LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Wax Mannequin & Tym Morrison) And Weekend Concert Previews!!

It's time to dive into another round of weekend concert previews, and while things aren't as hectic as the last two weeks, there are still enough shows to get to where we'll have to break things in twain, so shows that are only on Saturday and/or Sunday (Generations, 5 Dollar Bribe, Bone Yard 225, and the Barge Bash) will be in tomorrow's post. Now, here's what you should know on both sides of the border for bands playing shows tonight and tomorrow in some fashion, including a pair of SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!

Local classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison will play his third solo acoustic concert in as many days TOMORROW NIGHT at Ije's Place in nearby Desbarats! Apologies for the short notice, this show was first announced via his Facebook event page on Monday. You may recall seeing late notice word that Tym would be making the 45 minute drive southeast to Desbarats (hometown of Central Algoma Secondary School) four weeks ago for his debut gig there, which I unfortunately missed at the time, so thankfully I heard about this one! Fresh off of shows at The Trading Post and the Up & Down Lounge, Tym should have lots of entertaining hard and classic rock covers in store for fans TOMORROW, and clearly his July 3rd show went well for him to get called back again before July is up! Ije's Place is located off of Highway 17 at 4 Lake Huron Drive, and is roughly between St. Joseph Island and Bruce Mines near the edge of our coverage area.

This indoor concert goes down TOMORROW from 6:00-8:00 PM, this is likely all ages given that Ije's is a cafe & bakery, and there is no announced cover charge. See above for more details, and for a preview, here's a live-streamed video of Tym there earlier this month! The 2 minute clip sees Tym covering much of The Black Crowes' "She Talks To Angels" and doing a solid job of it, but alas, the filmer didn't zoom in at all, so full screen is your friend here. As this was live-streamed on Ije's Facebook page, it will vanish early next week unless re-uploaded or converted, so watch it below (while you can?) 

Next up, Hamilton "weird folk art punk" solo project Wax Mannequin will return to the Soo TOMORROW NIGHT for a concert at... Unnecessary Noise? Again, apologies for the short notice, the show was first announced via its Facebook event page this past Friday. As to my understanding, Unnecessary Noise is the private location that has been used for recent Underground Events SSM concerts like the Danger Box one and Soopfest, but the space now has an official name, and it's being used for public event promotion going forward, even if the address isn't at a public locale ("ask a punk"). This isn't entirely new for Wax Mannequin, as Chris Adeney's last show here in August 2024 was also not at a standard venue, instead a residence's backyard. Hopefully Unnecessary Noise proves a fitting spot for Wax Mannequin's return, and their noise definitely isn't unnecessary, with punk and metal tinges across their wide ranging setlist and discography!

Fellow Hamilton alt-folk/punk solo project The Kettle Black will make their apparent local debut tomorrow while on tour with Wax Mannequin, while comedy rock band The Floor Between Us (featuring Stones & Crows bassist Nicholas Gingras) will return as openers after doing the honours two years ago. Like in 2024, this is an all ages concert at 8:00 PM, but unlike that Piecing It Together Shows-promoted event, admission is "pay-what-you-can" with $15 recommended (down from $20 in advance/$25 at the door last time). This should be a fun concert for fans of eclectic original music with punk and hard rock influences across the board, so see above for more details, and here's Wax Mannequin live!

We'll head to the Eastern Upper Peninsula of Michigan to round out this post, starting with local classic/hard rock cover quarter Tarnished, who will make their way an hour south to St. Ignace TOMORROW NIGHT when they rock American Legion Park as part of St. Ignace's Music By The Bay summer concert series! Once again, St. Ignace is impressively hosting a different live music act daily until Labour Day, with tomorrow's show being the first of two that Tarnished are playing under the canopied stage at 200 North State Street this year, the other being the penultimate show for 2026 on September 5th. Hopefully tomorrow's concert is a smash hit for Alex, Josh, Chris, and Ron, though note that the band has not corroborated the booking on their Facebook page at press time. Tomorrow's concert takes place at 7:00 PM with no cover charge or age limit, and lawn chairs are suggested given the park setting.

Weather-wise, 9&10 News is calling for a 40% chance of rain during showtime tomorrow, with temperatures of 72-73° (22-23° Celsius). Yes, artists get to play under a roof, but attendees aren't so lucky, so if you are at all concerned about the forecast and/or the potential for the show being cancelled or abbreviated by the rain, keep tabs with Tarnished for updates. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Tarnished live!

