Tuesday, July 22, 2014

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Emergency), The Danger Cats On Shaw TV, And More!!

Keeping the news coming so we can beat the next rainfall, we have an intriguing LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next month for those of you who missed The Second Stage, and some new videos featuring some known female hard rock talent in Sault Ontario, so here's what you need to know, and check out this month's YouTube Channel Profile in the post below this one!

At least three acts that fit the SMS' coverage range will be taking part in LopLops Lounge's new concert festival The Emergency, which will be taking place on Saturday, August 9th both in LopLops and outdoors on Queen Street East! Possibly a successor or replacement for the Rotaryfest Second Stage (which LopLops had co-organized before it's 2014 hiatus), this all ages downtown festival will see bands playing all day at three outdoor locations, along with a stage set up inside LopLops itself. This adds up to four stages in  all, named respectively "The Emergency Stage", "Acute", "Shock", and "Pulse", so click each name for each respective Facebook event page! As it currently stands, the fourth Pulse stage has no announced performers, and the first Emergency stage (which features local bands like Kalle Mattson and out of town headliners like The Treasures) has nothing visibly heavy, but how about the other stages?

On the second "Acute" stage, fans will be able to see Role Models frontman/Inner City Surfers alum Brad "Example" Lacell in a likely acoustic punk solo set, which should be entertaining among the early stages of The Emergency! This stage is solely comprised of solo artists, with Lorrie Bolduc & Mark Kulmala headlining at 2:00 & 1:00 PM respectively, while Greg MacLachlan will open at 11:00 AM. As for the third "Shock" stage, it's essentially a reprise of Lopstock from earlier this month, with alternative hard rockers The Pixo Control and post-punk rockers Gnaeus returning for sets at 2:00 & 12:00 PM respectively, and both should be riding high off of their recent successes! That stage will be headlined by acoustic trio K.I.C.K. at 3:00 PM, with newer band Mashagama returning in the 1:00 PM slot, and remember, this is the only Emergency stage advertised to take place indoors. Along with the musical entertainment, promoters are advertising farmer's markets, artisans, and patios to take in as well for the event, with the Emergency expected to wrap up at 10:00 PM after The Treasures' first stage set.

For more details, visit the above links! The Emergency sounds ambitious on the surface, but with LopLops past relationship with the Second Stage, I'm not worried about how this is ran. Fans of the Second Stage (whether it comes back next year or not) will be right at home with The Emergency, which retains a very similar band lineup with a focus on indie & roots rock, plus select out of town bands, and it's nice to see some of the younger Ears & Eyes-affiliated bands get a showcase too! I'm curious to see how the Pulse stage fills out, and especially, to see if this is a success, so stay tuned for updates as they roll in!

We'll close today with new videos, including a long teased feature on Shaw TV Sault Ste. Marie featuring local all-female hard rock quartet The Danger Cats! If you're not a Shaw customer and can't turn your dials to channel 10 for the rolling hourly airing of the piece, then never fear, as the girls posted the video onto their YouTube channel last night, so what should you know? Hosted by veteran local bassist Nathan Bouliane with camera work by Free Beer's Christian Lemay, I believe this is part of the new Boardwalk Sessions series that Nathan's been working on with Shaw TV. The interview features an interview with the band (minus drummer Calico Katie), while bassist Jamie Jaguar doesn't feature in the outdoor performance clips, which are of two acoustic guitar original songs, parts of which are shot in black & white. Oddly, Nathan doesn't feature on camera interviewing the girls, with questions shown in Clerks-esque title cards, but what's in the interview?

The video features Kate Kougar, Paula Panther, and Jamie talking about how they met, the inspiration for the band's name, why Kate wanted to form an all-girl band, their musical backgrounds, their view on the local scene, their upcoming plans for 2014, and where you can find them online. In terms of new items, the band did reveal that they want to have proper songwriting sessions this year towards a CD, which would be cool to see happen! Solid interview, though the girls did seem a bit shy on camera, but Danger Cats fans will definitely enjoy it! Check out the full video below (or hourly this week on channel 10), and stay tuned for more videos from them soon!



Finally, here's two new solo performance video from Shadowthrone guitarist and solo metal singer Sabrina Strange (a.k.a. Isla Encanto), as uploaded to her YouTube channel on Sunday! Both are solo vocal & keyboard covers of Nirvana's "Heart Shaped Box", with the shorter first take viewable here, and a longer version embedded below. These are just practice renditions and not intended to be refined final copies, but she does take this grunge classic and make it darker and more symphonic, and it's interesting to hear! For reference, some fans may have heard that Shadowthrone will be playing (I think) their first live concert in Garden River next month as part of an AlgomA-hosted event named Das Bunkerfest, alongside Pillory's first set since the winter, and numerous other bands, but that's an invite-only house party, hence why we haven't plugged it on here as a public show. If you've received an invite, keep it in mind, and give Sabrina's newest videos a look above & below!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews soon, along with Rotaryfest videos and more updates! Thanks everyone!

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