Defunct Local Band Profile Series: 415E

It's now time for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile! This monthly feature ends its 2024 run by looking at another randomly selected local band who is presently inactive or defunct, but deserves a modern spotlight for current readers, and we're back in Sault Michigan to look at a long-running (if video-deficient) hard rock band that many E.U.P. concert goers of the 2010s will remember well. Here's what you should know on them!

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415E

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

Genre: Hard Rock

Lineup: (Members not in their last full lineup are in italics)

Dave "Sonny" Menard (Dirty Musky), vocals
Chris Hubbard (Rhythm & Brews), guitar
Brett Blackwood (Dirty Musky), bass
Jason VanLuven (Unfortunate Sun), drums

Jack Slater (The Highest Of Fives, Unleashed), bass
Mitch Goetz (The Highest Of Fives, Hoist The Sails), bass
Devin Anderson (The Highest Of Fives, Free Refill), drums
Tony Hubbard (Splitshot, Stonewall Creation), drums

Audio/Video:  415E initially claimed to have finished an entire original album upon their September 2012 launch, and would play their own songs live at least into mid-2013, but the album was never visibly released. They were reticent to publically post videos of their shows or jam sessions online, possibly to encourage fans to actually see them live, but the band covered the likes of Shinedown, Godsmack, Ozzy Osbourne, and Volbeat in their early shows, with Chris also being noted for his Van Halen fandom and covering them thusly here. Dave & Brett's current band Dirty Musky will hold obvious musical comparisons to 415E, as will Chris' work in bands like Nixxon Dixxon, Splitshot, Trail's End, and (presently) Rhythm & Brews. Here's 415E's sole known public video, of their original lineup covering The Stone Temple Pilots' "Interstate Love Song" in their live debut!

Info/Analysis: Publically launching at The Hubbard-Menard Band, former Splitshot bandmates Dave Menard & Chris Hubbard soon added Jack Slater and Devin Anderson to their lineup, and took the name 415E (police code for a noise disturbance from a concert or party) in October 2012. Debuting to open for Sebastian Bach in January 2013, they began playing headlining concerts on the weekend nightclub circuit that spring, primarily at Kewadin Casino lounges, including road trips to Manistique. After a spell of shorthanded gigs (some as a duo), Dave & Chris added Mitch Goetz and Chris' dad Tony in the fall of 2014, with this era of the band running into mid-2017. 415E returned after a year+ hiatus in December 2018 with Brett Blackwood & Jason VanLuven as their new rhythm section, but shows became increasingly sporadic, and they were last seen at The Hilltop Bar on Sugar Island in October 2021.

I wish I could say more on 415E as a band, but given their elusive nature re: public videos, I'm limited for direct thoughts. Their STP cover was well done, and they always had a talented lineup, with Chris always showing considerable skill on guitar, so I'm sure that any videos from their heyday would be worth checking out if uploaded belatedly. Do check out Dirty Musky, Rhythm & Brews, and Unfortunate Sun to see what band members of their last lineup are up to nowadays, and R.I.P. Tony!

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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! This series will return on or around January 10th as we kick off 2025 in this series for another randomly selected profile, and next month, we're looking at 2010s Sault Ontario grindcore/death metal duo Rotopsy! Look for that then, and for weekend concert previews next! Thanks everyone!

R.I.P. Tony Hubbard (1955-2023)

I'd like to offer our deepest condolences to the family and friends of veteran Sault Michigan rock drummer Tony Hubbard, who passed away on Monday at MyMichigan Medical Center (nee the War Memorial Hospital) at the age of 67. You can read his obituary at this link, and his memorial service took place earlier today at C.S. Mulder Funeral Home with a celebration of life following tonight at The Merchants Bar. In lieu of flowers, the Hubbard family would appreciate donations to the Hospice of the E.U.P.. SMS readers who have followed our Sault Michigan and E.U.P. coverage should be familiar with Tony for his work behind the kit with local hard rock cover bands Splitshot (from 2010-2011) and 415E (from 2014-2017), joining his son Chris to perform with both bands, though Tony didn't return to 415E when they relaunched in 2019. You may also recognize Tony from local bands like Stonewall Creation and as a former bandmate of Tim Hatfield's.

Outside of music, Tony was a skilled craftsman who owned Hubbard Interiors, and he was an avid hockey player, a loving husband and father, and a kind man who loved to tell a joke. Tony is survived by his wife Cami, four children (including Chris), three grandchildren, and four siblings. Having lost a parent myself, I can relate to what Chris and the Hubbard family are going through right now, and while public media of Tony's more recent bands was always surprisingly elusive, he was an accomplished drummer and a familiar face for many who frequented the local concert scene in the E.U.P. into the late 2010s. R.I.P. Tony!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Overdrive Orchestra, Peril And Tarnished), And An Inactive Band Note!!

Here's a Sault Michigan-centric post to take in on this Wednesday night, and it includes a band moved to our inactive band links at the end, but let's kick things off with some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for the summer season. Here's what you should know!

