LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Night Ranger) & Recent Videos & Updates From Sault Michigan!

Kicking off our busiest week of the year is an all-Sault Michigan news post, including an inactive band note, new videos, and more, but leading off, here's a big LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for this fall!

San Francisco hair metal/hard rock quintet Night Ranger will return to Sault Michigan for a headlining concert on Friday, October 3rd at The Dreammakers Theater at the local Kewadin Casino! Hair Scare diehards and 1980s rock fans will have last seen Night Ranger way back in September 2013, and in the 12 years since, they have released three new albums and replaced guitarist Joel Hoekstra with Keri Kelli. Of course, their classic hit singles like "Sister Christian", "Don't Tell Me You Love Me", and "Sentimental Street" remain staples of their setlist, and here's hoping they deliver another entertaining night of rock in three months! Your openers are Santa Monica glam rock duo Nelson (best known for their hits "(Can't Live Without Your) Love and Affection"  & "After The Rain") in their apparent local debut, but their set in October will be unplugged, so keep that angle in mind in terms of how their classic material will sound this fall!

And yes, don't forget that the Nelson twins are the sons of Ricky Nelson and the grandsons of Ozzie & Harriet Nelson (quite a lineage!). Presented by Rock 101, this all ages concert has an 8:00 PM start time, and admission will start at $60 (much higher than in 2013, but there's been 12 years of inflation since). Public tickets go on sale on Friday, so click here for details on that end, including on VIP packages and meet & greets. Ticket offers will also be made on air on Rock 101 for early birds tuning in, and you can also get tickets from Friday onward at 1-800-KEWADIN or at the in-person box office. This should be another retro rock blast for you hair metal lovers, so visit the above links for more details on this huge show!

Next up, it's been way too long since I've talked about local hard rock cover band Exit 808 on here, so what have they been up to in the past few weeks? Well, before some of that, the band shared a "Reel" on on their Facebook page on June 9th from their set at Drewpalooza 2 in Republic in June of last year (their debut gig with co-vocalist Dillion Semasky). Shot by attendee Courtney Johnson, the video sees everyone (sans Amy and plus a guest backing vocalist) covering Pantera's "Walk" with strong enthusiasm and intensity! Of course, "Reels" are vertical, unembeddable, and unplayable in background tabs, so click here to give it a watch! Exit 808's next proper concert took place at the Walloon Junction Bar & Grill in Walloon Lake on June 14th, which saw the return of Blaze Beairl on bass after he missed their last few gigs dating back to the spring. However, guitarist Alex Zimmerman was on vacation (hopefully that went well!), so who filled in for him?

None other than Project 906 guitarist Joe Jenkins, so kudos to him for making the 2 hour drive for this gig! Former guitarist Nathan Webber also made the trip to fill in on second guitar, while members of Elmira hard rock band Driving Dawn (who played with Exit 808 at the Musicians Unite fundraiser in March) joined in as guests on a few songs here. Two videos were uploaded from the Walloon Lake concert, including this vertical clip of the guys covering the end of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Freebird" (look at Joe's guitar solo!), but embedded below is a horizontal video of Exit 808 covering Rage Against The Machine's "Killing In The Name" with Driving Dawn's Danny Grim on guest vocals alongside Dillion (Amy doesn't sing in either clip). While this is by far Rage's most overplayed single, Exit 808 and guests do a good job with this cover, and the rustic cabin motif adds an extra something!

Good stuff from this talented (if well travelled) local band, and if you were wondering why we didn't cover their Merchants Bar show in the Soo yesterday, it's because it was cancelled due to Dillion and Alex having schedule conflicts relating to their day jobs, as per Exit 808's Facebook page on Wednesday. Disappointing for fans (if productive the other way), but unless a new booking is made, their next truly local dates will be at the St. Ignace Kewadin at the start of August, so look for everyone then! Give these new Exit 808 videos a watch above & below, and stay tuned for more!

Finally for today's all-E.U.P. post, we have a band to surprisingly remove from our active band links, namely local hard rock quartet Dirty Musky. A reason for their apparent demise wasn't publically announced, but their Facebook (and only known online) page was quietly deleted at some point in recent months, which is historically a poor sign for a local band's status. Aside from that, drummer Jamie Costner recently joined The Nameless, who have been playing live more regularly as of late anyway. Publically active for just under two years, Dirty Musky united Jamie with Clownsack and 415E alumni into a talented four-piece with lots of entertaining and sometimes unexpected covers dating back to their debut(?) at the Government Bay Barge Bash in 2023. We had last heard of Dirty Musky publically at the Musicians Unite benefit at Bird's Eye Outfitters in March. Hopefully nothing too serious happened, and that we hear more from Dave, Fran, and Brett soon!

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

Musicians Unite Fallout & Videos (Part 2!!)

In today's post, let's continue our fallout from the Musicians Unite fundraiser concert for Mary Jo Jenkins at Bird's Eye Outfitters on March 22nd! We'll pick things back up with local hard rock band Exit 808, whose guest musician-laden set last month was also captured for guest singer Molly Escherich's Facebook page via two different videos. One is a longer alternate take of the band (plus Molly, guest guitarist Joe Jenkins, and guest bassist Bob Libick) covering Evanescence's "Bring Me To Life", confirming here that co-lead singer Amy Beach did start the song before Molly took over lead vocals. While it is good to see the full rendition on video, let alone horizontally shot, I'm not embedding it here because it was still pillarboxed into vertical dimensions, making the video tiny, and I'll never quite get how that happens. The other video was uploaded in full landscape dimensions, and it's their rocked-up cover of Rihanna & Eminem's "Monster", so what is there to see?

