I hope all of our Ontario-based readers are adjusting as well to the current lockdown as they can! After focusing solely on Sault Michigan last time out, we're (mostly) in Canada today, courtesy of lots of new videos from two prominent covers-leaning bands, plus a few assorted news updates to round things out with. Here's what you should know!
Before Ontario was locked down again, local Southern hard rock quintet Fort Creek played one social distance-enforced concert weekend at Reggie's West two weeks ago, and they live-streamed a bunch of songs from the Saturday, March 27th gig on their Facebook page! These are across five videos, all capturing at least two songs, and unfortunately, most were uploaded sideways. Two were thankfully at a normal angle, including the first video, which features Fort Creek covering Theory Of A Deadman's "Lowlife" and Tonic's "Open Up Your Eyes". The three sideways videos begin with this 12 minute video of them covering Radiohead's "Creep", The Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band's "Blue On Black", and Luke Combs' "Can I Get An Outlaw" Next was an 8 minute video of Fort Creek tackling Shaman's Harvest's "Dangerous" (complete with fake emergency alert intro) & Monster Truck's "Don't Tell Me How To Live".
The fifth and final video was the longest, running for almost 20 minutes, and it features renditions of Queen's "Tie Your Mother Down", Guns N' Roses' "It's So Easy", Seether's "Tonight", and Phil Collins' "In The Air Tonight" (by way of Nonpoint, perhaps?) Embedded below is the fourth video, and longest of the two that aren't sideways, which features covers of Luke Combs's "Beer Never Broke My Heart" and a southern rock version of Motley Crue's "Live Wire". During Justin's introductions of the band in the fifth video, he acknowledged that bassist Robin "Bones" Lee was playing despite a broken shoulder, so now you know what his teased health issue was. Fort Creek posted this black & white video last week where Bones updated fans on his recovery, thanked everyone who saw them at the Reggievelt, and assured fans that he'll be ready to go when they can play live again.
Informative video with some humorous touches, including a very surprising contest for band merchandise! Nice to see so much new video content from Fort Creek when they could still make it, complete with a lot of surprising modern rock covers, and despite three of the five live-streams being sideways, the audio quality holds up! These also give a look into how Reggie's West dealt with social distancing (the lack of fans up front is not accidental), but it is a shame that Shane was stuck behind that cursed pole on the stage. Give Fort Creek's new videos a watch above & below!
Next up, here's some newly uploaded videos on local power rock quartet Re:Born's Facebook page last month! On March 7th, the band shared a brand new rehearsal video (with the caption "There's a pulse......."), of them also covering Motley Crue's "Live Wire", and while only 18 seconds long, it was a promising sign of life! You know it's a new video because of guitarist Blair Burch's much shorter haircut. The video only shows Blair and Brandan in frame, but the audio quality is solid, and it is nice knowing that Re:Born were playing again.... until the new lockdown, of course, but hopefully they can jam again next month! Embedded below is a newly posted concert video from Re:Born's first show with Elly McWatters on vocals, namely their headlining gig at Soo Blaster on March 12th, 2019 to warm up before opening for The Killer Dwarfs there, and the video features them covering Twisted Sister's "We're Not Gonna Take It"!
Filmed on a stationary (if slightly crooked) angle, this is a strong rendition of this 1980s metal classic, and assembled fans on the floor definitely enjoyed it! Re:Born had a good first year with this lineup, but alas, the pandemic put the brakes on their momentum, so fingers crossed they can get back on stage safely when things lighten up, hopefully later this year. Give Re:Born's new videos a look above and below!
Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist event or company name:
The live-streamed virtual concert festival Coronafest will return for a second installment on Saturday, April 17th as per the Facebook event page! Co-organized by former Sykotyk Rampage bassist Brian Cattapan (now based out of Sudbury), last year's event featured Brian and local hard rock singer Cory Murchison among it's diverse and mostly non-local lineup, though the current roster has no recognizable local hard rock/punk names. If things change in that regard, we'll let you know, but see above for more details!
The Harp Bar & Grill
(formerly Madison's Pub) at 701 Pine Street has reportedly closed it's
doors permanently due to the third lockdown, and celebrated it's last
call on Good Friday, as per their Facebook page.
