LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Rock Show) Plus New Videos!!

Before we begin today's post, just a heads up that former Destroilet singer Mike Hull's obituary was posted on SooToday yesterday. Mike is survived by his parents Warren & Helle, his kids Nickolas & Alyvia, three siblings, his grandmother, his dog Jojo, and numerous extended family members. His funeral service will take place at Northwood Funeral Home & Cremation Centre on Wednesday at 2:00 PM with Reverend Ben Kjiersadam presiding, and interment will follow at Greenwood Cemetery (visitation will be at Northwood on Tuesday from 5:00-8:00 PM). In Mike's name, the Hull family would appreciate donations to the Algoma Pregnancy Centre, St. Vincent Place, or the Teen Challenge Northern Ontario Centre. The obituary strongly indicates that he was becoming more religious in recent years, and does not mention his music career beyond noting that he was one to sing while at work. 

Mike's passing came as a surprise to so many, especially so close to Christmas, so be sure to keep Mike's family (especially his kids) in mind over the holidays, and consider paying your respects at the services at Northwood on Tuesday and/or Wednesday. R.I.P. Mike!

Today's post otherwise looks at some new videos and, leading off, an intriguing LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for New Year's Eve, as Michigan-based classic/hard rock tribute band The Rock Show will end the year at The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino on Sunday, December 31st! This year, Kewadin Casino is experimenting with booking a touring cover band for New Year's Eve at both of their regional branch lounges, with Niagara Falls party rock cover band XPrime playing at The Rapids Lounge in Sault Ste. Marie that same day. An hour south, St. Ignace fans will instead get The Rock Show, whose setlist is decidedly heavier and full of crowd pleasing classic rock and hard rock hits, so if you want to send out 2023 with a bang, that'd be a good option in three weeks! Note that The Rock Show have two guises, the other being as a Journey tribute band, but we are getting the general rock cover set.

Their website's concert calendar confirms this, along with a private booking that they're playing at The Dreammakers Theatre in the Soo on Saturday the 30th, where they will be doing the Journey tribute set. Keep that in mind if you are privy to that private event! Expect a 9:00 PM start time and 21+ age limit in St. Ignace at month's end, and while Northern Pines Lounge shows typically have no cover charge, bring cash just in case given the circumstances. Visit the above links for more details!

We'll stay in St. Ignace next for a long overdue look at the newest music video from local deathcore band Heavy Lies The Crown! At least we have some new video of them to look at, given that they were the only group at last month's Lake Superior State University battle of the bands to not have their set publically filmed! The song in question is "Celebrate The Night" from their forthcoming studio album, and the video was posted to their YouTube channel on October 29th. The music video starts with most of the band driving around when they decide to pick up a homeless guy (singer Brandon West), after which they give him some alcohol and he begins hallucinating that he's stumbling into a building, which leads into performance footage of the band outdoors by the waterfront (incidentally, not at night either).  Of note, ex-guitarist Christian Thanasiu is present in the video, both in the vehicle and performing with the band.

I don't believe this signals his return to the group, as comment replies on Facebook shares of the video imply that it was initially filmed last year (he left the band in March). Still good to see Christian T. with H.L.T.C. again, if belatedly! I'll hold comment on the song pending our eventual review of the finished album, but the "officail" (sic) video is well shot, if somewhat ambiguous with the opening scene before the band actually plays the song. Give the video a watch for yourselves below!

Finally for today, let's head north to Sault Ontario for a new preview video for the upcoming Fuller reunion concert at LopLops Lounge on December 28th! Frontman Jamie Vincent uploaded this to the show's Facebook event page on December 1st, and it features 77 seconds of he, Mark, and Nathan playing an instrumental piece that kinda has a drone/noise quality to it. While the camera angle (with only Nathan facing the camera) is worse than the jam video that Mark posted in October, Jamie's new video is in colour and was shot horizontally, so pick your poison. Still a good teaser of the reunion ahead on the 28th, so give it a watch below!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site this week! Thanks everyone!