LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Bearded Lounge) & Weekend Concert Previews

It's about time to tackle this weekend's hard rock concert previews, and while it's relatively quiet for announced gigs, the first full weekend of the holiday season is not lacking in scope! To give it proper emphasis closer to showtime, our preview of the returning Toystock charity concert will hit the site either tomorrow or on Saturday. Now, let's start the previews with a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!

Local southern hard rock cover duo The Bearded Lounge will return to Gateway Casino for one night only on SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, this show was only announced via the venue's Facebook page yesterday. Even without the late announcement, this show is a bit of a surprise given that this is Toystock weekend (Bearded Lounge frontman Greg Simpson organizes that event, which returns the next day). Maybe a low stress acoustic show on SATURDAY will be a good lead-in for him and Alex before the craziness at The Grand Gardens North on Sunday, so head to Sault Ontario's casino for all of their unplugged hard rock cover action! Last seen onstage at the same venue last month, this installment of the casino's SATURDAY NIGHT concert series has an 8:00 PM start time, 19+ age limit, and no cover charge. See above for more details, stay tuned for our Toystock preview in the coming days, and here's The Bearded Lounge live!

Next up, let's head to Michigan for two heavier concerts that did get advance notice, starting with Sault Ste. Marie hard rock quartet Rhythm & Brews' apparent debut at Huck's Pub & Grill in nearby Rudyard THIS SATURDAY NIGHT! The band hasn't updated their Facebook page since September, but members' personal Facebook pages have confirmed the date with the help of Photoshop. Saturday's gig at the former Joe's Bar will double as Ladies' Camo Night, not just Ladies Night, so don't forget your camouflage attire before heading out for this one! There are drink specials as well, if that's your thing, and it is worth noting that Huck's will also be screening the Michigan vs. Ohio State NCAA football game on Saturday afternoon. You can enjoy this this talented supergroup on Saturday at 9:00 PM with a 21+ age limit and no cover charge. See above for more details, and no preview videos yet!

Lastly for today's previews (Toystock will be featured closer to Sunday), let's head back to Sault Ste. Marie proper, as Los Angeles glam/comedy metal quartet Steel Panther make their long awaited return to The Dreammakers Theatre at the local Kewadin Casino branch THIS SATURDAY NIGHT! Last seen there almost four years ago, this will be the first stop on Steel Panther's Claws & Paws Holiday Tour running through December 4th. Well known (if not notorious) for their ribald comedy glam metal songs & parodies like "Death To All But Metal" & "Party Like Tomorrow Is the End Of The World", Steel Panther got a great reception from Hair Scare loyalists in 2018, and here's hoping the guys deliver more hilarious but proficient goods on Saturday! Opening the first two dates of the tour are Columbus, Ohio hard rock quintet Harmless Habit (they swap out for The Small Town Titans for the remainder), and their melodic modern hard rock sound should deliver the octane well!

Local hard rock quartet Tarnished will play one of their biggest local concerts as the first band on Saturday, and fresh off of their Wednesday nighter at The Merch, hopefully Alex & crew set this one off on the right foot with their modern and classic hybrid sound! Presented by Allstar Promotions (who also brought Steel Panther here the last time), this 7:00 PM show has tickets running for a flat $29.50 (up $4.50 from 2018) and they are still available from the third row onward! You can get yours at 1-800-KEWADIN, at this link, or at the in person box office. Should be a great show to help kick off the holidays, so visit the above links for more details, and here's Steel Panther at Kewadin last time!

Now, the Steel Panther show is getting a lot of promotion as of late, with two different radio stations interviewing performers on Saturday this week, which we'll address on the site tomorrow (videos are online from both). We'll close today with this short clip of Steel Panther frontman Michael Starr promoting the show, as uploaded to Allstar Promotions' Facebook page on November 12th. There's nothing new to learn here, but it's always cool seeing major touring musicians plug their local date like this, and Michael is sure enthusiastic in this clip, so check it out below!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for a new news post tomorrow, which may or may not have our Toystock preview, pending how long it ends up being, so that may not hit the site until Saturday. In any event, stay tuned!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Peril), A New Album Release, And Much More!!

With the snow coming down pretty hard in the Twin Saults, bundle up with a new news post on this Sunday afternoon! It includes a new short film, assorted recent updates, and a new album release, but leading off, here's LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for the end of the year!

