Before we get to the news, I want to apologize for a missed concert this past weekend, as Cheboygan hard rockers The Darwin Project made their long awaited return to Sault Michigan at The Corner Pub on Saturday night for an outdoor parking lot party concert. As far as I can tell, it was their first local concert appearance since last year & since the release of their new EP "Beautiful", and it's one of their last shows before kicking off a midwestern US tour run. It's not like me to miss a Darwin Project show for SMS coverage given their prominence and advance show notice, and I sincerely apologize for missing this. Check them out A.S.A.P. though, they're going places fast, and they're very talented, so keep your eyes peeled for a local return at some point! Now, we have a major concert preview, newly found videos from a local metal band, and some more updates, so here's what you need to know!
For the first time since April, a major hard rock concert is hitting The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino TONIGHT, and it will be headlined by Los Angeles hard rock notables Buckcherry! The platinum-selling quintet best known for hits like "Lit Up", "Sorry", "Crazy Bitch", and "All Night Long" were last seen in Sault Michigan in March 2011 with Papa Roach, and they definitely have a known following and some entertaining hard rock songs that fans are bound to recognize, so hopefully they can top the mixed reception from their set last year! Joining them for this show are Tennessee hard rock quartet Fuel, who are likely best known for classics like "Hemorrhage (In My Hands)", "Shimmer", and "Innocent" among their multi-platinum resume! Though only singer Brett Scallions returns from their classic lineups tonight, Fuel's recognizable heavier classics should be welcomed in the Soo, so don't miss their set either! There will be a local opening band, that being the indie rock quartet The London Gentlemen, and though they're not a perfect genre match to the out of town headliners, they're fitting in other ways. Singer/guitarists Steve Sivret & Mike Russo opened for Buckcherry last March in their acoustic band Fallen Heroes, while bandmates Kyle Beaumont & Jake LaLonde have ample experience opening for big name acts at Kewadin Casino with Nixxon Dixxon, so they're well suited to this big opportunity!
Tickets are $35 for this ALL AGES concert, and they are still available as of this writing from the 7th row and back, though note that all of the center section seats are sold out. To pick yours up if you haven't already, click here to purchase them online, or visit the Kewadin box office in person, or call 1-800-KEWADIN! Everything starts at 7:00 PM tomorrow, and for more details, check the above links! It's great to see Allstar Promotions bringing another high quality package of hard rock bands back to The Dreammaker's Theater, and hopefully this show is a huge success to ensure more big shows! One in particular is being announced sooner than you think. I'm not a huge fan of Buckcherry or Fuel, but they have entertaining material and strong fanbases, and as long as Buckcherry can top their set last year, I think everything will come out well tonight! Stay tuned for fallout and news from this show as it comes in this week, but for now, have fun at Kewadin Casino tonight, and for a preview, here's Buckcherry playing "Crazy Bitch" at their show here last year!
Next up, remember on Saturday when I alluded to other MySpace videos from local/Central Algoma death metal quartet For All That Is Lost in our last CASS Cafe video post? Well, here they are, and these are from a full early concert of theirs that you guys can check out! For All That Is Lost's original lineup played a headlining gig at The Hilton Community Hall in Hilton Beach (roughly an hour from here in St. Joseph Island) on June 25th, 2010 (I believe), and each of the 7 songs that they played is on their MySpace page, including their originals "Blood Law", "Graves of the Ancestors", "Viscosity of Blood", their recently less frequent songs "Northern Metal" and "Mask of Divinity", and covers of Lamb of God's "Descending", and surprisingly enough, AC/DC's "Back In Black"! Click each link to see the videos, which were well shot and look surprisingly professional, though the lighting can be dark, and fans do sometimes get in the way. Even at this earlier stage, lineup, and pre-Sault concert stage, F.A.T.I.L. show lots of brutal promise in these videos, and it's disappointing to see them stashed away on MySpace when they could be attracting more notice on other websites. I've embedded their performance of "Northern Metal" below, but check the above links for much more from this early F.A.T.I.L. headlining concert!
Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news stories from the last little while, and as always, these are in alphabetical order by band name:
On July 29th, SBD bassist Brad Griffith was among the victims of instrument theft from the recording & audio/video company that he's launching, and the stolen items include a guitar, two basses, some microphones, and a portable studio. The gear costs over $2,500, and it's very important for his operations, so if you can help or know of the gear's whereabouts, message Brad at this location or see his post at the Musicians Wanted Facebook group from last week!
Local grunge band Haggith have announced the addition of Wishbone bassist Steven Flint to their lineup, officially making them a quartet. The news was broken on their Facebook page last night, and Steven will debut with Haggith at a Wawa concert on August 24th. Steven's a talented bassist, and he has heavier chops from his work in Silver Dream, so he should add well to this new band! Check the above links for more info!
Local punk trio Redundant have replaced horror punk notables Frightlight on the lineup for the Skull Fist-headlined show at The Canadian Nightclub on August 31st, as per the Facebook event page. From what I understand, Frightlight dropped out for personal reasons, though I'm not sure exactly what happened. Redundant may not be a genre match, but their entertaining punk music should go over well amongst the metal on the 31st, so don't miss them at their next concert!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes as the week rolls along! Thanks everyone
Alright, I have enough news today to get a post up after a few days of very slow word from the metal scene, and luckily, we have a HUGE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT to lead things off! We also have some cool news relating to a local author, this week's classic video, and some assorted other stories to get to, but for now, let's kick things off with today's top story!
Poison frontman Bret Michaels is coming back to Kewadin Casino! The hair metal legend and recent reality television star will make his fourth(?) local concert appearance on December 27th when he headlines a solo concert at The Dreammaker's Theater! This will be his first time headlining at Kewadin since last year's Kewadin Casino 25th Anniversary Summer Festival, but you may also remember his birthday show there in March 2008, and before all of that, he headlined a 2005 concert at the old Eastgate Hotel in Sault Ontario as well. This time however, you can go see Bret play solo material and Poison classics as a Christmas present, and if you love hair metal, isn't that a great idea? No word yet on possible opening bands, but most of his previous local stops have had at least one, so I'll keep an eye out in case something's announced. Local news sites (including SooToday and The Sault Star) have confirmed the news in articles, so click the above links for their coverage! As I like to do when major touring bands like this return to the Sault area, I like to share an old concert video from one of their last stops, so here's SooToday's video of Bret Michaels from his 2008 concert at Kewadin Casino as a preview of what to expect next month!
That all said, what should you know about tickets? They'll be $42.50, which isn't too bad overall, and they will go on sale TOMORROW MORNING at 9:00 AM! For when they do go on sale, you can pick them up online at this location, by calling 1-800-KEWADIN, or by visiting the Kewadin box office in person. This show should be all ages too, and a start time of 7:00 PM is listed. Check the above links for more details! It's great to see Bret back in the area and in good health, and with just under two months to go, hopefully this is as big of a success as Bret's last local shows! Stay tuned for updates as they come in!