The Harp hosted a number of acoustic concerts from their 2013 Irish
rebranding until the pandemic began, but it may be better known to
readers from Madison's higher profile run of electric concerts in the
2000s. I won't get into their divisive response to the pandemic on
social media here, but it is sad to lose a venue outright like this, and
we do wish best of luck to Harp & Pizza King staff and regular
patrons in the future!
Kewadin Casino
in Sault Michigan have announced that tickets purchased for all 2020
concerts postponed or cancelled due to the pandemic will be refunded, if
not done so already. According to their Facebook page,
Kewadin box office representatives will be contacting people with
outstanding tickets and will be sending out checks for refund purposes.
These dates do include the Black Label Society and Candlebox shows that
were called off last spring. Here's hoping for concerts to resume there
as normal down the line!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile on the site next! Thanks everyone!
Just a heads up, this post is the first on the SMS that I've had to make using Blogger's new editor interface which was rolled out earlier this year. I am not an immediate fan of it, and I have already had to check online help forums to answer questions about where certain things are, so if anything looks amiss, that's why. Hopefully things are sorted out soon!
Today's post is devoted to archive videos from prolific local rock musician Joe Falco's YouTube channel,
which we alluded to in a post on the site three weeks ago, as Joe was
in the late stages of a massive upload streak of videos from his run in
live bands in the mid-late 2000s. Let's start with the biggest of his
past groups, namely 2005-2011 grunge/alternative rock trio No Arrow (née Murder Playground), who are the subject of 25
of his videos in the last few months! These include a now-band official
upload of all 12 songs from their unreleased studio album "Souls For
Sale" and a few videos that were previously uploaded on frontman Dann Pichette's YouTube channel.
Joe's uploads, brand new or otherwise, include three videos from a
weekend at The Canadian Nightclub in April 2007, two from a Sault Area
Wrestling event at The Elks Lodge that fall, two from The Speak Easy at
Algoma University, three from Madison's Pub (now The Harp Bar &
Grill), a rehearsal jam of "One On The Line", and a Fitswitch parody under their original name.
It's awesome seeing a lengthy No Arrow video like this, albeit 14 years later, and while the VHS camcorder quality isn't ideal (smartphones weren't ubiquitous yet), the raw intensity is on full display! Of course, any fans of Local H will want to give this a special look, especially as you don't hear them covered often nowadays. Give this video a watch below, and check out much more from No Arrow's mid-late 2000s heyday at the above links!
Speaking of bands that Jason and Joe were in together, let's now look at another old band that Joe has uploaded content from, namely their old 2005-2007 thrash metal band Faithless Sin! Here featuring Jason on vocals (a'la Operation: Killdozer) and Joe on guitar, this band also features guitarist Frank LaTassa (Quite Frankly), bassist Ryan Gratton (Chronic Demonic) and drummer Mark Parent in their lone video, but Mike DiPasquale preceded Frank in the band, and Gates of Winter alum Jonathan Harvey drummed in their brief 2010 reunion. Faithless Sin never got far off the ground, and have no known public concerts to their name, but some members did more collectively in their successor band Time of Ruin from 2007-2008. Joe has uploaded four videos representing Faithless Sin, including two crude audio copies of originals ("Chaos Reigns" & "River Flows Cold"), plus a better quality recording of two Slayer covers. Embedded below is Faithless Sin's only surviving video!
Also filmed via that VHS camcorder, this is very much a jam session recording, and Joe is very forthcoming in the video description if a song was a jam or rough, plus what he wishes the video would have captured from their setlist at the time. In order, the guys can be seen playing Slayer's "War Ensemble" as a soundcheck, Megadeth's "She-Wolf", In Flames' "Behind Space 99", Sepultura's "Refuse/Refist", their combined version of Slayer's "Die By The Sword" & "Black Magic", a jam of Pantera's "Fucking Hostile" from a different camera angle, another loose jam of Metallica's "My Friend of Misery" with Joe on vocals, two separate run-throughs of their original "Chaos Reigns" (a first-time jam and a proper performance), and finally, Metallica's "Blackened". Camera aside, this raw and brutal rehearsal captures a promising band that I'd have liked to have seen go further locally! Our view of Faithless Sin is only optimal on the Pantera cover though.
