Prince Fest, Tarnished, And The Nameless Weekend Concert Previews!!

Let's mow through most of the rest of this weekend's hard rock concert previews today, by looking at Saturday-only Sault Ontario gigs as well as hard rock shows in Michigan's Eastern Upper Peninsula, which is where we're leading off, so here's what you should know on this Friday morning! Previews of tomorrow's Bone Yard show and frontman Greg Simpson's Sunday matinee gig will be in our next news post.

Local classic/hard rock cover band Tarnished will return to Bay Mills Resort & Casino in Brimley TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT at their new(?) Lakeside Lounge! The last scheduled concerts of any kind for their summer slate there (as per this calendar), Tarnished confirmed on their Facebook page that these will be acoustic concerts featuring just singer/guitarist Alex Traynor and guitarist Josh Fair. This goes in line with the Lakeside Lounge's live music schedule, which has only scheduled solo artists and duos. We'll let you know when they return to the stage fully plugged in with Chris and Ron in tow, let alone with Isaac in Crush! You can enjoy their hard rocking acoustic covers this weekend in Brimley at 8:00 PM both nights with 21+ age limits and no cover, but for unclear reasons, Saturday's show is a half length affair ending at 10:00 PM rather than midnight. See above for more details, and here's Alex & Josh live!

Next up, local hard rock quartet The Nameless are advertised to rock The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! Last seen locally at the finale of the Hell To Paradise motorcycle rally elsewhere at the Soo Kewadin last month (with a road trip to Republic in the interim), The Nameless are getting their maiden bookings at The Rapids Lounge just in time, as it is closing this fall in advance of heavy renovations and the construction of a new sports bar opening at the Sault Ste. Marie branch next year. Bands are scheduled through at least the end of September, but of course, we'll let you know if The Rapids Lounge survives past then or closes early (for what it's worth, the band has not posted on their Facebook page in over two weeks). Assuming everything is a go, the hard rock cover action is at 9:00 PM tonight and tomorrow with 21+ age limits and no cover. See above for more details, and here's The Nameless live!

Now north to Sault Ontario, but 20 minutes down Second Line West, as the first annual Prince Fest takes place TOMORROW! To be held at the corner of Second Line and Airport Road in the baseball field adjacent to co-promoters DeMarco's Boots & Saddles Roadhouse, this festival is being well hyped across multiple AI-generated posters on social media, with vendors, family activities, food & drinks, kids entertainment, and on-site baseball and basketball tournaments, so be sure to visit the DeMarco's Facebook page for full non-musical details! The musical portion will be headlined at 9:00 PM by Toronto-based Kiss tribute band Destroyer, who have played here multiple times since the SMS launched (including at the former Soo Blaster three years ago), so it will be good to see their faithful and entertaining take on Kiss' classic catalogue again tomorrow night! Local acoustic punk cover duo Dos Amigos will play the middle set at 7:00 PM.

Capping off their busy weekend of three shows in three days, hopefully Dustin & Mikey have a solid audience west of the Soo tomorrow evening! Frequently seen Boots & Saddles performer Mike Robitaille will kick off the music with an acoustic country set at 5:00 PM, and both local openers are blocked for two hours apiece. While Prince Fest is an all ages event beginning at 12:00 PM, organizers have clarified that only the first five hours have free admission. The three musical acts will have a separate ticketed admission of $35, which is up $15 from Destroyer's show here in 2023, but remember that that wasn't part of a festival. Weather-wise, 9&10 News is calling for 19-23° temperatures during the band portion of Prince Fest and mostly cloudy skies, plus a slight chance of rain early in Destroyer's set. Keep tabs with your preferred weather forecasts for potential updates. It will be mostly cloudy in the afternoon too with a high of 24°.