Next up, are you familiar at all with a local author named George Case? We've never talked about him on here, but I really should have a lot sooner than now. He's written 5 published books, contributed in two others, and has two brand new books now in stores. The reason why this counts for the SMS is that 2 of them directly relate to rock legends Led Zeppelin, and from what I hear, they're both extremely good and well researched! One is one of his newest books, entitled "Led Zeppelin FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the Greatest Hard Rock Band of All Time", which explores and analyzes the lingering questions and rumours about Led Zeppelin and it's members. and the other is 2009's "Jimmy Page: Magus, Magician, Man", which was apparently the first published biography about the legendary Led Zeppelin guitarist. These & most of his other books (including last year's "Out Of Our Heads" about the days of excess from '60s & '70s rock legends) are on sale on various online outlets, including through Chapters/Indigo, which means that you can also order them through Coles in the Station or Cambrian Mall if they aren't in stock at either local location. I wanna say that The Rad Zone has at least some of his books in stock too, but I may be wrong. Click the book titles above to pick them up online! None go for more than $16 in paperback.
Also, George contributed to another Led Zeppelin book named "Whole Lotta Zeppelin", so click that link for more details. With the release of his newest two books (including one on social & political issues), he's been back in the local news with very nice articles on SooToday, Local2, and The Sault Star, so click those links for more as well! I certainly appreciate Led Zeppelin's impact on hard rock & metal, and though I've yet to read George's books on them, I can tell from everything I've seen that he's left no stone unturned to make these books accurate & very informative! If you love Led Zeppelin, definitely pick up George's books at the above links, and support local authors!
Thirdly today, here's three assorted shorter stories from the last little while. As usual, these are in alphabetical order by band name:
Cheboygan hard rock quartet The Darwin Project are being interviewed TOMORROW MORNING on Rock 101! Their new single will also be played on air. Details are scant online, but I believe the interview will be during "Scott & Brian In The Morning", meaning it'll be between 7:00 AM & 10:00 AM if that's accurate. Awesome to see Rock 101 give some Northern Michigan talent some exposure, so listen to 101.3 FM tomorrow morning to hear the interview, and fingers crossed they play a local show again soon!
I've edited our GarageBand Profile on Gates of Winter to remove a video I'd posted of their song "Burning Kingdom II: Heavenly Insurgence". I originally uploaded it because I thought it wasn't on YouTube already, but it actually was, so I removed it to avoid redundancy. Stay tuned for more news if it comes in!
This is sort of foreshadowing for our final item, but I've edited our Defunct Local Band Profile on local hard rock band Renderware to note that original bassist Ian Robinson was later in the local punk band Talk Shit. Wanna know a bit more on them? Check our today's last item below!
And finally, here's this week's classic video! With Sativa Rose set to return from a four month hiatus on Sunday when they open for Skull Fist at The Canadian, it made sense to tie in this week's video in with them in some way, and more specifically, we'll tie it in with guitarist Andrew Angelic! You've likely seen him before in other local bands, and one of his more prominent ones was the local punk quartet Talk Shit, who played scattered live dates from 2008-2009, though I don't think they ever had an online page. Andrew memorably played in Talk Shit with three ex-members of Renderware, those being singer/drummer Adam Sauve, guitarist Marc LaFrance, and bassist Ian Robinson, which is an interesting pairing of talented musicians! Why are we featuring a primarily punk band for a classic video though? Because a video I came across is of a heavier sounding original, and it honestly has a Lion Ride vibe going for it! Entitled "Fuck Hugs", this comes from a concert that Talk Shit played at the now-closed Nite Life Dance Club (a.k.a. GLOW) when they opened for Toronto pop punk band The Artist Life on November 29th, 2009. Very nice video quality, and the song is pretty catchy with a clear metal flourish that not all of their live songs had, so it's definitely worth checking out!
Filmed by former Infrastrate guitarist Patrick Webb and uploaded onto Facebook the next day, you can see the original video at http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=357895575603. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED!! All credit for this video goes to Talk Shit and Patrick, they did the hard work here, I'm just sharing this song with a wider audience like it deserves! So, give this week's classic video a look below for a heavier turn from Talk Shit, and hopefully they return in some form in the future!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news likely on the weekend, as I'm honestly low on stories at the moment. We'll probably have a new post on Saturday, as I've gotta preview the Skull Fist concert, so keep an eye out then! Thanks everyone!
The news keeps coming today, and hopefully the rain's not getting you guys down at all! In this post, we have news on an upcoming concert, a new local band's lineup additions, some updates to one of our monthly series, and to start, LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, including one rather SHORT NOTICE one! Also check our post below this one from this morning for FIVE new shows that should get your attention! Now, to this post, so here's what you need to know!
I REALLY apologize for having this concert so late, I only just heard about it within the hour. Cheboygan hard rockers The Darwin Project are playing a concert TONIGHT in Rudyard, which is just outside Sault Michigan! Unlike their usual shows there at Joe's Bar, this show will be at Dan's Place, another Rudyard bar which is 18794 South Tilson Road. You may recognize it as a frequent stop for defunct local hard rockers Absolute, if that's any help for a reference. This show was officially announced in a Facebook event page on May 4th, but it somehow slipped me by completely, and I'm only just mentioning it tonight. Again, I'm really sorry! So the show tonight will have The Darwin Project taking the stage at around 9:30 PM, there's no announced cover charge, and you must be 21 to attend. Check the above links for more details! This should be a fun concert, hopefully it goes over well! The Darwin Project have a lot of entertaining hard rock songs that appeal to a diverse crowd, and hopefully a good crowd turns out! For a video preview, here's The Darwin Project playing their song "Disco Rockstar" in Traverse City in January!
The other new concert today is now official as a "metal" show, and it's LemmaFest at Dondee Lanes on June 25th! In case you forgot, this is the first annual festival in honour of the late Michael Lemma, a well-liked Dondee employee who tragically passed away last July at the age of 38. There will be activities going on all day that you can get details on at this location. That said, a schedule has been released for the bands playing at LemmaFest next month, so here's who to look out for! At least 5 metal/hard rock bands are confirmed, starting with Great Bodily Harm at 2:00 PM! This is the local metal band featuring ex-members of I.S.O.M., Half A Man, Hammerspace, and Kilacel, and they have the talent to deliver a great set! If anyone has any band info, internet pages, or videos of them, please tell me, as I have very little on them! Speaking of Hammerspace, they've officially re-united and will be on at 3:00 PM themselves! It's true, they returned late last month, as cited here, and will be back to rock the Dondee at Lemmafest! At 4:00 PM, local hard rock quintet River Witch will take the stage to play some entertaining songs of their own! I wish I could tell you how they sounded, but I can say that guitarist Chris Leask will pull double duty as a member of both River Witch & Great Bodily Harm, which is cool in itself!
Then at 5:00, Scofflaw (also featuring a River Witch member, drummer Ivan Schliska) will return for a set of their unique metal music! Nice to hear about one of their shows in advance for a change, they'll fit in well here! Finally for metal bands, Munising metal quartet Infathom (featuring Sault High graduate Dillion Semasky on vocals) will hit The Dondee at 7:00 PM, and if you wanna check out their promising brand of metal, click here! Hopefully they play here more often! As for the other bands scheduled for Lemmafest, the show will be opened at 12:00 PM by classic/Southern rockers The Hixx (featuring Grooves Music owner Gary Hatch). A local band named Bucksaw may be playing at 6:00 PM, although band member Jason VanLuven expressed uncertainty about their status due to some lineup concerns. I'm not familiar with them at all, so if you guys know of a page or videos or something, let me know! A pair of local acoustic duos are at 8:00 PM & 9:00 pm, including indie cover duo Fallen Heroes at 8:00 PM (they opened for Buckcherry in March) & the more "offbeat" 2PumpChump at 9:00 PM. The last advertised band is Electric Motor Fish at 10:00 PM (featuring Shift's Tony Rogers & Clownsack producer Fran Blackwood), though The Hixx are also advertised to perform inside in the evening, implying that the LemmaFest stage itself will be outdoors.
