that we get more big shows like this! For a preview, here's Napalm Death's video for their song "On The Brink Of Extinction"!



Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter stories from the last little while. As usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist or venue name:

• According to the Facebook event page for it, the "Green Christmas Bash" at Feedback on Christmas Day will include a new band from Sativa Rose guitarist Andrew Angelic on the lineup. All I know is that the band's unnamed, and I don't think Andrew left Sativa Rose in favour of a new band. If I hear more, I'll let you guys know, but this sounds promising!
• If you've wondered why The Bottoms Up Lounge on Queen Street East hasn't hosted a solo Tym Morrison show since last year, here's why. A comment on the "Keep 708 Queen A Live Music Venue" Facebook page by SooToday's Donna Hopper said that The Bottoms Up Lounge had to stop hosting live bands due to noise complaints, despite hosting only acoustic bands for the most part. Very strange, but I know they still have open mic nights!
• New local metal trio Social Suicide (featuring ex-Bring The Misery bassist Tyler St. Amour) have had some lineup shuffling, with drummer Storm Perry replacing the departed Anthony Boudreau on guitar, and original drummer Keeghan Rosso returning to the band on drums. Reasons for the lineup changes were not publicized. Stay tuned for details on when you can see Social Suicide live for the first time!

That's all for today, but I will see you guys with a new post when I get back from Detroit, but I may have a new news post up on the weekend if something major comes out. Thanks everyone, and GO SEE NAPALM DEATH TOMORROW NIGHT!!!!!!
Why Bottoms Up Lounge has no bands anymore
Social Suicide lineup changes

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Full Circle) And This Weekend's Concert Previews!!

It's time to preview the coming slate of concerts over this weekend! Though we're light on advertised shows in the Sault Michigan area, there's a good amount of harder rocking shows on the Canadian side this weekend, so let's kick things off with SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!!

As previously advertised, classic hard rock quartet Full Circle will indeed be playing concerts this weekend, just not at The Nicolet Tavern. Despite what The Nic's marquee board said earlier in the week, Full Circle will instead be rocking Docks Riverfront Grill for the first time since changing their name from Turner Up on Friday & Saturday night! My source for the new venue is this Facebook event page, which was oddly created by bassist Robert Brown this time around (usually drummer Scott McLurg handles that.) No reason was publicized for the venue change, but these shows mark Full Circle's first shows after two weekends off, and the first to take place after the end of the old Turner Up concert listings from their deleted Facebook group. So if you want some solid classic hard rock from this talented local band, Docks is where you'll wanna be this weekend! There should be a cover charge of around $4 both nights, you must be 19 to attend, and a 10:30 PM start time is listed. Check the above links for more details!

Should be some good nights of music, and it's nice to see Full Circle back out there after missing the last two weeks, so go check them out if you can at Docks! For a preview, here's Full Circle covering "Alone" by Heart at Rotaryfest in August!



Now to the previously announced concerts, and first, the 35th Roosevelt Hotel metal night is going down TONIGHT! For the seventh time in eight weeks, Dismembertainment are bringing in another high quality out of town headlining band, and tonight, your main attraction is Rimouski, Quebec hardcore band La Promesse! If you enjoy hardcore and moshpits, La Promesse will be sure to suit your desires tonight, so prepare for some punk-inspired metal and intensity from this talented quintet later tonight! The opening bands include local classic metal quartet Late & Loud, in just their third ever Thursday metal night at The Rosie! Interesting style clash to have them open for a hardcore band, but Late & Loud have proven to be a talented and charismatic band since their debut last year, so get ready for a quality set of originals and covers from them tonight! A second opening band was originally planned, but nothing official on if a third band will play tonight or not has been revealed, though I'll let you guys know if Dismembertainment announce anything. There will be a $2 cover charge tonight, you must be 19 to attend, and it all starts at around 10:00 PM.

For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! This should be another entertaining Rosie metal night with some newer sounds to enjoy, so if you're free tonight, metal awaits on Korah Road! For a preview, here's a La Promesse tour video featuring one of their studio originals!



