LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Banned & 415E), SweetKenny Updates, And More!!

Today's post is largely Sault Michigan-centric, with album updates from a regional artist to touch on, and some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for two bands in early 2016, but we also have some general updates to one of our feature series to cap things off. Now, here's what you should know!

Kewadin Casino's entertainment page has finally been updated to reflect 2016 concerts, with shows listed for The Rapids Lounge at the Soo Kewadin and The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin through late June, and there are new hard rock shows to note there! The Highway 63 shows are already known to us, but we can now confirm five new concert weekends from bands in our range, including hard rock quartet 415E, who will return to The Northern Pines Lounge in St. Ignace on February 26th & 27th, and then on April 29th & 30th! Last seen on stage during their New Year's Eve show in St. Ignace, 415E are the only St. Ignace-scheduled band so far that isn't playing at the Sault Kewadin, but if you can head down to The Northern Pines Lounge over these weekends, be ready for some Van Halen-inspired hard rock hits! There's no announced cover charge for these 21+ shows, which start at around 9:00 PM. For more details, visit the above links, and stay tuned for more from the Hubbard/Menard crew as we hear it!

The other new hard rock confirmations come from Kinross classic/hard rock trio Banned, who had announced Kewadin dates through March already via their Facebook page, but the casino confirmed a handful of shows beyond! The Traynors and Wayne will return to The Northern Pines Lounge at in St. Ignace for gigs on April 14th & 15th and then on May 13th & 14th, while they'll return to The Rapids Lounge in the Soo for the first time in three months on June 17th & 18th, so keep those dates in mind as well! Banned always stay busy, and hopefully these shows go as well as their next ones, as fans should know their talent level! Remember, we'll next see Banned within an hour of Sault Ste. Marie when they rock The Runway Bar in Hessel on February 12th, with gigs at Western U.P. Kewadin branches coming beforehand. Like with the new 415E gigs, these are 9:00 PM affairs with no announced cover charges and 21+ age limits. For more details, visit the above links, and stay tuned for more from Banned!

And just for reference, note that other new Kewadin dates belong to classic rockers Touch of Class & The Brooks Band, country artists Hawk Junction & Paul Perry, and Traverse City dance rock quartet Risque, who haven't been recent local regulars that I've seen. Note that there's nothing new from there from the recently dormant Power Slug, nor from Jeff Hudson's Traverse City-area metal bands like Peril & Scarkazm, but if/when we hear more on their next E.U.P. dates, we'll let you know!

Next up, Dafter, Michigan solo hard rock musician Ken Sutton (a.k.a. SweetKenny) has released another new album, so what should you know on it? Entitled "Only Us Left Standing", it was released to his Bandcamp page on January 11th (apologies for the delay), and it's his first album of 2016 & 16th total in his main solo series. Continuing his recent focus since the summer, this SweetKenny album is intended to be a conceptual & instrumental score that could be used in a video game, and similarly to last month's "The Walkers: Rise of the Dead", it's themed after a zombie invasion. On listening, I can confirm that it's darker and more ominous than "The Walkers", which is largely acoustic-based, but both show Ken's range! "Only Us Left Standing" is on sale for $7 via the above links, so definitely consider picking it up, especially if you like video game scores!

Now, as these are part of his main album canon, they are eligible for reviews on the site, and I'd already pencilled in a SweetKenny review for this month, so is one of these next? No, as I usually pick the heaviest album if I have multiple new releases to pick from in a band's discography, and from his most recent four (plus August's "Charlie Hidelburg: Ancient Hunter"), the heaviest is October's "The Hitman Files", which is themed like it could be in a hitman action game or movie. No word on when SweetKenny will release a traditional new solo album (last seen with June's "Fleabag Hotel"), but look for our review of "The Hitman Files" by Sunday!

