LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Viscera), The Second Downtown Street Party Preview, And More!!

Here's a new news post on this Wednesday morning, which includes a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next month and a clarification on what's airing on one of our two local rock radio stations, while this post also serves as a bit of a soft launch for the busiest weekend of the year around these parts via a preview of a big outdoor concert tomorrow night. Let's get things rolling!

Sault Michigan hardcore punk trio Viscera will play their next local gig on Saturday, August 22nd at Three One Three On Ashmun! Announced via their Instagram page on Monday as part of this concert calendar (also confirming a new return to Marquette on August 1st), the local date will see Viscera headline at the former Back Door, in what is being branded as from "Soo Tang Records". Is that Viscera's own in-house promotion agency, and is Soo Tang for the children? Viscera made their local debut at Three One Three in March, and for their encore there, they are looking for support bands, so if you're interested in hopping on this bill, message their Facebook page or above for more information! This concert takes place at 7:00 PM, it is presumably 21+, and while admission fees aren't given yet, the March show there (which featured Marquette metal band PonyWorm) cost $10 in advance & $15 at the door.

While we're on the subject, Viscera released their first ever music video to their new YouTube channel on June 6th! Their first studio original song since adding bassist Chris Lovins to their ranks, this is entitled "Chinga La Migra" (Spanish for "Fuck Immigration"), which sets the tone for a politically charged anti-ICE music video, though it's more of a lyric video, as you don't see Bob, Chris, or Mitchell on camera. In your face with strong opinions that will especially resonate with many Yoopers, and it leans into hardcore punk well, though the slower, more melodic choruses kinda stunt the momentum. Give it a watch/listen below, and stay tuned for more from Viscera and their Three One Three show next month soon!

Next up, here's our preview of TOMORROW'S second Downtown Street Party in Sault Ontario for 2026! As these move west along Queen Street East, Street Party #2 takes place on a closed block of Queen from Brock Street to Elgin Street (the former RBC to the courthouse), but as this stretch is adjacent to to the Downtown Plaza, there will be more going on during the festivities. Local vendors will be on site, along with beverage gardens, food for sale, kids activities and games (in a proper Kids Zone, no less), and numerous Queen Street businesses will be open en route. The Downtown Plaza will play host to Nicole Does Trivia at 7:00 PM, followed by a free screening of Jaws 1 at 9:30 PM, and of course, this all happens concurrently with day #1 of Rotaryfest at nearby Clergue Park. Visit You Belong SSM's Facebook page for complete details on the non-musical portions of the second Downtown Street Party!

Like with last month's inaugural party since the City took over booking these from the former Downtown Association, there will be bands on two "stages", one at Brock Street, but the other will be at the turnoff for March Street (near The Queen's Tarts) rather than Elgin. Not as a far of a walk that way! The Brock Street Stage will play host to this event's likely only SMS-amenable act, namely acoustic punk cover duo Dos Amigos, who claimed on their own social media to be playing at 8:15 PM. The apparent headliners there are classic rock trio Flathead Ford (who said that they'd be on at 9:30 PM), and You Belong SSM have curiously not said who the third/opening act will be, referring instead to "more hometown heroes" and "so much more". We'll let you know if anyone is clarified! As for the March Street Stage, local country musician Brendan Hodgson is headlining there at 9:30 PM.

Classic country band The Stumpy Coldwater Trio gave their start time as 7:00 PM, leaving Rusty McCarthy (now alongside his regular partner Maja Bannerman) to likely be playing in the 8:00 PM hour. Remember, this is not an official Rotaryfest event, but as there's no Stage 2 bill tomorrow, the shoe kinda fits, even if this isn't on the same block of Queen as the Second Stage used to be held on! Downtown Street Party #2 is FREE & ALL AGES with a 6:30 PM start time, and 9&10 News is calling for mostly-partly cloudy skies tomorrow with no chance of rain, and temperatures ranging from 17-21°. Should be a fun time for all, with a dash of punk to boot, so visit the above links for more details, and here's Dos Amigos live!

Finally, I wanted to follow up on a brief note from last month where I mentioned that 104.3 The Fox and their sister Rogers Radio rock stations in Kingston and Northern Ontario have stopped airing the Winnipeg-based Sunday Night Vinyl Series, let alone on-air theme weeks. Based on what I have heard listening to 104.3 FM in recent months, as well as listings on the station websites and lack of promotion therein, it looks like Rogers have quietly dropped three more scheduled programs from the air no later than January. These include the Classic Rock Lunch with Lew McDonald (weekdays at noon), This Week In Rock with Adam Kane (Saturdays at 11:00 AM & 6:00 PM), and The Church Of Rock with Cosmo Grant (Sundays at 9:00 AM). All of the above hosts (including Howard Mandshein of the Sunday Night Vinyl Series) remain as on-air talent with Rogers rock stations, and Lew is still our afternoon DJ.

This leaves just the two zoo crew shows (Brock & Dalby and Biggs & Barr), individual DJ blocks, and Classic Rock Sundays as the only regularly scheduled programs on 104.3 The Fox, though if you miss Howard, Adam, and Cosmo, you can still hear them on Seekr via 92.1 CITI in Winnipeg or CHEZ 106.1 in Ottawa. Losing these shows is clearly a Rogers call and not the Soo's fault, and I haven't seen a public statement as to why these shows all ended at around the same time, but variety of the spice of life, and I do hope that Rogers try again with new scheduled programming in the future! That's all for now, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Dos Amigos), The Viscera/PonyWorm Concert Preview, And An Inactive Band Note!!

