LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Double Down), Heavy Lies The Crown Updates, And More!!

Before we get into today's post, just a heads up that the Matthew Good concert at The Machine Shop next month has been moved up from Thursday, April 25th to Sunday, April 14th due to "some scheduling conflicts", as per promoters Cabin Media Entertainment on the Facebook event page on Monday. It's rare to see a show like this moved to an earlier date, but everything is identical otherwise. All tickets bought for the 25th will be honoured on the 14th, and contact Cabin Media or your point of purchase for details on a refund if you can't make the new date! Now, we have some new videos, a local band's big lineup news, and leading off, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT. so here's what you should know!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Double Down will return to the stage on Saturday, March 30th for their debut at Shooters Downstairs Lounge!  Announced on their Facebook page, this will be their fifth concert of 2024 and first in over two months, following their surprise cancellation of shows at Jay's last month due to "unforeseen circumstances". I was a little worried that those cancellations were a sign of other things amiss in Double Down's camp, given how abrupt the announcement was, but it looks like everything's alright, so expect some strong classic and hard rock covers from this talented foursome next Saturday! This is a one-nighter due to Shooters hosting DJs on Fridays this year, and Double Down have not announced a Good Friday show elsewhere at press time. This show will have a 9:30 PM start time, 19+ age limit, and no cover charge. Visit the above links for more details!

Next up, here's the sixth installment of local punk supergroup project Mikey & His Uke's series of covers of the songs from Green Day's "Dookie" for that album's 30th anniversary! After posting new covers every 6-8 days for the first five songs, track #6 in this series was only uploaded to the project's YouTube channel on Monday, eighteen days after the previous cover. No word on why there was such a delay this time, but at least the covers are ongoing in order! The next song on "Dookie" for Mikey & crew to tackle is the deep cut "Pulling Teeth", and here, the guest singers (plural) are Gwendolyn & Lucy Giles, the sister bandmates of the Sacramento punk duo Dog Party! You may recognize Gwendolyn alone from her guest spot as a guitarist on this Jawbreaker cover from 2021. Bookclub frontman Mikey Hawdon returns on guitar and (initially) ukelele as you'd expect, as does ex-Goldfinger drummer Darren Pfieffer.

After being replaced by Randy Bradbury on the last two "Dookie" covers, Buck-O-Nine bassist Andy Plafoot returns here for his fourth turn in this series so far. This cover is well handled across the board, and Gwendolyn & Lucy harmonize well here (they sing the whole thing together) with a good tone to match the original! In terms of filming locations and/or post-production, it's a fairly standard watch, but props to Darren for wearing a Tie Domi #28 Maple Leafs jersey here! Song #7 in Mikey's "Dookie" cover series will be Green Day's classic "Basket Case", which could drop anywhere from Sunday to April 5th (the average would be next Wednesday), so stay tuned for that, and check out "Pulling Teeth" below!

We'll close today with the latest from St. Ignace, Michigan deathcore band Heavy Lies The Crown, starting with very surprising news, as they have parted ways with guitarist Ted Olson. In a video posted to their Facebook page yesterday, frontman Brandon West and drummer Jaxon Massaway revealed that it "was a mutual agreement", and that Ted "doesn't really wanna play shows anymore". Of course, it is worth noting that the vast majority of H.L.T.C.'s shows are over an hour's drive away downstate, so perhaps Ted wants to stay closer to home for future musical projects rather than travelling as frequently? Granted, that is conjecture on my part. At least he finished recording their new album "Built For Us" and appeared in the "Cigar For The Devil" video before leaving, but Ted & his headless guitars have been a constant since Heavy Lies The Crown debuted in 2018, and hopefully we haven't heard the last from him!

H.L.T.C. have already found a replacement, as ex-Highway 63 guitarist Nathan Switzer has returned to the band in Ted's place! Of course, Nathan was their second guitarist from June 2019 until early 2022 when everyone but Brandon & Ted left, and he featured on their 2021 full length album, so he's no stranger around these parts. Nathan does still live downstate, moving out of the U.P. in 2020, but if most of their shows are in the Lower Peninsula anyway, hopefully they can work things out! In the video embedded below, Jaxon also mentioned that the band is also considering adding a DJ to their lineup, which would definitely be interesting (and very unique as local bands go). After plugging the Born Of Osiris concert that they're opening in Pontiac in May, they ended the video with new multi-camera footage of Nathan playing the "Built For Us" song "Heartsex", giving us out first glimpse of him playing something from the new album.

While it is sad to see Ted go, Nathan is more than capable as a lead guitarist, and while many will best know him locally in cover bands, he has lots of technical skill for original extreme metal, and hopefully he fits in with Brandon again, plus the new-to-him rhythm section! Unfortunately, I can't embed the video here, as Facebook content matched "Heartsex" beneath Nathan's playthrough, but click here to check the full video out, and stay tuned for more from Heavy Lies The Crown in the near future, as well as our review of "Built For Us" by month's end! That's all for today, but look for weekend concert previews on the site next! Thanks everyone!