Battle Of The Bands Rewind Mini-Series: Downtown Showdown

It's time to end the initial run of our Battle of the Bands Rewind Mini-Series, and one week off from the first Sault Ontario battle of the bands in almost two years, we're looking at the most recent one today! As we've done over the past six weeks, we're looking at the circumstances, bands, results, happenings, and aftermath of this local battle, and I apologize for the lack of photos of the placing bands (Bring The Fallen aside.) Though only 4 bands competed, a lot went down, so read on below for what you need to know, and check out previews of this weekend's metal/hard rock concerts and some cancellation notes in the post below this one! (Updated on January 28th, 2015)
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Downtown Showdown (May 28th, 2010)

Background: On May 28th, 2010, the Sault Youth Association (in cooperation with the Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre) held the Downtown Showdown battle of the bands at The Oddfellows Hall as a non-profit promotional event to help give bands and local youths a better understanding of entrepreneurship and self-employment in the local arts & entertainment sectors. Four bands were chosen to compete, and each performed three songs for the attendees, after which judges picked the top 3 bands to receive varying prizes. To compete in Downtown Showdown, each band had to have an average of age of 25 or less for it's members, in keeping with the Sault Youth Association's target demographic.

Prizes: The winning band would receive a cover story in The Sault Youth Association's free quarterly newspaper The Fresh Magazine and a photo shoot to go along with it, as well as recording time at a local studio. The second place act received a $100 Music Depot gift certificate and a professional photo shoot, while the third place band also received a photography session of their own. Each placing band also won various gift cards, including ones from Future Shop, although details on those prizes weren't elaborated on prior to the battle.

Competitors: Four young local bands from widely varying genres signed up to compete at Downtown Showdown, including death metal quintet Bring The Fallen, drum & bass/punk trio The Fury, experimental hard rockers SBD, and indie rock quintet The Tenagens.

Results: Bring The Fallen won their third battle of the bands in a 14 month span by claiming top spot at Downtown Showdown, with The Fury finishing in second place for a second straight battle. The Tenagens ended up in the third position, while SBD finished in fourth overall.

Aftermath: Bring The Fallen continued to sporadically play live concerts, including many of the early Roosevelt Hotel metal nights, until their disbandment in April 2011 following numerous breakup rumours, though they reunited for a one-off gig in July 2013. The Fury weren't far behind, going inactive in their own right by the summer of 2011, though they did briefly reunite in 2014. The Tenagens would be a frequent sight at many concerts through mid-2011, though aside from a brief mid-2012 return, they've largely been inactive. SBD would re-release their debut CD "Sonic Experiments" later that year and would play at scattered live dates through 2010, though activity drastically slowed in 2011, and they're now defunct.

Some Notable Performers' Newer Bands (Metal/hard rock in italics):
The Apocalypse Afterparty (Paul Stanghetta from The Fury)
The Bear Hunters (Josh Stephney* from Bring The Fallen)
Five Oceans (Patrick Dal Cin from The Tenagens; Based out of London)
Giwakwa (Josh Stephney* from Bring The Fallen)
Infinity Grinder (Brad Griffith from SBD)
No Arrow (Dann Pichette from SBD)
Paterson Hall (Josh White, Jesse Harding, and Patrick Bonne from The Tenagens; Based out of Ottawa)
RedD Monkey (Joe Bumbacco from The Fury)
Shit Liver (Mike Kyle from Bring The Fallen' lineup that night)
Sykotyk Rampage (Tony Briglio from The Fury)

Trivia:

• The judges for Downtown Showdown included then-Turner Up guitarist and long-time Rad Zone staple Len Ward, local artist & Economy Studs member Robbie Adamson, and Emma Piirtoniemi from the local Youth Advisory Committee. Len would later return to battle judging at the Rockstar Bar Battle of the Bands in April 2013.
• Keeping with the youth-friendly nature of this battle, organizers offered free admission for all ages, refreshment sales, and prize draws at Downtown Showdown, with unsold pizza being freely distributed to attendees after the winners were announced.
• Bring The Fallen won their third & final battle of the bands out of four tries at Downtown Showdown, dating back to their YMCA Battle win in their March 2009 live debut. Similarly to that battle, Bring The Fallen performed at Downtown Showdown without a band member, as bassist Nolan Rainville was out of town. Filling in for him was former OBCD bassist Mike Kyle, who would later become a prominent sight at local metal concerts for his work in the death metal trio Shit Liver.
• Results repeated themselves in the upper half of this battle, as just like at the Algoma University Battle in December 2010, Bring The Fallen & The Fury finished in first & second place each. In another ironic twist, both groups had different bassists the second time around, with Mike Kyle filling in for Nolan Rainville, and Tony Briglio playing for The Fury as a replacement for the departed Josh McNally.
• Bring The Fallen's interview in The Fresh Magazine would be part of their fall 2010 issue, where the interviewed band member(s) discussed their battle of the bands success, what they were looking for out of record labels, the local metal scene & it's future, their unreleased EP, and local concert venues, among other topics. Despite earlier implications, they weren't on the cover for that issue, but a photo from their shoot was included with the article, which you can read at this link. No word ever came out on if Bring The Fallen used the recording time they won at this battle.
• This would be the last battle of the bands to take place in Sault Ontario until the Sault Humane Society Battle of the Bands on April 20th, 2012, a break of almost two years after seeing at least 9 battle of the bands take place in Sault Ontario between 2007 & 2010. Only one performer from Downtown Showdown (Bring The Fallen frontman Josh Stephney) performed at this battle, as The Bear Hunters' then-rhythm guitarist, but they fell just a point short of a third place tie.
• Bring The Fallen's then-guest bassist Mike Kyle almost got a second crack at a local battle of the bands in June 2012, as he was originally lined up to play the Battle For The Blood with his current band Shit Liver at The Roosevelt Hotel that month. However, they quietly dropped out of the event for unknown reasons around the time of the battle's date change to June 19th.
• Two performers from this battle (Bring The Fallen's Josh Stephney & The Fury's Tony Briglio) returned to compete at The Rockstar Bar Battle of the Bands' last 3 band-semifinal on April 17th, 2013, with Tony playing bass for Sykotyk Rampage, and Josh playing guitar for The Bear Hunters & fronting Giwakwa. The Bear Hunters won and made the finals (where they finished 5th overall), with second place Giwakwa and third place Sykotyk Rampage falling short of making the finals themselves.
• The Fury frontman Paul Stanghetta almost competed at Viva La Battle at The Canadian Nightclub on November 13th, 2013 with then-band Keep It Lit, but they dropped out on short notice due to a member breaking their arm, and quietly dissolved the following year without ever playing live. Though The Bear Hunters won the battle, the aforementioned Josh Stephney did not compete with them due to moving to Brampton a few months prior, but he did join them to take part in their first place prize: an opening slot for Bam Margera's Fuckface Unstoppable the following month.
• SBD bassist Brad Griffith returned to battles of the bands when he competed in March 2015's Speak Easy Battle with his recent alternative hard rock duo Infinity Grinder, but they did not place in that event.
• The Fury bassist Paul Stanghetta at last competed in another battle of the bands when his current band The Apocalypse Afterparty made the finals of the VM Radio Battle of the Bands at The Canadian Nightclub in March 2015, where they finished in fourth place, and covered old Fury originals in their set. The Bear Hunters finished in second in the same battle (and in third place at the Speak Easy battle as well), but Josh Stephney was out of town for both.