Local hard rock/metal quartet Tarnished will return to the local stage (as in, within an hour's drive of the Soo) when they return to Snows Bar & Grill in nearby Cedarville on Friday, June 23rd! Last seen in our coverage range at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino over Memorial Day weekend, this will be Tarnished's first Cedarville gig since playing at Snows in September of last year. It is one of four gigs announced for this month in the U.P. on their Facebook page yesterday, though the others (in Manistique, Curtis, and Gould City) are more than an hour's drive from here. Still, all are venues that Tarnished have played multiple times in the past few years, so if you live a little further west and these are local to you, keep them in mind! The Snows show on the 23rd is a 21+ affair with no cover charge and an 8:00 PM start time. Visit the above links for more details!

Next up, Grand Rapids/Nashville psychedelic hard rock quartet Overdrive Orchestra will return to The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino for concerts on Friday, July 28th & Saturday, July 29th! A rare band not from the Soo, U.P., or Northern Lower to play at regional Kewadin lounges, you may recall seeing this rising band rock both regional Kewadin branches in March and April 2022, and it's good to see them come back this direction! Overdrive Orchestra's momentum has grown in the past year+ with new material and even more fans, and hopefully some new and returning attendees come out to make July's shows worth the road trip! No word on a Rapids Lounge return at press time, but these are one of just two sets of new heavier dates listed for July 2nd-31st on Kewadin's entertainment pages for both lounges, with the others following in a second.

Overdrive Orchestra's genre-transcendent brand of hard rock can be enjoyed on July 28th & 29th at 9:00 PM, shows that have no announced cover charge and 21+ age limits. Visit the above links for more details on Overdrive Orchestra!

The other newly confirmed shows at one of the two regional Kewadin lounges will actually also be on Friday, July 28th & Saturday, July 29th, as Traverse City classic metal trio Peril will return to The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin branch that weekend! Fans in St. Ignace can see them at The Northern Pines Lounge next weekend, but the end-of-July shows will mark their first at the Sault Ste. Marie branch since early last month. The summer season is clearly good for attracting Jeff & crew for gigs north of the Mackinac Bridge, and hopefully next month's Soo shows go well for fans of their old school hard rock and metal covers as usual! Peril's sister band Scarkazm also confirmed the shows via this Facebook image listing dates from both bands and their acoustic side act Project 6, but there's nothing here that local fans didn't know unless you're inclined to take a road trip to see any of them.

As usual for Peril's Kewadin concert dates, these have 21+ age limits, 9:00 PM start times, and no cover charges. Visit the above links for more on Peril's Soo return next month, don't miss them in St. Ignace next week, and stay tuned for more from them and Scarkazm when we hear it!

Finally, I have moved local hard rock quartet 415E to our inactive band links. As best as I can gather in checking available sources, they have not played a publically advertised live concert since a Halloween party on Sugar Island in 2021, and my referencing them as returning to the stage in our 2022 year-end post appears to have been erroneous. Originally active from 2012-2017, the former Hubbard-Menard Band relaunched in January 2019 with a new rhythm section in tow, and while social media updates remained minimal, they were still seen frequently at regional Kewadin Casino branches, while also making a couple of trips to Sugar Island for gigs at The Hilltop Bar. The current existence of Rhythm & Brews (who also feature guitarist Chris Hubbard and bassist Brett Blackwood) should be noted, but the two bands did publically coexist in mid-late 2021 before 415E updates dried up, and Chris was the only common link at first.

Alas, public media of 415E was always slight (few photos and no band-uploaded videos), which must have been their method of encouraging fans to actually go out and see them live, though the similar sounding Rhythm & Brews have at least had more of a visual presence. Despite their lack of media, this union of Nixxon Dixxon, Splitshot, Bucksaw, and Clownsack alumni were a safe bet for fan friendly hard rock covers and the usual Van Halen classic here and there, but don't miss Chris & Brett in Rhythm & Brews and Jason with Fake Chow and Project 906, and hopefully we see Dave behind the mic again soon! That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews on the site next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Uncanny Valley) & Halloween Weekend Concert Previews!!

I promised a busy week to end October with, and I'm delivering, with this being our fifth post in as many days, and I hope to make it 6 tomorrow with this month's CD review! Before then, it's the Halloween weekend, and with concerts more amenable to happen at this stage of the pandemic, we have a decent amount of hard rock shows across both sides of the border to check out, including a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT! Barring anything else on late notice, here's what you should know!

Young local classic hard rock quartet The Uncanny Valley will make their Soo Blaster debut TOMORROW NIGHT when they play a special Halloween themed headlining concert there! Apologies for the short notice, the band only announced this show via their Facebook event page this past Friday. TOMORROW's concert will be The Uncanny Valley's third of 2021 and with their current lineup, and will give this rising group a chance to unleash their growing arsenal of original material on a spooky audience. It may be a tough task for them to sell out a venue the size of Soo Blaster, but this is a prime downtown locale for The Uncanny Valley to do their thing at, so consider coming out TOMORROW! Advertising does not confirm if there will be a costume contest of any kind or not, but you should definitely wear one if you attend, as if you're paying at the door, you will save $5 by coming in a costume!

