LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Shit Happens) & Saint Asonia Concert Previews!!

Here's another new post on this Saturday morning, which is mostly devoted to recent concert videos from a major concert last month, but first, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for later this month!

Winnipeg punk quartet Shit Happens will make their local concert debut on Monday, March 25th when they headline at The Distraction! While not the first touring act booked at the East Street barbershop-turned-concert venue, I believe Shit Happens (not to be confused with the Soo's own Shit Liver) are the first full metal or punk band from out of town to play there, as opposed to a solo project, so this will be neat! Shit Happens are touring Eastern Canada and a select few U.S. cities this month, with the local show being the final date before they head back to Manitoba. Expect an upbeat and in your face brand of punk originals from this female fronted group two weeks from Monday! Local support will come by way of metal trio The BAG in their Distraction debut and second show of 2024, and while not a clean genre match to Shit Happens, the energy should be hopping for their hard hitting originals and covers later this month!

Despite the touring headline band, this show is standard for protocol with The Distraction's all-local events, including no age limit, a 7:00 PM start time, and a "$5 or pay what you can" entry model. While an early night with no 19+ limit hanging overhead, the Monday scheduling and relative short notice may give some pause, but if you like explosive modern punk rock, don't miss out on the action on the 25th! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details on this concert!

Next up, we finally have some videos to feature from last month's Saint Asonia concert at The Dreammakers Theatre at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino! After a near two week delay, prolific local concert filmer Christopher Paci uploaded videos from the show to his excellent YouTube channel, and he spoiled us this time, filming eighteen videos across the three bands that night! Half of his videos come from the headliners, with Chris filming multiple originals and covers from the Toronto hard rock quartet. In terms of covers, you can see Saint Asonia covering frontman Adam Gontier's old band Three Days Grace's "Never Too Late", "I Hate Everything About You", and "Riot", while they also tackled Apocalyptica's "I Don't Care" (which Adam guested on originally). The rest of the filmed songs began with Saint Asonia, aside from their own recent cover of The Weeknd's "Blinding Lights".

The originals filmed here are "Better Place", "Wolf", "Let Me Live My Life", and as embedded below, their set opener "Above It All". Chris had a nice spot in the center section with good zoom usage and a relatively clear view of the stage (fans' heads in front of him acknowledged), and Saint Asonia sound great, with Adam's vocals crystal clear in the mix! I recall that he was more muffled when Three Days Grace came here last, but of course, arena acoustics could have been a factor. Check out Saint Asonia's local concert videos for yourselves above & below!

Chris also filmed Kentucky southern hard rock band Black Stone Cherry in six videos, getting them playing "White Trash Millionaire", "When The Pain Comes", their medley of The Marshall Tucker Band's "Can't You See" and their own "In My Blood", "Blame It On The Boom Boom", "Lonely Train", and as embedded below, their set-opening songs "Me & Mary Jane" and "Burnin'". Good stuff all around from these talented rock radio mainstays, who have established themselves so much since they last came here in 2006, so give their videos a watch above and below as well!

Finally, Maryland hard rock quartet Any Given Sin were filmed for three of Chris' videos, specifically their songs "Insidious", "The Way I Say Goodbye", and as embedded below, "House On Fire". Hopefully these guys continue on their upward trajectory, as their melodic and soaring originals seemed to play well with local attendees last month, and they definitely seem like a band we'll hear more from on the radio in the coming months! Check out Any Given Sin's local videos above & below!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile next! Thanks everyone!