Before we get to this post, I wanted to apologize for a pair of missed concerts, as Sault Michigan hard rock quartet 415E returned to the stage for the first time since New Year's weekend this past Friday and Saturday at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino, shows that completely slipped us by despite being announced last Wednesday on their Facebook page. For what it's worth, Kewadin's entertainment page listed them as Crossroads shows, so they 415E were likely replacing them. There's no excuse on our end for missing the shows, so our sincere apologies to 415E and fans, and we'll try to make sure this doesn't happen again!
Now, here's our long awaited video showcase post from last Thursday's Europe-headlined concert at The Dreammaker's Theatre at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino, as there are now videos from the show on YouTube! Also, yes, there was a meet & greet, as per personal Facebook postings. Wawa author and frequent Kewadin concert attendee Duane Roy is the source of most of the Europe concert videos that we've found, as uploaded to his YouTube channel in the past few days, and his 13 videos include 4 of Europe's set. They include their songs "Cherokee", "Carrie", and John Norum's guitar solo, but embedded below is (of course) "The Final Countdown". Great quality of the whole stage from a far angle, Europe sound very good on these videos, if a little deeper than in their classic era, and the crowd seems to be eating it up! Give Duane's Europe videos a look above and below!
Most of Duane's other videos are of openers The Black Star Riders (a.k.a. the full-time, original recording Thin Lizzy successors), though uniquely, Duane filmed these from what appear to be front row rather than Europe's far angle. I wonder why that is? Duane shot videos of them playing their new originals "The Killer Instinct" & "Finest Hour", Thin Lizzy classics "Jailbreak", "The Boys Are Back In Town", and "Emerald" (in two parts, here & here), their cover of Bob Seger's "Rosalie", and as embedded below, their new original "Charlie I Gotta Go". Though the Thin Lizzy covers are oddly all abbreviated, Duane got more great videos here, and the far closer angle helps us get a great view of The Black Star Riders rocking out and sounding good whether tackling classics or new songs! Give "Charlie I Gotta Go" a look below, and see more above! Before we close with one bonus video from Duane's channel, here's a Black Star Riders video from a separate channel, that being of YouTube user Mark Fluter, whose channel you may remember from 6 videos of Kiss' Sault Ontario concert. Though Mark didn't film any Europe videos, he did get this clip of The B.S.R. playing their original "Kingdom of the Lost" on Thursday, as shot on a vertical cell phone camera angle. I wish the angle was horizontal, as Mark has a nice close visual of the stage with good quality video and audio, but it works well enough, so give this video a look below! Finally for today, here's a short video of Rock 101's Scott Cook (the host of Scott Cook In The Morning and The Hair Scare) emceeing the concert, with Duane again at a different filming angle, this time behind Scott on stage! He must have had some prime access at the show, nice to see! In the video, Scott's hyping up The Black Star Riders for the crowd, which isn't a bad idea, as while they're not Thin Lizzy, they sort of are at the same time. Nice unique angle of something you don't see that often from local shows on YouTube, so check it out below! That's all for now, but stay tuned for more from the Europe concert when/if it comes in, and stay tuned for our review of last night's Shit Liver/Bear Hunters concert next! Thanks everyone!
Before we begin this post, just a heads up that former Foggy Notions owner/bartender Patrick Casey's celebration of life will fittingly take place at Coch's Corner (which moved into the Foggy's building in 2012) next Saturday, May 2nd at 8:00 PM. As per the official Facebook event page, Pat's sister Genevieve Lavoie is asking attendees to wear funny slogan t-shirts like he used to, so keep that in mind! This should be a fitting way to celebrate Pat's life and contributions, so don't miss out next weekend, and hopefully lots of smashlovs are had for the occasion! For reference, an obituary hasn't been publicized yet that we have seen, in case anyone was wondering.
Now, today's post will mostly touch on weekend concert previews, but there's also some assorted updates at post's end, so we'll start with the next major hard rock concert at The Dreammaker's Theatre at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino TONIGHT, as Swedish glam metal legends Europe will make their local concert debut! Best known for classic songs like "The Final Countdown", "Carrie", and "Superstitious", this well regarded quintet are touring in support of their new album "War of Kings", and you know their familiar hits and hard rocking sound should find a big audience TONIGHT at Kewadin Casino! Opening the show are The Black Star Riders, who are more or less the successors to Thin Lizzy, so members of the latter can tour more frequently and record new original songs. They've been making their own waves in recent years with classic hard rock fans, so if you like Thin Lizzy, you shouldn't have anything to worry about! And yes, this is ALL AGES!
