On this 55th straight day of SMS posts, we have new videos to check out from some familiar veteran faces, but let's lead off with some more updates to our concert calendar, albeit negative ones as usual. We'll start in Michigan, where Kewadin Casino announced on their Facebook page yesterday that their branches will all remain closed through the end of the month, with June 1st tentatively slated to be their re-opening date. As such, this wipes out the final May concerts we listed in the E.U.P., namely the May 29th weekend shows from Peril in the Soo and Highway 63 in St. Ignace. In Sault Ontario, nothing that we currently have listed has been visibly cancelled by the bands or promoters on social media, but I am reluctantly delisting the Anti-Queens concert at The Rockstar Bar on May 23rd, as everything around it this month has been called off, and many of The Anti-Queens later concert dates are getting postponed or cancelled elsewhere.
For full disclosure, the local show has not been publically cancelled by the band, promoter, or venue, but the likelihood of this concert and no others in May taking place seems slim-to-none, and there are definitely more cancellations and postponements ahead. If I happen to be wrong, I will redact this, but these are funny times that we're living in right now.
Next up, Northern Superior Brewing Co.'s sixth weekly "Songs & A Six-Pack" live-stream concert took place last night, and this week's host was Bone Yard frontman and (Choose) Maxx Entertainment head Greg Simpson! For the record, last week's show was headlined by country musician Brendan Hodgson, so genre fans will definitely want to check that one out at this link. Simultaneously, Greg's performance is the de facto sequel to his "Songs From The Smoke Room" live-stream last month, with it's planned follow-up on April 8th cancelled on short notice due to his father-in-law being in the hospital, which he acknowledged in last night's video, but thankfully, he is doing better now. Of course, it's great to see Greg back in the smoke room for more covers, albeit with Northern Superior advertising and plugs thrown in! Like last month, this set is more reflective of Greg's past work in classic/hard rock bands.
The 82 minute video starts with his slowed down acoustic cover of Kiss' "Rock & Roll All Nite", before moving to renditions of Kris
Kristofferson's "Me & Bobby McGee", Black Label Society's
"Spoke In The Wheel", Kid Rock's "All Summer Long", Bob Dylan's "Knockin' On Heaven's Door", The Tragically Hip's
"Fiddler's Green", Cinderella's "Shelter Me", Pink Floyd's "Wish You
Were Here", The 4 Non Blondes' "What's Up", Ray
LaMontagne's "Jolene", The Band's "The Weight", Jamey Johnson's "High Cost of Living", The Barenaked Ladies' "The Old Apartment", Prince & The Revolution's "Purple Rain", The Five Man Electric Band's "Signs", and Guns N' Roses' "Used To Love Her". If you get deja vu from Greg's live-stream last month, then I cannot blame you whatsoever, as only two songs from that set ("Wheat Kings" & "I
Took A Pill In Ibiza") were not reprised last night, and only the last five covers were brand new.
That all said, this is still an entertaining concert set, and Greg injects a lot of these songs with good energy and optimism, complete with more entertaining banter with his wife Kerry, helping out off-camera once again. Hopefully there's more on the horizon from Greg, but give his "Songs & A Six-Pack From The Smoke Room" a watch below!
Finally, here's a newly shared video of Greg's old classic/hard rock cover band That's Chester, albeit before he joined the group! This comes from Rotaryfest's main stage at Clergue Park in July 2006, and was uploaded onto drummer Ric Datson's YouTube channel on Tuesday. This features That's Chester with their original frontman Richard Fullerton (now of the Ottawa-based Led Zeppelin tribute band Mothership), and the video opens with an amusing intro by MC/local radio DJ James Warner-Smith where the guys get introduced as the "next" band in an increasingly silly list of musicians, and we even hear their early stage names too (all have "Chester" in them). Musically speaking, you can see Ritch, Eugene, Gabe, Aubrey, and Ric cover a number of different songs, though these were edited into a clip montage in post-production, so no full songs are presented. Fans will hear Sammy Hagar, The Tragically Hip, and AC/DC songs, among others.
I wish the song fragments were at least longer, and the editing quality gives me the impression that this isn't a brand new video, but it's nice to hear the original That's Chester lineup at their height before Richard left! Everyone sounds good, so fans of theirs would be well served to give this video a watch, and visit Ric's YouTube channel for more archive video uploads of his!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!
