As promised, here's the second half of this weekend's hard rock concert previews, a busier weekend than normal for this time of year given that St. Patrick's Day falls on a Friday! Again, if you are at all concerned about the incoming winter storm watch as it pertains to tonight's concerts (covered on the SMS or otherwise), inquire with the venues or bands in question. Now, let's look at three shows each on both sides of the border, starting with a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!
Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Tarnished will return to The Merchants Bar for their St. Patrick's Day bash TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the band only announced this show at 8:00 PM tonight via the short video embedded below from their Facebook page, where guitarist Nathan Webber hyped up the booking. Remember, The Merch's Facebook page does not typically promote scheduled bands, which remains true for this week, only hyping up drink specials, t-shirts, and tie-ins with "Merch Madness" (get it, like "March Madness"?). TOMORROW'S concert will be Tarnished's first since playing at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino branch earlier this month, and their first at the 108 West Spruce Street nightclub since another late notice gig there in December. If you want something a little heavier for your St. Patrick's Day revelry, a trip to The Merch TOMORROW NIGHT should do the trick, so don't miss out, despite the late notice!
This has a 9:00 PM start time, 21+ age limit, and no cover charge, and if you can't schedule this one into your plans given the competition over the holiday or from the late notice, remember that Tarnished are among the openers at the Scotty Austin show at The Savoy next week. Get more details on TOMORROW'S show at The Merch above & below!
Next up, let's leapfrog north to Sault Ontario for a one-nighter that did get advance notice, as local classic/hard rock solo musician Tym Morrison will make his debut at Tazzi's Cafe & Restaurant TOMORROW NIGHT! The latest unfamiliar/more intimate venue for Tym to try out in a seemingly neverending list for his acoustic solo act, Tazzi's is located just up the road from Reggie's Place at 478 Queen Street East, and while by no means new to the downtown core, they have been getting into booking (primarily) unplugged musicians on Friday nights in the past year. Tym's old school blend of classic and hard rock covers adapt well to new/unfamiliar locales, and hopefully he finds a solid audience tomorrow at Tazzi's! St. Patrick's Day-wise, the holiday is promoted in the branding, but they did not hint at any promotions or frills therein. Tomorrow's show has an 8:00 PM start time, no cover, and a 19+ age limit.
By rule, this will be the mellowest pound-for-pound hard rock show of St. Patrick's Day in the Twin Saults, but depending on your taste and mood, it may be just what the doctor ordered, so don't bypass Tym's Tazzi's debut tomorrow, and regardless, he should be back at Reggie's nearby in due course. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Tym live in concert late last year!
We'll head back to Michigan next for the earlier starting hard rock band playing both TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT, as Traverse City metal trio Scarkazm will return to The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino this weekend! While oddly not getting a promotional push on the band's end in recent days, these shows have had lots of advance notice and are still advertised for this weekend, including via Facebook event pages linked here & here. Scarkazm were last seen at The Rapids Lounge in early December, and fans of Adam, Dave, and Jeff's hard hitting originals and covers should be raring for more from this veteran trio this weekend! Of course, they have tough competition from Pop Evil elsewhere in the casino tomorrow, but does the St. Patrick's Day allure make up for that? I'd expect some sort of holiday frills, as the casino itself is promoting them, but I haven't heard anything Rapids Lounge-specific.
As usual for Scarkazm's E.U.P. trips (their February triple header aside), tomorrow & Saturday's concerts have 9:00 PM start times, 21+ age limits, and no cover charges. Fans of old school metal would be right at home with Scarkazm tomorrow night, so if you can't/don't want to get to Pop Evil, you have an alternative option on the premises, possibly with green beer to boot! Visit the above links for more details, and here's Scarkazm live!
Finally for known hard rock concerts this weekend is the return of Sault Ontario southern hard rock trio Bone Yard to Jay's Piston Broke Pub for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! After three weeks of cancelled gigs due in part to health reasons and the guys recording in studio, these will be Bone Yard's first shows in almost a month, but they picked a great weekend to come back given St. Patrick's Day! For at least tomorrow's show, expect green beer (of course), unspecified freebies, and the return of Bone Yard's own alcoholic shot and official band t-shirts, though note that some of the advertising is ambiguous as to whether Saturday's show will be similarly seasonal or not. It's great to see the guys (presumably) back to full strength, and hopefully the luck of the Irish is smiling on Bone Yard's southern fried hard and classic rock covers this weekend!
As far as I know, these shows remain 19+ affairs with no cover charge, and you can expect 9:30 PM start times. Visit the above links for much more on Bone Yard's St. Patrick's Day weekend return, and here they are live!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site this weekend! Thanks everyone!
One final post for this February 2023 today, and we're mostly heading to Sault Michigan and area, including via some new videos from two prominent original acts, but leading off, here's some seasonal LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS on both sides of the border next month!
Local blues/hard rock quartet Project 906 will return to nearby Hessel for a St. Patrick's Day concert on Friday, March 17th at The Islander Bar! Fresh off of their trip to Brimley on Saturday, this will be Project 906's first gig at the 134 South Pickford Avenue nightclub since they performed there over Halloween weekend, and the seasonality had drawn them back to Hessel next month, so expect the usual Irish/green-dyed frills for the occasion! Just lucky timing this year that St. Patrick's Day is a Friday, huh? If there are specific promotions linked to the holiday, I haven't heard pray tell of them, but follow the venue and band's social media accounts for more in that regard. As far as I can gather, this show has no cover charge and an 8:00 PM start time, and of course, expect a 21+ age limit. Visit the above links for more on Project 906's St. Patrick's Day show!
