LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Tarnished), The Unfortunate Sun Concert Preview, And More Recent Updates!!

Here's a new news post to check out on this wet Tuesday night, which is half devoted to Sault Ontario and half to Sault Michigan. We'll start south of the border as our Yooper readers gear up for Thanksgiving, so here's a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT and a related mid-week preview, before we finish things up north!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Tarnished will rock The Merchants Bar TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the band only announced this gig on their Facebook page earlier today, and as usual, The Merch don't advertise bands playing there on their own Facebook page. For Canadian reference, the Wednesday night booking is because Thursday is the American Thanksgiving, so most people will have the day off, and thusly can stay out late and go to the bar without impairing work or school (hence why some call tomorrow "Drinksgiving"). Tarnished have taken most of the past month off, so if you've missed Alex, Josh, Chris, and Ron's brand of hard rocking covers on a local stage, consider a mid-week jaunt to The Merch for their Thanksgiving pregame action TOMORROW! This is a 21+ event at 9:00 PM with no cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Tarnished live last year!

Next up, hard rock fans in the E.U.P. have one more opportunity to partake in a "Drinksgiving" concert TOMORROW NIGHT, but in this case, it had advance notice, as local hard rock quartet Unfortunate Sun will set up shop tomorrow at The Islander Bar in Hessel! This is a reprise of their Thanksgiving Eve concert last year (also the last time that the Fake Chow successors played at The Islander Bar), with the venue calling it a Drinksgiving Party again, but the band are calling this year's event a "pre-stuffed party". Of course, you can get stuffed early if you want, but we know how Thanksgiving tends to go! Unfortunate Sun's lively and fan-friendly mix of hard rocking covers should draw another solid audience, so come rock out before you settle in for the parade, the Lions game, turkey, and more on Thursday! All of the action begins at 8:00 PM with a 21+ age limit and no cover. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Unfortunate Sun live! 

Also, I have sadly moved Sault Ontario/Toronto punk supergroup project Mikey & His Uke to our inactive band links. Guitarist/ukelelist Mikey Hawdon hasn't posted any updates relating to him and his uke since posting the finale of his 30th anniversary series of covers of Green Day's "Dookie" (the album's closing songs "F.O.D." & "All By Myself") one year ago today, though commitments to his family and local bands BookcluB & Dos Amigos shouldn't be overlooked. Originally launched during the spring 2020 pandemic lockdown as a series of loose solo ukelele "quarantunes" for social media, Mikey's covers quickly caught steam and eventually attracted guest musicians of an increasing scale, and these soon took on their final form as remotely filmed full band covers, with Mikey starting each on ukelele before dropping the pretense and rocking out on guitar. Mikey moved back to Sault Ste. Marie in June 2022, and based the project locally from that point.

There were no inklings last fall that the "Dookie" series was Mikey & His Uke's grand farewell, but if it was, he sure went out with a bang! Truly transcending his home base, the YouTube channel has over 42,000 subscribers, with 10 songs getting 200,000+ views, including the cover of The Ramones' "Bonzo Goes To Bitburg" exceeding 930,000. These were always fun covers with cool names to recognize and discover from afar, so definitely check out Mikey & His Uke's litany of all-star covers above, and hopefully he picks up his uke again in the future!

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

 

• In a programming note for 104.3 The Fox, 2:00-6:00 PM weekday & 12-6:00 PM Saturday DJ Dan Koo has not been on air since (at the earliest) August 15th, with Rogers Radio regional content director and 101.9 The Fox (North Bay) DJ Mitch Belanger replacing him ever since. Assuming that Dan has left The Fox/Rogers, a reason for his departure was not announced (unless it was only on air), but hopefully this isn't a sign of consolidating operations from afar, as Dan was the only fully local on-air personality dating back to final years of Country 104.3. Note that Dan is still credited in his timeslot in the schedule on The Fox's website, albeit without a picture.
• If you follow the Up & Down Lounge on Facebook, you may have seen this vertical video from the 24 Second Line West bar & golf simulator lounge on Sunday, which features a very brief clip of classic/hard rock cover quartet Silent 9 playing there. We didn't miss a concert of theirs (the Up & Down Lounge rarely hosts public concerts), as this was definitely a private holiday party, and the video seems mostly intended to promote that you can book private events there. Silent 9's clip is muted out in favour of a seasonal Drake/Wham mashup anyway. It looks like a lot of fun was had!
• Convergence frontman Stephen Gagnon-Ruscio finished in second place in last month's sixth annual The Soo's Got Talent! We didn't cover this year's due to it being all-karaoke (let alone that there was no house band for the finalists like the last few years), but congratulations to Stephen, who has a really strong voice that goes beyond his recent metal work! This year's winner was David Ikechukwu (a.k.a. Bobbie Lex), making him just the second male champion of T.S.G.T., while perennial finalist Demoy MacSamuels finished in third place, and Shae Levi (the only female finalist this year) finished in fourth. Congratulations to all six finalists!

