Queen Street Block Party Review!!

An impromptu decision with a friend led us to the block party on Queen Street East yesterday to see the last two bands, so here's a surprise review of what I was able to catch! Hosted by downtown artisinal soap store Wood, Resin, and Lye, everything looked well organized and maintained on the blocked off Heritage Block of Queen Street (Pim Street-East Street) with lots of vendors and a decent crowd despite this being later in the day. Bands performed on a stage set up in front of Precious Blood Cathedral, so just about halfway into the block party zone, and 705Live Sound Co. made sure everyone sounded good yesterday. I guess the block party proper was delayed to a 2:00 PM start but we only arrived at around 4:30 (again, going at all was decided late). As such, I apologize for missing the opening acts, but there was indeed a Soo's Got Talent alumni set to kick off the day, albeit not strictly "last year's finalists", rather half of them.

Last year's winner Amanda Phillips, fellow finalists Ali Nisbett & Xavier Pelletier LeBeouf, and non-finalist Greg McLeod (all singers) represented the annual local talent show here, and if you want to see videos of their performances, then head over to The Soo's Got Talent's Facebook page! None of their videos feature metal, hard rock, or punk covers, but at least as far as the video goes, Amanda & Ali joined forces for at least two songs. T.S.G.T. judge Darren Robertson also served as the on-stage MC yesterday. Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations were second up yesterday, where they revealed that Dorian Grey/Flat Stanley guitarist Tony Kajnar is the newest addition to the band, replacing Brandon Ruch. Tony was one of two guest guitarists that Generations have played with in the past month+, and clearly his gig with them at The Water Tower Pub went well for him to get the fill-time position!

For a first look at Generations with Tony Kajnar as a full band member, drummer Tony Santoro's wife Dawn did film a video of them covering Jimmy Eat World's "The Middle" with Tony K. on lead vocals, though it's easy to miss, as it was tucked at the end of a batch post of her photos from the day on their Facebook group. The 2:33 clip is sadly shot vertically, but at least she zoomed, and it sounds good while it lasts, with both Tonys handling this more modern power pop song well! Give it a watch below!

Arriving downtown (as in, to park my vehicle), we heard pop rock cover quartet Lime covering Joan Jett, while they were doing a Beatles song while walking to the stage. As such, I only saw them perform two songs live, including a cover of The Georgia Satellites' "Keep Your Hands To Yourself" with guitarist/Rising Tide alum Liam Seymour on vocals, and the song that I filmed, as embedded below. Though Lime never plugged their involvement at the block party on their Facebook page, a sideways live-streamed video of them covering Linda Ronstadt's "When Will I Be Loved?" can be seen there. Liam, frontwoman Madi Schomogyi (a 2018 Soo's Got Talent finalist), and bassist Dan Linklater (ex-Id Iota) did show good chemistry and musicianship in what I saw, and Madi's voice is quite distinct! I couldn't immediately confirm the identity of their guest drummer though (normal drummer Braiden Bryant was unavailable).

The headliners of the block party were online page-less punk/alternative cover quintet Bookclub, who feature 3/4ths of The Inner City Surfers in mostly shuffled roles alongside guitarist Dave Bahun's old Room 206 bandmate Allan Watson on drums, and trumpet player Erin Antonello (who also plays tambourine and sings backup as song needs dictate). This was my first time seeing Bookclub live, and their set honestly hews closer to Mikey & His Uke than The Surfers, if with a more commercial range, but still with punk themes given that Mikey Hawdon is fronting this band. Though jokingly referencing their set as all-original, they only played covers from such acts as The Greg Kihn Band, The Travelling Wilburys, Lindsay Buckingham, Huey Lewis & The News, and John Fogerty, among others. With this group of musicians, talent and chemistry is no issue whatsoever, and the crowd was definitely into it!

