LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Zaum & Stiffler's Mom), An Older Punk Band Discovery, And More!!

As the news keeps coming in and piling on, let's get a post up on this Saturday morning, so what's on tap? Today, we have assorted recent updates, LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for the spring, and first, a new-ish band discovery that we honestly should have touched on in last summer's initial punk band integration, so here's what you need to know!

We have a defunct local punk band to add to our band links, and they are Stealing Kisses! Their lineup featured singer/guitarist Kevin Koprash, bassist Kevin D'Orazio, and drummer Nick Kainula (who all formed the 2009-2010 metal band Losing Ground with Late & Loud's Jon Tiberi after going on hiatus), while some MySpace photos indicate that they had a lead singer briefly as well (likely Mike Palarchio, source here.) Primarily active in early 2009, Stealing Kisses did play a number of concerts during their brief run, including opening for The Artist Life that May, and also playing with the likes of RedD Monkey and Caddy Street Avenue before going on hiatus later that year due to school commitments. Kevin D'Orazio and Nick did achieve far larger success with their early 2010s death metal band State of Misery, but they too had a brief main run. The band still has a Facebook group and MySpace page, the latter of which containing 6 songs, so how do they sound?

Credited to albums named "One Little Peck" & "Shit Happens" that I don't believe were ever released, these were at least partly recorded with C.S.A.'s Adam Fortais at Room Fire Studios. While a far cry from the metal that Kevin D. and Nick are best known for, they had a good consistent sound that captured pop punk well, with Mark Hoppus-esque vocals at times and some catchy riffs! Give Stealing Kisses a listen above, and stay tuned in case we find more archive punk bands on MySpace!

Next up, here's some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for the spring, starting with local party hard rock cover trio Stiffler's Mom, who will headline a chili cook-off fundraiser for Ride For Sight at the Garden River Community Centre on Saturday, March 28th! Last seen at The Rockstar Bar last month, this is a natural fit for Greg, Mike, and Jon, as Stiffler's Mom (and Greg's other bands That's Chester & Bone Yard) have all been very active in supporting Ride For Sight, the annual motorcycle rally at Searchmont that supports and raises funds for blindness prevention, and I imagine at least one of Greg's bands will be playing at this year's installment over the July 10th weekend. Before then though, Stiffler's Mom will provide musical entertainment at this chili cook-off in Garden River, with raffles and prizes also planned, and you may recognize some familiar faces among the cook-off's competitors, including Greg's wife Kerry, and Redundant frontman Justin Langlois!

This (presumably) all ages event at 7 Shingwauk Street will take place at 5:00 PM, and there is a $20 admission fee, but organizers are requesting that you buy your tickets at either Scotiabank branch in the Soo, as both are matching the sale of each ticket for Ride For Sight, which is awesome of them! You can likely pay at the door as well if you can't get to a Scotiabank in the next month. For more details, including on the chili-cook off itself, visit the official Facebook event page! Great idea for a great cause, so keep posted above and here for possible updates!

Also in the realm of new concerts, a very unique selection of out of town bands will hit The Rednecks Saloon on Monday, May 11th, with Moncton, New Brunswick "Middle Eastern mantra doom" duo Zaum headlining! An intriguing band who merge doom metal with ethnic chanting and dark overtones, they're definitely not something we see a lot of in town (unless you lump them with the recent spread of 1-2 man metal bands), so don't bypass them in May! Joining them are The Jealousy Mountain Duo, a German experimental/jazz duo that (though not a heavy band) will bring their own interesting sounds to the table in under two months! Local support will include local grunge/alternative quartet Haggith (in their first set at the former Nicolet Tavern in almost 8 months) and a band to be announced, though note that The Elements have expressed interest, and Mike Haggith & The Din were suggested before their sister band was officially confirmed.

A rare non-Bear Hunters concert promoted by Mitch Sirie, this show will take place at 9:00 PM on May 11th, this is a 19+ concert, and admission costs are yet to be announced. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page, and apologies for the week's delay to get this on the site! This is definitely a different sort of concert given the genres of the out of town bands, but that makes it all the more interesting to check out, so stay tuned for more updates as we hear them!

Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter updates from the last little while, and these are in alphabetical order by artist, event, or venue name:

• Remember how Docks Riverfront Grill became a Chinese buffet restaurant named Waterfront Legend last fall, but recently welcomed blues band Mojo there for a run of jam nights? Well, we now know more about the new band setup, as they opened a new live entertainment area of the building named Club 89 in January, which will once again host live bands in the upstairs playroom and DJs and dance parties in the downstairs lounge. How this all integrates with the buffet isn't clear, but stay tuned for updates on if heavier bands play at Club 89!
• Local punk/metal quintet Jack Spades have revealed on their Facebook page that they'll be opening for Toronto metal legends Anvil once again at a local show on Wednesday, April 1st! No word yet on the venue, admission fees, other openers, or anything else, but I can confirm that this is not an April Fools joke. When more is announced, we will definitely let you know!
• A full lineup has been finalized for next month's VM Radio Battle of the Bands on each Wednesday in March at The Canadian Nightclub, and promoter J.D. Pearce will announce the last 2 bands and complete lineup for the semifinals on March 4th, 11th, and 18th this coming Monday! Our source is the Facebook event page, where J.D. also noted that there may be special guest performers of some kind, which could be like the out-of-competition set that T-Rex Manning played at the Battle for the Blood that he promoted in 2012. Stay tuned on Monday for much more info!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for much more updates to come, plus this month's YouTube Channel Profiles TOMORROW! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Garden of Bedlam), Caveman Morrison VIP Night Preview, And Two New Local Bands!