Videos:
Bring The Fallen playing their original "Stand Before"
SBD playing their instrumental "Ess"



Sources/More Info:
Downtown Showdown's Facebook event page
The Sault Youth Association's press release on Downtown Showdown
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And so ends our first run of this series! I'll continue to update the entries on these 7 local battles as things are discovered, corrected, or change, so I'll of course update you guys as I do that to ensure they're 100% accurate. Barring the obtainment of sufficient info to warrant an older battle addition (i.e. a Bon Soo battle, the other Case's Music battles, any in Sault Michigan, etc.), our next entry to this series won't be until April 2013, when we look back at next week's Sault Humane Society battle, but until then, go see it at The Grand Theater this coming Friday! I hope you guys enjoyed our looks back at these battles of the bands, and stay tuned for a new news post either tonight or early tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

Updates From Woods Of Ypres, Jason Mapes, And The Fresh Magazine!!

Hey guys, I have lots more updates to share today in the local metal scene, including new songs, videos, a tour blog, new band pages, and an open letter! Lots of stuff to get to, so let's not waste any time!

We'll start with updates from local doom/black metal quartet Woods of Ypres, as their North American tour continues through the American Southwest! Bassist Shane Madden has uploaded his second tour diary onto Decibel Magazine's website, which details the band's tour dates between Calgary and San Jose! Like on Shane's first posting, the diary mostly deals with the road trip itself and not the individual shows, including the scenic mountain drives, post-show parties, the surprising ease of crossing the American border, the fall-out of a cancelled Los Angeles show, and much more! Good read, interesting seeing how a tour unfolds for an independent band like Woods of Ypres! Click here to check it out! Also new on the Woods of Ypres front: New concert videos! YouTube user caraface has uploaded three new videos from the band's show last night at The Nightmare in Dallas onto their YouTube channel! Nice camera angle, you get a good view of the entire band, though it could stand to be a bit closer. Interesting choice of giving the video sepia toned colour, makes it look older! Audio's not bad either! There's uploads of "Suicide Cargoload (Drag That Weight)" & "Halves & Quarters" and Everything I Touch Turns To Gold (Then To Coal)", but I'm embedding the video of Woods performing "By The Time You Read This (I Will Already Be Dead)" below, check it out, and click here for more!



Next up, Bad Side guitarist Jason Mapes has launched a new Reverbnation page featuring a brand new original demo! The page has lots of information on his new solo project, including band members, profile information, the revelation that his album is scheduled to come out this fall, his Kiss cover video, and of course, that new demo! Entitled "Love Again", it's an acoustic demo where he shows off some good guitar skills and a nice soft singing voice, definitely better suited here than on his cover of "I Was Made For Lovin' You". Not bad, though I'd love to hear heavier than this! Check out more of Jason's solo stuff at the links above! Also to note: Bad Side drummer Jonah Brockman also has a few solo pages of his own for his solo projects! Though not metal, I though that was worth mentioning, click his name to check out some of his own solo material!

And finally, the new issue of The Fresh Magazine is now out at numerous local establishments and online at this location, absolutely free! Lots of stuff this week to interest youths in Sault Ontario, and there's a few things that should interest metalheads! Len Ward from Turner Up & The Rad Zone's newest installment of "Len's Corner" is in this issue, with a playlist of what he's spinning on The Rad Zone's stereo (good selections!) and there's a one page photo collage of shots from the Downtown Showdown Battle of the Bands from May 28th, which is captioned on the cover as well. I hope that isn't the culmination of the promised photo shoots and cover features for the winning bands, cause the prize claims sounded misleading if this is all we get. Aside from that, it's a great issue with lots of interesting articles and pieces, but one in particular struck me that I feel I should mention on here. It's an "Open Letter to Rock 101" by freelance contributor Patrick Webb, the former guitarist of local hard rockers Infrastrate (Does anyone have a copy of their CD that I could get for an SMS review?!) Anyway, Patrick penned this open letter to address his criticisms of our only locally based rock radio station, which boil down to what he feels is a repetitive out-dated playlist of songs, which is helping contribute to an isolated feeling that many youths in Sault Ontario have. I won't detail everything he's criticizing, but it's a well written article, and you can read it by clicking here and scrolling to page 22. Now after reading this, I felt compelled to offer my own take on Patrick's open letter, but read his piece first!

