More COVID-19 Concert Cancellations & Updates, Plus A Concert Preview!?

In what's fast becoming a new normal for The Sault Metal Scene (sigh), we might as well look at the latest on the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and it's effects on the local hard rock/punk concert calendar. The big news that broke today is that Kewadin Casino has postponed the Candlebox-headlined concert at The Dreammakers Theatre in Sault Michigan on April 18th, as per their Facebook page (the Little Texas show was also postponed.) As with the Black Label Society concert, you can hold already-purchased tickets to be honoured when the Candlebox show here is rescheduled, but refunds are available from Kewadin at point of purchase. This is definitely disappointing, but alas, it's not entirely unexpected, especially with the recent news that Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has issued an executive order to close all bars, nightclubs, and restaurants in the state through the end of March, as they work to contain the coronavirus (click here for details.)

Now, in terms of our concert calendar in the Eastern Upper Peninsula, this surprisingly doesn't affect that too much, as we didn't have any nightclub shows from local or touring hard rock bands listed there anymore, but this theoretically would interrupt local hard rock band Tarnished's "every Thursday" matinee run at Biggby Coffee, where they were expected to play at 12:00 PM this and next Thursday. I will tentatively remove those dates from our calendar too, but if Tarnished or Biggby confirm otherwise, I will add them back. I suppose they/Alex could play just for people picking up to-go/take-out orders (which will still be allowed in Michigan)... stranger things have happened! Also, I will leave Traverse City hard rock trio Scarkazm's April 10th weekend concerts at the St. Ignace Kewadin in our concert listings for now, as they take place after the March ban ends, but this situation is fluid and could get far more volatile, so stay tuned for updates on those and other April events as they roll in.

Over in Sault Ontario, the provincial government was not issuing a ban for restaurants and nightclubs at this time, as the evidence does not support doing so right now, but Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Williams is now strongly recommending that they close. Click here & here for more on this subject. In any event. Gliss Restaurant on Spring Street have announced on Facebook that they are closing their regular business hours as of today due to COVID-19, but they will re-open for reservations booked there and will bring in staff accordingly. They did not give a timeline for when they'll be back in full, but this would appear to interrupt Tym Morrison's weekly matinees there on Fridays & Saturdays. Again, I suppose he could be brought in to play for reserved guests, but that's not truly a "public" concert, so I'll also de-list his March gigs there until otherwise stated. Unless given reason otherwise, his March 27th gig at The Roadhouse Bar & Grill will remain in our calendar for now.

Also, The Rockstar Bar's Martin Fiser noted on their Facebook group today that they will be closed through this weekend due to the coronavirus, and they may have to cancel events into April pending how the pandemic unfolds. SMS-wise, this would primarily impact next month's Just Heart & Lycanthro concerts, but it is too soon to make judgments on them.

The last surviving hard rock or punk concert left on our calendar for this weekend was The Sick Sons & Slumshine at LopLops Lounge on Friday, and that show has also been cancelled, as per it's Facebook event page. No word on if this will be rescheduled, but both bands are local, so watch their social media accounts for details either way.  As well, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck have announced on Facebook that their planned Wawa road trip in two weeks (to play at a women's curling event that they were a part of before) has been cancelled, and they are "officially off for a few weeks", with updates pertaining to scheduled gigs to be announced. Soundcheck have only plugged their concerts on short notice (if at all) in 2020 so far, and accordingly, they were not listed in our current concert calendar anyway, but any heads-up to fans is welcomed! With all of this said, we surprisingly still have a concert to preview, so what should you know there?

The aforementioned Slumshine are still advertised to play their "Story Time With Slumshine" concert at Home Bakehouse Bed & Breakfast at 168 March Street THIS WEDNESDAY! The relatively unfamiliar venue has been gaining fans in recent months with their homemade baking and their requisite B&B operations, and they have confirmed that they are staying open to help serve the community, as of 3:09 PM (they don't have a real dine-in operation anyway.) Slumshine's planned acoustic punk originals will be joined by Brent telling short stories about them, VH1 Storytellers style, and he hinted that more "Story Time" shows are in the works. This special Wednesday evening concert has a 7:00 PM start time, a "pay what you can" entry model, and no age limit. Assuming this show isn't called off amid the coronavirus fears, this should be a unique but entertaining event at Home (2 minutes north of Gliss), and Slumshine's established unplugged punk attack should make and keep lots of fans!

If you're craving live punk music, this could be one of very few chances to see it for a while, assuming it goes on as scheduled, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details, here's Slumshine live, and if we hear anything regarding this show's status, we'll let you know!



Unless a short notice concert pops up that boldly tries to go on amidst the COVID-19 panic, we will have no concert previews this weekend, which is bizarre, but isolating and keeping the coronavirus contained is essential, and we can only hope that things improve in the near future for everyone's health and safety. That's what's important, concerts can wait until we figure things out. Stay safe, everyone, and we'll have more news on the site this week!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Slumshine), Band Link Updates, And Musicians Wanted Group Updates!!

Before we get into this post, just a heads up that tonight's Handsome Sandwich concert at The Rockstar Bar has reportedly been cancelled due to the inclement weather & related staff invailability, as per singer/drummer Johnny Belanger's personal Facebook page this afternoon. Tomorrow's concert is still on, but if you're hoping to see them, do not come out tonight. Disappointing, but not all is lost, so keep tomorrow's show in mind! However, you can stay warm with today's SMS post, featuring recent musician searches, a band moved to our inactive band links, and leading off, here's an overdue addition to our band listings, with a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT too!

