Firehouse Concert Video Showcase (Part 3!!)

It took almost 5½ years, but here is our third all-video post from the Dokken/Firehouse concert at GFL Memorial Gardens (then known as the Essar Centre) in September 2017! The reason this show is back on our radar is because promoters Superior Entertainment recently launched a new Facebook page and have been posting media from their concerts there, primarily from this show. The only concert videos uploaded there so far come from this event, and none were previously featured on the SMS, at least not via a link that works in 2023. I'm not sure if the new Superior Entertainment page is part of a planned relaunch for the Sault Michigan-based concert/MMA promoters or just a way to (re-)post old event materials, but note that their newest post is a gag poll asking what artist that inactive(?) local hard rock band Bucksaw should cover next. If Bucksaw have reunited, this is the only post that I have seen to confirm it so far, but I'll let you know if anything else is said.

None of the videos on Superior Entertainment's Facebook page (all unlabelled) come from Dokken's set, but co-headlining South Carolina hair metal quartet Firehouse's set was captured in two videos, including a 29 second clip of them playing "All She Wrote" and, as embedded below, a 1:41 clip of them playing the second half of their power ballad "Love Of A Lifetime", albeit filmed sideways from the 5 second mark onward. Why upload it based on the original orientation, I don't know, but the two videos sound good for fans, and Firehouse were good to the Sault area in the early-mid 2010s, so give these a watch above & below!

The other three live videos on the channel come from Los Angeles/Saskatoon arena rock quartet Love 'N Revenge's opening set, though two videos are just 13 seconds long and I can't identify the song performed in one of them (the other is a cover of Rockarma's "Bring It"). Embedded below is their cover of Skid Row's "Youth Gone Wild", and props to frontman Damon Kelly for sounding admirably like Sebastian Bach here! This clip runs for barely over one minute, but like the "All She Wrote" video, you get a good look at the stage from the vantage point of this stationary camera, and the band's on point, so check these out above & below as well!

Finally for the new/old videos is a re-post of a promotional clip for this concert featuring the members of Firehouse (except frontman C.J. Snare) that was first posted onto Superior Entertainment's now deleted Facebook page on September 29th, 2017, the day before the concert took place. Kewadin Casino concert-goers in particular won't be too surprised by touring bands plugging their show here like this, but this was notable as Firehouse had already arrived in town, so check it out (again) below!

As of this writing, the Superior Entertainment Facebook page otherwise features photos of event posters and the events proper, be they from Dreammakers Theater hard rock concerts or MMA cards, so do check everything out at this link, especially if this is setting the stage for a return to booking live events in 2023. That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews on the site next! Thanks everyone!

Defunct Local Band Profile Series: Bucksaw

It's now time for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile, as we continue our monthly spotlighting of inactive metal, hard rock, and punk acts for current readers! This month's randomly selected band was originally assumed to not have enough public information to warrant a solo profile, but I was happily proven wrong, so I will be pushing our announced profile on Sault Ontario's Nowhere Fast to next month with a second low-info band to fill things out. Now, here's what you should know on this fan-friendly E.U.P. outfit from the early 2010s!
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Bucksaw (later known as Dirtbag In A Dress & Mr. Fister)

Genre: Hard Rock/Metal

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

Members: (Members not in their last full lineup in italics. This lineup information may be incomplete. Let me know if you can fill in any blanks!)

Jason VanLuven (Paradise Excuse, 415E, Chump Change), vocals/drums
Bill Ogston (Blind Baby), guitar
Barney Gravelle (Scofflaw, Broke on Sunday, Retro Troop), bass
Mark Bowen (Paradise Excuse, Broke on Sunday), vocals/guitar 
Ryan Franklin, vocals/guitar 
Mikey Bishop (Half A Man, Bludgeoned, Summon), drums

Audio/Video: No public video footage exists of Bucksaw under that name, but under their later names, there is a fair amount of material to check out from LemmaFest III & IV in 2013 and 2014. Yooperlites' own Erik Rintamaki filmed four videos of Dirtbag In A Dress for his YouTube channel at the earlier LemmaFest, while filmmaker Wayne Kozeyah shot Mr. Fister covering Black Sabbath and Thin Lizzy songs at this link, as part of their wider ranging video footage from both events. Quality's solid across the board, so fans will want to check thee out, including Erik's longest video of theirs below!



