Before we begin this weekend's concert previews, just a heads up on a pair of cancelled concerts for this weekend. Firstly, local funk/hard rock cover band The Wyld Stallyns are not playing at Shooters Downstairs Lounge tomorrow, and have been replaced by local country cover band Tex Riviera & The Ride, as per updates to the Facebook event page (it wasn't deleted, it was just completely rebranded for a different group). A reason for The Stallyns' withdrawal was not announced, but hopefully nothing too serious happened, and that we see this talented sextet back soon! As well, the Just Leppard/Saturday Night Special concert at Soo Blaster on Saturday was also quietly cancelled, as per the Facebook event page & the deletion of its EventBrite page. As I recall, "unforeseen circumstances" were cited for the cancellation on the (now deleted) paid Facebook advertising. Shame to see, as Just Leppard went over well in prior local gigs!
Hopefully we'll get our Def Leppard and Lynyrd Skynyrd tribute fix again down the line, but alas, these cancellations wipe out most of this weekend's known hard rock concerts (November is always quiet after Halloween, but not this quiet, pandemic years aside!) Of course, we'll let you know if anything short notice or bypassed comes up.
This is a light concert weekend to be sure, so before getting too far ahead, I wanted to offer my profuse apologies for a concert that we missed covering on the SMS this past Saturday, at The Satisfied Frog in Sault Michigan, a venue that we haven't talked about in ages on here! I was told about it in e-mails by musicians affiliated with the concert, but between the busy Halloween season and personal commitments, it completely slipped through the cracks and I apologize again for that, especially as it was a rare multi-band show with touring acts in Sault Ste. Marie proper! The show featured sets from Grand Rapids/Muskegon hardcore punk band Cell Rush, Grand Rapids experimental/synth solo project Dick Texas, Escanaba indie/minimalist band The Hell Town Trio, Muskegon alt-punk band Ledhead, and a surprise reunion of online page-less local hard rock band The Karstens.
The show was promoted under the name Serious Business, with poster design credited to Lucid Pixels. Once again, I profusely apologize for not covering this show on the SMS, it's certainly not every day when touring bands (plural) play at a local concert, let alone one not affiliated with Kewadin Casino, but hopefully it was a hit and encourages more smaller touring bands to come to Sault Michigan, let alone play at The Satisfied Frog! It still surprises me that they don't really have a social media presence. If The Karstens, Serious Business, or The Satisfied Frog have more public material to announce, I hope to address it on time!
Now let's dive into known and publically advertised hard rock concerts in the Soo area this weekend.... all two of them, as new local classic/hard rock quintet HeadFirst will play their first ever public concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT at Reggie's Place! The new group from ex-Raincourt guitarist Raine Rancourt and ex-Them drummer Anthony Boudreau, HeadFirst will bring their retro inspired brand of rock covers to this downtown staple this weekend, and it will be very interesting to see how things go for this group of talented rising musicians! If you can't make it this weekend, HeadFirst's third announced public gig will be at Toystock on November 26th. These two concerts have 19+ age limits, no cover charges, and 9:00 PM start times. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and for a preview, here's HeadFirst's ...first video of them in action!
That's surprisingly it for verifiable hard rock concerts currently advertised in the Twin Saults, but a familiar local band will actually be hitting the road next weekend for their first ever tour run! Local alternative hard rock quintet Handsome Sandwich will venture beyond the Algoma District for shows in Sudbury and Oshawa next week (each city is linked to the respective Facebook event page), before playing in Ottawa and Cornwall over the January 19th weekend, details forthcoming. The Sudbury show will actually have local relevance beyond the close-ish 4 hour drive to The Townehouse Tavern, as Jesse & Johnny's old Jack Spades bandmate Tiffany Stocco will open for them next Friday with her current punk band The Knuckle City Dusters. Good to see her still rocking out! The Sudbury show is a headlining gig, but the next night's concert at The Atria will be in support of Oshawa metal band Dead Silence.
To promote the upcoming tours, the band (minus the guitarists) appeared in this Facebook video on Monday, and with their song "Shiver" as background noise, the guys promoted the upcoming shows, pointing at the cities' rough locations on a map of the Great Lakes, and noted that official t-shirts & CDs will be on sale. Taylor also noted that they are looking for recommendations of the best sandwich (of course) in each city for them to try. Of course, good luck on the road next weekend, and see above for more details! I can't embed the video here due to Facebook flagging "Shiver" as copyrighted audio. That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile next! Thanks everyone!