Before we begin this post, just a note that I have seen a personal Facebook post implying that local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck are returning to Northern Superior Brewing Co.'s Tap Room tomorrow night, but I have not seen any public confirmation from the band or brewery to corroborate that posting. We have time to make mention of it if it's 100% verifiably announced, but just in case, I thought I'd lead off by acknowledging what I saw. Otherwise, this post has the rest of this weekend's hard rock/punk previews and an inactive band note, but first, here's a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!

Local acoustic punk duo Dos Amigos will return to The Whisky Barrel for one night only TONIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, this show was only announced via the venue's Facebook page on Monday, and while Dos Amigos' six+ month moratorium on Facebook page updates continues, singer/guitarist Mikey Hawdon did confirm the booking on his personal Facebook page. While we have seen Mikey & Dustin since at The Kiln with their band BookcluB, TONIGHT's show will be their first advertised unplugged gig as Dos Amigos since their last Whiskey Barrel stop in late February. If you're up for some acoustic punk covers from two of the Soo's finest, head down to Gore Street TONIGHT! Possibly due to St. Patrick's Day being on a Tuesday this year (let alone The Whisky Barrel being a Scottish pub), there are no overt seasonal ties TONIGHT, though drinks will be on tap, as you'd assume.

The Whisky Barrel rarely doubles up bands on weekends, and as such, indie rock veterans All The Tired Horses are playing there tomorrow. TONIGHT'S concert goes down at 8:00 PM with a 19+ age limit and no cover charge. Visit the above links for more details on TONIGHT'S Dos Amigos action, and here they are live at The Tap Room last year!

Next up, let's wrap up(?) this weekend's concert previews by heading across to Sault Michigan, where new local hardcore punk duo Viscera will play their first ever local gig TOMORROW NIGHT at Three One Three On Ashmun! While Blind Bob & Mitchell debuted this project in Marquette in January, tomorrow's show will be E.U.P. fans' first chance to hear Viscera's brutal minimalist sound, including cuts from their debut EP "From Feast To Famine" (as this is the first local show since, would this be the de facto release party?). As Sault Michigan goes, a sound this visceral (descriptor intended) doesn't come around every day, so if you like things brutal, come down to the former Back Door tomorrow! Marquette doom/stoner metal duo PonyWorm will make their apparent local debut tomorrow as openers, returning the favour after Viscera opened for them in Marquette in January, and they'll sludge things up well in their first trip here, so don't miss out tomorrow if you can help it!

Opening tomorrow's action is local punk/hard rock band About:Blank (last seen rocking The Savoy in an unadvertised gig last month), and while they have yet to publically replace Nathan Webber in their lineup, Parker & Kade might not have to worry about it immediately, as if they play this show as a duo again, then all three bands tomorrow will be two-man-bands, which will be neat! Tickets run for $10 in advance via the QR code on the poster above or through members of the two local bands, and admission will jump to $15 at the door. This appears to be a 21+ event, and doors open at 7:00 PM. Visit the above links for more on this unique and heavy mix of bands at Three One Three, and for a preview, here's our first look at Viscera on camera! Since I first discovered Viscera last month, I realized that they do have a Facebook page, albeit one that is set up as a personal account, so you'd have to add them as a friend rather than like/follow them. 

On said page is their first public video (shared from attendee/former Insipid Brutality guitarist Tyler Dettloff's personal Facebook page), which actually comes from their Marquette show in January at Superior Culture, and it features Viscera playing "Disassociate", the opening song from their EP. Yes, the video is vertical, but Tyler got Bob & Mitchell both in frame, and he was close enough to the action where there's not empty space, so that much works out! Percussion's a little clangy, but this is an intense and grimy performance that suits how their EP is formatted, so give it a watch below, and look for much more tomorrow night!

Finally for today, I have moved Sault Ontario indie/punk quintet The Northwest to our inactive band links. The band has not issued a public update since they opened for Our Lady Peace at GFL Memorial Gardens on March 2nd of last year, which has been their only concert appearance of any kind since the 2023 Go North Music Festival. Originally named North West and Northwest before adding the "The", The Northwest featured a stacked lineup of 2000s veterans of the local indie and punk scenes upon their debut in the fall of 2013, and they would release two EPs in 2014 and 2018. The Northwest finished in second place at November 2013's Viva La Battle, played at Rotaryfest Stage 2 thrice from 2017-2022, opened for The Sheepdogs at the Rock On The River festival in Timmins, opened for Marianas Trench & The Trews at the Gardens in 2022, and even got played on CBC Radio One and NHL telecasts that year.

While they did drift somewhat from punk in later material, their brand of "3-guitar heartland rock" was always adaptable to varying kinds of concerts, and The Northwest displayed a lot of talent and camaraderie in their shows & EPs! An 11+ year run is nothing to shake a stick at for an originals-focused local band either, but they have not announced anything regarding their future, so hopefully we do see the guys back at it down the road. Best of luck to Wayne, Greg, Yak, Mike, Marc, and Clint in the future, and don't miss Greg (and sometimes Yak) in acoustic sets around town! That's all for now, but stay tuned for more on the SMS this weekend! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Viscera), A New Local Band, And Two New EP Releases!!

Tonight's SMS post is 100% focused around Sault Michigan, specifically two small-lineup metal bands with new EP releases, one brand new to our coverage and prominent in our latest LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, so here's what you should know on this windy Wednesday night!