Now to Sault Michigan briefly as local hard rock quartet Powerslug return to the stage at The Rapids Lounge at Kewadin Casino tomorrow and Saturday night! One weekend after rocking two venues(?) in the area, the band formerly known as River Witch will return to the Kewadin Casino bar for the first time there in four weeks to deliver some hard rocking good times as only they can! Though their badly outdated Facebook page doesn't hype the shows, Kewadin Casino does on their entertainment page, and that's as good a source as any! Admission should be free, things should start at 9:00 PM tomorrow and Saturday night, and you must be 21 to attend either night. Check the above links for more details! These should be good concerts, so don't miss a chance to check them out for some harder rocking music across the river this weekend! I still don't have an audio or video sample of Powerslug to preview their shows with, but get ready for some good music this weekend, I know that can be expected!

And finally, Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison is back at Service Grill Pizza on Saturday night! Tym will bring his talented acoustic hard rock sounds back to the Service Grill for a second straight week, following alternating weeks away from the Korah Road restaurant over the past few weeks. Tym's Saturday concerts at the Service Grill have been well recieved this year, and he'll be sure to rock out with some great covers on Saturday as usual, so if you want some unplugged hard rock sounds, you know where to be! Admission should be free, I don't believe there's an age limit, and like his last couple of Service Grill shows, Tym will only be playing the 8:00 PM set. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Tym's solo shows are always entertaining, and he proves that you don't need electric instruments to rock each time, so keep his Saturday night show in mind for your weekend plans! For a preview, here's Tym covering Eric Clapton's "Tears In Heaven" at Foggy Notions in 2009!



That's all for now, but stay tuned for my review of Woods of Ypres' "Pursuit of the Sun & Allure of the Earth" tomorrow, and more news this weekend! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (La Promesse & Tym Morrison), The Vibe Lounge's Closure, And More!!

We've got some more news today before we preview this weekend's concerts and review "Woods II" over the next couple of days, including the sudden closure of a local concert venue, the status of a previously advertised concert scheduled for today, and LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, so here's what you need to know!

The 35th Roosevelt Hotel metal night will go down TOMORROW NIGHT as expected, and for the seventh time in eight weeks, Dismembertainment are bringing some out of town headlining talent to The Rosie for this show! This week, the headliners are Rimouski, Quebec hardcore quintet La Promesse, whose punk influenced metalcore sound should bring in some high energy pits on Thursday night! Honestly, their vocals need to grow on me, but they'll fit right in this week, so don't miss them! Two local opening bands are projected for Thursday, including local classic metal quartet Late & Loud, in just their third ever Thursday metal night at The Rosie! Nice to see them back getting shows in following their hiatus, and hopefully they wow the crowd with their covers and originals tomorrow! A second opening band is expected, but has yet to be formally announced, so stay tuned for updates on that front! As always, this show should have a start time of around 10:00 PM, you must be 19 to attend, and there will be a cover charge of $2, which is definitely more than enough for the bands you'll get! For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! This is shaping up to be a good concert with some diverse metal bands, and hopefully this goes off without a hitch! Stay tuned for more updates on this concert!

Also for new concerts, Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison has announced his next solo acoustic concert for THIS SATURDAY at Service Grill Pizza! It's his second straight Saturday nighter at the Korah Road restaurant after intermittent Saturday bookings this month, so I'm starting to think he's no longer on a rigid schedule for shows there. No matter what though, we have another night full of hard rock and metal classics in a more intimate setting on Saturday night, so if you need something to do this weekend, keep Tym's next solo show in mind! Like last week, Tym's only playing from 8:00 PM onward with no afternoon set, there's no announced cover charge, and I believe it's all ages (given it's restaurant locale.) For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Sounds like a good night of music, and hopefully Tym has lots of great music in store for fans and Service Grill patrons alike on Saturday night! Stay tuned for more on this show tomorrow when we preview this weekend's concerts!

