Sault Band-O-Rama & Tym Morrison Concert Previews!!

I hope everyone's managing the snow alright today, and we'll let you guys know if the weather throws a wrench into any of this weekend's covered shows! Due to the size and nature of one concert in particular this weekend, we're breaking up our hard rock concert previews into two posts, so we'll be looking at the Banned shows in Sault Michigan, Saturday night's Tiffany Maj benefit, and any late notice announcements in our next post. Look for them then, and now, let's kick off our previews!

12 different acts will descend upon The Primavera Banquet Hall at 256 Wellington Street West TOMORROW for the first(?) ever Sault Band-O-Rama all-day concert event! Promoted by Mourning Wood bandmates Terry Eaton & Steven Flint, this event is designed to bring together numerous local music acts of varying genres together to play sets & gain exposure, similarly to variants of this event in other cities.  Though open to any artists, there's a fair amount of heavier bands lined up, including familiar faces from Rock For Dimes & Toystock, so here's the full lineup in descending order! Headlining at 1:15 AM is local alternative/grunge trio The Pixo Control in their first non-house party show in two months, and their first since frontman Michael Mikus' health scare that knocked them out of Rock For Dimes, so hopefully the guys are back in good form to end Band-O-Rama! Fellow grunge/hard rockers Haggith will co-headline at 12:20 AM, and if their Facebook page's lineup is correct, this set will mark the return of original bassist Caleb Cachagee, six months after his last set with the band, which (if true) would indicate that Steven Flint's bassist role at Rock For Dimes was as a fill-in.

Caleb was an underrated presence with Haggith, so if the current lineup is accurate, it's great to see him back in the fold! Haggith guitarist Daniel Horton's other band Project 421 (replacing The Elements) will rock the stage at 11:25 PM for a set of classic metal covers, while local musician Justin Langlois' two active bands, classic/hard rock quintet The Thrill Junkies and punk trio Redundant, will precede them at 10:30 & 9:35 PM, and both should have momentum on their side! Former As It Stands drummer John Mignacca's Dillinger solo project will bring a techno & electronica blast to the stage at 8:40 PM, while local acoustic hard rock solo artist Tym Morrison will play a set at 7:55 PM, preceding his usual Harp concert tomorrow night that we'll preview in a minute. A mystery project named Infamous is scheduled for the 7:00 PM slot, and we still honestly know nothing on him/her/them, so let us know A.S.A.P. if you can help us out, and we'll let you know if we hear something!

Local singer/guitarist Jacob Quarrell's new acoustic solo project Shit Creek Survivor is scheduled for 6:25 PM, while students from Stiffler's Mom guitarist Michael Davies' Bocturoc Academy of Music will play a set at 5:50 PM, who actually switched sets with Jacob recently for unannounced reasons. Sault Band-O-Rama will begin with two Blood Shed Productions-affiliated bands, including local goregrind duo Rotopsy at 4:55 PM and local experimental metal trio The Strange Coyotes (replacing The Revolution) opening the show at 4:00 PM in their first non-house party gig since formally announcing their reunion, and if all goes well, the guys announced on their Facebook page that they'll try and record a live album tomorrow comprised of their set, so don't be late for that! Also note that while the aforementioned Elements were briefly re-added to this show at an early 3:00 PM set time, they later dropped out again, so the show will begin at 4:00 PM as originally planned.

This ALL AGES show has a $5 cover charge, promoters Steven Flint & Terry Eaton's new sound company Twin City Sound will handle that aspect of the show, and for reference sake (as The Primavera Hall is not familiar from our coverage), the venue is just down the road from RJ's Market. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! This is definitely an ambitious event, especially given the spread of talent and the show's length, but hopefully there's a solid turnout so Steve & Terry give this another whirl! I'm unsure yet if I'll be able to go, but don't miss the first Sault Band-O-Rama TOMORROW, please let us know if you know anything on Infamous, and here's The Pixo Control live this spring!



We'll close this first preview post with the aforementioned Tym Morrison's usual solo acoustic gigs at The Harp Bar & Grill TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! After a one night only engagement last weekend due to The Harp's broadcast of UFC 180, the calendar on his website confirms that he'll host and play at the former Madison's Pub's jam night tomorrow before headlining a regular acoustic show on Saturday, though I'll give the caveat that Tym hasn't posted a Facebook event page yet for this weekend. The Caveman Morrison frontman's ongoing weekly concert arrangement at The Harp is fast approaching it's one year anniversary, which is a great sign for it's success and his talent, so keep his regular shows in mind for some unplugged hard rock covers this weekend, whether or not you'll be seeing him at Band-O-Rama first! Both shows likely have 10:00 PM start times, 19+ age limits, and no cover charges, so check the above links for more details, and here's Tym covering Metallica!