The final heavier concerts of 2022 under the Kewadin Casino umbrella will see Traverse City classic/hard rock cover trio Peril return to The Northern Pines Lounge in St. Ignace on Friday, December 30th and Saturday, December 31st! Three weeks removed from their sister band Scarkazm's E.U.P. finale at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin, these will be Peril's first shows at either Kewadin branch since rocking the The Northern Pines Lounge in September, but unlike then, they did make up a promotional graphic for these new dates, which do remind us that Jeff, Adam, and Brooks will be the entertainment on New Year's Eve. Just good timing that this year, New Year's Eve is a Saturday night, so hopefully Peril's hard rocking covers ring in 2023 on the right note! As usual, these will be 9:00 PM affairs with no cover charges and 21+ age limits. Visit the above links for more on Peril's year-ending shows!

Next up, here's a brand new album release, as Sault Ontario folk punk/extreme metal musician Chase Wigmore put out his delayed new solo album on his Bandcamp page yesterday, but with big changes! For unannounced reasons, Chase changed the album's name from "Is This The End Of..." to the similarly optimistic "We Are All Going To Die", and yes, the new song of the same name is on the album despite being branded to his Awokest project in its original video. Quite the new cover artwork too! The final album has twelve songs, and three of the previously confirmed songs for the album are still present (including "Without You"), though "Spiritual Casualties" is now track #2 rather than #4, and "The End Part Two" now has a subtitle. If "All We Really Have" survived the changes, then it has a new name, but when announcing the album, Chase did admit to cutting 20 songs from the album over the past year, some he worked on for "hundreds of hours".

It sounds like Chase put in a lot of work to get the final product to his satisfaction, perhaps partly explaining the three week release delay, and you can buy "We Are All Going To Die" on Bandcamp for $7 or stream it for free there as well! If you believe his prior promotion, this will allegedly be his penultimate solo album, before "The Chaotic Rite" is finally released next year. With PROV3RB5's debut EP slotted in for a review this month, I am planning to review Chase's new album on the site next month, so look for our last album review of 2022 then, and buy or stream it above!

Also today, here's a belated holiday diversion that I better talk about before it gets really out of season, as local psychedelic hard rock quartet The Uncanny Valley posted a "Halloween short film" onto their YouTube channel on October 31st! I apologize for the three week delay in covering this here, but alas, releasing it on Halloween gave little room to be timely even if I'd seen it before now. The black & white film is too short for me to really outline what goes on without spoiling it (it's under 2 minutes long), but it alternates between a cemetery and one's mental anguish. The band do provide the backing soundtrack, but it's not a standard rock song, rather something more spare and ominous that fits well enough. Interesting idea that reminds me of something that Sault Michigan's The Highest of Fives might have done in their heyday, so give it a watch below!

Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist or venue name:

 

• Recording sessions have wrapped up for local alternative/hard rock quintet Handsome Sandwich's debut album, as per their Facebook page earlier today! Now titled "Deconstructed" rather than "Lettuce" for unannounced reasons, the band posted this picture of them (minus Jesse) with producer Dustin Goodall and Treble Charger's Bill Priddle, noting that the next step is to get the album mixed by musician Jordan Zadorozny, presumably at his studio Skylark Park in Pembroke. The band has the oddly specific date of May 5th, 2023 planned for the album's release, but stay tuned in any event for updates on their first studio outing!
  
• There will be a touring opener at the Steel Panther concert at The Dreammakers Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino on Saturday after all, as Columbus, Ohio hard rock quintet Harmless Habit will open both of the Michigan dates on Steel Panther's Claws & Paws Holiday Tour (The Small Town Titans will open the rest of the dates, ironically including the one in Ohio). Advertising across the board confirms their addition, including the new official tour poster. A rising name in modern hard rock circles, Harmless Habit's melodic but hard edged sound should be a good compliment to Steel Panther and locals Tarnished, so don't bypass them!
• Sault Ontario nightclub and concert venue The New American Pub has reportedly closed its doors permanently, as per their Facebook page on April 28th. A reason for the closure wasn't announced, and though the effects of the pandemic are obviously a possible factor, they did vaguely note to "watch for announcements for bigger (&) better things to come", so who knows what that means. The 602 Bay Street nightclub had become a semi-frequent sight for heavier-leaning concerts in the mid-late 2010s, and was still hosting cover bands on occasion in 2021, so this will be surprising to many, but hopefully The New A's staff is doing well in whatever ventures they're on to nowadays!
   

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