It's now time for this month's YouTube Channel Profile Series entry, as we look at 1-3 YouTube channels featuring half or more of their videos with a local focus, be they on artists or concerts, in order to spotlight them for local readers and encourage new subscriptions. This month, our first randomly selected channel only had two distinct local hard rock-relevant video types, so we added a second channel with only one video to fill things out. We have some interesting content on both sides of the border today, including footage from a huge show here over a decade ago, so here's what you should know!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1djminer's Channel (http://www.youtube.com/1djminer)
Owner:YouTube user 1djminer, identity and hometown unclear
Channel Timeline:Launched on February 14th, 2007; Videos posted from January 25th, 2008 through March 5th, 2011
Channel Summary:This channel is solely devoted to live concert videos shot by 1djminer during the three year span it was actively used for video postings. While six of the 11 videos are from the first Three Days Grace concert at The Steelback Center (now GFL Memorial Gardens) on January 24th, 2008, the last five are from out of town concerts featuring Avril Lavigne, Matthew Good, and Bon Jovi.
Why You Should Watch:As one of the best public sources for this early Steelback Center concert featuring two massive names in modern hard rock, this is well worth checking out, while the latter out of town videos generally hold up for fans of those artists! Note however that 1djminer did not film opening act Econoline Crush, and there are a lot more videos from both this and Three Days Grace's 2009 show here on other YouTube channels, including this one that only focuses on their live shows at any location. Also, 1djminer has not visibly used this YouTube channel in over eight years.
Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:
Seether and 3 Days Grace - Broken-SSM: By far the channel's most popular video with over 1,000 views, this video is of co-headlining South Africa hard rock band Seether playing their hit ballad "Broken" at the Gardens in 2008, with then-3DG lead singer Adam Gontier playing Amy Lee for the occasion. The video quality's acceptable given the age, but the audio takes a sharp hit when the song gets heavier, unfortunately starting during Adam's solo verse. Nice to see footage of the local cover, which is well done, and videos of this particular version of "Broken" at other shows can be found elsewhere on YouTube! Other Seether videos shot by 1djminer are of them playing "Fine Again", "Remedy", and "Gasoline", though all have similarly distorted audio.
3 Days Grace - SSM (ROOSTER) Alice in chains cover: Regarding Three Days Grace's headlining set that night, 1djminer did film them playing (part of) "Pain", but the distorted, scratchy audio of the Seether videos recurs there. However, he did film Adam covering Alice In Chains' "Rooster" solo during their set, and the softer song and acoustic guitar fit the camera specs a lot better! A bit of a shaky angle, but Adam's rendition is really nice, and it was a fun surprise to see at this show 12 years back!
Owner:YouTube user Wabaanimkii, identity unclear, though that is a recorded last name in Northern Michigan
Channel Timeline:Launched on March 1st, 2007; Videos posted on June 11th, 2013 & August 8th, 2016
Channel Summary:Aside from a silent parody short about a hunter, Wabaanimkii's only surviving video is of inactive Sault Michigan alt-metal band The Karstens covering The Deli Creeps' "Bend Up" during a set at Downtown Days in August 2016, playing at an outdoor stage at the corner of Ashmun Street and East Portage Avenue. Complete with a guitarist joining in mid-song, this is very nicely shot on a beautiful day, and while this isn't the heaviest song from The Karstens' repertoire, it's great to see unexpected covers like this in the E.U.P.! Note that prior Karstens covers of Buckethead and Flipper songs have since been taken down from this channel for unannounced reasons, though you can see more videos of them live elsewhere, including at the band's own YouTube channel.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profiles! This series will return on or around November 26th when we profile another randomly selected YouTube channel, this time the channel from former Pixo Control frontman Mike Mikus, featuring lots of content from his old local band's run and his more recent solo work! Stay tuned for that, and for more news this week! Thanks everyone!
Before I head off to the Michale Graves concert, here's this month's slightly overdue YouTube Channel Profile, as we continue our monthly spotlighting of YouTube channels whose content is at least half devoted to local metal, hard rock, or punk musicians and/or concerts! This month's randomly selected channel is all about a promising but social media-averse Sault Michigan band from the mid-2010s, so here's what you should know from them!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Karstens Official (http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbTQWrVzZaLy_T_jiOfNy4A)
Owner:A member of inactive Sault Michigan alternative metal quartet The Karstens, identity unclear (possibly Paul LeBlanc)
Channel Timeline:Launched on January 14th, 2017; Videos posted from that day through that August
Channel Summary:This is the official YouTube channel (and only public presence online) from The Karstens, who quietly ran locally in 2016 and 2017, but achieved some recognition at concert events in the E.U.P. during that time. The channel features two music videos, two live clips each from concerts in Brimley and Rudyard, a bass-only track for their original "Indian Money", and two short bonus videos shot when longer videos on this channel were filmed.