Once again, Amy started the cover before ceding the floor to Molly, with co-singer Dillion Semasky obviously handling the Eminem parts. This atypical cover has become a regular in Exit 808's sets, and they do a good job with it, and while Molly does have some unsteadiness early, she puts her vocal range to good use here! The angled view to the stage's right gives a unique perspective of the proceedings compared to other videos that I have came across too, so check the new Exit 808 + Molly videos out above & below!

Next up, we'll stay with Molly for a second, as clips from her three between-bands acoustic sets were included in a Facebook video of her own! Unfortunately, it was uploaded as a "Reel", complete with a hard-coded caption at the bottom, so it is vertical, unplayable in background tabs, and unembeddable on the SMS. The "Reel" features a few clips from the day's events, including Molly covering Eddie Rabbitt's "Driving My Life Away" and Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down" (she does have range!), shredding with About:Blank guitarist/Other Guys bandmate Nathan Webber (I don't know if this was during the band's set or hers), and playing the bass during her final set, while clips of the two aforementioned Exit 808 videos were also included. My complaints about "Reels" aside, this is a well done teaser of what Molly has to offer musically, and given her age, she has a very bright future ahead, so click here to see the whole thing!

While photos from their set were posted to their Facebook page, local hard rock quartet Dirty Musky did not post any of their own videos. The only public one that I have seen is in a comment reply on Project 906's Facebook page from this post on March 24th, which captures Dave, the Blackwoods, and Jamie covering The Barenaked Ladies' "The Old Apartment". Nice to see a Sault Michigan band covering The Ladies, and the 30 seconds-long clip is lively and melodic while it lasts! I can't embed videos posted directly in Facebook comments here. As for Project 906 proper, they were very central to Musicians Unite, given that guitarist Joe Jenkins is Mary Jo's husband, so their family were definitely feeling the good vibes and well wishes at Bird's Eye! Unfortunately, singer Billy Bernier was on vacation during the show's timeframe, so 906 called in the aforementioned Amy Beach and Dillion Semasky to fill in on vocals for their set, 

Project 906's Facebook page posted a (sadly vertical) video of them covering Candlebox's "Far Behind" with Dillion on vocals, and yes, frequent guest hand drummer Brian Duford was also performing here. The minute-long clip was shot at a good angle despite the orientation, and Dillion really nails the vocals! Project 906 fans will have nothing to worry about on this cover despite Billy's absence, and you get a good view of everyone rocking out while it lasts, so check out this cover for yourselves below!

Finally, the other known public Project 906 video comes from Amy's Facebook upload of official photographer John Bullman's media from Musicians Unite, this time capturing the band, Brian, and Dillion again covering "Far Behind". What are the odds that both John and the band's own filmer would capture the same song? While still vertical, John's video is arguably better thanks to a higher quality camera, a slightly longer run-time, and a closer angle of the stage, especially to Dillion's benefit. Compare and contrast both of Project 906's Candlebox covers above & below!

We'll have more videos and fallout from Musicians Unite, particularly from About:Blank's set, in an upcoming post, so stay tuned for that and more on the site soon! Thanks everyone!

The Musicians Unite Benefit Concert Preview!!

A huge assortment of local and Northern Michigan rock talent will join forces at Bird's Eye Outfitters TOMORROW NIGHT for Musicians Unite, a special benefit concert! As you may know, Project 906 guitarist Joe Jenkins' wife Mary Jo has been in a fight with breast cancer for the past year+, and this event is to raise money for her and her family to offset the cost of treatments and medically-related travel downstate. Along with tomorrow's concert action, there will be official t-shirts available for purchase, a bake sale, and a silent auction on site at Bird's Eye, so visit the official Facebook event page for complete non-musical details on what's going on and how you can help May Jo and family at this difficult time! Your headliners tomorrow are Marquette hard rock cover quartet Spun in their first local concert appearance since 2022, though bassist Bob Libick has guested locally with Exit 808 multiple times since.

It's cool to have Spun proper back on a local stage tomorrow at 10:45 PM, and hopefully they rock the house tomorrow, especially given that they're letting the opening bands use their sound system! Elmira hard rock quintet Driving Dawn will co-headline at 9:00 PM in their first ever E.U.P. concert appearance, though Exit 808 fans may know them too, as they won last year's Rock Recovery battle of the bands in Alpena. Driving Dawn's skilled modern rock sound should be welcomed by Yoopers tomorrow night as well! The aforementioned Exit 808 are the highest slotted local band at 7:30 PM, and members Amy Beach & Jackie Moon are the promoters of Musicians Unite as well. Should be a big set for them, and given how open they are to have guest and fill-in musicians, could some surprises turn up? One is definitely hinted, as young Dafter singer/guitarist Molly Escherich is listed as making "appearances" mid-set.

