Studio Updates From Two E.U.P. Bands, Plus Lots Of Assorted Updates!!

For the first time in 12 days, we have an actual multi-topic news post on the SMS! Blame the Ontario lockdown for that, but hopefully things will start to pick-up once the province starts re-opening next month. Fittingly, given the slowdown of Ontario topics this month, most of today's post reflects Sault Michigan and area, but there are a few shorter Canadian topics sprinkled in the back half. We will have more of an Ontario focus in our last post of the month, tentatively scheduled for Sunday. Here's what you should know!

We'll start today with the latest updates from St. Ignace progressive metal quintet Heavy Lies The Crown, so what have they been up to in the past month? After an almost two week break from new Facebook page postings, the band posted a (sideways) photo of their studio on May 21st, which is captioned "Finish vocals." That appears to have been their current/future plan re: their new full-length album, and an emoji-laden post the next day implied that they had completed recording clean vocals, with screaming next in line. That night, H.L.T.C. posted this 22 minute video of Brandon & Nathan (I think) working at the computer on tracking the recordings. This is also sideways, alas, but it is an interesting fly-on-the-wall look at their studio recording process! It definitely sounds like Heavy Lies The Crown are deep in the process, but see for yourself above & below, and stay tuned for updates!

Next up, local blues/hard rock quartet Project 906 have unveiled another new studio track from their planned debut EP! As teased to premiere today at noon via this preview video on Wednesday, this is a studio version of their original song "The Comeback", which has been in their live setlist since at least August 2019 (click here to see 906 perform it then). The black and white video features all four band members performing their parts separately, and this notably features new drummer Gary Croad on camera for the first time, though I'm surprised he's only filmed from behind. Without reviewing the song in full yet (save that for our review of the EP, assuming it comes out), this is a relatively long and bluesy number, so fans of that side of Project 906 will be right on board! Unfortunately, external embedding of this video is blocked, but click here or above to give it a watch, and hopefully we hear more from Project 906 soon!

Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist name:

 

• In their first Facebook page posting in over a year, Allstar Promotions revealed on May 17th that they are "working on booking shows for the fall/winter time" (presumably back at The Dreammaker's Theater at Kewadin Casino), and they hope that, once the border is re-opened, "it will open the doors to rock/country shows in our area", as half of their ticket sales come from Canadians. Fingers crossed everything goes smoothly for vaccinations and the re-opening this summer on both of the Twin Saults! No word on if Allstar's newly posted photos of Pop Evil & Steel Panther are hints for future shows or not.
• A Sault Ontario-based vocalist named Corey Derry is looking to jam with like-minded musicians, preferably on rock, blues, or (non-hair/death) metal music. In deference to the lockdown, he did ask for people to "send me something to work on until restrictions are lifted". I'm not familiar with Corey musically, but if you want to get more details, message him at this link or via his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from last week!
  
• New local hard rock sextet Dealing Without have quietly added Jamie Labreche as their new drummer, replacing Larry Mousseau, as per updates to their Facebook page in the past two months. A reason for Larry's departure was not publically announced, but hopefully nothing bad happened! Jamie is a long-time bandmate of bassist James White's from Blind River's The Disciples of Rock & the local Rage Against The Machine tribute Stoned To Deaf. He should fit in fine with Dealing Without that way, and stay tuned for more from this promising new band when it goes public!
• This is old news now, but Sault Michigan FM radio station Rock 101 got a new website last year with a new layout, extra programming information, and a new web player that actually tells you what songs are currently playing & are up next, complete with artist trivia and news! From my experience, the end of some songs & DJ breaks can stop the player, but pausing & unpausing does resume playback. If you want to tune into 101.3 FM without a normal radio, keep the internet stream in mind!
  
• Sault Ontario hard rock solo project Stonesmith GC (formerly StrykerGC) are back! On Monday, in their first post about their actual music in 7 years, Troy noted that "we are cutting a new album", and now have a full studio to work in. Very surprising news, but hopefully their relaunch is productive, and Stonesmith GC are back in our active band links! Coincidentally, I had randomly picked them for next month's Defunct Local Band Profile earlier this month, but as they are active again, I'll slide the profile to an alphabetically adjacent act, namely the Soo's own crash band, Sykotyk Rampage! Look for that profile on or around June 10th!
  
• Sault Michigan hard rock band Tarnished have posted Facebook event pages for concerts they're playing this weekend in Southwest Michigan, specifically in Grand Rapids and Vandalia, so click here for details on both shows, despite the minimal notice. Good luck on the road trip! For what it's worth, their newest Facebook photo is hashtagged with "threepiece", implying that they're not adding someone to replace Donald, but who's playing bass & drums now? We'll let you know if we hear anything!
  

 

That's all for today, but stay tuned for a new news post either on Sunday or early Monday morning! Thanks everyone!

Pop Evil Concert Updates, New Brutally Fatal Material, And Much More!!

(Updated at 5:25 PM) Before we begin today's post, I wanted to send our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Kittie bassist Trish Doan, who suddenly passed away earlier this week at the age of 31. Further details on this sad news can be found on Kittie and metal websites. Local fans will recognize Trish best from her appearances with Kittie at both of April 2012's tribute concerts in memory of late Woods of Ypres frontman David Gold, including the Ypres Metal Fest at The Canadian Nightclub, as well as the "Woods V: Grey Skies & Electric Light" release party in Toronto, both shortly after she rejoined the band. Kittie fans in general will recognize her from her two stints with the all-female London metal quartet since 2005, including appearances on two of their studio albums. Trish was a key member of Kittie for the better part of a decade, and fit in nicely during their local show five years back (as the packed crowd will attest), and I'm sure fans won't forget her any time soon. R.I.P. Trish!

Now, today's post covers some other recent news updates, including a new "album" posting and more updates, but to lead off, we have some big news on a major upcoming concert in the E.U.P.. Here's what you need to know!

Though we are less than two weeks away from showtime, there has been a surprising lineup change for the Pop Evil-headlined concert at The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino on February 26th, as Ohio hard rock quintet Red Sun Rising have dropped out of the remainder of the Rock 'n Roll Now Tour. The reason for their exit is somewhat vague, yet varies depending on the source. Red Sun Rising say they were removed from the remaining dates and it was out of their control, local promoters Allstar Promotions say that they removed themselves but were unsure of the circumstances, and Pop Evil haven't acknowledged R.S.R. at all since, though you can delve into fan-posted rumours there if you want. All I know is that it's definitely disappointing to see Red Sun Rising drop out, especially with their rising profile and two #1 rock radio hits, but hopefully they come back to the Soo at some point in the future! Replacing them for the rest of the tour & on the 26th are female-fronted Detroit hard rock quintet Kaleido, while Los Angeles hard rock quartet Badflower have been promoted to the middle slot.