The lineup is subject to change (it's in fact already changed once), so stay tuned to all of the above links for details! Also, I should note that Half A Man are NOT playing, despite their own preliminary confirmation, as they're focusing on writing and working on new songs towards their album. This sounds like a great event, and who knows what will happen for this great cause? Stay tuned for LemmaFest updates as I hear them!
Next up, here's the latest updates from new Kincheloe metal band Chained Memories! First, they've announced the additions of guitarists Jacob Zeeryp & Ryan Nicklas to the band, replacing Brandon Mason & Isaac Suggitt. Jacob is best known as the singer & keyboard player in the inactive area Christian hard rock band Outshined, and it will be interesting to see how he does as a guitarist! He was a good singer in Outshined, maybe he'll sing a bit with the new band? As for Ryan Nicklas, I'm largely unfamiliar with his work, we'll have to see how he does! The band (including drummer Mike Rynberg) are still looking for a bassist and singer to complete their lineup, so head to their Facebook page for details on how you can try out! I'm interested to see how the band sounds, hopefully they succeed where Silent Despair failed! Check the above links for more, and as details come in, I'll have them for you guys!
Finally, I wanted to go over some edits I made to one of our monthly series for accuracy, that being our Defunct Local Band Profile Series! There's enough changes to warrant a block mention like this, so here's what you should know! The AtrophiA profile was edited to further downplay the Bring The Fallen references, given their breakup, and include a couple mentions for Bring The Blood, which is AtrophiA guitarist Dan Souliere's new band. Both the M7K & Death Rise profiles now reference the fact that Mike Vincent (from both bands) left The Bear Hunters. The Lower S.E.S. profile now links to my review of their EP at the end, and The White Knights profile has a minor edit related to Justin Langlois' work in Motion Carried, as I mentioned his work with multiple White Knights members in later bands. Finally, the Life's Eclipse profile now features a new embedded video (for their song "Out Of The Cold", as it has vocals), as well as minor updates on the reason for their original breakup, their current album statuses and info, some extra personal thoughts on the band, and a tiny reference to Jason Mills' work in Moss. Hopefully everything's up to date now, check the above links to see the newly updated profiles! Any profiles not mentioned above were still basically accurate.
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes very soon, including more from Woods of Ypres! Thanks everyone!
The marathon of news continues today into it's latter stages, as we give you some news from across the river! Today, we focus on Sault Michigan, including the latest news from Beyond The Surface & Life's Eclipse, an intriguing piece of news from Werehold Records, and LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, but first, here's a new local band! (UPDATED: Monday, 8:32 PM)
The new band I've discovered is Chained Memories, a new young metal band from nearby Kincheloe, Michigan! Though they started their MySpace page in December 2009, I've only seen them really active in the past few weeks, so they really flew under the radar in the past year and a half. As far as I can tell, the only current member of the band is former Silent Despair drummer Mike Rynberg, though their Facebook page also credits Outshined frontman Jacob Zeeryp as a band member with an unknown role. The lineup on the band's MySpace page is, as best as I can tell, outdated (so guitarists Brandon Mason & Isaac Suggitt appear to be out,) and they are looking for band members aged 14-17 to fill out their lineup, which would include a keyboard player! Aside from a logo and some hints towards t-shirt designs, there's not a lot to say yet, but hopefully Chained Memories succeeds where Silent Despair failed! Check the above links for more, as well as their Reverbnation page, and I will keep you posted!
Now for those LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, as a prominent Northern Michigan band is returning to Sault Michigan in July! Cheboygan hard rock quartet The Darwin Project will make their first announced local stops of the summer when they hit The Corner Pub Bar & Grill on July 8th and 9th for a weekend set of entertaining music! The news about these new local shows was quietly posted on the band's Facebook page on Thursday thanks to two new Facebook event pages, this one for the Friday show, and this one for the Saturday concert. Both shows have 9:30 PM start times, you must be 21 to attend on either night, and there's no announced cover charge. Check the above links for more details! It's always good to see The Darwin Project out and about in Sault Michigan, and their energetic take on radio hard rock should go over well, as it always seems to! Stay tuned for more updates on The Darwin Project's next local stops as I hear them!
Now for some stories related to the recently relaunched Eckerman metal quartet Life's Eclipse, starting with the posting of demos from their upcoming album "Shadow Over Superior"! On Wednesday, the band posted a video onto their record label Werehold Records' YouTube channel that features 30 second samples of every song on the "Shadow Over Superior" album! The tracklisting hasn't changed from what was on their MySpace page, so head there for title previews if you don't pay attention to the screen in audio-based videos like this. 30 seconds is very little to go on to give definitive thoughts to the songs on the album, but these instrumental samples all sound promising, and this should be a quality album when it comes out! Of course, one of the songs (the instrumental "Not Dead, But Dreaming") is posted on their MySpace, so if you want a full taste, check that very cool song out! Now though, give a listen to samples from the whole album, which I'm eager to hear, how about you guys?
Speaking of Werehold Records-related topics, Life's Eclipse frontman/Werehold Records head Jason Mills has a big plan in mind involving an album featuring local bands, so here's what you should know! He's hoping to make up a compilation record featuring local bands to help give them exposure, presumably through release through Werehold Records in the coming months. He's aiming to have bands who want in on the CD to contribute up to two songs for inclusion on the record, which would be professionally pressed and be available to sell at shows and on band pages. Nothing he said to me implied a restriction for which side of the border your band lives on, or if you had to be connected to Werehold Records already to get in on this. I've heard similar rumblings on this side that I won't go into without public word, but Jason's idea sounds very intriguing! Never hurts to get some well needed exposure, and why not do it with other bands who also want the same thing? If this flies, this could be to the benefit of a lot of bands, so definitely shoot Jason a message at werehold@hotmail.com if you or your band would be interested in being on this compilation record!
And finally, here's the latest news on young Pickford hard rockers Beyond The Surface! Firstly, the band appears to have quietly parted ways with guitarist Blake Mastaw, just two months after his addition to the band. No statement has been made as to his exit, but he was removed from the Beyond the Surface's lineup on their Facebook page, reducing them (at least for now) to a three-piece band. I know that when Blake joined, there was a visible uproar from some fans, but I wonder what happened so soon for him to leave? Well, best of luck to him, and of course, if you're a Pickford-area guitarist and want to try out, give the band a shout, you never know! Also, in some of the band's latest updates, they announced that they are looking to play some dates soon, and were open for suggestions. That, and they're apparently playing a set on Tuesday night at the Pickford High School gym, but without a lot of details, I don't know enough to really "call" it on here. Still, best of luck to them, and they are a promising young band! Check the above links for more!