Next up, let's head north to Sault Ontario, where local southern hard rock cover trio Bone Yard will return to Jay's Piston Broke Pub for concerts on Friday, March 17th & Saturday, March 18th! These dates were announced via this new Facebook concert calendar image covering the band's dates next month, though the Jay's gigs are the only ones that Bone Yard hadn't already announced on their Facebook page in some form or fashion. Last seen at Jay's earlier this month, the March dates obviously fall on St. Patrick's Day weekend too, and while it's hard to imagine that the former Reggie's West will pass on the opportunity to partake in the Irish-themed festivities and green beer and whatnot, remember that this is the first St. Patrick's Day under Jay's ownership of the Korah Road bar, so we don't know what to fully expect. Regardless, expect these shows to be at 9:30 PM with no cover charge and 19+ age limits. See above for more details!
While we're on the subject, Bone Yard definitely did not play at Reggie's Place this past weekend (Shirley Marie Kominos replaced them), and while they never announced the cancellations or gave a reason for withdrawing, they did share this "Reel" video on their Facebook page on Friday morning (unembeddable externally) revealing that they were working on original music, and that "things are brewing in the Bone Yard camp". You can hear the guys jamming in the clip, but the black & white vertical video doesn't show anyone on camera, primarily just Greg's drumkit. Bone Yard have teased working on originals before without a finite release, but this clip does sound promising, so check it out above!
We'll head back to Sault Michigan and the E.U.P. for the second half of today's post, starting with a new music video from local classical metal band Theatre of Night's YouTube channel! Premiering there as a scheduled upload on Friday, this is for their original and non-seasonal song "The Killing", which was first released back in 2014, and features Italian singer Ida Elena on vocals (remember, before they started touring, they worked with European singers like Ida and Gaby Koss on studio material). I believe the band proper has updated the song for this new posting, which can also be heard on major streaming services, though Ida's guest vocals remain intact. "The Killing" is sung from the perspective of a murder victim, and the accompanying black-and-white music video features an assortment of dark and ominous video clips fitting the lyrics, plus isolated shots of keyboardist Craig Harrison and guitarist Steve Giles performing.
No other band members (let alone Ida) are shown performing on camera that I can tell, but note that both in 2014 and now, the song was always more ethereal in tone and never called for drums. The dark overtones fit the lyrics well, even if it's not "heavy" in a metal sense, and Ida's vocals are a great match, so whether you're hearing this for the first time or again, do check out "The Killing" for yourselves below!
Finally, here's some new videos of St. Ignace metalcore quintet Heavy Lies The Crown's concert in Kalamazoo on Saturday night.... well, of one member! After the show (which saw them open for Sleep Signals at Papa Pete's), drummer Jaxon Massaway uploaded five drumcam videos focusing on him playing "*69", "Knucklebutter", "Time Diffuser Or Something Else", "Choke", and as embedded below, "A Sold Soul (A.S.S.)" (they retitled it with the acronym like that, don't shoot the messenger!) The videos are sometimes positioned too high to really show off Jaxon's playing, but you can see that he is a skilled drummer and that should bode well for their album recording sessions in progress! It would have been nice to see the whole band, but these are primarily to focus on Jaxon, not just a poor angle, so keep that in mind. The brutality on display will please fans, so give these new videos a look/listen below!That's all for today, but stay tuned for much more on the site next month! Thanks everyone!
Let's tackle some more recent news on the SMS on this Monday night, as well as some new videos from recent concerts! The end of the post takes us to Sault Michigan, but we'll start in Sault Ontario with a half album release completing a puzzle from last week, so here's what you should know!
It took almost two weeks from the originally planned release date, but the Crucify The Whore/Molten Imp split album is now 100% on sale on both projects' ends, as Molten Imp posted their half of "Pyrolytic Punishment" to their Bandcamp page yesterday! Alternately considered by the industrial metal solo project to be their first EP if you don't count C.T.W.'s half, Molten Imp have supplied five songs for the cause, though no word on if they brought back buyer-only bonus tracks this time out (for what it's worth, C.T.W.'s ten songs run for about a minute longer than Molten Imp's five). Notably, Boyd dedicated Molten Imp's half of the split to the late Sabra Rajput-Gingras, which is a great gesture! You can buy both halves linked above on "name your price" models, so you can get them for free if you want, but consider paying something to support both bands' work! I'll hold comment until our full CD review, of course
Just as a reminder, this review likely will not hit the site until May, as we're in a new release backlog once again, with precedence going to earlier releases, including a 2022 album from Sykotyk Rampage coming this month, Forever Will Be's debut album next month, and Mike McCleary's new instrumental album planned for April. It's coming though, and it'll be interesting to see how I approach C.T.W.'s half given their musical and thematic nature that resists normal music criticism. Give everything a listen for yourself above, and stay tuned for more from the Blood Shed!