Should be a fun time if you're out east or are up for a drive (if not quite as nice for sky conditions as The Northern Vibe Festival will get 90 minutes east), and between Destroyer's well known take on Kiss' hit singles, Dos Amigos' unplugged punk covers, and Mike's own talents, music fans will have a little something to like regardless of genre preference! Visit the above links for much more on what to expect outside of the Boots & Saddles on Sunday, and here's Destroyer live!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for our Bone Yard/Greg Simpson previews and more next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Stones & Crows), Weekend Concert Previews, And More!!

Before we begin our second weekend concert preview post, just a heads up that Beck's Bar briefly advertised Bone Yard 225 frontman Greg "The Ranting Rockstar" Simpson as playing their Sunday matinee timeslot this weekend, but he has quietly dropped out for unannounced reasons, and was replaced by Whiskey Hippy. Greg will be back, with and without your local 225, but hopefully nothing too serious happened with him and/or the venue! Now, here's what you should know for the rest of this weekend's hard rock concert previews, starting with a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!

New local hard/blues rock quartet Stones & Crows will return to Beck's Bar for one night only on SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the band first announced the show on their Facebook page on July 24th, then said it was cancelled due to "scheduling reasons" a day later, only to re-confirm it on the same day this past Friday. As such, disregard their newest black & white promotional video claiming this show as a "last minute announcement", as we have known about if for almost four weeks in fits and starts! This will be the first concert from the Electric Church successors since they rocked Rotaryfest Stage 2 last month, and their first at Beck's since July 3rd, and hopefully the guys deliver a fun evening of originals and covers, as fans have came to expect so far this year! Bukky, Nikki, and Tony take the stage at 9:00 PM with a 19+ age limit and no cover charge as usual.

Fresh off of playing with The Big Finish Band at tonight's Downtown Street Party, Drifters frontwoman and karaoke host Elly McWatters will play a solo country rock set as the 3:00 PM matinee performer on SATURDAY, but as usual, she isn't "opening" for Stones & Crows. See above for more details, and for a preview, here's a new video of Stones & Crows from their Facebook page last month! This video features the guys playing four 10 second snippets of live covers, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Rolling Stones songs among them, and while I'd far prefer full songs (let alone in colour, and not heavily letterboxed), it does give a reasonable preview of songs you might hear on SATURDAY NIGHT, so give it a watch for yourselves below!

Next up, let's head south to Michigan for some E.U.P. shows (all of which had advance notice), starting with Traverse City classic metal trio Peril's second and final headlining gig for 2026 at American Legion Park in St. Ignace TOMORROW NIGHT! Just over two weeks removed from their rare Thursday gig in our neck of the woods for St. Ignace's Music By The Bay concert series, Jeff, Howard, and Brooks will rock the park one more time before things wrap up next month, though the series runs daily until Labour Day. With future shows at the Soo Kewadin in flux (more on that in a second), time will tell when we next see Peril north of the Mackinac Bridge after tomorrow, so don't bypass this concert if you like old school metal and hard rock covers, and will be in the region! Music By The Bay shows are all at 7:00 PM with 90 minute run times, they're definitely all ages, and have no cover charge. 

9&10 News is calling for cloudy skies tomorrow with a 30% chance of rain in the 8:00 PM hour, so while the rain and lightning is expected to peak overnight, consider some rain provisions if you're coming to American Legion Park (the stage has a roof for the bands' sake, at least). Temperatures are expected to be in the 69-71° (21-22° Celsius) range. Visit the above links for more on Peril's outdoor St. Ignace show, and here they are live!

Also this weekend, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Tarnished will play The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino for the final times TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Don't worry, Tarnished are alive and well, but they said on their Facebook page on Tuesday that The Rapids Lounge "is being remodeled this fall". You may recall that Kewadin had announced a series of renovations at their five casinos in this press release, which did confirm a planned new sports bar for the Soo branch, The press release says that construction of the sports bar (with virtual game bays!) will begin in "summer 2027", with the demolition of the casino's original East Wing structure beginning this fall also, so that may explain an extended closure from live concerts before the replacement lounge actually gets built. Kewadin's entertainment page lists bands at The Rapids Lounge through the end of September, but time will tell if they happen as scheduled.