Next up, according to recent postings on their Facebook page, The Vibe Lounge on Goulais Avenue is closing tomorrow. The west end bar and concert spot will have their "last night open" on "Broke Ass Wednesday" tonight (as cited here), ending a 17 month local run that started last April. No reason has been publicized for the bar's sudden end, but if something comes out, I'll definitely have it here! Launched by some of the staff responsible for the former Nite-Life Dance Club, The Vibe Lounge seemed to be a nicely maintained bar, and it hosted heavier concerts from headlining bands like Caveman Morrison, Full Circle, Sneaky Pete, That's Chester, Throat Kick, and We The Undersigned during it's run. It's really surprising to hear of The Vibe Lounge's apparent end, but I imagine it's very west-end location couldn't have helped attendances sometimes. I know the guys at The Vibe Lounge did their best to make it a great new bar and lounge, and it will be surprising to not have it around anymore, if this all is true. If you're a Vibe fan, definitely head there tonight to send the bar out with a bang, and hopefully down the road, another bar comes to that spot! If I hear any more on the Vibe Lounge's closure, I'll let you guys know!

That said, I've moved The Vibe Lounge from our Sault Ontario Concert Venue Listings to our Other Local Metal Links section due to their impending closure. While I was moving inactive venues, I also moved The Bottoms Up Lounge out of the venue links due to it's inactivity as a metal concert spot, especially given that only Tym Morrison (of SMS-covered acts) ever played there. Another older Tym Morrison venue (The Big Cheese in Heyden) was removed for the same reason, but they don't have a website for me to use to keep them around. Things should be up to date now for which venues are active for concerts!

Finally today, I wanted to address a concert some of you guys may have heard about since last month. On August 19th, you may have seen a SooToday article on their entertainment page promoting a concert taking place TODAY at The Oddfellows Hall that would be headlined by Vancouver punk/metal outfit Kill Matilda. Solid band, nice mix of punk, metal, and horror movie themes, and with a female singer too, so they'd definitely be worth checking out! Kill Matilda's publicist confirmed the show with me by e-mail last month, and the local date is listed on the tour poster on your left. That said, I never publically confirmed the show on the SMS because Dismembertainment (who were going to book the show) never publically announced it. But with SooToday plugging it, I had to address it, so are Kill Matilda playing in Sault Ontario tonight? Nope. When doing some research, I found this topic on the 705 Video Magazine forums (registration required to view) where Dismembertainment's Rich Moreland confirmed that he had to cancel the show. Had it went on, there was apparently tentative plans for some professional filming & an interview, which would have been awesome, but that's out now. Shame this show didn't go through, it'd have been great, but Dismembertainment have lots of awesome stuff on the horizon (like Napalm Death), so keep an eye out!

Also for possible concerts, The Nicolet Tavern's marquee board is advertising Full Circle for this Friday and Saturday, but I'm not positive if these shows are going on as announced or not. The band has yet to publically announce any dates for this weekend (via a Facebook event page or otherwise), so I'm not sure what's up. For what it's worth, the band hasn't played anywhere in two weeks, and I heard that drummer Scott McClurg recently came down with a cold, but whether either will affect this weekend's shows or not isn't known. If I hear definitively that Full Circle are playing at The Nic this weekend, I'll let you guys know!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews tomorrow and our review of Woods of Ypres' "Pursuit of the Sun & Allure of the Earth" on Friday! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Thekillingfield) & Sault Ontario Weekend Concert Previews!!

It's time to preview the first batch of our weekend concert previews! As I've done here and there lately, I'm breaking up the previews into two posts: This one for just Sault Ontario concert previews, and I'll have previews of the Sault Michigan hard rock shows this weekend probably tomorrow with some additional news to fill things out with. So today, let's preview the three (possibly four or five) metal/hard rock shows in Sault Ontario between tomorrow and Saturday, along with speculation on two shows that may or may not be on as scheduled. Here's what you need to know, statrting with a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for TOMORROW NIGHT!