Next up, here's some new live videos of local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck at Jay's Piston Broke Pub this past Saturday night! Despite these being the hyped "80's Party" at the former Reggie's West (I'm unsure if that was the band's idea or the venue's), Soundcheck never plugged it, the Friday nighter, or the Thursday jam night on their Facebook page last week, despite this being their first full weekend with ex-Obsession bassist Jim Michaud as an official band member. As such, it's a good thing that Jay's got the word out, and a staffer filmed two videos of Soundcheck during the 80's party for their Facebook page, so what can you see here? Alas, both videos are under 32 seconds apiece, shot vertically, and filmed at an angle from the bar, but they include Soundcheck covering .38 Special's "Hold On Loosely" with Cameron Oliver on vocals, and as embedded below, Nena's "99 Red Balloons" with Terry Eaton singing.
No word on if "99 Red Balloons" was chosen in reference to the balloon sightings/shoot-downs in the US or if it was already in their setlist, but topical memes involving that song have popped up on social media. These aren't an optimal view of Soundcheck, let alone for Jim's official debut, but both covers sound good, so give them a watch above & below!
Also from this past weekend, local southern hard rock cover trio Bone Yard got two more videos shot at their Saturday nighter at Shooters Downstairs Lounge for their Facebook page! Usually, they only film at one night when they play twice on a given weekend, but maybe this tying in with the final weekend of Bon Soo helped. One was actually uploaded yesterday afternoon, which sees them cover The Rolling Stones' "Miss You", but embedded below is one live-streamed during the show proper, featuring Bone Yard tackling Don Henley's "Dirty Laundry". Again, these are vertically shot, but these are basically full song uploads, and the guys do effectively rock up these classic rock staples with the grit and energy to match! Bone Yard will be at the aforementioned Jay's Piston Broke Pub this weekend, and while I don't know if they'll have anyone film or not, you can get your fix above & below!
We'll close today with big news from recently dormant Sault Michigan hard rock band The Nameless, who have been added as the final openers for the Scotty Austin/Redburn concert
at The Savoy Nightclub on March 23rd, as per the Facebook event page on
Wednesday! This will be The Nameless' second public concert set and
first in almost a year, last seen opening for the also dormant Buddy
Repperton & The Camaros at Three One Three on Ashmun back in April. It's great to see The Nameless back at long last, and hopefully they make a great impression to kick off the proceedings at The Savoy next month! As it turns out, they quietly had a lineup change at some point in the past ten months, as they have parted ways with guitarist Nick Fish for unannounced reasons. Hopefully nothing bad happened and that he resurfaces in a band again down the road, as he wasn't a bad guitarist in videos last year! The Nameless' Facebook page indicates that his replacement on guitar is "Mike E".
Their bio doesn't list members' last names anymore, but I think they're referring to ex-Tantrym Tyme guitarist Mike East, who briefly played in that band with Nameless bassist Michael McLeod in 2015 (Michael's debut show with Tantrym Tyme was actually at the Superior Festival at The Savoy). If I have the right Mike E, then he's a huge get, and it'll be interesting to see if The Nameless have a bigger and busier second year together! See above for more updates from The Nameless, and stay tuned for more news and notes on the site this week! Thanks everyone!
Before we begin this weekend's concert previews, just a heads up that local classic/hard rock cover quartet Obsession are not playing at The Esquire Club this weekend, despite announcing last month that the planned gigs there tomorrow and Saturday night were to be their last before breaking up. A reason for the cancellation of the dates has not been announced, but their website has been replaced by plain text by bassist/founder Jim Michaud noting that "the Obsession band has retired effective immediately" without addressing this weekend's concerts, and there was no follow-up as to their status on Facebook after his press release a month ago. Jim has since joined Soundcheck and will debut with them this weekend (more on those dates below), but whether they are a factor in the cancellation or not, I can't say with certainty. Obsession had announced their impending dissolution after an 18 year run last month when guitarist Gabe Tessaro opted to retire from live bands.
As for The Esquire Club, they have quietly confirmed that local country singer Brendan Hodgson will be playing tomorrow & Saturday night instead, as per their Facebook page. I assume it's safe to say now that, had Obsession played their farewell gigs this weekend, that they would have welcomed back multiple past band members in guest slots, which would have been neat, but it wasn't meant to be. Obsession were talented staples of the weekend cover circuit locally and they will be missed, so best of luck to Jess, Gabe, Jim, Steve, and their former members in the future! Now, here's what you should know for still-on hard rock shows over the next two days, starting with SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!
Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to Jay's Piston Broke Pub for traditional concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the venue only announced SATURDAY's show on their Facebook page on Sunday, and while the band has not publically confirmed these dates on their Facebook page at press time, drummer Glen Thomas confirmed that they're playing TOMORROW as well on his personal Facebook page. Thursday jam nights excepted (yes, they're back for that tonight also), these will be Soundcheck's first standard concerts at the former Reggie's West in just over a month, and the partial promotion on Jay's end is because SATURDAY NIGHT's concert is themed as a "classic 80's party", so expect a decade-heavy set of covers from Soundcheck on night #2! If you want to hear more of an array of eras, come TOMORROW NIGHT instead, but Soundcheck's talents are a given regardless!