On songs that Joe doesn't give a disclaimer for, everyone sounds tight and dialed in, and Jay's groove-influenced growl adds the extra bark (that's a good comparison), and given that Frank had just joined the band, he fit right in on certain songs! Give Faithless Sin's archive videos a watch above and below, and stay tuned for more from Joe's channel in the coming days!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site soon! Thanks everyone!
We're clearing most of our recent news items in this post, and there's some big stuff to get to in it, so what's in store? We have lots of recent news from The Suicide Kings, and a pile of other shorter recent news stories from the area, but leading off, we have some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for big summer shows in Sault Ontario, so read on below for what you need to know!
Edmonton heavy metal quintet Striker will hit The Roosevelt Hotel for a headlining concert on Tuesday, June 25th! Presented by local concert promoter J.D. "Johnny Pints" Pearce, this show should appeal to fans of classic metal and NWOBHM bands, and if you enjoyed recent local shows with bands like 3 Inches of Blood & Skull Fist, Striker and their tour-tested, very heavy sound will be completely up your alley, so check them out at this location! Two local opening bands are being sought, but no one has been publically confirmed as of this writing, but message J.D. at this location if your band is interested in opening. There will also be an attached costume contest for the best 1980s metal outfit worn by attendees, with prizes for the winner(s?), so keep that in mind for the 25th as well! Admission will be $5 for this 9:00 PM concert, and I'd assume this is a 19+ event unless indicated otherwise. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! This should be an awesome concert, and I'm really digging Striker's sound, so stay tuned for updates!
Also, our first public indications of metal or hard rock at Rotaryfest are now in, as Rockstar Bar Battle of the Bands winners The Suicide Kings have revealed that they will be performing on the main stage at Clergue Park on Friday, July 19th! This really caught me off guard, as they play original material, whereas the edict from Rotaryfest organizers is that the main stage bands have to be covers-only, but maybe they're only playing covers for their set? Time will tell, I suppose, but this is a big opportunity all the same! The posting on The Suicide Kings' Facebook page from yesterday indicates that they'll be on at 9:00 PM on July 19th, which is one of the top timeslots, so absolutely keep that in mind during Sault Ontario's annual summer festival next month! The full schedule has not yet been officially unveiled, but Rotaryfest's website indicates that the headliners on Saturday, July 20th will be Rolling Stones tribute band The Blushing Brides (keeping with the recent trend of an out of town tribute band headlining the main stage on the Saturday), while I assume the jazz/blues theme for Thursday the 18th would still be in effect.
Also to note, The Suicide Kings' Facebook posting indicated that they'd be "the only band in the genre" on the main stage, though we won't know if that's definitely the case until an official lineup is posted. Admission should be free, and this is ALL AGES as usual. Check the above links for more details! The Suicide Kings should leave a good impression for their Rotaryfest debut, even if they're not on the more original-friendly Second Stage, but best of luck come July, and stay tuned for updates on the full entertainment lineup as we hear it! In other Suicide Kings news, the same posting above indicated that their forthcoming debut EP "King of the World" is in the mixing process, and they'll be using the recording time won at the Rockstar Bar Battle to record drum tracks towards it. Good art takes time, so hopefully everything turns out awesome when finished! Finally, have you seen postings on Facebook relating to a Suicide Kings/Haggith concert TONIGHT that we haven't covered on here?
Well, that's an invitation-only gig at Haggith's label/studio PaperClip Productions' headquarters, so because it's not publically attendable, we didn't call it on here. If you're invited, go check out the Rockstar Bar Battle's top 2 bands tonight, and hopefully there will be some shareable fallout to come out of it!
Finally for today, here's six assorted recent shorter news stories (mostly from across the river), and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist, company, or venue name:
On May 20th, Mackinac City classic rock station The Bear (which picks up here on better radios) finally changed it's FM frequency & call sign to 97.7 WOEZ out of Cheboygan (not 106.3 out of Onaway as was previously indicated) via recent station trades. The new position is just one notch off of it's old regional home, 97.9 WIHC (now Strong Tower Radio) out of Newberry, but I assume any interference will depend on where you're located. Make note of the change though!
