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

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

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

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

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



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

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

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

Last Month's Poll Results & This Month's New Poll!!

It's the 18th of the month, so as expected, it's time to unveil the final results of last month's poll at The Sault Metal Scene and to launch our newest poll on the site! Starting with the last poll results, you may remember that our last poll posed this question: "What was your favourite Sault Ontario metal concert in the first half of 2012?" 32 votes were cast in the past month, which is a solid number, and I thank you all for voting! That said, what did you guys pick as your favourite shows from January 1st to June 30th? Here are the final results!

Dead In The Van at The Canadian on March 4th (8 votes, 25%)
The Merves at The Canadian Nightclub on January 14th (8 votes, 25%)
Garden of Bedlam at The Rockstar Bar on May 12th (4 votes, 13%)
F.A.T.I.L. Gathering in Laird on June 22nd (3 votes, 9.5%)
Other (3 votes, 9.5%)
Winkstinger at The Roosevelt Hotel on June 7th (2 votes, 6%)
Ypres Metal Fest at The Canadian on April 7th (2 votes, 6%)
Late and Loud at The Canadian on March 30th (2 votes, 6%)
Who Made Who at The Canadian on February 3rd (0 votes)
Winkstinger at The Roosevelt Hotel on February 16th (0 votes)
Waster at The Roosevelt Hotel on March 15th (0 votes)
The V.D.M. at The Speak Easy on March 16th (0 votes)
Mama Kin at The Canadian Nightclub on April 13th-14th (0 votes)
Battle of the Bands at The Grand Theater on April 20th (0 votes)
Shit Liver at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion on May 4th (0 votes)
West of Hell at The Canadian Nightclub on May 13th (0 votes)
The Brat Attack at The Canadian Nightclub on May 20th (0 votes)
Fuck The Facts at The Canadian Nightclub on May 23rd (0 votes)
Battle For The Blood at The Roosevelt Hotel on June 19th (0 votes)
Hallows Die at The Canadian Nightclub on June 29th (0 votes)
Maximum RNR at The Rockstar Bar on June 30th (0 votes)

What do you guys think? Well, I have to say that I'm very surprised that there wasn't a more even spread with the voting, as 12 of the 20 choices weren't picked. I'm probably most surprised that Dismembertainment's May concerts at The Canadian and the Maximum RNR show in June got no love, but this is all in who votes, I assume. Of the three shows tied for 6th with two votes each, I'm most surprised that the Ypres Metal Fest only got two votes, especially knowing how huge & emotional that night was! The F.A.T.I.L. Gathering in Laird's fourth place finish with 3 votes is higher than I projected, and though it tied with "Other", that could mean anything from the Die Mannequin show to July concerts, but I can't prove what those voters had in mind. A respectable third place with 4 votes went to Garden of Bedlam's solo concert at The Rockstar Bar in May (pretty good!), but the tied first place concerts with 8 votes and 25% of the total each were two Canadian Nightclub shows featuring incomplete Frightlight lineups from earlier this year, those being the Merves-headlined show in January & the Dead In The Van fundraiser in March! As it took place more recently (and won with less time in our consciousness), I'll declare Dead In The Van the "winner" of the poll, but this was a mathematical tie.

The Merves/Frightlight show's high finish really surprised me, but the Dead In The Van fundraiser show was a fun and diverse night of metal and punk, and they're a solid & deserving winner for the poll, even if my personal projections were off! We'll see the vote-getting choices again early next year for our poll on your favourite concerts of the entire year, and for now, thanks to everyone for voting!