That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes tomorrow, including (maybe) a book review? Keep your eyes peeled to the SMS! Thanks everyone!
It's time to preview this weekend's metal and hard rock concerts! With the Easter weekend upon us, there isn't as much going on for you metalheads, but there's a few noteworthy shows, mostly tonight, so we'll get to those soon, but first, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!
Brimley hard rockers Half A Man are hitting the stage once again next month! Fresh off their successful gig at The Merchant's Bar last week, the band will return to The Bird on May 15th for a special early concert! How early? How about 7:30 PM? If you're wondering why a bar concert like this is taking place about three hours earlier than you'd expect, it's actually because the show is serving as an kick-off party for a co-ed softball game or team of some type! I admittedly know little on that subject, but I assume at least one Half A Man member or relation plays co-ed softball. That said, they'll be there to rock out a long set of metal, if a bit earlier than usual! There's no announced cover charge, and I imagine the usual 21+ age limit is still in effect. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Sounds like a good time, despite the odd timing, so make note of this show! Also, I hear that the guys responsible for the upcoming book "Yooper Bars" on Upper Peninsula bars may be at The Bird that day too, so who knows, you could be in that book if you go see Half A Man that night! Stay tuned for updates!
Now to the Easter weekend concert previews! As you may know, Dismembertainment's metal nights at The Roosevelt Hotel are now weekly, and the first such show since the schedule change is TONIGHT, when three more local metal bands hit the stage to melt some faces! Your headliners are local hardcore quintet As It Stands, whose ever increasing local profile and largely improved sound will surely get fans moving once again! Also joining them are grimecore trio Shit Liver and melodic death metallers The Bear Hunters, who'll both add their own wrinkles of devastation to this lineup! You could also consider this show a preview of next week's Dead & Divine all ages show too, given that two of tonight's bands are opening that show as well (you can pick up tickets from members of either As It Stands or The Bear Hunters tonight too!) As for this show, expect another free night of hard hitting metal from these talented bands, with a 19+ age limit and 9:30 PM start time. Check the above links for more details! I reckon I'll be here for this show, and considering that you should have no school or work to wake up for on Friday (it's the long weekend), then you have no excuse to skip out! I'll see you there, and for a preview, here's As It Stands playing "Big Bucks, No Whammy" at The Rosie last month!
Also taking place tonight is the return of The Darwin Project! Yes, the Cheboygan hard rockers will make their third local stop of the month when they return to The Savoy Bar & Nightclub for the first time since November! They've sure been ramping up their Sault Michigan bookings in recent months, this is great to see from such a solid rising hard rock outfit! The band noted on Facebook that this show is still on as scheduled, despite the 8 inch snowfall that the Cheboygan area suffered during the recent storms, so kudos to them for braving the conditions to rock the Sault once again! This concert will take place tonight at the Savoy at 9:30 PM or later, there's no announced cover charge, and you must be 21 to attend. For more details, check out the above links and the Facebook event page! This should be a good concert, and with The Darwin Project bigger than they've ever been, you'll wanna check them out tonight if you're itching for a concert across the river! For a preview, here's The Darwin Project playing their song "Do You Want It?" in Traverse City in January!
Finally, these are the only actual Easter weekend metal/hard rock shows this weekend, but for all I know, there could be some I don't know about, and if there is, I'll have them on here A.S.A.P.! Now, how about some Splitshot to spend your weekend rocking out with? Yes, the Sault Michigan hard rock quintet featuring alumni Chris Hubbard & Kyle Beaumont will return to The Rapids Lounge at Kewadin Casino for a weekend of hard rock covers and classics! Though I still can't tell you much about them or their sound, Splitshot have tons of talent and a good reputation, so definitely consider checking them out if you want some heaviness over the holiday weekend! The band will hit The Rapids Lounge tomorrow night (Good Friday) and Saturday night, with likely 9:00 PM start times both nights, no cover, and a 21+ age limit. Check the above links for more! These should be some fun shows, and though I wish I had audio or video to share, take my word on it and check them out, I have faith they rock! Stay tuned for updates!
That's all for now, but I have a new news post in the works for tonight featuring some cool stories, including stuff on Sense of Truth, The Bird, Operation: Killdozer, some link updates, and this week's classic video! Stay tuned!
Our busiest month ever caps off today, and in this 37th post of March, it's time to preview this weekend's local metal and hard rock concerts! I know of eight, but I could be missing some. For now though, here's all you need to know for this weekend's concerts!
We'll start TONIGHT at The Roosevelt Hotel, where Dismembertainment presents the latest metal night! Three more local metal bands are ready to melt some faces to close out March, including one local band making their live debut! Headlining tonight are local hardcore quintet As It Stands, fresh off some successful recent concerts in Southern Ontario! With a rapidly increasing profile and some hard hitting and aggressive metal to share with their fans, get ready to mosh when they take the stage tonight! Also scheduled tonight are grimecore trio Shit Liver, coming off well received supporting slots for We, The Undersigned and The Rebel Spell earlier this month. Will their crusty blend of punk and death metal be what you're looking for tonight? I could very well be! Opening tonight's concert will be the debuting Skull After Betrayal, the new metal quartet featuring Bear Hunters guitarist Mike Vincent, Despised Eyes bassist Adam Brett, guitarist Justin Polutanovich, and drummer Anthony D'Agostini! Though their posted demos are rather poor in quality, be prepared for some entertaining covers and originals when they make their live debut tonight! As always, tonight's show is a 19+ affair, there is no cover, and it all starts at 9:30 PM! Check out the above links for more details!
Sounds like a fun night of metal, fingers crossed that I can be there! I definitely intend on being at at least one Dismembertainment show this weekend, optimistically both, so I hope I can see you guys there tonight! For a preview, here's As It Stands playing their song "One Last Chance" at The Rosie last month!
Next up, it's the debut of Turner Up V4.0! After 3/5ths of the band left earlier this month, the local classic hard rockers will have a new look in their return to the stage this weekend, with only drummer Scott McClurg remaining in the exact same position as he previously had! Talented local singer KT Antler replaces Krista Marshall, Asylum Country/ex-Stillbroke bassist Kyle McKey replaces Len Ward on guitar, and founding member Robert Brown switches from guitar to bass to replace Jeff Gray in this new four-piece Turner Up incarnation! So things will look (and sound) a lot different when Turner Up return to the stage this weekend, but where will they be? They'll return to The Nicolet Tavern tomorrow night & Saturday night to debut their new lineup in what should be a good weekend of music! I don't know how the band will sound as a whole, but Rob & Scott have good eyes for talent, and KT and Kyle will deliver! There is no announced cover charge, you must be 19 to attend, and it all starts at 10:00 PM! For more details, check the above links and the Facebook event page, and if audio/video material comes online featuring the new lineup, I'll have it here!
Also in Sault Ontario this weekend for your Friday and Saturday concert needs are AC/DC tribute band Who Made Who! One of the most frequently seen tribute bands in the area, Who Made Who recently upped the ante from just playing one show this weekend to two, making this an even bigger weekend of high voltage rock n' roll than we're used to from this talented band! AC/DC fans should have all the more reason to go now, as Who Made Who deliver an authentic AC/DC sound at each show they play! As usual, they'll be back at The Canadian Nightclub tomorrow night and Saturday night, there is a $5 cover to attend either night, and as always, you must be 19 to enter. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! If you're an AC/DC fan, do yourselves a favour and check Who Made Who out this weekend, they'll deliver just what you're looking for! For a video preview, here's Who Made Who playing the AC/DC classic "If You Want Blood (You Got It)" live in Thunder Bay last year!