Now I listen to Rock 101 a lot, and personally, it's my absolute favourite local FM radio station. I hate very little of what they air. That being said, I do agree that Rock 101's playlist does get repetitive, and I think it's worse than it could be because the vast majority of Rock 101's schedule is just normal DJ rotation, with only 9 hours a week set aside for special programs, like "Eddie Trunk Rocks" & "Flashback". Those air different stuff, but they're only on weekends. If Rock 101 just had constant 30 minute rock blocks 24/7, it'd be even worse than is claimed. It's not just newer artists and lesser known songs either like Patrick suggests, I could easily add Canadian bands to the list. Local bands on normal rotation would be a help too. I don't know if Rock 101 knows of these criticisms, and it's not just Patrick that has them, but I will submit this: The stuff that Rock 101 does air is good stuff. Repetitive, maybe. Same selection of bands, maybe, but it's not horrible. Rock 101's playlist rotation DOES need to be punched up, but at least they know stuff that a general rock fan would like, even if it's not the most current list or the best selection for a diehard fan of some bands. Myself, I'd love to hear Iron Maiden in normal rotation, but only weekend programs ever air them. That's one of many examples you could offer. But is Rock 101 really a contributing factor to isolation of the youth? I don't know if I'd give it that much credit, it's just a radio station, and if a young Saultite doesn't find it a relevant musical window, I'd hope they'd put a CD in or listen to their mp3 player rather than use it as fuel for a reason to leave town.

Rock 101 is still my favourite local FM station, and unless the unlikely day comes where a new local one pops up, it always will be. I admit that no station is perfect, but Rock 101 has the best odds for good music locally, especially with The Bear's local departure. But where Patrick says that Rock 101 is the "only viable option" in his open letter, I will openly and respectfully say he is incorrect. We pick up three other rock stations locally from the Mackinac Bridge area, including Real Rock 105.1, KLT: The Rock Station, and the new Mackinac City feed of Classic Rock: The Bear. All pick up locally on a good radio and all air different stuff than Rock 101. Real Rock in particular seems to be the best example of what Patrick's looking for. Add WLSO: The Sounds of Lake State to the list too if you know when a metal block airs. I do hope Patrick's opinions get addressed by Rock 101, and I respect his opinions on the situation even though not everything I agree with. I still listen to Rock 101, but like many listeners, there are things I'd like to see adjusted too. Maybe with time, we'll have to see!

That's all for today, but I have lots more news on the horizon! Tomorrow will be solely for weekend concert previews, my GarageBand Profile on Mike Cliffe will be on Friday, and at some point during or after, I have much more news to get to! Stay tuned for all that, and more!

Downtown Showdown & Hells Bells Concert Reviews!!

For the first time in Sault Metal Scene history, I am reviewing two concerts in one post! Last night, I was at the Downtown Showdown battle of the bands, and after it ended, I headed to The Canadian for some high voltage rock n' roll from a prominent AC/DC tribute band! Now, let's get these reviews started! (News and updates will return by Tuesday, likely sooner)

So firstly, after a quick detour to Galaxy Cinemas to get my ticket for The Big Four (See you guys on June 22nd!), it was off to The Oddfellows Hall for Downtown Showdown, my first concert there in 14 months! It felt like the good old days again, back when I was a short haired teenager off to see Gates of Winter. No really, Lee Maines and Brian Holmes were there volunteering and doing sound! Nice to see them again, but you know me, I wanna see Gates back! The Sault Youth Association were pulling out all the stops, they were selling lots of refreshments, including pizza (if it wasn't Mrs. B's, it was a close facsimile), and they also had the raffle for the Future Shop gift certificate too that many people entered! The judging panel featured SYA members and, much to my surprise, Len Ward from Turner Up and The Rad Zone! Slow to get going though, but when it did, we could feel it, as Bring The Fallen were first up!

This was my first time seeing Bring The Fallen live in three months, and luckily, they're as brutal as ever! They played their originals "Defiling Despondence" and "Stand Before", along with a new original named "Nostalgia", and all were really good! Fast, heavy, and quite moshable, I saw people getting pits going! And yes, they only played three songs, that was the limit for each band. Seemed short to me, but I enjoyed what I heard! Josh Stephney gave his all for the show, you know how I could tell? In the photos I took, his face is very red, but it was worth it, he looked like he was enjoying himself! Brutal death growls, gotta love them! Andrew Chiarello and Dan Souliere continue to impress on guitar, I love Andrew's solos and Dan holds the rhythm well! He should use his backing vocals more though, he's got decent pipes! Bassist Nolan Rainville was absent, thanks to a trip up north, so Mike Kyle (formerly of O.B.C.D.) filled in on bass, and he held his own! And of course, Travis St. Amour was great on drums, I think he's underrated locally! Bring The Fallen sure kicked things off with a bang, and to me, it didn't sound far fetched for these talented young musicians to win their third battle out of four entered!

Local "no-genre" band The Fury were next, and you can tell they're popular cause the crowd seemed to double when they hit the stage! And the mosh pit was at it's peak for them too! Paul Stanghetta sure has a lot of energy vocally and on the bass, and sometimes, you can't really tell that there's no guitar, you just get into the music! Very unique and talented young band, they're well worth seeing live for one of their full sets, even if they're not really metal! Where else are you going to find a band with two bassists, no guitarist, and lots of energy?

After them, we witnessed the second live set from local experimental hard rock band SBD, and for my first time seeing them, it was a mixture of nostalgia and enjoyment! Nostalgia for No Arrow (great seeing Dann Pichette on stage again) and enjoyment for their weird, yet heavy and catchy tunes! They played an instrumental, "Ess", as well as "It Just Won't Work" and another song (I think it was "Pow! Right In The Kisser", correct me if I'm wrong.) "It Just Won't Work" was my favourite of the three, I love how they switch from slow and bouncy to fast and relentless like someone flipped a switch! Luckily, they retained much of The Fury's crowd and got some huge pits going themselves! Though I know they don't like being compared to No Arrow, they have more resemblances than they let on, and that's not a bad thing to say! Dann Pichette and Brad Griffith have good styles, raw and heavy, but not afraid to try things, and Shane Triplett was great on drums himself! It's not the type of highly refined music that the judges may have been drawn to, but it's just entertaining hard rock, that's what I expected! I hope to see a full set of theirs soon!