Kaleido have a fun, pop-influenced modern rock sound that should be a nice addition to this show, so make sure to be there early for their set! Also regarding this huge concert, Kewadin Casino posted this 90 second commercial promoting the show onto their Facebook concerts page last month, which clips together portions of music videos for each band alongside concert-related graphics, including an Allstar Promotions logo that I've never seen elsewhere. Obviously, this is outdated now, given the presence of Red Sun Rising, but it's well done, so give it a look below, and click here to get tickets for just $23.50, which are still available from the seventh row and back on the outside sections!

Also today, Sault Ontario death metal duo Brutally Fatal have finally posted what they're calling their new EP onto the Blood Shed Weekly YouTube channel yesterday! "Blood of the Devil" had been in the works since March but various delays forced it to be cut down to a 15 minute release with 9 songs. As you'd expect from a Blood Shed Productions metal act, these songs tend to be very short, and most of the titles have names I won't repeat here, but it's worth noting that vocals are seemingly used more sparingly than we've seen on past Brutally Fatal recordings, and when we do hear them, they're shouted, not growled. That might appeal to fans of Austin McCrae's old band The Revolution, so keep that in mind! Oddly, the description notes that they "can't remember" who played bass on the tracks, though whether they said that in jest or not is up for debate. Also, keep an ear out for train whistling on the song "Chugga Choo Choo".

No word on when/if this will see a paid and/or physical release, but fans of Brutally Fatal's minimalist metal should be happy, so listen to "Blood of the Devil" if you want below, but keep in mind the provocative song titles!



Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist name:

• In news unrelated to this month's Pop Evil show, Allstar Promotions noted on their Facebook page that they confirmed a new show on Friday, which is apparently "one of the biggest shows (they) have done", and Rock 101 will announce the show on Tuesday, with tickets going on sale at Kewadin next Friday. Intriguing, and we'll let you know when it's announced! Also, they are gauging support on Facebook toward potentially bringing British post-grunge quartet Bush (of "Glycerine" & "Machine Head" fame) to Sault Michigan, so if you'd like to see that show, voice up there!
• Novelty/clothing retail store chain Spencer's Gifts is coming to The Station Mall, as per their website! Though not directly linked to what we cover at the SMS, I mention it here for two reasons: They sell a large amount of music and band merchandise (metal & punk among them), and there is some speculation on social media that they are taking over HMV's location after they close for good by the end of April. In any event, it's great to have Spencer's opening in Sault Ste. Marie, as it's a fun store full of odd and creative novelty items, so keep watch for it at The Station Mall in the coming months! Also, HMV's liquidation sales are now up to 40% off.
• Sault Michigan classical metal project Theatre of Night has posted a new instrumental song to their Reverbnation page entitled "The Drowning", and this is a fuller original with a dark & ethereal ambiance, strong guitar work from Steve Giles, and an orchestral bite that long time fans should easily take to! Give it a listen at the above links, and stay tuned for more from Theatre of Night!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews next! Thanks everyone!

Rotaryfest Stage 2 & Din Videos, New Covers, And Much More!!

After a relatively quiet weekend on the site, here's a new news post for your Monday morning! Today, we have some recent videos relating to a music festival last month and some new covers from a familiar veteran, with some assorted notes to cap things off, so here's what you should know!

We'll start with some new videos referencing last month's all-original Stage 2 at Rotaryfest, with a pair of sources spotlighting the Second Stage and it's importance to the music community! One is the newest episode of SooToday's music webseries Tuned With Donna Hopper, which was posted online yesterday, so what should you know from it? In the episode, Donna interviewed Stage 2 manager Chelsie Parayko at the festival about what to expect at the stage, what it does to help original artists, and future ambitions for the Clergue Park stage, with performance footage from The Din and The Wild Iris' opening sets bookending the interview. In terms of scoops, Chelsie did note that Stage 2 is currently a one day event due to funding concerns, but she hopes to expand it to a longer timeframe in the future, and perhaps to two days (like it was in 2006 & from 2009-2013.) It's not a terribly long episode, but it's good to see more positive press from Stage 2, complete with a nice look at the stage and Tidal Records' merchandise table!

As SooToday's video host doesn't allow external embedding, we can't feature it here, but we can embed this, Rotaryfest's "Talkin' With..." video featuring the aforementioned Din, as posted to the festival's Facebook page just over a month ago! Apologies for the obvious delay, this and The Wild Iris' similar video passed us by until the past week. Joining the earlier "Talkin' With..." videos from Nilah Moss' Vimeo channel (no word on why these 4 clips were never together on the same page), it features the alternative/hard rock trio jamming in studio, describing their live sound and stage show, and noting the perks and benefits of playing on the Second Stage (presumably in part to help the stage's crowdfunding campaign), while also plugging THIS FRIDAY'S CD release show and showcasing their recording setup. It's a shame that Nilah couldn't interview Liam Seymour, Machines Dream, and Id Iota from Stage 2 in a similar fashion, but these videos all gave Stage 2 some positive press, and likewise for the bands that played!

The Din's video is entertaining, and has a bit of the humour you often see in their Facebook videos (more on them this week), with a nice look at how they get their recordings and music down before it makes it's way to our players! Give these new videos a look above and below, and stay tuned for much more from The Din as the week progresses!

Also today, here's some updates from Sault Michigan classic/hard rock musician and Highway 63 frontman Henry Switzer, who happens to have a YouTube channel! Though the Monkey's Uncle/Mama's Boys alum doesn't post live band videos there, he has shared a number of solo covers in the past year that he recorded (though most do include images from Highway 63, these are advertised as solo recordings.) His videos include covers of songs by Foreigner, Steve Perry, Styx, and Journey, plus his entry into The Stone Temple Pilots' vocalist search (him doing "Vasoline"), but embedded below is his cover of Heart's "Alone", which appears to be dedicated to his wife. Not a bad rendition, if a little bit of an adjustment to hear given that most notable versions are sung by women, but you can sense the emotion and intent for the cover! Give it a listen below, see more from Henry's channel above, and don't miss Highway 63 at The Rapids Lounge THIS FRIDAY & SATURDAY!



Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist or promoter name:

• Recently dormant concert promoters Allstar Promotions revealed on their Facebook page this weekend that they "should have a show to announce in the near future", which would be their first since last July's Theory of a Deadman concert at The Dreammaker's Theater. It's been way too quiet lately for major non-tribute bands at Kewadin Casino, so hopefully we get more word soon! Note that this capped off a status where they addressed some confusion about whether they were the promoters of Saturday's cancelled FireHouse show (they weren't), but we won't go into detail otherwise out of respect to all parties.
• If you saw brief mentions on Facebook last week about Sault Ontario funk/hard rock quartet The Elements dropping out of the Big Brother show at The New American Pub on August 20th due to a member's work conflict, then not to worry, as they were quietly re-added to the lineup! It's not clear if the work conflict was a mistake on one end, addressed in some form, or will result in a guest performer, but we'll let you know if anything is stated publically!
• With local post-punk quartet Gnaeus' successful release of their debut CD "Meditations" on Friday, the album can now be purchased digitally via iTunes and the Google Play Store, so you can get it for $8.91 (or 99¢ a song) on both services! Keep both in mind, but if you want a hard copy, head to your favourite local music stores, M&M Meats(!), and/or The Tech on Friday!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates this week! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Havadder) & New Videos Of Theirs, Plus More Updates!!

As promised, here's our second post of the day, touching on one more SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for TOMORROW NIGHT, but with plenty of new videos from this band's recent gigs, this post is largely about them, albeit with some shorter assorted updates at the end. Read on below for what you should know, but check out more Canada Day concert previews and more in the post below this one!

Local classic/hard rock quartet Havadder are returning to Studio 10 TOMORROW NIGHT for their Canada Day bash! Apologies for the short notice, we only heard about the show via an ad in last week's Sault This Week, with the band confirming the show online this mornning with the official Facebook event page. Notably, tomorrow's show will mark the return of drummer Scott McLurg to the band after his heart attack in May, so if you've missed Scott with the guys in the past month+, be sure to welcome him back to the stage TOMORROW NIGHT! The Sault This Week confirms that tomorrow's Canada Day bash (Havadder's first Studio 10 stop since New Year's Eve) will have prizes and drink specials, and yes, ladies dancing, so if that's your thing, there you go! A personal posting by frontman Jason Roy implied that one giveaway would be for a guitar.

Note also that the same Sault This Week ad plugged that the venue will be holding a drawing for AC/DC concert tickets in Toronto next month, so keep that in mind if you go there! The show has no announced cover (but bring cash just in case), you must be 19 to attend, and there's a likely 10:00 PM start time in effect. For more details, check last week's paper and the above links, and for a preview, we have plenty of new Havadder videos to touch on today! Glen Thomas (who filled in for Scott at last month's Havadder shows) uploaded nine combined videos from both the Havadder concert at The Rednecks Saloon on June 13th and Scott's benefit show at The Rockstar Bar on the 20th onto his YouTube channel in the past couple of weeks, so what can be seen there? The six videos from Rednecks are all as a trio (guitarist Jamie July missed the show for unannounced reasons), while each show featured guest musicians, including Scott's former Turner Up bandmate Krista Marshall (also of Johnny Lunchbox fame) as a guest singer at both shows.

The Rockstar Bar videos include covers of Nazareth's "Hair of the Dog" (with local blues musician Paul Dellavedova on guest vocals & guitar) and Collective Soul's "Gel" (with Lucky 13's Ed Vowels on guest guitar) in one video, while the others are of Seven Mary Three's "Cumbersome" (with guest singers Taryn Bugyra and Dave Kendrick, I think) and Van Halen's "Ain't Talkin' Bout Love" with Krista on guest vocals. Glen noted on his Freq's Music Planet forum that the show raised over $1,000 for the McLurg family during this difficult time, Scott did make a speech to thank everyone, and there were other guest performers that weren't captured in Glen's videos. We didn't embed any of the three below though, as all were from the drum-cam angle, but the audio's solid, and it's great to see so many familiar faces coming out to help Scott out during his recovery! As for the Rednecks concert videos, those were filmed from a regular angle of the stage, but what was filmed?

Krista's guest spots were captured on two more videos of "Ain't Talkin' Bout Love" (here and here, albeit without Jamie this time) plus a cover of Ugly Kid Joe's "Everything About You", while Jason, Travis, and Glen covered Alice In Chains' "Man In The Box", "The Travelling Wilburys' "Tweeter & The Monkey Man", and Temple of the Dog's "Hunger Strike". Though shorthanded, Havadder sound strong as ever on these covers, and Glen fits in well on each, while Krista's vocals have been missed on stage, and hopefully we see her in a new band again soon! Check out these new Havadder videos above &"Ain't Talkin' Bout Love" below, and don't miss Havadder (and Scott's return) at Studio 10 TOMORROW NIGHT!



Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items from the last little while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist, event, or station name:

• We have deleted the short lived Garden River concert promotion agency GFC Promotions from our "Other Local Metal Links" due to the deletion of it's Facebook (and only online) page. Intended as a regional branch of Oh! Right Arm! Promotions to promote shows just outside of the Soo, plans for GFC likely dried up when promoter Boyd Rendell moved to Sault Ste. Marie proper earlier this year, with O!RA! shows now promoted under the Six Two Oh banner anyway.
• Sault Michigan rock radio station Rock 101 have extended their deal with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds to continue broadcasting all Soo Greyhounds games on 101.3 FM through at least the 2017-18 OHL season, which will take their current agreement into it's ninth season. Though this might be disappointing news for fans of Rock 101's usual music rotation, this is great news for Hounds fans, especially coming off of their great season! Click here for more details, and go Hounds go!
• The cast list for the local stage production of The Who's Tommy (featuring That's Chester as the house band) has been revealed, via promoters Shot In The Dark Productions' website, with local singer and actor Steven Hewgill playing the title role. That's Chester members aside, there are some familiar faces from local bands in the cast, including Obsession's Valerie Powley & Ashes To Dust alum Noah Morden, so get more details at the above links, and get your tickets for November 4th-8th at The Machine Shop at this link for $25, $20 for children or seniors!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for an all-Rotaryfest post TOMORROW, so who's playing when, and where's the Second Stage this year? Find out tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Europe), Ten Kings Concert Previews, And More!!

As another work week comes to a close, we have some more big news for you guys on this cold Friday afternoon, so what's on the docket today? Some assorted recent updates, a new acoustic performance video, previews of a pair of Sault Michigan concerts this weekend, and first, our first major LOCAL CONCERT ALERT at Kewadin Casino for 2015, so here's what you should know!