With that said, what's in store for this month's poll? Well, this time, I wanna see what SMS readers habits are in terms of our coverage, more specifically, the Sault Michigan side of things. While I admit that our coverage and readership is mostly Sault Ontario-based, I make a clear effort to cover Sault Michigan and close Eastern U.P. regions on as close to an equal level as I can. A different nationality doesn't render any band less worthy of the time and attention I'd give to a Sault Ontario act, and I remember being suitably impressed with the bands (past & present) that I found across the river when I first began compiling band links and resources in 2007. That said, there is a disconnect between the Twin Saults in terms of coverage, which can be blamed on varying reasons. Aside from the population differences (which can be blamed on the smaller band totals), Sault Michigan tends to be harder to cover thanks to a larger number of bands & venues without actively updated online pages, and concerts are known to occasionally slip me by. Also, the crossover of bands playing across the border is almost nonexistent now thanks to the excessive paperwork and legal hangups that you need to work through nowadays just to play across the bridge, so in some ways, we're covering two distinct areas without a lot of commonality.

That all said, Sault Michigan has a lot of plusses in terms of their metal & hard rock scene compared to Sault Ontario. They tend to have better advance schedules for their shows, they tend to have more out of town hard rock regulars at local shows than we do (like Nudge, Peril, and Driven), they have the only rock radio stations in this region, and they get more big name headlining bands at Kewadin Casino than The Essar Center does. Plus, I've noticed a greater ratio of family member bandmates and female musicians in Sault Michigan hard rock bands, and in recent years especially, there's been some great rock camps & youth programs to get children & preteens into heavier bands, so they do have a lot of benefits and advancements worth noting! I think most would say that Sault Ontario has more going on for concerts and local metal band activity, and I would agree, but I wouldn't ignore the Sault Michigan area. After all, they have bands like Clownsack, End of Existence, Half A Man, and Powerslug, along with inactive acts like Bad Side, I.S.O.M., Nixxon Dixxon, and Oddfellow, and they definitely deserve to be recognized and followed!

Now, with that all said, I'm posing this question to you guys this month: How much do you follow metal/hard rock bands & concerts in Sault Michigan & the Eastern Upper Peninsula? I've picked 5 options that should sum up most of the feelings on how connected you guys are to the bands and shows across the river, and I'm curious to see how the voting shakes down. With that said, here's your choices!

More than or equally to the Sault Ontario metal scene: Do you follow Sault Michigan and Eastern U.P. bands and concerts on comparable levels as to what goes on in Sault Ontario? Do you focus on Sault Michigan more? Or do you live/work in Sault Michigan and do more concert hopping there? This would be the choice if any of the above applies to you!

Just certain bands/shows: Everyone has personal preferences, and maybe you only pay attention to select bands and concerts across the river that fit into what you already like, listen to, and attend. Not every Scofflaw fan is going to like Theatre of Night, for example. Or maybe you prefer one American bar to another? Do you only follow select groups and gigs in Sault Michigan?

Casually or occasionally: Is your knowledge of the Sault Michigan scene more of a loose and informal recognization? Are SMS posts and the occasional clicked link your only experience with bands across the river? If you're a casual fan who doesn't study or look into the Sault Michigan scene in-depth, but doesn't ignore it either, vote for this option!

Only for major Kewadin Casino concerts: While The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino is a big source of major hard rock concerts in the area, Sault Ontario news media generally only touches on Sault Michigan concerts when they happen there, and if that's all you hear about, that could be all you'd attend for, especially as few heavier ones have local opening bands. Are major Kewadin shows your only link to the Sault Michigan hard rock scene? If so, vote here!

Not at all: Do you only pay attention to the Sault Ontario metal/hard rock scene? Is Sault Michigan a different world, too much of a hassle, or not worth your time? I see a lot of validity and talent from the Sault Michigan metal/hard rock bands and concerts past & present, but if you only focus on Canada for your local music, pick this option!

VOTE TODAY!! This month's poll will be up in the upper left column until September 18th, and I'm really curious to see how connected you guys are with Sault Michigan. The talent is there, shows do happen, and there's plenty of reasons to at least follow their bands. The Twin Saults are linked in many ways, and I'd love to see stronger bonds between the two scenes, but who knows what the votes will say. VOTE A.S.A.P. and stay tuned for a new news post tonight or tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

A New Local Hardcore Band, Buckcherry Concert Videos, And Hoist The Sails Lineup News!!