We have a new local metal band to add to our links, and they are a hardcore punk/metal duo named Viscera! Presumably getting the name from human internal organs and not the late wrestler, Viscera's lineup consists of former Small Town Society guitarist "Blind" Bob Quinn (credited as "Bobert Quinn") alongside drummer Mitchell Leon, with Bob on lead vocals. The idea of a minimalist two man metal band will appeal to a lot of Blood Shed Productions-tested Sault Ontarians, so Canadian readers may not wanna bypass them on that basis! While I only just learned about this band in the past week, they have been active since at least last fall, and they released their debut EP on major streaming services on October 30th! Entitled "From Feast To Famine", you can check it out for yourselves on Spotify and Apple Music (as helpfully linked via Distrokid) as well as on YouTube Music and Bandcamp.

The EP is on sale in mp3 format on iTunes for $4.95 and on Bandcamp for $9, so if you really want to support Viscera, buy and download everything! Five songs are included on "From Feast To Famine", with track #1 ("Disassociate") being released prior as an advance single. I'll hold comment on the EP itself pending our eventual review (in release order, it's now scheduled for June), but a jam session video is circulating on personal Facebook pages, albeit uploaded sideways. Viscera have a promisingly intense and sludge-inflected sound that gives the E.U.P. something rawer and heavier than you tend to see nowadays, especially an original band playing such music, so hopefully we hear lots more from them in 2026! If you want to see Bob & Mitchell live, here's that LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, as they are headlining a St. Patrick's Day weekend concert at Three One Three On Ashmun on Saturday, March 14th!

Two bands will open for Viscera's local debut set next month, one being a touring group, namely veteran Marquette doom/stoner metal duo PonyWorm, who I have never heard of as a live act this far east. They've been a reliable presence in the western U.P. since at least 2012, and as it turns out, Viscera's proper live concert debut was in Marquette last month with PonyWorm opening (here's the poster). Now E.U.P. fans can see what the fuss is about! Fresh off of their unadvertised Savoy gig on February 7th, local punk/metal band About:Blank are slated to open at the former Back Door next month, and while I don't know if their guitarist/bassist vacancy will be filled in time, Parker & Kade may want to hold off for now to keep the two-man-bands theme going! Music aside, the poster promises "trippy visuals", so keep that in mind if you're coming out. This has the hallmarks of a Serious Business-promoted concert but I don't immediately know if it's their doing.

This presumably 21+ concert goes down on Saturday the 14th at 7:00 PM, and admission will be $10 in advance or $15 at the door. I don't know if there will be a public location or online link for advance tickets, but contact Bob, Mitchell, Parker, and/or Kade to inquire within. Here's hoping this show is a smash hit for all involved, and Viscera sure got off to a fast local start, so see above for more on them, the EP, and this concert, and here's "Dissociate"!

Finally, we'll stay in the realm of Sault Michigan metal acts with studio material. Do you remember when local metal solo project X's & Y's announced plans to release an EP named "Face The Moon, Forgive The Stars" last week? Well, it did come out on CD on February 13th as planned, and if you want a copy, contact project leader Jason Mills via the band's Facebook page! Given that it's a shorter EP, discs only cost $3 apiece, though with Crooked Music closed, I don't know if he has plans to have CDs on sale at a retail storefront elsewhere. When we last left off with the Life's Eclipse successors last month, Jason had posted both versions of the title track on their Bandcamp page, but at press time, the other two songs ("Hands Of Cydonia" and "Crater") were not streamable there. However, if you want to hear the songs without buying the EP, the whole thing is on X's & Y's' YouTube channel!

On the release date, Jason posted the EP as one batch video, and while I'll hold comment on the final product pending our review of "Face The Moon, Forgive The Stars" (Viscera's EP bumped it to September), definitely give everything a listen above and below to hear what X's & Y's have been cooking up in recent months! Where else will you hear a metal band using a tremoloa?

That's all for now, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews on the site next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Bone Yard 225 & Even Flow) And Sole Aggressors Updates!!

Before we kick off another round of hard rock weekend concert previews, here's some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for the spooky season festivities ahead and updates from a talented but defunct(?) local band, so here's what you should know on this rainy Wednesday night!

Beck's Bar have announced their Halloween weekend concert slate via their Facebook page, and for a second time in three weeks, they'll host a concert on the usually DJ/dance party-only Friday, seeing as it is Halloween proper this year! The October 31st concert will be headlined by a debuting local Pearl Jam tribute band named Even Flow, and while I have yet to find a public social media page or posting about this group, public Facebook shares of this poster indicate that former Garden of Bedlam drummer Derek Turner will be behind the kit, possibly joined by a new-to-me musician named Cameron Brock. We'll let you know when more is publically known, but a locally based tribute to the grunge/alternative legends would be neat to see! The openers on Halloween are new (and online page-less) local rock cover quartet The Barbarians, who debuted at The Northern Vibe Festival this year.

Featuring ex-Elements/Wyld Stallyns frontman Rob Speers, Handsome Sandwich's Taylor Emlaw & Rafael Medina, and Boat Dads drummer Kevin Harrison, I still don't know what range of music that The Barbarians play in relation to Rob's solo shows and past bands, but you can find out next Friday! Costumes are absolutely encouraged, with prizes being offered for best makeup, best duo, and most creative, while Tarot card reader Stephanie Poitras will also be on hand. No cover charge is announced for this 19+ concert, which begins at 9:00 PM.

Meanwhile, Halloween will extend to Saturday, November 1st, with the spooky themes, costume contests, and Tarot readings in effect that day as well, and for the occasion, southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 will return to the former Vibe Lounge as that night's headline band! This show has not (yet?) been announced on their website's concert calendar, but it comes just two weeks after they last rocked Beck's, albeit for a full weekend with an "uncorked" Sunday matinee (Out & Out Country have the honours on November 2nd). Good to see Greg, Alex, and Warren back for another night of rocking covers and originals in the west end, so don't put your costumes away yet, as there's more Halloween fun to be had a day late! We already knew about Tym Morrison's matinee concert next Saturday, and remember, he isn't "opening" for Bone Yard, he and they have two separate four hour concert blocks spaced two hours apart.