As alluded to above, these shows will mark new bassist Jim Michaud's first formal gigs as a full Soundcheck member, following the cancellation of Obsession's planned farewell gigs this weekend, so be sure to welcome him with open arms, and/or come to Jay's for a similar musical fix in the west end if you were banking on seeing Obsession this weekend! TOMORROW & SATURDAY's shows are 9:00 PM events with no cover charges and 19+ age limits. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Soundcheck live!
Next up, we'll head south to the Eastern Upper Peninsula, as Sault Michigan blues/hard rock quartet Project 906 will return to Cedarville TOMORROW NIGHT for a one-nighter at Snows Bar & Grill! Again, apologies for the short notice, the band only announced this show via their Facebook event page on Wednesday, but the venue first announced it on January 31st. In an SMS context, readers will best know Snows as the host venue for a handful of Tarnished shows last year, and Project 906 played elsewhere in Cedarville last fall, but TOMORROW'S show will be part of this year's Les Cheneaux Islands Snowsfest Pub Shuffle taking place at nightclubs in Cedarville and Hessel this weekend! If you're in the area, click here to read the full program, but it doesn't detail who's playing where. Like last year, Snows is bringing in the hard rock for this year's Pub Shuffle (Tarnished performed there in 2022), and I believe this is Project 906's debut at Snows, so keep TOMORROW'S festivities in mind!
A one nighter due to or resulting in The Mark Bowen Band playing there on Saturday, expect voting for various superlatives among competing pubs in the shuffle this weekend, along with the expected solid tunes from Project 906 TOMORROW! The concert itself is a 21+ affair with no cover charge and an 8:00 PM start time, and I don't believe a Snowsfest button is required for entry given the locale (for Sault Ontario readers, this is Bon Soo-esque), but Snows has been selling them. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Project 906 live in their most recent gig!
We'll close back in Sault Ontario with shows that were previously announced by the band in question, as local southern hard rock cover trio Bone Yard will return to Shooters Downstairs Lounge for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! After taking last weekend off, this weekend's gigs will be their third and fourth of 2023, and their first shows at the Dennis Street nightclub in over three months. Not only will Bone Yard's brand of southern fried classic & hard rock covers be coming in hot as usual, but the guys have confirmed that more official t-shirts will be on sale tomorrow & Saturday night, including limited XXL sizes, so bring cash for those if you are so inclined! Tomorrow and Saturday's concerts are otherwise standard for Bone Yard at Shooters, including 9:00 PM start times, no cover charges, and 19+ age limits. Visit the official Facebook event pages linked here & here for more details, and here's Bone Yard live!
That's all for today, but look for our Tym Morrison preview and this month's Defunct Local Band Profile shortly! Thanks everyone!
A quiet concert weekend is upon us in the Sault area for fans of hard rock concerts, so we have some assorted recent updates to fill out the back half of today's post. Now, here's what you should know for this weekend's heavier concerts, all previously announced!
We'll start at Jay's Piston Broke Pub, where local southern hard rock cover trio Bone Yard will play their first shows of the year TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! After taking a month+ break, the guys will return to the site of their 2022 finale weekend for what should be a fine double header of hard rocking covers, and not only that, but Bone Yard will have official band t-shirts on sale this weekend! $25 apiece on a limited run, first come first serve basis, and you can preview the artwork on both sides of the shirts in this this "Reel" and the shirts proper in this "Reel". Hopefully Greg, Alex, and Warren deliver the rock at the former Reggie's West and open their 2023 calendar on a high note! Expect 9:30 PM start times, 19+ age limits, and no cover charges both nights. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Bone Yard live last year!
Next up, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to Shooters Downstairs Lounge for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Fresh off of their Esquire Club gigs last week (Thursday jam nights at Jay's acknowledged), this weekend's shows will see Soundcheck back at the site of their New Year's Eve gig, so fans can expect another pair of hard hitting classic-filled nights from Soundcheck at this Dennis Street mainstay! As far as I can gather, bassist Paul Belair (if not his usual fill-in Rob Gilmar) will be back after missing their last two non-jam night concerts. Fans can expect 8:00 PM start times, no cover charges, and 19+ age limits tomorrow and Saturday night at Shooters as usual. Alas, the band hasn't plugged these shows on their Facebook page at press time, but visit the venue's Facebook event pages linked here & here for more details, and here's Soundcheck live at Shooters last year!
Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist name:
I can't embed Facebook "reels" externally, but local alt-punk trio A Dire Setback posted on on their Facebook page on October 19th, which features frontman Chris Nielsen (I think) showing off a sample instrumental clip from early recording sessions for their second studio album! He had been working on it "for the past couple hours or so", but it sounds promising already, and just needs vocals! I still don't like "reels" for how restrictive they are, but this at least has some substance to it, so check it out at this link!
Short & Sweet frontman Cory Murchison has posted two new audio performances on his YouTube channel, both as set to extremely personal videos set around or in tribute to his family, which gives me pause to embed them here, much like his old video for "Love's Countryside". The new songs are covers of Shinedown's "A Symptom Of Being Human" and an original named "Guide Me Home",
and both show solid vocals and emotion from the ex-Sense of Truth
frontman! They just come off as too personal to embed here, but give
them a look/listen above if you're so inclined.
