More Of This Weekend's Hard Rock & Punk Concert Previews!!

As promised, here's part #2 of this weekend's hard rock/punk concert previews, covering previously announced shows tonight and tomorrow night across the Twin Saults and area (minus The Nameless, check back tonight or tomorrow morning). Here's what else you should know!

We'll resume our previews in St. Ignace, Michigan, where Traverse City classic metal trio Peril will return to the stage TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT at The Northern Pines Lounge at their Kewadin Casino branch! You don't see bands returning to a Kewadin lounge this soon for another weekend engagement very often, but this weekend's shows will be Peril's first at the St. Ignace casino's lounge in just two weeks, so if you're ready for more of Jeff & crew's hard rocking cover attack (or missed them last month), you won't want to miss tonight and/or tomorrow night's action! It's too soon to know when they or their sister band Scarkazm will return to the E.U.P., but neither are scheduled again at the St. Ignace or Soo Kewadins until at least the fall. Note that a comment on their promotional image on their Facebook page implies that the casino was advertising locals Tarnished as playing St. Ignace weekend, so what's that about?

As best as I can tell, that was a mix-up with physical advertising at the St. Ignace branch, as Tarnished are indeed playing at The Northern Pines Lounge next weekend. While Peril replied that "there were a couple of schedule changes", our coverage has always went off of online advertising, which always had Peril this weekend and Tarnished following them. Visit the above links for more on Peril's last local concerts of the summer, and for a preview of these shows, here they are live!

Next up, we'll head north to Sault Ontario, where local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations will return to Jay's Piston Broke Pub for concerts TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! Like Peril, these shows come just two weeks removed from their prior shows at the same venue, so west enders and regulars at the former Roosevelt Hotel will want to keep their return in mind! Generations are in the middle of a string of concerts on consecutive weekends during this busy summer slate, with their next show after this being at Rotaryfest Stage 1 this coming Thursday. This weekend's shows should be a good warm-up, if not nearly as warm given that they'll be indoors this weekend compared to Rotaryfest! Yes, Generations filled in as jam night hosts at Jay's yesterday as well, the second time they have done so since Soundcheck stepped down as the regular weekly hosts last month. Hopefully that went well for all involved!

Like two weeks ago, this weekend's concerts are 9:30 PM affairs with 19+ age limits and no cover charges. Visit the above links for more details on Generations' Jay's return this weekend, stay tuned for their Rotaryfest return on Thursday, and here they are live!

Also this weekend, if you crave some original and/or punk music, Napanee, Ontario ska punk band Master Nate & The Reprobates will deliver that in spades TOMORROW NIGHT when they make their local debut at Soo Blaster! A relatively newer band who are currently in the late stages of a suite of eight album releases, their up-tempo ska punk stylings, raspy vocals, and strong lyrics should draw sub-genre fans downtown tomorrow, so don't bypass their brand of "rock revolution" then! You may also recognize Master Nate & crew from sharing the stage with locals The Northwest at The Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto in April 2023. However, your local openers tomorrow night are local skate punk trio (quartet?) Vanity First, who last rocked Soo Blaster in April for the "Identity Crisis" release party. Good to see everyone back on the big stage tomorrow, and as Mikhal's bands are not at Rotaryfest this year, keep this show in mind if you want to see them!

This 19+ concert has $10 admission at the door or via advance ticket sales on Soo Blaster's website, and doors open at 9:00 PM. Visit the official Facebook event page for more on tomorrow's punk action, and for a preview, here's Master Nate & The Reprobates live!

Finally, let's close things back in the E.U.P., as Sault Michigan hard/blues rock quartet Project 906 will continue the "summer of 906" when they return to The Well Diggers Watering Hole & Feed Lot in nearby Kinross TOMORROW NIGHT! Fans may recall seeing Billy, Joe, Dustin, and Jason at The Well Diggers' outdoor stage last summer, and they'll be back there tomorrow in a rare hard rock concert at this Kinross nightclub/restaurant (remember that Exit 808's planned debut there last month was cancelled for unannounced reasons). Hopefully tomorrow's concert is a big hit for Project 906, and that there's a solid turnout! Note that there will be a 50/50 draw and food specials as well. Everything takes place at 3047 West M-80 in Kinross tomorrow night at 8:00 PM, and there is no announced cover charge. Weather-wise, The Weather Channel is calling for sunny to clear skies tomorrow night, and they should beat the rain forecast scheduled for early Sunday morning.