Like with The Barbarians and Even Flow on Halloween proper, your local 225 kick off their evening at 9:00 PM next Saturday with a 19+ age limit and no cover charge. Sounds like Beck's has a lot going on for Halloween weekend, so definitely visit the above links for more on what's in the cards there!

Next up, let's take a look at some updates from the now-defunct Sault Michigan punk trio The Sole Aggressors... or are they? In their last post on their Facebook page to date, singer/guitarist Brett Siesel thanked their friends, family, and supporters throughout their run, and "although this chapter has reached its conclusion, we have not". The 2023 LSSU Battle of the Bands winners are now calling this "our indefinite hiatus", and Brett teased that they have an "album coming soon". If they have entered the studio in any fashion, I haven't seen reference to it, but given that an indefinite hiatus can last anywhere from a few weeks to forever (let alone that they called their house party gig in August their "farewell show"), I'm not inclined to move them back to our active links at this juncture. After all, they're far from the only local band to end activity when members leave the area for college, but it's always cool to see bands reunite afterwards!

While we're on the subject, let's end this post with one of the last two full concert set videos from their YouTube channel! Today, we'll look at "The Shamrock Show" at Three One Three On Ashmun in March, where Brett, Calvin, and Isaac joined (in their Sault Ste. Marie debuts) The Sky Pilots and About:Blank for a St. Patrick's Day weekend blast of hard rock and punk action. The 52 minute set features The Sole Aggressors playing (in order) "Kill Thy Neighbour", "Burning Down", "Teenage Guide", "Humans Aren't Ordinary Monkeys", "Time To Commercialize!", "False Hope", "Heil Artificiality", "Fool", "State Of The World", "Kill A Celebrity", "Ventilation", "Fast Punk For Fast Food", "Melted Plastic", "Tale Of An American Hero", "Reject", "Down By The Bay", and "Hypocrite", followed by a new original song named "The Same Individualist", and in a rarity at this stage, a cover of Black Flag's "Six Pack".

While this gives us our fullest look at The Sole Aggressors' original catalogue yet, the visuals don't start off ideal, but if you hang on past the first four songs, the filmer does move the camera so that Brett's head isn't cut off and Calvin isn't entirely hidden behind him from this vantage point. That one stage light can be a little bright regardless, but the upbeat and fast punk action is well recorded at the former Back Door here, so if you miss The Sole Aggressors or missed out on their gigs on both sides of the border, give this full set upload a watch for yourselves below!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews on the site next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (About:Blank), A New Local Band, And More Weekend Concert Previews!!

As promised, let's wrap up this weekend's concert previews today, but with lots of details relating to the debuting headliner of one of them, including a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for their second show, and a new lyric video from another band playing tomorrow night! Here's what you should know!

Let's finally add new Sault Michigan punk/hard rock band About:Blank to our full coverage in advance of their live debut tomorrow night! Publically launching via their Facebook page in December, this is the new band from two former members of local hard rock/classic metal band Tarnished, including 2019-2023 guitarist Nathan Webber and 2023-2024 guitarist/bassist Parker Talentino (the two were not bandmates there, as Parker joined Tarnished three months after Nathan left). Their lineup is rounded out by drummer Kade DesArmo, who you may recognize from the pop rock band Midnight Logic and the Detroit-based Letters To Abel, who played a pandemic-era local concert with Tarnished back in 2020. As best as I can gather, Parker (who is also a solo acoustic singer/songwriter) is fronting this band. About:Blank haven't posted too much about themselves yet, but they have two shows booked for the coming month+!

We'll get to their first show tomorrow in a second, but here's that LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, as they will headline at Three One Three On Ashmun on Saturday, March 15th for "The Shamrock Show" (so themed because it's on St. Patrick's Day weekend)! A rare multi-band concert in Sault Michigan that isn't attached to Serious Business or a battle of the bands, this concert will see About:Blank joined by the aforementioned Tarnished (no word on if Chris and Ron will be joining Alex and Josh again or not here) along with rising young punk trio The Sole Aggressors in their 2025 debut. Hard rock and punk fans in the E.U.P. should be very curious to see this trifecta of strong local talent at the former Back Door next month, so don't miss out! No word on if there will be any St. Patrick's Day frills beyond the name of the show and the poster's branding, so inquire within about green beer.

This 21+ concert has a 7:00 PM start time, and there will be a $10 cover at the door, but remember how relatively unique that shows of this ilk are in Sault Michigan. Should be a fun time for Yooper rock fans, especially with this variety of talented and familiar faces, so visit the above links for more details on The Shamrock Show at Three One Three next month!

If you want to see About:Blank before then, and you're outside of the Soo or are up for a short drive, you'll want to head to Brimley TOMORROW NIGHT, as Parker, Nathan, and Kade will debut this band at Pickles Bar & Grill at local promotion agency Serious Business' first concert of the year! For this multi-band event, Brighton LeBlanc is throwing back to last fall's Lake Superior State University battle of the bands, with About:Blank being joined by three acts who played last fall, namely indie rock band The Undecideds (featuring members of the Sole Aggressors) and solo musicians Kevin Blakeney and Kaleb Shannon. Of course, Parker played solo at the battle, and Nathan was on guitar with Molly & The Other Guys, so five of the seven competing acts will be at least partially represented here! About:Blank will be the primary heavier respite tomorrow, but the battle proved that there's a lot of diverse talent in the Soo and E.U.P., so don't bypass this encore!