After revealing who won the Future Shop gift certificate (no luck on my end), it was time for the last band! Ending the battle were local indie band The Tenagens, and I do appreciate their musical talent, they play their instruments very well and appeared to love being on stage! Unique seeing Pat Bonne on keyboards too, you don't see much of that locally anymore! But I have to be honest, they weren't really my thing. They're talented to be sure, but you know me, I'm a metalhead! But The Tenagens did good, and they kept the crowd for the most part! The musical portion of the battle ended there, and after some thank yous to involved workers, we learned who won and in what order. So here is the final placement of the competing bands:

1st place: Bring The Fallen
2nd place: The Fury
3rd place: The Tenagens
4th place: SBD

They won the YMCA battle last March, the Algoma University battle in December, and now they're the champions of Downtown Showdown! Bring The Fallen have won their third battle of the bands out of the four they've entered (only losing the Kiss battle!) And they definitely deserved it, they're great young musicians that put their all into their songs! I agree with the order for the most part, except for SBD placing last. I'm not trying to put the other bands down at all, but I'd have at least given SBD third, maybe second! But hey, everyone's tastes are different. The SYA didn't announce prize details online, so I only heard about them last night when they were announced, so I'm 100% missing things, but I can tell you that Bring The Fallen will be on the cover of a future issue of The Fresh Magazine, and have won a photo shoot and lots of gift cards! The Fury and The Tenagens also won Future Shop gift cards, photo shoots, and Fresh Magazine articles on them, not sure if SBD won anything though. Also, thanks for the free pizza after, that was nice of them to give what wasn't sold to everyone!

Overall, Downtown Showdown was fun while it lasted, although limiting each band to three songs really took away from the experience. I'd have given them a couple more each to help make up for the fact that there was only four bands! But hey, it was free, what more do you want? The music was good, the experience of an Oddfellows show was in full force, and there were lots of familiar faces, be they from bands or not! Hopefully there's another battle of the bands soon, cause these are always fun to hit! And yes, I took pictures, so click here or visit The Sault Metal Scene on Facebook to check them out! Sorry for the lack of them (not much time to take lots) and the quality (the lighting was no help.) And yes, there are videos! I got SBD playing "Ess" and Bring The Fallen playing "Stand Before", check them out below!





So with Downtown Showdown ending at around 9:30 PM, there was plenty of time to get to The Canadian in time for Hells Bells! Part of me was still bummed that Phatstick got cancelled (which I can now verify was due to the pre-summer renovations), but at least I had a backup plan! I'm coming to realize something though: When a band plays there that isn't a typical three-set local "bar band", and they say 10:00 PM as the start time, they mean 11:00 PM. Still, I was able to kill time playing Ms. Pac-Man and Arkanoid in The Knights Inn lobby while I waited! When Hells Bells took the stage finally, they were instantly impressive! They really did sound like AC/DC, and at least on the part of the singer and guitarist, they looked it too! If you looked quickly, I wouldn't blame you for thinking that it was really Brian Johnson and Angus Young, they looked the part even more than Who Made Who did! The rest of the members didn't look like Malcolm, Cliff, and Phil, but as long as Brian and Angus are covered, most fans don't mind. They covered almost ever major AC/DC classic, along with a couple surprises like "Sink The Pink" and "Rocker"! I'd have liked to have heard "Let There Be Rock" and "Rock n' Roll Train", but no worries!

The singer really did sound the part of Brian Johnson.....at first. In the second set (following a lengthy break), he really seemed to overdo it. I don't know if he was overcompensating for something or just excited, but he was singing way too hard and missing some things in the process. The lead guitarist had Angus down pat though, he had all the motions spot on! The duck walk, the stepping in place, the schoolboy outfit, the spinning on the floor, he did it all! The rest of the band were solid too, my biggest gripe from them was the backing vocals, definitely not up to speed with what I was hoping! Some nice additional touches though, like the horned baseball hat that "Angus" wore, prerecorded bells and cannons for "Hells Bells" and "For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)", and "Brian" had some great onstage banter with the crowd! Also, it should be noted that Hells Bells take requests, which is a great touch! More tribute bands should do that, it's just a shame that the crowd wasn't as good as the one for Who Made Who at The Canadian last year.

Last time out, there were tons of fans, mostly 30 and up, dancing and enjoying themselves! This time, most people sat down and drank, no one got on the floor until the last few songs, but at least this time, the crowd was younger, I didn't feel so out of place! Even with my complaints, I had fun, you've gotta love AC/DC, and a tribute band is the next best thing to seeing them live! They, for the most part, had the sound accurately placed, and they looked like they were having a blast, crowd activity notwithstanding. Always a good time, hopefully Hells Bells are back soon, cause they're at least as good as Who Made Who, though both have points better or worse than the other! I got photos, but just to note something, they're not really close to the band or in detail because I didn't want to be "that guy". You know, that guy that wanders around in front of the stage taking photos and blocking everyone's view. I don't wanna turn into that, so I just took pictures where I knew I wouldn't be in anyone's way. Click here or visit The Sault Metal Scene on Facebook to check them out, and here's the video I shot, of Hells Bells playing the AC/DC classic "Shoot To Thrill"!



So there are my reviews! That's all I have for today, I will have a new news/updates post by Tuesday, though in all likelihood, May will have at least one more update! Remember, Turner Up are playing live in Sault Ontario and Orange October are in Sault Michigan, hopefully you guys can make it out to one of them! Myself, I'll be at Sault Area Wrestling, so if you like that, I'll see you there! Stay tuned for more news, updates, and other interesting stuff on the SMS!

Local Concert Previews For This Weekend!!

Hey there, metalheads, today's post is devoted to the topic of previewing this weekend's metal concerts! Five, to be exact, three in Sault Ontario, two in Sault Michigan, and all have a certain appeal higher than normal! There's a major tribute band, a battle of the bands at a popular underused concert venue, a long awaited return to the area, and a hyped debut performance at a venue finally taking notice of "rock music"! So here are your local concert previews for this weekend, but first, a cancellation.