The 33rd Roosevelt Hotel metal night is official for tomorrow night, and there's a big lineup in store for this week, including some local favourites from out of town! North Bay extreme metal trio Thekillingfield will return to Sault Ontario for the first time in 3½ months when they headline this late-announced metal night! Great to see them back so soon, and hopefully their extreme and assaulting sounds will attract some huge moshpits tomorrow night! The local opening bands will be local death metal outfits The Bear Hunters and Shit Liver, who'll both set the tone well with devastating sounds and brutal aggression! Plus, if you missed Shit Liver last night, here's another opportunity to see them! Note that The Bear Hunters' Facebook page says that they're playing with Changing Waves and Redundant tomorrow, but this was not confirmed by Dismembertainment, who posted the actual lineup on their Facebook page earlier today, so don't get confused tomorrow night. Still, it's great to see yet another high quality package of metal at The Rosie on another Thursday, so head down for the show tomorrow night if you can! There will be a nominal cover of $2 (which is easily worth it for the bands you'll get), you must be 19 to attend, and it all starts at around 10:00 PM. Check the above links for more details!

Sounds like a great show, and if you make it out, wish promoter Rich Moreland a happy belated birthday! His birthday's actually today, but what better way to celebrate it than at a metal show, so send the good wishes his way tomorrow night! So go see Thekillingfield, The Bear Hunters, and Shit Liver tomorrow night, it'll be a good one! For a preview, here's Thekillingfield playing their song "To Be Joedy" at The Canadian last year!



Next up, local classic metal quartet Late & Loud are back for another concert tomorrow night! One week after ending their four month hiatus, the talented band will play their first solo headlining show since the spring tomorrow night at The Speak Easy at Algoma University! The show will take place concurrently with a "Heroes vs. Villains" themed pub night at The Speak Easy, so feel free to dress up and join in the fun! I'm sure the band will be dressed up too, so why not break out a costume or disguise for the occasion? This show will have a 10:30 PM start time, there will probably be a 19+ age limit (I don't know if underage Algoma students can get in, but I know they can sometimes), and though there's no announced cover charge, bring cash just in case. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! This should be an entertaining concert, and with a different vibe than you usually see at Late & Loud concerts, so don't miss them tomorrow night (especially if you missed their return last week!) For a preview, here's Late & Loud playing their original song "Never Again" at Foggy Notions earlier this year!



Thirdly, I wanted to mention local classic hard rock quartet Full Circle, who announced a weekend set of shows at The Canadian Nightclub for this Friday and Saturday months ago on the now deleted Turner Up Facebook group. Coincidentally, these were the last shows on that old schedule, but I'm positive they have much more to come! This weekend though, are they still playing at The Canadian? Not on Friday night, at the very least. Since their re-opening last week, The Canadian have been trying country nights on Fridays, and local quartet Asylum Country (featuring Full Circle guitarist Kyle McKey on bass) are scheduled to play there this Friday, as cited here. So with that obvious conflict, it looks like one of two things will happen: Either Full Circle will play at The Canadian (or elsewhere?) on Saturday only, or aren't gigging this weekend at all. If they are still on for Friday, the show would likely start at 10:30 PM with a 19+ age limit and likely cover charge of $5 or less, and it would be the first hard rock show at The Canadian since the flood in July. As of right now though, I'm not confident enough to officially say that Full Circle are playing a show this weekend, but if I hear anything definitive, I'll let you guys know!

And finally, Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison is back for another solo acoustic concert on Saturday! This week however, he'll return to The Zone Roadhouse in Goulais River for the first time in three months on Saturday night! As far as I can tell, he will not be at Service Grill Pizza this weekend, so either he's now only there bi-weekly, or he's not on a rigid schedule like he once was. Still, if you live closer to Goulais River, you'll enjoy that he'll be playing at a closer venue on Saturday! No matter the venue, his acoustic hard rock and metal covers are always worth checking out, so head down to the Highway 17 North bar on Saturday night for the show! He'll be on at the sort of early start time of 8:00 PM, there's no announced cover charge, and you must be 19 to attend. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Should be a great show, hopefully Tym delivers some great rocking covers for his Goulais River fans on Saturday, so make it out if you can! For a preview, here's Tym Morrison covering Eric Clapton's "Tears In Heaven" at the to-be-renamed Foggy Notions in 2009!



That's all for now, but stay tuned for Sault Michigan concert previews and much more either tomorrow or early Friday! Thanks everyone!

This Weekend's Concert Previews!!