All of the action goes down at 11204 West Lakeshore Drive (presumably in the basement again) with an 18+ age limit, a 9:00 PM start time, and another $10 cover charge. A nice diverse array of sounds and styles await fans in Brimley tomorrow, so don't miss out on all of the action there as Serious Business kicks off their 2025 slate, and we'll let you know when About:Blank have videos to preview their sound with!

Finally for this post, let's wrap up this weekend's hard rock concert previews by heading north to Sault Ontario, where local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 will play their first "uncorked" concert of 2025 when they return to The Water Tower Pub TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for erroneously listing this show as being tonight originally on our concert calendar, it was always scheduled for tomorrow and plugged as such here when the band first announced it. Last seen playing acoustic at the same venue almost two months ago, this will be a prime opportunity to see Greg, Alex, and Warren strip down their sound, so help beat the winter blues after today's latest storm by heading to this central venue tomorrow! This is a one nighter as is custom at The Water Tower Pub, who are hosting Dodge This tonight, as previewed here yesterday. This is an 8:00 PM show with a 19+ age limit and no cover.

Visit the above links for more on your local 225's first unplugged show of the year, and for a preview, rather than share an acoustic video of theirs, here is their new lyric video for their second studio single "Gypsy Spell", courtesy of their YouTube channel last month! A photo slideshow featuring shots of them in concert alongside logos, fans, and promotional images, the lyrics are included on screen, which are about Greg falling under the titular spell from an enchanting woman. Lyrically their least provocative song of their three originals so far, but it's a fun dance rocker with strong bass work, and it should go over well with fans if you haven't heard it before, so give the lyric video a watch below!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes this weekend! Thanks everyone!

Piecing It Together Shows' Halloween Concert Review, Plus A New Concert Video!!

In this post, we have a review of a Halloween concert from this past weekend, and a video of a separate local show from that same night, so here's what you should know on this Monday evening!

Apologies for the delay in this making the site, but I (in a Calvin & Hobbes costume) was able to go to most of Piecing It Together Shows' Halloween concert a the Fraternal Order of Eagles club at 246 Wellington Street West on Saturday night! Just down the road from the Primavera Hall, the Eagles Club definitely felt like a tale of two venues when we first arrived, with the right half being where the concert was set up and the left being more where Eagles regulars were mingling at the bar and watching the Leafs game, but this got mixed up as the night progressed. Definitely didn't feel like a traditional concert venue (likely because it's not one), but kudos to the Eagles Club for hosting some P.I.T.S. events this year Unfortunately, we were running late for the concert and missed the opening set by local electro/synth musician Owen Kjiersdam, a.k.a. Owen MK, so I do apologize to him for not seeing him live!

Owen did post a brief clip of him (dressed as Jack Skellington) singing on Saturday night on his personal Facebook page, so seek that out if you're curious. It's at the end of a "Reel" that starts with video of him at The Soo's Got Talent's last week. From what little I heard, he was singing with confidence and enthusiasm, but it's not a long watch, so I don't know if things got as intense as the bands ahead in unfilmed portions of the night. I do think he does better when he leans more into how his studio material sounds, but hopefully we see Owen back out there soon!

The middle act last night was hardcore punk/crossover thrash quartet Hails, who unleashed an eleven song set of aggressive and fast-paced original music! With the non-Muto members in costume (albeit with items shed as the set wore on), Ha!ls tore through an eleven song set featuring originals like "Serf City" and "Such Desperate Joy" and a few songs carried over from frontman Brenton Ellis' acoustic solo project Slumshine like "BiPolaris" and "Sole Crusher", though surprisingly, nothing from their EP "Rock & Rolls" (despite it being on sale on CD and cassette). The guys were on brutal form on Saturday, with a very fast and heavy sound that pushes their earlier descriptions of being a skate punk band way to the backburner, with Brent full of confidence and honesty on vocals and bass, while Mikhal & Carmen Muto both shone on guitar with some impressive solos, and Keeghan McAllister kept up well on drums!

I do like how many songs had changes in structure and tempo that made you feel like the song was going to end, but it kept going while still feeling natural (I hope that made sense). The Vanity First side project delivered a brutal set for gathered fans, so don't bypass them if you like thrash metal!

Your headliners on Saturday were Toronto grunge/alternative trio Skoff in their local concert debut, and they definitely delivered a fun set to end the night with! You can see proof in my video of theirs, as a bunch of costumed fans hit the floor to dance and rock out mid-song (fan of the night is whoever was wearing the chicken mask!) It was often hard to hear the vocalist introducing songs, but they played tracks like "Cancel Culture", "F.A.F.O.", and "Let Me Out", sometimes using an old telephone headset as a microphone, which was neat!  While not a fully packed house, assembled fans definitely took to Skoff's aggressive, 1990s inspired sound, and the band was dressed up for the occasion, so everyone definitely had a good time to end the night. Skoff are still a relatively newer band, but their future is bright, and hopefully they come back to the Soo in the near future!

Overall, this was a fun concert and it's nice to see a multi-band show taking place for the Halloween season again! Hopefully there's more along these lines in 2025. You can see our photos and videos of Skoff and Hails (apologies again to Owen MK) at this link or at our Facebook page, but here's our videos of Ha!ls playing the Slunshine holdover "Pink Clouds Of Density" and Skoff playing an original that may be titled something like "Guess When I Die"! Let us know if you can help title it.