The planned Phatstick concert for tomorrow night at Foggy Notions has been cancelled. This has been confirmed by bassist Keith Gillam in a status update on his Facebook page. I was first alerted to this by a wall posting on the Facebook event page by Kelly Taillefer (a relative of frontman Jason Taillefer), but I wanted to wait for additional confirmation, which I now have. No reason has been publicly advertised, though it should be noted that Foggy's recently closed temporarily for some pre-summer fix-ups (as posted in a status update on their Facebook page), so that could be the reason. Either way, it doesn't appear to be the fault of the band itself, nothing I've read has pointed to them calling it off themselves. I bet a number of you are disappointed, as am I, cause this would have been my first chance to see them live! No worries though, there's another metal band at a local bar tomorrow night at the same time, details of which are coming after our first concert we're previewing below!

First off, it's the second battle of the bands of 2010, as The Sault Youth Association presents Downtown Showdown tomorrow night! Four young local bands will hit The Oddfellows Hall to compete for "mad prizes", and this includes two metal/hard rock bands! Local death metal quintet Bring The Fallen hit the stage for their first performance since backing up Doom Cannon last Tuesday, and their first show at The Oddfellows Hall since October! Can Bring The Fallen continue their battle of the bands success and win their third battle in four tries? The other SMS-covered band on the lineup is local experimental hard rockers SBD, featuring two thirds of No Arrow and Shane Triplett from The Chintzy Slicks! In just their second live performance ever, how will they do in this battle? Though they're the newest of the four competing bands, don't count them out! The lineup is rounded out by The Fury, the local guitar and genre-less rock band featuring ex-members of Out Of The Mouth Of Babes and Devastation Of The Heavens, and local indie rockers The Tenagens! Both bands are quite popular and should have lots of their devoted fans out tomorrow for the battle! Click on all of the above links to check out the involved bands!

"Downtown Showdown" will take place at The Oddfellows Hall, which (believe it or not) hasn't hosted a metal/hard rock show since October's Upheaval of an Exorcist/Garden of Bedlam concert! I wonder why concerts are getting so rare there lately? Well, take notice of Downtown Showdown, cause who knows when good bands will be back. Oh, did I mention admission is FREE?! AND, it's ALL AGES! Yes, The Sault Youth Association is doing some awfully generous things to get people to come out, and they'll also be selling refreshments (chips, pizza, pop, et cetera) for $1 each, and there will be a free draw for a $100 Future Shop gift certificate! And all of this begins at 7:00 PM tomorrow night, so make sure you're there early! A battle of the bands featuring four talented young bands at The Oddfellows Hall, all ages AND free, what more do you guys want? Confirm your attendance at the Facebook event page, and I will see you guys there! A review, photo album, and videos of SBD and Bring The Fallen will be posted Saturday afternoon! And for a video preview, here's one of Bring The Fallen, their performance of "Defiling Despondence" from Algoma Hope4Haiti!



So when you consider that the battle starts at 7:00 and features just four bands, you'd be under the impression that it will end early, right? Well, if you need something to do with your evening, and you have nothing to do thanks to Phatstick's cancellation, here's something that just might work! Hells Bells, Canada's #1 Tribute To AC/DC will be at The Canadian Nightclub tomorrow night at 10:00 PM! The acclaimed Barrie-based group will bring another authentic AC/DC sound to Sault Ontario, just months after Who Made Who rocked Nite-Life Dance Club in February! Don't expect this to be "just another tribute band" though, Hells Bells bring an extremely authentic AC/DC sound to their live show, with over 2,000 concerts on their resume, and an extensive playlist of AC/DC classics new and old! From what I've heard, I'm impressed! They have loads of information, photos, samples, and more at their official website, so check it out! The show is at 10:00 PM tomorrow at The Canadian with a $5 cover, you must be 19 to get in, and there will be some new specials on bomb shots and alcohol tomorrow as well! Confirm your attendance by clicking here!

I'm glad I found out about this show, as now, I have a backup plan thanks to the Phatstick cancellation! I will be at The Canadian tomorrow night, and will have a review, photo album, and video on Saturday along with the ones I take/write up from Downtown Showdown! Yes, two concert reviews, two photo albums, and three new videos on Saturday, you'll wanna be here for all that! For a video preview, here's a live performance of Hells Bells playing the AC/DC song they're named after in Orillia!



Quick detour to Sault Michigan for the next two shows, as Muskegon hard rockers Orange October make their long awaited return to the area! I don't think they've been here since late last year, so it's been a long time coming! They're back at The Satisfied Frog tomorrow night & Saturday night at 10:00 PM both nights, there is no advertised cover charge, and you must be 21 to get in! Should be fun to see Orange October, they have a nice heavy radio hard rock sound, accessible but it has some bite! This is actually the last weekend where I can't go to Sault Michigan shows on account of age, so in the future, if I can't make a Sault Michigan show, it will likely be because of failure to get a ride there! Back to Orange October, they're a pretty good band, and if you want some heavy live music this weekend, you can't go wrong! Check them out on MySpace, and for a preview, here's a video of the band opening for Poison at a show in August 2007!



Finally for concerts this weekend, local hard rock cover band Turner Up return to the stage for their first ever show at a venue not previously known for rock bands of any type! The band will play just one concert there this weekend too, unlike most weekends when they pull double duty. They'll be at The Royal Canadian Legion on Saturday night for the first time for them, and the first time that I can remember that they're hosting a hard rock band (not counting the seemingly-permanent postponing of last year's all ages Garden of Bedlam show.) There's an 8:30 PM start time on Saturday with no announced cover, I don't know if the show is all ages. No Facebook event page, the band haven't made any since the shows at the beginning of the month. Should be a good show, nice to see The Legion booking something heavier for a change, hopefully this isn't the last we'll see! I'd like to go, but the early start time makes it conflict with Sault Area Wrestling: Rise To The Top, so I can't make it, but hopefully you guys can! Got nothing else to do on Saturday, do you? For a video preview, here's a clip of Turner Up covering Wild Cherry's "Play That Funky Music", and remember, they have heavier metal stuff in their last set!



