Garden of Bedlam

Rock 101 DJ Scott Cook was on hand to introduce us to our first band, the winners of December's Kiss Battle of the Bands, Garden of Bedlam! The house wasn't packed yet, but this was still easily the biggest crowd they'd ever played to, and they were awesome, as usual! Garden of Bedlam busted out five songs on their forthcoming new album, those being "Against The Grain", "Three Days", "New Rain", "Everything Will Die", and "Around The Bend", and they all sounded awesome! It was kinda surreal to see a local band on a stage this big, now they must know how Clownsack felt opening for Kiss in Sault Michigan in 2007! Buzz was hitting a few rough patches vocally, but nothing major, he was singing like his life depended on it! I did find that parts of a couple songs seemed slowed down compared to earlier live performances, but no worries! Josh Belleau was great on guitar as usual, his solos were awesome, Derek Turner really was like Animal from The Muppet Show on drums, and Evan Belleau kept the lines going nicely with his bass work! Hopefully this is the start of even greater things to come for Garden of Bedlam, who thankfully got a warm reception from their hometown fans! I thought they were awesome myself, I can't wait for more!

So after the concert, I headed down to The Rockstar Bar for the afterparty, and here's what you should know! It was a packed house, full of Garden of Bedlam fans, Kiss fans, general bar goers, friends of the band, and so forth, with metal blasting throughout the night! A cardboard cutout of Kiss, a microphone, a table, and chairs were set up on the stage, so I knew something special was likely to happen beyond just drinking and conversing. That started when band t-shirts, photos, autograph markers, and copies of last year's debut EP were laid out, and were sold at the afterparty! I owned all that was sold, but many didn't, so merchandise sold briskly! Eventually, the band took to the stage as Buzz got on the mic and thanked everyone in attendance for their support, talked about the experience of meeting Kiss and playing at the show, and then introduced us to a special surprise: The band brought an unmastered copy of songs from their upcoming full length debut album! Let me just say this about the songs that we heard: You won't get a bad review from me when the CD comes out! I'll leave it at that. Fun way to cap off the night, and I can't wait to see Garden of Bedlam live again! - Sault Metal Scene

From rock to pop to country to folk to metal, Second Stage featured a little bit of something to please any taste.

The metal part of the festival was thanks to the talents of our own Garden of Bedlam who closed the festival with one massive bang.

The band's ever-observant and appreciative front man Erik Boissineau (AKA Buzz) continuously thanked the audience for its support, especially some that one would be surprised to see attend a metal show.

"I'd like to thank the older audience members out there for sticking around," he said. "I thought for sure we'd see you guys walking away after we started."

Garden of Bedlam are currently working with Miguel Gauthier at Stereo Soul Studios on a full-length album due for release later this year.

The boys will also open for KISS at the Essar Centre on Tuesday, August 10. - Sootoday.com

Hey guys, it's time for my 11th monthly SMS CD review, and as promised, it's time to take a second, more in-depth look at Garden of Bedlam's debut self titled E.P.! Released in April 2009, it was recorded and mixed at Stereo Soul Studios with producer Miguel Gauthier, and later mastered at Toronto's Silverbirch Studios by Andy Krehm! Currently, the album is available to purchase at The Rad Zone, CD Plus, and Forsaken Tattoo Studio, and though I highly recommend you buy the EP and support the band, the four songs on it are all streamable at Garden of Bedlam's official website and at their MySpace page if you want to check them out there! Also, the album has previously been available at their live shows, though I can't say for certain if it still will be when they return to the stage. The E.P. features the band's original and current lineup, including Erik "Buzz" Boissineau on vocals, Josh Belleau on guitar, his cousin Evan Belleau on bass, and Derek Turner on drums! - Sault Metal Scene

So, it finally happened.

KISS, the self-proclaimed hottest band in the world, played Sault Ste. Marie's humble Essar Centre last night to a fanatical sold-out crowd.

Setting up chairs on the arena floor was a complete and utter waste of time as the entire audience was on its feet even before the band hit the stage.

Yes, 4,700 Sault metal fans were delirious with glee as Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer fulfilled their promise to give our little town a show it would never forget.

Done and done.

However, there were four dudes in attendance last evening who truly had the experience of a lifetime, likely making every other local KISS fan turn green with envy.

The Sault's own Garden of Bedlam scored the opening spot for this KISS concert during a battle of the bands presented by Rock 101 last December.

The boys' excitement was obvious as they punched out half an hour of original material that will be featured on the band's upcoming full-length release.

Bass player Evan Belleau told SooToday.com: "This was awesome. It's the best thing to ever happen to me aside from the birth of my son and getting married to my wife."

Evan's bass tech, Len Ward, told us that talking with Paul Stanley backstage was a childhood dream come true.

Bedlam's guitar player, Josh Belleau, was simply rendered speechless.

Now, we could ramble on and on about the show and how it had everything one would expect from KISS, including fake blood, explosions-a-plenty, various stage antics and one gigantic tongue, but we know you only came here for two things - the setlist and the photos.

- Sootoday.com