Info/Analysis: First coming onto our public radar with a set at the inaugural LemmaFest outside of Dondee Lanes in June 2011, Bucksaw would reprise that set at 2012's second installment, though if they had any substantive activity at other concert events, they weren't acknowledged well online. In 2013, the band changed their name to Dirtbag In A Dress and finally launched a Facebook page to promote themselves, frequently sharing YouTube videos heavily implied to be songs covered in their setlist. After sets at LemmaFest III and a publically advertised house party in Sugar Island the following month, public updates died down before Bill Ogston & Barney Gravelle (their only constant members) brought the group back under the Mr. Fister moniker for the final LemmaFest in 2014 alongside the returning Jason VanLuven. Public updates did not follow, and the band is presumed to have folded by year's end.

While updates beyond LemmaFest were minimal, especially concerning the Bucksaw years, this band was an entertaining covers-heavy outfit, and from what I understand, they got heavier after their name changes, while still inserting some more general and country covers for good measure. With a lineup full of familiar faces from E.U.P. rock bands, plus solid singing from Ryan, Jason, and Mark depending on era, Bucksaw/D.I.A.D./Mr. Fister had a good thing going, and were surely a welcome sight at each LemmaFest, but don't miss members in their current local projects!
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I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profile! Next month in this series, we will look at mid-2000s Sault Ontario alt-hard rock trio Nowhere Fast as promised, but to round things out, I randomly chose a second band with similarly little surviving information to round things out with. As such, we'll also be looking at local hard/progressive rock project The Mourning Glory! Look for all of this on or around June 10th, and stay tuned for more news and notes soon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Archspire), Sault Michigan Videos, And More!!

Due to the amount of backlogged news and notes, we have a second post today to fill in some of those gaps, but if you're awaiting new punk band showcases, we'll roll three or four more in tomorrow! Today, we have a big LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next month, new videos from across the river, and some recent assorted notes, including a possibly inactive band, so here's what you need to know, and check out some more new shows and videos in the post below this one!

Local concert promotion agency Heavy North Entertainment will end a 3 month hiatus when they host Vancouver technical death metal quintet Archspire at an all ages show at The Oddfellows Hall on Sunday, August 3rd! Previously teased on H.N.E.-linked pages, this show takes place in the middle of Archspire's "Tech Trek II: The Next Degeneration" tour, and if you love brutal progressive metal and complex song structures (plus some of the fastest growling vocals you'll hear live), you won't want to miss Archspire's live set next month! Three local opening bands are signed for this concert, ironically all fresh off of their Touch of Death Festival appearances in Cochrane, and they include local death metal quartet The Bear Hunters, sludge/doom metal trio AlgomA, and local goregrind solo act Crucify The Whore, and all are great fits for this show, so don't be late for their sets, and C.T.W. might have copies of their new demo too! There will be a $10 door charge on August 3rd (no word on if advance tickets will be sold), this is an ALL AGES event, and start times are not yet announced. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page!

I'll also note that H.N.E. founder Tyler St. Amour revealed on their Facebook page on Saturday that this show "could be Heavy North's last & heaviest", which leaves open the possibility that he may stop promoting concerts after this one. Hopefully he doesn't, as he's put on some brutal and fun concerts since last fall, and the Archspire show should add to that catalog, so just in case, don't take this show for granted, and don't miss out on all of the metal action in 4 weeks!