You could tell that they were trying to move things along quick for time reasons, but Bookclub impressed in playing a diverse array of all ages-friendly songs (they knew their audience), and while I do lean more to their earlier collaborative bands for my musical preferences, their adaptability is commended! Erin's backing vocals were almost inaudible, but I don't know if that was an issue with the sound setup or not. Fun set for fans of Mikey's frontman work and The Surfers, and you can see our photos from Bookclub and Lime's sets at this link or at our Facebook page! Apologies again for the small number of Lime photos, I was lucky to arrive when they still had a full song to play at set's end, and good thing that I filmed it, as that was my last shot! As for our videos, here's Lime covering The Tragically Hip's "New Orleans Is Sinking" to end their set, and Bookclub covering Doug & The Slugs' "Making It Work"!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for a new news post of some kind on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Bookclub & Generations), And More!!

Before we begin today's post, just a late heads up that there will actually be one more band joining Bone Yard and Skinbox at the Dragonfly Run (nee the Ride For ARCH) at Jay's Piston Broke Pub TODAY, namely a new local rock band named Nicky & The Southpaws, featuring Soo Fighters/Bourbon Blue alum Jules Cote. This is via Jules' personal Facebook page, as organizers have only confirmed Bone Yard's involvement publically. No word on what Nicky & The Southpaws play, but look for them TODAY during all of the festivities! Now, here's two big SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS & details on a familiar radio show's cancellation!

I spoke too soon about Slumshine being the only SMS-amenable act to play at the Fringe North Festival, as online page-less indie/punk cover quartet Bookclub will actually be the opening band on TODAY's program! Apologies for the short notice, I completely missed their inclusion on the program when doing the write-up on missing Slumshine's show there on Thursday (not helped by Bookclub not having known social media pages to plug gigs with, alas). TODAY's set will be the very first performance on the third day of Fringe North, with Bookclub playing on the outdoor stage outside of the Sault Ste. Marie Museum, and you can read some biographical information on the band (like how they formed and got their name) on page 35 of the official program. As you can see, Bookclub aren't really "opening" for anyone directly on the outdoor stage, with DJ Manskirt and drag performers The Haus of Gore playing under the tent well later.

The Inner City Surfers/Room 206 alum-laden Bookclub take the stage TODAY at 2:00 PM for this all ages set, which has a "pay what you can" model ($10 is suggested, $20 if you really want to support the band), and 9&10 News is calling for mostly cloudy conditions with a temperature of 24°. Hopefully things go well outside of the museum for Bookclub and Fringe North at large, and keep this one in mind if you want some afternoon punk and alternative covers! Apologies again for missing this one until now, and for a preview, here's Bookclub live!

Next up, Bookclub aren't done there for the weekend, as they and classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations will join forces again for a block party on Queen Street East, this time TOMORROW! Again, I apologize for the short notice, confirmation of the bands only came this week, and not entirely from organizers. This is not a Downtown Association-held street party like the one that Bookclub and Generations played last week, as it is being put on by Wood, Resin, and Lye, a store on Queen Street East that sells handmade soap and artisinal products. The block party is 1980s themed and will be held in the Heritage Block, with Queen Street closed from Pim Street to East Street. Dozens of local vendors, refreshments, games, a beer tent, and much more will be on hand for the festivities, so for complete details on the non-musical aspects of the block party, visit Wood, Resin, and Lye's Facebook page to see what's in store TOMORROW!

Organizers only confirmed Bookclub by name as playing TOMORROW, where they will be the headline act, but Generations confirmed their involvement on their Facebook group, as well as that local pop rock quartet Lime will also be playing, though be advised that Lime have not publically acknowledged their involvement in this event. Also no public word yet on who will be on guitar for Generations here (key word: public). Curiously, Wood, Resin, and Lye said that "last year’s finalists from the Soo’s Got Talent competition" will be performing TOMORROW too, but they did not offer individual names. In case you forgot, six singers made the finals of The Soo's Got Talent last year, so click here for more on them in case that is true. It would be interesting to see them back on stage like this! Worth noting that Lime frontwoman Madi Schomogyi was indeed a finalist in The Soo's Got Talent in 2018, in case some promotional wires were crossed.

