LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Pop Evil), A New Christmas Album, And Mike Haggith Updates!!

We're back after a quiet weekend with a stacked post on this Monday night, including a big LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, a brand new album release, and a new concert video & related updates, so here's what you should know!

Muskegon, Michigan hard rock quintet Pop Evil will return to our area on Sunday, April 12th, but this time, they'll be making their debut in Sault Ontario at The Machine Shop! Yes, it is 100% the local Machine Shop, not the one in Flint. Fans have seen these Rock 101 mainstays seven times in Sault Michigan over the years (all but one at their Kewadin Casino), including their most recent date here in March 2023, but if you Canadian readers were previously unable or unwilling to cross the border, then you'll want to circle this date on your calendar! Like last time, Pop Evil are touring in support of their new album, so expect to hear cuts from "What Remains", plus existing hits like "Skeletons", "Trenches", and "Breathe Again" in the spring! This will also be their first local stop since Blake Allison replaced Hayley Cramer on drums. No word on potential openers yet, but this show will not feature Sabaton, who Pop Evil are opening for on much of their early 2026 tour run.

Tickets for this all ages and 8:00 PM concert run for $40 + additional processing fees at this link at presumably at the door. We've been getting a good run of big new rock concert announcements in Sault Ontario for early 2026 so far, and this will absolutely help in that, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details!

Next up, here's a new-ish album release from Sault Michigan classical metal band Theatre of Night! On Friday, they released "Christmas Night 3" to their Reverbnation page for $7.99, and it's not on other paid or subscription streaming services beyond their YouTube channel. If you're not familiar, the original "Christmas Night" came out as an instrumental album in 2011, before they re-recorded and expanded it with then-singer Rachel Mender in 2022 as "Dreams Of Winter" (I assume they're considering that to be "Christmas Night 2"). For this third go-around with a seasonal album, Theatre of Night are collaborating again with German soprano singer Gaby Koss, who was once an official (if remote) band member in the early-mid 2010s, and worked with Craig, Steve, and crew again last year for a free  "Celtic Christmas metal EP", but there were teasers at the time that Gaby would be working on more material with them.

The five songs from last year's batch are included on "Christmas Night 3" along with five new additions, and note that of the 10 songs, "The First Noel", "O Come Emmanuel", "Let All Mortal Flesh", and "Good King Wenceslas" are all brand new to Theatre Of Night's paid studio output and did not feature on the two prior albums. How do these sound, and how do the other six compare to prior versions? I think we'll find out this month, as I'm going to bump our album review queue all up a month so this can be reviewed in a timely fashion! Otherwise, it'll be blocked for mid-2026 at the earliest, nowhere near Christmas (No Arrow will 100% come next month). Stream "Christmas Night 3" for yourselves below!

Finally, let's head back to Sault Ontario for the long awaited full concert video from Mike Haggith & The Big Finish Band's outdoor-ish headlining show at the Downtown Plaza in September! Of course, this concert was released as a live album named "Under A Moonlit Sky" late last month, but Mike promised right along that the the full video would be posted to his YouTube channel, and that went live on Thursday. 705Live Sound Co. were on hand to provide sound for the concert and this album, while videography was credited to Big Finish Band backing vocalist Elly McWatters (who must have set up one of the stationary cameras), guitarist Chris Nielsen's A Dire Setback bandmate Matt Quinn, and Celeste Maurer. There's at least three stationary cameras on hand here (one pointing directly at the stage, one at a corner angle, and a drumcam for Brandan Glew's sake), while Matt and/or Celeste was roaming to capture various close-up angles. 

For what it's worth, the last two songs are solely featured via the main stationary camera with no switches to other views. Of note, the stage was tarped on three of four sides with a forest/sky motif, but the material wasn't opaque, so natural lighting is reflected in the skyline, and as the show took place during sunset and dusk, things do darken naturally. It is a neat visual! The concert proper is longer than the album, so more of the between-song banter and gaps are left in, but in tagging each individual song in the YouTube description, Mike opted not to credit the guitar adlib or the separated introductions (aside from "The Power of Community") for the video proper. As you may be aware, Mike pledged proceeds from streams of "Under A Moonlit Sky" to Christmas Cheer this month, and that includes 10¢ from every view of the concert video.