Next up, we've found some more videos from Alice Cooper's headlining concert at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino last month, so what should you know on these? YouTube user Saundra K. (user name Duguay1711) uploaded these to her YouTube channel on Thursday, and while they're far from her first concert videos on the channel, they're just her second from a local show (Kellie Pickler was first.) She shot 12 videos at the show, though curiously, all are 92 seconds or less, so maybe that was the time limit on this camera? In upload order, the videos are of Alice playing "House of Fire", "No More Mr. Nice Guy", "School's Out", "Caffiene", "Welcome To My Nightmare", "Go To Hell", "He's Back (The Man Behind The Mask)", "The Ballad of Dwight Fry", "I Love The Dead", a cover of The Beatles' "Revolution", "I'm Eighteen", and "Poison", so click each link to see each clip! Aside from the abbreviated video lengths, Saundra shot some nice videos from the show, getting a close zoomed in angle of the action, though the audio can be scratchy. Check the clips out above, and here's Alice playing "He's Back (The Man Behind The Mask)"!



Also today, I'd meant to share a new Theatre of Night video, but curiously, it (and everything else on their YouTube channel) was recently deleted for unknown reasons. That's a shame, hopefully something big's coming there though! Instead, we have a new guitar performance video from former Insipid Brutality/Swayze Train guitarist Scott Savoie's YouTube channel, marking his first upload there since 2012! This is Scott's submission for The Mayones/Seymour Duncan Worldwide Solo Contest, where the best guitar solo will earn the guitarist a new Regius 7 Custom guitar with Seymour Duncan pickups, and he shreds a pretty nice solo here that should get some consideration in the contest! Judge for yourself below, and hopefully we hear more from Scott soon!



Finally for today, here's three shorter recent news stories from the last little while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist name:

• I've moved Sault Michigan hard rock cover quartet Dirtbag In A Dress to our inactive band links (under their more used older name Bucksaw) due to a year's inactivity. Unless we hear otherwise, we're treating LemmaFest 2014 performers Mr. Fister as a separate band due to the name change and 50% different lineup (Ryan Franklin & Mikey Bishop weren't in the latter band.) If they're the same, we'll add them back, but even still, I have not found a Mr. Fister online page yet. Hopefully we'll see the guys before next year's LemmaFest in any form!
• Apparently, the all ages metal show at The Moose Lodge on May 13th (featuring what's now The Revolution, This Is Your Band On Drugs, and Rotopsy) also featured an additional late notice act, as local keyboardist/street performer Damjan "Spider Fingerz" Binda played a set that night as well. Interesting addition, though Damjan is quite talented and unique, so hopefully everything went well! My source for this info is Revolution drummer Brandan Glew in a personal conversation.
• Since May 10th, you may have noticed photos of the stage setup for three events we didn't cover on here on local hard rock trio Stiffler's Mom's Facebook page, including at the round barn in Sowerby, a nurse's conference at a local hall, and the Sault Accessible Sports Incorporation's "A Night To Remember" fundraiser at The Bushplane Museum last month. The first two appear to have been private events, but the S.A.S.I. fundraiser was publically attendable, and it slipped us by completely when originally announced. Our sincere apologies for missing it, hopefully it was a great event!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for our second local punk band introductory post tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (415E & Sir Charge) And Two New Sault Michigan Hard Rock Bands!!

For the second time in the last 4 days, we're devoting an entire post to Sault Michigan-area bands and concerts, as we have LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS and newer local bands to announce, and these sure are helping to inject some quantity and quality to our active band links and concert listings! As usual when we have new bands to launch, we'll start with them first, so here's what you need to know!

Our first new band is Sault Michigan hard rock metal/quartet Dirtbag In A Dress (interesting name), but you may have previously known them as two-time LemmaFest veterans Bucksaw! I haven't heard why they changed their name, but Bucksaw seems too common for it not to have been used by another existing band. Their lineup is mostly the same as it was last year, including singer/guitarist (and local boxer) Ryan Franklin, ex-Blind Baby guitarist Bill Ogston, and Scofflaw bassist Barney Gravelle, but with Half A Man drummer Mikey Bishop now a member in place of Chump Change's Jason VanLuven (no word on why Jason left though.) Aside from the band's LemmaFest appearances, news and information on Bucksaw was fairly elusive to find, but according to posts on their Facebook page (and recent correspondence with Mike), they'll play a lot of heavier material (moreso than Bucksaw did), including Seether, Slipknot, and Volbeat covers, and that definitely is a good sign!

