Details On The Fox 104.3's Monday-Friday On-Air Schedule!!

After a few days of double checking the on-air schedule, here is our second post all about new Sault Ontario rock radio station The Fox 104.3 FM! In our post from this past Sunday, I looked at general information about CJQM's switch from country to rock, and gave some insights into their playlist rotation, but today's post looks at the on-air programming lineup during the work week (we'll look at the different weekend schedules in a post early next week). At press time, The Fox's website does not have a "Shows" tab like its sister stations to reflect the shows and DJs on air, but you don't need one, as the local station shares a nearly identical schedule as The Fox 101.9 in North Bay, Q92 in both Sudbury & Timmins, and (where all four stations get their base playlist and schedule) K-Rock 105.7 in Kingston. The only programming exceptions from those markets are a North Bay Battalion talk show and the "Friday 6pack" in Kingston.

The Fox has two different zoo crew programs during the week, including The Brock & Dalby Show from 5:30-9:00 AM and The Biggs & Barr Show from 6:00-8:00 PM, bookending overnight autoplay with no hosts or DJs. The former show is hosted by Brock Lewis & Drew Dalby out of K-Rock in Kingston, while Chris Biggs & Jason Barr (alongside Pastey Jamie) host the latter from CHEZ 106 in Ottawa. Both shows are formatted similarly, in that their host segments pop up between the station's music rotation, though only Brock & Dalby introduce songs. If you just want to hear the hosts and their on-air segments (like The Draft and The Quiz on Brock & Dalby, or OttaWHAT?! and Lights Out on Biggs & Barr), you can hear both programs sans music/commercials and with some additional exclusive content on major podcasting services, plus Rogers' Seekr application.

Which of the two zoo crew shows that you like more will be subjective (let alone if you factor in Scott Cook In The Morning on Rock 101 in the morning drive timeslot, which runs from 6:00-10:00 AM), and while I have laughed a little more at Brock & Dalby, both shows have certainly had their moments. I do like when radio hosts have someone to play off of and react to, so keep both shows in mind if you haven't tuned in yet, and if you like what you hear, catch up with their podcasts!

From 9:00 AM-6:00 PM weekdays, The Fox enters normal rock radio airplay with DJs in the booth, plus weather and news reports. Mid-week, you'll hear three DJs, including Heather Williams from 9:00-11:00 AM, Lew MacDonald from 11:00 AM-2:00 PM, and Dan Koo from 2:00-6:00 PM. Heather is out of CHEZ in Ottawa, and also hosts the Today In Rock interstitials, where she names off three major events in rock music history on this day in the past. Lew is out of K-Rock in Kingston, and his time in the booth encompasses the Classic Rock Lunch, featuring an hour of just pre-1990 rock songs from 12:00-1:00 PM (call it an appetizer for Classic Rock Sundays, which we'll outline early next week). The 2:00-6:00 DJ changes in every market in this five station loop, so Dan is the only locally-based on-air personality, and also the only on-air holdover from the hosts/DJs on Country 104.3.

If you're tuning in online to Country 600 in North Bay (which shared the same playlist and schedule as 104.3 until last week), Dan is still on air there too, so things will be familiar regardless. I suspect Dan will also be the primary conduit for local promotions and interviews for The Fox, but we will see how that bears out in the coming months. I'm not one to compare and rank DJs on a given station, but all three have handled their spot well on CJQM, so continue getting familiar with all three if you have the former Q104 on during the week! Lastly, if you were tuning in to The Fox from launch, you may have heard a different host/show at nighttime during its first three days on air, namely the syndicated Greg Beharrell Show, which has been heard on dozens of rock stations across North America and isn't exclusive to Rogers. It aired last Thursday & Friday from 6:00-10:00 PM and this past Saturday from 9:00 PM-2:00 AM, but was not on this week.

From what I can tell, episodes of Greg's show (which used to air on Q92 and in North Bay) were used as a stopgap until Biggs & Barr episodes were ready to run on CJQM, though that's just how I read it. As far as I know, Greg Beharrell is not related to Luxury/ex-Billy Bastards guitarist Greg Beharriel. In the event that he resurfaces on The Fox, Greg's show is similar to The Fox's zoo crew programs, in that host segments were dropped in between the music rotation, including light-hearted conversations with callers, and he came off kinda Ryan Reynoldsy, if that's fair. If you're curious, click here to see what other stations that Greg airs on! We'll leave things there for now, but the variety of on-air content, musical or otherwise, is very noted for local rock music fans, so hopefully this post helped outline the weekday schedule! Weekends on The Fox is very different, so look for our coverage of what airs on Saturdays & Sundays on the site next! Thanks everyone!

Telephone & Address Concert Preview, SweetKenny Album Updates, Rotaryfest Notes, And More!!

With a special Wednesday night concert taking place TONIGHT, I threw a second post together today before we dive into weekend concert previews, so what's on tap? Some assorted recent notes, a few finds and notes relating to the newly released Rotaryfest schedule, and a new album release, but let's kick things off with that mid-week concert preview!