Finally, let's head north to Sault Ste. Marie, where Petoskey classic/hard rock cover quartet The Blitz are scheduled to make their local debuts at The Rapids Lounge at the local Kewadin Casino TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! While not mentioned in new social media posts in the past month & a half, The Blitz are the first of three non-local hard rock cover bands debuting at Kewadin lounges over the next month. Videos from after their 2022 reunion point to a well varied but often heavy range of covers played with talent and professinalism, and I do hope that things go well so they can blitz a local stage again in the coming months! As usual for Kewadin lounges, this weekend's shows both have 9:00 PM start times, no cover charges, and 21+ age limits. See above for more details, and for a preview, here's The Blitz in a recent jam session!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for the rest of this weekend's previews or this month's CD review next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (The Blitz, Nolium, Rock N' Roll Ave, And Project 906!!)

Before we dive into weekend concert previews on both sides of the border, let's take a trip to Sault Michigan and the E.U.P. for this all-American SMS post, which solely features LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for the coming weeks! Here's what you should know on this Wednesday night!

Local hard/blues rock cover quintet Project 906 will apparently return to Huck's Pub & Grill in Rudyard for one night only on Friday, July 24th! The show was announced via this concert calendar image on Huck's Facebook page, which calls them "906 Band", but who else could they be referring to? Fans last saw Project 906 at Huck's on Halloween last year, and their show in two weeks will actually coincide with another special occasion, as that will be during Summerfest weekend in Rudyard (click here for this year's program), but events at the former Joe's Bar are not official Summerfest events, just well timed. As such, things should be busier that night, so hopefully Project 906 have a strong night of live hard rock action! Note that singer Billy Bernier will actually be playing a solo gig at Huck's tomorrow (source here) as this week's Bike Night entertainment, but I don't know if his solo shows are basically 906 unplugged or take new paths.

This concert is a one-nighter due to or resulting in a show on Saturday the 25th from a mystery band named Private Drive, and we'll let you know if we hear anything about them. "906 Band" take the stage for this 21+ concert at 8:00 PM with no cover charge, and there will be an outdoor cash bar on site. Before we get too far, Project 906 played their second show of this year's #summerof906 in Curtis (90 minutes west of here) on Wednesday, July 1st at the Erickson Center For The Arts as part of their own Music In The Park series. Curtis is outside of our hour's drive coverage area, but I hope the outdoor show went well! Visit the above links for more from Project 906!

Next up, Kewadin Casino has updated their entertainment page for bands playing at the Soo and St. Ignace branches through the end of August, and there's some newer touring faces to look out for, starting with the local debuts of Petoskey-area classic/hard rock cover quartet The Blitz at The Rapids Lounge in Sault Ste. Marie on Friday, July 31st and Saturday, August 1st! The Blitz have been rocking Northern Michigan and the tip of the mitt since at least the late 2010s, and they reunited in 2022, but as far as I am aware, their shows in three weeks will be their first in the E.U.P.. Videos on their Facebook page show The Blitz covering the likes of Def Leppard, Better Than Ezra, and Royal Republic, and were recently tapped to open for a cancelled Firehouse concert in Wolverine, so they definitely have a good array of hard rock-leaning covers, and it will be interesting to see how they go over in the Soo!

As usual for concerts at Kewadin Casino's on-site lounges, their shows on the 31st and August 1st are 9:00 PM affairs with 21+ age limits and no cover charges. Hopefully The Blitz deliver a solid weekend of rocking covers for fans in a few weeks, so visit the above links for more details!

Also new at The Rapids Lounge next month is the local debut of Mount Pleasant classic/hard rock cover quintet Rock N' Roll Ave (as in "avenue"), who will rock the Soo Kewadin on Friday, August 7th and Saturday, August 8th! A recently reunited cover band featuring Brock Williams from the defunct Central Michigan metalcore band Black Out, the Sault Ste. Marie dates will actually be Rock N' Roll Ave's first anywhere after their return, which is unusual when you consider that Mount Pleasant is 3 hours south of here, but they are a talented band with a good ear for hard rock! In their three jam session videos from this summer on their Facebook page (all shot vertically, alas), you can see them covering Poison, Stone Temple Pilots, and John Mellencamp songs, though tread lightly when backtracking there, as Black Out videos are also posted on their page, and R.N.R.A. aren't that heavy by comparison!