Mike was interviewed by SooToday's Darren Taylor for this article about the live album and charity drive, where Mike talks about getting the idea to support his old hometown (remember, he lives in Barrie now), where he focuses his attention for gigs when he comes back north, and the change of plans from the battle of the bands to the full concert on September 25th, apparently on just two days notice! Solidly informative article, even if The Big Finish Band name wasn't given, so read it above! I'll hold my thoughts on the concert proper for our review of "Under A Moonlit Sky" next year, but it's very well shot and edited with some neat views of the plaza stage, so give it a watch below and support Christmas Cheer in the process!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more on the SMS this week! Thanks everyone!

New Studio Recordings From The E.U.P. & New Toystock Videos!!

Merry Christmas, everyone! In today's largely seasonal post, we have new concert videos and a new batch of Christmas carol covers to check out, but let's lead off with something not seasonal that I have delayed for way too long. As you may know, Heavy Lies The Crown guitarist/ex-drummer Jason Massaway has been dabbling in his own solo material in the past couple of years, including his own solo YouTube channel featuring covers on vocals and/or acoustic guitar (some H.L.T.C. videos with him drumming made it there too). However, Jaxon (under the handle "Jaxon James") has recorded and released three original songs to major streaming services this year, entitled "Nameless" (no relation), "Evergreen", and "Nostalgia". The latter two songs are country influenced and fairly melancholy ("Nostalgia" is really short too), but if you wanna see what Jaxon as a solo metal artist, "Nameless" is where you'd want to go. 

This is also short (1:46 in length) but it's a promising extreme metal song with a djenty riff and solid harsh vocals, and it does show what Jaxon is capable of as an original multi-instrumentalist! Jaxon doesn't have a proper social media/band page for his solo music that I'm aware of, and he hasn't played live with Heavy Lies The Crown for most of the year due to travelling commitments with his day job, but this is all promising for him as a rising young musician, and here's hoping we hear more from Jaxon in or out of the band in 2025! Check out "Nameless" below!

Next up, here's some new Christmas content from local classical metal band Theatre of Night! As you may recall, before they began doing Christmas tour runs with a full live band (well, not this year), Theatre of Night operated as a studio band, bringing on German soprano singer Gaby Koss in the early-mid 2010s as an official band member to sing lead on new Christmas carol covers at the time. Five old and new songs featuring Gaby were collected as a "Celtic Christmas metal EP" on their YouTube channel this month, where you can hear her singing with Craig & Steve via covers of "What Child Is This?", "Carol Of The Bells", "Silent Night", "The Little Drummer Boy", and "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen". The former two songs are older recordings featuring Steve's brother Greg Giles on drums during his stint with the band, while the rest feature his replacement Erik Sales. It is neat hearing Gaby on new material with Theatre of Night, and her classically trained vocals suit their material well!

The language used with the description does not suggest that she has rejoined Theatre of Night (remember, they had been touring with live vocalists up to last year), but the collaboration has always produced quality material, and if the description of this "Reel" on Gaby's Facebook page is anything to go by, they may be collaborating on a full new album next year! Check out Theatre of Night & Gaby's free "EP" below!

We'll wrap things up in Sault Ontario via videos from two bands from last month's eleventh annual Toystock at The Grand Gardens! Prolific local concert filmer Christopher Paci's YouTube channel is the source, and he was in attendance that afternoon to see the two full bands from the first half of the program (in between DJ Dark Mark and the acoustic solo artists). The 3:00 band this year was local punk trio Redundant in their first show since last year's Toystock and since the departure of bassist Andrew MacDonald, with Chris filming them covering The Ramones' "Blitzkrieg Bop" and, as embedded below, playing their original "That December". I still haven't found a public reference to the identity of the new bassist who debuted at Toystock, but he and/or drummer Rick White should really add backing vocals, as that is definitely missing from their live sound

The new bassist fits in well from what I can see, no backing vocals aside, and the band sounds good here, so hopefully we're not waiting another year for Redundant to play live again! Check these Christmas Cheer concert performances out above & below!