Local acoustic punk/grunge solo project Telephone & Address will return to The Gore Street Cafe TONIGHT as openers for Calgary indie/jazz rock quartet Fox Who Slept The Day Away to close the venue's Fortnight Festival! The Chris Shoust-led local solo act should be in good form with plenty of new and recent originals during this show, with Fox Who Slept The Day Away's soft, psychedelic originals sure to attract a good audience at the laundromat themselves, so give them a listen to see what you think also! This is the closing event for The Gore Street Cafe's Fortnight Festival, a two week sequel of sorts to the early-2016 Fishbowl Festival there, and with this being the only event this time around with a punk or hard rock act, it's great to see one just before the bell! Unless you already have a $25 pass for all Fortnight Festival events, admission is $5 at the door for tonight's ALL AGES event, which will start at 7:00 PM. Check the official Facebook event page & the above links for more details, and here's Telephone & Address live!

Next up, here's the latest from Dafter, Michigan solo hard rock musician Ken "SweetKenny" Sutton, who quietly released his 19th solo album "Gator's Bayou" onto his Bandcamp page on Monday! For the sixth time in his last seven studio album postings, "Gator's Bayou" is yet another instrumental album intended for use as a score in film, TV, or video games, which he says was inspired by 1960s and 1970s adventure films and cartoons. As well, his December 2015 compilation album "Comic Book!" is now available to the general public after previously being exclusive to paid yearly supporters on his Bandcamp page. It features 14 songs from prior SweetKenny albums, plus one exclusive original song ("Myra The Hunter") that isn't on any other release of his. Both are available for $7 via the above links, but can you expect a review of either on the site soon? For the latter, no, as precedence goes to original studio albums

For the former, we're leaning towards April's non-score album "In Your Face" for a review next, which could be as soon as next month, and assuming he continues releasing new albums at his fervent pace, we may only get to "Gator's Bayou" if "In Your Face" is delayed so far where it's not "new" anymore. In any event, check out SweetKenny's newest solo albums above for more of his prolific & varied hard rock originals and scores!

Also, I received my copy of Rotaryfest's program in the mail today (it's not online yet), and there's a few things to take away from it's Stage 1 & Stage 2 schedules that weren't previously online, so what should you know from the Sault Ontario summer festival? Thanks to the inclusion of pictures with most bands in the schedule, we can put faces to some of the newer and online pageless bands (like Jukebox Deluxe), but the most revealing picture of all may be the apparent album cover for Second Stage performers Gnaeus' upcoming debut CD "Meditations"! Though tiny and monochrome (I have a feeling the official cover is in colour), this confirms that the post-punk quartet completely discarded the original "Loomings" cover when they changed the album's name. Nice to see, so stay tuned for more on "Meditations" when announced! The program also confirms that Shaun Antler and Chelsie Parayko are back as the Stage 1 and Stage 2 directors respectively, and for what it's worth, the program makes no reference to the ongoing Stage 2 crowdfunding campaign.

And lastly, I've made the tough decision to stop classifying online pageless classic rock quartet RPM as a hard rock band in our primary SMS coverage. We had covered them as hard rock since their original Rock For Dimes set in 2013 based on reports at the time, but nothing I've seen since credits or describes them in our primary genre ranges (the program lists them as covering classic rock, blues, country, and top 40 pop.) That said, they're a talented band with a fan friendly sound, and be sure to check out Marcel, Dino, Ben, and Rob at Rotaryfest on July 16th at 3:00 PM!

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, show, or store name:

• We have changed the link for local music/arts podcast 7L in our "Other Local Metal Links" from it's Soundcloud page to it's Facebook page, as the former is down or deleted. A reason hasn't been announced, but if 7L is done, it's a sudden move, as they had just posted a song by RedD Monkey alum Pete Mozarowski onto Soundcloud two weeks ago. For what it's worth, technical difficulties relating to broken equipment had kept full new episodes from going online since April. Hopefully 7L comes back, as Jordan and Teddy had a great thing going!
• This doesn't bear directly on the local metal scene, but it's worth noting: Former Gates of Winter bandmates Bryan Belleau and Brian Holmes will reunite on stage for the first time since (I believe) 2008 when Bryan and his wife, Fort Nelson, B.C. contemporary singer Melinda play an unplugged show at LopLops Lounge on July 30th, with Brian's local progressive rock band Machines Dream opening! Could there be an on-stage reunion between the two that night? Be there to find out, and click here for full details!
• Remember how we deleted defunct local music store Mister Disc from our "Other Local Metal Links" due to the deletion of it's Facebook page? Well, as it turns out, the Todd Gordon-owned store always had a Facebook group too serving very much the same purposes, including daily song dedications, so they are back with the "new" link! While I'm still not sure why the page was deleted, I apologize for not knowing about the Facebook group before!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Powerslug & Rotaryfest's Main Stage), Including The Return Of That's Chester!!