That doesn't necessarily portend the real timeline for the end of The Rapids Lounge, as St. Ignace's Northern Pines Lounge also only goes that far for their own scheduled bands at press time. We'll keep you posted when more is known about Kewadin's new sports bar, but when you compare The Rapids Lounge to The Northern Pines Lounge, it never looked as detailed and modern, so this should be good in the long term. Don't miss Tarnished two last times there tomorrow & Saturday! Their hard rocking and old school covers are up at 9:00 PM with 21+ age limits and no cover. See above for more details, and for a preview, here's Tarnished live!

Finally for this weekend's known hard rock concert previews, we'll head to Three One Three On Ashmun, as local hardcore punk trio Viscera will be headliining there on SATURDAY NIGHT! Interesting timing in the sense that the Yooper Frankenstein premiere at LSSU is also on Saturday (frontman "Blind" Bob Quinn worked on the soundtrack for the film), but hopefully both events have a good crowd, and that Viscera devastate local fans with their hard rocking and socially charged sound once again! Continuing their recent positive relationships with musicians from the Western U.P., Marquette indie rock/power pop band Addicus will make their local debut on Saturday, and while not as heavy as Viscera can get, this female fronted group should make some fans out east with their well written and upbeat original material! The other opener is a project named Needhealer, so who are they?

As best as I can tell, Needhealer is a new DIY lo-fi project led by former Pick-Me-Ups bassist Trevor Yake, who primarily sings and plays keyboard here. You can hear his debut synthwave "EP" on Soundcloud, and it'll be interesting to hear how this translates at the former Back Door! Regardless, this is shaping up to be an intriguing genre mix. Presented by Viscera's own Soo Tang Records, this show goes down on Saturday at 7:00 PM, it is an 18+ event, and admission is $10 in advance through Viscera members or $15 at the door. Visit the above links for more on this explosive night of original music, and for a preview, here's the headliners live!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for a new news post on the site next! Thanks everyone!

The WestFest II & Rock N' Roll Ave Concert Previews!!

As promised, here's part #2 of this weekend's hard rock concert previews! Due to how long the WestFest preview ran, I'm bumping our Generations and Bone Yard 225 previews to our next post alongside Curtis McKenzie, so this post only has two write-ups for weekend shows, though one eats up 3/4ths of the post. We'll start in Sault Michigan today, as this involves a show tomorrow where the other Canadian ones don't, so here's what else you should know on this Thursday evening!

While fans in St. Ignace can check out the EUP debuts of Nolium this weekend at their Kewadin Casino branch, fans an hour north will instead bear witness to the first regional appearances of Mount Pleasant classic/hard rock cover band Rock N' Roll Ave TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT at The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino! A spin-off/side project from the metalcore band Black Out, this weekend's shows aren't just Rock N' Roll Ave(nue)'s first in the Soo, but their first anywhere since relaunching earlier this year. Rehearsal videos and pre-comeback live videos point to a good hard rocking cover range, though be careful, as their Facebook page also hosts Black Out videos, and they're just a tad more extreme! This weekend's shows are 9:00 PM affairs tomorrow and Saturday night with 21+ age limits and no cover charges. See above for more details, and here's a recent Rock N' Roll Ave jam video!

Now let's head to Sault Ontario with the second annual WestFest, which returns to Anna Marinelli Park in Jamestown on SATURDAY! This "block party meets music festival" is part of the West Village Revitilization Project's ongoing efforts to improve and rehabilitate the Jamestown and Steelton areas of downtown Sault Ste. Marie, and there will be food and craft vendors, family activities, and more at this outdoor event, so be sure to visit the West Village Renewed Facebook page for full non-musical details! Musically speaking, we are down from seven acts last year and five in initial marketing to just four tomorrow, with the only hard rock-leaning band being new local alternative hard rock band Riverside Stasis in their fifth public concert and first since the departure of guitarist Liam Dinsmore. Frontwoman Tea Emlaw headlined last year's WestFest in her prior band Handsome Sandwich's final Sault Ste. Marie concert set, but this band is opening WestFest II at 5:00 PM.

