Before we post my review of last night's show at The Canadian Nightclub, we have a new news post on this Sunday morning! Today, we have assorted shorter recent news items, and a bunch of stories relating to local solo guitarists, including two new video uploads and a long awaited CD release, so here's what you need to know!
Dafter, Michigan solo hard rock musician Ken "SweetKenny" Sutton's new album "Cracks In The Wall" is finally on sale! After being delayed twice from the originally planned Halloween release date, his seventh original CD (and third of 2013) finally came out on Friday, and you can now buy it on CDBaby! The album goes for $12.97 on CD, $9.99 on mp3, or for 99¢ for each track individually, so check the above links to pick it up, or stream it for free at this location! Described as a "heavy rock blues style feel album", "Cracks In The Wall" (which was recorded this year at Waterfall Records) has just 6 songs, giving it the same EP length as "Doo Hickey" from earlier this year, but unlike it's preceding 2013 releases, the new CD is all instrumental with no credited guest performers. I got a good vibe from this CD on a first listen, so fans of SweetKenny's past work shouldn't be disappointed, but when is a formal review on the SMS coming?
As we just reviewed the slightly heavier & longer "Perception" earlier this month, a review of "Cracks In The Wall" won't happen until May 2014 at the earliest, as we don't review albums by the same band twice in a 6 month period out of fairness to other bands. Check it out though at the above links, as Ken's prolific and entertaining original material is well worth a listen!
Next up, here's a brand new video from prolific Sault Ontario experimental solo hard rock guitarist Mike Cliffe! Though he's kept busy with his AudioFumes podcast and many Reverbnation song postings in the interim, this is his first video posting on his YouTube channel in 7 months. Posted on Friday, this video is the result of crowd-sourced suggestions to build an original song, and he got some chords and time signatures for this improvised jazz rock instrumental, which he acknowledges and thanks AudioFumes listeners for suggesting and helping with in a 90 second introduction. The song itself is slow and has a neat atmosphere and essence, but it's very well performed and progressive (complete with some psychedelic visualizations laid on top), and fans of Mike's vast array of original material should like his newest video! Check it out below, and hear and see much more of his original music above!
Keeping with the theme of solo guitarists, Ashes To Dust's Alex Hemy posted a solo acoustic cover of Def Leppard's "Two Steps Behind" onto his YouTube channel on Saturday! I'm not a huge Def Leppard fan, but this is a well put together cover with nice layered backing vocals and camera angles, and Alex's singing voice fits the song & mood, so check out his newest solo cover track below!
Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news stories from recent days, and
as usual, these are in alphabetical order by band name:
According to the new official poster for the event by Destroilet drummer Matt Waples, the Crued
concert at The Rockstar Bar next Saturday will have $8
advance tickets (they jump to $10 at the door), with no announced
opening bands. Get your tickets A.S.A.P. at The Algonquin Hotel to see
this exciting Motley Crue tribute band!
Sault Ontario industrial metal project Riverin (featuring Dirty Virgin alumni Matt Hicks & Matt Clement) have had an official Twitter page
since 2010, but we only just found it the other day! As of November
9th, they were working on new music and looking for label backing, so
it's good to see the Matts staying active with this project, and here's
hoping we hear more soon! Follow them at the above links!
Prolific local drummer Johnny Belanger filled in on drums for T-Rex Manning in place of Rick White at Thursday night's Diemonds-headlined concert at The Algonquin Pub, as per bassist Bill Bennett on the Facebook event page.
A reason for Rick's absence hasn't been publicized, but he hasn't
played a live concert since getting injured in that Roosevelt Hotel
incident almost 3 months ago, so that may be related. Sounds like the
show went well though, and it's nice to see 3/5ths of Jack Spades together as a result!
That's all for now, but stay tuned for my review of last night's Amy Ellis benefit show at The Canadian later today, hopefully before the Biipiigwan show! Thanks everyone!
We're back with a new news post on this Remembrance & Veterans Day, so make sure to never forget the sacrifices of our veterans on either side of the border on this day, and don't forget your poppies! Today, we have new videos from a recent metal concert, and info on both a forthcoming album release and the identity of our next CD review, but first, here's LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for the end of the month!