The first hard rock show from Allstar Promotions in 18 months (though they promoted the Parmalee-headlined country concert last week), tickets are still available from the third row and back for just $27.50 online at this link, via 1-800-KEWADIN, or at the in-person box office, while call ahead to see if there will be a meet & greet like Parmalee had. For more details, visit the above links! This should be a great concert for Hair Scare listeners and general audiences alike with lots of familiar classics, so don't miss out TONIGHT, stay tuned for fallout, and here's Europe live last year!
Next up, Sault Ontario classic hard rock trio Mourning Wood are expected to continue their weekly jam nights at The Rednecks Saloon TONIGHT! Though the band hasn't plugged week #7 of their regular run at the former Nicolet Tavern yet, look for Terry, Steven, and T.J. to deliver fun and often heavy covers once again, with likely jam night performers joining them on stage to rock out like in past weeks, so if you have music talent, consider coming out TONIGHT to join in! Note that, unless another short notice matinee at The New A awaits, we likely won't see regular shows from Mourning Wood this weekend, as Terry & T.J. will be rocking out at The Rednecks Saloon this weekend with Asylum Country (source here), so keep that in mind if you want some live country music! Tonight's jam night however has a 9:30 PM start time, no announced cover, and a 19+ age limit. For more details, check the above links, and here's Mourning Wood last fall!
(Also, apologies for an error last week, as we cited the above Asylum
Country shows as taking place last weekend, when they were always
planned for this weekend. I must have assumed that they automatically
meant that coming weekend, but their New A show last week was almost
definitely still at 6:00 PM, as all of their shows there have
been. Apologies again!)
Lastly for today's previews, longtime Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison will return to The Harp Bar & Grill TOMORROW NIGHT as his ongoing weekly concert arrangement continues on! A one night only event due to The Harp broadcasting Saturday's UFC PPV once again, this is the second-last date on Tym's website's calendar (nothing after May 1st is listed), but time will tell if more shows are announced in Tym's successful year+ run at the former Madison's Pub. Fans of Tym's diverse and hard hitting repertoire of covers should be right at home no matter what tomorrow, so be sure to keep his latest solo concert in mind, and again, don't come Saturday if you want to see Tym! There's no announced cover charge, you must be 19 to attend, and a 10:00 PM start time is advertised. For more details, visit the Facebook event page, and here's Tym covering Heart live!
Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter items from the last little while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by band or show name:
Local rap/metal quartet The Apocalypse Afterparty (who are curiously now billed from Rothera, Antarctica) revealed on their Facebook page yesterday that they "just finished a meeting with Tidal Records", telling fans to "get ready." Are they signing and/or recording with the local independent label? Stay tuned!
This is more of a clarification than anything, but Rock 101's morning show is now called Scott Cook In The Morning following the departure of longtime co-host Brian Davie, as per recent on-air plugs, though their Facebook page still uses their old name. Listen in weekdays from 6:00-9:00 AM on 101.3 FM for Scott's blend of music, news, and infotainment on the morning drive!
Local blue Chinese metal crash punk quartet Sykotyk Rampage's 49th "album" was quietly released to their Reverbnation page on Valentine's Day! Entitled "W.Y.R.D. Radio" (presumably a resumption or reworking of their cancelled 2014 album), all 20 tracks can now be streamed at the above links, though remember that the band no longer releases paid copies of their albums. Might we hear some of these songs live at the Swampstavaganza next month? Keep an eye out for more!
That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news on the site next, including details on a recently announced Blood Shed house party event ! Thanks everyone!
As another work week comes to a close, we have some more big news for you guys on this cold Friday afternoon, so what's on the docket today? Some assorted recent updates, a new acoustic performance video, previews of a pair of Sault Michigan concerts this weekend, and first, our first major LOCAL CONCERT ALERT at Kewadin Casino for 2015, so here's what you should know!