News is still slow to a point right now locally, but I've came up with a lot of updates from Sault Michigan lately, so that's the focus of today's news post! For the record, I've heard of nothing relating to metal & hard rock concerts in the area this weekend, though who knows what unannounced gigs could possibly be going on across the river tonight or tomorrow. In this post, we have lineup updates for a young local band, some videos from a recent major concert, and leading off, a brand new local band, so here's what you need to know!

We have a new band to add to the SMS links today, and they're a new Sault Michigan hardcore outfit named Angelic Genocide. Launched in February, they appear to be a younger band like some of the other recent harder edged acts across the river, and they feature a large lineup of six different musicians! Currently, they feature former Chained Memories frontman Sean Roush on lead vocals, clean singer Cathy Burgos, guitarists Cody Reed (Hoist The Sails, ex-Analog Deficiency) & Josh North, bassist Alex Boyer, and former 7/47 drummer Joe North (Josh's brother?), while Gus Burgos (Cathy's brother?) & Matt Randazzo were in the band's original lineup on vocals & bass respectively before Sean & Alex joined. As well, Sean Hanson is credited as being the band's mascot & cowbell player, but I don't believe he's an official performing member of Angelic Genocide. Since their Facebook page was created in April, the band has posted a bunch of band logos and song samples, including some vocal covers by Sean Roush of Suicide Silence & Hands songs (there's more on his personal page's video album) and a drum & bass sample, so check the above links to hear the new media! Other recent updates include a flirtation with entering a talent show earlier this summer, listing Asking Alexandria, Silverstein, and Miss May I as influences, and news that they would be focusing on originals full time as of August 10th, but check the above links for all you need to know!

There's a lot of unknowns with Angelic Genocide so far, but the members I'm familiar with have talent, and Sean Roush is a solid hardcore screamer (Chained Memories would have benefited if he'd stayed there!) I hope Angelic Genocide can make some local inroads, as a lot of the harsher Sault Michigan bands of late seem to have struggled in gaining footing in the scene, so I wish nothing but the best for them, and I'm curious to hear their originals and future plans! Check out Angelic Genocide at the above links, and they're now in our Sault Michigan band links!

Next up, we FINALLY have some videos from Monday night's Buckcherry/Fuel concert at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino to share on here! I wonder why there was such a delay to even get one from the show? None of these are of Fuel or local openers The London Gentlemen, but we have three Buckcherry videos to share, starting with this video of the Los Angeles hard rockers playing their single "Crazy Bitch" (with a bit of a surprise "freak out") on Monday night! Uploaded by YouTube user hoopy31 yesterday, the quality's pretty good (sans people's heads in the way), but why couldn't hoopy31 have filmed beyond part of Josh Todd's on-stage banter! Now, if you were curious, Josh's singing is hit and miss like I had heard from their show here last year, and with the higher quality, it's more noticeable (especially on higher ranged parts), but he and the band have good energy, and if you like Buckcherry, this video won't come amiss, so check it out below!



The other videos come from YouTube user Steve Ponch (who filmed a video from Ace Frehley's show here in 2009 as well), as he uploaded videos of Buckcherry playing their songs "Lit Up" and part of "It's A Party" on Wednesday! These are of much worse video quality than hoopy31's video, with muffled audio & a very strange & hard to explain colour filter on the camera, that almost looks like a sideways anaglyph 3D attempt. Is this intentional, and if not, what happened? Like on the "Crazy Bitch" video, Josh Todd's singing is patchy, but he does seem to have a good handle on talking to the crowd, and the performances are alright for what they are! I'm not a huge Buckcherry fan, but the attendees seemed to enjoy everything, and that's what matters! As it's the full song, here's "Lit Up", but check the above links for more!