Today's news post is 100% devoted to LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (all with plenty of advance notice too!), and there are a lot of familiar faces to go around here, from prominent local musicians to previously seen touring acts. Here's what you need to know in chronological order!
Local "no genre" (if alternative/punk-leaning) trio Handsome Sandwich will play a pair of solo headlining dates at The Rockstar Bar on Friday, February 28th & Saturday, February 29th! Fresh off of their unplugged set at the (reportedly) now-closed Room 21 on Friday, this will be a rare advance notice opportunity to see Johnny, Jesse, and James on stage in a weekend bar band capacity with no advertised opening acts. What kind of set will be on display from this curiously named trio at month's end, and will it be as irreverent in humour and cover selection as their other post-return gigs? Be at The Rockstar Bar next weekend to find out! As usual for single band local gigs at this venue, these are both 19+ engagements with no cover charges and likely 9:00 PM start times. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and stay tuned for more from their camp as it rolls in (they even updated their Facebook page for the first time in almost 2 years yesterday!)
Next up, the other two bands from Friday night's Acoustic Heartstrings concert will join forces the following week at the same venue, as new local hard rock quartet The Bridge Heads and acoustic pop rock quartet Big Mistake will rock The Rockstar Bar on Friday, March 7th! Both bands (each featuring Jack Spades guitarist Daniel Horton) made their public live debuts on Friday, so this will be a way for fans to see how both bands are developing. Big Mistake will likely not be too different thematically from night #1, being acoustic by design, but this will be our first chance to see Haggith/Eclipse successors The Bridge Heads with plugged in instruments and a full drum kit. This should be an intriguing way for fans to see two new (yet familiar) bands on stage in one fell swoop, so don't miss out! While this is also a 19+ event, the Facebook event page unfortunately lists a $5 cover charge, as well as a later 9:30 PM start time. Should be an entertaining yet diverse night of music, so see above for more details!
Also new next month, the aforementioned Handsome Sandwich and rap/metal trio The Apocalypse Afterparty will hit LopLops Lounge on Friday, March 13th as the local support for Thunder Bay post-pop mainstay Jean-Paul de Roover and his backing band The Bandaid Solution! Self-described as "alt rock prog pop", the backing band is new to me, but Jean-Paul is no stranger to the Soo, having played here solo at least six times since 2009, most recently at LopLops last October. I wouldn't say Jean-Paul crosses the hard rock line, but he is renowned for his energetic live sets and diverse blend of styles in his original material, including pop rock, acapella, and electronic influences. It's great to see him back in the Soo once again! Of course, the local acts will provide some heavier and punk styles, with Handsome Sandwich getting a tune-up before opening for A Dire Setback there two weeks later, while this will be The Apocalypse Afterparty's first public concert set not affiliated with The Soo's Got Talent since their minimally advertised pop-up gigs in 2017.
No word on if Alice will be back on second bass next month, but this should be a solid showcase for The A.A.'s own energetic genre blending sound! For what it's worth, the Facebook event page lists Jean-Paul and his band in the middle slot, implying that The Apocalypse Afterparty are closing that night, but there's been no elaboration on that front. A 10:00 PM start time is advertised for this 19+ concert, which has a $10 charge at the door (no word on online ticket availability.) This sounds like a fun concert with something for everyone, so visit the above links for more details!
Finally for today's new concert post, all-female Toronto punk/grunge quartet The Anti-Queens will return to Sault Ste. Marie when they headline at the aforementioned Rockstar Bar on Saturday, May 23rd! This will be The Anti-Queens' first local concert appearance since headlining at this same venue back in July 2016, though they headlined on short notice after guitarist Valerie Knox's other band Black Cat Attack had tour van issues. Four years later, The Anti-Queens are the featured headliners from the start, and their hard hitting brand of modern punk should get a solid audience at The Rockstar Bar in three months! While not yet listed on the Facebook event page, it was created through local punk/metal quintet Jack Spades' Facebook page, heavily implying that this will be their first concert since their tour run with Random Killing in September. Surprisingly long layoff (Tiffany moving acknowledged), but they opened for The Anti-Queens last time and should do great again here!