Barring a return to activity by Wednesday, we'll soon be moving mid-2000s Sault Michigan-area hair/classic metal band Dust N' Bones to our inactive band links. Led by Theatre of Night's Craig Harrison (and later becoming a T.O.N. side project upon their early 2012 reunion), Dust N' Bones have offered no public updates since June 12th of last year, but hopefully Craig and company revisit this entertaining material down the road!
In case you weren't sure, LemmaFest (the annual Mike Lemma tribute concert outside of Dondee Lanes) is returning for a third installment on Saturday, June 22nd! Early plans & information have been made public at their official Facebook page from May 30th onward, which is oddly late compared to the past 2 years, especially with no bands confirmed yet that I know of. Stay tuned for updates though, and hopefully this year's a hit like the others!
As best as I can tell, former local concert venue Madison's Pub (in the Food Basics plaza on Pine Street) is undergoing renovations this month for it to become an Irish themed bar named The Harp Pub & Grill, as per postings on this event page for an upcoming local musician showcase event being held there. Madison's hadn't been a visible metal venue since the end of 2009, but maybe things might pick up with it becoming The Harp? You never know!
A local singer named Marika Suha is looking to join a local band, and though she didn't give a genre indication, she's hoping to join a "very very cool kick ass band", so that could mean metal for all we know. If you're interested in seeing if she'd be the right fit, message her at this location or check out her post on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group from Wednesday morning!
Half A Man frontman Erik Rintamaki has started his own concert sound company & recording studio named Superior Sound Company to provide live event sound & professional song recordings in the Eastern Upper Peninsula. No indications as of yet of metal/hard rock work, but we all know Erik's local music background is a good sign for that, so message Superior Sound at the above links for more info, and they're now in our Other Sault Michigan Links section!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news as it comes in, along with our Defunct Local Band Profile on Insipid Brutality on Monday! Thanks everyone!
There, now I've had a night to recover from the metal onslaught! Last night, Garden of Bedlam celebrated their win at the Kiss Battle of the Bands by playing a concert at Madison's Pub! And I wouldn't miss that for anything! Here's my review!
I got there before 11:00, but they didn't start until 11:30. No worries though, they were showing The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights Finale on the TVs, so that kept us entertained (For reference, Roy Nelson won in the finals, and Kimbo won too!) However, they played it on the wall behind the band, so you may see UFC behind Garden of Bedlam in the photos I took! Madison's is a place I've never been to for a concert, and it struck me as kinda small (Well, the concert area at least), but the atmosphere is nice, it's close to my place, and everyone seemed to like it, so it's all good!
Garden of Bedlam took the stage, and were alright....just kidding, they were AWESOME! I think part of how well they played was because they were so happy to have won the Kiss battle, cause entusiasm to play = great performances! Buzz had to apologize for his voice, which was giving him some problems, but it wasn't a visible issue until they covered "Fucking Hostile" by Pantera near the end of the night, little complaints here! No, for most of the night, Buzz sounded as great as he ever has, good range, I like how he can be both heavy and melodic at the same time, always have! Josh Belleau kept up his amazing guitar work, every single solo he played was excellent! Evan Belleau remains a very good bassist, you can hear his playing clearly through the music, and he's got some good grooves! And of course, Derek Turner was great behind the kit, drummers need more credit as it is, and he played just as well as I've ever seen him!
You knew Buzz was psyched to play when he was jumping on tables and going into the crowd while singing, which is always cool to see from any band! And the crowd was very good, they were headbanging away and partying and enjoying every second of this show! Also, we got a very cool surprise, as Lion Ride guitarist Marco "Marc O'Lion" Pedalino joined Garden of Bedlam to cover Iron Maiden's "The Trooper"! I thought Marco was just handling the sound, so seeing him join Garden of Bedlam for the song was awesome! Great solo too! See, even with the one point loss in the battle, Lion Ride & Garden of Bedlam are still friends, so think twice before you bash Garden needlessly for beating Lion Ride! But for me, one of my all-time concert highlights happened late in the show, where Buzz had PULLED ME ON STAGE, put his arm around me, and basically told the crowd who I was, praised all my work on the SMS, and the crowd went nuts! That was totally unexpected and I loved every second of it! I just wish I'd knew so someone could get a picture! Thanks Buzz!