Why You Should Watch:Given that they had no other pages online to promote themselves, The Karstens' YouTube channel is absolutely essential viewing for fans of their run, especially as one of the few debuting metal or hard rock bands in the E.U.P. in the mid-2010s that weren't of the classic rock/bar variety. With an eclectic mix of solid originals and some very surprising covers, it's a shame that The Karstens didn't survive into 2018, but hopefully the guys are still musically active! For 2016 videos before this was launched, visit Wabaanimkii and racosun's channels.
Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:
Sacrifice (The Karstens, Flipper Cover): Two of The Karstens' four live concert videos come from an apparent headlining concert at Pickles Bar & Grill in Brimley back in mid-2016, including a cover of The Animals' "We Gotta Get Out Of This Place",
and as embedded below, Flipper's "Sacrifice". This video was originally
posted onto Wabaanimkii's channel before being deleted and re-posted
here in 2017. Hearing a local band cover these noise rock pioneers is really
neat, and the performance has a nice groove, with the distinctively deep
vocals being very effective!
Dissatifaction (The Karstens):
The first uploaded and most popular video on The Karstens' channel is a music video for their song "Dissatisfaction", which was filmed by Jayrwin LeBlanc in various outdoor locations in the area. Nice scenery and unique stage attire help this video stand out well, though they self-deprecatingly noted that the video was "recorded with a potato", which may explain the lo-fi audio quality. The song proper is more of a 1990s Cake-style song compared to their more aggressive, looser live performances, and only three band members appear for the duration, but it gets the job done! A 50 second long "behind the scenes" video was filmed during this shoot and posted to the channel not long afterward, as was a second music video for their song "Indian Money."
The Karstens at Rudyard Music Fest pt.1: The channel's last public activity (let alone the band's) came as a result of their set at the second annual Rudyard Musicians Festival in August 2017, with three videos being posted from this night. These include a visually shaky cover of The Stooges' "Down On The Street", a 30 second clip of another "We Gotta Get Out Of This Place" rendition to illustrate the disparity between monitor and P.A. vocals, and as embedded below, The Deli Creeps' "Binge & Grab." Karstens fans will know that they were huge fans of Buckethead and his related projects, as their multiple Deli Creeps covers would indicate. Well handled covers, the dark moody lighting actually helps the ambiance, and these are definitely worth a look for festivalgoers and fans alike!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! Next month, we'll look at two channels due to the first that I randomly selected only having two distinct kinds of videos from the same concert. As such, a second channel with only one video was added to fill things out. Look for our profiles of 1djminer's channel (featuring videos from the Three Days Grace concert here in 2008) and in a surprising coincidence that I did not plan, the aforementioned Wabaanimkii's channel, featuring a 2016 video of The Karstens! I use Random.org when picking channels in this series, this can happen, but stay tuned for much more soon. Thanks everyone!
The fall months are upon us, so for our first post of September 2017, we're tackling a big concert preview for tomorrow to round our our Labour Day weekend previews, but also, there's some assorted recent updates, some new concert videos, and a big lineup change to take note of as well. Now, here's what you should know!
TOMORROW NIGHT will see one of the most influential metal bands to ever play in Sault Ste. Marie, as legendary British metal quintet Diamond Head will make their first ever local appearance with a headlining set at The Rockstar Bar! One of the linchpins of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, Diamond Head will be ultra familiar to many metalheads for their influence on newer acts like Metallica (who have covered a number of their songs), so it'll be a thrill to see them on a local stage tomorrow! Only two local opening bands are slated to play tomorrow night, including local punk/metal quintet Jack Spades in their first date since last month's Ontario tour run, while classic metal quartet Project 421 will play an exceedingly fitting set to kick things off! I wouldn't expect to see them cover "Am I Evil?" tomorrow with Brian Tatler and company likely to play it themselves, but this is a huge platform for 421 as they continue their resurgence, so don't miss them either! Prior indications of a third local band have since been removed from the Facebook event page.
