With The Soo's Got Talent now in the rear view mirror as an event and a post topic, let's dive back into regular news and notes, via LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for Sault Michigan later this month! Both are big in their own distinct way, so here's what you should know in chronological order!
For the first time since the pandemic, a proper battle of the bands will take place in Sault Ste. Marie on Thursday, November 16th! Granted, it is in Sault Ste. Marie,
Michigan, but that will be an extra plus for readers in the E.U.P.! The battle is being put on by
Lake Superior State University in their
Arts Center next Thursday, and after competitor registrations closed on October 17th (apologies for missing that on here), six regional acts will take to the stage, so who all is competing? Two bands familiar from our coverage are, including local metal/hard rock quartet
Tarnished, in what that band is teasing as the debut of their new lineup after playing with fill-in musicians over the past two months. Quite a way to throw the new guys into the fire, but hopefully Alex, Josh, and crew leave a good impression! In their first ever public concert set in Sault Ste. Marie, fans can also check out St. Ignace deathcore quartet
Heavy Lies The Crown here!
It's great to see H.L.T.C. finally playing in the Soo, and hopefully this is the start of even more shows north of the Mackinac Bridge rather than south of it! We will have more on
their new single/music video on the SMS soon. Two more bands that are new to me take to the stage next Thursday, including
Double Jack, a debuting rock band who I know nothing definite on aside from one of the band members being named John (if their Facebook contact e-mail is anything to go by). I have a hunch on who might be involved, but I'll wait for public confirmation before jumping the gun. The other band is The Sole Aggressors, a new local
punk band (a rare sight from Sault Michigan), who actually debuted at Bird's Eye Outfitters in August and filmed the whole set for
their YouTube channel! Like with H.L.T.C.'s new song, I'll save that for an upcoming post, but The Sole Aggressors cover stuff that you
never hear in Sault Michigan!
The other two performers next Thursday are solo singer/guitarists, namely Rudyard Musicians Festival regular Kevin Blakeney (
click here to see him covering Buffalo Springfield live) and Molly Escherich (
click here for recent live videos of hers). Solo musicians can be disadvantaged at battles of the
bands, but as Jesse Merineau & M.D. Dunn can confirm from Sault Ontario battles, solo acts can win it all, and it helps that the LSSU battle is fan-voted! Yes, the community will decide who wins rather than judges, with ticket stubs being used to pick the winners via ballot boxes. $150 awaits the winner(s) with $50 for second place, and the winning act will also get their name on a plaque to be displayed at the Arts Center. Acts will get 15 minute sets each to perform. Everything takes place next Thursday at 7:00 PM, and admission is $10 for adults, $5 for kids, and free for LSSU students with valid student ID.
Battles of the bands in Sault Michigan aren't unheard of (I remember Tarnished frontman Alex Traynor playing in at least one with his old group Banned), but historically, they are rarer in the E.U.P. than in Sault Ontario. This makes this battle all the neater to see, and hopefully it's a big hit to encourage Lake State to make this an annual event with bigger prize money! Visit the above links for more details on the battle, and kudos to Tarnished for sharing the poster featuring the final competitor lineup on their Facebook page! Best of luck to everyone next week!
Finally for today's all-Sault Michigan post, local classical metal band
Theatre of Night will return to the local stage for the first time since the pandemic on Saturday, November 25th when they headline at
The Soo Theatre! The first concert we've covered there since their well publicized renovations, this show will be Theatre of Night's first in the E.U.P. since rocking The Dreammaker's Theatre in December 2019, though they did play three shows downstate last year. As per
their new Facebook page (their old one got hacked) and
website, Theatre of Night will also be playing six public concerts downstate between next weekend and Christmas Eve, with the Soo Theatre gig being show #2 of their fifth Christmas tour (none was held in 2020 or 2021). This will be their first local gig with new bassist Luke Bernard, while in a mild surprise, they have enlisted Marquita Bernard as their new lead singer, replacing Rachel Mender for unannounced reasons.
Hopefully nothing bad happened with Rachel, as her vocals definitely added to the band, but Marquita is a capable musician with teaching experience, and fingers crossed things go well! No word on how she's related to Luke, for the record. This all ages event has no opening bands, a 7:00 PM start time, and admission by donation (they suggest $20). This will be a fun way to kick off the Christmas season, and if you're familiar with Theatre of Night's two Christmas albums and past live dates, you'll know that their metallized carols will draw a strong response! See above for more details, and stay tuned for weekend concert previews next! Thanks everyone!
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