After a hiatus of over 18 months, Allstar Promotions are bringing major concerts back to The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino, with one being headlined by Swedish glam metal legends Europe on Thursday, April 23rd! Best known for hits like "Rock The Night", "Carrie", and (of course) "The Final Countdown", Europe will be touring in support of their brand new album "War of Kings", and their memorable hard rock sounds should be welcomed to the Soo for the first time(?) in April, and courtesy of their classic lineup too! Support will come via The Black Star Riders, the hard rock band who basically spun-off from Thin Lizzy so they could tour and record full time (not unlike Black Sabbath and Heaven & Hell), and their lineup features 3 Thin Lizzy members plus Megadeth & Ratt alumni. These guys definitely deliver quality classic hard rock, so be sure to come early to see their set!

Note that this show comes one week after Allstar Promotions' official return show, a rare country concert from them headlined by Parmalee and featuring local country openers Hawk Junction. It's odd to see that neither of their new shows are modern hard rock in tone, but they have teased more shows to announce in the coming weeks on their Facebook page. Tickets for the Europe show (which is all ages) are a very respectable $27.50, and go on sale this Monday online, at the in-person box office, or at 1-800-KEWADIN. For more details, visit the above links! It's great to see Allstar Promotions back in the game, and the Europe show should be a hit, so stay tuned for updates!

Next up, here's our only known Sault Michigan-area hard rock concert previews of the weekend, as new local modern hard rock quartet Ten Kings will make their live concert debuts TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT at The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino! Featuring ex-Nixxon Dixxon singer Brandon Carr, ex-Scofflaw bassist Barney Gravelle, and former Bottom Line bandmates Joe Jenkins & Will Storey, this will be the first of two straight weekends at The Rapids Lounge for this promising new band, whose lineup speaks for itself, and it will be extra neat to see Brandon fronting a band again over 4 years after Nixxon Dixxon's breakup! This weekend's shows both have 9:00 PM start times, no announced cover charges, and 21+ age limits. For more details, visit the above links, don't miss the debut of Ten Kings TONIGHT or TOMORROW, and here's the preview video from WK Media!

Also today, here's the long teased episode of Local2 & VM Radio's new acoustic performance webseries Bare that features members of local grunge/alternative trio The Pixo Control (who confirmed on their Facebook page last night that they've signed with Tidal Records!) Uploaded to the official Bare YouTube channel this morning, the video features frontman Michael Mikus and bassist Steve Edwards (drummer Keeghan Rosso's not featured) playing an acoustic version of their song "Land of the Moles", which won't be uncommon if you recall the guys' unplugged sets at Gusto's early last year. Still, this is a strong performance of one of the guys best' known oriigals, and it still retains the grit and grungy qualities of the full band version! Give The Pixo Control's Bare episode a look below, and don't miss them with The Cover Up and Northwest TONIGHT at The Rockstar Bar!



Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist or company name:

• Infamous drummer Damon King is looking for a hard rock guitarist and bassist, though I can't confirm if the search relates to Infamous, and/or if original guitarist Anthony Boudreau has left their lineup. If this is for Infamous, time is of the essence, as the guys are scheduled for the VM Radio Battle of the Bands next month, so if you're interested, message Damon at this link or via his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from yesterday!
• The long teased Edmonton, Alberta relaunch of former local concert promotion agency Dismembertainment is now official, as they're promoting Benighted & Bookakee's upcoming concert there on March 15th at DV8! Still ran by Rich Moreland, you may remember Dismembertainment for promoting the original Rosie metal nights and 2012's Ypres Metal Fest before Rich moved out west, but it's great to see him promoting again after almost 3 years!
• Former State of Misery drummer Nick Kainula is looking for a bass player (and maybe a second guitarist) to join his new local punk project, which apparently already has a singer and guitarist enlisted. No word yet on extra sound details, but if you're interested in trying out, message Nick at this link or via his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from Tuesday!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates over the weekend! Thanks everyone!

Another New Battle Of The Bands, Haggith Videos, And Much More!!

Before we head off to take in the Super Bowl, here's our first news post of the month! Today, we have some assorted recent news and notes, new video uploads from a prominent local band, and leading off, news on another battle of the bands hitting the Soo this spring, so here's what you should know!

Only a week after the Twin City Sound Battle of the Bands was postponed, we now have word about another battle of the bands coming up soon, so what should you know about this one? Entitled The Speak Easy Battle of the Bands, it will be held on Thursday, March 5th at The Speak Easy (Algoma University's campus bar & concert venue), though it was originally scheduled for this Wednesday before being postponed for unannounced reasons. Promoted by Boxes of Boom's Sam Decter and Haggith's Jordan Leach in cooperation with the Algoma University Students Union, this will be the first battle of the bands to be held at The Speak Easy since December 2009, so this has been a long time coming if you like this venue! The battle will feature short 15 minute sets for each band, and though an upper limit for bands hasn't been announced, the event will take place between 9:00 PM and 2:00 AM on March 5th.

Competing bands will be judged by a crowd vote (similarly to November 2013's Viva La Battle), but it's not clear yet whether voting will be via paper ballots, crowd applause, or another method. All prizes will be cash, with the winning band receiving $400, second place getting $200, and third place winning $100.  No bands have been officially announced yet, but local grunge/alternative quartet Haggith have expressed interest in playing (despite Jordan Leach's promotional involvement in the battle), as well as solo musician Jesse Merineau. There are no age limits to compete in the battle (whether there are any at the door hasn't been stated), but if you or your band are interested in competing on March 5th, message Algoma University representative Meghan Rix at meghan.rix@algomau.ca to register, and the deadline to enter is on February 26th! Admission for the public will be $5 at the door, and visit the official Facebook event page for all current details!

Also, I don't know what the "Scan to Win" contest for iPads entails. I'm very curious to hear more on this battle, and I hope there's a solid turnout, but the timing is a little odd for this battle, as it's being held just one day after the first night of the VM Radio Battle of the Bands at The Canadian, which takes place each Wednesday in March. I hope this battle is a success and can stake it's own claim despite it's proximity to the VM Radio Battle, but we'll keep you posted on this new battle when more comes out on it!

Next up, here's the latest from the aforementioned Haggith, who uploaded five videos from their set at November 21st's Sault Band-O-Rama event at The Primavera Hall onto their YouTube channel yesterday! Notable as their last concert appearance with original bassist Caleb Cachagee (who briefly returned to the band last fall before Jordan Leach signed on), the videos include Haggith's renditions of Bad Company's "Rock 'N Roll Fantasy", Don Felder's "Heavy Metal (Takin' A Ride)", and Jimi Hendrix's "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)", along with their older originals "Loverbeam" and (as embedded below) "Clifton Hill", so visit each link to see each video! Filmed from a close corner-stage angle (especially capturing guitarist Daniel Horton), these videos are a nice throwback to their grungier days via both Caleb's presence and the softer originals, and everyone sounds good on these solid videos, so give everything a look above and below!



Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items from the last few days! As usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist, company, or show name:

• In their first post on their Facebook page in over seven months, Sault Michigan concert promoters Allstar Promotions revealed yesterday that they have "one new show on the books", and they're working on two more. Despite teases, Allstar Promotions (who generally book modern hard rock bands at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino) have not held a local concert since the Team Jessica benefit with Pop Evil in August 2013, so this is great and long overdue news! We'll keep you posted when more is announced!
• According to posts by singer Kris Padavona and their management on this local Facebook group last month, Montreal based Dio tribute band Magica are interested in playing live in Sault Ontario on their upcoming Canadian tour, and are fielding suggestions for venues and local opening bands. A Dio tribute would be awesome to have here, so message Shelley Padavona at this link or above if you can help out in some way!
• Though otherwise not focused on metal or punk bands, the newest episode of Local2's webseries Tuned with Donna Hopper (as uploaded on Thursday) does plug the upcoming Benighted & Exes for Eyes shows in the concert calendar segment, so keep that in mind! The episode's lead story is on a local music class for mothers & their babies, while the closing clip is of Josh Norling and friends performing at LopLops' 12 Musicians of Christmas event, and both are well covered, so give this episode a look above!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post TOMORROW! Thanks everyone!

VM Radio's Pilot Stream Info, Plus More Recent Updates!!

With a new week in full swing, there's news and notes to touch on now that we're fully out of the Halloween weekend, and hopefully everyone had a fun time seeing The Brains last night! Today, we have plenty of assorted recent updates, and first, your first chance to sample a new network of regional radio stations, so here's what you need to know!

SooToday parent company Village Media's new digital radio network VM Radio is now in it's pre-launch pilot phase, so we can now check out samples of each! Though originally planned for a September debut with 3 stations, it's better late than never, especially as there's actually 5 feeds, so what's available to check out? SMS readers will likely be most interested in VM Rocks, whose description says will feature modern rock, alternative, metal, and classic rock, citing bands like Gob, Seether, The Black Keys, and locals Garden of Bedlam & Jack Spades among it's playlist, so click above to hear the current stream! The other four stations include the previously announced VM Roots (for folk, roots, and blues rock), and in lieu of the originally hyped "Mix" station, VM Bounce (for hip-hop, dance, and club music), VM Indie (for indie, pop, and electronic music), and VM Y'All (for country music.) All streams are available to check out right now with less commercials than on terrestrial radio, but a full launch involving news and weather broadcasts is expected for later this week.

The idea of a full new network of local internet radio stations is a sound one, especially as Sault Ontario only has Country 104 and Kiss 105 for locally produced FM stations (and even with Sault Michigan stations, there aren't any FM indie or roots stations here.) Also, with Energy Rock Radio moving out west a few years ago, it's nice to have a full local internet radio presence based out of here again! For my own experience checking out the pilot streams of the stations, I've had no problems with the audio quality or speed of the playback, though the player's own page is very plain looking. For potential listeners of VM Rocks, today's rotation included artists like Big Wreck, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Steely Dan, Crash Karma, and ZZ Top, so it will cover a wide gamut of rock genres, with lots of Canadian content! That said, plans for potential programs or genre blocks with live DJs haven't been publicized yet, so I can't say with certainty if metal or punk fans will get a dedicated show on VM Rocks, but it'd be cool to see!

I'm very curious to see where VM Radio (and VM Rocks) go from here, including on if there will be other ways you can listen (i.e. through TuneIn Radio), so stay tuned for more updates on the full launch as they are made, be sure to check out all of the stations at the above links, and VM Rocks is now in our Sault Ontario internet radio/podcast links!

Finally for today, here's _ shorter assorted recent news items from the last few days, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist, website, or company name:

• Local concert promoters Oh! Right Arm! Promotions have launched a sister promotional company named GFC Promotions that will specialize in shows outside of Sault Ste. Marie, specifically in Garden River like next August's Das Bunkerfest II, related private house parties, and perhaps future attempts at Echo Bay concerts? No word what "GFC" stands for, but like them above, and GFC Promotions are now in our "Other Local Metal Links"!
• In his latest local band search posting on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group on October 30th, local bassist Jordan Leach is now looking for a singer, guitarist(s), and drummer for a horror punk band he's launching, though "other interesting instruments" are also welcome. The band would mostly play originals with some covers. With Frigtlight's demise, there is a horror punk void now, so hopefully this takes off, and message Jordan at this link or above for more details!
• On his solo Facebook page on October 15th, Haggith drummer Mike Haggith revealed the tentative setlist for his upcoming 49th studio album "The Warinside", and while most of the 10 songs are new, the CD will apparently include a re-recording of his 2009 song "Lay My Body Down To Rest" (which Mike and The Din have played live recently.) Intriguing titles, so stay tuned for updates on this and his other upcoming solo plans!
• Though not a formal review of the show, a new SooToday article from Donna Hopper on Halloween costumes and parties in the Soo from this past Friday does feature photos of Frightlight's headlining set at The Algonquin Pub during frontman Johnny Pints' annual Halloween party (in colour too!), and they're excellent as usual, so click here to see them and all of the great costumes from Halloween 2014 at four different downtown bars!
• In the first finite info regarding this year's third annual Toystock fundraiser concert, promoters Maxx Entertainment revealed on their Facebook page yesterday that the event is still slated for Sunday, November 30th at The Canadian Nightclub, will feature 10 live bands once again for a roughly 10 hour duration, admission will be via a toy or food donation (money is accepted too), while the band lineup will be revealed shortly. Great to see Toystock back once again, and stay tuned for confirmation of this year's bands!
• Sault Band-O-Rama promoters, Mourning Wood bandmates, and local metal band alums Terry Eaton & Steven Flint have launched a new live event sound company named Twin City Sound that are available to book for various types of events, presumably including concerts (like Sault Band-O-Rama at the Primavera Hall on November 21st.) Though the "Twin City" name implies that they'll cover Sault Michigan too, nothing is explicitly stated regarding cross-border bookings. This should be interesting, and Twin City Sound are now in our "Other" links section!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates as November rolls along! Thanks everyone!

A New Archive Album Discovery, New Media Finds, And Much More!!

Before we touch on this month's Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile, we have some news of the old and new varieties today, including some recent shorter notes, new media from a local band, a neat concert video from 23 years ago, and leading off, information on a 16 year old CD that I recently bought for collecting and SMS purposes, so here's what you need to know!