 

That's all for now, but stay tuned for this month's YouTube Channel Profile next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Bone Yard 225), Related News, And Toystock Lineup Updates!!

Before we get into this post, I wanted to profusely apologize for forgetting to preview Hornepayne classic/hard rock quartet Damage Case's concert at Soo Blaster on Saturday night in this weekend's concert previews. How that slipped me by, especially given the homecoming of bassist Will Tholberg, I'll never know, but note that 705Live Sound Co.'s Facebook post about the show from yesterday morning erroneously implies that the show was last night (it was 100% one night only on Saturday). Hopefully Will and crew had a great show, and that they come back our way in the near future! 

Local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 will end 2025 by headlining the New Year's Eve party on Wednesday, December 31st at The Moose Lodge at 543 Trunk Road! Definitely an unexpected locale for "the dirty three", but The Moose Lodge has sporadically come up as a concert host for SMS purposes, most recently when Soundcheck played for Terry Eaton's Great Northern Opry induction in June 2023, and prior to that, in 2015. Curiously, Bone Yard have yet to publicize their involvement in this event on their own social media, but this is Toystock week, so they are definitely pre-occupied getting that rolling (more on that in a bit). This is a proper ticketed 19+ New Year's bash, complete with a cash bar, dinner, and more seasonal frivolities, so definitely keep tabs with the lodge for full details on how to ring in 2026 in style! As such, tickets run for $50 and you can buy them at the lodge or by contacting lodge535@shaw.ca.

Bone Yard proper take the stage at 9:00 PM, but doors open at 6:00 PM with dinner at 7:00 PM. This should be a fun event with all of the year-end frills you'd hope for (especially at that cost), so visit the above links for more on Bone Yard 225's last concert of the year! While we're on the subject, let's touch on some other recent Bone Yard updates while they've been taking a pre-Toystock break from the stage! As you may recall, a flash mob of over a dozen women dressed like Helen Roper from Three's Company showed up when the guys headlined at Reggie's Place last November, and the gang of Mrs. Ropers made their way to their Esquire Club show on November 8th! Your photo proof is on the left, courtesy of their Facebook page. What the end game of the Mrs. Ropers is, who's to say, but it's fun for classic sitcom fans! Two days later, they announced that their single "Fuck!" has been re-released on major streaming services with a new name.

Whether it will retain this name on their forthcoming CD, I don't know, but on Spotify and such, it's now called "The F Word", possibly in response to the title getting flagged for its blatant expletive. Nothing else has changed, but keep the new name in mind! A Facebook video that same day shows Greg Simpson playing a.... unique pair of drums, while this vertical video from five days later teases that they were "back at it", and based on the B.T.O. song as backing music, "takin' care of business". implying that they were recording in studio again. Later that day, guitarist Alex D'Ettore and bassist Warren Reville starred in this video where they teased that they "re-did something" while Greg was hunting, but they didn't want to send it yet because Greg was asleep at the time. I assume this relates to their album, but I'm sure we will see what they meant in due course!

Most other updates weren't directly related to new band activity, though embedded below is a video shot the night that the Mrs. Ropers brigade crashed their Reggie's show last year, and it features Greg and Alex trying out hula hoops at 2:00 AM after the show ended. Fun palate cleanser for sure, so give it a watch below, and stay tuned for more from your local 225!