Finally for today, here's some lineup news concerning another young local metal band, that being Hoist The Sails! Formal band updates haven't came since April, but at some point this summer, the band updated their lineup on their Facebook page, and a lot has changed in a short time. To start with, the band has brought back guitarist Nathan Switzer after briefly leaving Hoist The Sails in the spring (good to see him back!), while fellow guitarist Mitch Goetz has moved to the bass & clean vocalist position to replace Joe Niemi (who we already knew left) & Travis Theel respectively. Travis' exit is new to me, but hopefully everything was amicable, and best of luck to him in the future! Mitch is familiar locally for his singing & bass work in bands like Intrepid, so this should be a natural fit for him going forward in their new quintet lineup! Finally for the changes, Hoist The Sails have enlisted Angelic Genocide guitarist Cody Reed to replace Mitch on the second guitar, reuniting him with his former Analog Deficiency bandmates Nathan Switzer & drummer Marcel Grengs. Cody should be a solid addition to Hoist The Sails, and hopefully this new lineup can find success in the coming months locally, as like I mentioned above, hardcore/death metal bands in Sault Michigan lately need to gain some ground. Stay tuned for more from Hoist The Sails as it comes in!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news this weekend, and the results of last month's poll and our newest poll tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Adelitas Way), New Local Band Videos, And More!!

Hey guys, I wanted to apologize for the lack of posts and updates this week. We seem to have hit a very quiet stretch for local metal/hard rock news, and while I've had some stuff to post, it wasn't enough to fill out a full post like usual. I did want to note before we get too deep into what I did compile today that two seemingly obvious topics won't have the updates you'd expect. One is for the Buckcherry/Fuel concert at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino on Monday, as I've heard extremely little fallout from it. No local news coverage, no visible YouTube videos, nothing. You'd think there'd be some coverable items from it by now, but hopefully something will pop up! Also, if you were hoping for a Roosevelt Hotel metal night tonight, I don't believe there's one, even though this is next on the recent bi-weekly schedule. No Thursday nighters at The Rosie have taken place since July 5th (J.D. Pearce-booked gigs aside) or since recent promoter Stephane Vincent moved to Toronto as expected last month (best of luck to him!), so I'm unsure what's going on. Is the series on hiatus or dead? Is Mitch Sirie bringing it back at some point? I have no idea, but if I hear anything, I'll let you guys know!

That all said, we do have some stories today, including updates to one of our monthly feature series, new videos from a new local band, and leading things off, this notable LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for this fall, so here's what you need to know!

As first announced on Monday morning on Rock 101, the next Allstar Promotions concert at The Dreammaker's Theater at the Kewadin Casino in Sault Michigan will go down on November 12th, and it does feature a couple hard rock bands! The headliners will be British Columbia post-grunge/alt-rock quartet Theory of a Deadman, who are bound to be well known for hits like "Bad Girlfriend", "Lowlife", and "Nothing Could Come Between Us", so they'll attract a sizeable crowd on their own in November! Though Theory of a Deadman aren't really heavy, the opening bands are definitely hard rock leaning, and they include Las Vegas hard rock quintet Adelitas Way, who are well known for mainstream rock hits like "Sick", "The Collapse", and the WWE Superstars theme "Invincible", and they have some nice energetic modern hard rock that should entertain the local audience! The concert will be opened by Baltimore hard rock quintet The Charm City Devils, who are slowly making a name on the national rock charts with songs like "Let's Rock & Roll" and their version of "A Man of Constant Sorrow", and they remind me of Shinedown at points, so I expect they'll make a solid first impression on November 12th! In fact, all three of these bands have never played locally before, which is notable in itself!

Tickets are just $28.50 for this ALL AGES show (which is a fairly good deal for this package of bands) and a 7:00 PM start time has been advertised. Seats are still available from the second row and back, so if you're interested, click here, hit the Kewadin box office in person, or call 1-800-KEWADIN! This should be an entertaining enough concert, and there's plenty of solid newer rock bands to entertain everyone in attendance! I find Theory of a Deadman to be too much of a "Nickelback-lite" group myself, but the other bands have some good material, and this show should find a good audience! Pick up your tickets A.S.A.P., and stay tuned for updates if they roll in!