They should get a good reception from Yooper fans at the Soo Kewadin next month, so welcome Rock N' Roll Ave here in style then! Like with The Blitz the previous week, these are 21+ shows with no cover charges and 21+ age limits. See above for more details on their local debut weekend!

Finally for today, The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino isn't lacking for new touring rock bands either, as Ontonogan hard rock quartet Nolium will make their own EUP debut at that branch on Friday, August 7th and Saturday, August 8th! Their Facebook calendar says that the shows are in the Soo, but Kewadin's entertainment page confirms that Nolium are in St. Ignace with Rock N' Roll Ave playing an hour north that same weekend. Nolium may actually be the heaviest of the three touring bands in this post (the likes of Tool, System Of A Down, and Silverchair are covered in their set), and they actually have their own original music that fans of modern hard rock and grunge will take to, and it will be neat to see them make the 4½ hour drive east next month! If you really want a big sampling of Nolium live, here's an 80 minutes long concert of theirs from 2021.

As above, these are free concerts with 9:00 PM start times and 21+ age limits, just at the St. Ignace Kewadin. It's not every day when we get bands from that far west in the Upper Peninsula coming here (Nolium play a lot of Wisconsin dates as such), so give them a warm welcome in Mackinac County next month if this interests you! Visit the above links for more details on all of these newly confirmed hard rock shows in the E.U.P., and stay tuned for weekend concert previews on the SMS next! Thanks everyone!

R.I.P. Ben Kemp-Reynolds (1990-2025)

The Sault Metal Scene would like to offer its deepest condolences to the family and friends of former local rock guitarist Ben Kemp-Reynolds, who suddenly passed away earlier today at the age of 35, as per numerous personal Facebook postings. Local readers may be best familiar with Ben's music work while attending Central Algoma Secondary School in the late 2000s, where he performed in CASS Cafe bands like The Diego Experience, The Dedbeats, and most notably, the 2008-2009 blues rock quartet The Glass Statues. Joining future Late & Loud bandmates Benn Garside and Josh Hatherley, The Glass Statues would play their first non-CASS gig at the YMCA Battle of the Bands at The Grand Theater in March 2009 (where they finished in third place), and they later played out in Thessalon, and were among the openers for The Road Hammers at Rotaryfest Stage 1 that July. The Glass Statues disbanded due to Ben's relocation to British Columbia for university the following month. 

Ben kept at it musically out west, where (as "Benny Blitz"), he joined Victoria glam metal band The Lust Boys in early 2010, though a planned homecoming gig with them in March 2012 at the former Canadian Nightclub did not take place due to their tour van breaking down 5 hours outside of town. The local openers, Late & Loud among them, played on though. Alas, Ben never got to bring any of his B.C. bands home for concerts, but he remained in The Lust Boys until they broke up in 2014, and he stayed musically active in the Vancouver area, where he and fellow Lust Boys alum Jayme Black formed the old school metal band Rebel Priest later that year. It's with Rebel Priest where Benny found the most success, releasing two studio albums and some other EPs and singles, and touring as far away as Japan on multiple occasions! Rebel Priest last played live at The Cobalt in Vancouver on November 21st. 

As "Benny Burn", he was also a guitarist in the Vancouver speed metal band Roadrash from 2017-2020, while Ben notably also worked as a bartender and live DJ. It was too easy to miss out on what Benny was up to in B.C. over the years, but he accomplished a lot as a musician there, and while our interactions were brief before he moved, he was always a good guy, and it's a shame to lose him so suddenly, especially just days after Christmas. If you haven't heard his three main bands since he moved, do check out The Lust Boys, Rebel Priest, and Roadrash, as there's some solid classic metal of varying flavours therein, and it'd be neat to see their original music get some well deserved Ontario and Michigan hits. I don't know if any services are planned yet in the Soo or Central Algoma, but we'll let you know when more comes out. Check on your friends, and please reach out if you're struggling. R.I.P. Benny!

Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile: The Lust Boys

As promised, here's this month's Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile! As we do each month, we're taking a look at a metal or hard rock band from out of town that features at least one former Sault Ste. Marie-area resident! This band is a newer find on my radar, but if you like your metal old school and a little glammed up, you should dig these guys, so let's get this profile going! (Updated on November 26th, 2014)
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The Lust Boys (Victoria, British Columbia)

Lineup: (Saultites in RED; members not in their last full lineup in italics)

Colin "Tommy Thrust" Stuart (vocals/guitar/ex-bass)
Ben "Benny Blitz" Kemp-Reynolds (guitar)
Derek Dufresne (bass)
Stefano "Doc Sxdryv" Pasta (drums)

Jayme Daniel "Gypsy" Black (vocals)
"Dallas Dagger" (guitar)
Johnny "Blade" Nuttall (guitar)
Cody "Codine Vandal" Vidito (guitar)
Shawn "A.C. Desylva" Thackeray (guitar)
Brian "Goat" Comeau (guitar)
"Rex Razor" (bass)
Jesse "Hep J" Anderson (drums)
"Nikki Neon" (drums)
"Coldhands" (???)

Official MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/lustboys
Official Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/lustboysofficial
Official Facebook group: http://facebook.com/groups/lustboysofficial
Official Reverbnation page: http://www.reverbnation.com/lustboys
Official YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/lustboysofficial

Local Info: The only former Sault Ste. Marie resident in The Lust Boys that I know of is guitarist Benny Blitz, who you'll likely better recognize under his real name Ben Kemp-Reynolds. A Sault Ontario native, Ben made waves in the area as a guitarist in the CASS Cafe-frequenting Dedbeats (videos here), followed by a short but memorable run in the local blues rock quartet The Glass Statues, who also featured Late & Loud members Benn Garside & Josh Hatherley in their lineup! In their 10 months together, The Glass Statues placed 3rd at the YMCA Battle of the Bands in March 2009 and also played at Rotaryfest that year before disbanding that August due to Ben's move to British Columbia. He's been there ever since, but you can catch him there bringing back his metal roots with The Lust Boys!

Band Bio: Originally a technical metal band named Lust, The Lust (or "Lus‡") Boys were formed by founding members Jayme Black & Tommy Thrust in 2006. Playing a 1980s inspired style of sleaze rock, the band has became a frequent & unique sight at British Columbia concerts, including headlining a yearly "Lustapalooza" concert in Victoria, releasing two CDs (including a 2012 full length album), and even filming an official music video for their song "Spred Yur Legz" in 2009. I believe Ben Kemp-Reynolds joined The Lust Boys in early 2010, taking on the "Benny Blitz" stage name shortly after. After major early 2013 lineup changes, the band continued to rock B.C. concert stages often since returning that June, but the band amicably broke up in February 2014, with Tommy & Stefano later forming the new hard rock band Hell Camino.

1980s inspired metal (hair or otherwise) always has a wide appeal, and The Lust Boys definitely deserve some of that attention! There isn't a lot of local bands to compare them to (maybe Dirty Virgin), but if you like bands like Motley Crue, you should really appreciate the sleaze that The Lust Boys bring to the table! Vocally, Jayme Black's harsher punk-edged vocals worked well, but from what I've heard of Tommy on vocals, he was a better fit for the glam metal side of things! High quality videos of their last lineup weren't easy to come by, but both Ben and Brian have the necessary guitar chops, and Ben even threw some bluesy influences into his material here and there! Very energetic sound overall, and aside from the vocal style, they'd fit right in with 1980s metal bands! Tommy Thrust's bass work also flowed really nicely, as does the drumming! Their old studio material is really good for this genre, so if you love yourself some 1980s sleazy rock n' roll, definitely give The Lust Boys a spin!

The Lust Boys have a decent amount of videos online, and you can check out many recent ones at their official YouTube channel, which also features their entire "Purple Leopard Print" EP for streaming. Their MySpace page has a cool unreleased demo track named "White Trash Superstar" as well, so give that a look, along with more audio tracks on their other pages! YouTube has many videos from their live concerts as well, along with their "Spred Yur Legz" music video, but for a somewhat recent look, here's one of the band playing their song "Wingin' It" in Victoria in 2011, so check it out below!


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I hope you guys enjoyed this month's profile! What's happening in this series next month though? Well, I've decided to take a mini-break with it like we did last November to dedicate a post to just updates of past profiles in this series. As we focus on local bands more often than out of town ones, many of the profiles in this series are outdated, have broken links, or need changes to make them accurate and more informative. So around November 26th, I'll have a post updating you guys to all the changes made to our past out of town profiles, and then we'll be back with another proper band profile in December! I'm leaning towards Repetitions from Windsor, but time will tell! Stay tuned for that and more over the coming weeks! Thanks everyone!