Promoted by Jack Spades frontman J.D. Pearce, advance tickets are likely still available for $22.50 at Case's Music, The Rad Zone, The Algonquin Hotel's front desk, online at this link, and potentially through opening band members, and while a price hike at the door isn't indicated, have extra cash on hand just in case you chance it. This is a 19+ show, and a 9:00 PM start time is advertised. This is a can't miss show for classic metal fans, so if you can help it, get down to The Rockstar Bar tomorrow for what promises to be a great night of NWOBHM action over the Labour Day weekend! For a preview, here's Diamond Head live earlier this year!
Next up, here's a big lineup change, as reunited local extreme metal quartet Winkstinger have added Twistory frontman Josh Amendola as their new singer, replacing Keith Gagnon. Though not yet announced on the band's sporadically updated Facebook page, Josh debuted with Winkstinger at The New American Pub last week, and later confirmed his addition to their lineup on his solo Facebook page on Tuesday. A reason for Keith's departure has not been publically
announced, though whether his band status factored into their year+ long
hiatus is up for debate. Best of luck to Keith in his recent solo work
though, he's a talented musician in multiple roles! Josh's debut with
Winkstinger wasn't without it's hang-ups, as last week's concert saw the
late drop-out of Saskatchewan grindcore band Dour
after miscommunication with promoters, though the local bands played
on, and hopefully Dour try to play here again here during a future tour!
No
word yet on how Josh sounds with Winkstinger, or if he's bringing back
rhythm guitar to their live repertoire, but it'll be interesting to hear
Winkstinger material with a harsher death metal vocalist compared to
Alan and Keith's higher screaming work. Stay tuned for more on
Winkstinger's new lineup when it rolls in, and don't miss their next live appearance
at the Oh!No 2017 Music Festival in Leeburn next week!
Also today, here's our first known video footage from this year's Rudyard Musicians Festival, courtesy of Sault Michigan alt-metal quartet The Karstens' set two weeks ago! Posted to their YouTube channel on Sunday, three videos were uploaded of the online page-less band's set at Rudyard Township Park, including a cover of The Stooges' "Down on the Street" and, as embedded below, The Deli Creeps' "Binge & Grab". The Karstens deliver some solid performances in these videos, tackling bands you don't often hear in this area, and while dark, I like how the lighting adds to the mood of the songs! Note that the Stooges cover isn't filmed from a stationary angle, so while that video gets a closer look at the band, it's also a shakier view at the same time. The other video from the show is a 30 second clip of their rendition of The Animals' "We Gotta Get Out Of This Place", uploaded to show vocal disparity between monitor and P.A. vocals that night, and it has a good chaotic sound from what we hear. Give these new Karstens videos a look above & below!
Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist or event name:
Sault Ontario hard rock quintet Halfway Loaded announced on their Facebook page on Wednesday that they've changed their name to The Twin City Saints. The band cited "some thinking" and throwing around "a lot of names" as contributing factors, though this isn't their first name change, possibly debuting as "2 Far Gone". The new name, if it sticks, isn't a bad one, but will it conflict with Twin City Sound & Entertainment? Time will tell, but stay tuned for more on this newer band as it rolls in!
Former Frightlight drummer Jeff De Rose is looking for "a bass player with punk rock abilities", presumably for a new band project he's working on. Jeff's been missed in local bands, so hopefully he finds someone, but if you or someone you know are interested in trying out on bass, message Jeff at this link or via his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from Tuesday!
SooToday's Donna Hopper posted a promotional article onto the local news website on Sunday as coverage for next weekend's Oh!NO 2017 Music Festival in nearby Leeburn, so what's new to learn in it? Co-promoter Jamie Vincent is interviewed for the article, where he notes the festival's inspiration came from other regional music festivals in outskirt towns, plus noting how certain out of town bands signed on, as well as future goals and extra ground rules. Also, "Robbie's Church" is now a residence, but it was a church. Nicely detailed and laid out article, so visit the above links for much more on next Sunday's ambitious festival!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post tomorrow! Thanks everyone!
As promised, our extended preview of a major returning music festival is leading off today's post, but we also have a recent video upload and a few recent news and notes, so here's what you should know!
The second annual Rudyard Musicians Festival goes down TOMORROW, where 13 regional music acts will rock out at Rudyard Township Park (18725 South Mackinac Trail) all day long, and despite the earlier indication of "NO METAL", there will be some hard rock acts to help close out this sophomore installment! Harbouring a largely similar lineup to last year (only Stoned Ape Evolution, Second Offense, and The Gaskins aren't back), this year's Musicians Fest will be headlined by Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Project 906 at 11:00 PM, fresh off of their recent Moloney's Alley gigs, while classic rockers and festival organizers Steelhead
(with guest performer Jimmy Bishop) will co-headline at 10:00 PM. Online page-less experimental hard rockers and festival newcomers The Karstens will return to the stage at 9:00 PM, while classic rock band The Whole Shabang will also debut here at 8:00 PM. Remaining acts are largely country or bluegrass-centric unless otherwise stated, and they include The North Country Band at 7:00 PM...