The block party is FREE and ALL AGES, with festivities taking place from 11:00 AM-6:00 PM, with Bookclub on last and Generations playing at 3:00 PM. 9&10 News is calling for partly cloudy weather with a high of 25°, so the weather will be optimal for most TOMORROW! I wish organizers were more detailed about the lineup, but this should be a fun time for the whole family, so see above for details on TOMORROW'S block party, and for a preview, here's Generations live!

Finally for today, this has no direct bearing on our local radio market anymore, but the nationally syndicated radio show Nights With Alice Cooper will end its run during the first full week of September, as per radio news websites like this. The cancellation is due to syndicator United Stations "going in a different direction" (I hate that excuse) after the company was sold to new management, and Alice did not end the show on his own accord. Alice was heard locally weeknights on Classic Rock: The Bear's old Newberry, Michigan affiliate (WIHC, 97.9 FM) from the fall of 2008 until WIHC was closed in February 2010, but remained on The Bear through early 2013, when you may have picked up their Cheboygan feed locally on 97.7 WCHY. Nights With Alice Cooper returned to The Bear in February 2019, by this point airing regionally on 95.3 WWSS out of Tuscarora Township.

Nights With Alice Cooper only aired on truly local radio for just over a year, but as one of the last vestiges of The Bear's Newberry affiliate beyond station branding, the playlist, and the recent return of The Bob & Tom Show, I wanted to acknowledge it here. Alice's playlist skewed towards classic rock more than metal, but you got to hear an eclectic variety within, plus his own songs, and lots of great stories from his career, and hopefully he continues hosting a radio show in some form elsewhere! If you can't pick up 95.3 FM over the air, you can hear Nights With Alice Cooper on The Bear's free online stream. That's all for today, but stay tuned for lots more news and notes on the site next week! Thanks everyone!

Tarnished Updates, Plus A Look Back At An Old Favourite Local Band Of Mine!!

I'm hoping the site will see more updates and content as we enter the home stretch of July, and fingers crossed that starts with today's post, which has something new from a prominent local band who you may have seen live on stage(!) recently, but we also have something old for local metalheads who frequented live events in the mid-2000s. Here's what you should know!

Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Tarnished have indeed released their debut EP "Down To The Wire" earlier today! Despite not promoting the release anew on their Facebook page, you can now buy or stream it on Spotify, Apple Music, Google Play, Deezer, and iHeartRadio, all as helpfully linked on the band's Distrokid page. On Google Play, the album costs $7.99, though no word as of yet on if it will turn up on other platforms, not to mention it's presumed CD copies ahead. "Down To The Wire" features five songs, including "Cocaine Riot", "Cabin Fever", "Metalyn", "Shortcut", and "The Path". The opening track may interest fans of frontman Alex Traynor's prior group Banned, who first played "Cocaine Riot" live in concerts back in the early 2010s, as seen here. With "Down To The Wire" now on sale, I should confirm that this will be our monthly CD review for July 2020, so look for it at some point in the week ahead, and buy or stream the whole thing above!

While we're on the subject of Tarnished, let's get back to their Rock The Block concert at Crooked Music this past Saturday night, and despite the social distancing guidelines and restricted attendance, it was a hit! So much so that Tarnished are planning to host a second Rock The Block show near the end of August (perhaps on Saturday the 29th?), and they are looking for musicians interested in playing. If you're chosen to perform, you'll receive $25 and get a 45 minute set, and if you are interested, e-mail tarnished.musicviews@gmail.com or message the band on Facebook. Of course, the fluid situation with the COVID-19 pandemic is very much a concern, even if left unsaid by the band, so hopefully things don't get any worse in the next month. Finally for today's Tarnished topics, the guys quietly deleted the two live performance videos from Saturday that had faulty audio (from their own and Letters From Abel's sets), but one of the two has new video footage on the band's Facebook page!