Well, my exams are finally done, so let's update you guys on some new stuff! And we'll start with some Garden of Bedlam news!

On Monday, SooToday posted a press release from Garden of Bedlam concerning the Kiss concert cancellation. As we all should know, Garden of Bedlam were to back up Kiss at the show due to their victory at the Kiss Battle of the Bands! The band expressed disappointment, but hope that when the show is rescheduled, they'll still be the openers. It also features comments from drummer Derek Turner. Now we have already heard a lot of what it says through band pages, but the last part of the article is well worth mentioning:

"Garden of Bedlam will take the stage at Foggy Notions on Boxing Day, and are currently working on new material for a full-length album to be released summer of 2010."

Hear that? Garden of Bedlam at Foggies on December 26th! The band haven't officially announced it as of 3:33 PM Wednesday, but the band has teased it a bit on Facebook too. And really, if it's in the official press release on SooToday, it must be true! So there, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT! I still don't know full details though, but when the band announce them, I'll let you guys know! And make sure to read the news release from SooToday at this location!

Now, we have a concert tonight to preview, so here's what you need to know! I've heard the buzz for it all over the net and with people I've talked to, and finally, after over 20 months of waiting, Foggy Notions is back! Though the grand opening isn't until Friday (Sense of Truth are headlining!), you don't have to wait until then to experience the newly remodeled Foggy Notions! TONIGHT is the V.I.P. night, and headlining are none other than Caveman Morrison! Coming off last night's Kiss afterparty-makeup concert at The Rockstar Bar, they'll be headlining what should be a special night for those of you who loved Foggy Notions and were eagerly anticipating it's return! The concert/V.I.P. night is at 11:00 PM tonight, and tickets cost $10! Technically, tickets shouldn't even be available today, but with some cancellations, there were some available tonight, so ACT NOW if you want one! Call 575-0152 A.S.A.P. if you want to be a part of V.I.P. Night!

I won't go, though it'd be great to see Caveman Morrison again, I'm going to let people who experienced Foggy Notions in it's heyday have this one to themselves, I won't steal a ticket from someone who really really wants it. And if you guys can't make it tonight, no worries, Caveman Morrison will be back at Foggies on January 2nd, and it will be open to the public for Sense of Truth on Friday night! If you are going, you'll be in for a good concert, Caveman Morrison deliver some great covers, and you'll have fun! Check out videos and audio from the band and frotnman Tym Morrison's solo project at this location!

And my other big news today? NEW LOCAL BANDS! I came across two in recent days, and now it's time to profile them and add them to the band listings! The first is a band known as Meatplow! I can't completely confirm the band's lineup, but I believe at least one band member used to be in Amethyst, which, if I'm right, is awesome to hear! The band's Facebook page has some details about Meatplow's plans, including apparent recording sessions for an album to be released next year, and plans for the band to "break the Soo open" in February or March! No audio or video to speak of yet either, but their page says that Meatplow are "are a great band ready to rock" and "If you like the head bopping mixed with head banging then you will love our music." Sounds good to me, we'll have to see what they sound like! And when I hear more details on Meatplow, I'll let you guys know!

The other new band go by the name of Losing Ground, and you may recognize members of this band from another local group of a completely different genre! Frontman Kevin Koprash, bassist Kevin D'Orazio, and drummer Nick Kainula are also from local pop rock band Stealing Kisses, who you may have seen at a pair of shows with Bring The Fallen and assorted other bands from this past May! Well, it looks like the Stealing Kisses guys have gone metal, and joining them is lead guitarist Jonathan Tiberi, who definitely has some huge talent! Though he lived in the St. Catharines/Niagara area for a while, he's a Saultite, and he's uploaded some pretty good solo material onto his MySpace page! He's also done some stuff with fellow local guitarist Brendan Christie too! Sounds good, but how are the band? Well, if you ignore the bad quality audio, you can find out by clicking here, because they've uploaded a video from a jam session! Kevin Koprash is absent, but the song is solid enough, we'll have to see how they sound in full and live! As I hear more about Losing Ground, I'll be sure to share with everyone!

That's all I have for today, stay tuned to The Sault Metal Scene over the next while for my previews of this weekend's shows and the Foggy Notions grand opening, and much more! I won't be in town this weekend, I'm going to Detroit again, so I'll miss the fun at Foggy's, Rock of Ages, Free Refill, and Tym Morrison's solo shows, but I WILL BE BACK MONDAY! I will try and update the SMS where time permits in Detroit too. Oh, and thanks to the continuing support of our Facebook page, everyone! We're nearing 400 members, which is incredible, keep it up! Thanks eveyone!