Another opening act is to be announced, but for reference, the second local band in 2016 was the now-defunct Project 421. Promoted by Jack Spades frontman J.D. Pearce, this 19+ concert has a $10 cover charge (up for $5 in 2016) and a 9:30 PM start time. Punk fans will want to circle this date on their calendars, and with this one in close proximity to my 31st birthday, this might be a good way to celebrate! See the above links for more details, and stay tuned for more news and notes on the site soon! Thanks everyone!
A new weekend is approaching fast, so here's our first weekend concert preview post! Due to the amount of shows, particular thanks to SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, we have held our previews of this weekend's Highway 63 shows in Sault Michigan for tomorrow's post, so don't worry, they are coming! Now, let's dive into our previews, starting with late notice new shows in rough chronological order!
Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison's ongoing weekly concert arrangement at Gliss Steak & Seafood will march on with acoustic matinee shows there TOMORROW & SATURDAY, but he'll also return to The Road House Bar & Grill for a solo gig TOMORROW NIGHT as well, and his Thursday nighters appear to be back on at Gliss, so don't miss him there TONIGHT! Apologies for the short notice on the Road House show and the Thursday Gliss show, they were only announced via their respective Facebook event pages earlier this week (here & here.) Tym had previously teased that he'd be playing Thursdays at Gliss again earlier this summer via his personal Facebook page, and it appears TONIGHT is the first night of the re-extension, so if you love his acoustic covers, head to the downtown restaurant this evening! With that in mind, we have also added July 14th, 21st, and 28th to our concert listings, assuming that he's playing thrice weekly for the time being again, but we'll fix that if this ends up being a one weekend change.
As for TOMORROW'S Road House show, he was last seen at the Trunk Road bar three months ago, and it's great to see Tym back at the site of his old weekly solo concert run, so if you've missed his hard rock covers at a more typical time (or in the east end), don't miss out TOMORROW NIGHT! The Gliss shows are at 6:00 PM with no age limit, TOMORROW'S Road House show is at 10:00 PM with a 19+ limit, and none have an announced cover charge. For more details on this weekend's four acoustic hard rock shows, visit the above links, and here's Tym live!
Next up, Sault Michigan hard rock quartet 415E will return to The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino for solo headlining gigs TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies again for the short notice, the band announced the shows via their Facebook page on May 10th, but they slipped us by until now (I'll try and make sure that won't happen again!) In any event, Kewadin's entertainment page hasn't been updated yet to reflect July dates, hence why we didn't hear about them through there. TOMORROW & SATURDAY'S shows also join two more concert weekends announced in May, including returns to The Rapids Lounge at the Sault's Kewadin Casino on July 22nd & 23rd, and two more Northern Pines Lounge gigs in St. Ignace on August 19th & 20th, so keep all three weekends in mind! This weekend's shows follow Manistique concerts two weeks ago, but are Dave, the Hubbards, and Mitch's first regional shows since playing St. Ignace in April.
You can see 415E TOMORROW, SATURDAY, and over the other four nights at 9:00 PM, with no cover and 21+ age limits. 415E's Van Halen-inspired hard rock sounds should attract a good audience this weekend and beyond, so definitely consider checking them out, apologies again for the delay and late notice, and here's 415E live!
Also, Sault Ontario classic/hard rock cover quartet The 3 Day Millionaires will rock out for a great cause THIS SATURDAY NIGHT as (part of?) the live entertainment for this year's Ride For Sight motorcycle rally! Again, apologies for the short notice, the band only confirmed their involvement on their Facebook page on Monday, which organizers haven't done as of this writing. This year's event is relocating from Searchmont to Stokely Creek Lodge
at 194 Pickard Road in Goulais River for scenic reasons and to
accommodate campers, but it will still unite motorcyclists &
supporters in the effort to prevent & cure blindness, and it
should attract a great turnout once again THIS SATURDAY! Though The 3
Day Millionaires are new to Ride For Sight, members Travis Sharpe
& Scott McLurg played last year's installment with Havadder, so
they're no strangers to the cause, and should deliver a solid
performance for classic & hard rock fans! No word on additional
bands, but for reference, Havadder were joined by country rockers Bone
Yard last year.