That's all for now, but stay tuned for our Northwest & Banned previews (and more) either tonight or tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Sault Band-O-Rama & Stiffler's Mom) And More!!

Before our review of last night's Halloween Party at The Algonquin Pub gets up on the site, here's our first news post of November, including a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for TONIGHT, another new show for later this month, and some more assorted updates, so here's what you need to know!

Local hard/party rock trio Stiffler's Mom will apparently kick off November with a one night only gig at The Rockstar Bar TONIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, we only just heard about this show yesterday via SooToday's "Soo-To-BOO! List", and while it's also advertised at the venue's marquee board, note that neither the band nor venue's Facebook pages have made mention of it that I've seen. This should be a fun show though for Stiffler's Mom loyalists and anyone looking for a post-Halloween good time, so if you're still up for some live hard rock, you know where to be TONIGHT! Remember, this is a one-nighter due to Thin Ice's show at The Rockstar Bar last night (the Frightlight concert was downstairs.) A $5 cover charge is likely for TONIGHT's show, as is a 10:00 PM start time, and you must be 19 to attend. For more details, visit the above links, and here's Stiffler's Mom live at Rotaryfest!



Next up, here's a long overdue new concert announcement for later this month, as originally first asked about on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group on October 20th, but it's only just making the site now due to the Halloween crush and waiting for extra details.The event is called "Sault Band-O-Rama", and the intent is to be an all-day concert event where bands news and old (of any genre) can just play to a live audience, and I believe this sort of event has been held in other cities. The event is being promoted by Beaumont Avenue guitarist Steven Flint and Asylum Country guitarist Terry Eaton, both of which have been playing together recently in the local country rock cover band Mourning Wood, but none of their bands are playing at Band-O-Rama. Taking place on Friday, November 21st at The Primavera Banquet Hall on 256 Wellington Street West (a venue I've never heard of for local metal or punk shows), 12 acts are signed for 30-45 minute sets each that day, so who all is playing the first ever local Band-O-Rama?

The last act that day will be local alternative/hard rock trio The Pixo Control at 1:15 AM, with local grunge/alternative quartet Haggith on at 12:20 AM, and local funk/hard rock quartet The Elements rocking out at 11:25 PM. Local classic/hard rock veterans The Thrill Junkies will play their first public concert in 10 months at 10:30 PM that night (which will also mark new drummer Rick White's debut with the band), while Rick and bassist Justin Langlois's punk trio Redundant are on right before them at 9:35 PM. Former As It Stands drummer John Mignacca's techno solo project Dillinger is scheduled for 8:40 PM, preceded by Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison in a rare non-Harp appearance at 7:55 PM.  An act that I've never heard of named Infamous is scheduled for 7:00 PM (anyone have any info on him/them?), while students from Stiffler's Mom guitarist Michael Davies' Bocturoc Academy of Music will play a set at 6:25 PM, and a set at 5:50 PM belongs to Shit Creek Survivor, a new local acoustic solo project from singer/guitarist Jacob Quarrell.

The day will open with two young bands with Brutaly Fatal ties, including local goregind duo Rotopsy at 4:45 PM and local doom/punk trio The Revolution at 4:00 PM. This show goes down at The Primavera Hall on November 21st at 4:00 PM, and admission is ALL AGES and just $5, so for more details, visit the above links! This is an ambitious but intriguing concert to be sure, and it's full of local talent, much of it heavy for you hard rock and punk fans! I'm curious to see how Sault Band-O-Rama does, especially at an unfamiliar venue, but we'll keep you guys posted with updates!

Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by band name:

• Apologies for this being late, but local classic/hard rock quartet Havadder welcomed former drummer Scott McLurg (also of Turner Up fame) back to the band as a temporary fill-in for T.J. Case at their Studio 10 concert yesterday. T.J.'s missed a few of their recent gigs, so hopefully all's well, but Scott's a quality replacement, and hopefully Havadder had a great show last night! Our source is Scott's personal Facebook page.
• It's official: The Strange Coyotes are back! The members of the experimental hard rock trio got back together on Thursday at The Oddfellows Hall for bassist James Watterworth's solo set, and drummer Mike Haggith confirmed on his solo Facebook page earlier today that they "plan to resume activity". Great news, especially given how things ended in the spring, so stay tuned for updates, and they're back in our active band links!
• Speaking of bands featuring guitarist Chase Wigmore, his grind duo This Is Your Band On Drugs' self-titled demo (which is available for free online) was sold for $1 in physical copies at Thursday's Devil's Night concert, even though they were replaced that day by The North Shore. That does make it eligible for reviewing on the site in a month with no new CDs, so keep that in mind!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for our review of last night's Halloween Party at The Algonquin Pub next! Thanks everyone!