A bit of a change of plans for today, as while I'd intended for this post to 100% focus on Rotaryfest's music lineups, we have a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT to cover, so I reluctantly decided to postpone the Second Stage info to tomorrow so we could fit these late notice shows in, but I promise, they'll headline our very next post tomorrow! Read on below for what you need to know, and check out our all-Sault Michigan post (featuring a new show, 415E previews, and LemmaFest videos) in the post below this one!

As is often the culprit for our late notice Sault Michigan concert announcements, local hard rock trio Powerslug will return to The Corner Pub Bar & Grill's outdoor stage TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, drummer Bob Helsten only just announced these shows a few hours ago on his personal Facebook page. Powerslug should have a pair of fun covers-heavy sets of hard rock songs to chug your mug along with, so keep these shows in mind, especially as they're the first shows that Powerslug have played at The Corner Pub since last year, barring any that I may have missed. There's no announced cover charge for these 9:00 PM-ish shows, and I'd assume a 21+ age limit is in effect. Despite their odd continuing lack of online pages or media to promote shows, Chris, Bob, and Chris should entertain all weekend long outside of The Corner Pub, so keep these shows in mind, and hopefully their next local dates have more advance word!

Now, let's discuss Sault Ontario's annual summer music festival Rotaryfest, as organizers finally confirmed the performer lineups for both the covers-centric main stage at Clergue Park and the original-friendly Tenaris Second Stage outside of Case's Music & The Grand Theatre on Queen Street East earlier today! My sources are SooToday's article on the lineup, and the official schedule on our local summer festival's website, though other local news sources have the schedule online as well. As expected, the music will go down from Thursday, July 18th-Saturday, July 20th, though like past years, there's no bands on the Thursday for the Second Stage, and each stage's first night has an abbreviated length. There's a hard rock leaning band on each full night of the main stage, and one on the Saturday for the second stage, and we'll of course talk about the second stage TOMORROW, so for now, read on below for our rundown of the musical lineup for this year's main stage at Clergue Park in three weeks!

We'll start by mentioning that the Thursday, July 18th lineup at the main stage has just four scheduled acts for 2013, including a local blues band named Goodtime Charlie at 6:00 PM, jazz quartet The Bob Jenkins Band at 7:15 PM, and the classic/oldies rock cover bands Flathead Ford and Coverfly at 8:30 & 9:45 PM each. Note that both The Bob Jenkins Band & Coverfly are returning from last year, while past themes of the Thursday being jazz/blues centric don't appear to be in play this time around.

The Friday, July 19th main stage lineup at Clergue Park features just one hard rock band, that being the previously announced Suicide Kings! The local hard rock quartet will make their Rotaryfest debut as the co-headliners at 9:00 PM that night, despite being a band that plays originals on a stage that doesn't allow them. Whether they got an exception or are playing only covers, it's great to see The Rockstar Bar Battle of the Bands winners expanding to larger opportunities, so don't miss their modern hard/alternative rock sound in 3 weeks! The Friday lineup will be headlined by local country quartet Thin Ice, and the bands preceding The Suicide Kings include Full Circle successors K.T., Kyle, and the Pocket at 8:00 PM, country rockers Summer Thunder at 7:00 PM, classic rock quartet Mid Life Crysis at 6:00 PM, dance rockers Obsession at 5:00 PM, a local salsa orchestra band named Orangatango at 4:00 PM, and two Mike Case junior student bands opening the day, including his Junior All Star Band at 2:30 PM and the his Rock School band at 3:10 PM.

Note that all of the Friday bands except The Suicide Kings, Obsession, and Orangatango played at Rotaryfest's main stage last year, adding to a familiar and varied lineup of local talent, so keep Friday's schedule in mind for your Rotaryfest concert planning!

As for the Saturday, July 20th lineup, the featured hard rock-leaning band will be the returning That's Chester, who will take the stage at 6:00 PM this year! The veteran cover band had amicably broken up in October after a successful 8 year run, but they hinted at a couple of new gigs this summer (their first in over a year) on their Facebook page two weeks ago, so it looks like they're back for more than just a one off. I'm very happy to see That's Chester back at it, even if it's a temporary return, and hopefully their hard-edged cover selections bring back some good memories on the 20th! The Saturday lineup will be headlined by Canadian Rolling Stones tribute band The Blushing Brides at 10:15 PM, while unlike past years, two out of town bands will play the main stage, with noted Toronto jam rock band Ground Zero preceding them at 9:00 PM, as they've done at many other recent Blushing Brides gigs. The other bands in front of That's Chester will be classic rock veterans Mustang Heart at 8:00 PM and country rockers Bone Yard at 7:00 PM.

The Saturday lineup is rounded out by classic rock duo Spyder's Web at 5:00 PM, newer local rock cover quartet Griphook at 4:00 PM, local blues rockers Five Below Zero at 3:00 PM, soft/progressive rock quartet The Pesto Shirts at 2:00 PM, and R&B big band veterans The Repitles opening at 1:00 PM. Another familiar lineup, with only That's Chester, Griphook, and the out of town bands not returning from last year, but like on the 19th, there's plenty of diverse sounds for the fans in attendance, so don't miss out! Each night is FREE & ALL AGES, so check the above links for more on the musical and other entertainment, and stay tuned tomorrow for the Second Stage schedule, and more! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Frightlight), Striker Concert Preview, And Much More!!

