LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Tarnished & Bookclub) & Even More New Year's Weekend Concert Previews!!

Due to SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS hitting the old news desk, I have extended our third (and final?) weekend concert preview post for the New Year's Eve weekend to cover five different events, all but one taking place on Sunday night to ring in 2024. Soundcheck aside (whose New Year's show was covered on the site yesterday), here's what you should know for the remainder of the local hard rock slate!

Online page-less local punk/alternative cover quintet Bookclub will topline Sault Noir's New Year's Eve party Saved By The Ball on SUNDAY NIGHT at The Machine Shop! Apologies for the short notice, Bookclub were announced as performing at this event a few weeks ago but it completely slipped us by until this week. The second concert event put on by ex-Gnaeus drummer Brendan Garlick's current promotion agency to feature a punk or hard rock band, Sault Noir are sparing no expense to make this a night to remember, including 1990s-themed costume and dance contests with prizes, dancers from Soo Dance Unlimited, and a honest-to-goodness ball drop inside the venue at midnight. Read more about the inspiration and expectations for Saved By The Ball in this SooToday article by Chris Belsito yesterday! Musically speaking, Bookclub will be joined by rappers from No Filter Records (only Sawbe was identified by name in promotional materials) and DJs AngelAzura, DJ Seith, and Damaging D.

Saved By The Ball is a licensed & ALL AGES event, though attendees under 16 years of age must have adult accompaniment. Tickets run for $25 apiece and include a free slice of pizza and entries for draws to win a VIP ticket upgrade or passes to all of Sault Noir's 2024 events. VIP tickets are $100 and also get you a loot bag, early entry at 7:00 PM (the event otherwise begins at 8:00 PM), and access to the upper mezzanine. A $100 group rate for 5 people also exists, and get your tickets at the door or online at this link. Proceeds from this event will worthily go to Pauline's Place and The Soup Kitchen. Visit the official Facebook event page & the above links for more details on this huge event, and here's Bookclub live!

Next up, we'll head over to Michigan's Eastern Upper Peninsula for the first of three known New Year's Eve concerts from hard rock bands, as local classic metal/hard rock trio Tarnished will be sending out 2023 on SUNDAY NIGHT at... The Fraternal Order Of Orioles Nest in Kincheloe? Again, apologies for the short notice, the band only announced that they were playing here on Wednesday. This club has sporadically been hosting live music in the latter half of 2023, and they'll welcome Tarnish(ed) there for the first time to Nest 311 for their New Year's party, which is publically attendable and not limited to existing Orioles. Hors d'oeuvres will be served throughout the festivities, and it'll be interesting to see how Alex, Parker, and Josh go over on SUNDAY in case it could lead to more hard rock-leaning concerts there! This New Year's event goes down at 4916 West Curtis Street in Kincheloe (20 minutes south of the Soo) on SUNDAY NIGHT at 8:00 PM with a 21+ age limit and no announced cover charge. See above for more details, and here's Tarnished live!

Now back to shows that did have advance notice, and we'll take a slight detour back to Sault Ontario for a show taking place TOMORROW NIGHT, as local southern hard rock cover trio Bone Yard will play their final show of the year when they go acoustic at The Water Tower Pub! Last seen unplugged two weeks ago at Gateway Casino and at The Water Tower Pub early last month, hopefully Greg, Alex, and Warren's classic and hard rock favourites find another strong audience at this central venue tomorrow! A one nighter as per usual at The Water Tower Pub (Angry Joe & The Growlers are playing there tonight), tomorrow's show is at 8:00 PM with a 19+ age limit and no cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, Bone Yard have four new live-streamed videos on their Facebook page to check out! These all come from their show at The Esquire Club this past Saturday.

The videos include what appear to be two original songs, something that Bone Yard has long teased but rarely post videos of. One is "a new one" whose lyrics were not especially clear, but the other one appears to be called "Fuck Around & Find Out". The two cover videos are of Van Halen's "Eruption" & The Kinks' "You Really Got Me" back to back and, as embedded below, Van Halen's "Ice Cream Man" (I embedded that here as its structure is the most amenable to being played unplugged). Alas, all four videos were shot vertically, but the filmer had a good vantage point to capture Bone Yard's set, and their originals are solid hard rock compositions, so give them a watch for yourselves above & below!

Back to Sault Michigan and area we go, and we'll next head to the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino, where Michigan-based classic/hard rock tribute band The Rock Show will make their local debut THIS SUNDAY NIGHT at The Northern Pines Lounge! One of two touring tribute bands playing New Year's Eve parties at Kewadin's two regional branch lounges (Niagara Falls party rock cover band XPrime are playing at The Rapids Lounge in the Soo), The Rock Show will definitely give fans in St. Ignace and Mackinac County the heavier night of rock favourites on Sunday, so be sure to visit their website to find out what all they have in their back pocket! Yes, The Rock Show have an alter ego as a Journey tribute band, who will be playing a private event at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin branch tomorrow while they're in the U.P., so if you see anything about that, now you know! 

I am unsure about specific New Year's frills, but it isn't unreasonable to expect something beyond the usual cover band amenities. As such, there is no advertised admission fee/cover charge on Sunday, it remains a 21+ event, and expect a 9:00 PM start time. From what I have seen of The Rock Show, they deliver the goods for fans of classic and hard rock, so don't miss out on their 2023-capping concert in St. Ignace! See above for more details, and here they are live!

Finally for known hard rock concerts on this jam-packed New Year's weekend, we'll head back to Sault Ste. Marie, where local hard rock quintet The Nameless will end the year on SUNDAY NIGHT at The Merchants Bar! While not announced by the venue on Facebook (as is sadly far more common than not for bands who play there), this will be The Nameless' first gig since rocking The Merch for that venue's Halloween party, and they will reportedly return in March for a St. Patrick's Day weekend gig, exact date and such forthcoming. No details on end-of-year party frills were given, but hopefully Sault Michigan fans who want to enjoy some live hard rock covers will get the opportunity on Sunday! If you are at all curious, Sault Ste. Marie's annual anchor (not ball) drop will take place just not far from The Merch on Ashmun Street, so if you want to duck out to be part of the festivities, click here for full details!

Sunday's Nameless concert has a 9:00 PM start time, 21+ age limit, and no announced cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, click here for their sole public (if unembeddable) concert video, and see above and yesterday's post for complete details on hard rock concerts in the Twin Saults known to me over the next few days! Thanks everyone!