We'll close today's post with clarifications (if not 100% ones) on the two mystery bands playing at the twelfth annual Christmas Cheer benefit concert Toystock at The Grand Gardens North on Sunday! On Thursday, organizers began sharing info on their Facebook page on "the 10 bands of Toystock" in scheduled performance order, which meant that Saturday's post was about the debuting Sunday & The Broken Hearts (the late replacements for Redundant). Toystock proper haven't said anything about band lineups yet, but the band is reportedly an "old-school rock & blues outfit" that plays "smoke-drenched blues, soul-soaked 70's R&B, and rock & roll" with "the spirit of the vinyl era". Shares of the post imply that Eight Seventies/Dark Eyed Junko singer/guitarist Jason Gasparetto will be leading this group, but we await fuller details. Likely not hard rock-leaning, but there should be lots of talent here! Now, how about The Reeves?

They won't get their "10 bands of Toystock" write-up until Friday, but personal Facebook postings suggest that The Reeves are successors to 2023-2024 Toystock performers The Haze (f.k.a. Skinbox), with singer/guitarists Steve Edwards (ex-Pixo Control) & Brad Irwin (ex-Gnaeus) now joined by bassist Adam Dawe and drummer Jeremy Ganuelas, who were the rhythm section of mid-2010s hard rock quartet Long Shot. The Haze were an indie/alternative rock band, so will The Reeves lean to that, or members' heavier past band work? We'll know more soon! Stay tuned for more on Toystock in our preview this weekend, and for more news and notes on the site this week! Thanks everyone!

Spades GT Updates & Concert Recap Videos From Last Month!!

Let's tackle some more fall happenings from local/Barrie crossover thrash quintet Spades GT on the site today, so what's new to report since we last left off with their timeline in early October? Their next concert took place on Sunday, October 19th when they opened for British hardcore punk legends The Exploited, as they did previously in September 2024, though this time, they invaded The Rockpile rather than Lee's Palace. Very cool to see them tabbed to open for The Exploited once again, and J.D. & Dan's old local bandmate Blair Burch (Broken, Project 421, et al.) was in attendance for this concert, snapping some great quality photos that you can check out at this link! Attendee Miles George got a pile of quality photos himself that you can check out here, but his are all in black & white. Note that The Fast Life's Andrew Moorehouse is seen in some photos here, implying that he guested on "XS" and/or "Wrecked". The band's requisite vertical recap video went live on their Facebook page three days later, so what can you see in this one?

Primarily filmed by guitarist Daniel Horton once again, this features the band leaving for and arriving at the concert, the rainy tailgate party, the guys giving a fan autographs on a unique body part, bassist Sean MacNab's late arrival after an appointment, cameos by Blair and his son Cory, as well as former Spades guitarist Jay Sarrazin, and soundcheck and setup for their set. We do see the guys playing the start of "Red" at the 3:45 mark, but alas, only for about 30 seconds. Things end with post-set mingling outside and at their merch table, with some very brief footage of The Exploited's set. Dan said that they "crushed it", and from what little we see, I can't argue, so give this entertaining recap video a watch below!

A busy weekend for the former Jack Spades lie ahead, starting on Saturday, October 25th, when they were slated to play a rare matinee set at Headbang For Paws, a benefit concert for the Comfie Cat Shelter in Orillia, but the shelter revealed on their Facebook page on the 15th that it was cancelled "due to circumstances beyond our control". Very disappointing, especially given the cause behind it, but hopefully we see Spades in Orillia in due course! The band never confirmed the cancellation on Facebook themselves, but they did have a busy month, and now they didn't have to cram two shows into one day. The guys still rocked out that night, as they and their friends in G.F.U. joined Daniel's other band (Barrie punk quartet The Fast Life) at C.W. Coop's in their current homebase, which also served as a belated birthday bash for drummer Tyler Reiner. The recap video was uploaded 10 days later, so what's on offer here?