Finally, the 2:00 PM act at Toystock XI was Mike Haggith & The Big Finish Band in their last gig of 2024, with Chris filming them playing Mike's original songs "If Ever Comes The Day" and, as embedded below, "The Nature Of The Times". Compared to Mike's live-stream of his set that day, this was filmed a little further out from the opposite side of the stage, but Chris got a good angle of Mike & crew rocking out while capturing some of the attendee action during this all-original set, and it looks like a good time was had by all! Check out these new videos of Mike and his band above & below!

That's all for today, but again, have a Merry Christmas and enjoy time with your families and friends! We'll be back tomorrow for weekend concert previews. Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Tym Morrison), End Of Existence Updates, And Next Month's CD Review!!

I wasn't expecting to have a new post up tonight, but with an extremely short notice LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for TONIGHT, I had to pump one out! So for today, we have that (and some related new shows for later this month), updates on a local band's new album, and all of the latest news from End of Existence, but let's start with all of the new concerts! (UPDATED, Thursday at 2:18 PM)

Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison will bring his solo acoustic concerts back to the stage for three more 2012 dates, starting with two shows this weekend at two of his recent favourite venues! These will be Tym's first solo concerts in almost two months, and they include a trip to The Roadhouse Bar & Grill on Trunk Road (NOT The Zone Roadhouse in Goulais River) THIS FRIDAY and a return to The Eagles Club in Heyden THIS SATURDAY! (Note that this show was incorrectly listed as taking place tonight originally, but was corrected within a few hours. Apologies for any confusion!) The other new show sees Tym returning to The Roadhouse Bar & Grill on December 28th, in what I assume is Tym's last solo show of the year. It's always nice to see more heavier music in the east end, and hopefully Tym's shows at The Roadhouse and The Eagles Club go off without a hitch!

All have 10:00 PM start times, you must be 19 to attend any of them (I believe), and none have an announced cover charge. Check the above links for more details! Tym always delivers a proficient and fun night of metal and hard rock classics at his solo shows, so keep his upcoming dates in mind, and stay tuned for previews of his concerts this weekend!

Next up, I'd like to officially confirm our first CD review of 2013, and it will be of local old school hardcore punk quintet Destroilet's new CD! The first full length release (and second overall) from Destroilet, it's not yet officially on sale, but drummer Matt Waples was kind enough to drop off an advance copy with me earlier today, so I can confirm some extra details on it! The liner notes confirm that the 6 new songs on the disc were recorded at "The Litter Box", which I assume is a home recording studio, while guitarist John Conway did the production and mixing for the new recordings. My assumption that they were covering the Nirvana song "Tourettes" was correct, while the liner notes also credit their cover of "Evil God Hater" to The Fuckin' Burnouts (so I assume the Fistmagnet version was itself a cover.) The liners include lyrics for just one song (the original "Eternal Fire"), and the disc is styled like a vinyl record, as was the case last year. Finally for new details, the CD is ordered with the 2012 originals first, then the 2012 covers, and then last year's EP in the exact same order as it was on that release.

I have yet to hear the new CD in full (last year's songs and online preview tracks aside), but I'm eagerly awaiting to shortly! As soon as full release details (and yes, a hopeful return to the stage) come out, I'll have them here, but for now, check out their cover of "Evil God Hater" at their MySpace page (which is brand new to stream there), and as for our review? I've got it pencilled in for early January, so keep an eye out!

Thirdly today, here's the latest news from local/Grand Rapids classical metal band Theatre of Night! Two weeks after we posted some info on the band's planned second re-release of their debut album "Christmas Night" , we have some big news from their camp, but not related to the 2012 reissue. Over the past couple of days, the band posted audio versions of their renditions of "What Child Is This?" and "Carol of the Bells" onto their Reverbnation & SoundCloud pages, both featuring German soprano vocalist and metal musician Gaby Koss, who joined the project in April. These mark the first publically available audio recordings of the band with vocal accompaniment, but how does Gaby add to these tracks? She adds a very talented classical voice to both songs, and she has clear operatic skill, especially on "What Child Is This?", which has a better mix on a first listen. According to SoundCloud, Theatre of Night's long planned "Christmas Night" reissue with Gaby on vocals will be released next fall, and will feature brand new recordings and mixes, while it will reportedly also feature some other yet-disclosed guest musicians.