It's great to finally see Bucksaw (now Dirtbag In A Dress) launch an online page, and their sound descriptions are promising, but when can you see them live? This Saturday at LemmaFest again, as they're gonna take part of Mikey's other band Half A Man's set to make their debut under this name, and they reportedly have another gig of some kind next month in Sugar Island, though I'm waiting for more information before calling it on here. Stay tuned on Friday for our full extended LemmaFest preview for more!

The other new band is also quite familiar given the members' past work, and they're a local classic/hard rock quartet named Sir Charge! We've alluded to them on here before via their listing on the Kewadin Casinos entertainment page, but I had no concrete info on them to establish whether they fit on the SMS. As it turns out (and this was actually a hunch I had), they're essentially the successors to the (I assume) similar sounding Monkey's Uncle, though I can't 100% verify if they're a completely new band or just renamed. Their Facebook page was launched in November, but only saw major updates commence last month, including confirmation of shows at Kewadin branches and Dondee Lanes, and some live photos. Sir Charge's lineup includes longtime frontman Henry Switzer on vocals & guitar and his son Nathan (also of RamWagon) on guitar, along with Henry's old Mama's Boys bandmates Ray & Russell Mayer on bass & drums respectively, both of which are newer additions.

And yes, this more or less confirms that other recent Monkey's Uncle members like Donny Newell and Ron Suchey are not involved with Sir Charge. The lineup is promising and has chemistry from their past collective band work, and if they have the same gritty hard rock sound as Monkey's Uncle, they should be a must see band locally! That said, when can you see them next? In the first of our LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS today, Sir Charge will hit The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino on July 19th & 20th, September 6th & 7th, and November 1st & 2nd, along with dates at The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino on August 16th & 17th, so make note of these if you've missed the various named acts that Henry Switzer has fronted locally! Admission should be free for each, you must be 21 to attend them all, and 10:00 PM start times are likely. Check the above links for more details, and both they and Dirtbag In A Dress are now in our active Sault Michigan band links!

Leading from the above shows, the Kewadin Casino entertainment pages for each venue have been updated at the above links, with Sault Michigan now mostly scheduled through the end of the year, so visit those links for details on new dates from non-metal regional acts like Perry Hatch, Bittermoon, The London Gentlemen, Crossroads, Chump Change, Helen Debaker-Vorce, Touch of Class, The Backyard Boys, and Jimmie Cowles, along with all previously announced gigs from local hard rockers Banned.

We have more Kewadin Casino dates from one more regional hard rock band to plug on here too, but we'll cap today's post with the newest concerts from local hard rock/classic metal quartet 415E, who'll return to The Rapids Lounge in Sault Michigan on August 30th & 31st and to The Northern Pines Lounge in St. Ignace on July 26th & 27th, joining their already announced dates at each this month and next. The band featuring Nixxon Dixxon, Splitshot, and Highest of Fives alumni have made a great impression with their metal and hard rock covers & originals since their debut in January, and hopefully these new Kewadin Casino dates add to their growing repuation locally! Odd that there's no fall dates announced though. Like the Sir Charge shows above, admission is likely free, you must be 21 to attend, and I'd assume these shows will start around 10:00 PM. Check the above links for more details, and don't miss 415E next weekend in St. Ignace!

That's likely all for today, but stay tuned for Sault Ontario weekend concert previews (including a new show announcement) tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

LemmaFest Fallout, Chris Hubbard News, And A Local Band's Likely Inactivity!!