It features the continuation of G.F.U.'s singer's mayoral campaign, Sean's comically short leash in terms of his standing with the band (good thing he made it for this show!), previews of their new t-shirts and toques on sale, and Daniel setting up for his set with The Fast Life (it seems like Tyler filled in with them here) and later changing a broken guitar string. Two very brief clips of Spades' set can be seen at 3:21 (one shot from outside the venue behind a window, even), but quality and vertical framing aside, these only run for about 12 seconds. Dan called this "a good warm-up gig" for what was to come the next day, and you can see for yourselves at this link! Unfortunately, Facebook content matched the backing music added in post-production here ("Filthy Lie" from the new album "United"), so unlike the Rockpile recap video, I can't embed this one on the SMS. After rocking Barrie, the guys packed their gear for the 6 hour drive to Montreal!

Specifically, the guys rocked The Piranha Bar on Sunday the 26th, where they opened for The Exploited once again in their Quebec debut. Possibly because it was a bigger/more unique concert, the recap video for this one went up a day earlier than the Barrie one, though regardless, this too was hit with a Facebook content match (this time for using "Cenobites" from 2023's "Sewer City Radio" as backing music), so it is also unembeddable on external sites like this. The first 1:45 of the video focuses on the trip to the venue, including a stop at a Long & McQuade for strings. When the guys arrived in Montreal, we get some footage of the buildings near the venue, Tyler giving thanks and hype for the opportunity, and some setup clips inside The Piranha Bar, with another all-too-brief raw clip of Spades GT playing across multiple cameras at 2:45, running for just 20 seconds. Afterwards, we see the guys packing up for the drive back to Ontario.

Tyler thanked everyone again and promises to return to Montreal in 2026, and Daniel said that they "kicked ass". I can't disagree from what little we got of their set, but it looks like a great experience, so check everything out at this link or above! We are now caught up on Spades GT's October concerts and official content from last month, and when we next cover them, it'll start with their Toronto gig on November 7th. Stay tuned for that and more on the site soon! Thanks everyone, raise 'em up, and cause a scene!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Cory Murchison), The Tym Morrison Concert Preview, And Mike Haggith Updates!!

As promised, this latest SMS post features our preview of one more hard rock concert this weekend, but filling things out, we have a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for the end of the year and a big new live album release coming out later this month, so here's what you should know!

Bullet Train/ex-Skeyes of Seven frontman Cory Murchison will return to the concert stage with an acoustic hard rock set on Saturday, December 27th when he opens for the reunited Odd Man Out at The Water Tower Pub! Cory has sporadically played unplugged gigs over the years when not working on his full bands (no word on when Bullet Train will resurface), and this will be a reprise of when he opened for Odd Man Out at the same venue back in July 2018. Good to see Cory back out there, and his solo sets definitely lean to what he plays in his bands (just acoustic), so keep his set in mind! Of course, Odd Man Out (featuring Cory's old Sense of Truth bandmate Steve Myers) are a very popular but increasingly scarcely seen jam rock band whose reunion next month was presumably aided by it being the holiday season. Not a hard rock act, but their live show speaks for itself, and they have loads of talent!

Note as well that this will be Odd Man Out's first public concert since releasing their new album "Quadranium" last summer, so could you call this the de facto release party?  While a bigger deal than your usual Water Tower Pub concert, this one seems to be standard fare for the venue in terms of attendance, including no cover, a 19+ age limit, and an 8:00 PM start time. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details!

Next up, let's wrap up this weekend's hard rock concert previews, as prolific local classic/hard rock musician Tym Morrison will return to Beck's Bar as their matinee performer on SUNDAY! This show comes eight days after he was replaced by Silver Strings as the Saturday matinee act there last week (despite Tym never confirming that he wasn't playing on the Beck's shows' Facebook event page), but it's good to see that things are A-OK between Tym and Beck's, and hopefully this matinee gig has lots of entertaining classic and hard rock favourites for fans in the west end! His first show at Beck's in three weeks (with three more matinees scheduled in December), Sunday's concert has a 19+ age limit, no cover charge, and a 3:00 PM start time. Visit the above links for more on Sunday's action, and for a preview, here's Tym live!

Finally, here's the latest from local/Barrie alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith, so what has he been up to in recent weeks? While he and The Big Finish Band did not return for The Soo's Got Talent finals again this year (another reason why we didn't cover this installment, beyond the all-karaoke setup), and his planned debut concert appearance in his current Barrie homebase was postponed (click here for details), he hasn't been idle, as he has a live album coming out! Mike has toyed with releasing solo live albums in the past (most recently 2018's "From The Nickel Stage"), but this one is a full band effort, coming out on Sunday, November 30th. The album will be named "Under A Moonlit Sky", and will comprise of their complete set at the Downtown Plaza on September 25th. Mike called it "the concert of our lives", which is high praise when it was a late replacement for a cancelled battle of the bands!

