LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Monkey's Uncle & Swayze Train) And More Assorted News Stories!!

Let's help ring in the new year with our first proper news post of 2012! All of this is from late last year in terms of when it was announced, but hey, you get to some stories when you can, as it was a hectic end of the month. Today, we've got a new video and photos relating to major Kewadin Casino concerts, details on some local musicians' band member searches, and leading things off, here's some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!!

Kewadin Casino's entertainment page has been updated again to reflect a few concerts at The Rapids Lounge through August, including the local returns of Monkey's Uncle to Kewadin Casino's bar! The talented local hard rock quartet was absent from Kewadin's schedule for the first three months of the year, leading to some questions about their status, but they'll definitely be rocking The Rapids Lounge for at least three weekends midway through 2012. That said, you can see them there on April 13th & 14th, June 1st & 2nd, and August 3rd & 4th, which doesn't seem as frequent for them as we're used to, though it's possible that they have more shows at other venues that we have yet to hear about. For reference sake, they'll be playing at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino in late March, as an idea of when they're returning from this likely break. That said, these six new local Monkey's Uncle concerts should be 21+ affairs with no cover charges and 19+ age limits. Check the above links for more details! It's good to see Monkey's Uncle alive & well, and hopefully big crowds show up for their shows this spring & summer! Stay tuned for more on Monkey's Uncle as it comes in!

The other new Kewadin Casino concerts at The Rapids Lounge are for local hard rock quintet Swayze Train, who have added an additional two weekends onto their 2012 concert schedule for Kewadin's bar & concert spot! The local supergroup will return to The Rapids Lounge on May 11th & 12th and June 13th & 14th to deliver their trademark sets of proficient hard rock covers, and you guys won't wanna miss them! Like with the Monkey's Uncle shows, there's no cover charge, likely 10:00 PM start times, and 21+ age limits for these four new concerts, similarly to Swayze Train's shows there this coming weekend & next month. Though neither band has confirmed the shows on their respective pages yet, check the above links for all current details! I wish Swayze Train would post some media online, but I know from what I've heard that they're very talented and will definitely rock this year, so don't miss them at The Rapids Lounge over the first half of 2012! As always, stay tuned for much more from Swayze Train as I hear it!

Thirdly today, let's stay in the vein of Kewadin Casino concerts with another new video from the Bret Michaels concert on Tuesday, but this time, it's from the Poison frontman's official YouTube channel! Just 77 seconds long, the video is of scattered footage from behind the stage showing an enthusiastic crowd and Bret moving and grooving (along with a Bret Michaels nutcracker?!) set to his solo song "Human Zoo", but I have to say, I'm underwhelmed by the video. Besides it's length, I wish they could have left the concert audio in, or at least synched it with "Human Zoo" if it was played at the show, but there's still some nice footage from the concert. Check out this new Bret Michaels video from his show on Tuesday below!



Finally for Kewadin-related posts, some new photos from recent Kewadin Casino concert meet & greets are now online! I wish these were better advertised online, as I'd plug them on the SMS in advance if they'd actually advertise them wider, but hey, there's some nice photos to check out! Among other newer Kewadin photos, albums of meet & greet photos with Joan Jett & Whitesnake frontman David Coverdale are now online to check out, so click the artist names above to see the posted photos! Nice overall, and everyone seems happy in the photos that are on Kewadin's website, but hopefully these get better advertising in the future. Stay tuned for more from Kewadin Casino metal & hard rock concerts as the year rolls on, including if Bret Michaels had a meet & greet or not last month!

And finally, here's four local metal/hard rock artists looking for musicians towards new local projects, and these are in alphabetical order by the name of the artist inquiring on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group, so click here for details if any of these bands interest you. Apologies for the lateness, but hopefully the word gets out, so read on for details!:

• Half Past guitarist Alain Fletcher is looking to join or fill in with a local hard rock or metal band on guitar, and is open to both covers & originals. No word on how this may impact Half Past, but if you'd like to enlist Al for your project, click here to shoot him a message! He'd sure be an asset!
  
• Blackberrys drummer Frank Cuglietta is looking for musicians to complete a new classic hard rock project that would cover bands like Y&T and Whitesnake. There's visible interest, but if you want to audition or inquire about further details, contact Frank at this location!
• Blackwater bassist James Watterworth is looking to form a new experimental metal band as a singer. Honestly, his description of his singing style and what he's looking for in musicians is so hard to sum up that I can't do it justice, but click here and scroll to his post on December 6th to check it out. If you're interested, visit this link to inquire about the band!
  
• Local metal multi-instrumentalist Mitch Sirie (The Bear Hunters/Borderline Divine/April Eyes) is staying busy with yet another project, this time a progressive death metal project that would cover bands like Dream Theater, Opeth, and Mastodon. Specifically, he wants a drummer, but I don't know who else (if anyone) is connected with this project. Click here to contact Mitch if you're interested in trying out!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for our next "Where Are The New Albums?" post tomorrow, and for much more news in the coming days! Thanks everyone!