This all sounds very optimistic, but what about the announced 2012 re-release of "Christmas Night"? We've heard little for announcements since last month, but two of the bonus free download tracks may be up on their Reverbnation page for streaming, including a rendition of "Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy" and an original (I assume) named "Dreams of Winter Night". They seem likely for a reissue of this Christmas/seasonal CD, but there are a number of older tracks there as well that never made it to their released albums, so I figure we'll find out more soon for everything new that's in End of Existence's plans! Finally for Theatre of Night updates, drummer Greg Giles did mention to me in recent conversations that they plan on recording some new metal songs with Gaby on vocals, while also indicating that they're still searching for a permanent lead singer for their still-active main project End of Existence (message the guys if you wanna try out!) Check the above links for all of the current details, and I'll keep you all posted when updates roll in!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews, this week's classic video, and much more in the coming days! Thanks everyone!

Garden Of Bedlam On Shaw TV, End Of Existence's New Singer, And New Videos!!

Here's one more news post before TONIGHT'S Fuck The Facts-headlined show at The Canadian (also featuring The Bear Hunters, F.A.T.I.L., and two bands discussed below), and remember that the show tonight is ALL AGES and $10 with the first band on at 9:00 PM, so don't miss this huge concert! Now, today's news post features this week's classic video, a new performance video from a local musician, and the new singer for a partly local metal band, but leading off today, here's all the details on a prominent local band's new televised interview, and how you can check it out!

Remember on May 12th when local metal quartet Garden of Bedlam played a major headlining concert at The Rockstar Bar, and indicated that they were being interviewed by Shaw TV Sault Ste. Marie in the process? Well, the band hasn't followed up on that since right after the gig, but the interview piece is now on rotation on Shaw TV! That's Channel 10 for Shaw customers, so non-Shaw customers aren't in as much luck. I don't know who did the actual interview, as unlike other recent Shaw TV pieces with a metal link, no reporters are featured, but it's still a solid clip! It features all 4 members of Garden of Bedlam talking about their formation, crowd response, their bandmates' talents and instruments, and other topics, like a good discussion of how their growth & their Kiss Battle of the Bands victory have really opened up their sound to even non-metalheads! They also plugged their albums and plans to do some touring this summer, although specifics weren't revealed. Some performance clips are also featured of Garden of Bedlam playing "The Truth Shall Set You Free", "Shallow", and "Three Days", and they're very well filmed, as you'd expect. Very nice video overall, and it promotes Garden of Bedlam really well, but when can you see this interview?

It should be on at least twice an hour through the week, and comes after a piece about the movie "Compulsion" being filmed here, but specific times during the hour will vary, so keep that in mind. It's worth checking out A.S.A.P., but I'd also expect it on Shaw TV's website and, later, their YouTube channel after it's run on Channel 10 wraps up. Give it a look this week if you can, stay tuned for it's online posting, and also see The 705 Video Magazine's photos from this show at this link! I'm curious to hear their cover of Slipknot's "Dead Memories", nice to see that on the one setlist shot, but will anything ever come of that interview that the 705VM did with Garden of Bedlam? If I hear anything, I'll let you guys know, but go see them TONIGHT at The Canadian as they open for Fuck The Facts!

