Wednesday, April 11, 2012

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Caveman Morrison), Lion Ride's Newest Song, And Much More!!

Yes, we have more David Gold tribute concert fallout to get to (including new videos and updates from both the Toronto event last Thursday and the local concert on Saturday), but I wanted to squeeze in some more assorted news and notes from the last while tonight so it didn't get pushed back further. The new bands post from this morning (check it out below this post) also didn't help for these stories, but we've got a lot of notable stories tonight, including LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, a new page from a formerly local band, a defunct quintet's newest song, early updates on a local concert festival, and lots of assorted news and notes, so here's what you need to know!

Three weeks after their current lineup debuted at The Nicolet Tavern, popular local metal trio Caveman Morrison will return to the Albert Street venue next weekend for two more concerts! These come one week after their next shows this weekend at The Roosevelt Hotel, and it's good to see Tym and company staying busy! Note that the Friday show next weekend conflicts with drummer Johnny Belanger's scheduled appearance at the Sault Humane Society Battle of the Bands with The Bear Hunters, though I assume he could play at both if The Bear Hunters' set was early enough that day. If I hear any updates or changes to the status of either band or Johnny's involvement next Friday, I'll let you guys know! Admission should be free for both of Caveman Morrison's shows on April 20th & 21st, you must be 19 to attend, and they both have likely 10:00 PM start times. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! It's good to see Caveman Morrison bringing their hard rock and metal covers to some more gigs this spring, and hopefully this trend keeps up! Stay tuned for more updates!

Next up, here's a newly posted Lion Ride song! No, they haven't reunited following their February breakup, but on Monday, a studio version of their Pointer Sisters cover "I'm So Excited" was posted onto their reactivated YouTube channel! It's cool to see a new video posted there after almost three years, but it's even cooler to hear a new song from the prominent local metal quintet, even if posthumous! A frequent addition in their later concert setlists, I assume this is the fourth song that they recorded at BWC Studios in Toronto in 2010 towards their unfinished second CD (joining "Stick It In", "Snail Trail", and the yet-to-be-released "Bang Bang, Bye Bye"), though this could be a bonus cover for all we know. It's good to hear this in full studio quality, and it sounds nice and energetic like I expected, though hopefully the remaining material from their 2010 sessions are posted online soon as well! Check out Lion Ride's cover of "I'm So Excited" below, and I never noticed that Jessie Spano was a Lion Ride fan before! Maybe I should watch more Saved By The Bell.



Thirdly, a formerly local metal band has finally launched a Facebook page, that being Sue Inside! The band best known for their duo appearances at local battles of the bands in 2008 & 2009 have mostly kept their online presences to just CBC Radio 3 & YouTube since relocating to Southern Ontario, but it's good to see them launch what I assume will be an outlet for more frequent band news! Now credited as also being from London (drummer Jeff Vogel's current home), their new Facebook page mentions that their music is "for the mind", and that they're working on music to start gigging, something they've done rarely at best since moving from the Soo. Lots of photos of both their current & older lineups (including bassist Adam Veen) are posted there, along with links to their new SoundCloud page, featuring two new original recordings! Both aren't brand new, but they include their acoustic instrumental "Hermit" and their groove metal track "Caligula", both of which are good for their respective genres! "Hermit" is closer to their most recent work from frontman Shane Fraser's YouTube channel, but "Caligula" has a solid catchy metal sound that I'd love to hear more of, and their current incarnation sounds good here! Solid work, so check out the latest from Sue Inside at the above links, and I'll have more as it comes in!

Also in the news, are you guys curious about helping out or participating in this year's LemmaFest? After the successful debut for the Michael Lemma memorial concert festival last summer, a second installment is scheduled for June 23rd outside of Dondee Lanes, and updates are coming in via their official Facebook page. That said, a meeting will be held TOMORROW NIGHT at the Dondee at around 8:00 PM, and Gary Hatch from Grooves Music will be on hand to answer questions relating to the bands and what will be provided. Organizers are hoping that band members interested in participating will come to voice their opinions and ask questions, so if you wanna be a part, I'd say come to the Dondee tomorrow night at 8:00 PM! As for the lineup as it currently stands, only two bands have been 100% confirmed, those being Brimley metal quartet Half A Man and local cover rock band Chump Change, both of which feature alumni from last year's LemmaFest (Infathom's Dillion Semasky and Bucksaw's Jason VanLuven.) As well, former local musician David Waite (From The Ashes of Angels) has voiced interest in coming home to play at LemmaFest this year with his Colorado acoustic project Jibber N' The Beanie, but they have not been confirmed by organizers yet.

Hopefully LemmaFest gets another solid lineup of Michigan talent this year, so that this year's event can be bigger & better like they're striving for! As a point of reference, last year's LemmaFest featured 10 bands, and they included heavier acts like the aforementioned Infathom, the since-disbanded Swayze Train & Great Bodily Harm, and the still-active Powerslug & Scofflaw. Will we see some of the above performers back this year? Time will tell, but as more LemmaFest updates roll in, I'll absolutely have them here!

And finally for today, here's some assorted stories from the last little while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by band name:
  • Former Banned bassist Alex Schrovenwever rejoined his former band on guest guitar & vocals at their most recent "job" on March 17th at The Bird in Sault Michigan, as cited from their Facebook page. As far as I can tell, this was a one-off appearance for this concert, but at least it seems to indicate that Alex's departure from Banned last fall was amicable. Stay tuned for more Banned updates as they come in!
  • Kincheloe metal band Chained Memories have announced the addition of Mikaela White as their new bassist, replacing Sean Roush, who has since replaced drummer Mike Rynberg as their primary singer. The news was confirmed last week on their Facebook page. I'm not familiar with Mikaela musically, but hopefully she'll add to the all of the talented female musicians in the Sault Michigan area!
  • I've edited our YMCA Battle of the Bands profile to note some more things about 4th place finishers Operation: Killdozer, notably that their guitarist was Winkstinger's Jesse Cook, and that half of their lineup moved on to Winkstinger the following year. I also added a link to a video of Operation: Killdozer playing their original "Pieces of You" at that March 2009 battle. It's not new, but I only recently found the link again. The quality isn't great, but note that the song sounds very similar to Winkstinger's original "Where'd We Go Wrong", which doesn't seem to be a coincidence!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more David Gold memorial concert fallout and weekend concert previews shortly! Thanks everyone!

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