I forgot to cover this on the SMS last year, but Handsome Sandwich drummer Johnny Belanger portrayed Buddy Hobbs (a.k.a. Buddy the elf) in the West End Theatre Project's live production of the Elf musical at the Sault Community Theatre Centre! Johnny's band work was referenced in this Sault Star article by Brian Kelly about the musical. I heard nothing but good things about Johnny's performance last month, and the experience seems to have been positive, so click here to check out Shaw TV's preview video of the show!
St. Ignace, Michigan metalcore band Heavy Lies The Crown's first concert of 2023 has been announced, albeit not a local one, as they'll be heading to Kalamazoo on Saturday, February 25th as one of four bands opening for Oregon metal band Sleep Signals at Papa Pete's. A 5+ hour drive south won't appeal to many local readers, but hopefully H.L.T.C. make lots of fans on the road next month!
In his first Facebook update in three months, Sault Ontario hard rock musician Mike McCleary revealed two weeks ago that "progress has been slow" since his hard drive crashed that contained his instrumental album-in-progress "Fallout From Midnight Tides", but he acknowledged that his unplanned break has helped keep him "as energetic and enthusiastic about the music as I was before". He assured fans that "things are back on track", if "slowly but surely", and he vaguely hinted that "there may or may not have been a few ideas during the downtime". Stay tuned for more from Mike when we hear it!
This came out too late for me to include it in last week's concert previews, but local funk/hard rock band The Wyld Stallyns' shows at Shooters Downstairs Lounge last week were their first ever stab at a "no repeat weekend", as per band members' promotion of the shows on personal Facebook accounts. In other words, they aimed to have entirely different setlists on Friday and Saturday with no song repeated at any point, not unlike radio stations' "No Repeat Workday" playlists or Metallica's no repeat weekend shows next year. I hope the concerts were hits!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site soon! Thanks everyone!
Let's look at some new videos on this Tuesday night, conveniently all from covers-centric local hard rock bands who frequently play at area nightclubs! We'll start with local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck, who were filmed for two videos at their Esquire Club show on Saturday night, both as uploaded to drummer Glen Thomas' YouTube channel. The videos feature Soundcheck & fill-in bassist Jim Michaud (of Obsession fame) covering Loverboy's "Working For The Weekend" with guitarist Terry Eaton on lead vocals, but embedded below is the longer video of them covering Kenny Loggins' "Footloose" with Cameron Oliver singing. Both videos are taken from slightly different stationary angles at the same table to the stage's left/band's right, which isn't ideal to look at the band, with only Jim reliably visible due to dancing attendees on the floor. Of course, it's nice seeing them have fun, that's the most important part of all!
Soundcheck and Jim handle both of these classic rock staples just fine as you'd expect, and Jim fits right in on bass, which is not surprising given that Obsession are not far away musically! Some may be surprised by how countrified "Footloose" sounds with Cameron singing, but remember that he does play country-centric solo gigs. Check these out above & below!
Next up, local southern hard rock quintet Fort Creek got a surprising number of videos from their shows at Jay's Piston Broke Pub this past weekend! One was actually shared on the venue's Facebook page from Soo Greyhounds radio play-by-play announcer Gerry Liscumb Jr.'s personal Facebook page, which sees the guys covering Phil Collins' "In The Air Tonight". It's a 45 second clip that focuses primarily on Justin & Bones, so it's not as substantial as other videos from the gigs, but it sounds good while it lasts! Three longer videos were uploaded directly on the band's Facebook page, with Tanya Maitland filming them twice, including a stripped down cover of Journey's "Faithfully" sans Shane & Tony, and a full band cover of Judas Priest's "Living After Midnight". Both get a good angle of the stage, and the guys sound strong in their debut weekend for 2023, with Justin showing off his vocals nicely on "Faithfully" in particular!
Embedded below is the longest video uploaded by the band, as shot by attendee Katina King, which sees the guys covering Kenny Wayne Shepherd's "Blue On Black". The hazier lighting aside, she got some nice footage of Fort Creek in action, and they handle that 1990s blues rock staple as well as you'd expect! If you believe Facebook comment replies, Fort Creek are already "on a short break", but hopefully they're back in action soon, and give their new videos a watch above & below!
Meanwhile, Sault Michigan blues/hard rock quartet Project 906 were also filmed when they played at The Strongs Tavern in nearby Eckerman this past Saturday night, with an attendee getting this video of them covering Ted Nugent's "Stranglehold" for their Facebook page! Unfortunately, this video was shot vertically, but the cover comes off well, and this is a good pick for guitarist Joe Jenkins to show his skills off in particular, even getting up close to fans during the solo. Check this one out for yourselves below, and stay tuned for more from Project 906!
Finally for today, here's a new old video of defunct local classic/hard rock cover band That's Chester, courtesy of drummer Ric Datson's YouTube channel on Sunday! His first upload there in well over two years, I believe this was filmed at a private wedding gig that they played in Elliot Lake in August 2014, and it sees That's Chester covering AC/DC's "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" as their closing song. The upload isn't so much for the song, which sounds good from this talented quintet with ample experience, but because a wedding attendee actually got on stage & started playing the bongos (apparently ones he brought to the event), which Ric pointed out with a post-production arrow and some captions. While Ric does note the guy's lack of rhythm, That's Chester seemed to take their impromptu guest in stride, with singer Greg Simpson joining him in hitting the bongos at one point, and shaking his hand-post set.