Today's post at the SMS is focused mostly on Sault Ontario news and notes, including the complete schedule for a massive upcoming metal/punk show, and a preview for a special Tuesday night concert going down tomorrow, but we also have the last of our MySpace link changes & deletions to cover, mostly relating to Sault Michigan companies and venues. However, we're leading off with a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next month featuring two bands playing tomorrow night, so here's what you need to know!

Local horror punk/metal quintet Frightlight will play their second concert of 2013 on Saturday, July 27th at The Algonquin Pub! Barring any interim announcements, this will be their first Algonquin stop since October, and first headlining gig since then, and it'll be great to see the guys again following their return to the stage tomorrow (more on that in a bit.) This show will serve as a benefit to (I assume) raise money for the short film "The Kid Who Made The Face", which is being produced by bassist Mike Gingras (a.k.a. Eddie Fright), and all attendees of the show will be credited in it as a result. Mike's been taking college courses in filmmaking in Toronto in the past year, and hopefully this film will show the fruits of his labour, so come on out to support this movie! Two local opening bands have been signed on as well for July 27th, including local melodic death metal quintet The Bear Hunters (in their Algonquin Pub debut) and local punk trio Redundant, who should both add nicely to the metal and punk sides of the audience next month, so don't miss them!

Doors open at 9:00 PM for this 19+ concert, and there's an admission price of $5. For more details, check the above links, and the commercial below that Mike posted on his YouTube channel on Saturday, which combines advertising for the show with clips from the movie "The Warriors". Nice little ad, and hopefully it hypes you up for the concert, so check it out below, and stay tuned for updates!

Next up, here's a preview for a special and very intriguing metal concert going down TOMORROW NIGHT at The Roosevelt Hotel, as Edmonton classic heavy metal quintet Striker will make their local debut with a hard hitting faced paced set of original songs! Comparable in sound to recent local favourites like Skull Fist and 3 Inches of Blood, Striker have an exciting and energetic sound that fans of early 1980s speed metal should eat up, so definitely don't miss this stop on their Heavy Metal Rampage Tour!! Three local opening bands will also be on board, and though none are perfect genre matches, there's a nice diverse mix of sounds to enjoy, including the long awaited return of Frightlight after an 8 month stage hiatus, the aforementioned Bear Hunters, and local sludge/death metal quartet Giwakwa in just their fourth live concert, so heavy metal fans will almost certainly find something to like, and Frightlight's return is extra notable in itself! Admission will be $5 at the door for this 19+ concert, with doors opening at 9:00 PM. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page!

Also, promoter/Frightlight frontman Johnny Pints is also hosting a contest for the best 1980s metal costume tomorrow night, so get in on that to compete for a prize! This should be an awesome concert full of different and very intense heavy metal, so don't miss it, and I hope to see you guys there TOMORROW! For a preview, here's 14 minutes of Striker playing live in Edmonton in April!

Also today, the complete schedule has been announced for the third annual Sewer Swampstravaganza all ages show on August 10th at The Oddfellows Hall! Note that the lineup has changed at least once since today, but as best as I can tell, it was a minor change. As you might expect, Montreal thrash trio Warsenal will headline the event at 11:00 PM, with local punk/classical trio RedD Monkey (also the event's hosts/promoters) taking the stage at 10:00 PM. Melodic death metal standouts The Bear Hunters will play at 9:00 PM, to be preceded by local grunge/alternative band Haggith at 8:00 PM, local punk trio The Northern Tragedy at 7:00 PM, stoner/death metal quartet Giwakwa at 6:00 PM, "blue Chinese metal crash punk" notables Sykotyk Rampage at 5:00 PM, extreme metal quartet Winkstinger at 4:00 PM, rising death metallers Crimson Crusade at 3:00 PM, and young local hard rock quartet Ashes To Dust opening the show at 2:00 PM.

Definitely a return to the metal-heavy lineup of the 2011 installment, but with seven new bands (to the series), and at least 22 performers who haven't played in past years, there'll be tons of recent talent to enjoy, and for just $5! Check the above links for more details, and stay tuned for updates!

Finally for today, here's the remainder of our recent MySpace page deletions and changes in our link & venue listings, due to the recent design overhaul and information removals. Firstly, I moved a bunch of Sault Michigan & area links from MySpace to Facebook, including for local concert venues The Corner Pub Bar & Grill, Golanka's Bar (The Bird), The Savoy Bar & Nightclub, and Zim's, local music store Steve's Music Center, and local label/studio Werehold Records. I also moved local lessons/rock camp The Guitar Studio from MySpace to their official website, while the rest of the changes were page deletions, as the other links were for companies & venues that didn't have other known online pages. The deletions included inactive Sault Ontario concert promotion agencies Adamantium Productions, Big Voiced Records, Hitman Productions, and Infamous Productions, inactive regional recording studios idioRECORDS, Klusterfunk Studios, and Lucky Limb Studios, former local concert festival Bell Border Jam, defunct radio show The Mistresses of Metal, and Sault Michigan venue The Satisfied Frog (though I left it in the venue links as it still actively hosts shows.)