Next up, local/Grand Rapids epic metal band End of Existence have announced the addition of new Theatre of Night singer Gaby Koss to their lineup, replacing Bob Helsten. In a statement on their Facebook page on Monday, the band indicated that they're beyond privileged & ecstatic to be working with her, and indicated that they'll begin formal work with her after the projected third re-release of Theatre of Night's "Christmas Night" album this fall, which she's singing on. They also reiterated their plans to change their name this year, indicating that they're "gratefully shedding" the End of Existence moniker. While Gaby's addition probably doesn't indicate imminent live concert plans (she's from Germany), she is an extremely talented soprano vocalist with backgrounds in metal bands and opera, and while this will be a change from their more aggressive first album, Gaby stands to be a clear asset for the guys going forward! That said, the seeming anxiousness to dump the End of Existence name is odd (it's not a bad band name at all), but I assume a new name will be a way to help signal a new era for the guys and distance themselves from their past work, especially if Bob had a hand in picking the old name. No matter what though, the future looks bright, so stay tuned for more updates, and check out Gaby's awesome and diverse singing work at the above links!

We'll close with new videos, starting with a new video from Eckerman/Strongs metal trio Swampghas! Just uploaded to their YouTube channel this afternoon, it's a rare look at an actual original performance from a band member, as guitarist J.R. Johnson is featured playing the guitar track from their original song "Fistfight In A Microwave" here! Filmed in different takes & angles with some humourous asides, he lays down some really good riffs here, but the audio quality is noticeably muffled, but that could be on purpose to build suspense for the full song/album release. Sounds good to me (despite the video's self-deprecating tags), but give this new Swampghas guitar video a look below!



And finally for today, here's this week's classic video! With the Fuck The Facts show going down TONIGHT, it made sense to focus on one of the bands playing at tonight's show, and Shit Liver seemed like a good candidate! The prominent local grimecore trio have been a frequent sight locally since their 2010 inception, and one of their earlier concerts had filming done for their Facebook page last year, that being the 5th Roosevelt Hotel metal night on January 20th, 2011! One video with this song from this show is already online, but this week's classic video is of the guys playing their original song "Sewer Livin'" at that show. It's got nice audio quality, but the filmer definitely did not have much of a stable angle to shoot, and the camera is frequently rattled or dips down to shoot the floor. If anything, it captures the mosh pit better than Shit Liver themselves, but they tore up this quick original song well, as usual! It was originally uploaded to Facebook at http://facebook.com/photo.php?v=495845419822 (though I've since brightened the video) and NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED!!! All credit for this video goes to Shit Liver & the original filmer, I'm just trying to share this video with a deserving wider audience! This is a fun video of a chaotitc Shit Liver concert, and if you like their crusty death metal, you'll definitely like this video, so give it a look below!



That's all for today, but I'll see you guys at The Canadian TONIGHT for Fuck The Facts, Garden of Bedlam, and much more! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Nudge), LemmaFest Lineup News, And More From Theatre Of Night!!

Sault Michigan's had a lot of news lately, and that trend continues this morning with this post full of news and notes from across the river! We've got the latest news from a local metal project, all of the latest details (including an early lineup) for a major upcoming concert festival, and leading things off, some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, so here's what you need to know!

Marquette hard rock quartet Nudge are finally coming back to Sault Michigan for a pair of concerts next weekend! These talented local favourites will return to The Satisfied Frog for their first local shows in almost six months on May 4th and 5th, in what should be a solid weekend of hard rocking covers! Notably, these shows will be Nudge's first local stops since drummer Eric Schlumpf left the band in December, having been twice replaced since then, so welcome new drummer Jed Thibeault to the Nudge fold next weekend! As well, the band will have some new merchandise for sale, and frontman Danzo McCracken will bring his acoustic solo concert back to The Frog tomorrow night as well, so keep that in mind! Admission should be free for both of next weekend's shows, you must be 21 to attend either, and there'll be 10:00 PM start times. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Nudge were almost last seen in February at The Frog, but those dates were later moved to Gladstone, so if you've been missing Nudge's prolific and entertaining hard rock covers, you know when and where to be! They'll be sure to rock the house and impress their local fanbase, so circle the return of Nudge on your calendars if you're across the river!