The blitz of Sault Michigan-centric posts continues today with our third all-American post in the past three days! In this case, we have news on a local guitarist's latest band project and performance video, the likely negative status of a local hard rock band, but first, here's some notable early fallout from a big recent concert event! (Edited on Monday at 12:22 AM)

Let's start with some fallout from yesterday's second annual LemmaFest outside of Dondee Lanes, and by all accounts I've heard so far, the event went great! A nice big photo album has been posted onto Brimley metal trio Half A Man's Facebook page featuring over 300 photos from the event, so we can get some insights into what happened and the differences from last year, so here's what I've noticed! This year, the stage was covered (unlike last year), which is handy to provide some shade and rain protection, but I believe the weather was clear all day. Half A Man got nicely varied photos of each outdoor band except themselves (understandably) and indie rock quartet The London Gentlemen, as the band was hauling gear during their set. The photos also include a Brimley-based solo musician named Caitlin LeBlanc, who appears to have been a late lineup addition before Chump Change's set. Even without advance word, I can tell that she is a talented young singer/guitarist thanks to the videos on her YouTube channel, which includes two from LemmaFest, the first I've ever seen from either year on YouTube. Feel free to check out her videos, she definitely can go places in the area for her genre!

Other notes from the photos: Munising metal band Infathom played as a quartet last night (guitarist Josh Stadler currently lives out of state), Half A Man were indeed selling some type of demo CD at the event (looks similar to the demo that Elipzis sold in 2010), Bucksaw's lineup appears to be the same as last year's (no word on their genre or possible online pages though), there were speakers on stage this year before the last two outdoor bands (possibly Mike Lemma's family?), Half A Man drummer Mikey Bishop joined Infathom on stage later in their set (no word on if he played anything though), and there were some nice aesthetic touches among the outdoor setup, including a floating lantern and a LemmaFest 2012 banner that the bands and attendees signed once again. Check the above links to see all of the new photos! Everything sounds like it went great for the second annual LemmaFest, and hopefully next year's event is even bigger and better! Mike would be proud of everything that happened last night, I'm sure! Stay tuned for more fallout from LemmaFest as it comes in, including hopefully some more videos and clarification to any lingering questions!

Next up, here's some news relating to talented local guitarist Chris Hubbard! The Nixxon Dixxon alum is apparently working on a new original project with former Splitshot bandmate Dave Menard named Hubbard-Menard that are apparently planning to release an album of some type! Now, album plans for local bands can mean anything from a full release to just a collected free posting, so we'll have to see if this ever gets compiled for sale, but Chris announced on his personal Facebook page that he's hoping to release this all on CD by "the end of the month". The Hubbard-Menard project will feature Dave on vocals and Chris on all instruments, and instrumental demos of three original songs have been posted onto Facebook at this location, but as Facebook video files, I can't embed them here. They definitely sound promising and have a nice heavy sound with proficient guitar work, and they sound a bit heavier than Nixxon Dixxon's originals did, but I'm especially curious to hear Dave's singing voice with this material. Splitshot never posted media from their run, so he's still a wild card in some ways, but hopefully the guys can create some magic in this new project! Stay tuned for more on the Hubbard-Menard project as I hear of it, including hopefully an online page or something similar!

That said, what's the current status of Chris' local hard rock band Trail's End? I'm not entirely sure, but it's not looking good. The band formed last fall by Chris and his ex-Nixxon Dixxon/Splitshot bandmates Kyle Beaumont & Jake LaLonde have been relatively quiet on the local scene since late January, with their online pages never acknowledging their announced Kewadin Casino dates in February and April. I also haven't seen any of the three guys refer to Trail's End on their respective Facebook pages since the winter, with Chris' current original work with Dave Menard and Kyle & Jake's new band The London Gentlemen seeming to be their primary focuses right now. With that all put into consideration, plus the lack of announced future dates, I've decided to move Trail's End to our inactive Sault Michigan band links, but if I hear anything relating to a return, I'll be sure to move them back! Chris, Kyle, and Jake have recorded a lot of great music in the past few years, and even if Trail's End didn't take off as fast as their older work did, their older bands and the successes they hit will be sure to remain high in our minds, and hopefully they continue to keep on the right path in their next musical steps!