The show ended with an encore of The Deftones' "Headup" and, I think this is a first, a request for a Garden of Bedlam original, "New Rain" from the crowd! I've heard "New Rain", "Against The Grain", and "Everything Will Die" before, but all three still sound awesome live, I can't wait to hear studio versions of these songs on the band's next album! Overall, great show, I can't wait to see Garden of Bedlam on the 15th at The Essar Center, that will be one hell of a night! The band played as good as they've ever played, and a great crowd responded accordingly! I was headbanging like mad, and yes, my hair's still tangled. Oh yay. But it was well worth it, and I'll do it again sooner rather than later! Thanks to Garden of Bedlam, Marco, Nolan from Bring The Fallen, and everyone else who said hey or praised the SMS last night! And, I love my new Garden of Bedlam shirt, well worth the money! Now, show Kiss what local metal is all about!!!
Obviously, I took pictures, so check out the ones I took at this location, or by visiting our Facebook page! My screen (or, what's visible of it, it's broken) had trouble in the dark room, so excuse any bad angles or shots. But the quality's good, and you can catch UFC behind the band in some pics too! That's all I have for now, thanks everyone for the support and readership, I appreciate every hit! Next post will have news, my preview of Tuesday's Three Days Grace concert (that I'll be in attendance for), or both! Stay tuned!
P.S., I'm giving you guys a heads-up on this because it fits so well with the topic of Garden of Bedlam: I don't know when, but I plan on re-reviewing their first EP on the SMS, because after looking at it again, it's not up to my normal standards from my last six reviews. Not nearly as in-depth or detailed as I'd like. I'm not sure when I'll get around to it, but keep an eye out, cause I really want it to match up better with my better reviews since I started regularly reviewing local albums. I'll let you guys know when I do revisit it for a second look!
First off, this completely passed my mind yesterday, but I figure this is worth mentioning: Did you know that yesterday was the first anniversary of this very blog? The Sault Metal Scene has been going strong since July 2007, but I didn't launch the blog until my frustration with Facebook came to a head on December 2, 2008, and I needed an alternative, and now look at us! This blog really has been a labour of love, I've put more time than I really should have into getting it looking nice and making sure you all got all the news and updates that us metalheads deserve, and I never expected it'd be so successful a year later! Now, we wait for July 4, 2010, when the SMS as a whole turns 3!
So this post tonight has a triple purpose: A. Preview this weekend's three local metal concerts; B. Discuss some fallout from the Kiss Battle of the Bands; and C. Get caught up on stuff I've missed over the past while, since the Kiss battle consumed most of my time (Though I really am grateful for it, as it was both awesome and huge for increasing SMS interest!) Let's begin with this weekend's local concert previews! Three shows, all in Sault Ontario, here's what you need to know!
First, we'll head to a venue that typically doesn't host much in terms of metal concerts, but there's an exception this weekend! Caveman Morrison, fresh off their solid performance Monday at the Kiss battle, will headline two consecutive nights at The Nicolet Tavern on Albert Street West tomorrow night and Saturday night! That's near the International Bridge, if you didn't know. Both shows start at 10:00 PM, no cover charge is advertised. Excluding the Kiss battle, these will be Caveman Morrison's first full local shows since August, and their first featuring new bassist Rick White (Frightlight, ex-Fitswitch!) This was indeed short notice, so don't blame me for the late announcement. The band are hyping an "awesome light show" on the official Facebook event page, which should be cool! Expect lots of great heavy metal covers, and maybe some of Tym's original songs too! Caveman Morrison are a great band, you'll have fun if you make it out!
I will see if I can make Friday's (not sure yet), but if not, I'll definitely see them next weekend at their shows at The Algonquin Hotel! Confirm your attendance at this location! I have no embeddable videos to share with you guys, but check out some live clips from older Caveman Morrison lineups at Caveman Morrison's official website!