You can pre-order the album (which will have 19 tracks) on Bandcamp at this link, where you can also check out three songs as pre-release teasers, and you can pre-save it via major streaming services on DistroKid at this link. Based on the track listing, it differs from the actual setlist in that it includes an unlisted encore song ("75"), as well as four tracks not listed there: "Guitar Adlib", the album's title track, "Moving West", and "The Power Of Community". The former is self-explanatory, but the other three correspond with scheduled breaks in the set for Mike to talk to the audience, so I don't believe we're looking at brand new songs of his. We'll know for sure in just over a week! To support Christmas Cheer (beyond Mike & crew's set at Toystock, also on November 30th), they'll be pledging cash donations to Christmas Cheer based on Spotify streams and Bandcamp purchases of "Under A Moonlit Sky".

Mike also plans to pledge money based on streams of the full concert video when it goes live on YouTube next month, so we'll keep you posted on that when it's uploaded. Is "Under A Moonlit Sky" in line for a review on the SMS? We have caught up on all of his studio albums released since he first relocated to the Soo, so unless I dipped into his early Windsor era back catalogue or he releases a new studio album first, this has priority. For local relevance and Mike's own musical evolution, I think he would greatly prefer that I reviewed "Under A Moonlit Sky" rather than "Hotel For Transients" anyway! Look for this review in April 2026 given our ongoing backlog, and for more news and notes on the site next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (The Guilty Party) & Most Of This Weekend's Hard Rock Concert Previews!!

Another weekend is upon us, arguably the start of the Christmas season for many given Moonlight Magic tonight and the Santa Claus Parade on Saturday, so here's our look at most of the hard rock shows taking place in the Sault Ste. Marie area this weekend! Sunday's Tym Morrison matinee at Beck's will be previewed in our next news post. Let's lead things off with SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS in the west end!

New local classic/hard rock cover trio The Guilty Party will set up shop TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT at Jay's Piston Broke Pub! Apologies for the short notice, the band only announced these shows via their Facebook event page on Friday. Since debuting as a live band in September, the Separate Wayz side project have one weekend a month at Jay's in the latter half of each month, so TOMORROW & SATURDAY's show establishes a pattern that time will tell if we see continued in the last two weeks of the year. In any event, these are The Guilty Party's first shows since their pre-Halloween weekend gigs in October (also at the former Reggie's West), and hopefully there's a strong turnout for Brent, Terry, and Jim's selection of rocking covers! Everything goes down TOMORROW & SATURDAY at 9:30 PM with 19+ age limits and no cover charges. Visit the above links for more details!

For a preview, here's a new video of them live, as shared to their Facebook page on November 5th! This was shot by attendee Audrey Marshall, and captures The Guilty Party covering Seether's "Rise Above This", The Stone Temple Pilots' "Interstate Love Song" and Collective Soul's "Gel". Singer/drummer Brent Royer handles lead vocals on all except "Rise Above This", which guitarist Terry Eaton sings lead on. Whether you're familiar with members' prior bands or not, these are soundly performed covers with good enthusiasm, and Audrey captures some good angles (and shot this horizontally!), so check them out below in advance of The Guilty Party's Jay's return TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT!

Next up, we'll head to The Water Tower Pub, where local classic/hard rock cover quartet Double Down will set up shop TOMORROW NIGHT! Last seen at the Great Northern Road nightclub two months ago, this continues their relatively busy fall slate with what should be another fun evening of hard rocking and Canadian content-laden cover action, so don't miss the Syrette cousins and Ric back at it tomorrow! Bassist Dan Beaupre will again miss tomorrow's concert (hopefully he gets well soon!), but as their regular guest bassist Lori Reinholtz is playing with Mid Life Crysis at The Esquire Club this weekend, they will have someone else helping out tomorrow. Double Down confirmed on their Facebook page that "our fill-in for our fill-in bass player" is male, but have yet to confirm his identity (note that their only other fill-in bassist this fall was Alex White, who played a weekend at Jay's in September).