Our first full look at Tarnished with new drummer Gary Croad (and working audio), this sees them cover Queen's "Another One Bites The Dust", as filmed by Crooked Music co-owner Christy Crook for her personal Facebook page, before being publically shared by the band. Despite a vertical camera angle, the video is nicely shot with solid audio, and the lively performance of this Queen classic is well done across the board, so give it a watch below!

Finally for today, with news remaining slow right now, I wanted to give a long overdue spotlight to one of my favourite Sault Ontario metal bands from my teenage years, albeit one who never had a known online page, namely thrash metal quartet Soldiers of Misfortune. This way, they can have some collected literature online. Featuring frontman Mark Kulmala, guitarist Jesse Cook, bassist Alex "Xander" White, and drummer Jonas Gasperas, Soldiers of Misfortune were active from circa 2004-2007, and were mainstays of the local metal scene in the mid-2000s, with many of their concerts still featured in local news articles of the time. Commonly seen sharing the stage with Gates of Winter and Fitswitch in 2005 & 2006, readers may recall S.O.M. opening for out of town bands like Burn The 8 Track, Lights Below, and Sunday Night Cruise, and taking part in major events like Gates of Winter's debut EP release party, Heatwave 2005, and Hempfest 2006, while they did have at least one battle of the bands win.

Soldiers of Misfortune's last documented concert was when they and The Crossed opened for iT and Gates of Winter at The Oddfellows Hall on December 29th, 2006, and they were not still playing live concerts when The Sault Metal Scene launched in July 2007. Jesse & Jonas have continued playing together in metal/hard rock bands like Operation: Killdozer, Winkstinger, The Elements, and The Wyld Stallyns, while Mark and Alex have largely diverted from metal in their succeeding music (like My Father's Son and Cowboys & Indians respectively), and both have furthered their musical pursuits since moving out of town. I was too young to see Soldiers' nightclub shows, but when I got to see them at all ages events (primarily at The Oddfellows Hall), they were reliably a highlight with their hard hitting cover attack, and in my circle, they were a big reason to attend certain concerts!

One of the first local bands I ever saw live in 2005, I fondly remember Soldiers of Misfortune covering songs like Pantera's "Shattered", Van Halen's "Hot For Teacher", and Ozzy Osbourne's "Mr. Crowley" (to one old friend's chagrin), and their enthusiasm, talent, sense of humour, and Jesse's occasional costumes were always a welcome sight even back then. Unfortunately, no public video or audio clips are known to exist online, and the guys may not mind given how they've progressed as musicians in the past 14 years, but I do miss Soldiers of Misfortune, and it would be great to see a reunion show if the cards fell the right way!

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

Rock The Block Fallout, Plus New-Ish Maxx Entertainment Concert Videos!!

After a quiet weekend, we are back with some new news and updates from both sides of the border, including a lengthy look back at three linked favourites of the cover bar circuit, but leading off, here's some fallout from the first major hard rock concert locally in four months!

As well advertised online, Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Tarnished and local music store Crooked Music helped end the metal/hard rock concert drought locally by hosting the Rock The Block event at the Ashmun Street music store on Saturday night, and we definitely have fall-out from the festivities! Tarnished's Facebook page kept fans up to speed on everything going down on Saturday, including videos of all four acts, which also showcase how the stage was setup in the store (very Coch's Corner-esque, if you need a Sault Ontario reference.) This won't be an ideal look at Crooked Music's current locale if you want to see it as a music store, but the venue staging looks good! The first video shot on Saturday is of  St. Ignace solo artist Austin Graham (a.k.a. Grayham Entertainment), who is seen covering "Goons (Baby I Need It All)" by the indie/alternative band Mona. A little shaky, but Austin definitely has talent, and I like that he picked a locally atypical song to cover! Hopefully he keeps at it!