So those are your weekend previews! I might have a post tomorrow before I head downtown for my double concert Friday, and believe it or not, this will be the first time I've ever attended two separate concerts at two different venues in the same day! It won't be the most time I've ever spent at local concerts in one day (the Rock 2 Roll skatepark fundraiser has tomorrow topped), but this will be a fun concert marathon, and I hope to see you guys at either The Oddfellows Hall or The Canadian tomorrow night, or both! Reviews on Saturday too, so keep an eye out!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Downtown Showdown), Weekend Concert Previews, And More!

Happy Thursday, metalheads! Eventful post today, with some assorted news to cap it off, previews of this weekend's three metal concerts (Well, the ones known to me), and firstly, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!!! So here's what you need to know!

The first bands for next Friday's Downtown Showdown Battle of the Bands have been announced! A new poster for the event has been posted on The Fresh Magazine's Facebook group's wall, confirming four bands to be included at the battle, and I can now confirm that there will be metal! Probably most notable is Bring The Fallen, the local death metal band who notably won the YMCA and Algoma University battles in 2009! Fresh off their supporing slot for Doom Cannon on Tuesday, this will be their first show at The Oddfellows Hall since October's Upheaval of an Exorcist concert! Will they claim a third battle victory? SBD are one of the bands who'll stand in their way, as the new experimental hard rock project from No Arrow's Dann Pichette & Brad Griffith hit the live stage for just the second time, coming off their debut performance at Foggy Notions earlier this month! They're an entertaining band that will surely bring some new flavour to the battle!

Also joining the fray are rising local band The Fury, who coincidentally supported SBD at their debut show! Very original band (the lack of guitars is proof), don't classify them by genre, just go and enjoy their unique sounds! The other confirmed band so far is local indie rockers The Tenagens, who are mellower and softer than the other confirmed bands, but they're really good musically, and have a good following! More bands are likely to be announced. Check out all four of the announced acts for Downtown Showdown by clicking the above links! Nothing else new to announce for the battle, it is still on May 28th at 7:00 PM at The Oddfellows Hall, with NO COVER CHARGE! If bands (of an average age of 25 or under) still want to sign up, a $25 entry fee is needed, get full details on how to enter by visiting the Facebook event page! I might just swing by The Oddfellows for this before I go see Phatstick next Friday. It's my birthday weekend, damnit, I'll treat myself! Hopefully there's a good turnout, Oddfellows shows are rarer and rarer lately, it's completely ALL AGES, and who doesn't love FREE admission? I'll keep you posted with any updates I have on Downtown Showdown!

But before we get to next weekend, we still have this weekend to discuss, and the shows taking place during it! Three concerts this weekend, to be exact...well, these are the ones I know about. So here are your local concert previews!

Sault Michigan hard rockers Nixxon Dixxon are back at The Rapids Lounge at Kewadin Casino this weekend! Just one weekend after rocking The Bird, these young rising stars will hit the stage tomorrow night and Saturday night to rock the night away with classic covers and some originals of their own! Both shows begin at 9:00 PM, there is NO cover charge, and you must be 21 to get in. As always, expect a great show from Nixxon Dixxon, I'm always impressed by them, and you won't want to miss them this weekend! Especially considering they won't be back for another scheduled local show til the last weekend of June, when they play at The Bird. So make it out to this if you can! Get more information on Nixxon Dixxon, including their tour schedule, some audio samples, photos, and more, at this location! For a video preview, here's a clip of Nixxon Dixxon covering the Alice In Chains classic "Rooster" from when they backed up Pop Evil at The Dreammaker's Theater in February!



The other concert this weekend is a big one, as Lion Ride come back home! In their first local show of 2010 (last seen at The Rockstar Bar in December), the high profile punk/metal onslaught that is Lion Ride return to the scene of their heartbreaking Kiss Battle of the Bands loss, The Canadian Nightclub, to deliver a night full of their hits to their adoring fans! This will also be their first Sault Ste. Marie concert featuring temporary live bassist Carmine "Cobra Carmander" Romano in place of the now departed Diamond Brent Panther. It's been a while since we've seen Lion Ride around these parts, and in that span, they've been recording some new studio material for their upcoming full length album, so don't be surprised to hear some killer new stuff on Saturday! Playing support are local hard rockers Sense of Truth, last seen on stage in February at The Canadian! Always entertaining to see live, the Skid Row battle winners and Kiss battle finalists will have loads of exciting originals in store, including some to be featured on their upcoming debut E.P.! Hard rock lovers and metalheads won't want to miss either band, I guarantee it! Click the above links to check out original material and information on both bands!

This concert will take place at The Canadian Nightclub Saturday night at 10:00 PM. There is no announced cover charge, but bring cash, cause I expect you'll have to pay something to get in. Also, this is a bar, so make sure you're 19 or older before you try getting in. This has all the makings to be one hell of a concert, and you can guarantee I'll be there on Saturday night! A review and photo album will of course be posted on Sunday, as well as new videos of both bands! It's been a while since I've been out to a concert, I need my fix, and I reckon Lion Ride & Sense of Truth will help with that! Confirm your attendance for this concert at the Facebook event page, and for a video preview, here's the only YouTube video I've found featuring the current touring lineup of Lion Ride, as they cover the Saigon Hookers song "She Blows My Mind" (with a special guest) from a March show in Burlington!



Three quick news stories to cap today's post! These are in order by band or website name:

• Hey Energy Rock Radio fans, can you make a good metal face? You know, an angry or demonic face like a pissed off metalhead? Now's the chance to show it off! Energy Rock Radio are running a contest for you at home to show your best metal face! Upload a picture by replying to the contest details at this location to enter! You have until September 1st, and the top 5 will win some yet-to-be-announced prizes! I might just try this out! Oh, and notice the new ERR site layout and logo? I miss the old look, but I can get used to this!
• Lion Ride have booked two more out of town concerts for next month! They'll be rocking The Bovine Sex Club in Toronto once again on June 3rd, and then two days later, they'll be back in Waterloo for a show at The Legion! Should be good shows, good thing we get them here first though!
• Anyone out there have graphic design talent? Well, Woods of Ypres want you! According to a new Facebook page posting, the band want to design a special t-shirt for the band's upcoming tour, and need help in designing some new shirts! If you can help, e-mail woodsofypres@hotmail.com! Hopefully someone out there can help, and can make these shirts look killer!