...The Wednesday
Night Headliners at 6:00 PM, Robert & Bob Malaski at 5:00 PM, Jimmy
Williams at 4:00 PM, pop singer Hayley Malaska
at 3:30 PM, the solo festival debut of Kevin Blakeney at 3:00 PM, Crossroads
alum Denny Verrett at 2:00 PM, Traverse City experimental outfit The Neighbourhood Dogs at 1:00 PM, and The (New?) Jazz Trio opening the day's musical entertainment at 12:00 PM. In a related musical note, TONIGHT will see an open mic "free for all" at Rudyard Township Park, as organizers feel that they might as well use musical equipment that's already set up, so keep that in mind if you love open mic nights and jam sessions! As was the case last year, the Rudyard Musicians Festival is a charitable event with all proceeds going to Rudyard Area Schools' music and band programs, which is a great gesture on their part! An ALL AGES event, admission is $5 tomorrow save for kids 10 years old and under, who will get in FREE.
Concessions will be available all day, including a $5 pig roast (again, kids eat free here), while camping on site will be available free to festival patrons today through Sunday, so keep all of these details in mind! This is shaping up to be another entertaining installment of this E.U.P. festival, and it could serve as a fine sequel to the musically similar Sugar Island Festival last week, so visit the official Facebook event page and the above links for more details, stay tuned for potential fallout, and here's Project 906 live at last year's Rudyard Musicians Festival!
Next up, here's a new video of Sault Ontario hard rock/experimental guitarist and Audiofumes podcast host Mike Cliffe, courtesy of his YouTube channel on Tuesday, and it's of a work in progress guitar track named "Afro Shuffle". With a name inspired by the backing African drum tracks, this song is less heavy and honestly has a bit of a progressive/world music vibe that even has some country-ish tinges. Hard to explain, but well performed and melodic, so give it a look below, and check out more above!
Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist or event name:
Apologies for the delay in this making a proper news post ("Where Are The New Albums?" aside), but the title and cover artwork for AlgomA & Shit Liver's upcoming split cassette tape were each revealed via both bands' Facebook pages on August 1st! Entitled "Trading Faces", the artwork (by frequent AlgomA collaborator) puts a sludgy spin on the movie "Face/Off", I'll say that much! No word yet on the release, other than a tease that it will be posted on Bandcamp before tapes themselves are put out, but stay tuned for updates on this anticipated split in any event!
Nova Rex bassist Kenny Wilkerson was interviewed by Brian Kelly for a Sault Star article yesterday, where Kenny discussed the Florida hair metal band's first Canadian tour in 2 decades (including their Rockstar Bar show on August 30th), their new album, past tour memories, and more. Nice interview overall, especially to prime fans who may not be familiar with Nova Rex, so give it a look above or in yesterday's paper! Unfortunately, it also appears that local classic rock openers Nikkfitt have disbanded, as per the deletion of their Facebook page, and the above article indicates that the opening act is now "to be announced".
The Oh!NO 2017 Music Festival at "Robbie's Church" in nearby Leeburn on September 9th has one more confirmed act, as DJ Seith will now close the night with a set of his turntable mixes. Solid choice, and some added variety, so look for him to wrap things up in three weeks! Also, despite earlier advertising in the affirmative, plans to have a shuttle bus to get fans to and from the event have been cancelled, with co-promoter Jamie Vincent citing the bus' cost for the change in plans, though he encouraged ride-sharing or Union Cab as alternatives. Good to know in advance, and see above for more festival updates as we approach the 9th!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site next week! Thanks everyone!
With a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT hitting the wire this afternoon, here's a surprise second news post for your Thursday night! That is also joined by two more new concerts taking place over the same weekend in just under a month's time, so read on below for what you should know, and check out other weekend concert previews and more in the post below this one from this morning!
Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Project 906 will return to Moloney's Alley for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the band only announced this show via their Facebook page earlier today. Still a largely unfamiliar venue for our coverage, the 227 West Portage Avenue bar played host to a private Project 906 show last month for Sault Area High School's class of 1997 reunion, but as far as I can tell, TOMORROW'S show is a regular, publically attendable show. Last seen at the King's Club Casino in Brimley two weeks ago, Project 906 are no strangers to branching out to atypical concert venues in the E.U.P., and hopefully things go well at Moloney's Alley TOMORROW! No word however on if the show will be outdoors again or indoors, but the picture they used to promote the event was from their outdoor set at the aforementioned reunion. Expect a 9:00 PM start time, no announced cover charge, and a 21+ age limit, so check the above links for more details, and here's Project 906 live last month!
Next up, here's some more new concerts with more than a day's public notice, starting with another new show from Sault Ontario promoters Six, Two, Oh.! Unusually taking place at The Rockstar Bar rather than their usual New A stomping grounds, this event on Friday, August 18th will be headlined by the local debut of Vancouver hardcore punk quintet The Alien Boys, but despite their name, they're actually an all-female group featuring former Rebel Spell guitarist Erin McGillicuddy. This will be nothing new for fans who saw Beaver Slap locally last month, but The Alien Boys' solid and energetic brand of punk rock should gain them their own audience locally, so don't miss them on the 18th! Local support (both in their Rockstar Bar debut) will include death metal duo Twistory's second live set of the year, as well as the second concert appearance period from Vol., the new indie/hard rock trio from Pixo Control and Aldous alumni. Nice diverse lineup, so don't miss out next month!
A $5 cover charge is in effect for this 19+ concert, and a 9:00 PM start time is in effect. Check the official Facebook event page for more details, and don't miss out on what should be a fun night of varying kinds of alternative music action! And yes, we are aware of a major concert event announced by Six, Two, Oh. for this fall, but we are waiting on confirmation on the venue and if it technically has a public address before we get ahead of ourselves on here. Stay tuned though, as this will be a big event!
Finally for tonight's post, the full lineup for this year's second annual Rudyard Musicians Festival in nearby Rudyard, Michigan was finally announced on Tuesday, so who all is rocking Rudyard Township Park on Saturday, August 19th? Mostly the same bands as last year, with only Stoned Ape Evolution, Second Offense, and The Gaskins not returning, so if you liked the inaugural Musicians Fest lineup, here you go! Despite previously indicating that there would be "NO METAL" this year, hard rock acts do populate two of the three top slots, with the aforementioned Project 906 headlining at 11:00 PM, as preceded by classic rockers/event promoters Steelhead (with guest performer Jimmy Bishop) at 10:00 PM, and sporadically seen experimental hard rock group The Karstens as one of this year's new bands at 9:00 PM. Good to see them back on stage! Fellow newcomers The Whole Shabang will tackle their own classic rock covers as well at 8:00 PM, while remaining performers are mostly in the online page-less country or bluegrass realm unless otherwise stated.
Other acts will include The North Country Band at 7:00 PM, The Wednesday Night Headliners at 6:00 PM, Robert & Bob Malaski at 5:00 PM, Jimmy Williams at 4:00 PM, pop artist Hayley Malaska at 3:30 PM, festival newcomer Kevin Blakeney at 3:00 PM, Crossroads alum Denny Verrett at 2:00 PM, Traverse City experimental outfit The Neighbourhood Dogs at 1:00 PM, and The (New?) Jazz Trio opening at 12:00 PM. Lots of talent on hand this year, so keep them all in mind! As well, organizers have confirmed that Friday the 18th will play host to an open mic night, as all of their equipment will be set up already, so "we might just as well use it" for a "Friday night free for all." You never know what you'll get with an open mic night, so if you're in the neighbourhood, this might be worth checking out! Free rustic camping will be available on sight for that weekend, while there will be a pig roast and other concessions for good measure. Admission is $5 a person, but kids 10 years old or under get in FREE, and like last year, all proceeds go to Rudyard Area Schools' music and band programs, which is always a worthy cause!
Despite promoters' earlier claim of no metal this year (no word on if that's specifically why Stoned Ape Evolution aren't back), it's nice to see some music on the heavier spectrum again this year, so if you're a fan of country or some more rocking music, you have options in this sophomore event, which is for a great cause and definitely looks to be a friendly event for fans of all ages! Visit the above links for complete details on this year's Rudyard Musicians Fest, and stay tuned for more news and notes on the SMS in the coming days! Thanks everyone!
Today's news post continues our recent increase in Sault Michigan-area coverage, so make that 6 posts in 10 to touch on at least 50% E.U.P. stories! Along with lots of assorted news stories and a new cover video, we have lots of new videos from a recent band discovery, so here's what you should know!