Finally for today, here's some more updates to our past Battle of the Bands Rewind Profiles! In our profile of 2010's Sault College/Scotties Tournament of Heart Battle of the Bands, we restored a photo of third place finishers Sykotyk Rampage, and updated info on their recent activity, but the rest was still good. In our profile of that spring's Downtown Showdown battle, we restored two photos, added notes on runners-up The Fury's brief 2014 reunion and frontman Paul Stanghetta's never-launched successor band Keep It Lit, and clarified info on judge Len Ward. For it's section on performers' later bands, we replaced The Glass Thieves, Keep It Lit, and March Into Regression with The Apocalypse Afterparty, Infinity Grinder, and London's Five Oceans (featuring Tenagens alum Patrick Dal Cin) to keep that more current. Finally, we added references to how performers did in 2015 battles, namely SBD bassist Brad Griffith at the Speak Easy battle with Infinity Grinder, and Fury frontman Paul Stanghetta's fourth place run at the VM Radio Battle with The Apocalypse Afterparty.

Hopefully that gets these sufficiently updated, and stay tuned for updates of battles from 2012 and on next, much more news and notes in short order, plus our review of SweetKenny's "The Hitman Files"! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Stiffler's Mom, Havadder, And Mourning Wood), And Weekend Concert Previews!!

Before we get into today's weekend concert preview post, I wanted to apologize for a missed concert, as local classic/hard rock veterans Mourning Wood apparently played a one-nighter at Reggie's West (or "The Reggievelt") this past Saturday. Partly as they didn't plug it on their Facebook page until the day of, it completely slipped us by, but I should have been more alert last weekend, so our profuse apologies, and hopefully it was a great show! We'll make up for it with lots of SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS from them and others in this weekend preview post, so let's get rolling for what you should know!

Local party/hard rock cover trio Stiffler's Mom will play their first ever weekend at The Esquire Club TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the band only confirmed the gigs on their Facebook page on Saturday, though they had teased them without finite dates earlier this month as well. The shows themselves will actually end a two month break for Greg, Mike, and Jon, who have been practicing over the holidays, and it'll be interesting to hear how they do at The Esquire Club at 103 Second Line West, which only sporadically features hard rock bands. Hopefully TOMORROW & SATURDAY's shows go well for Stiffler;s Mom, and it's great to see them back out there in the new year! 10:00 PM start times are likely for these shows, which have 19+ age limits and no announced cover charges. For more details, visit the above links, and here's Stiffler's Mom live a few years back!

Next up, classic/hard rock cover veterans Havadder will return to The Rockstar Bar themselves for shows TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies again for the short notice, we only heard about these shows via the official Facebook event page on Tuesday. This weekend's shows come just three weeks after Havadder's last Rockstar Bar gigs, and they've been very familiar with this venue as of late, so be sure to check out this popular local band again TOMORROW and/or SATURDAY if you haven't been able to see them lately! As usual for Havadder's Rockstar Bar gigs, there's no announced cover charges (but bring $5 or so just in case), you must be 19 or older to attend, and while the event page lists an oddly late start time of 11:00 PM, one would assume it would start by at least 10:30 PM. Check the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Havadder live at The Rockstar Bar earlier this month!
 


Lastly for late notice show announcements, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Mourning Wood will return to the stage with headlining dates at The Rednecks Saloon TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Once again, apologies for the short notice, the shows were only just announced via their Facebook event page yesterday. Fresh off of their Reggie's West date last week (apologies again for missing it!), this will be their first announced concert weekend of the year at the former Nicolet Tavern, unless we missed another late notice announcement. Mourning Wood have apparently learned even more songs to add to their extensive setlist, so if you've missed them at a non-Reggie's venue so far in 2016, consider a trip to Rednecks TOMORROW and/or SATURDAY for their varied and often heavy cover selection! Both shows have 10:00 PM start times, you must be 19 or older to attend, and neither has an announced age limit. Check the above links for more details, and here's Mourning Wood live at Rednecks!


 
Finally for this preview post, let's touch on shows that actually did get advance notice, as prolific local hard rock solo singer/guitarist Tym Morrison is scheduled to return to Gliss Steak & Seafood to close out another month in his ongoing weekly run there TONIGHT, TOMORROW, and SATURDAY! This ever-busy but very talented local favourite should deliver another solid weekend of tunes at this downtown restaurant this weekend, so if you're up for a mellower night of familiar hits, head to Gliss for one of the next three evenings! And yes, we will add Tym's February gigs at this venue when confirmed outside of his website. Each of these three Gliss shows are at 6:00 PM, have no announced cover charges, and don't have an announced age limit, but remember that this is a restaurant. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page, and for a preview, here's Tym live!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes in the coming days, plus this month's CD review! Thanks everyone!

