A Big New Outdoor Concert's Band Search, A Notable Band's Likely Status, And Much More!!

Here's some more news for this Sunday morning, and there's some notable stuff to address and cover! Today, we've got updates to one of our monthly feature series, a bunch of assorted news and notes, videos of a local metal guitarist, and the likely status of a local metal band, but first, here's some information on a planned major concert event that YOU can apply to play on!

Are you or your band interested in playing at a multi-band outdoor concert in the Sault Ontario area next summer? Applications are being taken right now for some sort of concert event to be held in June 2013, as per postings by organizer Rita Slater on our Facebook page, and a related "Sault Ste. Marie Outdoor Concert" Facebook page that she's launched. Rita is the general manager of Laird International Raceway and the organizer of the relaunched Hot Rides Cornfest that was held there this month & last August, and from what I can gather, this event (which may also be a festival) would likely take place in Laird as well, though it's not planned to be country music-centric like Cornfest is. Details are otherwise scant on this planned event, but headlining bands will apparently be announced later this year, and she's hoping to find 10-12 local acts to perform. If you or your band are interested in playing this outdoor concert event in Laird next June, e-mail Rita A.S.A.P. at theboomboomshow@hotmail.ca! I know the new Cornfest has been successful, but a new music festival in the area with rock integration (and hopefully some metal) would be neat, especially in June rather than later months where it'd have more competition. I'd say take Rita up on this offer to apply for this event, you never know how big it could be, so send your e-mails A.S.A.P., and stay tuned for updates on this event!

Next up, I wanted to note a band that we're regrettably moving to the inactive band links on the SMS, that being local classic metal quintet Sativa Rose. Though we're not at the one year-inactivity threshold for them (they were last visibly active in December via some concert video uploads), an immediate future for Sativa Rose is unlikely due to members Andrew Angelic & Adam Veale's planned move to London for college early next month. Nothing official has ever came out regarding Sativa Rose's status, but with Andrew & Adam focusing on the also-moving Valentine's Day Massacre, guitarist Anthony Orazietti now in Winkstinger, and drummer Alex Palmer living out of town himself right now (I think), the writing seems to be on the wall. It's disappointing to see Sativa Rose fall into inactivity, especially knowing their musical talent and the unrealized potential that their final lineup (including singer Marisa Valois) had following that lineup's first & last show in November. No matter what, they gave us a lot of great shows and originals from their summer 2010 debut through last fall, and classic metal fans had a lot to like and headbang with! Best of luck to Marisa, Andrew, Anthony, Adam, and Alex in the future, and maybe Sativa Rose will pop up again in some form down the road!

Thirdly today, remember how we shared videos from new Sault Ontario thrash metal band Pillory and their 2011 predecessors Roadkill on Thursday? Well, guitarist Robert Sartini has posted 10 solo thrash covers aside from his recent band work on his YouTube channel as well! With one exception, these were all filmed last year, and they include covers of Metallica's "Jump In The Fire" and the solo from "Disposable Heroes", and Viking's "Case of the Stubborns", but the rest are all Megadeth, including versions of "In My Darkest Hour", "Set The World Afire", "Victory", "Holy Wars... The Punishment Due", and the solo from it in a separate video, so click each link to see Robert in action! He has skill at metal guitar work for sure, but his guitar is tuned a bit weirdly on some of the videos, and there are some rough patches. He does have talent though, and I'm curious to hear more from Robert in Pillory or solo uploads, so check out his cover of "Holy Wars" below, and see more at the above links!



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

• Local classic metal quartet Late & Loud have quietly uploaded their entire upcoming debut EP to their Reverbnation page! It's good to hear all of these songs in full, but as always, I'll hold on full thoughts until it's hopeful release. Check all five tracks out at the above links, and stay tuned for their long awaited return at the end of the month when they open for Skull Fist!
  
• Former Bear Hunters/Skull After Betrayl guitarist Mike Vincent is looking for a hardcore/metalcore vocalist for his new project, which will apparently cover bands like August Burns Red and Whitechapel. This could be interesting if it gets to the level of Mike's older bands, but I don't know a whole lot on them yet. If you're interested, message Mike at this location or find his post on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group from August 6th!
• Also new on the Musicians Wanted group, local hardcore band With Blood Builds Character are officially looking for a drummer (they had temporarily enlisted Travis St. Amour for their debut show.) Frontman Jeremy Hannah indicated in a post late last month on the group that they're hoping to tour in January, so make note of that. If you're a technical metal drummer and are interested in joining W.B.B.C., message Jeremy at this location or read more at the above links!
  

And finally for today, here's some updates to our YouTube Channel Profiles, to make that monthly feature series more accurate and current! On the profile of YouTube user AshTraynor's channel (which is centric towards Kinross hard rockers Banned), I updated references to their current lineup (namely the return of Alex Schrovenwever as their new second guitarist), and made lineup adjustments accordingly, along with some date fixing. On the StateOfMisery2011 channel profile, I updated it to reflect State of Misery's latest breakup from earlier this summer, and finally, I edited the GardenofBedlamBand channel profile to note the current amount and usage of newer band channels, as it's been replaced twice over in the last 3 years. That's all for that latest batch of updates, but as more updates come up relating to our monthly feature series, I'll let you guys know so you don't miss anything that's added, removed, or switched! That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes shortly, including our next YouTube Channel Profiles and our Dead & Divine concert preview in a few days! Thanks everyone!