Whether just the band, with Molly, or with other guests, Exit 808 should leave a good impression with their double vocalist-led hard rock! Fellow local hard rock quartet Dirty Musky will take the stage at 6:00 PM with their own set of unique hard and alternative covers, and they should make some noise early in the evening, as will hard/blues rockers Project 906, who are (of course) one of the central bands tomorrow given who Mary Jo is married to. Unfortunately, the band will be playing sans singer Billy Bernier due to a previously scheduled vacation, but Exit 808 singers Amy Beach and Dillion Semasky will be guesting behind the mic with 906, returning the favour after both Joe & Dustin have sat in with Exit 808 in recent months, so look for this special set tomorrow as well! The opening local band is new alt-punk trio About: Blank (featuring Tarnished and Midnight Logic alumni), who will kick off the day's musical program at 3:00 PM.

As for the previously teased acoustic performers between the full band sets, organizers confirmed earlier today that three solo musicians will do the honours across the five breaks between bands. The aforementioned Molly Escherich (who was teased to guest with Exit 808) is slated to play unplugged music at 10:15 PM, 7:00 PM, and 4:00 PM, while veteran local folk singer/guitarist Kevin Blakeney is blocked for a mini-set at 8:30 PM, and About:Blank frontman Parker Talentino will go solo for a bit of his own at 5:30 PM. Admission is by donation tomorrow night, and while I have not seen a firmly stated age limit at Bird's Eye (which is licensed), Molly's presence alone is noted. Official event t-shirts will also be on sale. While I won't be in attendance (I was hoping to go before the tariff/trade war complicated imminent Sault Michigan trips), this is a huge concert for EUP live music fans, so don't miss it!

Alas, I can relate all too well to what the Jenkins family is going through right now, as I lost my mother (named Mary, incidentally) to ovarian cancer in October 2020. From what I have seen and read, Mary Jo's strength, courage, and devotion to her family (including her three kids) is extremely commendable, and kudos to Joe, his bandmates, and everyone else involved with Musicians Unite for putting on what will be a packed night of live music and good vibes! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details on tomorrow's benefit concert, and for a preview, here's Spun live!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for some new concert announcements on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (BookcluB) & More St. Patrick's Day Weekend Concert Previews!!

Let's continue this busy stretch of weekend concert previews on this Friday night! Due to a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT hitting the news desk earlier today, we will have to extend things into a third post, so our preview of tomorrow's HeadFirst concert will be in tomorrow's post, hopefully making it on the site sooner rather than later. Now, here's what you should know for more of tomorrow's live hard rock/punk concert action!

Local alternative punk cover sextet BookcluB will play their first announced public concert of 2025 TOMORROW NIGHT at The Kiln at Searchmont Resort! Apologies for the short notice, the band only announced this show via their Facebook page earlier today, but it was quietly announced on Searchmont's website's events calendar earlier this month. TOMORROW'S show will be BookcluB's first announced gig since the Illuminate The Season fundraiser in November, so if you've missed this horn section-infused supergroup's unexpected array of covers over the winter, keep TOMORROW'S concert in mind if you're up for a drive to Searchmont! No word on if there will be St. Patrick's Day themes or frills TOMORROW, but Bookclub are effectively the night cap for Searchmont's end-of-March-Break party, which features various family entertainment, prizes if you wear plaid or denim, and a barbecue. 

To that end, The Kiln will actually be hosting two distinct concerts TOMORROW, with cover rock band The Boat Dads playing a matinee gig from 3:00-5:00 PM, but they're not "opening" for BookcluB, whose set doesn't begin until 8:00 PM. There isn't a stated age limit at Searchmont's on-site restaurant and concert venue, and there is no cover charge beyond what you might be paying to hit the slopes. With spring coming faster and faster, hopefully BookcluB have a strong set TOMORROW at Searchmont, so visit the above links for more details, and here they are live!

Next up, let's head across to Sault Michigan and the E.U.P. for more concerts in an unusually busy weekend for hard rock bands, and we'll start at Three One Three On Ashmun, where three hard rock/punk will join forces TOMORROW NIGHT for The Shamrock Show! However, this event has seen a late lineup change from initial advertising on the bands' social media, as local hard rock/classic metal band Tarnished are not playing tomorrow due to being booked at the Manistique Kewadin Casino this weekend instead. We'll see Tarnished locally again soon, but they have since been replaced by Munising classic/hard rock cover quintet The Sky Pilots, who I don't recall ever playing in the Soo previously. How that came together over finding another local band, I have no clue, but The Sky Pilots are a talented band with a good handle on some heavier hits, and it'll be interesting to see how they go over at the former Back Door!

2023 LSSU battle of the bands-winning punk trio The Sole Aggressors (here's their teased setlist) and new local punk trio About:Blank (featuring two former Tarnished members) will round out tomorrow's stacked lineup, and you should get a nice selection of rock subgenres from the touring band and the locals! Beyond the posters, no word on what level of St. Patrick's Day theming will be on hand at Three One Three, but this is a 21+ event with a $10 cover charge, and doors open at 7:00 PM. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and for a preview, here's The Sky Pilots live!

