Paradise Excuse/Mark Bowen Concert Video Showcase!!

As promised on the site last week, I wanted to touch on live hard rock and punk cover videos from Sault Michigan rock band Paradise Excuse and their frontman Mark Bowen that have been posted onto his Facebook page and YouTube channel in the past year+, so that's what we are doing today! We'll start in reverse chronological order on Facebook with a live solo set he played at Mission Point Resort in Mackinac City (just outside of our coverage range) in late August of last year, where he covered Ben E. King's "Stand By Me", Nat King Cole's "Stardust", and as embedded below, The Foo Fighters' "Times Like These". I get the sense that this was an intentionally reserved setlist given the locale, and while these are short videos, they are well done and have nice melodies! The lighting could be better though. Give these videos a watch above and below, plus this clip of him and bandmate Jason Haske covering Rod Stewart's "Ooh La La" there two weeks later!



Next up, let's stay in Mackinac Island for his evening performance on a boat from earlier that same month. I am 99% certain this was when Mark travelled there for a set at last year's Wood-Dock Music Festival, and he was joined by Mackinac musician Paul Bedour both on the boat and at a nightclub set that weekend. Across YouTube and Facebook, Mark & Paul were filmed for covering Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy", The Cure's "Lovesong", The Weeknd's "Can't Feel My Face", and, in two chunks, Sublime's "Santeria" (the first half is embedded below, part 2 is linked here). These are lively covers that suit the venue, and fans are receptive, so give them a look above & below!

We do have some proper videos of his band Paradise Excuse to share here as well, courtesy of a weekend set they played at The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino at the beginning of August 2019, and while some of them are on Facebook, a whopping twelve clips are on YouTube. Here, you can see Mark, Jason, and Brian cover Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean", The Go-Gos' "We Got The Beat", Prince & The Revolution's "Kiss", Mack Rice's "Mustang Sally", Niall Horan's "Slow Hands", ZZ Top's "Tush", AC/DC's "TNT", Greta Van Fleet's "You're The One I Need", Chris Stapleton's "Tennessee Whiskey", Bruno Mars' "Locked Out Of Heaven", Kiss' "Rock & Roll All Nite", and as embedded below, Poison's "Talk Dirty To Me". Paradise Excuse can sure play anything based on the diverse songs on offer here, and in spite of a surprisingly quiet floor, they have a solid batting average here, aided by Mark's distinctive vocal range. Give them a look above & below!



There's more from a Mark Bowen Band performance that summer to touch on (at least), but let's close with one more Kewadin video from Paradise Excuse, this time at The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace branch in March of last year, where the guys covered Temple of the Dog's "Say Hello 2 Heaven". Despite the filmer's close placement to the stage, I wish they didn't capture so much of the table. That aside, this is a well done cover with great vocals and strong instrumentation, so give it a look below, and stay tuned for much more from Mark and/or Paradise Excuse on the site soon! Thanks everyone!