Toystock & White Cowbell Oklahoma Concert Previews, And More!!

Before we head off to TONIGHT'S Bear Hunters CD release show, here's the rest of the weekend's concert previews, concerning Sunday night concerts in Sault Ontario tomorrow, though we also have some Blood Shed Productions updates to cap things off! Here's what you need to know!

The long anticipated third annual Toystock goes down TOMORROW at The Canadian Nightclub! As has become a recent tradition, local concert promoters Maxx Entertainment are hosting this all day (and ALL AGES) charity concert event to help raise funds and donations to Christmas Cheer, with admission once again being FREE with a donation of a new/slightly used toy or non-perishable food item (though cash is accepted too.) As well, the Stuff-A-Bus will be on site to bring donations to the Christmas Cheer depot, Santa & Mrs. Claus will be present to meet the kids, and there will also be prize draws, so if you loved past installments of Toystock, get ready for tomorrow! Like at the last two Toystocks, 10 bands will grace the stage for 10 hours, and are largely comprised of veteran cover bands, giving fans a chance to see them outside of weekend bar engagements, and it's great to see them all donate their time for this year! Somewhat surprisingly though, seven of the 10 bands this year are Toystock newcomers, so here's who to look out for in descending order!

Local country rock veterans (and Toystock 2012 performers) Bone Yard will headline at 9:00 PM tomorrow, with two bands from the Rock For Dimes fundraiser earlier this month preceding them, those being progressive/jazz rock quartet Mannapool at 8:00 PM and classic/hard rock cover trio Mourning Wood at 7:00 PM. Fellow hard rock cover veterans Lucky 13 will play at 6:00 PM (becoming the only band to play at all 3 Toystocks), with all female classic rock cover quintet Domina returning to the stage at 5:00 PM, and country veterans Thin Ice making their Toystock debut at 4:00 PM. Young local alternative/grunge trio The Pixo Control are slated for 3:00 PM, with local country musician Lorrie Bolduc's band Lorrie Lynn & The Sinners on at 2:00 PM, Mike Case's Junior All-Stars returning from last year for a set at 1:00 PM, and local blues band The Stumpy Coldwater Trio opening the day at 12:00 PM. Nice diverse lineup to take in tomorrow, and remember, this is an ALL AGES event, and admission is via donation to Christmas Cheer!

For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Though it is a little odd not seeing Boxcar Junction, Obsession, or Stiffler's Mom back this year, there's still a great lineup of bands to enjoy TOMORROW, including three or so hard rock bands, and I hope to see you guys there! I missed last year's Toystock due to family commitments, but fingers crossed that I'll be there tomorrow! For a preview, here's Mourning Wood live at March For Dimes!



Finally for the weekend's concert previews is the return of Toronto southern hard rock veterans White Cowbell Oklahoma to Sault Ontario for a headlining concert TOMORROW NIGHT at The Rockstar Bar! Making their first local appearance since headlining at The Grand Theatre in 2010, this show will be in the midst of W.C.O.'s 15th anniversary tour, and if you're familiar with this band, you'll know how exciting their live concerts are! Featuring extended jams, power tool-infused songs, and energetic hard-edged southern rock, White Cowbell Oklahoma should leave a solid impression once again tomorrow night! Dutch alternative hard rock band The Paceshifters will open for W.C.O. tomorrow night with their own old school yet original sound, so be sure to come early for their set! Note that while White Cowbell Oklahoma pages also list Vancouver psychobilly band Big John Bates & the Voodoo Dollz as opening on this tour, they are only on Western Canada dates and not playing in Ontario (source here), despite opening at their local show in 2010.

This show will surprisingly have NO COVER CHARGE tomorrow night, and everything starts at 9:00 PM, but it's still a 19+ event. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! I'd like to hit this show up too, but with the length and camera battery drain that I expect Toystock will be, I'm unsure if I can work both shows in. White Cowbell Oklahoma's live concert experience speaks for itself though, so don't miss out if you can help it, and here's the guys live in 2012!



Finally for today, here's some updates from the Blood Shed Productions camp, starting with a new Facebook page for the reunited original version of Brutally Fatal! As you may remember, the death metal duo featuring Revolution frontman Austin McCrae and Crucify The Whore's Ringsnaps Gibson on drums reunited at the Archspire concert in August, but only just launched a new Facebook page on Wednesday (the original one was deleted a few months prior), which also confirms that Austin will remain the band's guitarist rather than bassist, and that "Brutally" is now spelled correctly with two Ls! I still don't really know why Austin spelled it "Brutaly" for so long, but the extra letter does noticeably improve the name! Details on their next show are to be determined, but Tyler's other live two-man band Rotopsy revealed on their Facebook page this week that they have plans to record a full length demo CD next year and will apparently play at the Touch of Death Festival in Cochrane next year, which would be great exposure!