Sault Ontario classic hard rock quintet That's Chester will play their first public concerts since Rotaryfest on Friday, November 29th & Saturday, November 30th at Docks Riverfront Grill! Though they've played live in the interim in Batchewana and at the Comfort Suites Conference Centre, those were private events (the latter being a firefighter retirement party on Saturday), so it's nice to see them playing to a general audience again after 4 months! Notably, these shows (in advance of their December 1st set at Toystock) will be their first normal bar weekend gigs since reuniting this summer, and their first at Docks since March 2012, which is a long time coming itself! The post plugging these shows on their Facebook page teases that they have some "new surprises", but does that mean new setlist additions and/or something else? Be there at the end of the month to find out! A $4 cover charge is likely for both nights, you must be 19 to attend, and 10:00 PM start times are likely. For more details, check the above links!
It's great to have a more traditional slate of shows from That's Chester to end the month, and hopefully they're a good warmup for Toystock, so don't miss their busy weekend of hard rocking covers in three weeks time, and stay tuned for updates!
Next up, Dafter, Michigan hard rock artist Ken Sutton (a.k.a. SweetKenny) has uploaded his seventh solo album "Cracks In The Wall" to listen to for free on his website at this link! The follow up to "Doo Hickey" & "Perception" from earlier this year, it's still scheduled for it's paid release on Friday, but fans can now stream the songs beforehand to see what they think. Recorded at Waterfall Records, Ken describes "Cracks in the Wall" as a "heavy rock blues style feel album", and unlike his last two releases, it's all-instrumental with no vocals or guest musicians, though he emphasizes the freestyle nature of it. Length-wise, it's basically an EP with only 6 songs (similarly to "Doo Hickey" in that regard), and the songs on it are "Can't Drive", "Some Kinda Song", "Big D", "Goose", "Booze & Broads", and "The Scorpion King", so click each link to hear them! Now, given that it's paid release is impending, will "Cracks In The Wall" be this month's CD review at the SMS? Actually, we're actually going to review his last album "Perception" first, as it's slightly heavier, and in cases where we have two unreviewed new albums from a band in the queue, the heavier one gets priority.
A review of "Cracks In The Wall" is still possible for next year, but "Perception" deserves a look in itself, so watch out for that review this month, and check out SweetKenny's new album at the above links before it goes on sale, which we'll have info on hopefully on Friday!
We'll close today's post with new videos, yet again from the Devil's Night all ages concert at The Oddfellows Hall! One comes from local death metal quartet The Bear Hunters' headlining set (again as filmed by Stillbroke alum Sam DeDominicis on the high quality camera), and this time, it's of their song "Bloodthirst"! Posted onto the band's YouTube channel on Saturday, the quality is as good as the earlier official videos from this show, though for this one, Sam sticks to a side stage angle beside Mitch Sirie. Brutal and well filmed like before, so check out their recent performance of "Bloodthirst" below, and don't miss them at Viva La Battle on Wednesday!
Finally, we have a new video from what I believe was the half of James Watterworth's solo set where he was joined by now-Strange Coyotes bandmates Chase Wigmore & Mike Haggith! Uploaded to promoters Blood Shed Productions' YouTube channel on Saturday, the title credits the performance to The Strange Coyotes, but that band formed as a result of this gig's success, and as I can't detect Chase singing, I don't think it was from Project Legion's abbreviated last set. The video is low quality (taken at a very red side-stage angle), but the audio works well for this funk rock track, so give this proto-Strange Coyotes performance a look below!
That's all for today, but stay tuned tomorrow for our special extended preview of Viva La Battle, where The Bear Hunters and new local bands Keep It Lit, North West, and Punch will compete for the last opening slot at next month's Bam Margera/Fuckface Unstoppable concert! Thanks everyone!
Hey guys, sorry for the lack of updates over the past few days, I have been badly bogged down with assignments and homework. I have a big update post coming later tonight detailing some newly discovered local metal/hard rock acts and some new Reverbnation pages, so stay tuned for that later tonight! But for now, we have concerts to preview, and kicking things off are LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS that tie into that, so here we go!