That's all for today, in the next four days, look out for these on the SMS: More news, of course, my review of Saturday's Lion Ride/Sense of Truth show, my review of "Castle Stories: A Rock N' Roll Scrapbook". and my profiles of Human Disorder and Summon, two more metal bands who just happen to have local representation! Should be a fun weekend over here, hope you guys return soon to see what's coming up next!

A New Local Music Webzine, Our Local Musicians Union, And More Assorted News!

Greetings everyone, another quick post to tide you local metalheads over with! We have a newly started local music webzine to plug, along with a story you musicians might be interested in from it, and more smaller assorted stories from the last while to run through. Let us begin!

Prolific local rock drummer Glen Thomas (most notable from his recent work in Flat Stanley) has been a constant source of music and divisive opinion for many years, and now, his newest music venture is "The Barking Eye: The Sault's Music News Blog", a new local music-based magazine! It's a new creation that Glen launched on Tuesday, where he looks to talk about more local music, past and present! Do NOT write it off as an SMS copycat, it has many differences! It looks to be more expansive to other genres, and Glen appears to be talking more about older stuff as well, and he injects some cool personal opinion and reflection into his stories, largely from his diverse history in the local scene. Also, individual posts are just one story each, and he put his graphic design skills to great use, I love the look! There's lots of room to grow this, I just hope he keeps it up! Click here to check it out, and remember, websites need readers to grow, so follow it and read the stories! Also, thanks to Glen for adding the SMS as a link, I have returned the favour!

So many local music blogs/sites/magazines/et cetera have died from a lack of dedication or support, so I really hope Glen keeps this up! After all, he's managed to keep his forum Freq's Music Planet going strong for years, and message boards are very hard to start and keep alive (I know that from experience), so hopefully this will succeed! Plus, as I tell people all the time, I wish other people would do exactly what I'm doing for their own musical preferences or viewpoints. Maybe this will help open the floodgates? We cover metal and hard rock, and hopefully Glen covers even more genres to give them even more coverage!

Now, seeing as this is a local music news source, no matter how recent it is, I've already found a new story there that will be worth your while, particularly to band members. Did you know that there actually is a local musicians union? Yes, you and your band can be unionized, by becoming members of The American Federation of Musicians, Local 276! Don't be fooled by the name either, the AFM is based out of Toronto. I'll give you guys info on how to join in a second, but are you wondering why joining a union would help you and your band? Glen points out that one major benefit to joining the AFM is that they will help you figure out how to work through red tape to play shows outside of Canada, particularly across the river. I'm not a musician or legal expert, but rest assured, it's not just a "grab your gear and go" situation. The AFM can help you figure out any legal issues your band may need to worry about, so you can focus on your music. This also includes contract issues and copyright-related stuff, so you and your band can get back to music and not worry too much about legal crap. There are many benefits to joining, and their website will fill you in on anything else you may want to know. Also, read Glen's piece on the AFM, Local 276, at this location!

The AFM is a legit union, it's been around since 1896 (our chapter was born in 1918), and has 90,000 members across Canada and the United States. This could be very beneficial to bands out there who hope to make it big, rather than just play local bar shows on weekends. So what else should you know? If you join, your annual membership dues are $125, $75 if you want to pay semi-annually, with initiation fees of $10 (local) and $65 (national). If you want more information from the AFM, Local 276, e-mail afm276@soonet.ca or dragonslayer52ca@yahoo.ca, or call 254-2210. Click here for their full mailing address, fax number, key personnel, and more information! At least consider joining this, guys, this could benefit your music career going forward! And if you Sault Michiganders are wondering if you have a local AFM chapter, you do not. There isn't even one in the Upper Peninsula. If you want to be unionized, you'll either have to join Local 276 (whether Americans can join a Canadian chapter, I can't say), or you'll have to try the nearest American chapter, which is Local 57 out of Saginaw. If you're at all interested in joining Saginaw's AFM branch, click here, but try for the Sault Ontario one first, one must be open to letting you guys in!

Now, three more assorted news stories for today, still clearing those out! I have more to come, but those will be in my next major news post. These are, once again, in alphabetical order by band or event name:

• If you're a fan of Vancouver death metal band Doom Cannon, you're probably aware of the still-pending show they may or may not be headlining at The Oddfellows Hall on...Tuesday. With 4 days left until then and no official announcements confirming it from the promoters, what is it's status? Unclear. While the event page still has no new updates, Doom Cannon's new tour poster DOES list a "Saulte Ste Marie" show for May 18th, spelling as printed. Honestly, I doubt the show's on, especially with such little time to promote and advertise, but if I hear otherwise, you'll of course hear it here!
• The Downtown Showdown battle of the bands on May 28th at The Oddfellows Hall is still looking for local bands interested in competing! But is that upper age limit of 25 still in your way? Well, this might help. Organizer Tiffy Thompson confirmed in a post on the 705 Video Magazine forums that 25 can be the maximum AVERAGE age for your band too! So if you have someone 26 or older, but your combined average age is 25, you can still enter! Contact info at the links above if your band wants in! So if your band has people 22, 24, 26, and 28 years old, you're good to go!
• Sault Michigan solo artist/Grooves Music instructor Mike Libertoski posted an update to MySpace friends of his inactive death metal band Slackjawed Rats that he has a new solo song posted on his MySpace page! It's called "By Rights", and it's a slower jazzier number. Not bad, but if it's not your thing, he has heavier recent songs up too, my favourite being "A Lifelong Burden"! Great stuff he's putting out, still like to get a hold of his albums though. Check his solo work out!