We have a new addition to our active band links today, and they are Slumshine, the current acoustic punk solo project from veteran local hardcore punk singer/bassist Brenton Ellis! Slumshine are nothing new, having debuted on stage back in September 2017, but early sound descriptions pointed to more of an alt-folk theme. However, as fans can attest, Slumshine are a full on punk act, just with one musician clad in the finest pink knit ski mask you'll ever find on a local stage! Brent doesn't use his name officially with Slumshine, and curiously uses plural pronouns (i.e. we/us) despite being a solo project. Initially making a splash via sets at the first Oh!No festival and by opening for The Faps, The Ghostly Hounds, and Dany Laj & The Looks in the fall of 2017, Slumshine went dormant throughout the following year, before returning to action in early 2019, appearing at Oh!No III and opening for The Faps again, Darsombra, Femur, and The River Jacks. Also, they released their first album "SLMSHN" on cassette tapes last July, and you can buy/stream it on Bandcamp on a "name your price" model.

Of course, Brent is among the staff of the Oh!No Collective, who distributed "SLMSHN" in their first release as a planned cassette tape-centric indie label, and his talents as a painter and artist are very evident in Slumshine's online marketing. Fans can see Slumshine back at it on Friday, March 20th when they open for The Sick Sons at LopLops (details here), but in a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, you can see Slumshine in a rare solo headlining appearance on Wednesday, March 18th at... Home Bakehouse Bed and Breakfast at 168 March Street?! This is a new downtown business whose name suggests what they do, so if you like homemade baked goods, or need a place to stay, Home is where the heart is! The locale is very atypical for an ostensible "punk concert", but Home has partnered with the returning Fishbowl Festival for sourdough classes, for what that's worth. This mid-week show has an early 7:00 PM start time, no age limit, and a "pay what you can" entry model. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details!

Currently also a bassist with The Dynowaves, Brent's vocal work here and in Toronto is well known, and musically, I get more of his earlier straight punk vibe here rather than his later hardcore punk screaming, albeit with the stripped down unplugged format. Solid lyrics and strong melodic vocals mesh together well, and I think these sounds would be a great fit with a full plugged-in band, but even in this format, it's easy to see why Slumshine turn heads even beyond the pink mask. A smattering of videos are on Facebook & YouTube, but here's Slumshine playing their songs "Back in Blue" and "Blue Shift" at Outspoken Brewing in December!



Next up, I have reluctantly moved local alternative/indie rock quartet Id Iota to our inactive band links. The group has not issued a public statement since their cover of Pup's "Free At Last" was uploaded to their Facebook page one year ago today, though that performance was sans frontman Christian Lemay, and regardless of his status with the band, they have not played a live set since the 2018 Rotaryfest weekend. Active since mid-2015 when they succeeded the studio-only Habitat Shuffle, Id Iota quickly became a popular sight at a variety of local concerts in the mid-2010s, including at Lopstock II, three straight Rotaryfest Second Stages from 2016-2018, two Ontario tour runs in 2016 with The Pixo Control and Mike Mikus, and opening slots for touring bands like Saturn Alien, Windigo, and The Almighty Rhombus. Along the way, Id Iota also released their "Maudlin Fair" EP in April 2016, and they were working on a full length album as recently as April 2018.

I have no clue what happened to Id Iota, but they were a creative band that had enough genre diversity to slide into hard rock and indie shows with relative ease! Genre preference-wise, I did take to their 2000s ska punk predecessors Free Beer more, but Id Iota showed their growth and progression as musicians very well, and they left a wide footprint locally and with their tours 4 years ago. Hopefully we see Id Iota and their planned full-length CD resurface down the road, but best of luck to Christian, Dustin, Robert, Blair, Justin, and Dan in the future!

Finally for today, here's three recent Musicians Wanted Facebook group postings relating to musician and band searches from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist name:

• Former Half Past bassist Arthur Lacasse is starting an acoustic rock band with him on guitar, who would cover modern hard rock acts like Highly Suspect, Shinedown, Seether, and Three Days Grace. He already has a singer lined up, and is looking for a bassist, drummer (ideally on cajon), and maybe an extra guitarist. It'd be great to see Arthur back out there, but if you're interested in more details, message him at this link or via his group post from February 8th!
• A local rhythm guitarist named Jayrald Micky is looking to join a local band, and while he is aiming to play guitar in said group, he does have drumming experience. He didn't give a genre preference, just that he was "looking for anything at this point" and that he just wants to jam again. I'm not familiar with Jayrald as a musician, but if you want more details, message him at this link or via his group post from February 12th!
• Fluid 5ive guitarist Liam Vaillancourt posted here on February 11th looking for a keyboard player for "a gigging band" that is capable of playing signature lines from various rock, blues, and country cover songs. Liam did not specify in the post if this was for Fluid 5ive or another band, but if it is referring to the 5ive, we have not heard anything regarding Rob Irving's status with the group (note that Rob played rhythm guitar as well as keyboard.) In any event, message Liam at this link or above for more details!

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