Let's take a quick detour to Sault Michigan, as Cheboygan hard rock quartet The Darwin Project return to the area for another weekend of hard hitting original music! Unlike their most recent local stops, they'll in face hit The Rapids Lounge at Kewadin Casino for the first time in a noticeable while! These will be their first of at least three spring concerts in Sault Michigan, and their original radio hard rock should attract some good responses from local fans this weekend! There's no announced cover charge, you must be 21 to attend either tomorrow's or Saturday's show, and everything starts at 9:00 PM or later! Unlike past concerts, there's no Facebook event page for this one, but the band hyped these shows on their Facebook page, and Kewadin Casino's entertainment page also lists it, so click the above links for more! The Darwin Project are a talented and often catchy band, and you should check them out this weekend if you're in the area! For a preview, here's The Darwin Project playing their song "Pushing Daisies" early last year!
And finally, we'll end as we started: With a Dismembertainment concert! On Saturday night, an out of town metal band hits Sault Ontario for a night of metal, and that band is Montreal sludge quartet The Great Sabatini! With a slow and heavy sound with some classic metal influences, get ready for a unique and brutal set from this talented Canadian metal band! You don't see stuff like them much here, so make note of their show on Saturday night at Foggy Notions! Opening for them on Saturday are local melodic death metal quintet The Bear Hunters, and in their second show of the weekend, Shit Liver! The Bear Hunters were hyping the possibility of new original material for Saturday, so that in itself is notable, and Shit Liver fans must be eager at the thought of two shows in a four day span! There will be a $3 cover on Saturday night, you must be 19 to attend, and everything starts at 9:00 PM or later. For more details, visit the Facebook event page! Sounds like a brutal night of metal, and I definitely plan on being there for this show! I hope to see you all there! Check the above links for more, and for a preview, here's The Great Sabatini playing their original "Fire & Flood" at a Saskatoon concert in 2008!
That's all for now, but I might have one more post to cap off the month tonight, and I hope I can get to The Rosie tonight as well! Stay tuned, and thanks everyone!
You know today will be our third straight day with two posts? Busy stretch, partly cause of special feature posts, and partly cause there's a lot of news lately! Just as a preview, tonight's news post (which will go up in the afternoon) features two major new concerts, a huge departure in a local hard rock band, the final addition to a notable upcoming concert, and that same band's newest member, so you'll wanna stay tuned for all of that! Now, to today's topics, as we mostly focus on previews of this weekend's metal and hard rock concerts, including one cancellation, but first, here's a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!!
Sault Michigan hard rockers River Witch are back with a concert taking place THIS SATURDAY! The local quintet that evolved from Blind Baby last summer will hit The Merchant's Bar on Saturday night to lay down some hard rock tunes for their local fans! Apologies for the short notice, these were only just announced last night, and recent show updates have been their only posted news on their Facebook page since November. This show has a 9:00 PM start time, it is 21+, and there's no announced cover charge. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! It's nice to see River Witch back out there, I was wondering where they'd vanished to! I still don't know how they sound, but for more on them, check the above links, and if you need something to do this Saturday, The Merch isn't a bad place to be at all! While I'm on the subject, I've restored all 8 of River Witch's previously announced Rapids Lounge concerts to the SMS concert listings, as the band ARE playing next weekend at Kewadin Casino, despite the deletion of River Witch's concerts from Kewadin's entertainment page. This same thing happened with Monkey's Uncle's shows there, confirmed concerts were deleted but not cancelled. So they ARE on, but if I hear anything different, I'll let you guys know!
Let's stay in Sault Michigan for another show, as a recently prominent local metal band return to the stage TONIGHT for a St. Patrick's Day metal assault! Progressive metal quartet Hammerspace will return to one of their favourite stomping grounds, Zim's, for a night of hard hitting heavy metal for a Thursday night show! With lots of originals & covers in store and a lot of talent to go around, a trip to Zim's shouldn't be out of the question for you Michiganders tonight! This show has a listed 9:30 PM start time, you must be 21 to attend, and there is no announced cover charge. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Sounds good to me, hopefully they tear it up tomorrow! Check out the above links for more, especially to stream their original material, as I have yet to see videos of the band in action. Also, while we're on the Hammerspace subject, they'll make their first ever trip out of town for a concert on April 27th in Topinabee, Michigan in the Lower Peninsula, click here for more details!
We have two more Sault Michigan shows to talk about, but they're a bit later so we can keep a rough chronological order. Before I launch into the Sault Ontario metal shows, I want to note a cancellation, as Tym Morrison will NOT be playing at The Big Cheese tomorrow, or for the forseeable future. Tym told me that The Big Cheese had lost it's liquor license, which is connected to the cancellations, including any possible future dates there until it's re-licensed. That sucks, but you can see him next Friday at The Eagles Club though, so mark that on your calendars!
Now, to Sault Ontario shows, and first, a unique local hard rock band returns to the stage TONIGHT at the latest Roosevelt Hotel punk night! Fresh off their return to the stage last month at The Rosie, "the original crash band" Sykotyk Rampage will be back there to headline tonight's punk night, and are sure to leave an impression with their very original brand of music! Featuring almost two dozen albums in their discography, and a good sense of humour, you won't wanna miss them tomorrow night, and check them out at the above link for a sound like none other locally! Also on the bill: Montreal pop punk band Skepsis, a month after they originally planned to play here. Though not hard rock, they have a high energy punk sound that will be sure to win over some fans tomorrow night, and check their page linked above to give them a listen! Finally, cello punk rock trio RedD Monkey will open things with their own hard hitting brand of punk, with a classical twist, in a prelude to their massive 12 band all ages headlining concert next month! Sounds like a diverse and entertaining night of music, and all for no cover either! This concert will also be 19+, and everything starts at around 9:30 PM! For more details, visit the Facebook event page!
With Irish drinking songs planned, Sykotyk Rampage are bound to entertain along with the other bands tomorrow, and I'll be there! I'll have a review, photos, and a video up tomorrow night, so stay tuned for all that! For a preview, here's (fittingly for St. Patrick's Day) Sykotyk Rampage playing their signature song "Drinking On The Weekend" from last year!
Staying at The Roosevelt Hotel, the music keeps coming through Saturday, as Browbeat return there for their second weekend set of shows since their return last month! The local hard rock trio featuring some very talented local musicians will be back to lay down some of their entertaining originals and covers for the Rosie faithful tomorrow night & Saturday night! A 10:00 PM start time is listed, there will be no cover charge, and as always for The Rosie, you must be 19 to attend. For full details, visit the official Facebook event page! Dutch and the guys in Browbeat deserve more attention and fans than they have, especially with the work they've put in, so check them out and if you like them, make it out to see them this weekend! I hope to be there one of the two nights, likely Saturday, so keep an eye out in case I head back to the Rosie! Check the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Browbeat playing their original song "Days Gone By"!