From one show featuring a band at next week's Musicians Unite benefit concert (About:Blank) to another, let's take a brief detour a half hour south west to Brimley, where local hard rock cover band Exit 808 will return to The Back Bay Grill & Games at Bay Mills Resort & Casino TOMORROW NIGHT! After a month's break from public concerts, this will be Exit 808's first stop at "your perfect up north retreat" since debuting there four months ago, and it will notably mark the first time that Heavy Lies The Crown drummer Blaze Beairl has played a full four-set concert with the band as opposed to playing partial sets or guest spots. However, the band has clarified that Blaze will actually be playing rhythm guitar tomorrow, not bass. To fill that open position, Exit 808 have recruited Project 906 bassist Dustin Paras to handle the low end at The Back Bay Grill, as per their Facebook page, which should work well for their sound tomorrow night!

Of course, Exit 808's singers Amy Beach and Dillion Semasky will be filling in for 906's set at Musicians Unite, so it's nice of Dustin to return to the favour! The double vocalist-led hard rock cover attack commences at Bay Mills tomorrow at 9:00 PM with a 21+ age limit and no announced cover charge. St. Patrick's Day wise, the Brimley casino will have a seasonal dinner special on Monday but I have seen no direct Irish links for the Exit 808 concert from the band nor grill. See above for more on Exit 808's concert tomorrow, and for a preview, here they are live last year!

Finally for weekend concert preview post #2, we'll head back to the Soo, where local hard rock cover quintet Dirty Musky will return to The Merchants Bar for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT! Another band taking part in next week's Musicians United benefit, this will be Dave, the Blackwoods, and Jamie's first concert since rocking the Les Cheneaux Islands Snowsfest pub crawl last month, and their first concert in Sault Ste. Marie of the year, last playing at The Merch in December. Fans should take to Dirty Musky's hard rocking tunes and fun energy when they rock The Merch on Saturday, so keep this show in mind when planning your weekend! The West Spruce Street nightclub will be throwing a St. Patrick's Day party on Monday, but aside from branding in the band's poster for tomorrow, I have not found finite seasonal frills or activities taking place at The Merch tomorrow (that doesn't mean there won't be any, of course).

Everything goes down tomorrow at 9:00 PM with a 21+ age limit and no cover charge. Always good to see Dirty Musky rocking out on a local stage, so consider swinging by The Merch for all of the action! Visit the above links for more details, and here's everyone live earlier this year!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site tomorrow, including the HeadFirst preview! Thanks everyone!

A New Local Metal Band & New Videos From Both Sides Of The Border!!

Let's clear out some more of our news backlog on this Wednesday night, and today's video-heavy post will go some ways towards that on both sides of the border! Just to clarify given national news, we're not going to stop covering Sault Michigan/the E.U.P. due to tariffs/a trade war. None of that is the fault of local musicians, and I want the Twin Saults to have stronger connections, not weaker ones. Now, here's what you should know!

We have a new local death metal/grindcore project to add to our Sault Ontario band links, namely Three Grind Mice! Obviously a play on the nursery rhyme "Three Blind Mice", this is a new project from prolific local indie label Blood Shed Productions, one of their few brand new acts post-pandemic. I'm unsure if the band literally has three members or if it's a solo project, and while performer credits aren't given on their social media accounts, Blood Shed head Tyler Gibson (best known from Crucify The Whore and Rotopsy) has been sharing their content online, and he has multi-instrumental talent. The project is represented on social media by photos and brief animations of plush mice playing instruments, and so far, none of their music samples have vocals. Will the "mice" sing in death growls, and would they do the pitch-shifted chipmunk thing? An untitled & 92 seconds-long instrumental can be heard on their Bandcamp page.

That recording includes a brief cover of Gut's "Gia Paloma" plus an original song in progress, but embedded below is a drum sample clip from their new YouTube channel featuring one of the "mice" drumming on camera, and the emphasis suggests that they do have live drumming rather than programmed percussion (the video description credits the drummer as "Johnny Town-Mouse", a'la the Beatrix Potter character). It's too soon to accurately gauge 3GM, but there's promise there for fans of grindcore music! Vocals will definitely play a role into perception, let alone how far they take the mice conceit, but check them out for yourselves below!

Next up, the second advance single from reunited local emo band Fuller's upcoming sophomore album "II" was posted onto their YouTube channel on Friday! This time, the chosen song is "Kerosene", which they revealed on their Facebook page was "one of the last songs (that) we wrote as a band". For context, they disbanded originally in 2005, and by then, the band noted that "we were getting away from the midwestern emo stuff, and leaning more into post-hardcore and psych-rock". I'll hold comment on the song for now pending our eventual review of the album upon its release in "early 2025", but if the description piques your interest (or you loved/miss Fuller), check out "Kerosene" below, and look for the album soon!

Let's head south to Sault Michigan to wrap up this post, and we'll start with local hard rock cover quartet Dirty Musky, who rocked The Islander Bar in Hessel for the Les Cheneaux Islands Snowsfest's pub crawl on February 7th, and drummer Jamie Costner shared five videos from said gig to her personal Facebook page two days later, with the band subsequently sharing them on their own Facebook page. The videos (uploaded in a batch post and not individually) include Dirty Musky covering Tool's "Sober", A Perfect Circle's "Judith", guitarist Fran Blackwood playing a guitar solo, and Breaking Benjamin's "So Cold", which was filmed in two partial chunks (the longer first part is below, the second is linked here). All are short and vertical clips, but the band sounds good tackling some songs that you don't hear often in the E.U.P.. and Dave's voice holds up well for the most part, so give these videos a watch above & below, and look for more from them soon!