A couple hours ago, it was announced on Facebook that Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison will be playing a solo concert THIS SUNDAY at Foggy Notions! But that's not all, as according to the Facebook event page, Tym will be having a solo acoustic show there "every Sunday". With that in mind, the schedule on his official website also lists solo dates for Foggy's on the following weeks, as he'll be back there on November 21st and 28th! Looks like he has an arrangement set up there for weekly concerts for at least three weeks, likely longer, though specifics haven't been stated online. All three of the announced solo dates this month will have 10:00 PM start times and 19+ age limits, and there is no announced cover charge for any of the shows. Nice to see Tym's solo show return at this volume, and Foggy's works as a consistent venue for it, no matter how long "every Sunday" lasts! Sorry for the short notice too, this was only announced late yesterday. Check the above links for more details, and make sure to hear his solo originals at his official website linked above!
Now to the shows we previously knew about for our weekend previews, and we'll start at The Roosevelt Hotel, as they slowly continue their march towards a more diverse musical atmosphere. And what better way to help with that than a night full of metal mayhem? Four metal bands are ready to melt faces at The Rosie TONIGHT, so here's who to expect! Your headliners are Montreal Christian metalcore quintet Breaking The Fourth Wall, who are definitely playing here after seeing a planned July date get canned earlier in the year. With an energetic experimental hardcore sound in tow, expect a great headlining set from these guys in their local return! As well, three local openers will unleash their musical attacks tonight as well! Hardcore rockers As It Stands return to the stage tonight for the first time in two months, with their newest originals and a hard hitting moshable sound ready to go! Also, WinkStinger return to the stage fresh off of their Coch's Corner Halloween party set, as they continue to build their name as one of the best extreme metal bands in the area! And finally, it's the long awaited return of local death metal band Bring The Fallen, in their first show since May, and their first live public concert with bassist Nolan Rainville since February! Great to see them back and fully together, and they should deliver a brutal set themselves! Click on the above links to check out all of the scheduled bands!
There is NO COVER for this concert, it all starts at 10:00 PM tonight, and you must be 19 to enter. Sure, The Rosie's a bit far from the downtown core, and you may have a pre-existing view of it, but Chad LaRoue and everyone else there have been doing a lot to make it a better and more wide-appealing bar. If tonight's show is a success, more metal could be on it's way to The Rosie, so definitely consider going tonight! I don't know if I can make it (thank you, university assignments), but PLEASE go to this if you can! For more details, visit the Facebook event page or visit the above links! For a video preview, check out this live clip of Breaking The Fourth Wall playing their song "Murder of Crows" from a 2009 show in Hamilton!
Meanwhile, tomorrow night, it's the long awaited return of Garden of Bedlam, in their first live concert appearance since backing up Kiss in August! This time, they will return to the site of their Kiss afterparty, The Rockstar Bar, in their first ever concert set there! Garden of Bedlam are the only scheduled band tomorrow night, and will break out a setlist full of originals from their debut EP and their forthcoming full length album, along with selected covers! Expect a start time of around 11:00 PM, with a $5 cover charge, and you must be 19 to enter. It's great to see Garden of Bedlam back, and I'm fairly certain I'll be there for their return to the stage! And of course, there will be a review with video and photos on Saturday, as usual! Seems to be a no frills concert, just in your face heavy metal, and who doesn't love that? For more details, visit the official Facebook event page and check out the above links! And for a video preview, here's Garden of Bedlam from this year's Rotaryfest playing their original song "New Rain"!
And finally for known hard rock concerts this weekend, local classic hard rock cover band Turner Up return to the stage after a weekend off to rock The Nicolet Tavern! Though an event page has not been posted on Facebook to hype either of their shows this weekend (tomorrow and Saturday night), they will be there this weekend, but things will look very different. It was confirmed on drummer Scott McClurg's personal Facebook page yesterday that the band had parted ways with singer Brent Royer, who left to pursue other options. Brent had replaced Todd Killam as the band's frontman in July, and sang with them over the next four months. Shame to see Brent leave, as he's a very good singer, but hey, hopefully he's doing what's right for him! Scott also announced that a new singer has been secured, and it is Krista Marshall, who sang in the inactive local cover band Johnny Lunchbox with Turner Up bassist Jeff Gray. This is an interesting move, and while it gives the band a more than capable frontwoman with experience in this type of band, I wonder how "hard rock" they'll be going forward? I guess we won't know until we hear them! If you want a taste of Krista's work with Jeff in Johnny Lunchbox, click here to see some good quality videos, but the songs aren't all that heavy.