We'll close this post with a video from another Saturday night concert, albeit not a public one, as newer Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Dirty Musky posted a video of them at a private birthday party event at Three One Three On Ashmun onto their Facebook page! The video sees Dave, the Blackwoods, and Jamie covering White Zombie's "Thunder Kiss '65", which is awesome just in concept, as Rob/White Zombie isn't tackled much up here! Uploaded in funny vertical dimensions, the lighting isn't fantastic, but this is a well played and lively cover, though Dave's vocals could be a little grittier to better match the original. Check it out for yourselves below!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Exit 808 & Handsome Sandwich) Plus More Weekend Concert Previews!!

As promised, we're wrapping up this weekend's known hard rock concert previews in today's post, but to lead off, we have some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS on both sides of the border on the exact same day later this month, so here's what you should know on this Friday night!

Local alt-hard rock quintet Handsome Sandwich will open for Montreal power pop veterans Dany Laj & The Looks on Saturday, September 28th at... the Fraternal Order of Eagles? Yes, this show will be taking place at the Eagles Club at 246 Wellington Street West, a locale that has sporadically hosted concerts in the past, but this is the first time that Aerie 3991 has crossed the SMS' radar. It will be very interesting to hear how this Steelton locale does hosting this concert, and if it gains similar repeat usage after this month! Last seen at the Northern Vibe Festival, this will be Handsome Sandwich's first show in Sault Ste. Marie city limits since the Poutine Feast, and yes, I will be covering their Northern Vibe video (and more from Ophir) in an upcoming post! In their original run as a cover trio, Handsome Sandwich opened for Dany Laj & The Looks at The Rockstar Bar in November 2017, so it is neat to see them back at it seven years later!

While not a hard rock band, Dany & crew will be familiar to local concert-goers from their five local dates here in the 2010s (last seen at the former New American Pub in November 2019), though they did withdraw from 2021's Northern Vibe Festival in the interim. The Looks have a fun & upbeat sound with lots of genre flourishes, and it will be good to see them back in town! Promoted by Piecing It Together Shows (the former Dryer Fire), this ALL AGES show has an advertised start time of 7:00 PM. Tickets cost $15 (up from $12 in 2019), and you can buy them at this link, while the door price will jump to $20. Visit the above links for all of the details on what's going down at the Eagles Club in three weeks!

Next up, we'll head to Sault Michigan, where local hard rock sextet Exit 808 will play their first show of the fall on September 28th as well, but in their case, it's a special charity event! The double vocalist-led group will headline A Night Of Music at Three One Three on Ashmun (the former Back Door), which is an annual fundraiser event for the Hospice of the EUP (basically Sault Michigan's equivalent to ARCH), as sponsored by Team Century 21. Exit 808 will be joined here by three acoustic singer/guitarists, namely Gabe Menard (who I am not familiar with), veteran country musician Paul Perry, and Project 906 frontman Billy Bernier, who has been playing more solo gigs this year. Supporting your local hospice (ARCH or the EUP's) is always a wonderful cause, and I do hope that there's a great turnout at Three One Three in three weeks for this stacked lineup of local talent!

A Night Of Music has a 7:00 PM start time and a $10 cover charge (proceeds all go to the hospice), and while an age limit wasn't stated, note that Three One Three has three distinct spaces for hosting events, and I'm not sure which will have the concert. Visit the above links for more details on Exit 808's hospice fundraiser later this month!

Now let's move to the rest of this weekend's known public hard rock concert previews, and we'll stay in the E.U.P. for new local hard rock quartet Unfortunate Sun's headlining date TOMORROW NIGHT at the annual Stalwart Agricultural Fair in Goetzville! This event doesn't seem like the most SMS-amenable event going, but their predecessors Fake Chow (whose lineup is identical aside from the bassist) played at the farming/agricultural expo outside of Pickford last year, so calling up their new project does make sense in that way, though Unfortunate Sun have been publically promoting their rock bonafides moreso than Fake Chow did on social media. The guys will be the featured musicians for tomorrow's final day of the Stalwart Fair, and if you want full details on the livestock and farm equipment activites and competitions this weekend, click here! Their set will be under the on-site pavilion.

The Stalwart Fair goes down at the corner of Sand Ridge Road and 28 Mile in Goetzville, with an 8:00 PM start time for Unfortunate Sun's concert proper. This is absolutely an all ages festival, and admission is $5 a person. In case the pavilion is exposed to the elements, we're looking at cloudy weather in the mid-low 50s Fahrenheit (around 11° Celsius), but it is not expected to rain. Visit the above links for more details on the Stalwart Fair and Unfortunate Sun's concert tomorrow, and here they are live!

Finally for this weekend, we'll head back north to Sault Ontario, where local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 will go "uncorked" for another acoustic show at Gateway Casino TOMORROW NIGHT! While fans have seen Greg, Alex, and Warren multiple times since in both electric and non-electric settings, tomorrow's one-nighter will be their first at the downtown casino in three months. If you want to enjoy your local 225's unplugg.... "uncorked" stylings at a familiar downtown space, then definitely keep this show in mind! Bone Yard are not playing anywhere public tonight, and this is their only acoustic show of the month (your next chance to see them live is next Saturday at Shooters). Tomorrow's show has a 9:00 PM start time, no cover charge, and a 19+ age limit. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Bone Yard 225 live!

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

Sault Michigan Weekend Concert Previews, Plus Buddy Repperton & The Camaros Updates!!