Finally for today, here's a new song from local metal solo project X's & Y's' YouTube channel! Entitled "Face The Moon, Forgive The Stars", this 7+ minute original track was actually uploaded twice on Valentine's Day, both in a version with vocals and a version without! The one with vocals (their first such song) is embedded below, but click here to check out the instrumental copy. This is a full-on doom metal song that drone-inclined fans are going to take to, and while it's not lyrically verbose, Jason gets the point across with processed and well layered aggressive vocals. It may take adjusting the video's speed to really make things out, but it's an impressive diversion, if an acquired taste, so check out X's & Y's' new song below!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews on the site next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Musicians Unite Benefit & Dirty Musky!!)

We have a fair backlog of news items to clear out on the SMS as we begin March 2025, so let's start with an all-Sault Michigan post solely devoted to LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for later this month. Here's what you should know!

Local hard rock cover quartet Dirty Musky will rock The Merchants Bar on Saturday, March 15th! This one-nighter will be their second show of 2025 (after rocking Hessel during Snowsfest last month), and their first gig in the Soo since playing at The Merch right before Christmas. Like in their last two concerts, the festivities in two weeks have a theme, as March 15th falls a couple of days before St. Patrick's Day, so in lieu of a Monday nighter, expect bands to take advantage of the 15th for their Irish themed festivities and green beer! We await specifics on what The Merch/Dirty Musky have in mind though. You can see Dave, the Blackwoods, and Jamie take the stage that night at 9:00 PM with a 21+ age limit and no cover charge. Visit the above links for more details on what should be a fun night of hard rocking tunes, but we're not done with Dirty Musky yet, as they've got one more booking this month in the Soo..

One week later, on Saturday, March 22nd, a huge lineup of rock bands will join forces at Bird's Eye Outfitters for a special cause! As some of you may know, Project 906 guitarist Joe Jenkins' wife Mary Jo has been diagnosed with breast cancer, which she has been battling for the past year. To help offset the expenses that her treatments and travel downstate have incurred on her family while she's not working, local musicians are hosting the Musicians Unite benefit concert at Bird's Eye to raise funds for the Jenkins family at this difficult time. Having lost my mother (named Mary, incidentally) to ovarian cancer in 2020, I completely sympathize with Mary Jo and her family as this fight continues, and I hope that this concert goes a fair way to helping the Jenkins clan through this! Entry for this benefit concert will be via donation (I don't know if it's 21+ or not), and a silent auction will also take place.

A huge lineup of six bands will be headlined on the 22nd by Marquette hard rock cover quartet Spun in their first local date since 2022, though bassist Bob Libick will be familiar to local fans for his frequent appearances as a guest fill-in bassist with Exit 808 in the past year. Great to see Spun proper back in town later this month! They're on at 10:45 PM, while your co-headliners at 9:00 PM are Elmira hard rock quintet Driving Dawn in their local debut. While we haven't seen them on stage yet here, readers may recognize Driving Dawn from winning the Rock Recovery battle of the bands in Alpena last year, which featured the aforementioned Exit 808 as competitors, so it's nice to see past coverage get further local links! Exit 808 (who are promoting this event) are the highest slotted local band in their first gig since the I-500 weekend, and will take the stage at 7:30 PM. Kudos to Amy & Jackie for putting this on!

The poster heavily implies that rising young Dafter singer/guitarist Molly Escherich will be making "appearances" during Exit 808's set, so keep an eye out for Molly rocking out with a new set of "other guys"! The aforementioned Dirty Musky are blocked for 6:00 PM at Bird's Eye, while Project 906 proper will play their first Sault Ste. Marie gig of 2025 at 4:30 PM. Odd that they're so early in the night given the benefit's inspiration, but it'll surely be an emotional one for Joe in particular, and hopefully they have a strong set! Your openers at 3:00 PM are About:Blank, the new local punk/alternative trio that Yoopers will next be able to see at Three One Three on Ashmun on March 15th. Multi-band events like this are still not all that common in the E.U.P., but that is changing, and given the very important reason for this one, I hope that a huge crowd turns out to support Mary Jo and family and enjoy this lineup! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Dodge This) & Weekend Concert Previews!!

Let's dive head first into this weekend's hard rock concert previews on this Thursday night! Due to the amount of shows this weekend, I'll hold our preview of Saturday night's Bone Yard 225 and About:Blank shows for tomorrow's post. Now, here's what you should know to start the weekend, including a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!

Local acoustic classic/hard rock duo Dodge This will return to The Water Tower Pub TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, we first learned of this booking via the venue's February concert calendar on Monday, though the band did confirm the booking on their Facebook page yesterday. Despite their quiet start to the year on social media, Jason & Jamie (and Jeff?) did rock The Dive last month, perhaps among other gigs that may have happened without online word from their camp before they resurfaced on Facebook this week. Fans of Dodge This' rocking acoustic covers should get a lot to like in their first Water Tower Pub show of the year TOMORROW! This show has a 19+ age limit, no announced cover charge, and an early-ish 8:00 PM start time, while we will address Generations' month-ending show there in an upcoming post. See above for more details, and here's Dodge This live!