Weekend Concert Previews, Barking Eye Updates, And A New Concert Video!!

Hello there, local metalheads! I have more stuff to share on this fine Thursday, including previews of this weekend's (known) local hard rock concerts, the latest notable news articles on The Barking Eye, and a notable concert video from a concert from last year that was recently posted online! But first, we'll start with your local concert previews for this weekend! Before we kick that off, note that Tym Morrison's show scheduled for tomorrow at The Roosevelt Hotel has been cancelled for some genre conflicts, let's leave it at that. Now, onto the scheduled concerts!

I'm starting with the two shows in Sault Michigan because these could be the last time you see this band for a while, at the very least. Tomorrow night and Saturday night at The Bird, local hard rockers Nixxon Dixxon hit the stage for the last time before drummer Jake LaLonde heads to California to attend the Musicians Institute (and yes, I'll have updates on if he made the next round of the Full Ride contest when they come out.) With Jake's plans out west, and from comments made by frontman Brandon Carr on his personal Facebook page, the band appear to be going on a hiatus or break in the meantime, if nothing else. So this could very well be your LAST CHANCE to check Nixxon Dixxon out for a long time, make note of that! They'll be on at 10:30 PM both nights with no announced cover charge, and you must be 21 to enter. They're a great band with loads of metal covers and select originals in store, so at least consider going, because who knows when you'll see the band back playing shows.

No matter what, they've accomplished a great deal for a band their age, and we already remember them fondly, whatever the future holds! For more, visit their official MySpace page, and for a video preview, here's Nixxon Dixxon covering Alice In Chains' "Rooster" from the Pop Evil show in February!



Now, in Sault Ontario, we have two hard rock shows, this time courtesy of Turner Up once again! The local classic hard rock quintet return to Foggy Notions this weekend for a pair of concerts, and disregard the Facebook event page, they ARE playing on Saturday too, as confirmed in band members' Facebook statuses. Nothing that I can tell about these shows that are too different from normal Turner Up shows, so there'll be a 10:30 PM start time, a likely $3 cover charge, and a 19+ age limit for both concerts. Should be fun, as usual, though if you miss them this weekend, you're bound to see them again very soon, cause they have a solid weekend booking schedule! For more infomation, visit the above links, and for a preview, check out a video of Turner Up (with current frontman Brent Royer) covering Gavin DeGraw's "I Don't Wanna Be" at a recent Rockstar Bar concert at this location! I can't embed it here, but hopefully something embeddable pops up soon!

And now, for two news stories to close this post, and first, we have the newest metal-relevant stories from Glen Thomas' informative music blog, The Barking Eye! The largest & most intriguing revolves around the ongoing rumours that would see Northern Raceway (formerly 5th Line Speedway) become an outdoor concert venue. In case this is before your time, Northern Raceway was a former local racetrack that was active from 1965-1987, and is now unused, with the old track and grandstands still there unattended. Glen backed up a lot of the positive speculation about this rumour in saying that Northern Raceway is a "gold mine" waiting for development, and it's size & location (near a KOA campground and away from most of the city) would be perfect for holding major outdoor concerts. However, he pointed out that residents around the area had spoken out AGAINST turning it into a concert venue when the rumours started due to the noise issues, and property damage concerns were also raised. That being said, there's no definite facts about the possibility of turning Northern Raceway into a concert venue, just lots of ongoing speculation, but what do you guys think?

Glen pointed out that rumours picked up after Castle Farms in Charelvoix stopped hosting concerts in the 1990s, which makes sense to give the area another big concert spot. I could submit that Runway Park could fill that void, given that they hosted Bell Border Jam and WOULD have hosted the cancelled Skid Row outdoor show had it stayed on, but there hasn't been a major concert there since 2008 that I can remember. If there was actually a devoted group with the right funds to turn Northern Raceway into a concert spot, I'd be for it, but honestly, I just take these as rumours. Interesting rumours, but rumours nonetheless. Check out the article for yourself by clicking here! Among other notable articles, Glen weighed in on Garden of Bedlam's huge opportunity opening for Kiss, the new local pop rock band Cherry Crush (featuring Foggy Notions owner Taryn Bugyra on lead vocals), and a mini article about the old Sault Music Scene Facebook group from shows in the 1970s and 1980s! Good stuff, click the above links for much more, cause Glen has a lot of interesting things to say about the scene, past and present!

And finally, here's another major local concert video, and shockingly, it's not from Kiss' show last Tuesday! Nope, I can't forget about other major shows in the area, and this fits the bill. YouTube user escherich1987 uploaded a video from Papa Roach's concert at The Dreammakers Theater at Kewadin Casino from last November onto his YouTube channel! It's a video of Papa Roach playing their song "Forever" from the show, but note that the video quality is quite jittery and shaky. That being said, the audio holds up better, but it has clippy sound with washed out bass, especially in the heavier choruses. Not the best video we've seen from the Papa Roach show quality-wise, but it never hurts to have more local concert videos, especially this late after the show. Check the video out below, and yes, I have at least one more Kiss video to share, so stay tuned!



That's all for today, but guess what's tomorrow? The new SMS poll, that's what! And of course, the results of last month's poll. What did you guys vote as your favourite show of the first half of 2010? We'll find out tomorrow, and as for the new poll topic? It's about local radio, and not about station issues or the controversy from early in the year. Let the debate begin! Stay tuned for that, and more, very soon!