YouTube Channel Profile Series: bffcfka's Channel & GIWAKWA GIWAKWA

It's now time for this month's YouTube Channel Profiles, as we're back in the new year for more looks at YouTube channels that have at least a 50% base of local metal, hard rock, and/or punk videos, in order to spotlight and feature them for readers! This month's random selections netted us two channels, as the first only had one video, hence the second channel (with just two videos) to fill things out, but there's some familiar faces and interesting clips to check out, so read on for this month's YouTube profiles!
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bffcfka's Channel (http://www.youtube.com/bffcfka)

Owner: YouTube user bffcfka (identity unknown, but they were likely a student at Central Algoma Secondary School in Desbarats in the late 2000s)

Channel Timeline: Launched on August 11th, 2008; Only video posted on January 2nd, 2010

Channel Summary: The only video posted to bffcfka's channel is of early Crimson Crusade guitarist Brent Beaulieu playing a guitar riff on stage during a CASS Cafe event circa the turn of 2010. Brent had guitar talent here, and while this is a short video, it's nice to see him at work, and check out more CASS Cafe videos from this era on other YouTube channels! Also, note that this channel in particular hasn't visibly been used since this video's upload.


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GIWAKWA GIWAKWA (http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-j7LyfO3fUVmSmVF10UksQ)

Owner: A member of local death/sludge metal band Giwakwa, identity unclear (likely guitarist Chris Page or drummer Chris Thompson)

Channel Timeline: Launched on May 27th, 2012; Videos uploaded in January & March 2015

Channel Summary: The official YouTube channel for the recently dormant Giwakwa, this channel currently has two videos from their run, one from a 2013 concert and one from a jam session last year.

Why Should You Watch: It's definitely worth checking out if you're a fan of Giwakwa, particularly from their main run in mid-2013! However, this channel has not been visibly updated since these videos were posted, and it's not clear if the band is even still functioning, so keep both in mind if you're thinking about subscribing. As well, I believe the band has deleted at least one past upload on their channel.

Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:

GIWAKWA -- ENDLESS BUMMER & IRON LUNG @ THE ROCKSTAR BOTB 2013: Giwakwa's first (and only concert) video on their channel comes from The Rockstar Bar Battle of the Bands semifinals on April 17th, 2013, where they played their songs "Endless Bummer" & "Iron Lung" to close their set. Featuring their then-lineup of Chris & Chris alongside Bring The Fallen alums Josh Stephney on vocals & Nolan Rainville on bass, they finished in second place behind Josh's current band The Bear Hunters that night, but did not advance to the finals the next week. Filmed at a far angle to the stage's right, these are strongly performed songs at a neat angle, but Chris Thompson is often hard to see, and the audio can be a little tinny. Note that this is a 2015 re-upload of one of two videos posted by a separate filmer on their own YouTube channel at the time, but they later deleted both videos, and Giwakwa themselves never uploaded the first one.



GIWAKWA -- BLOOD SKIN AND SINUE -- SNEAK PEAK: Giwakwa's last major public activity to date came via this Friday the 13th video posting from March of last year, which has Chris Page & Chris Thompson jamming a new original song named "Blood, Skin, and Sinew". Notably just a duo performance (Josh & Nolan moved out of town in late 2013, and Mitch Sirie hadn't replaced either yet), it is a fast & heavy song that seems to point at a sound evolution, but it's obviously incomplete, and the camera slowly tilts upward and falls over during the recording. Hopefully this isn't the last we've seen of Giwakwa, they had a lot of promise!


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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profiles! Next month in this series, we'll again be looking at multiple channels due to the first randomly selected channel only having one local video, so on (or around) February 26th, we'll be looking at user ninezero's channel (featuring a Treble Charger music video),  and to fill things out, ex-Scofflaw drummer Ivan Schliska's YouTube channel (featuring a pair of videos from the Sault Michigan artist.) This should be a good one again, so watch for it next month, and stay tuned for more news and notes this week! Thanks everyone!

Project 421 & Bon Soo Updates, Plus More Updates & Notes!!