It's time once again to preview the upcoming slate of metal and hard rock concerts... or, most of them. I know of 7 individual concerts over the next few days that fit on the SMS, but because of the size and notability of one (the Searchmont Music Festival), and with the slightly extended size of this post if we included it, I'll make it a top story in tomorrow's news post, so watch out for our Searchmont Festival preview then! So let's get previewing the rest of the announced concerts, and if I'm missing any heavier ones, let me know!

Yes, we have another Roosevelt Hotel metal night TONIGHT, the 32nd of this Thursday series, but who can we expect? For the first time in a month, it's an all local affair tonight with only two scheduled bands, and the new announced headliners are local grimecore standouts Shit Liver, replacing The Bear Hunters on the lineup! Solid replacement, and their crusty mix of death metal and punk should go over well tonight! The other confirmed band is the returning Late & Loud, in their first local concert appearance in over 4 months! The talented quartet featuring Stillbroke, Glass Statues, and Losing Ground alumni will be sure to unleash an awesome set of classic heavy metal for their fans tomorrow night, for what should be a welcomed return to the local metal scene! So as tonight's show has just two bands (both local), there will not be a cover charge, you must be 19 to attend, and everything starts at 10:00 PM. For more details, click here! Sounds like a great show, though an interesting contrast of styles, and hopefully a huge crowd shows up despite the return of school on the Ontario side of the border! For a preview, here's Shit Liver playing "You're Scared" and "Survival of the Shittest" at The Rosie last month!



Next up, local classic hard rock quintet That's Chester makes their own return to the local stage tomorrow night for a one night only concert at The Rockstar Bar! The talented local veterans will rock the local stage for the first time since Rotaryfest in July for what should be a great night of hard rocking covers, but remember that they are NOT playing on Saturday, just tomorrow. Either way, it's nice to see them back at all after a mostly quiet summer, and hopefully they're back playing many shows and venues to come! This show has an announced start time of 10:30 PM, you must be 19 to attend, and though there's no advertised cover charge, bring cash, as The Rockstar Bar often has covers even for local bands. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! That's Chester should tear it up tomorrow night, and hopefully this will just be the first of many shows from them over the next while! Head to The Rockstar Bar tomorrow night if you can, and for a preview, here's That's Chester covering Led Zeppelin's "Good Times Bad Times" this past spring!



Also this weekend, local hard rock quintet Swayze Train will return to The Satisfied Frog in Sault Michigan for a weekend of heavy hits! The new-ish local band featuring Electric Motor Fish, Clownsack, Slackjawed Rats, and Insipid Brutality alumni will hit The Frog tomorrow night & Saturday night for their first local concerts in almost a month, though they did play a couple shows in St. Ignace in the interim. Though I still can't tell you how Swayze Train sound, they should have a good selection of metal and hard rock covers in store for their fans this weekend, so don't miss them if you want some live metal action this weekend! Both shows have 10:00 PM start times and 21+ age limits, and there's no announced cover charges. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! By all accounts, Swayze Train have the talent to rock the house this weekend, and hopefully both shows go off without a hitch! Check the above links for more details, head to The Frog to see them this weekend, and stay tuned for more Swayze Train updates as I hear them!

And finally, local classic hard rock quartet Full Circle will return to one of their favourite stomping grounds for two nights of rocking music at The Nicolet Tavern! The talented quartet will be sure to have a night's worth of classic hard rock covers ready to rock The Nic with, so keep their shows in mind for your weekend concertgoing! Note that aside from their announced shows at the newly reopened Canadian Nightclub next weekend, there's nothing announced in advance for their future shows, but I can pretty much guarantee they'll be out and about way beyond next weekend, so don't worry! This weekend, they'll be on at the usual 10:00 PM-ish start time with no cover charge and a 19+ age limit for tomorrow night and Saturday night. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Should be some fun nights of hard rock, so if you're in the market for some great live music, The Nic's definitely an option you should consider! For a preview, here's Full Circle covering "Alone" by Heart at this year's Rotaryfest!



That's all for today, but hit some concerts this weekend, and I'll have more news tomorrow, including a preview of Saturday's first annual Searchmont Music Festival, with Defunct Local Band Profiles for this month coming on Saturday as well! Thanks everyone!