We'll close this post with new videos, both relating to newly discovered local bands! In the last few days, I was alerted to this first band via YouTube postings, and they're a brand new thrash metal band from Sault Ontario named Pillory. Their lineup currently features guitarists Andres Duchesne (ex-Bear Hunters/Social Suicide) and Robert Sartini (more on him in a second) and drummer Bret Shuttleworth, and though they don't have an online page yet that I know of, they appear to be somewhat newer (but I've heard from Bret often that he's been starting or joining bands for a while now.) Robert uploaded videos of Pillory playing three original songs ("Shattered By War", "Fatal Woods", and "Onward To Death") to his YouTube channel last month, and I have to say, Pillory do show promise in these videos! We don't get a lot of straight thrash bands locally (mostly thrash/death hybrids if anything), and they have the thrash trademarks down with some fast heavy riffs and melodies, and if Pillory takes off and gets a bassist and singer, they could be a young band to watch! I've embedded the longest of these Pillory jam session videos below ("Shattered By War"), but definitely check the rest out at the above links!



And speaking of bands with Robert Sartini, this isn't the first band project he's tried to start locally. Though relatively a new sight on our coverage, he briefly led a band named Roadkill last summer alongside drummer Jarrod Sachro, and four jam session videos from their run were also uploaded to his YouTube channel! The videos include a self titled original, songs named "Speed Therapy" and "2083... E.D.I.", and a cover of Diamond Head's "Am I Evil?", so click each link to check them out! I don't know if Roadkill evolved into Pillory or were a separate band entirely, but these songs do show some thrash metal promise, though they are rougher & less complete, and the chemistry isn't as obvious. Interesting stuff though, so check out Roadkill's self titled song below, check the above links for more, and stay tuned for more from Robert's channel!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews (maybe?) and more soon! Thanks everyone!

Buckcherry/Fuel Concert Preview, F.A.T.I.L. Videos, And More!!

Before we get to the news, I want to apologize for a missed concert this past weekend, as Cheboygan hard rockers The Darwin Project made their long awaited return to Sault Michigan at The Corner Pub on Saturday night for an outdoor parking lot party concert. As far as I can tell, it was their first local concert appearance since last year & since the release of their new EP "Beautiful", and it's one of their last shows before kicking off a midwestern US tour run. It's not like me to miss a Darwin Project show for SMS coverage given their prominence and advance show notice, and I sincerely apologize for missing this. Check them out A.S.A.P. though, they're going places fast, and they're very talented, so keep your eyes peeled for a local return at some point! Now, we have a major concert preview, newly found videos from a local metal band, and some more updates, so here's what you need to know!

For the first time since April, a major hard rock concert is hitting The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino TONIGHT, and it will be headlined by Los Angeles hard rock notables Buckcherry! The platinum-selling quintet best known for hits like "Lit Up", "Sorry", "Crazy Bitch", and "All Night Long" were last seen in Sault Michigan in March 2011 with Papa Roach, and they definitely have a known following and some entertaining hard rock songs that fans are bound to recognize, so hopefully they can top the mixed reception from their set last year! Joining them for this show are Tennessee hard rock quartet Fuel, who are likely best known for classics like "Hemorrhage (In My Hands)", "Shimmer", and "Innocent" among their multi-platinum resume! Though only singer Brett Scallions returns from their classic lineups tonight, Fuel's recognizable heavier classics should be welcomed in the Soo, so don't miss their set either! There will be a local opening band, that being the indie rock quartet The London Gentlemen, and though they're not a perfect genre match to the out of town headliners, they're fitting in other ways. Singer/guitarists Steve Sivret & Mike Russo opened for Buckcherry last March in their acoustic band Fallen Heroes, while bandmates Kyle Beaumont & Jake LaLonde have ample experience opening for big name acts at Kewadin Casino with Nixxon Dixxon, so they're well suited to this big opportunity!