We're back with a new news post to kick off this last full week of January, so what's on tap? Some updates to one of our battle of the bands profiles, some assorted recent notes, and the latest from a new local arts podcast, but let's start with some new concert videos!

Local classic metal quintet Project 421 are the subject of some new videos that were uploaded to their Facebook page yesterday, all courtesy of their Rednecks Saloon concert on Friday! Attendee Chris Weber shot three videos at the show (and got lots of photos, albeit made black & white after the fact), and they include renditions of Black Sabbath's "N.I.B.", Kiss' "Cold Gin", and as embedded below, their first original "No One Rides For Free". Shot on a cell phone camera, the audio is scratchy, and the camera angle can be jittery, but these videos are our best look yet at the current Project 421 lineup, and you can definitely sense that they have a good grasp on these songs! The lighting isn't great though, only drummer Chris Thompson is well lit on stage. Give these a look above and below, and don't miss Project 421 at The Rockstar Bar next month!



Next up, the newest episode of the new local music/arts podcast 7L is now online via their Soundcloud page, so what should you know from it? The episode features host Teddy Syrette interviewing Bon Soo general manager Kerrie De Poli about next month's installment of our annual winter carnival, where Kerrie talks about the inception of Bon Soo, the extended 12-day lineup for this year, events to look for, how long Kerrie's been working with the festival, her background before joining Bon Soo, the merger with Passport To Unity, where to get Bon Soo buttons, and more. The episode closes with Kerrie reading a poem about Bon Soo, and Teddy singing likewise, which is a fun way to close the episode! It's good and fun promotion for this year's festival, but what do we learn about Bon Soo's concerts for this year? Only bare basics, with no visible lineup information confirmed for either The Marquee or Passport to Unity, but The Marquee will apparently be a one-night outdoor event again on Friday, February 5th at Mill Market.

The Passport To Unity multicultural festival will be at The Essar Center as usual, but now on Sunday, February 14th rather than May to fit the Bon Soo schedule. We have yet to find lineup information for either event, but when updates come out on both/either, we'll let you know! Give the new 7L episode a listen above, it's informative and worth checking out, but note that the teased acoustic punk segment is not featured, no word on if it's coming for episode #4. Stay tuned though!

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

• If you've seen recent personal Facebook pictures of Havadder playing a recent gig without bassist Travis Sharpe, we can confirm that the show was a private event at The Rankin Arena, and with Travis unable to make the gig, local musician Brett Gottwald filled in for him. There are some videos from the event on Facebook, but unless the band shares them publically, we won't post them here. Brett filled in well though from what I saw, and give them a watch if they pop up on your news feed!
• Local musician Lee Catling is looking for a drummer for a Slayer tribute band that he's working on. He didn't offer any more details, but Slayer fans should be intrigued by this, so message Lee at this link or via his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from yesterday if you're interested! 
• Honest Job bassist Drew Armstrong has been added as a performer with Like a Pisces during the Nirvana tribute concert at The Gore Street Cafe on February 20th during The Fishbowl Festival's opening night, as per the Facebook event page last week. However, it should be noted that the current wording of the performers lumps The Pixo Control in as one of the main acts, rather than as defined openers, so is this going to be a collaborative show with guests coming & going between songs? We'll let you know if there's clarification!

Finally for today, here's some big updates to one of our past Battle of the Bands Rewind Profiles (which return in March!) In our profile of December 2009's Algoma University Battle of the Bands, we noted The Fury's brief 2014 reunion and RedD Monkey's hiatus & posthumous activity in the section on competitors' later work, while we replaced Keep It Lit and Giwakwa with The Apocalypse Afterparty, Infinity Grinder, and Kaepora Gaebora in the section on performers' later bands to keep that more current. Finally, the trivia section now features notes on planned judges Anthony Fabiano & Dustin Jones' later work in battles of the bands (as Griphook's drummer in Spanish and as a VM Radio Battle judge/sponsor respectively), info on how The Apocalypse Afterparty & Infinity Grinder did at the battles in March 2015, and a note on Fury frontman Paul Stanghetta's debuting band Keep It Lit, who never played after dropping out of 2013's Viva La Battle. Hopefully that's up to date now, and stay tuned for updates of battles from the early 2010s soon!