And yes, note that Tarnished frontman Alex Traynor was behind the camera at this point in the show, and he was wearing a face mask (they were available for attendees upon entry.) The next video was of local singer/guitarist Kevin Blakeney covering Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth", and this very spare rendition is well done, though the very monotone, Tom Waits-esque vocals may not be to everyone's taste. As for the succeeding videos of Detroit hard rock quartet Letters From Abel and Tarnished themselves, despite likely doing heavier songs, I will refrain from sharing either on the SMS. This is not out of any intentional effort on their part, but both videos only output a high frequency tone that is mildly unpleasant if heard for too long, and I have no idea what happened on these, especially as the opening solo acts sounded fine. No, this is not the same issue that plagued the audio quality on Tarnished's live-streams, you could still hear those.

I don't know if it is possible to fix or re-upload those videos, but hopefully something with working audio surfaces in some form. As best as I can gather, Rock The Block was a hit despite the obvious social distancing concerns (and 50 person maximum capacity inside Crooked Music), and hopefully this will help guide the way for further concerts of this nature in the short term, assuming no one got sick! Visit the above links for more on the show, and look for Tarnished's debut EP to go on sale this Friday!

Lastly, here is a new-ish video from his allegedly 1,000th YouTube upload from April 2nd, SaultOnline correspondent Mike Caruso's YouTube channel, as while he hasn't had any concerts to film at lately, he has kept up posting new videos! We'll have more later this week, but this comprises of footage of three linked local bands, namely country rock cover quartet Bone Yard and their side projects, blues trio Mojo and acoustic country duo The Bearded Lounge! If you're gonna combine bands like this, these are the three to do so with, especially with their (Choose) Maxx Entertainment ties! The video starts with Bone Yard covering April Wine's version of Hot Chocolate's "You Could Have Been A Lady" at Reggie's West on Halloween last year, and while this was previously uploaded on Mike's channel, that version featured added Halloween graphics in post, so if you want a clean look at this performance, here you go!

Other songs on offer include The Bearded Lounge covering Roger Miller's "Me & Bobby McGee" and their slowed down version of Kiss' "Rock & Roll All Nite" at the Reggievelt in November, followed by Mojo covering Santana & Rob Thomas' "Smooth" at The Esquire Club in October. The rest of the video focuses on Bone Yard, including their cover Dire Straits' "Sultans of Swing" outside of Reggie's West during the Ride For ARCH festivities in August 2017, followed by their version of Billy Edd Wheeler's "Jackson" at The Rednecks Saloon in June 2014 (notably featuring Alex on lead vocals rather than Greg), and their version of J.J. Cale's "Call Me The Breeze" outside of the Memorial Tower on Queen Street East during the 2018 Queen Street Cruise (cars are a heavy focus of the video.) Bizarrely, the video ends with the exact same rendition of "You Could Have Been A Lady" from the beginning of the video, only this is the version with the Halloween post-production effects!

This is still a nice collection of performances, if very Bone Yard-heavy given the video's title and information, but Mike has filmed much more of all three bands that you can watch on his YouTube channel. Aside from the clean take of "You Could Have Been A Lady", all of these were previously uploaded on Mike's channel, but the songs are still effective, especially if you like Bone Yard's non-country cuts, so give this one a look below!



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

Rock The Block Concert Preview, Kewadin Casino Concert Updates, And A New Video!!

The slow stretch at the SMS continues today, but we do have some semblance of normalcy returning to our coverage today, as alongside a new live-streamed video and upcoming concert updates, we have a preview of an actual, real, honest-to-goodness local concert that is actually taking place on Saturday night! Here's what you should know!

Four months after the local concert calendar ground to a halt due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a hard rock concert will take place on SATURDAY NIGHT at Crooked Music at 540 Ashmun Street in Sault Michigan, where local hard rock quartet Tarnished will headline the Rock The Block concert event! Long planned and rumoured, this concert will take place inside of the downtown music store despite ongoing coronavirus measures, but as the state government is allowing for indoor gatherings of up to 50 people in Northern Michigan (source here), this presumably gives an all-clear for a concert with a small attendance if the proper steps are taken. As such, organizers are strongly recommending that attendees wear face masks and practice social distancing. As for the music, this will be Tarnished's first full-band electric concert of 2020, and their first non-acoustic gig since Gary Croad replaced Tommy Korcal on drums. How much of their upcoming debut CD will fans hear on Saturday night?