Temperatures tomorrow evening are projected to range from 71-80° Fahrenheit (21-26° Celsius), so it should be a warm evening for summer lovers. Visit the official Facebook event page for more on Project 906's Kinross return tomorrow, and for a preview of the hard rock action in store, here's 906 live at The Well Diggers last year!

That's all for now, but look for our Nameless preview and more next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Master Nate & The Reprobates), Plus New Videos!!

Here's a new news post to check out on this Tuesday morning, and it includes a bunch of new videos from the last little while, and leading off, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next month, so here's what you should know!

Napanee, Ontario ska punk band Master Nate & The Reprobates will make their local concert debut on Saturday, July 13th when they headline at Soo Blaster! A prolific band who has quickly made a name for themselves in the 2020s with a planned eight album suite currently in the home stretch for its release schedule, Master Nate & crew's upbeat but in-your-face brand of original punk rock should be more than welcomed to Soo Blaster next month! While this will be M.N.R.'s first local appearance, fans of The Northwest may recognize them from the two bands sharing the stage at The Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto in April of last year. However, a different local band will open on July 13th, namely skate punk trio Vanity First in their... first Soo Blaster stop since their "Identity Crisis" release party in April. Hopefully the guys (and Carmen?) deliver a strong night of originals and covers for punk fans at Soo Blaster next month!

Doors open at 9:00 PM for this presumably 19+ concert, and admission will be $10. You can buy advance tickets on Soo Blaster's website, and possibly in person there or via Vanity First members (it has not been publically confirmed whether admission at the door will be higher or not). Add another quality punk concert on the 2024 calendar for fans of Mikhal Muto-featured bands, so definitely visit the above links for more on next month's action!

Next up, here's the latest from new local metal duo Hollow Sky, who quietly released their second single "Burn Away" on May 24th on "all platforms"! They actually mean that it's on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Deezer, Boomplay, and as embedded below via their YouTube Music channel. No Bandcamp (among others), so it's definitely not on "all" platforms, but it's easy enough to find! Nice technical metal sound here from ex-Uncanny Valley bassist Adam Fahrer, and singer Liam Tallon seems to be showing more of a nu-metal influence here with pseudo-rapped chorus vocals, which is certainly not something heard much nowadays! Good stuff with solid production, so check it out for yourselves below!

Also, let's go back to Vanity First (well, 2⁄3rds of them) for one more new video of their sister band Ha!ls' headlining concert at The Distraction on May 19th! This was uploaded to the band's Facebook page ten days later, and features the guys (and a mostly obscured Carmen Muto on guest guitar) playing their song "Nowhere Wolf", which closed their debut EP "Rock And Rolls". Unfortunately, this video is both vertically shot and only 25 seconds long, but Hails sound good and intense as you'd hope for the duration, and the filmer did pan around late to let fans see more of the barbershop's unique interior, so give it a watch below!

We'll close with two new videos from prolific local hard rock solo musician Mike McCleary, who posted two rare videos onto his Facebook page over the winter, and by "rare", I mean actual videos with him on camera! On January 7th, he dug deep to post this video from a performance at the former Bawating Collegiate & Vocational School in 2003, where he and unidentified friends covered Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" before Mike played a guitar solo. Yes, that's Mike with the afro! He didn't specify when in 2003 this was shot, but I started grade 9 at Bawating that September, so if it was from late that year, I very well may have been in the cafeteria to watch! Mike and crew sound good, if unpolished here, and given that the video is 21 years old, I think you can excuse the soft visuals to an extent. Embedded below is a much newer video from December of last year featuring Mike nowadays, so what should you know there?

While Mike didn't have much of an update at the time on his current musical exploits (and hasn't had one since), he admitted to forgetting to post this when he first filmed it, and the 28 second clip sees Mike covering "Pretty As You Please" by the 1990s southern hard rock band Cry Of Love. It's mirrored and the camera glare from the window doesn't help the visuals, but Mike's guitar talent is clear as day here, and hopefully we hear more from him soon! Check out Mike in 2003 and 2023 above and below!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site in the coming days! Thanks everyone!