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

Highway 63 Concert Previews, Skeyes Of Seven Updates, And More!!

Barring any super-short notice concert previews, let's round out this weekend's previews to lead off this Friday morning post, but we're filling things out with lots of recent updates from a local hard rock band, and some assorted recent notes! Now, let's get this post rolling!

Sault Michigan classic/hard rock cover quartet Highway 63 will return to The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT for the first time this year! This talented and prolific local band will continue their busy year of Kewadin Casino gigs with their first Rapids Lounge shows in about two months, and if you know the guys' past work with bands like Jager and Power Slug, you'll know you're in for a solid time either night! However, I'll just note for clarification's sake that the band hasn't plugged this weekend's shows since originally announcing them a few weeks ago, but nothing indicates they're off. Of course, if you can't make it out to the Soo Kewadin this weekend, remember that Highway 63 will be back there for a weekend each month in 2016, plus St. Ignace in most months of the year. As usual for Highway 63's Kewadin shows, a 9:00 PM-ish start time, 21+ age limit, and no announced cover charges are in effect. For more details, visit the above links, and here's Highway 63 live at The Rapids Lounge last year!

Next up, local hard rock quartet Skeyes of Seven have finally confirmed that they are indeed recording their debut EP! After a number of posts showcasing recent recording sessions at Deluca Sound Productions, albeit without outright confirming that a debut release was in the works, the guys finally confirmed on their Facebook page on Wednesday that they have just one more track to record before sending the EP off to be mixed & mastered. Great to hear, and hopefully things work out so that Skeyes of Seven's EP is released successfully! Fans of Cory & Ron's old band Sense of Truth will relate to that regarding their unreleased CD. As well, Skeyes of Seven confirmed on Facebook that they have indeed parted ways with drummer John Mignacca, presumably due to his move to Sudbury last fall, which followed his only two shows with the band in mid-2015. John's a talented drummer (As It Stands fans can attest to that), and hopefully he's in another band down the line!

With John's departure, Skeyes of Seven are looking for a new drummer, and while they haven't begun an active search yet, message the band A.S.A.P. if you or someone you know are interested in trying out! For clarification, ex-drummer Johnny Amendola isn't back, despite his kit in the recent Cherry Crush jam videos still having S.O.S. drum head artwork. As for John Mignacca's participation on the Skeyes of Seven EP, he confirmed on his personal Facebook page that he did indeed provide the studio drum tracks, and you can get a preview of his work via two videos that he posted on Facebook in July, which the band subsequently shared on their own Facebook page, so what should you know on them? The clips (one seen here) are both short, and have loud steady beeps over them (presumably to keep tempo), but you do get a glimpse of John's skill, and it'll be interesting to hear more of the final product! Just have the volume up to hear his drumming, but also remember the beeps, as they may be distracting.

It's great to see Skeyes of Seven staying busy, and while they've played just four local concerts in the past four years, their talents and past band work speak for themselves, so hopefully things continue to turn upward for Cory, Al, Ron, John, and their next drummer! Check out John drumming below, see more above, and apologies for the delay on these!



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

• Energy Rock Radio is coming home for a special event in July! The Castlegar, B.C.-based internet rock station (which broadcasted in the Soo from 2008-2011) will be holding a special local broadcast when station head Ryan Kaarlela comes home in July, with a special subscriber-only episode of The Rated Ryeman Show airing late that month. Great to see Ryan back home, and if you're a loyal Brew Crew member, click here for full details on how to get in on this N.R.G. homecoming broadcast!
• Former Havadder bassist Lucas Bugyra is looking to start a new local rock band that would play older & new rock, plus some metal. He's looking for a couple of guitarists and a drummer (no word on if he's planning to sing or not), and he is hoping to give more variety at local bars via this band. If you're interested in trying out, message Luke at this link or via his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from Tuesday!
• Local drummer Trey Piraino is again looking for musicians to jam with towards forming a progressive metal band. He had posted a similar search in August 2014, but hopefully this time, he gets some traction towards a prog-metal outfit, as he does sound serious about wanting to get one going! For details, message him at this link or via his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from Wednesday!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates in the coming days! Thanks everyone!

This Weekend's Sault Ontario Hard Rock Concert Previews!!