I think that's the last of our changes related to MySpace's new direction, but I still wish they'd restore at least profile information, photos, and videos to at least the band pages, as they would further their aims of it being music-centric, but I'm not assuming that they ever will. I just want to keep you guys abreast of the changes, and hopefully next time a popular site for local band pages decides to delete/overhaul things like this, we'll know ahead of time. That's all for today, but stay tuned for some major Sault Michigan news that I know some of you are waiting for very soon. Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Rotaryfest Second Stage), A Newly Added/Reunited Local Band, And Is Metal On This Year?

Hey guys, in our first post of the day, we're dedicating things to this year's Rotaryfest entertainment! While not all of the schedules are out, one notable one is out that has SMS-connections, so we have LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for next month downtown, which include a new addition to our band links (very overdue at that) via a recent band reunion, and a Rotaryfest headliners' return, along with news on the quest for metal there, so here's all that you need to know so far!

The official schedule for this year's Rotaryfest Second Stage has been announced, and after a one year absence, metal & hard rock is back! Not as much as the "Bring Metal to Rotaryfest" campaign from this spring was likely hoping, but what we're getting is notable in itself, so here's who's on tap! The festivities begin on Friday, July 20th, and the co-headliners are the newly reunited local blues/hard rock quartet Sailor's Tongue! The talented local band (originally active from roughly 2005-2009) are advertised as returning for on the Second Stage this year, which may be their first show in almost three years! We actually didn't have Sailor's Tongue on the site's band links before, probably because I figured they weren't heavy enough, but after listening to their material again, they definitely warrant a spot on the site with their bluesy take on hard rock originals, and it made me remember when I saw them a few times locally during their initial run! As you may remember, Sailor's Tongue were fronted by prolific local musician Kyle McKey on vocals & guitar, and he was joined by fellow Turner Up alumnus Jeff Brown on guitar, bassist Blake Jackson, and Kyle's brother Dean on drums, though whether this exact lineup is reuniting or not isn't clear, especially as their online pages haven't acknowledged the reunion yet.

Sailor's Tongue are advertised for an 8:30 PM set on July 20th, right before the headliners, Juno nominated Ottawa indie rock quartet Hollerado at 9:30 PM. The Friday lineup, which is shorter than the Saturday roster as usual, is rounded out by local rockers The Craig West Band (last seen on the second stage in 2010) at 7:30 PM, local indie rock quintet The Tenagens (who recently resurfaced last month) at 6:30 PM, and local solo artist (and original Stillbroke member) Joseph Kargiannakis opening things at 5:30 PM. As always, admission is FREE & ALL AGES for the Friday portion of the Tenaris Second Stage, and like last year, the stage should be set up on Queen Street East outside of The Grand Theater, and not far from the new Case's Music either. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Sounds like a talented lineup, and definitely more local leaning than last year's Friday lineup, so keep the first night of the Second Stage in mind! As for Sailor's Tongue, their Aerosmith-inspired sound has a lot of nice hard rock flourishes and tons of catchy rhythms, and though Kyle's voice as a lead singer doesn't always flow with the material, his range is definitely fitting of their talents, and I'm surprised I've missed featuring them on the site for this long! They're here now though, and don't miss their return at Rotaryfest on July 20th!

As for the Saturday portion of the Tenaris Second Stage, metal is definitely back, as Garden of Bedlam are returning to the outdoor Queen Street stage on July 21st! This will be their second headlining slot at the Second Stage, having headlined in 2010 as well, and just like then, they'll be the absolute last band rocking out on the stage outside of The Grand Theater, and it adds to a notable stretch of concerts next month, joining their Anvil support slot at The Canadian 4 days afterward! Garden of Bedlam will headline this FREE & ALL AGES concert on July 21st with a 10:00 PM timeslot, with 8 local and out of town bands opening for them, so here they are in descending order: Local blues/roots trio Al Wood & The Woodsmen will return from last year to play second last at 9:00 PM once again, while the highest slotted out of town band will be British Columbia folk/indie quintet Shred Kelly at 8:00 PM. A band that I can find nothing on called Paul D & The Double Down are up at 7:00 PM that night, so I'm not positive on their genre, hometown, or members, but if I find out, I'll be sure to let you guys know! North Bay alternative/folk trio The Faraway Neighbours and local solo artist Kelly McGillivray will follow them at 6:00 & 5:00 PM respectively.

The Saturday lineup is rounded out by local roots rockers Frank Deresti & The Lake Effect (another returning band from last year) at 4:00 PM, folk/country standouts Porter (also back from 2011) at 3:00 PM, and ex-Blackwater frontman Cody MacMillan (now of The Moves & The Vig) opening up that day's entertainment at 2:00 PM. The admission details are the same as Friday (sans the timeslots), but check the above links for all of the current details and to check out the bands! It's great to see Garden of Bedlam back, and a nice presence of newer talent from previous years amongst the full lineups! The Facebook event page hypes that 8 of the 14 bands are new to the Second Stage this year, which is nice for some diversity, and I'm glad to see more local bands than some years have had! Also to note, the event page also mentions that there will be after parties at LopLops Lounge (seconds from the stage) featuring some of the out of town bands after the outdoor entertainment wraps up, so check the above links for details on that. This should be another successful Second Stage, so definitely keep it in mind, whether it be for the heavier bands or the whole shebang, and I'll have updates if and when they roll in!