Next up, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Silent 9 will help kick off this year's Bon Soo Winter Carnival TOMORROW NIGHT when they rock The Machine Shop! The only SMS-relevant concert taking place at Bon Soo this year, this early highlight on Silent 9's 2025 calendar will see them cap off a day full of family activities & events at the Canal District and elsewhere downtown, so be sure to read the official schedule to get the full scoop on what's going on tomorrow and beyond! Tomorrow's concert takes place from 8:00-10:00 PM indoors at at The Machine Shop, this is an all ages event, and admission is free with your $12 Bon Soo button or $8 jacket tag. If you don't wanna buy yours at the gate, click here for the locations where you can buy them. Silent 9's hard rocking blend of covers should get get Bon Soo off on the right foot, so see above for more details, and here they are live!

Now let's head across the Ontario/Michigan border for some hard rock shows in the E.U.P., starting with local hard rock quartet Dirty Musky's return to The Islander Bar in Hessel TOMORROW NIGHT! If you liked/missed the I-500 pub crawl in the Soo this past weekend, you may want to consider stopping by Hessel and nearby Cedarville tomorrow, as Dirty Musky's show takes place during the annual Les Cheneaux Islands Snowsfest's pub shuffle across nightclubs in the two towns. Last year's pub crawl saw a scavenger hunt across the five participating bars, plus votes on who had the best decorations, costumes, and themed drinks, if 2024's pub shuffle is anything to go by, you can vote on which participating pub has the best decorations, costumes, and cocktails, while also taking part in a scavenger hunt across the locations. Technically, the concert takes place after the 8:00 PM close of the pub shuffle, but why not stay for some live hard rock?

Food specials will also be on tap for attendees at The Islander tomorrow, with Dave, the Blackwoods, and Jamie hitting the Hessel stage at 9:00 PM with a 21+ age limit and no announced cover charge. Hopefully Dirty Musky get a strong turnout from fans and pub crawlers alike for their 2025 kickoff, so visit the above links for more on both this show and Snowsfest in general, and here they are live last year!

Finally, Traverse City metal trio Scarkazm are advertised to return to The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! While not freshly promoted on their Facebook page this week, they posted Facebook event pages last fall to promote the gigs, so they appear to be on as scheduled. These will be the Peril sister band's third and fourth E.U.P. dates of 2025, following shows at the St. Ignace Kewadin over the first weekend of the year, and it will be good to see Adam, Dave, and Jeff unleash their talented blend of hard hitting covers and originals in the Soo for the first time in almost two months this weekend! Tomorrow and Saturday's Scarkazm concerts are standard fare for their Kewadin trips, so expect 9:00 PM start times, no cover charges, and 21+ age limits both nights. Visit the above links for more details on Scarkazm's returns to the Soo this weekend, and here they are live!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for our Bone Yard 225 & About:Blank previews and more next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Dressed To Kiss, Dirty Musky, And Curtis McKenzie), Plus Exit 808 Concert Previews!!

As promised, we're wrapping up this weekend's concert previews with this post, but we also have some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS of an increasing scale to take a look at also, so here's what you should know!

Former Haggith/Project 421 frontman Curtis McKenzie will play his first formal headlining concert of 2025 on Saturday, February 1st at The Dive Gastro Pub, as per his Facebook page! Not counting his turn hosting the former Low & Slow's inaugural Monday jam night earlier this week (not to mention his involvement in the Din reunion at the same venue next week), this will be Curt's first traditional solo headlining gig anywhere since rocking The Dive in early November. No word on why he's been away from the stage for so long for full concerts, but head down to this Queen Street East restaurant and nightclub to hear some "banger tunes" from this hard rock and grunge veteran! As usual for Curtis' shows at The Dive, expect a 9:00 PM start time, 19+ age limit, and no cover charge in two weeks. Visit the above links for more details, and don't miss Curt solo and reuniting with Mike Haggith & The Din next Saturday!

Next up, let's head to nearby Hessel, Michigan, where local hard rock quartet Dirty Musky will return to The Islander Bar for one night only on Friday, February 7th! Making their first live concert appearance of the new year and their first stop at The Islander Bar since Halloween weekend, this concert will coincide with the annual Les Cheneaux Islands Snowsfest and their annual pub shuffle (crawl, if you will) taking place that night at bars in both Hessel and Cedarville. Outside of the music, if 2024's pub shuffle is anything to go by, you can vote on which participating pub has the best decorations, costumes, and themed drinks, while also taking part in a scavenger hunt across the locations. Fun if you're in the area, and Dirty Musky should have some solid hard rock tunes in store that night! For reference, roots rockers The Seth Brown Duo are playing at Snow's in Cedarville during the pub shuffle, and the other bars don't host hard rock acts regularly.

Dirty Musky's "original msusic" (sic) can be enjoyed at The Islander Bar that night at 9:00 PM with a 21+ age limit and no cover charge, and the band has teased having new setlist additions for this event. Visit the above links for more details on Dirty Musky's concert and Snowsfest proper!