We'll end this post on a related positive note, as Chris posted a new solo performance video onto his YouTube channel last week! It's of Chris covering another Van Halen song ("She's The Woman"), but like some of his other videos, it's not showcasing him as much as his equipment, this time his wide array of pedals & switches. He plays this song excellently, and he definitely shows is deep Van Halen appreciation here, but even though I understand showcasing his gear, it'd be cool to see him playing this cover as well. Check it out below, and stay tuned for much more material and news from Chris' music work!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news as the week rolls along! Thanks everyone!

LemmaFest 2012 Extended Preview!!

After a successful first installment last year, the second annual LemmaFest goes down TOMORROW at the outdoor stage outside of Dondee Lanes in Sault Michigan, so here's an extended preview of it for this post! This annual festival in memory of late Dondee employee Michael Lemma will go down all day tomorrow with all kinds of activities for fans and revelers, including $1 bowling offers, prize draws, drink specials, food by donation, and shirt & mug sales for the event, though volleyball & horseshoe games from last year aren't advertised this year that I can tell. Check the above links for more on the non-musical aspects of tomorrow's event, and we'll get to the admission details in a bit, but how about tomorrow night's performers? 8 bands have been scheduled for this year's LemmaFest, down from 10 last year, but this helps facilitate both longer sets and easier set up and tear down time, so this should all work out well! Plus, there's been a LOT less lineup changes, with no bands dropping out and only one timeslot being switched, luckily! I believe Grooves Music are also on hand to take care of the sound for tomorrow's bands. The lineup is full of veterans from last year and some newer talent, including a greater local concentration, so here's who's on tap for this year in chronological order!

This year's opening band (right at 12:00 PM) is Brimley metal trio Half A Man (pictured), fresh off of their first show in 13 months TONIGHT at The Bird, and with a hard hitting metal sound (complete with their Lemma tribute song "Goodbye"), you know they'll set the tone really well for this year's event, especially after missing last year's LemmaFest! Also note that they may have a CD of some form available, and some merchandise proceeds will go to area firefighters, which is an awesome gesture! Following them at 1:30 PM are new local indie cover band The London Gentlemen, whose singer/guitarists Mike Russo & Steve Sivret played second last year as well with their acoustic band Fallen Heroes. However, The London Gentlemen also feature Trail's End/ex-Nixxon Dixxon bandmates Kyle Beaumont & Jake LaLonde on bass & drums, but despite their metal pedigrees, this new band won't be too heavy from what I know. Still, they're a talented quartet, so don't miss them, and if I hear anything good or bad on Trail's End's recently quiet status, I'll have it here! Third up tomorrow at 3:00 PM are the local rock cover band Chump Change (fronted by Terry Talentino, who was 3rd last year as well with the inactive acoustic band 2PumpChump), and they have a nice mix of covers from many genres for their fans tomorrow in a rare afternoon concert for them. Think of 2PumpChump plugged in with a full band, and you'll get a good idea of what to expect!

The 4:30 slot tomorrow belongs to local hard rock trio Powerslug, whose members performed at LemmaFest last year in both River Witch & Great Bodily Harm. Expect an entertaining hard rock set from the two Chris' and Orb tomorrow, as the talent's there, even if the online pages aren't (and click here for a rare video of Powerslug in action!) After them, the fifth band at 6:00 PM is the local rock band Bucksaw, who I know very little on, despite returning from last year's LemmaFest at the exact same timeslot. I know their lineup last year included guitarists Bill Ogston (ex-Blind Baby) and Ryan Franklin (a local boxer), bassist Barney Gravelle, and drummer Jason VanLuven (also in Chump Change), but is that the same this year? Do they have online pages or media? Are they even hard rock? If I ever find anything more on Bucksaw, you know I'll have it here! Sixth is the only non-local band at this year's LemmaFest, that being Munising metal quintet Infathom (pictured), who played right after Bucksaw last year as well. Featuring former Half A Man singer Dillion Semasky, this will be Infathom's first announced show of 2012, and they're sure to build on their brutal sound and good local notices with another entertaining set of covers and originals tomorrow night at 7:30 PM!