Tickets are $35 for this ALL AGES concert, and they are still available as of this writing from the 7th row and back, though note that all of the center section seats are sold out. To pick yours up if you haven't already, click here to purchase them online, or visit the Kewadin box office in person, or call 1-800-KEWADIN! Everything starts at 7:00 PM tomorrow, and for more details, check the above links! It's great to see Allstar Promotions bringing another high quality package of hard rock bands back to The Dreammaker's Theater, and hopefully this show is a huge success to ensure more big shows! One in particular is being announced sooner than you think. I'm not a huge fan of Buckcherry or Fuel, but they have entertaining material and strong fanbases, and as long as Buckcherry can top their set last year, I think everything will come out well tonight! Stay tuned for fallout and news from this show as it comes in this week, but for now, have fun at Kewadin Casino tonight, and for a preview, here's Buckcherry playing "Crazy Bitch" at their show here last year!



Next up, remember on Saturday when I alluded to other MySpace videos from local/Central Algoma death metal quartet For All That Is Lost in our last CASS Cafe video post? Well, here they are, and these are from a full early concert of theirs that you guys can check out! For All That Is Lost's original lineup played a headlining gig at The Hilton Community Hall in Hilton Beach (roughly an hour from here in St. Joseph Island) on June 25th, 2010 (I believe), and each of the 7 songs that they played is on their MySpace page, including their originals "Blood Law", "Graves of the Ancestors", "Viscosity of Blood", their recently less frequent songs "Northern Metal" and "Mask of Divinity", and covers of Lamb of God's "Descending", and surprisingly enough, AC/DC's "Back In Black"! Click each link to see the videos, which were well shot and look surprisingly professional, though the lighting can be dark, and fans do sometimes get in the way. Even at this earlier stage, lineup, and pre-Sault concert stage, F.A.T.I.L. show lots of brutal promise in these videos, and it's disappointing to see them stashed away on MySpace when they could be attracting more notice on other websites. I've embedded their performance of "Northern Metal" below, but check the above links for much more from this early F.A.T.I.L. headlining concert!



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

• On July 29th, SBD bassist Brad Griffith was among the victims of instrument theft from the recording & audio/video company that he's launching, and the stolen items include a guitar, two basses, some microphones, and a portable studio. The gear costs over $2,500, and it's very important for his operations, so if you can help or know of the gear's whereabouts, message Brad at this location or see his post at the Musicians Wanted Facebook group from last week!
• Local grunge band Haggith have announced the addition of Wishbone bassist Steven Flint to their lineup, officially making them a quartet. The news was broken on their Facebook page last night, and Steven will debut with Haggith at a Wawa concert on August 24th. Steven's a talented bassist, and he has heavier chops from his work in Silver Dream, so he should add well to this new band! Check the above links for more info!
• Local punk trio Redundant have replaced horror punk notables Frightlight on the lineup for the Skull Fist-headlined show at The Canadian Nightclub on August 31st, as per the Facebook event page. From what I understand, Frightlight dropped out for personal reasons, though I'm not sure exactly what happened. Redundant may not be a genre match, but their entertaining punk music should go over well amongst the metal on the 31st, so don't miss them at their next concert!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes as the week rolls along! Thanks everyone

CASS Cafe Metal Video Showcase (Part 4)

It's time for our final CASS Cafe Video Showcase, and though it's probably a month later than it should have been, we're ending with a slightly smaller post than the other three, but there's some pretty cool and talented performances here to end with in our look back at videos from Central Algoma Secondary School's student concert series! For reference, click here, here, and here for the first three installments in this short series. To close, we have three more CASS Cafe videos from recent years to share, so check these out if you wanna!

