Traverse City classic metal trio Peril will return to The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino for the presumed final times on Friday and Saturday, October 9th & 10th! The shows were quietly announced via Kewadin's entertainment page this month, and these could be the last heavier-leaning concerts before the casino begins their massive renovations to The Rapids Lounge, with a new sports bar scheduled to open on/near that location next year. It's not a long weekend for Yoopers then, but if you want to rock out with a Jeff Hudson band one more time at The Rapids Lounge as we know it, keep things in mind for in two weeks! Next month's shows are 21+ affairs with no announced cover charges and 9:00 PM start times. If you're curious, Kewadin lists Rapids Lounge bookings through at least Halloween (soul/R&B cover band NuCorp), but is that it? We'll let you know when more details are announced!
Next up, let's head over to Rudyard, where local blues/hard rock cover quintet Project 906 will return to Huck's Pub & Grill as the headliners of their Halloween party on Saturday, October 31st! The #summerof906 ended quietly with no publically announced shows (or updates in general) since their set at the Barge Bash in Cedarville early last month, but this will be their first show at Huck's since the Summerfest weekend in July. Halloween is always a key date for bands to get, and Project 906 also got the honours last year (when October 31st was a Friday), so why not get another expertly timed return booking? Along with the usual spooky frills for Halloween night, and Project 906's established and fan favourite hard rock covers, there will be a costume contest, with yet-to-be-announced prizes going to the best overall, funniest, and best couples' costumes, similarly to last year's party.
Billy, Joe, Dustin, Jason, and Brian will take the stage at 8:00 PM on Halloween, this will have a 21+ age limit, and there is no announced cover charge. Where Project 906 have been lately, I don't know, but we at least have a date ahead, and on a fitting weekend in many respects, so visit the above links for more details on the spooktacular night ahead!
Also today, here's a few updates from local hard rock trio Crush's Facebook page! As you may recall, Crush (who play out of town gigs more frequently than their sister band Tarnished) hit the road for Gould City yesterday to open for Tribe989 at Bates Corner Bar & Grill. The guys were hyping this up like it was a local gig, and for some readers, it will have been, as Gould City is a 90 minute drive west of the Soo, which is a half hour past our coverage range. Towns like Paradise, Newberry, and Gould City are beyond the one hour mark from Sault Ste. Marie, hence why we don't cover anything in those towns full bore, but they do put on some big events at Bates Corner, and yesterday's show was outdoors, even! You may recall seeing this outdoor stage with the eight poles on each side in past Tarnished and Crush media. Hopefully the concert (also featuring Hannahville metal band Ghidora) was a hit all around!
To plug the impending concert, bassist Isaac Royer (a.k.a. "Igman" here) filmed this vertical video of him, Alex, and Josh en route to Gould City, but they were running "way late" as of 5:50 PM due to construction en route. I can't tell where they exactly were when Iggy was filming, but hopefully they made it in time for the regular soundcheck, and they still plugged the show as best they could! Give the video a watch below, and hopefully we see Crush within an hour of the Soo before too long!
Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items (including some from Sault Ontario!) from the last little while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist or venue name:
- Sault Ontario hard rock/metal trio The BAG will headline a private concert on Friday, October 30th! The Devil's Night show will be held "at Dirtbag's" (message performers if you want to know where that is, let alone who Dirtbag is), and will feature The BAG's first announced concert set in over four months, alongside Hails, ASDP, and With Gunfire. While the show will have "pay what you can" admission, we historically don't cover private or house party concerts with no public address unless it's a repeat named location like Unnecessary Noise. It does sound like fun though, so visit the above links if you want to inquire further!
- A devastating fire caused severe damage at Snow's Bar & Grill in Cedarville, Michigan on September 9th, as covered in this St. Ignace News article by Erich Doerr, featuring photos of the bar during the blaze and after it was put out. Needless to say, Snow's as we know it was destroyed, and it's way too soon to know what the next steps are there, but owner Amy Salter confirmed on their Facebook page that they have insurance, and that process is ongoing. Snow's was sporadically featured here from hosting hard rock cover band concerts, most recently the aforementioned Project 906 in February. Our best wishes go out to Amy and her family and staff at this time!
- New Sault Ontario hard rock/blues trio Stones & Crows had special guests for their concert at Beck's Bar on August 27th, as per photos from the show on their Facebook page. Big Finish Band/Drifters drummer Brandan Glew took Tony's spot behind the drumkit for at least one song, while someone only credited as "Bongo Boy" joined in for at least that same song with Brandan, and you can guess what he was playing. Fun to see some guests like this, and we'll let you know when Stones & Crows announce their first fall date!
That's all for now, but stay tuned for concert previews and more in our next news post! Thanks everyone!