Local music fans from the late 1990s might be interested in this find, as I now have a physical copy of the 1998 compilation album "Local Steel"! Found on the "Various Rock" CD shelf on the left hand wall at The Rad Zone for $10 yesterday, this is an album I've been looking hard for since learning that you can't check it out of the library's "local archive" section, so what should you know about it? This CD compiled 17 different local acts to contribute original material, and though all are long since defunct, there's plenty of familiar faces! For example, members of Lion Ride are featured with The Bombed Squad, and future Stiffler's Mom bandmates appear with Alexis Machine, while more recently familiar artists like Tripod the Dog, Troy Isaac, and The Gully Yodellers perform original songs, among many others. Most of the CD is focused around alternative & hard rock, but there's some full metal, blues, and punk tracks as well, with the somewhat cryptic Porn Fairies even diving into an industrial/techno sound! While mostly separate performers on each song, 4 artists play on multiple tracks, with bassist Steve Batenchuk featuring on 3.

Co-produced by future Gsis Murphy bandmates Tony Marcello and Keith Davis at Full Scale Audio Productions, the booklet hints that there would be a second annual "Local Steel" disc, but I can't prove if that occurred. This was an awesome find, and given that the album has a high amount of hard rock songs, I do want to review it on the site in a month with no new CDs waiting! In the meantime, I've uploaded the whole thing to YouTube at this link, so check it out if you want, and here's one of the early heavier tracks, local metal quintet Hollow playing their song "Flesh & Bones"!

Leading from "Local Steel", my research on some of the performers led me to this even older concert video featuring 3 future bandmates in Your Mother (the aforementioned Tony Marcello, Keith Davis, and Steve Batenchuk) from an older band in 1991! Joined by guitarist(?) Rob Struk and drummer Mark Webster, the band in question was Midpoint, who were a familiar metal band around the turn of the 1990s, so much so that they even toured! This video (courtesy of Tony's YouTube channel in March) comes from a performance in Thompson, Manitoba, which was filmed for a local TV show there called "The Pit", and it's of their cover of Ozzy Osbourne's "Mr. Crowley", so how does it sound? Despite not beginning at the start of the song, it's well performed, and the presence of a keytar is of interest, but the vocals aren't quite at the right range for this song. Very cool to see this video though, and hopefully more local musicians post some old archive material like this at some point, so check out Midpoint live in Thompson, Manitoba below!

Next up, have you been curious to hear more material from local grunge/hardcore duo Bad Back? Well, this might be as good a source as any, as drummer Nathan Sauve has posted 26 recordings of them onto his personal Soundcloud page over the past year! I'm not sure how this slipped us by for so long, but Nathan has been posting material there since May 2013, and it's definitely publically accessible. While mostly originals (including most, if not all of their live setlist contents), there are select covers and even a few songs with guest performers. The recording quality has steadily improved since last spring, and given that these were likely recorded at jam sessions, there's a fun energy and spirit present in most! It's nice to hear nice quality versions of "Togna Sharogna" and "Lung Bucket", among others, and hopefully Nathan keeps adding to this page, or expands Bad Back's social media presence beyond Twitter! Check everything out above, and stay tuned for more on Nathan and Jamie's next shows!

Finally for today, here's three recent shorter news items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by band name:

• The local contingent has grown for this year's Touch of Death Metal & Punk Fest in Cochrane, Ontario, as local sludge metal trio AlgomA, the aforementioned Bad Back, and local goregrind project Crucify The Whore have all been confirmed for the late June lineup, as per the event's Facebook page! They all join Shit Liver and Steve & Andrew from D3athcharg3r among the Saultite performers. Awesome news, hopefully they tear up Cochrane next month!
• After a 9 month hiatus, Sault Michigan concert promoters Allstar Promotions re-emerged on their Facebook page on Friday to ask for opinions on booking British hard rock legends The Cult for a show this year, presumably at The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino. It'd be cool to see, but if you want to show your support, like or comment the status at the above links!
• Add some more Saultites to the well anticipated Hardcore Homecoming show at The Rockstar Bar on September 13th, as London hardcore punk quintet Gatgas (featuring Harsh Heads alum Bob Bromley Jr. and fellow Soo native Garry Ingram) have been added to the lineup, joining Random Killing and their local frontman Andrew Kiteley for this long awaited return home! Awesome news, hopefully Gatgas deliver a solid set of crust punk this fall! My source is promoter J.D. Pearce on the Facebook event page on Wednesday.

That's all for now, but stay tuned either tonight or tomorrow for this month's Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile on Alpha Trion! Thanks everyone!

Shinedown Concert Fallout, Including New Videos & The Opening Band's Actual Identity!

As promised, we've got Shinedown concert fallout to get to today, as Sunday night saw the multi-platinum Jacksonville hard rock quartet make their local debut at The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino! By almost all accounts that I've read so far from the show, it was a huge success for both Allstar Promotions and in the eyes of attendees! Photos from the show were uploaded by promoters onto Facebook at this location, confirming that there was a meet & greet for fans to meet Shinedown (Daughtry had the same on Saturday), but the big piece of unreported news from the photos is that the openers were NOT Devour The Day, despite being reported as such by Allstar Promotions on June 26th. In reality, Devour The Day were on tour with Hinder this month, though I'm not sure why they were announced as the openers for the local Shinedown concert. In reality, the opening band was hard rock quartet Prosevere, who (like Devour The Day) are also from Memphis, so that may have helped lead to the confusion. I haven't seen videos of their set (though photos are available from Sunday at the above links), but how do Prosevere sound?

Lighter sound than I was expecting, but Prosevere have an appealing modern rock sound with fun elements, a clear energy, and nice use of melody, and hopefully they made a good impression on local fans! Of course, I apologize for the incorrect news on the site, but promoters never corrected the earlier announcement on the openers, and I'd seen no references to Prosevere being involved on other pages (similarly to Ace Frehley's openers 16 Second Stare from his 2009 Kewadin date.)

Now to the videos, as I've found footage from at least 4 YouTube channels from the show, so let's give these some deserved attention! We'll start with 3 videos from YouTube user Christopher Paci (who also uploaded videos from the Buckcherry, Evans Blue, Queensryche, and Sebastian Bach concerts in the past year), as he filmed Shinedown playing three songs from their new album "Amaryllis" on Sunday night, including "Unity", "I'll Follow You", and (as embedded below) "Enemies"! All uploaded early this morning, Chris' camera work is fairly jittery, and the audio gets muffled on occasion, but the quality is fairly good otherwise, with a clear view of Shinedown in action (and looking quite dapper too), with the songs sounding pretty close to the studio originals from what I've heard on the radio! If only he was slightly closer, but at least Chris could zoom. Solid videos, so check out his video of "Enemies" below, and see more at the above links!