The outdoor portion of LemmaFest will be headlined by the return of local metal trio Scofflaw (featuring Barney Gravelle from Bucksaw) at 9:00 PM, who will play their first announced local concert since October tomorrow! After a successful set at last year's LemmaFest, look for Jeff, Barney, and Ivan to melt faces with their rough but entertaining metal assault tomorrow night! As Scofflaw begin their set, local southern rock cover trio The Hixx will play a standard Saturday night set inside The Dondee to close the festival, just like last year, though they aren't playing an earlier outside set this time around. Their dependable and oft-seen party music will be a great way to end the evening, so don't miss The Hixx inside at the end of the night! Now, if you're planning on going, here's some attendance details. Tickets are $10 in advance at The Dondee, Grooves Music, and The Merchant's Bar, but the price jumps to $15 at the door. All times are above for when the bands play, and while the event itself is ALL AGES, attendees under 21 years old can't be in the Dondee's bar or the fenced in area after 8:00 PM. For more details, including individual merchandise and drink pricing, visit the official Facebook event page!

This sounds like an awesome festival for a great cause, especially seeing as some proceeds will go towards the Grosse Point Music Camp this summer in Sault Michigan, so click here for more details! Mike Lemma would definitely be proud of everyone coming out for this year's festival in his memory, and with 5 returning bands (and only one with no performers from last year), the synergy and talent will go a long way tomorrow! For metalheads, half the lineup (plus one if Bucksaw count) are hard rock or metal, so there's no shortage of music up your alley if you come out to LemmaFest, which will be worth every penny! Check the above links for more on the festival and each band tomorrow, and for a preview, here's Scofflaw playing their original song "Love Destroyer" circa 2008!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and this month's YouTube Channel Profile TOMORROW! Thanks everyone, and don't miss LemmaFest tomorrow outside of The Dondee!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Nudge), LemmaFest Lineup News, And More From Theatre Of Night!!

Sault Michigan's had a lot of news lately, and that trend continues this morning with this post full of news and notes from across the river! We've got the latest news from a local metal project, all of the latest details (including an early lineup) for a major upcoming concert festival, and leading things off, some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, so here's what you need to know!

Marquette hard rock quartet Nudge are finally coming back to Sault Michigan for a pair of concerts next weekend! These talented local favourites will return to The Satisfied Frog for their first local shows in almost six months on May 4th and 5th, in what should be a solid weekend of hard rocking covers! Notably, these shows will be Nudge's first local stops since drummer Eric Schlumpf left the band in December, having been twice replaced since then, so welcome new drummer Jed Thibeault to the Nudge fold next weekend! As well, the band will have some new merchandise for sale, and frontman Danzo McCracken will bring his acoustic solo concert back to The Frog tomorrow night as well, so keep that in mind! Admission should be free for both of next weekend's shows, you must be 21 to attend either, and there'll be 10:00 PM start times. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Nudge were almost last seen in February at The Frog, but those dates were later moved to Gladstone, so if you've been missing Nudge's prolific and entertaining hard rock covers, you know when and where to be! They'll be sure to rock the house and impress their local fanbase, so circle the return of Nudge on your calendars if you're across the river!