Here's a rarity: a concert weekend in the Twin Saults and area with too many shows for one weekend concert preview post! As pandemic measures lessen (assuming the trend continues), this may seem like less of a novelty like in the 2010s, but enjoy the moment! To break things up, I will tackle known Sault Ontario concerts in tomorrow's post, with this post solely focusing on Sault Michigan-area events. Here's what you should know!

Grand Rapids/Nashville psychedelic hard rock quartet Overdrive Orchestra will return to the E.U.P. TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT when they headline at The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino! These shows come just three weeks after this fast-rising band rocked The Rapids Lounge in the Soo, and it looks like those two gigs went well, so look for even more entertaining original music in Mackinac County this weekend! Overdrive Orchestra's brand of vibrant old school yet decidedly hard-edged rock n' roll should deliver another knockout punch, so do check them out to see what they'll bring to the table this weekend, as who knows when/if they'll be in the E.U.P. again! As in the Soo earlier this month, these are 9:00 PM affairs with no cover charge and 21+ age limits. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Ovedrive Orchestra live in 2020!

Next up, local hard rock quartet Rhythm & Brews will be rocking out at The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT themselves! The 415E side project were last seen at The Rapids Lounge a month ago with their late notice fill-in gigs for Traverse City dance rockers Risque, but luckily, this weekend's shows had advance notice via the casino's entertainment page. Good thing too, as the band only acknowledged the gigs on their Facebook page yesterday, though personal accounts have plugged them with more depth. Kewadin's entertainment page has been updated to reflect new shows through the end of June (more on the hard rock shows within soon), but Rhythm & Brews are not on the schedule in the Soo or St. Ignace, so if you want to see this union of Nixxon Dixxon, Clownsack, and Monkey's Uncle alumni short term, don't miss out!

Like with Overdrive Orchestra in St. Ignace this weekend, tomorrow & Saturday's Rhythm & Brews shows are 21+ affairs with no cover charge & a 9:00 PM start time. Hopefully these shows go well for this very talented foursome, so visit the above links for more details, and we'll let you know when publically shareable media of Rhythm & Brews surfaces!

Let's close out the known E.U.P. previews elsewhere in the Soo on SATURDAY NIGHT, as new local metal band Buddy Repperton & The Camaros will make their live concert debut at Three One Three on Ashmun! A rare SMS-fitting concert at the former Back Door, this will be local metalheads' first chance to see this promisingly heavy new group, but there are changes to their last publically recorded lineup. For one, their current bassist is Dennis Rudis, who replaced Brett Blackwood in the band last year but was never publically confirmed as such in posts on their Facebook page. No word on why Brett left, but you'll still be able to see him with Rhythm & Brews this weekend! Also, a post on frontman David Waite's personal Facebook page indicates that guitarist Doug Reed will be unavailable for the show, at the very least. Whether Doug is out of the band or not, I can't say, but hopefully nothing too serious happened!

David did indicate that the show will still go on with him handling lead guitar, and hopefully a three man attack can translate their thrash and groove metal covers & originals as smoothly as possible, as bands of this style don't launch out of Sault Michigan often! New local rock band The Nameless will open on Saturday, and while they do have a Facebook page now, updates so far are very slight aside from photos of their gear, and I have no clue on their lineup, genre, or anything else. We'll let you know when more comes out! This well hyped and anticipated concert will have a 9:00 PM start time, no cover charge, and a 21+ age limit, while attendees can also enter a skateboard draw. It will be great to finally see Buddy Repperton & The Camaros in concert, even if shorthanded, so hopefully there's a strong turnout on Saturday night! See above for more details, and here's Buddy Repperton & The Camaros jamming last year!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for Sault Ontario weekend concert previews and more next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Buddy Repperton & The Camaros), A New Local Band, And New Videos!!

Here's another news post on this Friday morning, including a pair of new videos from Sault Ontario, but let's lead off in Sault Michigan for a new local metal band with some very familiar faces and a nice & heavy sound, including a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT regarding their first show!

We have a new Sault Michigan metal band to add to our band links, and they are Buddy Repperton & The Camaros! The name is a reference to the Stephen King book/movie Christine, no one in the band is named Buddy Repperton. Launched in February of last year, the band's lineup consists of former From The Ashes Of Angels singer/guitarist David Waite, Half A Man/Tarnished alum Doug Reed on guitar, and 415E bandmates Brett Blackwood (also of Rhythm & Brews) on bass and Jason VanLuven (formerly of Chump Change & Paradise Excuse) on drums. David & Jason were the founders of The Camaros, and they have been working on original songs since their debut. Videos of them playing their own tracks and some covers made up most of their social media updates last year, and you can see those videos on their Facebook page, YouTube channel, and Instagram page. That all said, how do Buddy Repperton & The Camaros sound?

Not bad at all, and if you've wanted a unqualified "metal" band in the E.U.P., as opposed to hard rock or hair band covers, these guys will fit the bill! David's vocals remind me of Kirk Windstein from Crowbar at times here (good to see him move back to the area), and their sound has a heavy driving sound with very solid riffs that go very well on songs like "Say Their Names" & "One More Round"! Props to any local band for covering Sacred Reich too, they're an awesome thrash metal band who deserve more attention! You can hear multiple takes of their originals (at least 5 are posted between YouTube and Facebook, some featuring just David & Jason early on), but when will Buddy & The Camaros make their live concert debut? Well, how does Saturday, April 23rd sound? The guys will rock out at Three One Three on Ashmun (the former Back Door) that night, marking the first heavier concert there that we've covered since 2018!