Also on Saturday night, the WINNERS of the Kiss Battle of the Bands will celebrate their razor thin victory, when Garden of Bedlam hit the stage at Madison's Pub on Pine Street! This will be their first full concert set since October 30th at The Oddfellows Hall, and the first metal concert of any type at Madison's (to my knowledge) since Sykotyk Rampage played two nights there in March! Cover charge is $5, they take stage at 11:00 PM, and they will play two sets, including songs from their debut EP, new material, and some covers also! Doors are open all day, so stop in and get some pizza and a beer whenever! Madison's is small, so make sure you get there at a good time so you don't get trapped in a huge crowd! Buzz has been hyping this show as "the official Garden of Bedlam celebration", so you know this will be worth hitting!
I will absolutely be there, not only do I live near Madison's, but it'll be the first full show of Garden of Bedlam's I've seen in months, how could I miss this? And riding high on the wave of winning the Kiss battle, you know they're gonna be pumped to play live, so expect them to bring their A-games! Confirm your attendance for this show at this location, and hopefully you have tickets to see them open for Kiss on the 15th! For a video preview, I couldn't find anything recent, but here's a clip of the band performing the song "Shallow" from a show last year at The Lock City Grand Theater!
Speaking of Garden of Bedlam, some news has been falling out from the Kiss battle since last night! As expected, Donna Hopper has posted another review/recap from the battle on SooToday with lots of extremely good photos! The title sums up the results really well: "Lion Ride roars, but Buzz was better, judges rule". It was really a toss-up, both bands were massively deserving of the win! Nice article, check it out! Also, Frank Dobrobvnik from The Sault Star posted an article about the battle this morning, which you can check out at this location! However, it is quite outdated, as it still implies that Kiss have final say in the winner (Mark SanAngelo told us they left it in the judges hands last night), and neglects to mention that Garden of Bedlam won. Still a good article, just needs some updating and correcting.
And now, to get caught up on loads of news I've missed over the past week! I apologize for being late on this stuff, but you know I didn't have a lot of time or space for it during the battle of the bands! Let's quickly run through some things, so here's what you guys need to know in the world of local metal!
Woods of Ypres frontman David Gold has unearthed one of the first ever band interviews, taken way back in 2003! Originally posted on the internet webzine Transcending The Mundane, it was conducted by Brett VanPut on February 16, 2003, where he asked David questions about their personal philosophy, black metal, their origins, "Against The Seasons", label deals, how to pronounce their name, and many more! Nice interview, definitely a cool read for you Woods fans! Check it out at this location, with select excerpts and comments at their official forum! Also, another review of "Woods IV: The Green Album" has been posted online, by "Yoggi" on the website MetalMusicMan.com! Yoggi calls it "the best metal release of the year", which is a huge compliment! Check out his review at this location!
Thanks to Laurie Frigault for this information: Do you want guitar lessons from a real professional without going to a music store or school? Stillbroke frontman Jesse Frigault has been teaching guitar for three years, and you are free to contact him if you wish to learn from Jesse! Call 759-8696 to contact him if you're interested, he gives private one on one lessons in his studio. All ages are accepted at beginner to advanced levels, and anything that you want to learn, he can teach you! Remember, he was the namesake of the old Jesse's Music at the Market Mall, and he's enjoyed some huge success with Stillbroke, so you know he'll be a good instructor! So keep that in mind if you want to learn guitar!
Here's something different. When I was browsing SooNews today, I spotted this ad on their news page, which hyperlinks to a forum post on the SooNews forum. The ad says all you really need to know, a local band named Silver Dream are on the hunt for new members! I've never seen a local band buy advertising space to search for a band member before, that's interesting! The forum post doesn't elaborate much, but hey, if you're an experienced rhythm guitarist or drummer in need of a hard rock band to join, why not give Silver Dream a shot? Never heard of them before, it'd be interesting to hear what kind of material they play! Check out some more details on Silver Dream's band member search at this location!
Now, to recap some smaller news stories I've missed!
An official event page for the upcoming Detroit/Destroilet/Talk Shit concert has been launched on Facebook! Nothing new to speak of for it, except for the revelation that band merchandise will be on sale! Remember, it's a CD release show for Detroit's second album, "Brace For Impact"! The show's on December 29th at Coch's Corner, with a $5 cover! I'll be there for the Detroit show, it's gonna be awesome!
A new Facebook group has been launched for The Canadian Nightclub! Kinda sparse, but expect some growth in activity and content as time goes on! Join it today to get the scoop on upcoming shows and events there, at this location!