With another weekend fast approaching, let's tackle most of this weekend's hard rock and punk concert previews! For reference sake, we'll cover Highway 63's Sault Michigan shows and any late notice discoveries in our next post, so look for them then, but today's post covers announced Sault Ontario shows, including many familiar faces, so here's what you should know!

We'll start with prolific local hard rock solo artist Tym Morrison, who will continue his ongoing weekly concert arrangement at Gliss Steak & Seafood with acoustic shows TONIGHT, TOMORROW, and SATURDAY! Expect three more evenings of unplugged hard rock classics from this local favourite at The Quality Inn's downtown restaurant, and while his shows there certainly haven't been a novelty as of late, his dependable acoustic covers should get a solid reception once again this weekend! As usual for his Gliss shows, there's no announced cover charges or age limits for these 6:00 PM concerts, but again, this is a sit-down restaurant, so keep that in mind. For more details on Tym's latest matinees at Gliss, visit the official Facebook event page, and here's Tym live at The Harp during his regular run there!



Next up, local classic metal quintet Project 421 will hit The Rednecks Saloon TOMORROW NIGHT for their first ever solo concert with no extra opening or headlining acts! Their first of at least two solo concerts on their current schedule, this will see this talented outfit playing the vast majority (if not all) of the songs that they have in their repertoire, so if you love Project 421's nostalgia trip and strong skills, be at the former Nicolet Tavern tomorrow night! Remember, they'll also be playing by themselves at The Rockstar Bar on February 5th, so keep that in mind if that works better for your schedule or location. There is a 19+ age limit for this 10:00 PM concert, which has no cover charge. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! It'll be very interesting to see how Project 421 do in the realm of weekend cover bands, so be at Rednecks tomorrow for wall to wall 421 action! Here's Project 421 live in 2014!



Now, Project 421 are only playing tomorrow at The Rednecks Saloon, but bassist Daniel Horton is promoting the concert going down THIS SATURDAY NIGHT to round out the weekend, as three familiar local bands will join forces! A partial encore of a Rockstar Bar show from two weeks ago, the advertised headliners are local pop punk quartet Stereo North (in their second show of the year), alternative hard rock trio The Din (in their first show since dropping "Mike Haggith and" from their name), and funk/hard rock quartet The Elements (who have new songs in store for their first show of the year), so be sure not to miss this trifecta on Saturday night! The Elements will kick things off at 9:30 PM on Saturday, there's no cover charge, and you must be 19 or older to attend. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! There's something for everyone at Rednecks on Saturday, whether you love punk, funk, alternative, or a little of each, so keep this one in mind too, and here's Stereo North live!



Finally for today's previews, local hard rock cover quartet Griphook will make their long awaited return to the stage THIS SATURDAY NIGHT at The Rockstar Bar! This veteran local band took the last six months off from concerts while working on new material, and as a result, this will be their first show since Rotaryfest 2015, their first of the year, and their first at The Rockstar Bar since 2014, so this has been a long time coming! Though this is just a one-nighter (classic rockers Nikkfitt are playing there tomorrow), Griphook fans would be well served to check out Joel, Brian, Dan, and Tony's return to the stage on Saturday, especially with new songs in their set, and who knows when we'll see them next? There's no announced cover charge for Saturday night's show (but bring cash just in case), you must be 19 or older to attend, and there's a 10:00 PM start time in effect. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page, and don't miss Griphook's grand return this weekend! Here they are live last summer!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more concert previews and updates in due course! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Like A Pisces), A New Local Festival, And A New Podcast!!

Today's post has some common threads in the topics, which largely devolve into word on a debuting local festival and a newer local arts podcast, but there are some extra bits to note within, including a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT and a partial band name change! Apologies for any delay in getting these on the site, but let's rectify that now and get this post underway!

Local alternative/grunge trio The Pixo Control will hit The Gore Street Cafe on Saturday, February 20th as the opening act for an apparent one-off Nirvana tribute band named Like A Pisces! The opening night of the debuting Fishbowl Festival (more on that in a second), this show coincides with what would have been late Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain's 49th birthday, and will serve as a celebration of Nirvana, 1990s grunge, new wave, and alternative music. If things are what they seem to indicate on the Facebook event page, Like A Pisces (referencing lyrics from "Heart Shaped Box") will be comprised of local musicians Mister Tahti (Honest Job), Sam Decter (Boxes of Boom), and Lauren McClure, though instrument roles aren't listed. The Pixo Control's set will be their second local appearance of the year, and I believe their first at the fast-rising Gore Street venue, so keep them in mind for next month, as they're ideal openers in terms of sound!