With a year to prepare and dial in their setlist and originals, hopefully David, Doug, Brett, and Jason will rock everyone's socks off next month! An opening band called The Nameless are also advertised, of whom I know nothing, but I will let you guys know if anything is announced. Expect a 21+ age limit, 9:00 PM start time, no cover charge, and a skateboard giveaway(?!), so visit the above links for current details on this show and the new band! Hope to hear more from them soon, it's great to see another original metal band in Sault Michigan, and here's The Camaros playing another new song of theirs, "Total Annihilation"!

Next up, we've let this slide for a little too long, but young Sault Ontario punk quartet Vanity First (née just Vanity) released their full studio version of "Playboy Magazine" onto Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Music on Wednesday, April 16th as scheduled! Of course, all are free streaming platforms, but if you do want to support the band by buying a physical CD, contact them to see if their pre-name change demo EP is still available (it has the prior version of this song). I'll hold comment for now, as I plan to review the original take of this song when I review the EP in likely May, but the recording quality at Mission Control Studios is obviously far improved. Give "Playboy Magazine" a listen below!

Finally, here's a new/old song from defunct local grunge trio No Arrow! Presumably uploaded to frontman Dann Pichette's YouTube channel towards submission for an episode of You Rock! with Thomas Christ (yes, I'll be covering more episodes of that show soon), this 2009 recording is called "Lighter", and it was uploaded on March 8th. A solid quality recording, this song has more of a laid back, 1970s feel while still having that 1990s alternative essence, and while I like my No Arrow more aggressive, I can see this catching on with No Arrow's new fans! Check it out below, and look for more from You Rock! next week!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Tarnished) & Related Weekend Concert Previews!!

After a one week lull following Rotaryfest, we have an unusually busy concert weekend at the SMS  to kick off August, so here's what we have in store. Due to a number of LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (some on SHORT NOTICE) from the same local band, we'll focus only on them to start, while we'll look at Tym Morrison, The Wyld Stallyns, and Pop Evil later today, before looking at Saturday's Inner City Surfers, Highway 63, and Black Crown Initiate concerts tomorrow. Hopefully that covers everything, barring more late notice announcements. Now, here's what you should know to start this weekend!

New Sault Michigan hard rock band Tarnished will continue their "every Thursday" run of acoustic matinee concerts TODAY at Biggby Coffee, but that's not all for Alex and Josh (and Tommy?) this month! Joining their increasingly busy concert schedule, the Banned successors will also play outside of Phat Boutique at 559 Ashmun Street for a second straight week as part of the ongoing Ashmun Alive festival series TONIGHT, while they'll also be playing another acoustic set TOMORROW AFTERNOON as part of this year's Sidewalk Sales! Apologies for the short notice on the latter two gigs, they were only publically confirmed via Facebook event pages linked here and here earlier this week.  All three of these two man unplugged gigs are FREE and ALL AGES matinees, so whether you're up for some 10:30 AM indoor jams for tips and coffee today, or you want to head downtown TONIGHT at 6:00 PM or TOMORROW at 12:00 PM, you have ample opportunities to hear Alex & Josh break out some fan favourite covers this weekend!

Note that I don't know where exactly Tarnished will be playing during Sidewalk Sales, but Phat Boutique again would make sense. That all said, Tarnished will also have one non-Biggby/Ashmun show this month in the region, as they will (more or less) take Banned's place at this year's Sugar Island Music Festival on Saturday, August 10th! Advertised without the "acoustic" tag in it's Facebook event page's title (and thusly implying that they'll have electric instruments and drums here), this will be frontman Alex Traynor's ninth straight year at this annual festival, and first not fronting Banned, though Tarnished get a high co-headlining slot at 8:45 PM on Saturday. Other bands this year, again of the festival regular, country/folk, and online page-less variety, will include headliners 3 Zip, 3½ Men, Aberdeen, 2 Cents, All Arms, Joel Choate, The Gentleman George Band, Walkers Rye, Moose River and February Sky, and an Al Gross-hosted open mic block opening at 11:00 AM.

With the exception of Friday openers Steph & Dave and Sunday headliners Jim & Joe Schutz, every band on those days is also playing on Saturday, unlisted "friends" aside, and Tarnished are only advertised for Saturday. As usual, admission for this ALL AGES outdoor festival on Sugar Island is via a $10 souvenir button purchase (kids 12 and under are FREE), which gets you admission for all three days of the festival, with no single day passes available. Buttons are on sale at Ed's Bayview Store, The Hilltop Bar & Grill, or the Westshore Convenience Store in Sugar Island, and at Crooked Music in Sault Ste. Marie, and presumably at the gate, and for more details (including on all of the non-musical festivities), visit the official website! Also for Tarnished's busy concert slate, they just played out of our coverage area today in Curtis, they'll take a road trip to Alex's current(?) Mount Pleasant home base for a show on August 15th, and will also travel to Gould City and Toledo, Ohio for gigs next month, so keep those in mind if you live afar!

Lastly, Alex Traynor's previously advertised solo concert at The Signatures Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino on September 5th, and Banned's previously announced Kinross Speedpark gig on September 6th have both turned into Tarnished concerts, as per their new Facebook event pages linked here & here, so both are now credited in our Sault Michigan concert listings as such. This seems to confirm that Tarnished have superceded Alex's own solo project in live priority, though hopefully he doesn't completely put his original music on the shelf. I think that covers all of Tarnished's new concert updates, and it's great to see Alex & Josh (and Tommy) staying busy! No word on how long this will last, especially if Alex has any impending Mount Pleasant commitments, but enjoy Tarnished while you can at all of these gigs, including TODAY & TOMORROW! See above for more details on all of these new concerts, and here's Tarnished live!



That's all for now, but stay tuned for more weekend concert previews this afternoon! Thanks everyone!