Now, with the Second Stage lineup officially announced, supporters of the Bring Metal To Rotaryfest movement & Facebook group may be wondering what will become of that, now that the only heavier bands are the two mentioned above and potentially some heavier cover acts on the main stage, whose lineup has yet to be announced. Well, when I inquired on the Bring Metal To Rotaryfest Facebook group last night, Bear Hunters/Borderline Divine guitarist Mitch Sirie (who spearheaded the movement) commented that he has some things in mind and will try and scramble something together, though whether it will have official Rotaryfest branding or be a separate intentionally timed event is yet to be determined. Some fans may remember the Sinister Stage at the former Foggy Notions last summer that Frightlight, Machines Dream, and Greg Callaghan played at concurrently with Rotaryfest down the road, so the idea of an unaffiliated show isn't foreign, but we'll have to see what happens. Metal deserves a wider presence at our local summer festival, and hopefully, if nothing else, a big metal show somewhere can go down while Rotaryfest itself takes place, so I will of course keep you guys posted on any metal-related bands and shows over the July 21st weekend in Sault Ontario!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews this morning or afternoon, including another new show! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Sanktuary) & Major Hempfest Lineup News, Including The Complete Schedule!

It's been a couple days since we posted about news in the local scene, rather than reviews and features, so let's get back to that today, starting with a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT! Stay tuned afterwards for tons of Hempfest lineup updates, and more, but now, to the new show!

Hot off the heels of the all ages show at The Roosevelt Hotel on Sunday night, it looks like another is on the horizon, only this one will be at The Oddfellows Hall! On July 20th (next Wednesday), two out of town headliners will hit Sault Ontario on their "Annihilation Of The Nation" tour, including headliners Sanktuary, a speed metal trio from Halifax! They're really good too, so if you like classic influenced speed metal, you'll really enjoy Sanktuary! Joining them are fellow Halifax metal band Black Moor, who'll bring their own classic metal sound to The Oddfellows Hall next week, with some NWOBHM and thrash influences thrown in as well! Awesome to see some straight up metal bands coming for an Oddfellows Hall show! The local openers are local death metal quintet The Bear Hunters (guitarist Mitch Sirie actually is booking this show, nice work!) and local classic metal rockers Sativa Rose, who'll both be sure to set the tone really well for this concert! Tickets are projected to be $5, a tentative 6:00 PM start time is listed, and I believe it's all ages, but this all could be subject to change. For more details, visit the official Faceboom event page! Kudos to Mitch for getting this package of bands here, this should definitely be worth hitting for some old school metal (and a pinch of death!) Pencil me in to attend, and stay tuned for updates if they come in!

Next up, have you been waiting for Hempfest updates? Well, I have a bunch today! I admit a lot of this news could have came earlier than now, but much of it was confirmed on a Hempfest Facebook group I didn't know existed until this month, so I'm slow to the party, so to speak. My apologies! So over the past two months, Hempfest organizer Robert Neron has unveiled the full schedule for this year's performers at the familiar outdoor stage in nearby Ophir, and first, we'll go over the bands that dropped out and who were replaced. I should note beforehand that I imagine that schedule conflicts were the reason for most of the droputs, as the original bands signed on when it was announced for the August 25th weekend, but it's now taking place over the August 11th weekend, which I can see being an issue for bands who didn't plan to be in the area then. With that said, these bands dropped off of the Hempfest band lineup for this year: Local horror punk quintet Frightlight, London hard rock trio Violet Fuse (featuring Saultite Thom Edwards), Vancouver metal band 4Ward, and Arizona solo artist Scott Huckabay. Disappointing news, but hopefully they'll all play here sooner rather than later, cause I know they were looking forward to rocking Hempfest this year originally!

No worries though, as in their place, there's FIVE new bands, none more notable on a metal scale than Garden of Bedlam! Yes, the local metal band will return to the Northern Ontario Hempfest for a third time next month, for what should be a high energy set of heavy metal originals! Nice to see them back, and stay tuned for more news on another upcoming local show of theirs! The other newly added bands include local folk/classic rock trio The Blackberrys, St. Catharine's indie rap band Theatre Crisp, a band I'm not positive on the identity of named Radar (any help?), and local punk trio Motion Carried. However, I should note that Motion Carried formally broke up last week as per their Facebook page, so what will happen to their spot isn't known yet. Will former members take their spot over in a new band, or will a completely different act get it? I'll keep you all posted!