A $5 cover charge is in effect for this 7:00 PM concert, while there will also be packages available for all Fishbowl Festival events (which we'll get into next), and while there isn't an announced age limit, the early start time of 7:00 PM seems to hint that it may not be 19+. If we get confirmation, we'll let you know! This sounds like an intriguing concert, especially if you're a fan of Nirvana or the Seattle grunge scene, so definitely keep this show in mind as the Fishbowl Festival commences!

Now, just what exactly is The Fishbowl Festival? Announced two weeks ago, it's an intended "mid-winter festival of community, food, art, and culture" at The Gore Street Cafe, with the name likely deriving from it's scheduling from February 20th-March 20th, during stretch of the zodiac where the Pisces (or fish) sign falls. Masterminded by the aforementioned Sam Decter (a co-owner of The Gore Street Cafe), a number of varied events are planned for the month, from concerts to workshops to community meals, and Sam and the cafe/laundromat are also looking for people & artists interested in playing, hosting, or helping out with events during the Fishbowl Festival, so if you want in, click here to voice up! As of this writing, the aforementioned Like A Pisces show is the only fully confirmed event that fits our coverage on the SMS, but there are strong indications that Mike Haggith & The Din may be playing an event during the festival, possibly with Stereo North alongside. 

$25 ticket passes are available at The Gore Street Cafe which will get you free or discounted entry into all festival events, though some are already "pay what you can" deals like the venue usually offers. While this is very ambitious, it sounds like there's some fun and unique events for many different tastes in store for late February and March, with everything from a pajamas & cartoons brunch to another "really really free market" in store, so be sure to follow all of the currently announced Fishbowl Festival events at the above links, and get a hold of promoters A.S.A.P. if you want to play or put on any events of your own!

Next up, here's our long overdue look at a new local arts podcast named 7L! No word on what "7L" means yet, but this podcast was created by Pillory bassist Jordan Leach and local artist/LGBT advocate Teddy Syrette (who serves as the in-studio host), and two episodes were posted on it's Soundcloud page earlier this month, which encourage thinking outside the box as a tagline. The first episode (posted on January 7th) features Teddy talking with the aforementioned Sam Decter (who plugged the Fishbowl Festival and what would become Like A Pisces in the podcast), with an appearance by Honest Job drummer Jason Lloyd. Interesting listen, especially for fans of what Sam has been doing with The Gore Street Cafe and his own music projects, so definitely check it out! The second episode from last week fits our coverage more, as it focuses on an interview with all three members of the aforementioned Mike Haggith & The Din, so what should you know on that?

Well, in the interview, one of the first notes is that the band has officially contracted their name to simply The Din, as they're trying to carve their own identity that is separate from Mike's solo music & his prior work with the defunct band Haggith, while also noting that the simplified name rolls off the tongue easier. Makes sense for distinction and ease, and we've noted the change on the site! After that is noted, Teddy talks to The Din about how long they've been playing for, their beginnings as a looser jam outfit, their current setlist & sound, the late David Bowie's influence on the band, their opinions on the local music scene & it's evolution, where they've played in the Soo, current plans for 2016, and their advice for aspiring musicians. The episode concludes with The Din performing an acoustic version of their new original "Flux", which sounds promising and has good vocal harmonies, but the drums are a little loud in the mix.

Entertaining interview that tells us a lot about The Din's run and plans, and it has a nice loose feel, with Brandan Glew in particular giving some good and well thought answers! Check it out above, and what's in store for episode 3? If this proves to be a weekly series, it might go online tomorrow, and a recent Facebook page tease noted that it'll likely feature "some delicious acoustic punk" (Telephone & Address?) and "an exclusive Bon Soo interview" (The Marquee?) Stay tuned for more on the third episode, 7L is now in our "Other Local Metal Links", and stay tuned for weekend concert previews next! Thanks everyone!