Local Concert Previews For This Weekend, Plus Woods Of Ypres Lineup News And More!!

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!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Second Coming), Another Possible New Concert, And Lots More!!

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!