Another uploader of 3 videos was YouTube user encorevids (first name Mike), who you may remember from posting videos of the Buckcherry/Papa Roach and My Darkest Days concerts at Kewadin Casino from past years! Posted on Mike's YouTube channel yesterday, the videos are of another take of "Enemies", plus clips of "If You Only Knew" and (as embedded below) "Bully", so check the links to give these a look! Mike had a similar angle to Chris (if more slanted), and though the quality is very fuzzy with no zoom, the audio is more consistent and clear, so that works out well! Check out Shinedown playing "Bully" in the Soo below!

Two more videos were uploaded by YouTube user 91dwaynel yesterday, including another clip of "Bully" (albeit mislabelled) and, as embedded below, an acoustic cover of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Simple Man"! It's preceded by some joking around about what cover to do by singer Brent Smith & guitarist Zach Myers (the other members weren't present for this song), including brief clips of them covering Black Crowes, Nirvana, and Bon Jovi songs before finally launching into "Simple Man", complete with a great crowd singing along with every word! Nice sense of humour and crowd involvement from Brent & Zach, and this cover is definitely one of my favourite Shinedown tracks, so it's nice to get some great quality video to go along with it! Dwayne was in the front row or close to it, and the videos are solid quality with very clear audio, so both of his clips are well worth watching! Give Shinedown's "Simple Man" cover a look below!



Finally for the Shinedown videos that I currently know about, YouTube user Melissa McNamara uploaded one video from the show yesterday, which is of the guys playing their song "The Crow & The Butterfly". Very good audio, but it's cut off at the beginning, and it's filmed from a very far angle from the stage with no zoom (and on a cell phone camera), so it's one of those tall & narrow videos. It's worth checking out for the clear audio though, so check out "The Crow & The Butterfly" from Sunday night below!



That's all for now, but of course, we'll have more Shinedown concert fallout and videos as we hear of them, and if all goes well, we'll have this month's YouTube Channel Profile up on the site later today! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Swayze Train & PowerSlug), A "New" Local Band, And Much More!!

Alright, we've got some big news to share today, but of course, remember to check out this morning's "Where Are The New Albums?" post for the month of September, which includes one newly added album and updates to most of them! Today, we have lots of Woods of Ypres news, some assorted shorter stories, and LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, but first, here's a "new" local band we're finally covering on the site!

In June, you may remember that a new local band named Swayze Train debuted at the first annual LemmaFest at Dondee Lanes as a replacement for the now-defunct acoustic quartet Electric Motor Fish (both bands shared two members), and they've since played varying shows at The Satisfied Frog & Kewadin Casino in St. Ignace. Now I held off from officially covering them on the SMS for this long because I couldn't verify a definite genre or sound for Swayze Train, who have yet to post audio or video clips of their concerts. I wasn't sure if they'd be an "electric" variant of Electric Motor Fish, hard rock/metal, or something completely different. Well, judging by the fact that their Facebook page now "likes" bands like Avenged Sevenfold, Flyleaf, Rage Against The Machine, and Tool, I think it's safe to assume that Swayze Train are a hard rock band, and as such, they're now in our active Sault Michigan band links! Just in case you forgot, "Swayze Train" is a reference to a plotline in the last season of "Trailer Park Boys", and the band features Electric Motor Fish frontwoman Melissa Strand & drummer Tony Rogers on bass (just like in Clownsack & Shift), along with guitarists Mike Libertoski (Galactic Alignment/ex-Slackjawed Rats) & Scott Savoie (ex-Insipid Brutality) and Tyler Tidwell (Traces) on drums.

Talented lineup, and I'm sure they're very impressive live! I've heard Electric Motor Fish, and though they aren't all that heavy, Melissa is another talented female singer across the river, which seems to be a great breeding ground for women fronting heavier bands, which is very refreshing! I hope Swayze Train posts some videos or material at some point, cause I'm sure there's demand for it! That said, now that we are covering them on the SMS, we have LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, as Swayze Train will hit The Satisfied Frog in Sault Michigan next Friday & Saturday and on October 7th and 8th! The band seems to be on a one weekend a month schedule there, and hopefully the next four shows go well for them! As you could expect, all of their upcoming concerts are 21+, a 10:00 PM start time is listed, and there's no announced cover charge. For more details, click here to see the event pages for these shows! These should be successful concerts, so don't miss Swayze Train this fall at The Frog! Stay tuned for more Swayze Train news as I hear it!

Also in the realm of new concerts, Sault Michigan hard rockers PowerSlug (formerly River Witch) are now apparently playing a concert weekend at The Rapids Lounge at our local Kewadin Casino on September 30th & October 1st! The news was quietly broken on Kewadin Casino's entertainment page, where the concert weekend was added at some point earlier this year before their name change. As I regrettably expected, their badly outdated Facebook page hasn't confirmed the shows, but Kewadin's word is good! These shows should have 9:00 PM start times, no cover charge, and 21+ age limits. Check the above links for more details! PowerSlug should put in some good shows to end this month and start October, so make it out to see them if you can! As for the band's name change and any other recent developments, I've heard nothing new, but if either a band member or a venue says something that I can absolutely verify, you'll of course hear it here, so keep an eye out for more PowerSlug news!

Next up, here's some news from Woods of Ypres, mostly concerning their upcoming fifth album! In case you missed it in our "Where Are The New Albums" post, the full title for "Woods V" was finally announced on Earache Records' Tumblr page on Tuesday, and the album will officially be titled "Woods V: Grey Skies & Electric Light"! Sounds like a promising enough name, and it creates cool mental images for the album artwork! That said, the mixing for "Woods V" began on Sunday, so a release for it is coming ever closer! Also in the realm of new Woods of Ypres news: It looks like the band's bassist & drummer search is now just for Canadian musicians, as per a recent posting on Woods of Ypres' Facebook page. It'd be awesome to see some local talent try out, but above all else, the most qualified and talented should get the gig regardless of where they're from. If you're interested in trying out to join Woods of Ypres, e-mail davidypres@gmail.com! And finally, Woods of Ypres, Earache Records, and the metal blog Headbang or GTFO are partnering together for a "Pursuit of the Beard" contest, where fans are challenged to grow the best beard they can between now & December 15th for a chance to win a Woods of Ypres prize package! Click here for details, and get those beards growing! Stay tuned for more Woods of Ypres news very soon!