The 3 Day Millionaires & any
other possible bands will be on at 8:30 PM on SATURDAY after the awards
& presentations, and you can see the full tentative itinerary at
the official Facebook event page,
which also features an acoustic bonfire jam on Friday night, bike
games, vendors, a Sunday breakfast, and of course, the rally proper
through the city at 10:30 AM on Saturday. Admission for the concert
portion is FREE & ALL AGES, but check the above links for full
details on how to register for the rally and/or donate, and here's The 3
Day Millionaires live!
Closing with a previously announced concert, let's head to The Rockstar Bar, as Toronto punk/grunge quartet The Anti-Queens will make their local debut TOMORROW NIGHT! With a 3/4ths female lineup, this D.I.Y. outfit should make a strong impression with their straightforward and fun originals, so keep them in mind for tomorrow night! This show was originally planned to be headlined by frontwoman Valerie Knox's Oshawa punk band The Black Cat Attack (who played here in 2013), but they were forced out of the show due to "recent issues" with their tour van, though they plan to book a makeup date here this fall, as per their Facebook page. Disappointing, especially if you loved their set three years ago, but hopefully B.C.A. are back up north soon! As for tomorrow's concert, the local openers include punk/metal quintet Jack Spades (in their last local gig before their "tiny disastour" of Ontario) and classic metal quintet Project 421, who'll return to the stage after a month off as late replacements for The Black Cat Attack.
This 19+ concert will take place at 10:00 PM tomorrow, and with the lineup changes, the cover charge has been halved from $10 to $5, so there's a plus for potential attendees! For more details, visit the official Facebook event page, and for a preview of what should be a fun union of punk and metal at The Rockstar Bar, here's The Anti-Queens live!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for our Highway 63 previews and more tomorrow! Thanks everyone!
As we continue to clear our our cache of recent news items, here's a packed news post for your Tuesday, and it includes some assorted recent updates, new concert videos from each side of the border (coincidentally, both including Led Zeppelin covers), and leading things off, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for this summer, so here's what you need to know!
Oshawa "death punk" quartet Black Cat Attack will return to Sault Ontario for a headlining concert on Friday, July 8th at The Rockstar Bar! Almost three years removed from their local debut at the former Roosevelt Hotel in 2013 (ironically at a show relocated from The Algonquin Pub), this explosive genre-melding punk outfit should deliver strongly in their long awaited return to the Soo, and it never hurts that Sum 41 guitarist Dave "Brownsound" Baksh is a B.C.A. member as well! Frontwoman Valerie Knox's other band, Toronto grunge/punk quartet The Anti-Queens, will open in their local concert debut on July 8th, and their strong, to-the-point punk sound should get fans going as well at The Rockstar Bar this summer! Local support will come via punk/metal quintet Jack Spades (whose frontman J.D. Pearce is promoting this show), while at least one additional local band is to be announced, so message promoters at the official Facebook event page for more details just in case!
This 19+ concert has a 10:00 PM start time, and while admission will be $10, there will be some level of advance ticket sales, so stay tuned for updates on that front. It's great to see Black Cat Attack back in Sault Ste. Marie after such a long wait (I know the rumours of them playing Jack Spades' 2014 EP release show had some fans excited), so keep posted at the above links for full updates on what should be a big concert this summer!
Next up, here's some new videos, starting with lots of new concert videos from Sault Michigan classic/hard rock cover quartet Highway 63's show this past Friday at The Rapids Lounge at the Soo's Kewadin Casino branch! All shared to the band's Facebook page over the past few days via personal Facebook accounts, one comes from attendee Brian Boswood, who filmed 17 seconds of Highway 63 covering Billy Squier's "Everybody Wants You" that night, and while it's on the vertical cell phone camera angle, it's solid for what we get! The rest come from frontman Henry Switzer's own personal Facebook page, though the videos vary in length and camera orientation. Included are covers of Kiss' "Love Gun", part of Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger", AC/DC's "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap", Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'", The Outfield's "Your Love", the end of Led Zeppelin's "Rock & Roll", and as embedded below, Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love", so click each link to watch each video to see what went down on Friday!