Two more shows in Sault Ontario on the heavier side of things, and these are different shows in the long line of Turner Up concerts! Why? Because this time, they're going to have an opening band! Yes, before the classic hard rockers take the stage tomorrow night and Saturday night at The Rockstar Bar, they will be opened up by local progressive rock quartet Machines Dream, featuring bassist/keyboardist Brian Holmes of Gates of Winter fame! Interesting mix of styles, but both bands are quite talented, and hopefully the Turner Up faithful will respond well to Machines Dream! Of course, Turner Up themselves will have loads of classic and newer covers that get heavier as the night goes on, so make sure you get ready for them as well! Everything starts at 10:00 PM tomorrow night and Saturday night, there is no announced cover charge, and you must be 19 to attend. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! These concerts should be fun, especially with the double band appeal, so make it out for some great live rock music if you can! Check the above links for more, and for a preview, here's Turner Up covering Guns N' Roses' "Mr. Brownstone" at The Rockstar Bar two months ago!
Finally, we close today's preview post back in Sault Michigan, where a frequent local sight returns from Cheboygan to rock out for their Saultite fans! Yes, rising hard rockers The Darwin Project will roll through The Satisfied Frog this weekend for a pair of high energy rock shows tomorrow night & Saturday night! Like their usual local concerts, both shows will have 9:30 PM start times, 21+ age limits, and no announced cover charge. For more details, as always, visit the Facebook event page! If you miss them this weekend, they'll be back at Kewadin Casino in two weeks, luckily, but go see them tomorrow or Saturday if you can! They always deliver an entertaining show full of their very good hard rock tracks, and with a new CD out to purchase, now's better than ever to see The Darwin Project live! Check the above links for more, and here's one last preview video, of The Darwin Project playing their original song "Do You Want It?"
That's all for now, but I have a huge post coming this afternoon, as I outlined at the start of this post, so stay tuned for that later today! Thanks everyone, and I'll see you guys at The Rosie tonight!
Hey metalheads, here's some more scattered news from the last little while, but first, I want to apologize for missing a pair of shows last weekend. Apparently, Sault Michigan hard rockers Splitshot played at The Bird on Friday and Saturday, and I didn't hear about them until today. While they were announced short notice on Wednesday, they still slipped me by entirely, and I never saw the posted Facebook statuses plugging the shows, so they never got reported here. My deepest apologies go out to Splitshot and their fans, I screwed up, and I hope to be better on my toes for their next shows at The Bird! If it's any help, they'll be at The Rapids Lounge on the April 22nd weekend, so look out for them then! Now, to the news, and we'll start today's post off with a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!!
Cheboygan hard rockers The Darwin Project have added another concert onto their local itinerary for next month, as they return to The Savoy Bar & Nightclub on Thursday, April 21st for another night of ripping original music! This (I think) will be their first trip to the Savoy since November, but they have a lot more for us local fans before then, with shows at The Satisfied Frog THIS WEEKEND and a return to The Rapids Lounge next month on the horizon as well! This Savoy show on April 21st will take place at 9:30 PM, there's no announced cover charge, and it should be a 21+ affair. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! It's good to see The Darwin Project ramping up their local bookings, they're a talented band with lots of solid hard rock tunes, and they have a good local following to go with that! Plus, with the recent release of a new CD, things haven't looked better for them then they do now! Remember this show, and the rest of their upcoming dates, and I'll keep you guys posted if updates come in!
Next up, here's the latest updates from Pickford hard rockers Beyond The Surface, who are one of many younger bands in the Sault Michigan area! Yesterday, they announced the addition of guitarist Blake Mastaw, replacing Rhiannan Sibbald in the band. Blake will now be their rhythm guitarist, with Eli Reilly moving to lead guitar full time. Singer Danielle Petingalo is still shown in band photos, but she's still not a credited band member on their Facebook page, oddly enough. No reason was given on the band's Facebook page as to why Rhiannan left, except for saying "Change happens", which is true, but not really an explanation. I imagine this is something they don't wanna publicize, and judging by the responses on there from fans, there is visible disappointment to the move. Best of luck to Rhiannan though! I don't know how Blake sounds on guitar, but he should do OK, as the band are talented! They recently placed at a talent show at Cheboygan (I didn't have enough concrete info to mention it here), and have recently began the process of writing original material, which sounds promising! For more, check out the above links and this video of Beyond The Surface covering Metallica's "For Whom The Bell Tolls" circa January! Not too bad, honestly, hopefully some clearer audio comes out soon!
Thirdly, we'll head back to Ontario for some news, leading off with the latest updates from Woods of Ypres! Firstly, frontman David Gold was interviewed by Jonathan Keane of the metal website Drop-D, and you can check out the full interview at this location! It's a good in-depth interview featuring discussion about the Earache Records signing, their current tour (the Sault's kinda undervalued when mentioned though), the status of "Woods V" (There's a LOT more to do with it than we knew before), what David hopes for the band in the future, and more! Good read, and he's well spoken as always, so give it a look at the above links! As well, there's a few new reviews of "Woods IV: The Green Album" to share, so here's what you should know from there! Tom Valcanis from Metal As Fuck called the album "unreletingly soul destroying", while praising it's doom qualities despite not being an "exciting" CD. Positive review though, click here to read it! One more for today, as Hong Rui from The Heavy Metal Tribune gave "W4" 7.2/10, saying that it may alienate certain doom or black metal fans due to it's genre mixing, but he praised the band's ingenuity and even said this could put "bands like Katatonia to shame", which is quite a statement. Click here to read this review! I have more to share later, so stay tuned over the next few days!
Fourthly, here's some lineup news for a couple of upcoming concerts. Both have hard rock bands, but the new bands aren't metal, so I'm clumping them together. Firstly, a local band named The Night Owl Meme Makers will be the second openers at TONIGHT'S Rebel Spell concert, joining Motion Carried. I have to say, they're not familiar at all, but their sound is certainly unique! Very hard to explain, but they have an accordion and a banjo, so take that for what you will! Check them out at this location, and note that the cover tonight is now just $3 or $2 with a vegan food donation. Remember, that's TONIGHT at 9:00 PM, click here for full details! The other new band addition is actually to Turner Up's shows this weekend, which is unexpected, as we're so used to them rocking out solo! Machines Dream (formerly The Craig West Band) will join Turner Up on Friday and Saturday to open for them at The Rockstar Bar, which should be interesting! In case you don't know, Machines Dream are a very talented progressive rock quartet, and they feature Gates of Winter's Brian Holmes (pictured) as their bassist & keyboardist, so there's some metal notability there! For more details, click here, and head out to one or more of these shows if you can!
And finally, here's some long overdue news on the fate of a prominent local news site. On March 7th, you may have noticed that SooNews.ca's homepage was replaced by a lengthy statement and closure notice. According to the statement, SooNews.ca has officially been succeeded by a new local news site named Local2 (despite being their 3rd news site, LTVNews.com preceding both.) Apparently, SooNews developers Craig Huckerby & Jake Cormier have been working on Local2 for a few years now, and are calling it "the next evolution in local media." The major difference with Local2 compared to SooNews.ca appears to be a greater integration of reader contributions, with a high focus on having the local community contribute to, talk about, and edit the news, even describing it as "Wikipedia, but for local information". You can read the whole press release at this location. I do have to say, Local2's site does have a nice, clean, and easy to navigate design, if a bit plain, and I admire the ambition of it all! I hope it grows to big levels, as it never hurts to have too much local news coverage! No metal articles yet though, but give it time, something should pop up! Check the above links for more, and just for the record, SooNews.ca is no longer active, but the site still exists (sans front page), so click here to navigate all the old features and posts!