Kincheloe metal band Silent Despair have broken up, as of November 28th. Their Facebook page has the quote "We're disbanned. (sic) Things weren't working out due to undedication." That sucks, they sounded like they had some promise!
I had some videos to share too, but I'll save those for my next update, let's spread the news and updates out a bit. Thanks everyone for the continued support, I think things are returning to "normal" on the SMS....for now! Remember, reviews of this weekend's Garden of Bedlam concert, Tuesday's Three Days Grace show, and posisbly Caveman Morrison's concert tomorrow night are all coming up! Stay tuned!
Well, despite the lack of an official lineup announcement for it, the local concert previews must go on, so it's time to preview night one of the Kiss Battle of the Bands! Here's all you need to know about it, from what I know! All show details have been gathered from Rock 101's website, event pages from involved bands, and an e-mail I obtained that bands received about battle details. Stay tuned afterwards for some assorted other news stories, including a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!!!!!!!
As you know, Kiss needs an opener for their concert on December 15th at The Essar Center! So The Canadian Nightclub and Rock 101 are holding a three night Battle of the Bands, where the winner will be suggested to Kiss as their opener for the concert! 20 spots were available for bands, with 10 each playing on Monday and Tuesday night! The top bands from each night will clash on Wednesday night in the final runoff concert! Each band each night will get 10 minutes to perform two or three songs (NONE will be covers), with 5 minutes set-up time. The nightly lineups will be determined in a random drawing before performances begin each night, so we won't know who's on first until they know.
A panel comprised of representatives from The Canadian and Rock 101 will judge the bands on their talent, entertainment, and sound, with the audience having a 25% say in the voting tallies. Ultimately however, Kiss will have final say on who wins, the winner on Wednesday will be recommended to the band, who will make a final choice. I hope Kiss accepts the winning choice for the sake of fairness, but it's up to them. The winner will open for Kiss on December 15th with a 30 minute set. They will also receive 10 tickets for the concert and get their picture taken with the band!
So what else must you, the local music lover, know about attending? Well, it's NOT all ages, sadly. The cover charge will be $4 every day, and the show is scheduled to start at 9:00 PM nightly! I recommend being there early, because The Canadian will no doubt have a larger crowd than normal! I will be there all three nights, and I will take photos, with review/recaps coming the day after each part of the battle! Now, there has been no official announcements from any of the battle organizers yet about the definite lineups, so when it comes to discussing bands, I am short two bands. We're gonna break the individual band previews down by days over the next three nights, so we're only going to discuss TOMORROW'S SHOW tonight. Sources for how I learned of these bands' involvements can be found in the post below this one, nothing is guessed or assumed. I can confirm eight of tomorrow's bands, three of which are metal or hard rock, so here they all are! Save for Stiffler's Mom, click on each band's name to check out their official pages and check the bands out! (LAST UPDATED MONDAY AT 2:48 PM)Blues Harvest: These local blues rockers will no doubt inject a different flavour into Monday's lineup! You may recognize frontman Jake Rendell from the defunct local hard rock band Garage Inc! With a CD on the way and numerous local concerts under their belt, don't be surprised for Blues Harvest to put on a great set tomorrow night, as the whole band are great musicians! Show your support for Blues Harvest's set by joining their Facebook event page for the battle!
Caveman Morrison: A late addition to the lineup, Caveman Morrison are replacing MBM on the lineup! This will be their first live performance since August, and their first with new bassist Rick White (Frightlight, ex-Fitswitch). Though mostly known for covers, Caveman Morrison will play two songs from frontman Tym Morrison's solo album at the battle! A very talented heavy metal band to be watched out for! Show your support for Caveman Morrison's set by joining their Facebook event page for the battle!
Dirty Virgin: The local glam/punk rockers will be playing their first official concert in over eight months, though they last played live together in July. This will be their first live set since the departure of drummer Matt Hicks, though the band haven't publicly announced who the new drummer is. Expect some solid rock n' roll that might make you want to have a drink or two! Show your support for Dirty Virgin's set by joining their Facebook event page for the battle!