Lastly for today's batch of new concerts, have you Kiss Army soldiers been relatively lacking in the past year+, last summer's Ace Frehley show in St. Ignace acknowledged? Well, you will want to circle Saturday, April 5th on your calendar, as Niagara-based Kiss tribute band Dressed To Kiss (or D.T.K.) will make their local debut that night at The Sault Community Theatre Centre! While local fans have seen Toronto-based Destroyer at least six times here in the past decade & a half (most recently in October 2023 at Soo Blaster), Dressed To Kiss will bring their own take on Gene, Paul, Ace, and Peter to local audiences this spring, and from what I have seen of their live show, they have the costumes, staging, and sound to please Kiss fans! You can see for yourself in three months at the former Kiwanis Theatre at White Pines Collegiate, and this show has an 8:00 PM start time.

Tickets run for $53.68 (adults), $42.37 (seniors and students with valid ID) or $16.95 (kids 14 and under) depending on where you apply. Whether you prefer D.T.K. to other Kiss tributes is subjective, but I think this band will appeal to local Kiss fans for obvious reasons, so click here or visit the in-person box office at Station Mall to get your tickets!

Finally for today, let's wrap up this weekend's hard rock concert previews by returning to the E.U.P., specifically The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino, where local hard rock band Exit 808 will play their first local dates of 2025 TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! Last seen in Bergland (4½ hours west of here) for a New Year's Eve concert there, this will be Exit 808's first truly local date since rocking Rudyard over a month ago, so if you've missed this talented covers collective, head to the Soo Kewadin tonight and/or tomorrow! Now, be advised that tomorrow's show takes place during the Detroit Lions/Washington Commanders NFL divisional round playoff game, which would theoretically divert attention from the band, though I don't know if there'd be a true conflict of consequence (though note that the band was openly hoping that the game would be early or on Sunday because of their show.)

You can see Exit 808 this weekend at 9:00 PM tomorrow and/or Saturday with 21+ age limits and no announced cover charges, though if you are at all concerned that the Lions game will cause Exit 808's show to be curtailed in any fashion, keep tabs with the band or venue closer to showtime (if you're curious, the game is on Fox tomorrow night at 8:00 PM). Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Exit 808 live!

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

Piecing It Together Shows' Halloween Concert Review, Plus A New Concert Video!!

In this post, we have a review of a Halloween concert from this past weekend, and a video of a separate local show from that same night, so here's what you should know on this Monday evening!

Apologies for the delay in this making the site, but I (in a Calvin & Hobbes costume) was able to go to most of Piecing It Together Shows' Halloween concert a the Fraternal Order of Eagles club at 246 Wellington Street West on Saturday night! Just down the road from the Primavera Hall, the Eagles Club definitely felt like a tale of two venues when we first arrived, with the right half being where the concert was set up and the left being more where Eagles regulars were mingling at the bar and watching the Leafs game, but this got mixed up as the night progressed. Definitely didn't feel like a traditional concert venue (likely because it's not one), but kudos to the Eagles Club for hosting some P.I.T.S. events this year Unfortunately, we were running late for the concert and missed the opening set by local electro/synth musician Owen Kjiersdam, a.k.a. Owen MK, so I do apologize to him for not seeing him live!

Owen did post a brief clip of him (dressed as Jack Skellington) singing on Saturday night on his personal Facebook page, so seek that out if you're curious. It's at the end of a "Reel" that starts with video of him at The Soo's Got Talent's last week. From what little I heard, he was singing with confidence and enthusiasm, but it's not a long watch, so I don't know if things got as intense as the bands ahead in unfilmed portions of the night. I do think he does better when he leans more into how his studio material sounds, but hopefully we see Owen back out there soon!

The middle act last night was hardcore punk/crossover thrash quartet Hails, who unleashed an eleven song set of aggressive and fast-paced original music! With the non-Muto members in costume (albeit with items shed as the set wore on), Ha!ls tore through an eleven song set featuring originals like "Serf City" and "Such Desperate Joy" and a few songs carried over from frontman Brenton Ellis' acoustic solo project Slumshine like "BiPolaris" and "Sole Crusher", though surprisingly, nothing from their EP "Rock & Rolls" (despite it being on sale on CD and cassette). The guys were on brutal form on Saturday, with a very fast and heavy sound that pushes their earlier descriptions of being a skate punk band way to the backburner, with Brent full of confidence and honesty on vocals and bass, while Mikhal & Carmen Muto both shone on guitar with some impressive solos, and Keeghan McAllister kept up well on drums!

I do like how many songs had changes in structure and tempo that made you feel like the song was going to end, but it kept going while still feeling natural (I hope that made sense). The Vanity First side project delivered a brutal set for gathered fans, so don't bypass them if you like thrash metal!

Your headliners on Saturday were Toronto grunge/alternative trio Skoff in their local concert debut, and they definitely delivered a fun set to end the night with! You can see proof in my video of theirs, as a bunch of costumed fans hit the floor to dance and rock out mid-song (fan of the night is whoever was wearing the chicken mask!) It was often hard to hear the vocalist introducing songs, but they played tracks like "Cancel Culture", "F.A.F.O.", and "Let Me Out", sometimes using an old telephone headset as a microphone, which was neat!  While not a fully packed house, assembled fans definitely took to Skoff's aggressive, 1990s inspired sound, and the band was dressed up for the occasion, so everyone definitely had a good time to end the night. Skoff are still a relatively newer band, but their future is bright, and hopefully they come back to the Soo in the near future!