That's all for today, but stay tuned around midnight for our latest Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile, as we take a look at Buster Cherry! Oh, and check out our latest Defunct Local Band Profile in the post below this one as well. Stay tuned!
Here's a long post for your Thursday, and our first of two today before we unveil our next special feature post! Today, we'll mostly devote our time to previewing the local metal and hard rock concerts taking place between tonight and Sunday, to go over what you should know for your concertgoing this weekend! I don't know how many of these (if any) I can attend, given that my cold is still hanging on, and I don't want to annoy people with persistent coughing, but time will tell! Remember that the planned all ages show featuring As It Stands and Changing Waves and headlining out of town pop rock bands has been cancelled, so that's why it's not featured below. But before we get to the previews, here's some short notice LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!!
Motion Carried, the new hard rock trio featuring local music scene veterans Justin Langlois, Jamie Whalen, and Rick White, will be playing a short notice concert TOMORROW NIGHT at Foggy Notions! This will be their first "standard" concert following last weekend's gig at The Grand Theater after The Vagina Monologues, and it was only just confirmed on Facebook this morning. No other bands are scheduled for this show, which has a 10:30 PM start time, a 19+ age limit, and no announced cover charge. Motion Carried have no posted audio yet, but if I were a betting man, I'd assume their sound would be similar to a heavier version of The Scary Uncles, but I can't say for certain. There's lots of talent to go around though, and I imagine they'll put in a fun night of music tomorrow! For more details, visit the official Facebook event page, and I'll have more on Motion Carried as it comes in! Remember, this show is TOMORROW at Foggy's!
The other new shows I have today I literally JUST found out about. I was going to alert you guys on Facebook to this finished post, but when I flipped back to Facebook, here they were, new shows, so here's what you should know on them! Sault Michigan hard rockers Splitshot are playing at The Bird TOMORROW NIGHT & SATURDAY NIGHT! The band literally just announced the shows on their Facebook page at 5:24 PM, so their short notice status is exactly that. Both shows have 10:00 PM start times, 21+ age limits, and no cover charges for both of their shows this weekend. Sounds good! Remember, Splitshot is the new band featuring half of the former Nixxon Dixxon lineup, so you know they have sufficient talent! I still haven't heard or seen anything by them yet, but I believe they'll have a set full of classic hard rock and metal covers in store, likely similar to old Nixxon Dixxon setlists. If I hear more on them, I'll let you know, but get a glimpse of Splitshot in action by heading to The Bird tomorrow or Saturday night! Good luck to them, and apologies for the short notice again!
Now to our previews for shows we knew about beforehand, and we'll first head to The Roosevelt Hotel, where they bring you the latest metal night at The Rosie! Three more young local metal bands are back TONIGHT to devastate the crowd, including a band each from the last metal and punk nights there, and one new entry! Tonight's headliners are The Bear Hunters, who opened the last metal night two weeks ago. Look for a hard hitting blend of melodic death metal (and maybe some "Squirrel Buddy") from this fast rising young group! Playing support tonight is Shit Liver, fresh off last week's punk night at The Rosie! Their unique sound that mixes grimy crusty punk and death metal will be sure to turn heads as it always seems to do in concert, so be prepared for them! Opening tonight's show are local hardcore quintet Changing Waves, in their first ever 19+ concert. Despite the cancellation of their Oddfellows Hall show, you can see them rock out tonight at The Rosie, as they continue to make a name for themselves in the local scene! Solid and very talented hardcore band, watch out for them going forward!
Like all past metal nights, this show should have a 19+ age limit, no cover charge, and a 9:30 PM start time. For more details, click here! Sounds good, hopefully I'm feeling up to coming out for this one! Colds suck, I don't recommend catching one. Still, it's gonna rock, so make it out if you can! For a preview, here's The Bear Hunters playing, what else? "Squirrel Buddy"!
Next up, we'll head to Heyden for Tym Morrison's latest solo acoustic concert! With his weekly concert arrangements now taking place bi-weekly at two sort of far off concert spots, you'll likely need to make a bit of a trip to check out his solo shows, but trust me, they're worth the drive! Tomorrow night, Tym returns to The Big Cheese for a night of acoustic solo covers that will be sure to impress, and should help tide fans over while we wait for Caveman Morrison's return! So head on out to The Big Cheese on Highway 17 North tonight around 10:00 PM to enjoy some live music! I believe this is a 19+ show, and there's no announced cover charge. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Sounds like a good concert, and really, what's an unplugged concert gonna hurt? It'll still rock, just go out and see! For a preview, here's Tym covering Eric Clapton's "Tears In Heaven" last year at Foggy Notions!
Now we'll head to The Rockstar Bar for a weekend set from a frequently seen local band! Turner Up are back to deliver some classic hard rock to their fans tomorrow night and Saturday night! A constant presence at many local bars and concert spots, these talented local music veterans will be sure to entertain with their diverse setlist of classic hard rock covers that get heavier as the night progresses! As is standard for a Turner Up concert weekend, they'll be on at 10:30 PM on both nights, you must be 19 to enter, and there's no listed cover charge. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Sounds like a good concert weekend as always, hopefully Turner Up "turn up" the dial and get the crowd going all night long! Check the above links for more details, and for a video preview, here's Turner Up covering Guns N' Roses' "Mr. Brownstone"!
On the subject of bands playing a full weekend, let's head back to The Roosevelt Hotel, where local hard rock trio Browbeat make their long awaited return to the local stage! They'll be at The Rosie tomorrow night and Saturday night in what amount to their first concerts in four months! These will also be their debut shows with new drummer Johnny Belanger, who replaced Rick White behind the drumkit late last year, and add to a busy weekend of three concerts that Johnny's playing at The Rosie this weekend! (He drums for The Bear Hunters tonight as well.) It's been a while for them, but the videos we've seen show promise for their chemistry and overall sound! Get more details at the official Facebook event page, but disregard the lack of a listed Saturday show, they'll be there that night too! It's great to see Browbeat back, especially with the work and effort that Dutch and company have put in to get back on stage, and they should knock it out of the park this weekend! If health permits, I hope to be at The Rosie on Friday night, but time will tell! Check the above links for more, and for a preview, here's Browbeat's current lineup playing their original song "Days Gone By"!
Now to the Saturday night concerts, and there's a pair of high profile shows taking place that night in Sault Ontario, and we'll start at Foggy Notions! That night promises a great mix of punk and metal featuring two hard hitting local bands and an out of town band with a local connection! The headliners are Toronto punk/metal quintet Maximum RNR, who currently feature Sault Ontario native Brenton Ellis (a.k.a. Diamond Brent Panther) on vocals! I believe this is his first local concert appearance since his last local show with Detroit in December 2009, and if you miss Detroit, I bet you you'll like Maximum RNR's sound! I'll elaborate more on Maximum RNR as a whole in TONIGHT'S Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile on them, so stay tuned for that! The opening bands include local horror punk metal band Frightlight and old school hardcore outfit Destroilet, both of which are making their first live concert appearances of the new year! Great to see them back out there, they'll impress with their punk/metal hybrid sounds as well, but believe me, all three bands have their own unique styles! Doors open at 10:00 PM, there is a $3 cover charge, and you must be 19 to attend. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page!