Going in chronological order, we'll start with this May 2008 performance by 5 then-CASS students as they covered Children of Bodom's "Bed of Razors"! Filmed by Durera guitarist A.J. Biron and uploaded to his YouTube channel shortly afterwards, this unnamed band consists of guitarists Alex Pierce & Andy Turbin, bassist Tom Leindecker, drummer Mike Christie (a regular in a few of the other CASS Cafe videos we've shared) and keyboardist Benn Garside (now known as Late & Loud's bassist.) I'm not familiar with most of these musicians, but they handle this song well for the most part! Filmed on the CASS Cafe stage during practice for the full performance, they know this song pretty well, and Alex's guitar work especially is really good, but vocals would have helped, and the camera angles are weird and jumpy, with members often cut off or shot from behind (or in Benn's case, not even really seen on camera.) I'm glad A.J. posted this video though, as these five musicians sound good together, and it'd be cool to hear more from the majority of these guys musically! Check out their cover of "Bed of Razors" below!



Also new from A.J.'s YouTube channel is this video from December 2009 of four future members of local metal quartet Crimson Crusade at a CASS Cafe set! Featuring most of their current lineup (with ex-guitarist Brent Beaulieu in Brock Pinder's place), it's of their cover of Judas Priest's "Living After Midnight" (which has survived into recent Crimson Crusade setlists), and it's a hit and miss performance from what I can see. My main gripe is Devon Lucier's vocals, which sound forced and not well suited to this song, but I hope things have adjusted to flow better with this song since. Other than that, the cover is pretty well played, if a bit reserved, but check out this proto-version of Crimson Crusade covering Judas Priest in 2009 below!


Finally, we'll close this series where we started, with local death metal quintet For All That Is Lost's CASS Cafe set circa April 2010! We already featured a 1:54 clip from this performance via Chrissy Paetzold's YouTube channel, but another filmer was present at this show, and they filmed their entire two song set that day, including the first song that I still can't place a name for, followed by an early version of their original song "Viscosity of Blood"! The video quality is higher than on the other video, and this early F.A.T.I.L. incarnation (including original guitarists Allen Piche & Graeme Caughill) sound good and promising, but unfortunately, this video is only on the band's MySpace page. Solid stuff though, so check the above links for more, watch this video below, and stay tuned for more F.A.T.I.L. videos from their MySpace page next week!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Banned) & This Weekend's Local Hard Rock Concert Previews!!

It's time to preview this weekend's metal & hard rock concerts in the Sault Ste. Marie area! There's actually no metal concerts going on in Sault Ontario this weekend, but this weekend is very festival heavy, with no less than four music-featured festivals in the region over the next few days (Hempfest, Cornfest, Buskerfest, and one we're addressing below), so that extra competition could explain the minimal Sault Ontario hard rock concerts this weekend. That said, Sault Michigan has some big shows, one of which is new, so let's start with that LOCAL CONCERT ALERT and the same band's other gig this weekend (and check out our Defunct Local Band Profile on Losing Ground in the post below this one!)

Kinross hard rock quartet Banned have a busy weekend over the next two days, as while they're returning to The Sugar Island Music Festival TONIGHT, they're also returning to The Runway Bar in Hessel TOMORROW NIGHT, and that show is newly announced! I apologize for the short notice on the new Hessel concert, I only heard about it a couple of days ago on their Facebook page, and it was too close to the weekend to redundantly plug twice. This marks the first time since our coverage expansion that we're covering a concert in Hessel, which is 53 minutes south of Sault Michigan and a half hour northeast of St. Ignace, and while it's not a common concert location (especially as their Kewadin Casino doesn't book a lot of bands), Banned has made The Runway Bar at 3026 St. Ignace Road a frequent venue in their recent Eastern U.P. road trips, so keep it in mind for their future concert stops! Note however that aside from Banned, I don't know if any other local hard rock bands play there much. There should be no cover charge, a 21+ age limit, and a 10:00 PM-ish start time for Banned's Hessel show tomorrow night. For more information, check the above links! Sounds like a fun time if you're up for the drive to Hessel, but Banned will be rocking the area before that, namely TONIGHT in the concert below!