The Water Tower Pub does not host the same band on Fridays and Saturdays of a given weekend, so Saturday's band there will be pop rock cover veterans Encore, as per the venue's November concert calendar. Tomorrow's one-nighter has an 8:00 PM start time, 19+ age limit, and no cover charge. Visit the Facebook event page for more details, and here's Double Down live!

Next up, we'll head to Beck's Bar, where they'll host a rare (but increasingly not so rare) Friday night concert TOMORROW, where former Haggith/Project 421 frontman Curtis McKenzie will open for local Pink Floyd tribute band Dark Side Of The Soo! Curt hasn't been too active this fall, but a high profile opening slot will get his name out there with a heavier start to the proceedings (if still unplugged), so whether you're a Floyd fan or not, Curtis will get things off on the right foot! Dark Side Of The Soo are the sporadically seen tribute band led by members of pop rock cover band Bourbon Blue, and if you've caught them live before, you'll know that Jules and company do a solid job paying homage to the progressive rock titans, so keep their return in mind tomorrow! If you're curious, Saturday's nightcap at Beck's will be headlined by party rock cover band The Barbarians (featuring Elements and Handsome Sandwich alumni).

Meanwhile, Sylo frontman Eli Russell will make another return home from college as the 3:00 PM matinee act that day, so if you like his unplugged indie rock originals, keep that in mind! Tomorrow's concert has no cover charge an 8:00 PM start time, and a 19+ age limit. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Curtis live!

We'll close today's preview post in the E.U.P., where fans can check out hard rock cover quartet Unfortunate Sun live at Huck's Pub & Grill in Rudyard for one night only on SATURDAY NIGHT! Last seen at The Merch on Halloween, this will be the Fake Chow successors' first concert in Rudyard in four months, and as you can see via this show's poster, they're definitely aiming this one towards deer hunters (firearm season in Michigan began on Saturday). This should be a fun night of rocking covers at the former Joe's Bar, so consider a trip to Rudyard (40 minutes southwest of the Soo) for all of the action if you're not in the area already! Huck's does not typically book bands on Fridays, so this is a one-nighter. "Your favourite rockin' band" will take the stage on Saturday at 8:00 PM, this is a 21+ event as usual, and there is no announced cover charge, and if you can't make it, they'll be back at The Islander Bar in Hessel on Wednesday.

We'll preview that concert closer to, but the mid-week timing is due to the American Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday. Visit the above links for more on Unfortunate Sun's Rudyard return on Saturday, and here they are live!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for the Tym Morrison preview and more on the site next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Mammoth), A Surprise Band Breakup, And Sault Ontario Updates!!

Before we get into another round of weekend concert previews, here's a new news post on this Wednesday night, which includes a newly announced band breakup, new concert videos, a revived solo project, and leading off, a big LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for the spring, so here's what you should know!

Los Angeles-based hard rock band Mammoth (formerly MammothWVH) will make their local concert debut on Saturday, March 28th when they headline at The Dreammakers Theater at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino! A quickly increasing presence on rock radio thanks to hit songs like "Distance", "Don't Back Down", and "The End", Mammoth are led by former Van Halen/Tremonti bassist (and Eddie Van Halen's son) Wolfgang Van Halen, who has emerged as a multi-talented virtuoso musician on his own in the 2020s, even performing every note of every instrument on Mammoth's three albums. It will be cool to see Wolfgang and his live touring band rock out here this spring, so don't bypass this show, especially as its on a Saturday night! Knoxville, Tennessee alt-metal veterans 10 Years (of "Wasteland" and "Novacaine" fame) will return to Kewadin Casino as openers, last seen there opening for Seether in August 2018.

10 Years had previously opened for Sevendust at The Dreammakers Theater in 2010, and I'm noticing an unintentional pattern. Good to see them back again after eight years, but should we not hold our breath for a fourth local date before 2034? A second opening band is to be announced. Presented by Allstar Promotions and sponsored by Rock 101, tickets go on sale tomorrow morning at 10:00 AM at this link, 1-800-KEWADIN, or at the in-person box office, with prices starting at $39.50. It will be interesting to see how this show goes, but Mammoth have a huge upside and a bunch of hits already, so don't miss out on their first Sault Ste. Marie gig in four months!  