Detroit hard rock quartet Letters From Abel (featuring ex-Midnight Logic drummer Kade Desarmo) will make a surprise trip north as the co-headliners in their local concert debut, and their alternative throwback sound should leave a good impression on gathered fans! The other scheduled performers are local solo artists, including Rudyard Musicians Festival regular Kevin Blakeney (replacing Illinois blues project Concreteslim), who does have some heavier covers in his back pocket, while the opening act will be St. Ignace solo artist Austin Graham, performing under the handle Grayham Entertainment. Very intriguing lineup, and it will be interesting to hear how this concert goes! Assuming it's not cancelled, postponed, or moved on short notice, Rock The Block goes down Saturday at 6:00 PM, this looks to be an all ages event, and tickets run for $10 at the door and at this link, though remember that attendance will presumably be limited due to the 50 person restriction on indoor gatherings at this time.

While it is great to see a true hard rock concert taking place locally again, I hope this goes well as both a music event and as an example of what fun events can take place if social distancing measures are enforced. So far, the Eastern U.P. has been fortunate to not have many COVID-19 cases (just 30 in Chippewa & Mackinac County combined) and zero deaths as of this writing, but you can't assume it's completely gone. Fingers crossed all goes well Saturday night, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and for a preview, here's Tarnished live!



Next up, we'll go from bad news to good in the Sault Michigan area, as Kewadin Casinos have announced that all remaining 2020 concerts (presumably referring to major ones at The Dreammakers Theater in the Soo and the St. Ignace Event Center) have been postponed into next year due to the pandemic. SMS-wise, this means that the rescheduled Black Label Society concert in Sault Ste. Marie will no longer take place on August 8th, as unlikely as that was looking. Tickets bought for any postponed Kewadin concert this year will be valid for the rescheduled dates, which will reportedly start being announced next month. Refunds are available on request by contacting kewadinboxoffice@saulttribe.net or presumably in-person at one of the casinos, though refunds will only be given until August 12th and the 2 weeks following the announcement of rescheduled dates, in case the new date doesn't work for your schedule.

Full refunds will be issued if a show is cancelled outright, and click here for more details on the above information. The above information does not appear to reflect the schedules at The Rapids and/or Northern Pines Lounges, which will allegedly resume hosting live entertainment next month, and those events largely don't need tickets anyway. Kudos to Kewadin for keeping everyone informed, and hopefully 2021's calendar goes off without a hitch, but stay tuned for rescheduling info when it rolls in!

We'll close today's post in Sault Ontario, where local hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison hosted his 28th live-streamed concert on his YouTube channel yesterday! External embedding of this episode was turned off again for unannounced reasons. This video doesn't actually have much in the way of full covers, as Tym spends the majority of the video tuning his guitar, playing a lengthy soft instrumental, and working out the kinks of his new pedalboard, even acknowledging 20 minutes in that "not much is working right now". He does briefly attempt a cover of The Tragically Hip's "New Orleans Is Sinking" early, but you do get to see him do a full version of Collective Soul's "Shine" before he called the show off due to issues with his pedalboard and backing drum tracks. While not directly related to the abbreviated runtime, the video was getting laggy at points, leading to the dreaded slideshow effect at points of the live-stream.

Perhaps it's not a bad thing that this particular live-stream's embedding priviliges were removed, given the technical issues, but "Shine" and the instrumental were well done! You could hear more distortion on the percussion though, and Tym will know way better than I if his setup is having issues.  Time will tell if he does another live-stream tomorrow after skipping last Thursday, but give the whole show a watch above, and stay tuned for more from Tym's camp when it rolls in! That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site soon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Tarnished), Project 906 Updates, And Much More!!