I'm surprised it took almost nine years for this video to make it online, as it delivers the musical and humour goods, and it is nice to see That's Chester's full final lineup in action once again, so give this one a look below!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates on the site in the days ahead! Thanks everyone!
We're rebounding nicely for hard rock concerts in the Twin Saults after last weekend's very quiet slate (only Soundcheck played, and they didn't even plug them in advance online), and with too many shows for one normal length post, I'm breaking them up into two posts. As such, look for our preview of Project 906's show in Eckerman, Michigan in tomorrow's post, perhaps with late notice gigs if anything turns up, but let's start in Sault Ontario today with SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!
Local southern hard rock quintet Fort Creek will play their first shows of 2023 when they return to Jay's Piston Broke Pub TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, these shows were only announced via the band's Facebook page on Friday. After taking a three week break, these will be Fort Creek's first shows at the former Reggie's West in over two months, having played their first shows at Jay's under the new name/ownership over Remembrance Day weekend. While TOMORROW & SATURDAY'S shows appear to be standard affairs compared to their higher profile December gigs, the winner of their recent charity bass raffle will recieve their prize on SATURDAY NIGHT, so keep that in mind. You can enjoy Fort Creek's hard rocking covers and select originals both nights at 9:30 PM with no cover charge and 19+ age limits, but no word on a merchandise giveaway.
It's good to see Fort Creek back in full force to kick off what should be a good year from their camp, and hopefully Jay's is rocking TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT, especially if the snow lets up! Visit the above links for more details, and here's Fort Creek live!
Next up, here's shows that had more than a week's notice, starting with local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck's return to The Esquire Club for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! First announced by the venue earlier this month, these will be Soundcheck's first dates at the Second Line West nightclub since playing there in early November, but there will be a different (if familiar) face on bass, according to the official Facebook event page (at least Soundcheck have one for these shows, unlike last week!). With Paul Belair and frequent fill-in bassist Rob Gilmar both unavailable for unannounced reasons, Soundcheck have enlisted Obsession's Jim Michaud for the weekend, a great choice given the two bands' similar styles and Jim's high familiarity with The Esquire Club (where Obsession will end their active run next month). Hopefully Jim fits in smoothly with Soundcheck across both nights!
Tomorrow & Saturday's concerts have similar ground rules to Fort Creek at Jay's, including 19+ age limits, 9:30 PM start times, and no cover charges. West end fans of classic and hard rock covers have two very solid options for live music this weekend, so keep both bands in mind for your venue occupying needs, visit the above links for more details, and here's Soundcheck live in concert last year!
Also this weekend in Sault Ontario, local funk/hard rock cover sextet The Wyld Stallyns will return to Shooters Downstairs Lounge for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT themselves! Their first shows of 2023 following their Outspoken Brewing cancellation earlier this month and their well recieved year-ending set at the My Son The Hurricane concert on New Years Eve, fans will have last seen The Stallyns at the Dennis Street venue back in September. Hopefully tomorrow & Saturday night's festivities prove eventful for Christina, Rob, Jesse, Alex, Derek, and Josh, with a solid crowd and lots of good times both nights! You can enjoy their diverse but often heavy range of covers tomorrow & Saturday at 8:00 PM with 19+ age limits and no cover charges. Visit the official Facebook event pages linked here and here for more details, and here's The Wyld Stallyns live!
We'll close today's previews by heading south to Sault Michigan, where Traverse City classic metal trio Peril will play their own first shows of 2023 (not just here, but anywhere) when they return to The Rapids Lounge at the local Kewadin Casino TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Peril have long been good to the E.U.P. for concerts at regional Kewadin branches, having just rocked the St. Ignace Kewadin over New Year's weekend, but fans in the Soo have been waiting since August for Jeff, Adam, and Brooks to return. Should be a good time, especially if you're familiar with their hard hitting cover range, so old school hard rock fans won't want to miss Peril if they have the chance! Tomorrow and Saturday's shows are 21+ affairs with no cover charges and 9:00 PM start times. For more details, visit the above links, and for a preview, here's Peril live!That's all for today, but stay tuned for our Project 906 preview and more on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!
Two topic post on the SMS tonight, as we have lots of LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS to look at, including a bigger E.U.P. show for the spring, but let's start with lots of new dates from a familiar local weekend staple!
Local southern hard rock cover trio Bone Yard have announced their first 2023 concert dates via this concert calendar on their Facebook page earlier today, ending their month+ break in the process! As you can see, four of the first six dates will come at Jay's Piston Broke Pub, which was the site of their last dates of 2022 as well, so if you're itching for some hard rocking classics from Greg, Alex, and Warren, head to the former Rosie on January 27th & 28th, and then on February 17th & 18th! The guys will also return to Shooters Downstairs Lounge for concert weekends on February 10th & 11th and then on March 10th & 11th, with next month's gigs being their first at the Dennis Street venue in over three months. The local dates wrap up with stops at Reggie's Place on Queen Street on February 24th & 25th, their first appearances at that downtown staple since early December.