And now, here's three assorted shorter stories from the last little while, and as always, these are in alphabetical order by band or group name:

• If you've been wondering why Sault Michigan promoters Allstar Promotions haven't booked any major hard rock shows at Kewadin Casino since March, it appears to be related to contractual differences relating to Kewadin's new contracts that are more difficult to work with. They're not giving up though, so stay tuned to their Facebook page for details, and fingers crossed that Allstar Promotions get back to booking big concerts soon!
• Which ex-members of Bring The Misery played at the Thessalon concert with For All That Is Lost, Biipiigwan, and local bands this past weekend? It looks like guitarists Dan Souliere & Daeson Lesage and drummer Travis St. Amour played there, although I can't verify too much else, including full lineups. Click here for photos, and stay tuned for updates on the members' current and next bands!
• It looks like Sault Michigan hard rockers Clownsack have welcomed original guitarist Butter Cookie back into the fold after briefly leaving following the "Funny Farm" recording sessions. The news was broken Wednesday on their Facebook page, and I assume Sparxx will remain on second guitar, going in line with their plans to become a quintet full time. Awesome to see them back out there, hopefully we hear some more news soon!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news tomorrow, including the surprising closure of a local concert venue, new End of Existence videos, and more! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Caveman Morrison & Turner Up), A Band Looking To Play Here, And More!!

Alright, so all of our monthly feature posts are out of the way for September, clearing the way for just news, updates, and concert previews for the rest of the month, and we have lots today, including a band looking to play here, some notes concerning a major show next month, a brand new original song from an area band, and first, some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!!!

Firstly, and I REALLY apologize for the short notice of this, but Turner Up will be at Foggy Notions TONIGHT for a show! I'd honestly been wondering if they'd have a show on Friday or not, but I hadn't heard anything until today, thanks to a new Facebook event page. Looks like an impromptu booking, which they're claiming is due to popular demand. Of course, this show is bookended by last night's Gunz N' FN' Rosez show and tomorrow's headlining set at The Rockstar Bar, and the same house rules apply for tonight's Foggy's show, including a 10:00 PM start time, a 19+ age limit, and surprisingly for Foggy Notions concerts, NO COVER! So if you're not seeing 2112 at The Canadian Nightclub tonight and wanna enjoy some classic hard rock, Foggy Notions is the place to be! Again, my apologies for the short notice of this show, check all of the above links for updates! And, as always, see video footage of Turner Up's current lineup by clicking here! Remember, that's 10:00 PM TONIGHT at Foggy's!

Meanwhile, we have two new shows with some advance warning, as local metal cover trio Caveman Morrison return to Foggy Notions in November for their first shows there in two months! Tym and company have sure been ramping up on the bookings lately, and now they have November 19th and 20th reserved for two nights of hard rock and metal classics! Both shows have start times of 10:00 PM, a $3 cover charge is likely, and you must be 19 to enter. These should be fun shows, especially if you love heavy metal classics, cause Caveman Morrison know a ton of them! But if you can't make it in November, they have at least 6 shows lined up before then, including one at the nearby Rockstar Bar next weekend, so you have ample oppurtunities to rock out with them beforehand! For more information, check the above links and the Facebook event page!

Thirdly, we have a band looking for a local booking, so here's what you should know! On Tuesday, I recieved an e-mail from Brandon Khan, a guitarist in the Newmarket, Ontario hardcore band Heritage. He was looking to book some dates for the band, and was wondering if I had anything lined up. Now I'm not a promoter, but I said I'm help him out, and now, I'm opening things up to you guys! Brandon didn't mention anything about a general date range for a local booking, so if you're a promoter, venue staffer, band member who'd like to play with them, or have any general interest, e-mail brandon-khan@live.com if you're at all interested in helping get Heritage a Sault Ste. Marie booking! As for their sound, they have a melodic hardcore style with nice uses of keyboards and clean singing combined with some heavy breakdowns and very moshable sections! As It Stands are probably a fair local comparison style-wise, but check them out and see what you think at their official MySpace page! They're good, here's hoping they get a booking here!

Next up, Brimley hard rockers Half A Man have posted a brand new studio quality original onto their official Facebook page! Yes, the local band featuring ex-members of Lower S.E.S., Bludgeoned, Bent Rollercoaster, and Set To Random have been keeping busy recording some original material, and the first taste of it is their new song entitled "Freedom Ride"! This was actually posted online on September 15th, so I'm admittedly late to the pass on sharing this here, but do check it out! There's actually two versions posted, the full explicit version and a cleaned up radio edit, which is smart in case they get radio play. I can't embed it here, so you'll have to check it out on Facebook, but it'll be worth it, cause it's a nice song! It has a familiar radio hard rock vibe to it, but the guitar solo's nice, and it has sort of a biker essence to it, if that's fair. Erik Rintamaki's vocals are gritty, and though not very rangy, he uses them well to the song's advantage! The band have good chemistry and energy, and I like the constant hard driving riffs and the ominous spoken word section too! Good song, click here to check out "Freedom Ride" and more!

And finally, I have some news concerning the Sevendust concert at The Dreammaker's Theater at Kewadin Casino on October 19th. Now, does, the prospect of seeing Sevendust, 10 Years, Since October, and Anew Revolution for $20 pique your interest? Well, judging by early ticket reports, it doesn't seem like a lot of people are interested yet. Allstar Promotions, who are the promoters who got this show booked, lamented on their Facebook page that the show wasn't selling very well, only drawing around 200 tickets sold so far. They had mentioned that management might pull the show as a result, with criticism given to how the area is far behind for new music, and that local radio wasn't doing much to promote the show, save for Rock 101's Scott Cook. In the latest posting, Allstar Promotions announced that Sevendust's management wouldn't drop the show, but there's still concerns over a low attendance. Personally, I'm a bit baffled as to the low sales myself. Sevendust are popular enough, you'll hear them and 10 Years here and there on Rock 101, and the tickets are very affordable! I don't agree entirely with us being behind on new music, as the Pop Evil show in February sold out, though to be fair, it had a lot of charitable support & free ticket distribution.

This show should be awesome, and you guys should really consider buying a ticket! I mean, really, these four very talented metal bands for $20? This show can be a success, and it will deliver musically, so BUY YOUR TICKETS A.S.A.P.! You can do so online at this location, at the Kewadin Casino box office, or by calling 1-800-539-2346!

That's all for today, but I have some more news from a few local bands and music-related entities to come this weekend, so stay tuned for that very soon! Thanks everyone!