Next up, the lineup for this year's second annual LemmaFest has been announced! The festival in memory of late Dondee Lanes employee Michael Lemma now has a full lineup set for the July 23rd festival outside of the Dondee, and though I'm sure it's subject to change (last year's changed a lot beforehand), there's a solid lineup of veterans from last year and some new bands and talent, so here's who to look out for on the current schedule! The festival will open at 12:00 PM with Brimley metal quartet Half A Man in their first live concert appearance in 13 months, and their first with their current lineup! They were tentatively lined up for last year's event at one point, but with a hard hitting metal sound a Lemma tribute song in their setlist, they'll be the perfect band to open LemmaFest on June 23rd! They'll be followed by the new local acoustic quartet The London Gentlemen at 1:30 PM, who are comprised of Fallen Heroes' members Mike Russo & Steve Sivret on vocals & guitar and Trail's End bandmates Kyle Beaumont & Jake LaLonde on bass & drums. You may recognize Mike & Steve alone from their set with Fallen Heroes at last year's LemmaFest, but the presence of a fuller lineup (and Nixxon Dixxon alumni) shouldn't indicate a radically different sound from Fallen Heroes, so expect some proficient indie rock covers from these guys!

Four straight bands from last year's LemmaFest will follow The London Gentlemen on June 23rd, those being sporadically seen local metal trio Scofflaw at 3:00 PM, local hard rock quartet Powerslug (who were known as River Witch last year) at 4:30 PM, the page and media-less rock band known as Bucksaw (featuring Blind Baby alum Bill Ogston) at 6:00 PM, and Munising hardcore metal quintet Infathom (this year's only band from outside the Sault Michigan area) at 7:30 PM. It's great to see these bands back for more LemmaFest action this year, and in most cases, it's been many months since they've played a publically announced concert locally so this is as good a time as any for them to rock the area! The outdoor portion will end with new local cover rock quartet Chump Change (fronted by 2PumpChump's Terry Talentino from last year's LemmaFest) at 9:00 PM, while one more band from last year (classic rock cover trio The Hixx) will be on at the exact same time inside the Dondee to close out the night. Remember that this lineup is subject to change, and bands & times could change for varying reasons, so stay tuned to LemmaFest pages and the SMS for updates, and for more details, check out the above links and the brand new Facebook event page!

This sounds like a very solid lineup of familiar and new bands from the area, and if you attended last year's LemmaFest, it should be just as entertaining! Note that the band total is 8 rather than 10 from last year, but this does likely give each band slightly longer sets, so that works out! Also, for trivia sake, note that 4 musicians (Barney Gravelle, Ivan Schliska, Dillion Semasky, and Jason VanLuven) are all in two of the bands this year, if returning band lineups are the same, which is awesome to see their hard work for in Mike's memory! There will be food, drink specials, and raffles at this year's event, and though official sources haven't confirmed age limits or admission costs yet, note that last year's LemmaFest was all ages with $10 admission. Also, a fundraising event/band camp will be held on May 29th at the Taco Bell in Sault Michigan with part of the proceeds going to LemmaFest and the cause, so click here for info on that evening's event! This is all shaping up well for this year's event for sure, so stay tuned for more updates as they roll in, and go honour Mike Lemma's memory with some great music on June 23rd at the Dondee!

And finally, here's some more recent updates from local classical metal band Theatre of Night! First off, they have officially confirmed that German musician Gaby Koss is their new singer for the project, and she'll be featured in a re-release of their debut album "Christmas Night" later this year, along with an additional release projected to come out by early next year. I'm not overly familiar with her work, but she has experience in both opera and metal settings, and she has a beautiful voice for sure, so click here to hear some of her past work! Among other recent news: A new instrumental song named "Dreams of Winter Night" was posted onto the band's Reverbnation page, which has a nice epic orchestral feel, and I recently heard from keyboardist Craig Harrison that their planned American patriotic-themed album is only planned to be finished in May, not released that quickly. No matter what though, I'm anticipating their next work, as they're definitely a unique band in the local scene, and I'm a sucker for orchestral influences in metal, so fingers crossed more updated and material come out soon! Check the above links for more, and stay tuned hopefully by this weekend for my review of End of Existence's debut album!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews later tonight, and our (delayed) Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile TOMORROW! Thanks everyone!