This should be a great high energy concert featuring lots of local talent, and I sense some moshpits and lots of beer will be had! If I'm better by Saturday, I'll definitely be at Foggy's for this show! For a video preview, I couldn't find any decent videos of Maximum RNR live with Brent singing, but if you like short fast paced hardcore punk songs, you'll enjoy them! Check their Reverbnation page out to hear some of their originals and see what you think! The ones without Gymbo Jak on vocals will likely be closer in line to what you should hear on Saturday!
One more Sault Ontario hard rock concert this weekend, and if you love tribute bands and classic metal from the 1980s, then take note of this show! On Saturday night at The Canadian Nightclub, 5150: Tribute To Van Halen will take the stage to lay down some Van Halen classics for the fans who come out! And before anyone asks, they do David Lee Roth AND Sammy Hagar era material, so all bases are covered! Frontman Steve Stanley isn't a dead ringer for either VH frontman, but he pulls off both very well, and that's hopefully good enough! Plus, 5150 features members of some locally familiar tribute bands like Gunz N' FN' Rosez, Destroyer, and Second Coming, so you know they have the chops! This show will have a 10:00 PM start time on Saturday night, I imagine there will be a cover charge of $5 or less, and you must be 19 to attend. For full details, click here! If you're a Van Halen fan, no matter which era, you should definitely head out to The Canadian on Saturday night! You won't be sorry, these guys are good! I imagine the vocals could be a sticking point, but hearing a carbon copy of David or Sammy might compromise the setlist. The whole band is really good, try to check 5150 out this weekend! For a preview, here's a 5150 promotional video featuring clips of many of their live Van Halen renditions!
We'll finish today's extra long preview post across the river, where a couple more shows that I know of are taking place that should interest you heavy music lovers! One will take place in nearby Rudyard, Michigan on Saturday night, as Cheboygan hard rockers The Darwin Project return to the area for a show at Joe's Bar on West Main Street! With no shows in Sault Michigan itself announced until April, you might want to head out to Rudyard tonight just in case. They've been growing in profile in recent months, and I heard they recently released a CD and got some radio press on Real Rock 105.1 (which picks up locally on better radios), so they've gotta be riding high right now! This show has a 10:00 PM start time, no announced cover charge, and a 21+ age limit. For more details, check the official Facebook event page! Their brand of radio hard rock has won them lots of fans, and rightfully so, and you'll be glad you saw them if you make it to Rudyard on Saturday! Check the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's The Darwin Project playing their song "The Dark" in Traverse City last month!
Finally, Sault Michigan metal quartet Hammerspace return to the stage on Saturday night just one week after rocking Zim's! This week though, they'll be at The Merchant's Bar for a night of metal mayhem! Details on this show have been scant, but there are no additional bands, it is 21+, I'd expect a 10:00 PM start time, and there's no announced cover charge. This is their third concert since they re-emerged as a four piece following some short lived runs with a standalone frontman, and I have heard good things about them on the whole as well! They have a good grasp of their progressive metal covers, and they should deliver a good night of music on Saturday! For more details, click the above links and The Merch's event page for this show, and visit their Reverbnation page for some newer instrumental demos of the songs you're likely to hear on Saturday! No videos yet that I know of, but when some pop up, I'll let you guys know!
That's all for now, hopefully you guys can hit some of these shows! Health permitting, I hope to be at some this weekend, but if I can't, I'll send my best regards, and make sure you guys get out this weekend yourselves! Stay tuned TONIGHT for our newest Saultites in Out Of Town Bands Profile on Maximum RNR, and of course, our new poll and my review of "...Bad Things Come In Threes" tomorrow if possible! Thanks everyone!
For the first time since April, a major hard rock concert is hitting The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino TONIGHT, and it will be headlined by Los Angeles hard rock notables Buckcherry! The platinum-selling quintet best known for hits like "Lit Up", "Sorry", "Crazy Bitch", and "All Night Long" were last seen in Sault Michigan in March 2011 with Papa Roach, and they definitely have a known following and some entertaining hard rock songs that fans are bound to recognize, so hopefully they can top the mixed reception from their set last year! Joining them for this show are Tennessee hard rock quartet Fuel, who are likely best known for classics like "Hemorrhage (In My Hands)", "Shimmer", and "Innocent" among their multi-platinum resume! Though only singer Brett Scallions returns from their classic lineups tonight, Fuel's recognizable heavier classics should be welcomed in the Soo, so don't miss their set either! There will be a local opening band, that being the indie rock quartet The London Gentlemen, and though they're not a perfect genre match to the out of town headliners, they're fitting in other ways. Singer/guitarists Steve Sivret & Mike Russo opened for Buckcherry last March in their acoustic band Fallen Heroes, while bandmates Kyle Beaumont & Jake LaLonde have ample experience opening for big name acts at Kewadin Casino with Nixxon Dixxon, so they're well suited to this big opportunity!
Tickets are $35 for this ALL AGES concert, and they are still available as of this writing from the 7th row and back, though note that all of the center section seats are sold out. To pick yours up if you haven't already, click here to purchase them online, or visit the Kewadin box office in person, or call 1-800-KEWADIN! Everything starts at 7:00 PM tomorrow, and for more details, check the above links! It's great to see Allstar Promotions bringing another high quality package of hard rock bands back to The Dreammaker's Theater, and hopefully this show is a huge success to ensure more big shows! One in particular is being announced sooner than you think. I'm not a huge fan of Buckcherry or Fuel, but they have entertaining material and strong fanbases, and as long as Buckcherry can top their set last year, I think everything will come out well tonight! Stay tuned for fallout and news from this show as it comes in this week, but for now, have fun at Kewadin Casino tonight, and for a preview, here's Buckcherry playing "Crazy Bitch" at their show here last year!
Next up, remember on Saturday when I alluded to other MySpace videos from local/Central Algoma death metal quartet For All That Is Lost in our last CASS Cafe video post? Well, here they are, and these are from a full early concert of theirs that you guys can check out! For All That Is Lost's original lineup played a headlining gig at The Hilton Community Hall in Hilton Beach (roughly an hour from here in St. Joseph Island) on June 25th, 2010 (I believe), and each of the 7 songs that they played is on their MySpace page, including their originals "Blood Law", "Graves of the Ancestors", "Viscosity of Blood", their recently less frequent songs "Northern Metal" and "Mask of Divinity", and covers of Lamb of God's "Descending", and surprisingly enough, AC/DC's "Back In Black"! Click each link to see the videos, which were well shot and look surprisingly professional, though the lighting can be dark, and fans do sometimes get in the way. Even at this earlier stage, lineup, and pre-Sault concert stage, F.A.T.I.L. show lots of brutal promise in these videos, and it's disappointing to see them stashed away on MySpace when they could be attracting more notice on other websites. I've embedded their performance of "Northern Metal" below, but check the above links for much more from this early F.A.T.I.L. headlining concert!