So this weekend marks Turner Up's debut with Krista Marshall on vocals, and they'll be on at The Nicolet Tavern at 10:00 PM tomorrow and Saturday night! There is no announced cover charge, and you must be 19 to enter. My sources for their shows this weekend are their Facebook group and the marquee board at the Nicolet. Hopefully these shows go well, and best of luck to Krista with the new band, I know she'll do great! For more, check out the above links, and if I hear anything coming out of these shows, I'll have them here!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for a huge post including three newly discovered local metal/hard rock acts later today! Thanks everyone, and go see some shows this weekend!
Hey guys, here's a big update before tonight's Crash Karma/Desperate Union show! Today, we have updates from Woods of Ypres, Garden of Bedlam, and more, but first, here's a pair of LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!!! (Updated Monday at 12:41 AM)
Firstly, it's metal night at The Rosie, as four of hard hitting metal bands hit The Roosevelt Hotel on THURSDAY NIGHT! Sorry about the short notice, this only just recently came to my attention, and the full details didn't come until the other day. Your headliners are Montreal experimental/Christian metal band Breaking The Fourth Wall, over three months after their last planned show here in July! This time, they should actually be here, so if you like their brand of extreme hardcore music, then you know where to be on Thursday night! There are now three local opening bands, one of which is local hardcore quintet As It Stands! We haven't heard a lot from them since September, but they're back at The Rosie for this show, where they'll unleash some more of their newest originals! And fresh off of their headlining set at the Coch's Corner Halloween party, local extreme metal band WinkStinger will also be opening! Great to see them back as well, especially with the volume of recent bookings! They're a band to watch out for, trust me! And also, promoter Rich Moreland confirmed early on Monday that local death metal band Bring The Fallen will be on the bill, in their first live concert appearance in six months, and first with bassist Nolan Rainville in nine months! Expect some hard hitting death metal from these guys, and it's great to see them back!
Doors open at 10:00 PM on Thursday night, there is no listed cover charge, and you must be 19 to enter. This should be one heavy night at The Rosie, and it's part of their continuing effort to shake the image of being "just a country bar", so make note of that going forward! These are four high quality metal bands that promise to deliver a moshworthy good time, so try and make it out on Thursday if you can! For more details, visit the Facebook event page or The Rosie's brand new Facebook page! Oh, and yes, Andrew Chiarello appears to have rejoined Bring The Fallen, as the band deleted the postings about wanting a new guitarist from their Facebook page. Great news!
Now, to the second new show! Remember in September when I profiled Lion Ride guitarist Mark Rand (a.k.a. Marky Lion) in our Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile? Well, I had said in my initial post that the solo nature of the project may restrict activity beyond the studio. How wrong I was. In a Facebook note posted earlier today, Mark announced that he's formed a new band featuring his local friends that will bring his new solo recordings to the live stage next month! This new band is entitled Marky & The Motherfuckers, and will feature members of local bands like Lion Ride, Detroit, Renderware, The Inner City Surfers, Nebraska Arms, The Hangdowns, Bondar, and Talk Shit! A clear list of who "The Motherfuckers" are is not provided, but he did tag six people in the note: Mikey Hawdon, Marco Pedalino, Guy Thiffault, Dave Prendergast, Marc Lafrance, and "Brown" Dave Brunton, who are all in one or more of the above bands. Could they be The Motherfuckers, or are they just friends he tagged for them to read it? Time will tell! Either way, Marky and his friends will assemble for a concert next month, which will take place on December 29th at Coch's Corner! There will be an opening band to be announced, there's no listed cover charge, it'll likely be 19+, and it all starts at 10:00 PM that night. Get more details at the above links, including his official MySpace page, which has it's own event page as well!
This will be your first chance to see Marky play his very solid hardcore solo material in a live setting, and it'll be cool to see what could essentially be a local punk/metal supergroup of sorts taking the stage! Hopefully I can make this show, and as I hear more on it, I'll absolutely have it here!