Flat Stanley: Featuring drummer Glen Thomas, a member of many local metal bands of the 80s and early 90s, Flat Stanley will show case their brand of progressive/experimental rock tomorrow night! The band have been going stong since 2000, and you may have seen them at numerous concerts and events in the Sault area! They've also recorded some studio material as well! Show your support for Flat Stanley's set by joining their Facebook event page for the battle!
Garden of Bedlam: Probably the most high profile of the four metal bands playing tomorrow, Garden of Bedlam are still riding high on the success of their debut EP, which came out in April. This will be their first local performance since the Devil's Night show at The Oddfellows Hall. Some are pegging Garden of Bedlam as early favourites to win it all, but only time will tell! Show your support for Garden of Bedlam's set by joining their Facebook event page for the battle!
Huckster: A band full of local music veterans, they are (to my knowledge) the only female fronted band competing in this event. Though not a Kiss-like band for their sound, don't count them out, they are very talented, with lots of great guitar-driven music! They also released their first album, "Designed For Real Life", earlier this year, which should do quite well! Show your support for Huckster's set by joining their Facebook event page for the battle!
Nebraska Arms: A popular local indie band, you may have seen the band in numerous local shows in recent months! Although not metal, bassist Wayne Watkins and drummer Adam Sauve were members of the inactive local metal band Renderware! Nebraska Arms recorded their first album earlier this year, and will no doubt show off their musical gifts tomorrow night! Show your support for Nebraska Arms' set by joining their Facebook event page for the battle!
Stiffler's Mom: A very successful pop-rock band, Stiffler's Mom can frequently be seen at local bars, and will now try their skills in the battle of the bands! Though not a "Kiss-like" band on the surface, all three members of Stiffler's Mom used to be in the local metal band Sin Stereo, so they do have the goods! Sadly, they don't have an official website or internet page, but they are definitely a talented and popular rock band, so keep an eye out for them!
Sykotyk Rampage: Coming off their return performance at The Outback in October, the "blue Chinese metal crash punk" rockers will no doubt provide the most unique sound of all the battle entrants! Though not the youngest of the bands, they bring loads of experience to the table! With a back catalog of 21 albums, who knows what songs they'll play? Show your support for Sykotyk Rampage's set by joining their Facebook event page for the battle!
Tiny Trebuchet: Thanks to Alli J from Rock 101 for sending me the full lineups for the battle, so I can tell you guys that a band named Tiny Trebuchet are playing tonight! But that's as far as my information goes, I've searched, and I've found absolutely nothing about this band. Not one detail. They must be local, but I'm at a loss for information. If you can tell me anything about Tiny Trebuchet, e-mail robfigures@hotmail.com A.S.A.P.!
Following tomorrow night's performances, head back to The Canadian Nightclub on Tuesday night for The Billy Bastards, Bring The Fallen, Gsis Murphy, Lion Ride, Middle of Nowhere, Nixxon Dixxon, Sense of Truth, Stillbroke, and Wishbone! And remember to go Wednesday for the finals! But tomorrow, be there by 9:00 PM, with ID and $4, and get ready for a night of some of the best bands in the Sault competing for one hell of an amazing prize!
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And finally, A LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!!! I apologize for the short notice of this, but it was just announced tonight.
THIS SATURDAY NIGHT, Garden of Bedlam will play their first ever solo concert! They'll be at Madison's Pub on Pine Street (in the Food Basics' plaza), a venue that hasn't hosted a local metal concert (to my knowledge) since Sykotyk Rampage played there in the spring! They'll play two sets of music, including songs from their EP, brand new originals, and select covers! Doors are open to Madisons' all day, but Garden of Bedlam won't take the stage until around 11:00 PM that night. There will be a cover charge of $5, but it'll be worth it to check out Garden of Bedlam! Also, Lion Ride guitarist Marco "Marc O'Lion" Pedalino will be there to provide sound! Should be a great show, if a bit smaller than typical. I'll be there for sure, I don't live far from Madisons', hopefully you can make it there too! Confirm your attendance at the official Facebook event page!
That's all for tonight, tomorrow, I'll preview night two of the Kiss Battle of the Bands AND the Battle of the Bands at The Speakeasy! And stay tuned Tuesday for a super important day! Not only will I preview the FINALS of the Kiss Battle, I'll post my review of "Woods IV: The Green Album"! Stay tuned, everyone!