As for the March 3rd & 4th dates, those will see Bone Yard make a rare road trip to Sudbury to play at The Coulson Entertainment Center, which last came up on the SMS when Soundcheck hit the road for gigs there in September. It's always neat seeing local bands make the four hour trek east for gigs in Sudbury, and hopefully Bone Yard make lots of new Boneheads in March! No word on if Bone Yard's gap weekend of February 3rd & 4th is currently open, an intended break, or if their sister band The Bearded Lounge are playing somewhere else that weekend, so stay tuned if we hear of bookings then. As for the ten new local dates, all are 19+ affairs with no announced cover charges, and the start times are 8:00 PM at Shooters, 9:00 PM at Reggie's, and 9:30 PM at Jay's. Visit the above links for more details on these new shows, and stay tuned for more from Bone Yard when it rolls in!
Next up, here's a post-pandemic rarity for Sault Michigan: Touring hard rock acts coming to the area, but not to Kewadin Casino, as former Saving Abel frontman Scotty Austin will return to town for a headlining concert at The Savoy Nightclub on Thursday, March 23rd! Now, Scotty is not the singer who fronted Saving Abel on radio hits like "Addicted" and "The Sex Is Good", but he was their lead singer for their last three local dates, including Muddfest in 2019, so if you've frequented modern hard rock and post grunge shows in the Soo, he won't be an unknown commodity. Scotty left Saving Abel in 2021 to pursue a solo career, and will be touring the US extensively this year as part of his King of Rock Tour, so it'll be good to see him back at the site of 2015's Superior Festival that he and Saving Abel headlined! Also neat seeing The Savoy hosting bands again, I can't think of anything major there in years.
Saginaw rap rock band Redburn will make their long awaited return to the Soo as co-headliners, having last played here when they opened for two separate hard rock shows at The Dreammakers Theater in 2015, Saving Abel among them. Nu-metal fans should be excited to see Redburn back in the area in two months! Female fronted New Munster, Wisconsin hard rock quartet The Almas will make their local debut on this bill as well, and their up-tempo, direct brand of originals should be a welcome addition on March 23rd, while local hard rock quartet Tarnished will set the tone in their Savoy debut, and you know they'll bring their A-game for this one! "N More" are also credited on the Facebook event page, so if additional acts are added to the event, we'll let you know. Presented by Blowout Biker Promotions, this 21+ event has an 8:00 PM start time, and tickets will run for $15 if you believe Tarnished's Facebook page (no word on a hike at the door).
If 2015's Superior Festival is anything to go by, tickets should be on sale at The Savoy at 117 West Portage Avenue, and perhaps through Tarnished, but there have not been firm statements about ticket availability at press time (though this show will be cheaper than the Superior Festival was). Mid-range hard rock events with touring acts not at Kewadin are a rarity in Sault Michigan, so take advantage of this one if you want more like this to stop there, and many hard rock tastes should find something to like between Scotty and the opening bands! Visit the official Facebook event page for continuing details, and stay tuned for more news and notes on the site as the week continues! Thanks everyone!
The first concert weekend of 2023 is upon us, and while things are predictably quieter than last weekend, hard rock fans still have a couple of options! This post includes LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, some on SHORT NOTICE, plus some new videos, a cancellation, and an apology for a missed event last week, so here's what you should know!
Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will play their first concerts of 2023 (Thursday jam night duties excepted) when they return to Jay's Piston Broke Pub for headlining gigs TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, these dates were only announced via the venue's Facebook page on Tuesday. While we're on the subject, Soundcheck will also return to The Esquire Club for newly advertised concerts on January 20th & 21st and then on February 24th & 25th, all as confirmed via the venue's Facebook page's poster advertising bands playing in the first quarter of 2023. It's great to see Soundcheck (no space) kicking off the year on a busy note, and it'll be interesting to see where else and how often we'll see them in a traditional concert setting! TOMORROW & SATURDAY's shows at the former Reggie's West have 8:00 PM start times, and the Esquire Club dates begin at 9:30 PM.
All six of these gigs have 19+ age limits and no cover charges. West end fans will have lots of chances ahead to take in Soundcheck's old school and heavier rock covers (and some country) in the next two months, including TOMORROW & SATURDAY at Jay's, so see above for more details on them all, and for a preview of this weekend's gigs, here's Soundcheck live!
Next up, let's add the next expected date from local funk/hard rock band The Wyld Stallyns at Outspoken Brewing as part of their "first Friday of every month" arrangement there, which comes on Friday, February 3rd! Adding this to our calendar comes in the wake of learning that their planned Outspoken Brewing show tomorrow night is not
taking place. According to the venue's Facebook
page on Tuesday, they reasoned that "we figured everyone still needed to recoup
from New Year's Eve", though note that the announcement was included in details on reduced hours this month. If Outspoken are rescheduling The Stallyns for later this month, they haven't firmly said yet, stay tuned to their page if you are at all curious. Hopefully things resume on schedule for the monthly Friday series next month! Shows at Outspoken Brewing's on-site Taproom generally have 6:00 PM evening start times, 19+ age limits, and no cover charges.
This six-piece fan favourite band should have more fun cover action in store for fans at the Queen Street East nightclub/brewery on the first Fridays of months ahead (Good Friday in April acknowledged), so visit the above links for more on The Wyld Stallyns and/or Outspoken Brewing!