Though still lacking a formal band page, newer Sault Michigan alt-metal group The Karstens have launched their own YouTube channel! Already five videos strong and including our first public glance at original material, it's great to get so much new material so soon, but what's here? The channel includes a cover of The Animals' "We Gotta Get Out Of This Place" live at Pickles Bar & Grill in Brimley (from the same filmer of their earlier Flipper cover), a guitar-less audio recording of their original "Indian Money", and this amusing clip showcasing The Karstens working "behind the scenes" of music video shoots. Yes, I meant music videos, as they have two posted there, namely "Indian Money" in full, and as embedded below, "Dissatisfaction". The former contrasts the slower & more deliberate song with a light, tongue-in-cheek video featuring the band happily playing instruments in & outdoors, and even tracking a song with a joystick?!
As for "Dissatisfaction", it's more of a lo-fi original (the band jokingly noted that it was "recorded with a potato") and features the core three members playing outside in various locales, even if not always seemingly to the track in question, though this video's filming was the source of the "behind the scenes" clip. The Karstens' originals (as presented here, at least) lack the spontaniety and aggression of their live covers, but they're a nice change of pace and a welcome addition to the Sault Michigan-area scene, so give their new YouTube videos a look above & below!
Next up, here's the newest solo guitar cover video from Stegadeth guitarist Tiffany Stocco's YouTube channel! A cover of "Fate" by SNFU (who she has opened for with Jack Spades), the cover is visibly well performed, but the audio quality isn't great, with her playing sounding tinny through this camera. Check out Tiffany's newest cover below, and don't miss Stegadeth TOMORROW NIGHT at Live705's January Jam at The Canadian!
Finally for today, here's six assorted shorter news items from the
last while, half from Sault Ontario and half from Sault Michigan! As usual, these are in
alphabetical order by artist, event, or company name:
Local doom metal trio AlgomA acknowledged on their Facebook page on New Year's Day that their upcoming split vinyl EP with Hooded Menace has been delayed, and while they didn't elaborate on why, they did note that "2017 is going to be savage." The status also plugged an article by the metal website No Clean Singing that same day where contributor "Islander" praised the cover art and the teased songs so far, and it's worth a look in the meantime!
Inactive Strongs, Michigan metal solo project East Branch is back in our band links! Their Facebook page was quietly de-activated in late 2014, but it was restored and made public again earlier this month, complete with a new post linking to a song posted on YouTube in January of that year. As a result, that's not truly a "new" update, so they'll stay in our inactive band links for now, but might J.R. have some new music up his sleeves? Stay tuned!
In a minor update to our links section, we have changed the link for local music instruments/lessons store Grooves Music from their website (whose domain name has expired) to their Facebook page.
Grooves is the only music instruments store in Sault Michigan, and one
of few places there that carry local musicians' CDs, so don't miss it at
540 Ashmun Street! Also, note that Tantrym Tyme's Jacob Hotlen is
teaching guitar there again.
Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Highway 63 clarified their break from the stage this month on their Facebook page last week, with frontman Henry Switzer (I believe) noting that the
break is to allow him to heal up from a heart infarction that he had a
few weeks ago. This is the first we've heard about it, but his health
comes first, so hopefully he rests up and comes back even stronger next
month!
Gates of Winter bassist Steve Furgiuele is featured in this new SooToday article by Darren Taylor about his growing culinary career and current work in Edmonton as owner of his own cured meat company Fuge Fine Meat. The article also briefly mentions his Gates of Winter work, noting that he and his wife Mariana first met because she was a Gates fan. Great read, and it's awesome to see that Steve has found so much personal success! For what it's worth, he's quoted there noting that he was in Gates of Winter. Does the past tense mean anything?
A third annual chili cook-off in support of the Ride For Sight blindness charity motorcycle rally will be held at The Garden River Community Centre on February 25th, but this year, Stiffler's Mom will not be the evening's musical performers for the first time. Instead, singer/drummer Greg Simpson's country cover band Bone Yard will step in, but at least Greg is still playing, and hopefully Bone Yard keep things hot like the chili next month! For reference, Redundant frontman Justin Langlois & his wife Monique are back this year among the competitors.
That's all for today, but in case there's not a new post tomorrow, we'll see you guys at The Canadian for The January Jam! Thanks everyone!
Three of our last five posts had at least half Sault Michigan content, and we're doubling down with a fully American post on this Friday the 13th! Hopefully the date's not a bad omen. Below, you'll find the newest content from a local metal label, and some video discoveries of a newer local band, but first, here's some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for mid-2017!