Yes, Banned will return to The Sugar Island Music Festival in Sugar Island TONIGHT for their second appearance at the annual music/family festival there! About 40 minutes east of Sault Michigan, this popular outdoor festival has less heavier bands than in previous years (we had 3 in 2010 and 2 last year), but Banned will give a welcome shot of heavy originals & covers to this year's festivities, so keep their appearance in mind! With their set on Saturday in Hessel, Banned are only playing TONIGHT at the Sugar Island Festival at 8:00 PM, which is a 2 hour promotion from last year, and they'll be opening for 3-ZIP at 10:00 PM and The Foster's Sportsmen's Club Band at 9:00 PM, with Missy & Chelsea, Hillsdale indie band AllArms, and solo performer Frank Kieronski opening from 7:00-5:30 PM respectively. Note that most of these other bands skew in the acoustic/folk/country direction from what I know, but most of the performers this year don't have online pages as it is. For what it's worth, only Banned and Frank Kieronski aren't playing tomorrow or on Sunday, so for the rest of the familiar lineups this weekend, click here. Also, for all of the details on the family and non-musical activities, click here, as this is definitely open for all ages to have fun and enjoy the area music!

Like last year, admission will be $6 for a one day pass and $10 for the full weekend (there's no 2 day deal), but children under 10 can get in free. You can buy admission buttons on site, at Grooves Music in Sault Michigan, or at Ed's Bayview Store, The Hilltop Bar & Grill, or the Westshore Convenience Store in Sugar Island. Camping & other activities have their own costs, so click here for all admission details! This year's installment of the Sugar Island Music Festival sounds like it'll be fun and full of great family entertainment, and hopefully Banned rock Sugar Island (and The Runway Bar) well this weekend! For a preview of their hard hitting covers & originals this weekend, here's Banned covering AC/DC'S "TNT" at last year's Sugar Island Festival!



Also this weekend in already announced concerts is the return of Marquette hard rock quartet Nudge to Sault Michigan, as they will rock The Satisfied Frog once again TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! Though they didn't come back to the Soo last month, their brand of hard rock and metal covers continue to draw some solid local attention, and as frontman Danzo McCracken's solo shows there on Wednesday and yesterday indicated, their talent won't come amiss this weekend! Also, these will be the first Nudge concerts in Sault Michigan with new drummer Scott Kusmirek, who replaced Jed Thibeault in the band last month, making him their fourth drummer in the past 8 months. Their drummer situation has been extremely unstable this year, but hopefully Scott can last for the long run, and I've heard good things about him! Nudge's shows this weekend will take place at 10:00 PM tonight & tomorrow night, you must be 21 to attend, and there's no announced cover charge. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Nudge's new lineup are primed for a great weekend of music at The Frog over the next two days, so don't miss the action tonight or tomorrow, and for a preview, here's Nudge covering Alice In Chains' "Check My Brain" in a newly found video from a Skanee concert last year!



Finally for the weekend concert lineup, here's a rarity, a Powerslug concert weekend with advance announcements! Lately, the internet page-less Sault Michigan hard rock trio have tended to only plug their recent concert weekends online a couple of days (or less) before they took place, but this time around, they're hitting The Northern Pines Lounge at the Kewadin Casino in St. Ignace for two shows TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT, both of which have been advertised for a few months in advance on Kewadin Casino's entertainment page, so we have had plenty of notice! As such, these are the first concerts we've ever formally previewed in St. Ignace following our coverage expansion, and The Northern Pines Lounge has proven to be a favourite stop in the Eastern U.P. for many area bands (Powerslug included), so if you're up for the 54 minute drive south of the Soo, definitely head down there this weekend! Powerslug are talented and entertaining, if lacking in the posted media department, and you know Chris, Bob, and Chris will have some great covers in store for their fans in St. Ignace all weekend long! Admission should be free, you must be 21 to attend, and a 10:00 PM start time is likely for tonight & tomorrow night's shows. For more details, check the above links!

Powerslug should deliver some great hard rock this weekend in St. Ignace, so don't miss them if you can help it, and for a preview, here's a rare video of Powerslug in Ludington earlier this summer that you can watch at this location! That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and stuff hopefully this weekend! Thanks everyone!