Tickets are $15 in advance or for costumed attendees, $20 at the door if you aren't dressed up, and while this may seem steep to just see one band, remember that holiday frills are a given, and regardless, this is a larger venue with pandemic measures in place. Otherwise, this is a 19+ concert with a 10:00 PM start time, and contact/head down to Soo Blaster for advance tickets. And of course, vaccine passports are mandatory to attend this concert, and please use common sense & wear face masks where mandated to keep everyone safe. Visit the above links for more details, and here's The Uncanny Valley live earlier this year!

Next up, let's head to Michigan's Eastern Upper Peninsula for some previously announced Halloween weekend concerts, and we'll start at The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino, where Traverse City classic metal trio Peril will play their only E.U.P. dates of the year TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! While we have seen their sister band Scarkazm north of the Mack since, this will be Peril's first E.U.P. concert weekend since February 2020 for obvious pandemic-related reasons. Scarkazm are more frequently seen nowadays, but Jeff, Adam, and Brooks' brand of old school hard rock and metal classics are sure to bring in a solid crowd this weekend, so don't miss out on Peril this weekend, especially as they won't be back until next year! No special Halloween frills are in the band's advertising, but expect 9:00 PM start times, no cover charge, and a 21+ age limit, as is standard for Peril and Scarkazm's Kewadin bookings.

And as recently usual, please respect & follow any public health guidelines in place at the casino and/or lounge to ensure that everyone comes and goes safe & healthy. It's great to see Peril back in our neck of the woods after way too long away, and with or without costumes, hopefully tomorrow & Saturday night's concerts go off without a hitch! Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Peril live!

Further north but still in the States, fans can head to Sugar Island THIS SATURDAY NIGHT, where revived Sault Ste. Marie hard rock quartet 415E will return to The Hilltop Bar for a Halloween weekend concert of their own! Like Peril, we haven't seen 415E in concert locally since February 2020 (at the same venue in this case), and while guitarist Chris Hubbard and bassist Brett Blackwood did resurface with the debuting Rhythm & Brews a few months back, that band hasn't been heard from online since, with 415E resuming public activity afterwards. In any event, it's great to see 415E back after a lengthy break, and hopefully Dave, Chris, Brett, and Jason deliver a solid night of hard rocking covers for fans in Sugar Island on Devil's Night! This is unequivocally The Hilltop Bar's Halloween party, so costumes are encouraged, with a contest planned as well as drink specials & appetizers for the occasion.

This 19+ event has no announced cover charge (bring cash just in case), and while a start time of 7:00 PM is advertised with the costume contest winners being announced at 9:00 PM, I can't say for certain whether 415E proper will be playing that early or if they'll be after the winners are announced. Regardless, please respect and follow any and all social distancing and public health guidelines at The Hilltop Bar to ensure that every *one has a safe time on Saturday. Visit the official Facebook event page and the above links for more details, and here's 415E live in the 2010s!

Finally, let's head back to Sault Ontario for arguably the biggest hard rock-featured Halloween show of the weekend, if only because this one has two bands, namely new local pop rock cover quintet Lockdown and their sister band, Foo Fighters tribute quartet The Soo Fighters, who will hit The Rockstar Bar for their Halloween party on SATURDAY NIGHT! Both bands were last seen at The Northern Vibe Festival in August, which was the first show period for Lockdown and the debut of The Soo Fighters' new lineup, but that was in Ophir, so this will be the first time in Sault city limits on both fronts. Lockdown aren't a hard rock band, if videos from August are anything to go by, but 3 band members are in The Soo Fighters (and Nicole did some guest backing vocals for them too), so there's a lot of talented DNA between the two bands, and come early to get your hard rock fill via The Soos (hard to believe this is just their fifth show!)

Note that this is not J.D. Pearce's annual Halloween party, which was last held in 2019 due to the pandemic & his out of town work commitments, but given the locale and The Soo Fighters' involvement, this is the closest you're going to get to it this weekend! Expect a costume contest & the usual Halloween frills, with The Soo Fighters kicking things off at 10:00 PM. No cover charge is announced for this 19+ concert, but bring cash just in case, and vaccine passports are mandatory to attend, so use common sense once you enter! Solid music will abound at The Rockstar Bar on Saturday night, so visit the Facebook event page for more details, and here's The Soo Fighters live!

That's all for today, but barring some very late notice show announcements, stay tuned for this month's CD review next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (415E), Buckcherry Concert Videos, And More!!

We're back with a new news post on the SMS on this Thursday morning, and it includes one more teaser for a concert tonight at a technically private venue (organizers want fans to come though, and this may be the push you need!), plus the first public videos from a recent major concert, and leading off, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for later this month! Here's what you should know!

Revived Sault Michigan hard rock quartet 415E will return to The Hilltop Bar in nearby Sugar Island for a Devil's Night concert on Saturday, October 30th! This will be 415E's first publically advertised concert since playing at the same venue in February 2020, with guitarist Chris Hubbard publically working on his long-gestating solo project and his new band Rhythm & Brews in the interim. I'm not sure if 415E were just on hiatus during the pandemic or if Rhythm & Brews were functionally "replacing" them, but it's great to see 415E back, and with their pre-pandemic lineup intact! This includes singer Dave Menard, bassist Brett Blackwood (who played in Rhythm & Brews' debut gigs), and drummer Jason VanLuven joining Chris once again, as revealed in this 5 second "video" to promote the concert, though it's more of an animated poster than anything else, hence why it's not embedded here.