Next up, we have some very surprising news that broke earlier today, as local hard rock cover sextet Exit 808 have announced that they are amicably disbanding. According to their Facebook page, personal life concerns (band members moving, health issues, other bands, and a band member having a baby on the way) mean that Exit 808 "just can't be a priority anymore", and "we want to step off the stage gracefully without falling on our faces". With hindsight, the fact that they have played just one date (in Brimley on November 1st) since the summer could be a sign that members' focus was drifting. Launching under the name Double Jack in the fall of 2023, they debuted with a third place finish at the inaugural Lake Superior State University Battle of the Bands, but drummer Jackie Moon aside, the band was nigh unrecognizable by the following summer as members came and went, let alone their name change.

Exit 808 would become a popular sight at local venues and far flung locales in the Central and Western U.P., and even in the Lower Peninsula a tiny bit, and were known for networking and befriending non-local musicians along the way, who often helped fill in with and guest with Exit 808 during their two year run. This, along with their very modular lineup including two lead singers and a wide age range made them stand out extra, and they were always a fun and talented group, as seen in their ample live videos. Best of luck to Amy, Dillion, Alex, Nathan, Blaze, Jackie, and other former members in the future, and hopefully we see them in new projects when able!

Let's head north to Sault Ontario for the back half of this post, starting with some more new concert videos from Christopher Paci's excellent YouTube channel that didn't fit in Monday's all-E.U.P. post, as he was in attendance for Oshawa-based Bon Jovi tribute band Bon Jovi Forever's return to the Soo at The Sault Community Theatre Centre in September! Like with his Night Ranger videos, these were only uploaded earlier this week, but better late than never! Chris filmed B.J.F. playing the Bon Jovi classics "Livin' On A Prayer", "Wanted Dead Or Alive", "It's My Life", "Bad Medicine", "Runaway", "Have A Nice Day", and as embedded below, "Bed Of Roses". I'm not a Bon Jovi fan, but this tribute does a solid job replicating multiple eras of the band, so hair metal fans should enjoy the performances on offer here, helped by Chris getting a good close angle of the stage from the center section. Check these out above and below, and stay tuned for more from Chris' channel!

Finally for today, here's the latest from local hard rock solo musician Mike McCleary, who has revived his solo project after a 20+ month hiatus! In his first proper post since January 2024, Mike revealed on Saturday that the instrumental album that he was working on in the early 2020s "has officially been put on hold", and while he did not explain why he made that decision, he didn't completely close the door on the album, and is planning to post some material from the album on Facebook to show how it has progressed. However, Mike has signed a deal with Swedish independent label Rexius Records, and is planning to write and record an 8 song album over the next year, which will have "several singles" and contain "some fun, catchy, and energetic rock music for everyone to enjoy". Mike also got spotlighted in this new article from aKtmusiC which promoted what they called "his first-ever release", namely his 2018 song "So Surreal".

This isn't his first release, but fans of Mike's will be aware that he was one to delist or take down old albums and songs based on where his life and music was going. To close, here's a 5 minutes-long instrumental from his unfinished album mentioned above, and while I won't comment on it pending the chance that he does finish and release it, it has more progressive dynamics, a lengthy guitar solo, and some of his heaviest musicianship yet, so you get the sense that he was spreading his wings when writing for this album. It's great to see Mike back at it, so check out more from him above & below!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews on the site next! Thanks everyone!

Sault Michigan Hard Rock Concert Video Showcase!!

Let's tackle some recent videos from bands from or playing in Sault Michigan in today's post, and we'll start with long awaited public videos from the Night Ranger-headlined concert at The Dreammakers Theater at the local Kewadin Casino on October 3rd! In the immediate aftermath, videos weren't quick to surface online, but the ever-prolific Christopher Paci was in attendance for this one, and he finally uploaded his videos from the show to his extensive YouTube channel on Friday. No word why these took a month (let alone if he was across for the Trixter show), but better late than never! Chris filmed twelve videos at the show, nine coming from the headlining San Francisco hair metal quintet's set, where they played "(You Can Still) Rock In America", "Sentimental Street", "The Secret Of My Success", a cover of Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train", their own self-titled song, a cover of bassist Jack Blades' old band Damn Yankees' "High Enough", ...