Finally today, here's the latest news from local doom/black metal rockers Woods of Ypres! Firstly, here's the most exciting news: David Gold's coming home a lot sooner than we expected! As revealed in a posting on the band's official Facebook page, his journey there is coming to an end, and his personal Facebook page confirmed that he had just 40 days & 40 nights left there as of yesterday, leaning towards a return to Canada in mid-December. He thanked the band's new label Earache Records for that, but didn't specify what they did to help expedite the process. Either way, he's coming home sooner, and the band can get going again sooner, so all will be well! He also said that upon his return, he will be moving back to Toronto, so Woods of Ypres will likely be based out of there again upon his return. And before anyone asks, that does NOT mean we'll stop covering them, as they were based out of the Sault for almost three years, so they're still considered a local band regardless of their current locale. He closed the update by saying that we should see Woods of Ypres back on tour by May 2011. I can't wait, hopefully they come to the Soo again! Before we finish, here's three more quick Woods of Ypres notes
The heavy metal blog Hook In Mouth included Woods of Ypres' "By The Time You Read This (I Will Already Be Dead)" and "Northern October" by David's side project The Northern Ontario Black Metal Preservation Society in a post last week detailing their Halloween soundtrack! Nice fitting comments for both songs, check out the post at this location!
On the topic of their albums, there are still independent Woods of Ypres albums for sale, get full details at this location! Also, note the newest post, where David asks about our thoughts towards a double green vinyl release of "Woods IV". Wanna see it? Then comment!
That's all for today, but stay tuned tomorrow for my review of tonight's Crash Karma/Desperate Union show! I have more assorted news stories to get to as well, so watch out for those as well! Thanks everyone!
Well guys, it's news day again at The Sault Metal Scene, and can you believe this is already our 15th post in July? We're on pace for our busiest month ever if this keeps up! Today, we have a bunch of LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, the full band schedule for the Kewadin Festival, a new video from a major concert, and more, so here's what you need to know!
For the first time, local rock cover band Turner Up have announced a full listing of their upcoming concerts, rather than their past trend of usually announcing just the next ones a week before! Guitarist Robert Brown has posted a topic on the band's Facebook page listing upcoming concerts for the band running through December, so we likely won't have any short notice issues to deal with anymore this year! Curiously, the band are only booked at two venues through the year according to the listed dates, when there are venues they've played more than once since their inception that aren't mentioned. Turner Up will be playing at The Nicolet Tavern for shows on July 16th & 17th (THIS WEEKEND), August 6th & 7th, September 3rd & 4th, October 8th & 9th, November 12th & 13th, December 3rd & 4th, and December 31st! The band also have some sprinkled dates at The Vibe Lounge, where they'll perform on July 30th, August 27th & 28th, September 17th, and October 29th & 30th! So if you wanna hear some classic hard rock covers, you'll wanna be at some of these concerts! Also make note especially of this weekend's shows, which will mark the live debut of Turner Up's new singer, Brent Royer! An event page for them can be found at this location, and ignore the fact that it only lists a Friday show, they're definitely playing Saturday too! All of the above shows will likely have start times of 10:00 to 10:30 PM with no announced cover charge and a 19+ age limit. I'll keep you guys posted!
Now, onto the latest updates from NEXT WEEKEND'S Kewadin Casino 25th Anniversary Summer Festival! The full band schedule has just been announced on the festival's official blog, click here to check it out! There's some new bands added and a few removals, as well as two notable day changes, so here's what you should know for the schedule! Local metal band Nixxon Dixxon will be on-stage at 5:00 PM on Thursday, July 22nd for a 45 minute set, with local acoustic band Electric Motor Fish (featuring Shift drummer Tony Rogers) performing at 6:00 PM. Motley Crue frontman Vince Neil will be on stage from 7:15-8:30 PM, with Poison frontman Bret Michaels closing from 9:00-10:30 PM. Grand Rapids pop punk band Dannison open the second night of the festival (Friday, July 23rd) at 5:00 PM, and they're followed by the newest announced band: Fifth Way! Yes, the Detroit hard rock band that recently opened for Tesla at Kewadin Casino will be back here at 6:00 PM next Friday at the festival! They will be followed by Essexville, Michigan indie rockers Finding Clyde at 7:00 PM, and Boston rockers StilrizE at 8:00 PM. Three Doors Down headline that night from 9:00 PM-10:30 PM.