Hopefully 415E's hard rocking brand of covers get a strong reception from fans in Sugar Island next weekend, so don't miss out if you're able! Pre-pandemic Hilltop Bar events had 7:00 PM start times, there's no announced cover charge, and expect a 19+ age limit, and please respect & follow any social distancing and public health guidelines at the bar to ensure everyone's safety, especially over Halloween weekend. See above for more details!

Next up, and from what accounts I've heard online so far, last night's Buckcherry concert at Soo Blaster in Sault Ontario was a success, and a couple of public videos from it are now online to check out! One is a brief 15 second clip of the headlining Anaheim hard rock quintet playing their 2012 single "Gluttony", as shared by 705Live Sound Co.'s Facebook page yesterday afternoon. Not to be confused with dormant concert promoters Live705, 705Live provide sound at live events, and they were on hand in that regard last night, hence why their video is so far from the stage. Still, you can get a sense of the crowd numbers, and even with the vaccine passport mandate, it looks like a sizeable crowd came out! Fan heads do mostly block Buckcherry from view, but the overall quality is respectable despite the video's short length and lack of zoom. Give it a watch below, and we'll let you know if more videos surface!

The only other video I've found on a public source so far comes from new-ish local/Ottawa hard rock quartet Bad Chug's opening set, as filmed by prolific local concert filmer Christopher Paci for his YouTube channel, marking his first concert video upload since The Hair Scare Live in Sault Michigan in February 2020! We all know why it's taken this long for him to film anything else. No word yet on if Chris shot anything from Buckcherry or Redundant's sets (the Bad Chug video was uploaded early yesterday), but we'll let you know if anything else surfaces! The video gives us our first look at Bad Chug on a Sault Ste. Marie stage and with new second guitarist Jacob Quarrell (no comment on his attire), and on this song, it looks like guitarist Aaron Desmoulin is on lead vocals. Alas, the scratchy audio & steady cymbal hits don't help in my efforts to identify if this is a cover.

The song proper is an up-tempo hard rocker that has a little bit of a classic rock feel to it that almost reminds me of some horror punk. Not bad, but again, this isn't the clearest quality audio, so hopefully more footage of Bad Chug (at this show or otherwise) surfaces! Chris wasn't too far from the stage and he had a good vantage point of the proceedings, but Aaron is very hard to make out from the very bright stage lighting above him and his placement at the side of the stage. Give this Bad Chug video a look below, and we'll have more videos from this show when & if they goes public!

Finally for today, here's a trailer for tonight's Alien To The Ignorant concert at the private venue Mellow D's Underground, but this one isn't focused on the headliners, rather openers/venue hosts The Apocalypse Afterparty! Uploaded to their Facebook page on Sunday, this serves a double purpose, as while it promotes the concert (including finally giving away Mellow D's current address!), it also features 17 seconds of their to-be-released music video for their cover of Saul Williams' "List Of Demands (Reparations)". The video (shot by Spacebag Productions) shows the band playing in that very cramped room as we saw in prior teasers from the shoot, perhaps not a bathroom like I had guessed, but it is worth noting that The Apocalypse Afterparty appear to just be represented here by frontman Paul & drummer Amanda Stanghetta without a second bassist, which would 100% signal that Alice Rose has left the band.

A reason for her departure was not announced, but she had initially been absent on temporary basis as of December 2019, and The A.A. had enlisted uncredited bassists to fill in through last summer, but the video has the Stanghettas in full-on Death From Above 1979 mode as a two-person band. Hopefully all's well with Alice! The music video teaser is promising and shows Paul & Amanda getting an energetic, full sound out of this staple cover of theirs, and hopefully the full video is released soon! Give it a look below, and remember, the address for TONIGHT'S Alien To The Ignorant concert (also featuring the returning Bear Hunters) can be found within!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates on the site soon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Wyld Stallyns), Surprise New Album Announcements, And More!!

Bit of a surprise new post on this Friday, but if I wanted to cover a new LOCAL CONCERT ALERT before we were a week and under until it occurred, I had to get this out today. Along with this new event, we have the surprise announcement of new albums from an inactive group, and some assorted recent updates, so here's what you should know!

Local funk/hard rock cover quintet The Wyld Stallyns will headline a special fundraiser concert for the Entomica Insectarium at their current homebase at the Canadian Bushplane Heritage Center on Saturday, August 21st! Surprisingly only just announced on Wednesday given the scope and unique aspects of it, this is the first Bushplane Museum concert we've covered on the site since in over two years, but being attached to the Entomica bug lab is a new one for us. Entomica do great work in educating everyone about insects, and hopefully this "Let's 'Mis-Bee-Hive', Come Out & Jive" social will help the cause and entertain a local audience at this late(?) stage of the pandemic! The Wyld Stallyns (plural) will close the night at 11:00 PM as the only hard rock-leaning band on offer, but the lineup does have a mini-Rotaryfest feel to it, plus lots of food/drink vendors and kids entertainment, but who else can you expect next Saturday?