Finally for today, have you been following my CD review schedule closely? Probably not, but I've deliberately not been reminding you guys just to see if you'd remember what I have coming up! And yes, tomorrow, I WILL be posting my re-review of Garden of Bedlam's debut EP! I originally gave it a review upon my purchase of it last April, but since I started monthly reviews, my style has grown and honestly, I really don't like my initial review of it. Not nearly as in-depth as I'd like. So that's tomorrow at some point, stay tuned for it! As for my June album review? I'm actually gonna keep my choice secret for now. Two reasons: A. I don't know if any local bands will have a release for June, as there could be a new release of note next month. And B. I want my review next month to connect to something, rather than just be a random selection from the library of local albums I have. Remember when I reviewed Fitswitch's E.P. in October to coincide with Frightlight's debut show? Yeah, same deal. So as shows pop up for June, keep in mind albums that those musicians might have played on, cause a review of that album could very well be in store! As for a timeframe, look for it to be between June 16th and 22nd, unless a link to a certain day or an album release is too good of a day to pass up.

That's all for today, my next news post will likely be Sunday or Monday, and my next post of any type will be TOMORROW with my revisit of Garden of Bedlam's debut E.P.! Also keep an eye out for a post on Tuesday, where we close down our current poll on Kiss' upcoming concert, share the results, and get down to business with a brand new poll! Busy stretch coming up, so stay tuned!

A New Battle Of The Bands, A Concert Cancellation, Bad Side's Return, And More!

I'm home! And now, SMS stuff gets back on a normal schedule, and today's a nice packed post! I have lots of assorted stories to get to, some more positive than others, and we'll start with a newly announced battle of the bands!

Yes, we're getting another Battle of the Bands in Sault Ontario, the first one since the Scotties Tournament/Sault College battle in February! Called "Downtown Showdown", it will be put on by The Sault Youth Association and The Fresh Magazine, and will be taking place at The Oddfellows Hall on May 28th! Finally, another new show there, what's up with the lack of concerts there in recent months? This is a "battle royale for band supremacy" according to the poster, and we can witness this for FREE! Now who doesn't love free concerts? A start time of 7:00 PM is listed for the battle, so it could be feasible to go to this AND Phatstick at Foggy's in the same night! Now, metalheads, are you asking yourself which bands are playing? We don't know, and that's where you come in!

The call is out for bands to sign up to compete in the battle, so here's what you need to know! The only restriction is that your band MUST only have members 25 years old or younger (remember, it's the Sault YOUTH Association putting this on.) The registration fee is just $25, nice and affordable! If you and your band are interested in taking part, e-mail joe@thefreshmagazine.com or tiffythompson@thefreshmagazine.com, or call the SYA at 946-1299! No definite word on any specific bands yet, but when I hear something, especially if it concerns a metal band, you'll be sure to hear it here! But think about signing up, cause there's mad prizes at stake! Get more information on this battle at this location!

Next up, it looks like an upcoming concert was cancelled. The planned show next Monday with Alaskan and Killing Queens at The Rockstar Bar appears to have been dropped from their tour itinerary, as neither band lists the show on their respective MySpace page right now. What happened to the concert? No idea, but The Rockstar Bar haven't plugged the show at all, so who knows. Sad to see the show get apparently called off, I was really looking forward to it, and I was glad to have helped the bands get a booking here! Both are great sounding extreme bands, hopefully they actually will be here one of these days!

Alright, let's get to more positive news now! And it concerns the return of a prominent local band! Sault Michigan hard rockers Bad Side are coming back from their "break" for their first live performances since last fall! Sadly, they're not local shows, but they are back, so here's what you need to know! On June 27th, Bad Side will hit Milwaukee, Wisconsin as one of the supporting performers on that night's portion of this year's Milwaukee Summerfest! No word on when that day or on what stage, but they'll join notable performers like B.B. King, Less Than Jake, and Justin Bieber on that day's lineup! The day before, Bad Side will play their first show in months when they play at Smokin' Joes in West Allin, Wisconsin, which should be awesome! It's great seeing Bad Side back, I was worried about their future last fall, hopefully they'll be back home for some shows soon! My sources for the above information come from Bad Side's Facebook page. Oh, and for your reference, guitarist Jason Mapes' solo project is still going strong, he recently finished recording a new solo demo called "Time Has No Mercy"! Can't wait to hear that either!

Now, just some minor updates on Bret Michaels, who is definitely on the road to recovery from his brain hemorrhage! He's the cover story of the new issue of People Magazine, where he talks about his health ordeal, so if you're a fan of his, you will want to pick up a copy! Some excerpts from the interview are available to read at this location. Nothing I've heard in the last week has pointed to any major downturns in his condition, nor have they caused a complication for his show here in Sault Michigan in July, and really, the slowing down of news on his condition is good! Nothing bad to report, he must be getting better! If there's something else of note I could share on Bret, it's this: His co-headliner on July 22nd, Vince Neil, was interviewed about his thoughts on Bret's medical problems, and you can see what Vince had to say by clicking here! Things are definitely looking up, if I hear anything that will positively or negatively impact Bret's show here at the Kewadin Casino 25th Anniversary Summer Festival, I'll be sure to let you guys know!

Finally for today, did you guys happen to turn your radio dials to 89.5 FM at 5:00 PM on Saturday? Well, if you didn't, you missed something cool, in a local music sense! Amanda Putz from CBC Radio One's art/culture program Bandwidth conducted part one of an interview with SooToday's own Donna Hopper about the local music scene! The two discussed how the Soo could be compared to Memphis, Tennessee for it's strong blues/roots scene (Sudbury would be Nashville), and discussed a selection of notable local bands, including The Floyd Lee Band (due to local guitarist Joel Poluck's involvement), Al Wood & The Woodsmen, DJ Seith, Kalle Mattson, and The Granola People! Nice interview, Donna shared some cool information on the above bands, and I learned how to finally pronounce a few names correctly too!

Now why am I mentioning this when none of the bands were metal? Simple: That's just part one, part two will have some heavier bands, Donna Hopper confirmed this in a Facebook status update! So if you wanna hear some CBC Radio One plugs and info on some heavier bands, and some blues/country stuff as well, the second half of Amanda Putz' interview with Donna on Bandwidth will be in about a month! Once I find out a confirmed day, you guys will for sure know about it! I wonder who'll get mentioned? CBC Radio One needs heavier stuff, but either way, local press of any genre is always welcome!

That's all for today, my next update will have another new demo from WinkStinger, the event page for some upcoming shows, and hopefully much more! Stay tuned!