Another July 4th is here, so of course, Happy Independence Day to our American readers! Coincidentally, The Sault Metal Scene launched 13 years ago today on our original Facebook group, and of course, I would like to thank all of our readers and local musicians for all of their support and content over the past year, especially so over the past four months! At this point last year, I never would have guessed that a global pandemic would pump the brakes on the local concert calendar and make us swap over to a new normal, but as you saw with our 91 day posting streak from March-June, I was able to get new content out there to keep everyone informed as best as I could. The summer concert season has been decimated due to social distancing measures, though with Spun allegedly coming to St. Ignace next month, and the LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (yes) ahead, you can see that the Sault Michigan area is trying to bring some semblance of a live concert schedule back.

I'm hoping the worst of the coronavirus pandemic has came and went, especially given how the Algoma District and Chippewa County case counts have been small so far, but with fears of a second wave ever present, I hope everyone is being cautious and safe, and hopefully we'll have a full concert schedule for the summer of 2021. Thanks again to everyone for their support over the past 13 years, and now, let's dive into some big Sault Michigan news!

Barring another COVID-19 lockdown, Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Tarnished will play their first public concert since the spring on Saturday, July 18th when they headline the "Rock the Block" event at Crooked Music at 540 Ashmun Street! Yes, this will reportedly be inside the music store, despite the obvious space limitations brought about by social distancing, Tarnished confirmed as much on their Facebook page on June 19th. That said, they are encouraging social distancing and face masks, so if you do attend, please use common sense to keep everyone safe, and maybe more shows could happen in the near term. This will be Tarnished's first live show with new drummer Gary Croad, and their first show as a plugged-in quartet since October, so if you've missed Tarnished's full band setup in 2020, this will be worth your time! Three opening acts were sought in the above Facebook post on June 19th, and they are now confirmed, including Detroit hard rock quartet Letters From Abel in their local debut!

Having a downstate band open for a local band may seem atypical, but Letters From Abel are relatively new from what I have read, and they do have a Sault tie, as their drummer is Midnight Logic alum Kade Desarmo. You can see them cover Nirvana at this link, and they are a promising young group! The other acts are solo musicians, including singer/guitarist Kevin Blakeney, who you may recognize from the last three Rudyard Musicians Festivals, and who does have grunge and alternative songs in his repertoire. The other performer is St. Ignace solo artist Austin Graham, who performs under the name Grayham Entertainment. I don't know what he plays, but you can find out tomorrow when he performs at The Club at Breakers in St. Ignace. Note that Tarnished's online ticket page advertises Illinois blues project Concreteslim as playing on July 18th, but it looks like Kevin replaced them for unannounced reasons.

An all ages event with a 6:00 PM matinee start time, Rock The Block will have $10 admission at the door or via online tickets purchased above. Of course, the ongoing coronavirus pandemic is not magically going away in the next two weeks, and while I hope this show goes off without a hitch and with all of the proper safety measures, the situation is volatile, as evidenced by the recent rise in COVID-19 cases in the state. If this concert is cancelled, postponed, or relocated, we will let you know, but fingers crossed everything works out for everyone involved! See the above links for more details!

Finally, let's look at ex-Tarnished drummer Tommy Korcal's current local hard rock band Project 906, who have been staying busy during the pandemic working on original songs for a planned debut EP! On June 21st, the guys revealed on their Facebook page that they hope to record it later this year or in early 2021. Fans may have seen them play originals live on occasion, but now you can hear copies recorded from their jam room (I'd guess), starting with a fully public re-upload of "It's So Easy". Other original song names include "The Comeback" (watch them perform it live here), "Walk On", and "8th and Nowhere", but embedded below is their newest song posted on Thursday, entitled "The Lonely Few". I'll hold comment on the songs for now, in deference to the album review that will follow the EP's release, but it's great to see Project 906 staying busy and productive while they can't play live! Get more updates above and below!



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