C.T.W.'s Facebook page also hinted yesterday that they and Rotopsy will be playing at a concert of some type late next month, though whether it's an Oddfellows show, a house party, or somewhere else is to be confirmed. Sounds like there's some good developments from the Blood Shed, so follow along above for more, and Brutally Fatal are back in our active band links! That's all for today, but we'll see you guys TONIGHT at The Canadian for The Bear Hunters' CD release party! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (White Cowbell Oklahoma & Exiled) And New Video Finds!!

I know some of you are awaiting fallout from this past weekend's Hardcore Homecoming/Random Killing concert, but with a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, I didn't want it all to be de-emphasized, so that will very likely lead off tomorrow's post, so don't worry! Also today, we have an archive video find, a recent metal concert video, and another new show for later in the fall, so here's what you need to know!

I'm getting very contradictory reports about bands playing TONIGHT at The Savoy Bar & Nightclub in Sault Michigan, so here's what we currently know. Last night, Rudyard hard rock quintet Exiled (pictured) revealed on short notice that they'll be playing at The Savoy for the first time tonight at 10:00 PM, preceding their motorcycle club party gig tomorrow, but that's not what The Savoy's own Facebook page is advertising. Instead, they're promoting a show to be headlined by Saginaw rap/rock band Redburn with support from Munising metal quartet Infathom, which Redburn's pages are plugging, but not Infathom's (they haven't posted on Facebook in over a month.) Given that Redburn advertised this show on their Facebook page today, I'm inclined to believe that they're playing, and while not confirmed officially, it looks like Exiled have replaced Infathom on the bill, though we'll correct this if need be.

For what it's worth, Redburn aren't a "heavy" band per say, but you don't see this type of sound in the area too often, and it looks like they'll be playing at The Savoy again in December if you're into a full rap show! Regardless of what goes down tonight, keep The Savoy in mind for some live rock!

Moving to a show that we can 100% confirm, Toronto southern hard rock notables White Cowbell Oklahoma will roll through Sault Ontario on Sunday, November 30th during their 15th anniversary tour, as they'll be headlining at The Rockstar Bar! Notorious for their entertaining jam-heavy live concerts (complete with power tools), their country-infused rock originals should be a fun sight back in the Soo for the first time since their well received concert at The Grand Theater four years ago, so don't bypass this one either, and click here for Donna Hopper's entertaining review of that show from SooToday to see what you're in for! The announced openers are The Paceshifters, a hard rock band from The Netherlands who have a grungy yet modern sound that should go over well too, so don't miss them either! For reference, W.C.O.'s own pages advertise Vancouver psychobilly band Big John Bates & the Voodoo Dollz as opening too during their tour (as they did at their 2010 local show), but the local Facebook event page doesn't mention them.

This 19+ concert will begin at 9:00 PM on November 30th, and there will be NO COVER CHARGE, so there's all the more reason to come out! Check the above links for more details, and if you know White Cowbell Oklahoma's reputation and over the top live concert experience, you won't want to miss this one at the end of November! Stay tuned for updates when & if they come in!

Closing today with some new video finds, here's two new clip of Sudbury blackened death metal band Catharcyst from their co-headlining set opening for IDNS at The Oddfellows Hall two weeks ago! Uploaded to the band's YouTube channel today, they're of Catharcyst playing their songs "A Spell Has Been Cast" and (as embedded below) "Terra", both of which being filmed from the band's merchandise table at the far end of the hall. The video quality of these is not good, with dark and grainy lighting and an angle too far to make out much of anything regarding the band or fans, but the audio quality is solid enough! Check out Catharcyst's new videos above & below!



We'll close today with another archive video of local classic/hard rock veterans Havadder, courtesy of the same Nicolet Tavern concert from February 2012 that gave us their Foo Fighters cover that was on the site earlier this week! Same filmer too (YouTube user Danabelle39), but for whatever reason, her videos from this show were split across two channels. The video on her own channel is of Havadder's 2012 lineup covering Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers' "Runnin' Down A Dream" with frontman Jason Roy on lead vocals, and it's a good cover for fans of the original song, but the vocals can be muffled. Check out the full video below!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for Random Killing concert fallout and more in our next post! Thanks everyone!