Veteran local entertainer Tim Murphy will do a host segment at 10:30 PM, heavily implied to be doing so in drag as Ms. Beehive (get it, "misbehave"?), which fits along with many of his other live stage and hosting work, so expect some humour here! Classic rock veterans Mustang Heart (who do cover hard rock on occasion) will take the stage at 9:30 PM, while local country musician Jeffrey Wright will hit the stage at 8:30 PM. If you're not familiar with Jeffrey, he only just launched his Facebook page last month, but he is a talented multimedia artist! The opening two acts get extended 90 minute timeslots, including Rotaryfest veterans The Northern Jazz Ensemble at 6:45 PM and the confusingly named Josh Norling Jazz Ensemble (led by the prolific Blues Harvest saxophonist) kicking things off at 5:00 PM. This is an all ages event with admission by a $5 minimum donation.

And as usual with the pandemic, please respect and follow any social distancing and public health guidelines being enforced at the Bushplane Museum/Entomica to ensure everyone's safety. Now that we're finally seeing some multi-band concerts in Sault Ontario at a scale reminiscent of what we saw locally before the pandemic, hopefully the "Let's 'Mis-Bee-Hive', Come Out & Jive" social fundraiser is a hit for all parties, and stay tuned for more in our next weekend concert previews! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, including on all of the vendors!

Next up, have you been waiting for details on Mike Haggith's next solo album release and new original material? Well, here's a swerve, as his defunct local power pop/hard rock trio The Din have announced a couple of posthumous album releases for later this year! After a series of surprise teasers on Thursday (the fifth anniversary of it's release), the band announced on their Facebook page that they will be re-releasing their debut mainline album "Give In To The Din" in a deluxe edition with eighteen tracks! For reference, the original 2016 release only had nine songs, so are these all rough demos of what made the cut, or are these properly unreleased, perhaps including songs only heard in live recordings? Time will tell! The second album will be called "Technically Live", and it will comprise their full set from the "Give In To The Din" CD release party at the auditorium at The Tech (the former St. Mary's/Lakeway Collegiate site) from August 12th, 2016!

Now, the latter isn't completely unheard material, as Shaw TV filmed The Din's set that night for the premiere episode of their OnStage series, where they played the entire "Give In To The Din" album, plus two non-album tracks (Mike's solo song "Of Cars & Criminals" & their unreleased original "Differences"), but a smattering of outside covers were not included in Shaw's broadcast. Will those be present on "Technically Live", and will the audio be proper soundboard recordings, or come from Shaw's cameras? Follow The Din on Facebook to get further updates as they roll in, and it's great to see Mike, Tammy, and Brandan have some more fuel in the tank!

Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist name:

• In their first Facebook page posting in 17 months, Sault Michigan hard rock quartet 415E shared a photo on July 20th of a drumkit & speakers with the caption "Time to jam". Them returning to activity at this stage of the pandemic makes sense, but guitarist Chris Hubbard & bassist Brett Blackwood debuted their very similar new band Rhythm & Brews at The Rapids Lounge earlier that same month, and that band hasn't posted online since July 3rd. Have Rhythm & Brews thrown in the towel already & reverted to the 415E name, or will both bands continue forward? Time will tell, but 415E are back in our active band links!
• Following my decision to drop the planned Defunct Local Band Profile on them earlier this week, I have removed mid-2000s all-female hard rock trio Apocrytha from our inactive band links due to a complete and utter lack of surviving public information on their official online accounts (re: just their MySpace page, whose photos all no longer work). Follow members' later bands like The Freshwater Sirens and The Danger Cats to hear what the ladies have been up to!
• Almost a year & a half after his prior search on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group, local guitarist, singer, and drummer Jayrald Micky is looking to join something and is "dying to jam and get back out there". He did note that he has stage experience, but I'm not familiar with public band work of his. Message him at this link or via his group post from Wednesday for more details!

 

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

More New Videos & Assorted Updates!!

With no hard rock concerts on the local schedule this weekend (even social distance regulation-infused ones), let's cover some recent news and notes on this Thursday night, including a handful of assorted stories from the last few days, and leading off, some new videos, including a new performance clip from local/Thompson, Manitoba alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith! Posted onto the Shaw Community Link YouTube channel on Saturday, this was uploaded as one last bit of promotion for that day's Thompson Winterfest virtual concert that he hosted on their Shaw Spotlight affiliate, and it just so happens to be our first on-demand glimpse of his new single "To Be With You"! As of this writing, it's studio copy remains exclusive to The Borderline Radio, so if you don't want to wait for it in it's regular rotation, this video will be extra notable! No, he didn't play this song during Winterfest proper.

I don't know if this will be part of a new album he's working on or if it will be a standalone single (it is not from his delayed next CD "Bridges"), but in this acoustic format, it's well performed and suitably emotional, and it will definitely please fans of Mike's softer material! Give it a watch below, and stay tuned for more from Mike's camp when it rolls in!

 

Next up, here's another new video from ex-Sense Of Truth/Skeyes Of Seven frontman Cory Murchison's YouTube channel on Sunday, uploaded not long after we covered his rendition of Seether's "Broken" on the site that same day. This vocal/guitar cover is of Weezer's acoustic ballad "Butterfly", and was uploaded in black & white for a change. Not a bad rendition, Cory does capture the feelings of the original, but his vocals do sound a little forced on some of the softer verses. Check it out for yourself below!