Overall, this was a fun concert and it's nice to see a multi-band show taking place for the Halloween season again! Hopefully there's more along these lines in 2025. You can see our photos and videos of Skoff and Hails (apologies again to Owen MK) at this link or at our Facebook page, but here's our videos of Ha!ls playing the Slunshine holdover "Pink Clouds Of Density" and Skoff playing an original that may be titled something like "Guess When I Die"! Let us know if you can help title it.

We'll close this post with a video from another Saturday night concert, albeit not a public one, as newer Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Dirty Musky posted a video of them at a private birthday party event at Three One Three On Ashmun onto their Facebook page! The video sees Dave, the Blackwoods, and Jamie covering White Zombie's "Thunder Kiss '65", which is awesome just in concept, as Rob/White Zombie isn't tackled much up here! Uploaded in funny vertical dimensions, the lighting isn't fantastic, but this is a well played and lively cover, though Dave's vocals could be a little grittier to better match the original. Check it out for yourselves below!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Generations) & More Weekend Concert Previews!!

Barring any surprise late notice announcements to come, this should wrap up this weekend's hard rock concert preview slate, as we look at Sault Michigan/EUP and Saturday-only shows, along with a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for later this month! For this weekend's other Sault Ontario previews, visit the post below this one. Here's what you should know!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations will headline the Halloween party at The Water Tower Pub on Thursday, October 31st! We have yet to get confirmation of this event from the venue's end, but the Jus' Chillin successors announced the show in this concert calendar post on their Facebook group, which also mentions their previously announced Shooters and Gateway Casino gigs later this month. In years where Halloween proper doesn't fall on a Friday or Saturday, only some nightclubs will host their parties on the day itself, and that appears to be the case at The Water Tower Pub for 2024. While details on seasonal frills are to be clarified, one would expect that costumes are at least encouraged, and of course, keep tabs on Generations' and the venue's social media for updates on the spooky side! No word yet on if Generations' already announced Gateway Casino concert on Saturday the 26th will also be seasonal or not.

Last seen at The Water Tower Pub in April, Generations (who are off this weekend) will end the month with this 8:00 PM concert, which has no cover charge and a likely 19+ age limit. It's always good to see more concerts fall into place for the Halloween season, and given the Thursday timing for the 31st, we will be seeing seasonal events from October 26th-November 1st, so get ready! Visit the above links for more details!

Next up, let's continue this weekend's hard rock concert previews by heading to St. Ignace, Michigan, where Manistique hard rock duo Fyrbird will return to The Northern Pines Lounge at their Kewadin Casino TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! While we will see Fyrbird often in Gould City in the interim (including for Bates Bar & Grill's likely Halloween festivities), their St. Ignace trip this weekend is their penultimate booking within an hour's drive of Sault Ste. Marie for 2024, with their final shows in our coverage range this year being over the Thanksgiving long weekend, also at the St. Ignace Kewadin. Hopefully this weekend's shows are a big hit for Jamie & Rikk's brand of minimalist hard rocking covers, though be advised that they haven't posted on their Facebook group in a month. Expect 9:00 PM start times, no cover charges, and 21+ age limits tomorrow & Saturday. See above for more details, and here's Fyrbird live!

Also this weekend, let's head to the rough midpoint between St. Ignace and the Soo, as local hard rock quartet Dirty Musky will make their first ever stop at Huck's Pub & Grill in Rudyard on SATURDAY NIGHT! Dave, the Blackwoods, and Jamie took September off while working on new material, so this will be their first show since rocking The Islander Bar in Hessel almost two months ago, and it might be their only public concert of the fall season if their most recent Facebook posting is anything to go by. In that case, don't miss this talented foursome in Rudyard on Saturday! Note that, when hyping up this show, Dirty Musky left open the possibility that their show at Huck's could be outdoors (a common but usually not hyped instance at the former Joe's Bar). For the sake of the possibility, we're looking at partly cloudy skies with temperature in the mid-high 50s in Rudyard that night, and no precipitation, as per 9&10 News, so maybe it can go ahead outside?

Saturday's one nighter has a 21+ age limit, 8:00 PM start time, and no announced cover charge. For you baseball fans, do not fear, game 1 of the Detroit Tigers' ALDS series against Cleveland is in the afternoon. Visit the above links for more details on Dirty Musky's Rudyard debut on Saturday, and for a preview, here they are live!

Finally for today's previews, we'll head back north to Sault Ontario, where prolific local classic/hard rock solo musician Tym Morrison will kick off another month in his current weekly matinee arrangement at Misty's Fifties THIS SATURDAY! As covered on the site last month, Tym has extended his Misty's run deeper into the fall, but again, this series can continue beyond September, as Misty's is an indoor venue that doesn't have to close in the fall like at The Mike Case Stage. Hopefully this proves to be another strong block of rocking covers from this very talented local musician, and consider a west end trip on Saturday to check him out if you want some earlier hard rock music! As usual for Tym's Misty's run, this is a 4:00 PM matinee booking with a 19+ age limit and no cover. Visit the Facebook event page for more details, and here's Tym live!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post next! Thanks everyone!