Next up, the lineup for this year's second annual LemmaFest has been announced! The festival in memory of late Dondee Lanes employee Michael Lemma now has a full lineup set for the July 23rd festival outside of the Dondee, and though I'm sure it's subject to change (last year's changed a lot beforehand), there's a solid lineup of veterans from last year and some new bands and talent, so here's who to look out for on the current schedule! The festival will open at 12:00 PM with Brimley metal quartet Half A Man in their first live concert appearance in 13 months, and their first with their current lineup! They were tentatively lined up for last year's event at one point, but with a hard hitting metal sound a Lemma tribute song in their setlist, they'll be the perfect band to open LemmaFest on June 23rd! They'll be followed by the new local acoustic quartet The London Gentlemen at 1:30 PM, who are comprised of Fallen Heroes' members Mike Russo & Steve Sivret on vocals & guitar and Trail's End bandmates Kyle Beaumont & Jake LaLonde on bass & drums. You may recognize Mike & Steve alone from their set with Fallen Heroes at last year's LemmaFest, but the presence of a fuller lineup (and Nixxon Dixxon alumni) shouldn't indicate a radically different sound from Fallen Heroes, so expect some proficient indie rock covers from these guys!

Four straight bands from last year's LemmaFest will follow The London Gentlemen on June 23rd, those being sporadically seen local metal trio Scofflaw at 3:00 PM, local hard rock quartet Powerslug (who were known as River Witch last year) at 4:30 PM, the page and media-less rock band known as Bucksaw (featuring Blind Baby alum Bill Ogston) at 6:00 PM, and Munising hardcore metal quintet Infathom (this year's only band from outside the Sault Michigan area) at 7:30 PM. It's great to see these bands back for more LemmaFest action this year, and in most cases, it's been many months since they've played a publically announced concert locally so this is as good a time as any for them to rock the area! The outdoor portion will end with new local cover rock quartet Chump Change (fronted by 2PumpChump's Terry Talentino from last year's LemmaFest) at 9:00 PM, while one more band from last year (classic rock cover trio The Hixx) will be on at the exact same time inside the Dondee to close out the night. Remember that this lineup is subject to change, and bands & times could change for varying reasons, so stay tuned to LemmaFest pages and the SMS for updates, and for more details, check out the above links and the brand new Facebook event page!

This sounds like a very solid lineup of familiar and new bands from the area, and if you attended last year's LemmaFest, it should be just as entertaining! Note that the band total is 8 rather than 10 from last year, but this does likely give each band slightly longer sets, so that works out! Also, for trivia sake, note that 4 musicians (Barney Gravelle, Ivan Schliska, Dillion Semasky, and Jason VanLuven) are all in two of the bands this year, if returning band lineups are the same, which is awesome to see their hard work for in Mike's memory! There will be food, drink specials, and raffles at this year's event, and though official sources haven't confirmed age limits or admission costs yet, note that last year's LemmaFest was all ages with $10 admission. Also, a fundraising event/band camp will be held on May 29th at the Taco Bell in Sault Michigan with part of the proceeds going to LemmaFest and the cause, so click here for info on that evening's event! This is all shaping up well for this year's event for sure, so stay tuned for more updates as they roll in, and go honour Mike Lemma's memory with some great music on June 23rd at the Dondee!

And finally, here's some more recent updates from local classical metal band Theatre of Night! First off, they have officially confirmed that German musician Gaby Koss is their new singer for the project, and she'll be featured in a re-release of their debut album "Christmas Night" later this year, along with an additional release projected to come out by early next year. I'm not overly familiar with her work, but she has experience in both opera and metal settings, and she has a beautiful voice for sure, so click here to hear some of her past work! Among other recent news: A new instrumental song named "Dreams of Winter Night" was posted onto the band's Reverbnation page, which has a nice epic orchestral feel, and I recently heard from keyboardist Craig Harrison that their planned American patriotic-themed album is only planned to be finished in May, not released that quickly. No matter what though, I'm anticipating their next work, as they're definitely a unique band in the local scene, and I'm a sucker for orchestral influences in metal, so fingers crossed more updated and material come out soon! Check the above links for more, and stay tuned hopefully by this weekend for my review of End of Existence's debut album!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews later tonight, and our (delayed) Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile TOMORROW! Thanks everyone!