Continuing with Hempfest stories, the complete entertainment schedule is now out! I love that there's finally a full publically viewable schedule for the festival, there never was one when I covered Hempfest under it's old ownership. In order, here's what you guys should watch out for! On Thursday, August 11th, Hempfest opens with opening ceremonies at 4:00 PM, along with the 4:20 siren at (when else?) 4:20 PM, and The Willy High Games, which amount to the first rounds of the spitting and gram sprint contests that day. Click the above link to see the full Willy High Games schedule! Then, the lineup includes (in order) The Blackberrys at 4:30 PM, local hard rock quartet Half Past at 6:00 PM (in their first currently announced show with new singer Jordan Rains), Hamilton ska-punk band Lo-Fi at 7:30 PM, Motion Carried(?) at 9:00 PM, Burlington reggae rockers The Killin' Time Band at 10:30 PM, local sideshow performer D.J. Williamson (of The Dark Karnival Entertainment) at 11:30 PM, followed by a second Killin' Time Band set at 12:15 AM. Friday, August 12th's schedule is even longer, beginning with Blind River folk artists T.J. Kirby at 12:00 PM & Josh Odair at 1:30 PM respectively, followed by West Virginia rappers Northern Lights at 3:00 PM, and then more Willy High Games at 4:00 PM (Round 2 of the Thursday games, plus the junkyard bong contest), plus the 4:20 siren.

The remainder of the Friday schedule includes Theatre Crisp at 4:30 PM, Radar at 6:00 PM, Lo-Fi once again at 7:00 PM, then frequently seen AC/DC tribute band Who Made Who at 9:00 PM (who also have a vendor table at Hempfest this year), D.J. Williamson once again at 10:45 PM, and headlining at 11:30 PM, prominent Canadian tribute band Misery: The Metallica Xperience, so make sure to stay up for them on Friday, metalheads! Saturday, August 13th's lineup includes (in order) Half Past at 12:00 PM, Who Made Who at 1:30 PM, Misery at 3:00 PM, more Willy High Games at 4:00 PM (including the finals of the previous games and the bucket race), the 4:20 siren, Motion Carried(?) at 5:00 PM, Northern Lights at 6:30 PM, Radar at 7:00 PM, Lo-Fi at 7:30 PM, the Halloween costume contest between 8:30 & 9:00 PM, then Garden of Bedlam at 9:00, The Killin' Time Band at 11:15 PM, D.J. Williamson at 12:15 AM, and The Killin' Time Band one more time at 1:00 AM. Joshua Odair, T.J. Kirby, and The Blackberrys play an abbreviated Sunday set as well on August 14th from 12:00 PM to 4:00 PM, before the Hempfest closing ceremonies and 4:20 siren wrap things up that day. For complete Hempfest main stage lineup details, click here!

Nice to see such an extensive lineup, and there's a ton of solid bands, including lots of local talent! Shame that three metal bands had to drop out, but there's plenty here for every preference, including (yes) marijuana in general! And in case you're wondering, the second stage runs from midnight to 10:00 AM Thursday-Saturday, featuring three DJs spinning tunes all night long (including former Renegades guitarist Jason "Wyza" Wysynski Thursday morning), so click here for that schedule, game descriptions, and much more for the scheduled goings on this year! There is a ton of stuff going on to celebrate marijuana culture, music, and good times this year (as always), so click here and here to get all current details on tickets, events, and much more! Hempfest is back where it belongs, this year's should be awesome!

That's all for now, but I have a lot more news to share very soon, so keep an eye out! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (WinkStinger), A Newer Local Band, And Lots More News!!

June's started off well in the local scene, and I have some more stories to share that should keep the good news coming today! In this post, we have news on our upcoming monthly feature post schedules, the latest on As It Stands' album, and news on a (possibly) SMS-coverable band we've referenced on here in the past, among more stories, but let's lead off with a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!!

In May, fans of local cello punk trio RedD Monkey may have become aware of a concert they'd be headlining on June 11th (this Saturday) at Foggy Notions. Well, a full lineup for the concert is finally out, and good news, there's metal to be had! Local extreme metal quintet WinkStinger are listed as the third band of four on the lineup for this concert, so if you're bummed they won't be at The Rosie on the 16th, they still have some June concert action lined up! They are sort of outliers for this show, but there's a ton of diverse sounds to enjoy, so here's who else to look out for! RedD Monkey are headlining (of course), with the unique local trio The Night Owl Meme Makers as the first support band. They have an interesting mix of music that's hard to describe, but imagine acoustic folksy music with an accordion and banjo, and you may get an idea! Opening are Sounds From The Green Room, who I will have more on in a second, as I've learned a few details about them. This show is on Saturday night at 9:00 PM, there is no cover charge, and you must be 19 to enter. For more details, check out the above links and the official Facebook event page! Nice mix of styles here, it should be a fun concert, though spread the word and make note of it, given that is on Saturday! Stay tuned for updates if they come in!