It's great to see a wide variety of new videos of this talented quartet, as both a sign that they are still playing announced gigs despite their caesura on Facebook promotion of them, and to give fans a fresh look at their recent shows! The videos are well filmed, and the guys sound good, especially on the heavier tunes, so give Highway 63's new Facebook videos a look!
Also today, here's a couple more hard rock covers from new local blues/classic rock cover quartet Red & The Muscle! Uploaded to frontwoman Marisa Valois' YouTube channel last week, one is a short audio cover of Heart's "Alone", joining a pair of Aretha Franklin renditions, but embedded below is a part of a cover of Led Zeppelin's "Ramble On" from their debut concert at The Water Tower Inn earlier this month. It's a much better showcase of Marisa's strong vocal range compared to their earlier "Sweet Emotion" cover, and while the instruments are a little quiet, it's well done overall, so give it a look below, and see more from Red & The Muscle above!
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 some clarification on new local band Gianni Gagoots (who are opening for Cocaine Moustache at July 12th's's punk rock bingo event at The New A), we can confirm that their lineup features Late Shift's Matt Sibilo on guitar, his former Redefined bandmate Josh St. Amour on bass, and veteran local punk drummer Frank McCormick on drums. Frank confirmed on the show's Facebook event page that they are a jam band inspired by numerous genres (including metal & punk) that make up songs on the spot. No word yet on their name's inspiration, who (if anyone) sings lead vocals, or if they'll launch an online page, but kudos to Frank for the info!
Troubled Mind drummer Mike Vincent's third original song since relaunching his solo project can now be heard at his Bandcamp page! Entitled "Six, Six, Six", it's a fast and heavy instrumental that has some thrash and groove metal elements, but the production is uneven. Give it a listen above, as well as newly mastered versions of Mike's first two 2016 songs!
We have moved Strongs, Michigan "backwoods metal" trio Swampghas to our inactive band links due to a year's inactivity. The Werehold Records-signed band hasn't posted an online update since their participation in March 2015's Friday the 13th music event, and we waited for this year's before making any calls on their status. Relaunched in 2012 after previously forming in 2001, Swampghas are a gritty & entertaining metal band whose album "The Raco Tower Incident" seemed to be coming along well, so hopefully we see Swampghas back soon, and best of luck to Jason, J.R., and Doug in the interim!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for last month's poll results on the site tomorrow, and for more news and previews as well! Thanks everyone!
Next up, Northern Superior Brewing Co.'s sixth weekly "Songs & A Six-Pack" live-stream concert took place last night, and this week's host was Bone Yard frontman and (Choose) Maxx Entertainment head Greg Simpson! For the record, last week's show was headlined by country musician Brendan Hodgson, so genre fans will definitely want to check that one out at this link. Simultaneously, Greg's performance is the de facto sequel to his "Songs From The Smoke Room" live-stream last month, with it's planned follow-up on April 8th cancelled on short notice due to his father-in-law being in the hospital, which he acknowledged in last night's video, but thankfully, he is doing better now. Of course, it's great to see Greg back in the smoke room for more covers, albeit with Northern Superior advertising and plugs thrown in! Like last month, this set is more reflective of Greg's past work in classic/hard rock bands.
The 82 minute video starts with his slowed down acoustic cover of Kiss' "Rock & Roll All Nite", before moving to renditions of Kris
Kristofferson's "Me & Bobby McGee", Black Label Society's
"Spoke In The Wheel", Kid Rock's "All Summer Long", Bob Dylan's "Knockin' On Heaven's Door", The Tragically Hip's
"Fiddler's Green", Cinderella's "Shelter Me", Pink Floyd's "Wish You
Were Here", The 4 Non Blondes' "What's Up", Ray
LaMontagne's "Jolene", The Band's "The Weight", Jamey Johnson's "High Cost of Living", The Barenaked Ladies' "The Old Apartment", Prince & The Revolution's "Purple Rain", The Five Man Electric Band's "Signs", and Guns N' Roses' "Used To Love Her". If you get deja vu from Greg's live-stream last month, then I cannot blame you whatsoever, as only two songs from that set ("Wheat Kings" & "I
Took A Pill In Ibiza") were not reprised last night, and only the last five covers were brand new.