..."When You Close Your Eyes", "Don't Tell Me You Love Me", and as embedded below, "Sister Christian". While definitely not in the center section and filming from a sharp vantage point, Chris is by no means far from the action, and he zooms in well to capture Night Ranger's return to the Soo! This version of their biggest hit is extended to 8+ minutes, and while the vocals are a little quavery at points (the heavier songs from this show come across better), fans are definitely into it! Note that drummer Kelly Keagy plays live with his kit sideways, so you can see him actually drumming from a straight-on angle (not unlike Stryper). Good stuff, so check out Night Ranger's new Kewadin videos above & below!

Next up, Chris also filmed three videos of opening Santa Monica glam rock duo Nelson, who performed acoustic sets on this tour. Matthew & Gunnar were filmed at the Soo Kewadin playing "After The Rain", "(Can't Live Without Your) Love & Affection", and as embedded below, "Two Heads Are Better Than One" (which they co-wrote for Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure but was credited to the band name Power Tool). A hard rock band touring in acoustic mode only isn't unheard of for The Dreammaker's Theatre (i.e. Godsmack, Mr. Big), and while there will be a bit of an adjustment, their vocals have held up well over the years, and a reserved performance is well captured for audio with this camera, so give these a watch also!

Let's shift focus to local bands for this post's second half, starting with newly publicized videos from last month's third annual Lake Superior State University Battle of the Bands! When I recapped the battle results on the site, I noted that local hard rock/punk band About:Blank's short-handed acoustic set has a video filmed that was uploaded to personal Facebook accounts, and was thusly not shared here because of that. Well, the guys uploaded it (and two more videos) to their Facebook page last week! The video that I knew was uploaded privately saw Parker & Kade (no Nathan) playing their new original "Unfazed", and it is embedded below, but the two other videos saw them play "Infest My Mind" and "Run & Hide". Parker & Kade are really dwarfed as an unplugged duo on the cavernous Arts Center stage, so much so that I won't even complain that these videos are vertical, because everything's in frame!

Effectively, the lack of electric instruments and Nathan made this a reprise of Parker's solo set from last year's battle, just now with percussion, but the songs on offer here are promising, and I do like the grungier ambiance to "Unfazed" that would be well suited to their full presentation. Check everything out above & below, and stay tuned for more from About:Blank!

If you were hoping to see Nathan Webber, good news, as we're closing with videos of his hard rock cover band Exit 808's "Fright Night On The Bay" post-Halloween concert at The Back Bay Grill & Games at Bay Mills Resort & Casino in Brimley, with eleven videos from that gig now uploaded to guest singer Molly Escherich's Facebook page! Most have Molly taking over for Amy Beach on vocals, with her and Dillion Semasky splitting or alternating vocals on covers of Eminem & Rihanna's "The Monster", Guns N' Roses' "Sweet Child O Mine" (also filmed by a second camera), AC/DC's "TNT", Alice In Chains' "Man In The Box" (which was also filmed twice), Volbeat's "A Monster's Hand", Green Day's "Brain Stew", and Lit's "My Own Worst Enemy". Molly & Amy joined forces to cover Joan Jett & The Blackhearts' "I Love Rock & Roll" and Journey's "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)".

Lineup wise, new addition Brad Pringle plays bass on all of these songs aside from "T.N.T.", which had Blaze Beairl on the four strings (I'm to assume he played more often on songs that Molly wasn't singing on). As well, "The Monster" had a costumed guest guitarist in place of Nathan, who waved glowsticks and rocked out from the audience. No definitive word on who he was, but Exit 808 did tease that Project 906's Joe Jenkins would be a guest performer too on this night. Because Dillion's mad scientist costume was still on at that point, I'll embed the Lit cover here, but there's a lot of fun performances on offer, and Molly's developing vocal talents and stage presence are always welcomed! Give these a watch above & below!

That's all for not, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site shortly! Thanks everyone!