 

 

Also, here's some videos from local southern/hard rock cover quintet Fort Creek's Facebook page that we missed out on entirely during the second Ontario lockdown, so I apologize for the delay in these making the site! On January 24th, a friend (spouse?) of the band filmed in their jam room and got an interview of sorts with bassist Robin "Bones" Lee while he was practicing, and he gave his thoughts about the lockdown and their hopes to play live again and record a planned EP, while also playing a sample that he was working on towards new original material. Two days later, drummer Anthony Fabiano posted a black & white video where he talked to fans on much the same tract as in Robin's video (e.g. stay safe, we'll be back soon, we have plans to record an album), but this video has more of a musical base, featuring overhead shots of him drumming. Solid work behind the kit, as you'd expect!

Lastly, singer Justin Grayson posted a video on January 29th from his vehicle where he acknowledged that his bandmates covered the same ground he wanted to talk about, but he did reiterate the CD plans and their hopes to come back on stage (for what it's worth, he does not sing anything here.) Of course, we can next see Fort Creek live at Reggie's West in three weeks, and it was nice of the guys (minus Shane & Matt) to update fans during the lockdown like this! Check out Robin's video below, and see more above!

 

Finally for today, here's three shorter assorted items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist name:

 

• I have moved Sault Michigan hard rock cover quartet 415E back to our inactive band links due to a year's inactivity. The band from Nixxon Dixxon & Splitshot alumni had returned from an 18 month hiatus for concerts in 2019 through February 2020's one-off Leap Day gig in Sugar Island, but have been AWOL online since (pandemic acknowledged.) Hopefully we hear from Dave, Chris, Brett, and Jason again when proper concerts resume in the E.U.P.!
• Revived Sault Ontario progressive metal duo Kraken Mara have posted four original studio songs on their website, presumably for their debut EP, including the previously public "Stratus", the title track "Vibe Check", and new songs named "MinMaj" & "Moon's Haunted" (a fifth song named "The Woodward" has quietly been removed for unannounced reasons.) Presuming that the EP is finally coming out soon, I'll hold comment for now, but remember to watch the premiere of the "Vibe Check" playthrough video next Friday!
• In their latest non-TikTok updates from their Facebook page, Sault Michigan hard rock band Tarnished have been plugging the progress of their new single "SDR&R" (possibly standing for "Sick, Drunk, Rock & Roll"?), and the date of Friday, March 26th has been teased in conjunction with said postings. This is the song they were seeking gang vocals from fans for. A post on February 18th also noted that Tarnished are planning a run of their debut EP "Down To The Wire" on cassette tapes. Stay tuned for updates on both fronts this month!
  

 

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

More Concert Cancellations, SooToday's COVID-19 Benefit Concert, And More!!

For your Friday reading, we have some new at-home concerts, one from a prolific local mainstay, and the other featuring over a dozen local entertainers joining forces for great and relevant cause. However, we're leading off with some news on more upcoming concerts getting called off for sadly predictable reasons, so here's what you hould know!

This was inevitable the way things are going, but we have some more concert cancellations to take note of today, mostly related to Michigan's stay-at-home order, as Governor Gretchen Whitmer extended it to May 15th this morning, and click here or visit your preferred Michigan news outlets for more details. While some of the restrictions were loosened at the same time, concert venues and restaurants are still closed during this time, so don't look for any concerts there in the near future. The new May 15th cutoff will definitely cancel Highway 63's concerts at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino on May 1st & 2nd, plus 415E's Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin shows the following week. All that's left for our Sault Michigan-area hard rock concert calendar in May are a pair of hard rock concert weekends at the Kewadin branches at the end of the month, and we will let you know when/if anything is firmly stated about them. At this time, the Sault Ontario shutdowns have not been similarly extended.

From what I have seen, neither the Numbing nor Anti-Queens concerts in May have been visibly cancelled or postponed by local promoters or the headliners, but their status is precarious as best, especially as Numbing's would have been cancelled by the Michigan government today had it been across the river. It's also worth noting that the Downtown Association has cancelled all events through the end of July (source here), but none of those had regularly established concerts. We'll keep you guys posted!

Next up, local news website SooToday hosted their own YouTube concert event yesterday, entitled Come Together Sault Ste. Marie, featuring 17 musical and entertainment acts performing from home. Of course, this was organized as a coronavirus pandemic benefit event, and viewers are encouraged to donate money to the Algoma COVID-19 Response Fund and the Sault Area Hospital Emergency Fund. Wonderful causes at this time of need, so definitely consider donating to one or both! This event seemed to come together quickly, but a wide swath of talented local artists took part, and while the roster does not primarily feature hard rock or punk acts, there are a handful of familiar faces for long-time readers. Some of the artists performing yesterday included the rap collective Sound Syndrome featuring Conika, folk musician/promoter Jackson Reed, the always prolific Jay Case featuring Frank Deresti & Sheldon Jaaskelainen, and veteran local rock musician Tracey Hilderley with Steve Cardiff, among many others.