Saturday, July 24th's band schedule opens with another newly added performer, International Idol winner Kellan Perron, performing at 5:00 PM for just a half hour, followed by Lansing classic rockers Showdown at 5:45 PM for the normal opening time of 45 minutes. Local band Elipzis (Can anyone give me information on them?) will be on at 6:45 PM, with local funk hard rockers Clownsack performing at 7:45 PM for a full hour. Meat Loaf will close from 9:15 to 10:45 PM that night to cap off the festival! So there's the schedule, and it's nice to see a little metal on each day of the festival! Now if you've noticed some changes and omissions to previously announced bands, here's what I can confirm. Because Fifth Way and Kellan Perron were added to the lineup, there were two acts that dropped off, which I can confirm were local country singer Paul Perry and the "Rock Camp" youth group. No reason was given as to why they're off. For what it's worth, I found a YouTube video of a 2010 Rock Camp band named Aux, and though I don't know if they're the same band that were scheduled, click here to check them out! Also, two bands have had the day of their set changed, with Clownsack moved from the Thursday to the Saturday, and Electric Motor Fish being pushed back to the Thursday from their original slot on the Friday. No other previously confirmed bands have been moved.
Looks good all around, it should be one hell of a festival, though it seems like each day has that one band that really contrasts the styles of the other bands. I'd switch Clownsack with Electric Motor Fish and Finding Clyde with Elipzis to fix that. Then, the different genres and sounds would be clumped better to attract more of those genre's fans! That's just me though. I'll keep you posted with festival updates, and remember, tickets are still on sale!!!
Next up, we have an apparent concert cancellation. Remember the planned hardcore show at The Oddfellows Hall on July 30th featuring Breaking The Fourth Wall and Fall City Fall? Well, it looks like it's cancelled. The bands both still list the concert on their MySpace pages, but the event page for it has been deleted from Facebook, and I know from experience that if the promoter deletes their own show's event page, then that can't be a good sign. When doing some research, I found no mention of the show at all on the promoters' Facebook pages from the last two weeks either. Now for all I know, the show could be alive and well, but I'm not comfortable enough to say that, so at least for now, I've deleted this concert from the listings on the SMS. I will of course let you guys know if it is still on, but for now though, it doesn't look terribly promising. Shame if it is cancelled, cause both bands are talented and would have been a moshing good time!
Finally for today is a video that is actually the first clip I've seen on YouTube from any of this act's local concerts! You know how Alice Cooper's played the Sault area numerous times, right? Well, until the other day, I had never seen a video from any of his shows here, be they at Sault Memorial Gardens or Kewadin Casino. That ends now, as a video has been uploaded featuring a montage of clips from his most recent concert here, at The Dreammaker's Theater on August 18, 2007! The quality is patchy, it's clearer at certain points than at others, the audio is muddled, and the first 14 seconds of the video are SIDEWAYS, but you know something? Alice Cooper videos are rare as far as local concerts go, so this is way better than nothing! The video features clips of Alice singing "Only Women Bleed", "Feed My Frankenstein", "Be My Lover", "Public Animal #9", "Muscle of Love", and many more, check it out below! Thanks to YouTube user PTStudios for the upload!
That's all for today, stay tuned for more news in the next couple of days, along with the final installment of the GarageBand Profile Mini-Series on Thursday, where we take a look at Gates of Winter! Also, our current SMS poll closes Sunday, stay tuned then for results and a new poll! Lots of stuff coming up on the SMS, keep an eye out!
Some big updates today, mostly of the concert variety! The bulk of today's post comes from FIVE new bands that want a local booking! Well, three, but one need help again to secure a date I'd already posted here about. I'll give you all the details in a second, but first, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!!!
Montreal hardcore band Breaking The Fourth Wall are coming back to Sault Ontario! A year after their planned show with Constructed Apocalypse quietly evaporated without notice, they will make their long awaited local return on July 30th at The Oddfellows Hall! Good, bookings there are picking up! Joining them are Calgary metalcore group Fall City Fall! This reminds me of some of the shows we used to get so often at The Oddfellows Hall from 2008 and earlier, maybe this is a sign of things to come? Well, that depends on how successful this show is. Click on the band names above to check out their material on MySpace, solid stuff from both bands! And the lineup doesn't end there, as local openers are needed! If you or your band would like to open at this all ages hardcore show, message Jasmin Nott at this location to show your interest! Start times and cover charges will be announced next week. Promoter Nathan Bouliane (Lorax/ex-As It Stands bassist) is hoping to bring lots of lights and a smoke machine to help make this show as good as possible! Sounds good to me, as soon as I hear more on this show, you'll be sure to find out here!