Leading from that, I wanted to discuss Sounds From The Green Room. You may remember this band as one of the openers for RedD Monkey's "Swamp Donkey Romp" concert at Foggy's on February 26th, but I knew absolutely nothing on them. Well, seeing as they're back for the show on Saturday, I did some more research to see if I could dig anything up, and I think I have some real details to share! Though they still don't have a visible internet page, they have played at least one other concert, in Ottawa on February 21st (also with RedD Monkey.) Ottawa music blogger Andrew Carver was there and reviewed their set for his blog National Capital Rock, and it includes photos and a short review on the band! Judging by his photos and review, I was able to determine that the band is just a duo (not unlike Sue Inside in that respect), and if I'm not mistaken, their members are singer/guitarist Brad Griffith (of SBD & No Arrow fame) and drummer B.J. Swire. If I'm wrong, please correct me! Though I haven't seen audio or video yet, Andrew described their sound as "somewhat twisted classic rock" with "a nice fuzzy sound - plus drummer", and an ad for this Ottawa show on Eventful described their sound as "honky tonk metal". Sounds promising enough!

I have a hunch I'll be seeing Sounds From The Green Room long before a site pops up, though they should launch one already, as it'd help get their exposure up! They do sound intriguing, and hopefully I'll get to see them live one of these days! And if I'm right about Brad Griffith in this band, it's good to see him out there still, though hopefully SBD resurface again at some point! Stay tuned for updates on Sounds From The Green Room if I hear them!

Next up, here's the latest on As It Stands' upcoming full length album! As announced on their Facebook page, their 3 day recording sessions at Metalworks Studios in Mississauga have wrapped up, as has tracking for said recordings. According to their Twitter page, the band also announced that they worked with producer/Metalworks chief engineer Kevin Dietz on the recordings, though it wasn't specified on whether he is the album's official producer or is operating under another role. That's all that we've heard since we included the sessions in Thursday's "Where Are The New Albums?" post, but I wanted to share it, as these do lead from and to big stories for the local hardcore quintet! I'm surprised they've kept things so concise and short compared to the updates some other bands have made during recording sessions, and the three day schedule seems short, but I have a hunch they're just keeping things secret until big reveals happen, like the album's name, artwork, tracklisting, and so forth. You can be sure that we'll have updates as they come in, and if the album doesn't come out by July 2nd, all the current details will be posted for our next "Where Are The New Albums?" post!

Now, here's some assorted shorter stories from the last couple of days, and as always, these are in alphabetical order by band name:

• Full Circle's shows at The Rockstar Bar this weekend have been moved to Foggy Notions and cut in half to just a Friday show (as cited here.) No reason was given for the move, though they're likely only playing on Friday because of the aforementioned RedD Monkey concert on Saturday. This is the only advertised Foggy's stop in 2011 for the former Turner Up, so make note of their now-moved show on Friday!
• Lion Ride have launched an official mailing list! To join and get band updates sent to your inbox, head to their official Facebook page, click the mailing list tab on the left, and fill out the information. It's free and painless, but you'll need to confirm your registration via a confirmation e-mail. I don't know how much they'll use this mailing list, but hopefully they'll have some cool news to share through it, so I recommended signing up!
• Marquette hard rockers Nudge have announced that a second band will join them for their concert at The Satisfied Frog in Sault Michigan on Friday! I believe the band is Oscoda, Michigan classic rock band Grounded, check them out at this location! Good classic sound, a couple harder songs too, they'll fit in well! They're NOT playing on Saturday too though, only Nudge are playing. Still, go rock out at The Frog either night!
  

And finally, I wanted to update you guys to our new schedule format on the SMS for monthly feature posts & profiles. Last month's features were way too log-jammed for comfort, and I decided to fix each of our monthly feature posts to a schedule that I hope will be maintained in future months. With that said, our "Where Are The New Albums?" posts will continue to be on the 2nd of each month, and polls (which return next week) will continue to be on the 18th of each month. That said, I've slotted the 10th of the month to be the new post date for our Defunct Local Band Profile Series, and our Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profiles will now be posted on the 26th of this and future months. Hopefully this keeps things more spread out, so we don't get swamped again like we had been in the spring! CD reviews will still operate on a flexible changing schedule, and future monthly features will be addressed when announced. Also, in terms of our Defunct Local Band Profile Series (and other features where we have a balance of the twin Saults), I've decided to boost the amount of Sault Michigan bands covered or featured from 3 out of 10 bands to 2 out of 5, which is more if you round up. This is to keep things closer in line with the real ratio of Sault Michigan metal bands to Sault Ontario, as it's gotten closer since we started the blog.

Our old 2-1-3-1-2-1 schedule for the Defunct Profiles is now a 2-1-2-2-2-1 schedule until January, barring a 2 band month beforehand. It's mostly the same, but the projected September profile will be for Sault Michigan instead, so there'll be 2 straight profiles for Michigan bands in the fall! Next year, we'll permanently go to this schedule on a 5 month cycle: 1-1-1-1-1, which repeats after 5 bands, so there will still be 2 Sault Ontario bands in a row on occasion. I know this could sound unimportant, but it makes everything fairer for Sault Michigan, as their band totals have grown more than Sault Ontario's in recent years. Just wanted to get that out there!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for our "Soo Stories" review, Bad Side profile, classic video, and weekend concert previews as the week draws on! Thanks everyone!