Following up on their first gigs of 2017 TONIGHT & TOMORROW in St. Ignace, comment replies on this photo of veteran Traverse City classic metal trio Peril have confirmed some new gigs from both them and their sister metal band Scarkazm for later this year! Typically, I don't condense separate new show announcements into one paragraph, but given Peril & Scarkazm's shared band members and the fact that only one weekend from each was confirmed (in the same post, no less), a combined feature in this instance was appropriate. First, Scarkazm will hit the E.U.P. for the first time this year with rare stops at The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino on Friday, May 21st & Saturday, May 22nd, so keep those in mind for some hard hitting metal action! Meanwhile, Peril will play at the Soo Kewadin for the first times this year on Friday, June 16th & Saturday, June 17th.
If you can't make Peril's St. Ignace shows this weekend or in March, here are your presumable next chances, so circle mid-June on your calendars! Both Scarkazm & Peril's May/June weekends have 9:00 PM start times, 21+ age limits, and no announced cover charges, as usual. It's great to see both of Jeff & Adam's bands powering into 2017 with some more gigs for Yooper fans, so check the above links for full details on these and other currently announced dates in our area!
Next up, you may be familiar from our coverage of some recent multi-band events in the Sault Michigan area that bands without an online presence have been a fairly common sight, so unless you see them live, find a fan video, or find personal account references, they'll be something of a mystery. One such band was The Karstens, who played the Bay Mills Bands Together fundraiser concert in Brimley last May, and other than my assumption that they were a family band (given the name), I had nothing on them. However, a fan named Bubby Frasier got a hold of me online over the last few days, noting positive word of mouth and concert appearances through August of last year for The Karstens, and asked if I had any extra info on them. Between the two of us, we tracked down videos on two YouTube channels of them, and some personal Facebook postings, so here's what I've got. As it turns out, The Karstens are very much a fit for our coverage, and they'd be in our links if they had an online page!
Visibly a quartet (though occasionally seen as a three-piece), I can't confirm the band's full lineup or instrument roles, but one personal Facebook posting suggested that two band members were named Paul LeBlanc and Raymond Kavo. Neither are familiar from our past coverage of the E.U.P., but the band looks relatively young. YouTube users Wabaanimkii and racosun have uploaded 3 and 2 videos respectively from both a jam session and concerts in Brimley and Sault Ste. Marie between April & August 2016, so how do they sound? Musically, I'd call them experimental or alternative metal, and if you like Buckethead, you'll definitely want to take notice, as they cover The Deli Creeps' "Bend Up", "Shadows", and (as embedded below) "Can I Have A Ride" in three videos, plus Buckethead's "The Way To Heaven". That video segues into a cover of Flipper's "Sacrifice", which is covered in full at this link too. Huge kudos to The Karstens for playing some stuff you don't typically see covered in the area, especially in Sault Michigan!
In case you missed The Karstens at Bay Mills Bands Together, their Back Bay Grill & Games show, or Downtown Days in August (apologies for missing the latter two for coverage here), then look for well played if avant garde covers, with the singer/drummer's distinctive deep voice and strong guitar among The Karstens' highlights! They could be a little more animated on stage, but assuming they're still active (I've read nothing new referencing them since August), they have a bright future! Check out much more from The Karstens above & below, and hopefully more turns up! Thanks again to Bubby for his help in getting the above information!
Finally for today, it is Friday the 13th, which means that local independent metal label Werehold Records is back for their eighth Friday the 13th new music posting event! However, this year's only features two new songs for a second straight 13th, and in this case, both songs come from the same band, Werehold's flagship metal project Life's Eclipse. Both dated to the late 1990s, presumably for their initial inception and original recording dates, the songs are entitled "Perihelion" (no relation to the long-gestating Gates of Winter album), and as embedded below, "Pathway". The former is a little drum heavy and scratchy in sound, but "Pathway" is a ripping, fast-paced number that groove metal fans will appreciate, and if there are ever plans to complete these songs with vocals, that will be a highlight! It's just a shame that the Friday the 13th new music events are continuing their steady decline in number that followed their nine song event in June 2014, including skipping November 2015 entirely.
Werehold Records has been a reliable sight for original metal action in the E.U.P., if not live concert acts, and I hope that Jason and company can beef up activity and content in the near future, especially with another Friday the 13th coming up in October! It will be the Halloween season, so there's no better month to go big. Check out "Pathway" below, and see more from Werehold Records above!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes this weekend! Thanks everyone!