Let's head back to this weekend's still-on concert previews now for local classic/hard rock cover quartet Obsession's first shows of 2023, as they'll return to The Esquire Club themselves TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Unlike many of their weekend nightclub cover cohorts in town, Obsession announced a year's worth of gigs at The Esquire Club and Shooters on their website last year, so we already knew about this weekend's shows, with Jess, Gabe, Jim, and Steve scheduled to play at the Second Line West venue one weekend a month for the first half of 2023. Three weeks removed from their last shows, also at The Esquire Club, hopefully Obsession deliver the classic hard rock goods for fans once again tomorrow & Saturday! Like with Soundcheck later this month, these are 19+ events with no cover charge and 9:30 PM start times. Visit the above links for more details!
For a preview, here's a new video of Obsession live at The Esquire Club last month covering Neil Young's "Keep On Rocking In The Free World", as posted to their Facebook page last week! This isn't an ideal preview of Obsession proper both from the 30 second runtime only really capturing the repetitive chorus, and the fans on the floor largely obscuring the band, but it sounds good while it lasts, and everyone's clearly having fun dancing to the music, which is always welcome to see. Check it out below, and don't miss Obsession back there this weekend!
Finally, I wanted to belatedly apologize for missing a concert for coverage on the SMS on New Year's weekend, as Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Tarnished returned to The Islander Bar in Hessel this past Saturday for their New Year's Eve party! I profusely apologize for not covering it on the site proper, but the band only announced the show on their Facebook pagethat same day (The Islander Bar's Facebook page first plugged it early last week, but their announcement slipped me by at the time). I was able to get the word out about this one via our Facebook page, as December 31st was devoted to our year-in-review post, but again, I apologize for not getting on the site proper, I would have had I known about it even the day beforehand! Usually, I start posts with such apologies, but I put this one at the end because there's more to say than just acknowledging the missed show, as Tarnished put up a video to promote it!
While they waited until that afternoon to plug it themselves, Tarnished at least went all out to make a final push, with Alex (I think) putting guitarist Nathan Webber on the spot mid-practice to answer some big questions about the show. Fun and energetic little clip that does have some solid guitarwork in the background, so check it out below, and apologies again! I hope Tarnished impressed fans and revelers alike to send out 2022!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site in the coming days! Thanks everyone!
Before we get into today's post, I wanted to apologize for a missed concert to preview on here, as local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck actually played at Jay's Piston Broke Publast night. This one-nighter was only announced on Jay's Facebook page on Thursday, and the band has not posted on their Facebook page in three weeks. With the local concert calendar being very quiet given that today (Christmas Eve) is a Saturday, I frankly wasn't expecting any heavier bands to announce shows this weekend, but hopefully there was a decent turnout at the former Rosie last night, and I'd have covered this show had I heard about it prior!
Today's post is mostly video related, including two seasonal offerings as we near Christmas, but we'll start with a charitable update for an upcoming post-Christmas concert, namely the Northwest/Gambit show at LopLops Lounge on Wednesday! Our proper preview of that show will hit the site early next week, but on the 15th, the headlining indie/punk quintet announced that they would be holding a charity drive for St. Vincent's Place that night. If you bring non-perishable food items or hygiene products with you, you'll basically save $5 on admission (the ticket price is otherwise $20), so you'll either get in for $15 or you'll get $5 back if you bought yours in advance. In response, LopLops will match all donations by giving $5 apiece to St. Vincent's Place. Wonderful idea, and especially at a screwy time of year for many, so hopefully lots of money and food is raised for the needy at St. Vincent's Place on Wednesday night!
The charity drive is also addressed in this new SooToday article by Chris Belsito yesterday, which also looks at The Northwest's busy 2022, from high profile live dates to their EP release to their airplay on radio and during televised NHL games over these past 12 months. Frontman Wayne Watkins is quoted in the article, where he praises the grants that the band has received from the Ontario Arts Council, as well as the assistance that they have received from Cultural Industries Ontario North towards mentorship and networking in the Canadian music scene. Wayne teased that The Northwest already has "voice memo demos" for what they hope will be a full length studio album next, before closing by plugging Wednesday's concert. Strong promotion that points to what should be a big year for The Northwest, so click here or above to give it a read!
To cap off the Northwest portion of today's post, they did post a few new videos onto their Facebook page (mostly text-heavy "Reels" to promote the concert/food drive), but the only actual video (uploaded on Wednesday) features Wayne and guitarist Greg Callaghan plugging the show while also wearing ugly Christmas sweaters. Fellow guitarist Mike Yakasovich is also present, but says nothing, which isn't anything new if you recall prior speech-heavy Northwest videos. Good and light promotion for the festivities on Wednesday, so check it out below, and see more recent updates and content from The Northwest above!
Finally for today, here's one more video to watch by the fire... as it literally has one! As you may recall, Sault Michigan classical metal band Theatre of Night released their new/revised Christmas album "Dreams of Winter" on December 2nd, and it has made its way to YouTube for free streaming twice. Once is via the automated YouTube channel hosting select studio material for YouTube Music, but the other is in one batch video on their official YouTube channel as set to a 56 minute video of a yule log on the fire! All 14 of the new/re-recorded songs are present in order as seen on the album (and timestamped in the description), so this will surely be the most metal yule log video you'll watch this year, at least as far as local bands go! Looping it to run longer aside, the only thing I'd have changed would be to make the video in full widescreen, as having it in square Instagram dimensions seems counter-productive. Check it out below!That's all for today, but I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas, and I'll catch you back on the site on Monday or Tuesday! Thanks everyone!