And now, pay attention, anyone who might wanna help these bands! FIVE more bands are looking for help getting a booking in Sault Ontario, and I'm always willing to help out, so I'm gonna tell you what you should know about these bands and how you can contact them! This goes for concert promoters, venue workers, and local band members who might want to play with them at a show, if you like what you hear and would like to help them get a show here, take the initiative! So, here's what you should know!
Firstly, we have a band I plugged a few months ago for a show here in July, but apparently had an issue with their planned promoter falling out. I won't say anything else about why here, but the band really would like to play here, and I've helped them in the past, so I've gotta try again! They are Aquila, a metal band from Windsor, and frontman Mark Arruda recently sent me a MySpace message seeing if I could help them with a date here for either July 6th or 7th. Trust me when I say this, Aquila kick ass! Very heavy band with some good thrashy qualities, and your head will sure be banging if you see them live! I'd love to see them here, and hopefully someone out there does too! Time's running out to lock up an Aquila show here on this tour, so if you can help in some way, send the band an e-mail through their MySpace page to show your interest, and check out their material! They really wanna come here, can you help?
Secondly, we have a band that I first heard wanted to play here today! They are The Great Sabatini, a progressive sludge metal band from Montreal, and if you want some slow grinding doom-ish heavy metal, this is what you'll be looking for! Very down-tempo and methodical, but very heavy, it's definitely something we don't see here often! The band itself actually didn't contact me, I was actually e-mailed by a booking company they're represented by, Tugnut Booking out of Cambridge, Ontario, and they're hoping to get The Great Sabatini booked here for...Halloween! Yes, Sunday, October 31st, and I was told that they always have trouble booking here for tours. If nothing else, this would be a unique show for here, and fitting too considering the night of it! Doom/sludge metal fans take note, if you want to help get a booking for The Great Sabatini here in Sault Ontario on Halloween, e-mail Tugnut Booking at this location! Click the above links to check them out too!
The other three bands I'm plugging concerning their search for a Sault Ste. Marie booking came to my attention me via e-mail, and in the case of this band, we've seen them here before! They are Fredericton, New Brunswick punk/thrash trio Hard Charger, and you may remember seeing them at a headlining show at The Oddfellows Hall in July 2008 with various local openers, including an early version of Bring The Fallen! I got an e-mail from drummer Tom Blizzard a few days ago, and he told me that Hard Charger would like to play here again on Wednesday, August 4th. I'd be up to see Hard Charger again! Despite a bad turnout for the 2008 show, I was impressed with their raw energy and mix of styles! I of course gave him some contact info, but if you'd like to help Hard Charger get a booking for here on August 4th, e-mail Tom at struggles999@hotmail.com or by messaging them through MySpace! There, you can check out some of their songs, lots of short, but heavy and relentless death/thrash/punk that will be sure to get a crowd moving! Want Hard Charger back? Then e-mail them and see if you can book them or help at all!
Finally, we have a double bill of bands hoping for a show here! Prince George, British Columbia electronic metal band Throat Kick (pictured) and Vancouver metal band GFAP are hoping to play in Sault Ontario on their upcoming Canadian tour! Looks like the show might be in September, but a specific date wasn't given, so there may be some flexibility here! The bands are both solid, Throat Kick have kind of a "breakcore" vibe and lots of electronic influences, interesting mix! GFAP are more straightforward groove metal with nice aggressive vocals, I'm really digging them too! Throat Kick frontman Kyle Pigeau e-mailed me today looking for some help to get both bands a show on their upcoming tour, anyone out there wanna help out? E-mail Kyle at kylepigeau@gmail.com or message either band at their above MySpace pages to offer your help to bring them here for a show! They're good bands, they just need a venue, or local openers, or a promoter, or something!
There's got to be someone out there that can help out these bands for a local booking of some type! We need more shows here, and if no one shows any interest, then these concerts won't happen! Even if you're just a local musician that would wanna play with them on that date, that would help! If you're interested in booking one of these bands for a show on the dates they'd like, playing with them on said show, or bring them to your venue, PLEASE e-mail them today! Let's bolster the scene with more concerts!
That's all for now, I don't know if I'll have a post tomorrow or not, it's actually my 21st birthday tomorrow so I could be busy, but I do have some cool things on the newsdesk to share, so keep an eye out, you may see something tomorrow!