The 93 minute run time limited musicians to a song each, and introductions by host Jasmyn Rowley & remarks from local dignitaries were also included, but give the whole thing a watch to see some great local talent coming together, if from afar, at this really strange time! There was one punk act on the bill yesterday, they being local Celtic punk quintet Dustin Jones & The Rising Tide (in Sheldon's first of two appearances in Come Together Sault Ste. Marie), so what should you know here? The Tide are actually the second entertainment act on yesterday's bill (after The Musical Comedy Guild), and due to social distancing, the guys perform remotely in each other's homes, with the five miniature videos arranged together in the frame. I'm surprised more musicians aren't doing that locally! Dustin and company performed "Lost & Found", the first single from their forthcoming fourth studio album, and while audio variance is inevitable due to the different camera setups, everyone sounds great!

I have no idea how the pandemic has affected the album recording and release plans, but it's good to see The Rising Tide in fine form here, and hopefully everyone's safe and healthy in their camp and families! Visit the above links to go directly to their performance (or go to 11:04 in the video below), but don't bypass the rest of Come Together Sault Ste. Marie!



Finally for today, here's all of the latest on local hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison's seventh live-streamed concert from his YouTube channel last night! This time, his 2 hour set begins about 18 minutes into the video, and Tym starts off with his regular Spanish guitar instrumental. He dives into covers after that, and in order, they include The Steve Miller Band's "Abracadabra", Billy Joel's "She's Always A Woman", The Proclaimers' "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)", Tommy Tutone's "867-5309/Jenny", Kim Mitchell's "Patio Lanterns", Eric Carmen's "All By Myself", Aerosmith's "Dream On", Peter Cetera's "Glory of Love", Toto's "Africa", Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time", Abba's "The Winner Takes It All", Peter Gabriel's "Solsbury Hill", Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline", The Beatles' "Something", Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues", The Scorpions' "Rock You Like A Hurricane", The Who's "Behind Blue Eyes", Cheap Trick's "I Want You To Want Me", Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean"...

...Journey's "Open Arms", Starship's "We Built This City", The Bangles' "Eternal Flame", The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's "Fishin' In The Dark", Bryan Adams' "Summer of '69", Amanda Marshall's "Trust Me (This Is Love)", and The Beatles' "Here Comes The Sun". Nice selection of classic rock-leaning covers here, including a handful of new songs for his live-streamed series, and his performances remain as solid as ever, so give Tym's newest show a watch, and look for more next week, one presumes!



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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Project 906), Leap Day Concert Previews, And More Updates!!

As promised, let's wrap up this weekend's concert previews today by looking at announced hard rock shows taking place on Saturday, February 29th (a.k.a. Leap Day!) To round things out, I do have some assorted recent news and notes, but let's start things with a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!

Sault Michigan hard/blues rock quartet Project 906 will play their first concert of 2020 THIS SATURDAY NIGHT when they return to rock The Strongs Tavern in nearby Eckerman! Apologies for the short notice, this concert was only announced by the venue's Facebook page on Monday. Continuing with their reduced live schedule in the past year, this will be Project 906's first publically advertised concert since playing in Hulbert Township in November, and it will be their first Strongs Tavern stop since June. It doesn't look like there's any special perks or themes to this one, but Project 906's hard rocking covers should go over well at this popular Western Chippewa County nightclub on SATURDAY, so don't miss out on all of the action then! SATURDAY's concert has a 9:00 PM start time, no cover charge, and a 21+ age limit. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Project 906 live!



Next up, let's head east to Sugar Island, where fellow Sault Ste. Marie hard rock quartet 415E will play a rare non-Kewadin concert on SATURDAY NIGHT at The Hilltop Bar at 5393 Sugar Island Road! Long a ticket depot for the Sugar Island Music Festival, this nightclub and restaurant does host live music on occasion, and 415E will do the honours on Saturday for their Leap Day festivities! Most of the advertising focuses on their menu selections, so visit the above links if that interests you, but if you don't want to wait until May to hear 415E's Van Halen-influenced covers, consider a ferry trip to Sugar Island tomorrow! No word on if this is a hint towards the festival lineup this year. The band is advertised to take the stage at 8:00 PM, and expect a 21+ age limit and no cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, and here's 415E live a few years back!



Lastly for publically advertised hard rock concerts this weekend, let's head north to Sault Ontario, where new (and online page-less) local hard rock cover quartet Barely Covered will play their second concert on SATURDAY NIGHT at LopLops Lounge! Featuring 3/4ths of the mid-2010s cover band Changing Lanes alongside new singer Maggie Gasparetto, some readers may recall seeing Barely Covered at this same venue in September, but with a show under their belt and a Leap Day to celebrate, what sorts of covers from the 1980s-2000s will they break out? Remember, sound and setlist descriptions for Barely Covered are heavier than what Changing Lanes had. A very talented lineup is featured here, including Blues Harvest, Startlefish, and Wild Iris alumni, so definitely consider coming to see this one before the month's over! As usual for LopLops, expect a 9:30 PM start time, a $5 cover charge, and a 19+ age limit. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and I don't know of any public videos of Barely Covered yet!

Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items from the last little while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist name:

• When researching our Defunct Local Band Profile on them earlier this month, I discovered that inactive local grunge/hardcore duo Bad Back had quietly taken down their Facebook page for unannounced reasons at some point since they dissolved in 2016. I wish bands wouldn't do that, but their Twitter page remains online, so I have changed our link on the SMS to that account, and it was very helpful in completing our profile!
• Local punk trio Redundant have been named as the local openers for the Buckcherry concert at Soo Blaster on May 13th, as per recent updates on the Facebook event page. Not a perfect genre match, but this is a huge platform for their first local date of 2020, and members do have tickets to sell in case you want to get them in person, so contact them at this link for details!
• I have moved local death metal duo This Is Your Band On Drugs back to our inactive band links, as they have not issued a public update since quietly dropping out of their planned reunion set at the For Those About To Grind concert at The New A one year ago yesterday. Chase has been very busy in the past year with his own solo endeavours, but best of luck to him and Nick in the future!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for some long overdue news on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (415E & The Wyld Stallyns) And More Weekend Concert Previews!!

As promised, we're capping off this weekend's hard rock concert previews with this post, though we are leading off with LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, one on SHORT NOTICE! Yes, I am well aware of a big concert announcement at Soo Blaster, stay tuned for info on that very soon. Now, here's what you should know for those new shows!

Local acoustic hard rock trio The Wyld Stallyns will return to The Whiskey Barrel for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the band only acknowledged the show via their Facebook page earlier today, but the venue had advertised it all month as part of their February schedule announcement, as seen on the shows' collective Facebook event page. I must get better at following The Whiskey Barrel's monthly concert schedules, apologies again! This will be The Elements side project's first concert since playing at LopLops two weeks ago, and it picks up where they left off when they played another Friday nighter at this popular Gore Street restaurant/nightclub last month. No word on why they're not playing on Saturday, but look for more hard rocking and varied covers TOMORROW from The Stallyns! Expect an 8:00 PM start time, no cover, and a 19+ age limit. See above for more details, and here's The Wyld Stallyns live!



Next up, here's a show that the band gave some reasonable advance notice to, as Sault Michigan hard rock quartet 415E will play at The Hilltop Bar in nearby Sugar Island on Saturday, February 29th at that venue's Leap Day party! This is a very surprising announcement in two respects, one being that this is the first 415E concert in a long, long time while that wasn't under the Kewadin Casino umbrella (at least, not that had a public announcement online.) It'll be interesting to see how Dave, Chris, Brett, and Jason are received here! The other unique aspect is the locale, as seeing a hard concert announcement in Sugar Island outside of the annual Music Festival there in August is completely new for us. The Hilltop Bar is a long-time ticket depot for that event, FYI. The pictured cover photo from the bar's Facebook page indicates that said Leap Day party will have a heavy emphasis on their restaurant offerings, but they have yet to confirm 415E as the live music (the band did that on their Facebook page.)

No cover charge is advertised for this event, and while start times aren't advertised either, Hilltop Bar events usually begin at 7:00 PM, and the bar proper opens at 10:00 AM. The address is 5393 Sugar Island Road. 415E's hard rocking covers should go over well at this relatively unfamiliar venue next Saturday, so see above for more details!

Moving to the rest of this weekend's concert previews, let's stay in the E.U.P., as The Hair Scare Live is hitting The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino THIS SATURDAY NIGHT! A special concert named after the popular 1980s metal radio show on Rock 101 on Saturday nights, this is an event that you may want to see in person rather than just turn on your radio, and it will be headlined by former Cinderella frontman Tom Keifer in his first local stop since Cinderella played here in 2011. Tom and his solo band should have plenty of Cinderella classics like "Don't Know What You Got (Till It's Gone)" in store, so don't miss out! Support will come via Maryland glam/hard rock quintet Kix and Los Angeles hair metal veterans Faster Pussycat, both in their apparent local concert debuts. Genre fans will surely know many hits from both bands, from "Don't Close Your Eyes" to "House of Pain", so expect lots of throwback action!

As best as I can tell, Hair Scare host and Rock 101 morning DJ Scott Cook will be on hand as the MC on Saturday, which is only logical given the branding. Presented by Meridian Entertainment, this all ages & 7:00 PM concert still has limited standing room tickets available for $25 and premium seats available at higher prices, so visit this link, the in-person box office, or at 1-800-KEWADIN to get hooked up. The Dreammaker's Theater has always been very kind to hair metal, as have fans, so this should be a great concert! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Tom Keifer live!



Finally for this weekend, let's wrap up back in Sault Ontario, and if you can't get to The Hair Scare Live, Canadian fans aren't completely out of the woods on SATURDAY NIGHT, as Oshawa-based Bon Jovi tribute band Bon Jovi Forever will return for this headlining concert! Bon Jovi fans are in good hands here, as this tribute is making their third local concert appearance on Saturday, following well recieved gigs here in May 2016 and this past October. With a faithful looking and sounding stage show for fans of their early hair metal classics and newer, more general rock output, you should find something to like from B.J.F. in their third local go-around! Might they already have Bon Jovi's new single "Limitless" in their repertoire? As was the case last year, this is a 19+ concert with doors opening at 9:00 PM, and tickets run for $15 in advance at The Canadian's front desk, $20 at the door. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Bon Jovi Forever live!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for a new news post on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!