After a hiatus of over 18 months, Allstar Promotions are bringing major concerts back to The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino, with one being headlined by Swedish glam metal legends Europe on Thursday, April 23rd! Best known for hits like "Rock The Night", "Carrie", and (of course) "The Final Countdown", Europe will be touring in support of their brand new album "War of Kings", and their memorable hard rock sounds should be welcomed to the Soo for the first time(?) in April, and courtesy of their classic lineup too! Support will come via The Black Star Riders, the hard rock band who basically spun-off from Thin Lizzy so they could tour and record full time (not unlike Black Sabbath and Heaven & Hell), and their lineup features 3 Thin Lizzy members plus Megadeth & Ratt alumni. These guys definitely deliver quality classic hard rock, so be sure to come early to see their set!
Note that this show comes one week after Allstar Promotions' official return show, a rare country concert from them headlined by Parmalee and featuring local country openers Hawk Junction. It's odd to see that neither of their new shows are modern hard rock in tone, but they have teased more shows to announce in the coming weeks on their Facebook page. Tickets for the Europe show (which is all ages) are a very respectable $27.50, and go on sale this Monday online, at the in-person box office, or at 1-800-KEWADIN. For more details, visit the above links! It's great to see Allstar Promotions back in the game, and the Europe show should be a hit, so stay tuned for updates!
Next up, here's our only known Sault Michigan-area hard rock concert previews of the weekend, as new local modern hard rock quartet Ten Kings will make their live concert debuts TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT at The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino! Featuring ex-Nixxon Dixxon singer Brandon Carr, ex-Scofflaw bassist Barney Gravelle, and former Bottom Line bandmates Joe Jenkins & Will Storey, this will be the first of two straight weekends at The Rapids Lounge for this promising new band, whose lineup speaks for itself, and it will be extra neat to see Brandon fronting a band again over 4 years after Nixxon Dixxon's breakup! This weekend's shows both have 9:00 PM start times, no announced cover charges, and 21+ age limits. For more details, visit the above links, don't miss the debut of Ten Kings TONIGHT or TOMORROW, and here's the preview video from WK Media!
Also today, here's the long teased episode of Local2 & VM Radio's new acoustic performance webseries Bare that features members of local grunge/alternative trio The Pixo Control (who confirmed on their Facebook page last night that they've signed with Tidal Records!) Uploaded to the official Bare YouTube channel this morning, the video features frontman Michael Mikus and bassist Steve Edwards (drummer Keeghan Rosso's not featured) playing an acoustic version of their song "Land of the Moles", which won't be uncommon if you recall the guys' unplugged sets at Gusto's early last year. Still, this is a strong performance of one of the guys best' known oriigals, and it still retains the grit and grungy qualities of the full band version! Give The Pixo Control's Bare episode a look below, and don't miss them with The Cover Up and Northwest TONIGHT at The Rockstar Bar!
Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter items from the last
while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist or
company name:
Infamous drummer Damon King is looking
for a hard rock guitarist and bassist, though I can't confirm if the
search relates to Infamous, and/or if original guitarist Anthony
Boudreau has left their lineup. If this is for Infamous, time is of
the essence, as the guys are scheduled for the VM Radio Battle of the Bands next month, so if you're interested, message Damon at this link or via his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from yesterday!
The long teased Edmonton, Alberta relaunch of former local concert promotion agency Dismembertainment is now official, as they're promoting Benighted & Bookakee's upcoming concert there
on March 15th at DV8! Still ran by Rich Moreland, you may remember
Dismembertainment for promoting the original Rosie metal nights and
2012's Ypres Metal Fest before Rich moved out west, but it's great to
see him promoting again after almost 3 years!
Former State of Misery
drummer Nick Kainula is looking for a bass player (and maybe a second
guitarist) to join his new local punk project, which apparently already
has a singer and guitarist enlisted. No word yet on extra sound details,
but if you're interested in trying out, message Nick at this link or via his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from Tuesday!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates over the weekend! Thanks everyone!
Most of Duane's other videos are of openers The Black Star Riders (a.k.a. the full-time, original recording Thin Lizzy successors), though uniquely, Duane filmed these from what appear to be front row rather than Europe's far angle. I wonder why that is? Duane shot videos of them playing their new originals "The Killer Instinct" & "Finest Hour", Thin Lizzy classics "Jailbreak", "The Boys Are Back In Town", and "Emerald" (in two parts, here & here), their cover of Bob Seger's "Rosalie", and as embedded below, their new original "Charlie I Gotta Go". Though the Thin Lizzy covers are oddly all abbreviated, Duane got more great videos here, and the far closer angle helps us get a great view of The Black Star Riders rocking out and sounding good whether tackling classics or new songs! Give "Charlie I Gotta Go" a look below, and see more above!
