LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Highway 63), New Rockstar Bar Videos, And Inactive Band Notes!!

We're back for a surprise second post today, as we have SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS to take note of, but be sure to check out this morning's Emergency Festival preview post (with notes on the Downtown Association surviving) in the post below this one! Today's second post also has new Rockstar Bar-related videos, and a bunch of notes regarding bands moved to our inactive band links, so here's what you should know! (Updated on Saturday at 12:19 AM)

Sault Michigan classic/hard rock quartet Highway 63 will return to The Satisfied Frog for concerts TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the very short notice, the band only announced the shows on their Facebook page yesterday, and The Satisfied Frog doesn't have their own Facebook page (that I know of) to plug concerts. After taking almost a month off, these will be Highway 63's first local concerts outside of the Kewadin Casino umbrella since their Frog debuts in early April, and hopefully they can keep the good will going with another entertaining weekend of hard rock classics! There's no announced cover charges this weekend, you must be 21 to attend, and 9:00 PM start times are likely. Check the above links for more details, and for a preview, we have a new Facebook video to share of the Monkey's Uncle/Sir Charge successors in action, so what should you know about it?

Filmed by attendee Wendi Clement and shared by the band on their Facebook page, it's of the Switzers and company covering Boston's "Peace of Mind" as their closing song at The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino on July 18th. Sadly, it's not of the full song, but you get the unique visual of the band getting closer and closer in view as Wendi approached the stage early on, and it's a solid cover of this classic rock standard! Give it a look below, and don't miss Highway 63 at The Frog TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT!

Next up, the newest episode of Local2's music webseries Tuned with Donna Hopper is now online, as she was there for the mayhem at last month's SNFU concert at The Rockstar Bar! Bookended and interspersed with video footage of SNFU's set during this Gonqshow event, Donna interviews SNFU founder & frontman Ken Chinn (a.k.a. Mr. Chi Pig), who reveals that he's actually watched Tuned episodes in the past! The interview itself features discussion about how he feels about seeing himself on video, and his thoughts of the documentary "Open Your Mouth and Say... Mr. Chi Pig", but it's less of an interview and more of a candid conversation that, while polite and fun to listen to, does contain some adult language. Of course, there's bloopers during the credits, and it's a fun watch, so give it a look at the above links! Remember, I can't embed the episode here, as Local2's video host doesn't allow external embedding.

Note that three other recent Tuned episodes are from the Northern Lights Festival Boreal in Sudbury and don't contain local bands, a point that Donna asks the organizer about in this episode, so give that and others a look also, but note that this festival isn't known for being a metal or punk hotbed.

Also today, here's a new Facebook video from newer local pop punk quartet Stereo North! As uploaded to their Facebook page, this is of the guys playing their original "Fall Before Me" at The Rockstar Bar, on August 8th, though there was some initial confusion regarding the filming date, as their Facebook page says it was posted at noon that same day, hours before the show took place. Well, it turns out that the video was filmed at last week's concert, and was posted on Wednesday, but the band gave it a retroactive date of the 8th for one reason or another. Thanks to Blair Burch of Project 421 (who also played that night) for clearing up the confusion! As for the video itself, it's got solid quality and the band sounds good, but it was filmed on a very high stationary camera that didn't have the stage at a center angle, so it's not the optimal viewpoint for the performance (and the black & white backdrop is a remnant of the previous night's Rockstar Republic event.) Still, give this new Stereo North video a look below, and stay tuned for more from them!



Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items, all related to Sault Michigan-area bands that we've moved to our inactive band links due to a year's inactivity (there's more to come too.) As usual, these are in alphabetical order by band name:

• We've moved Sault Michigan alternative hard rock trio Division of Sanity to our inactive band links, as they have not posted a public update on any of their pages since plugging their Sault Summer Arts Festival set on August 5th of last year. Active since 2012, Division of Sanity released some demos and played frequently at special outdoor events, and though I'm not sure what happened to them, they had a unique sound that was a nice change of pace! Hopefully the guys turn up again soon, and best of luck to Caine, Myke, Gabe, and other former members!
• Also moved to our inactive band links is Drayton Fever, the Soo/Paradise-based thrash solo project from Half A Man alum Doug Reed, as they haven't been the subject of any new postings or media since label Werehold Records' Friday the 13th postings last June. Active off & on since 2008, Doug had good ideas and talent to take Drayton Fever far, with brutal demos to boot, and hopefully he revisits the project down the road!
• And we've also moved local hard rock duo Lift The Broken to our inactive links, as they haven't posted on their Facebook (and only online) page since last July, ironically in a status that said they were "back to work." A young band that was only around for a few months, they played at least one open mic set at Biggby's Coffee in Sault Michigan, but nothing major followed. Hopefully Carol & Nathan stay active in music, their postings seemed encouraging!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes soon, and remember not to miss The Emergency Festival! Thanks everyone!