Riverside Stasis were strongly hinted as being signed up for the talent show/battle of the bands to find the opening act, only for that to be cancelled due to "unforeseen circumstances", so they were acclaimed as the openers on Saturday. Hopefully things go well for Tea and the guys tomorrow! The rest of Saturday's lineup includes local/Collingwood folk supergroup The Ontarians (featuring the Soo's own Frank Deresti and Chris Johns) as headliners, alongside folk/country quartet The Golden Scoundrels (the only returning band from last year's WestFest) and Treble Charger frontman Greig Nori's daughter Ava Nori in the first public concert appearance by her as a lead performer that I can recall. Marketing up to last month also had BookcluB/ex-Hails guitarist Carmen Muto playing a rare solo set (a video of him shredding an electric guitar was even shared to the West Village Renewed Facebook page).

Unfortunately, it appears that Carmen has dropped out of WestFest and has not been replaced, and any promotion directly referencing him/his set was taken down. I have not heard a reason why Carmen isn't playing on Saturday, but hopefully nothing too serious happened, and don't miss him with BookcluB at the next Downtown Street Party in two weeks! Other set times haven't been announced, but WestFest II takes place from 4:00-11:00 PM on Saturday, it is absolutely all ages, and admission at 169 James Street will be via donation (last year was free). Weather-wise, 9&10 News is calling for a high of 20° on Saturday and a low of 13° with sunny skies and no likely rain, but this is two days out, so keep tabs on your preferred forecast just in case. Despite the smaller lineup, WestFest sounds like a good time and with agreeable weather, so visit the above links for full details, and here's Riverside Stasis live!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for the rest of this weekend's hard rock concert previews next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Project 906, Tarnished, And The Nameless) & Weekend Concert Previews!!

An extremely eventful and busy weekend of hard rock concerts is in store for the Twin Saults and area this weekend, so much so that I might have to break our previews into three posts! For now, this post is 100% devoted to Sault Michigan and the E.U.P., including LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, two on SHORT NOTICE, so here's what you should know to start the weekend!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Tarnished will return to The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, I was aware of these shows for a few weeks now after being announced on Kewadin's entertainment page, but they got lost in the shuffle in a very busy month (not helped by the glut of new-to-the-EUP touring bands playing there this summer that I covered initially). Last seen at the Soo Kewadin in May when they were late replacements for The Louie Longoria Band, these will be another good chance to see Alex, Josh, Chris, and Ron's 1980s-leaning hard rock covers all weekend long, so don't miss out if this is up your alley! No word on if SATURDAY'S booking is why their sister band Crush aren't defending their title at the second annual Superior Whitefish Festival Battle of the Bands in Brimley or not though.

As usual for Kewadin lounges, TOMORROW & SATURDAY'S shows are 21+ affairs at 9:00 PM with no announced cover charges.  If you can't make their next two shows in St. Ignace, then don't miss out on Tarnished here TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT, so visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here they are live!

Next up, let's head to Rudyard, Michigan, where Sault Ste. Marie blues/hard rock cover quintet Project 906 will return to Huck's Pub & Grill TOMORROW NIGHT, but in a new confirmation, they will also return to the annual Government Bay Barge Bash in nearby Cedarville on Saturday, August 1st! The #summerof906 marches on first tomorrow with a show timed with the annual Summerfest in Rudyard, and while this isn't an official Summerfest event, there should be a good crowd at the former Joe's Bar for Project 906 (or "906 Band", as it were) rocking out tomorrow! This is a one-nighter due to or resulting in Saturday's Private Drive concert, and it goes down at 8:00 PM on Friday with a 21+ age limit and no cover charge. While we're on the subject, let's discuss the aforementioned Government Bay Barge Bash one week from Saturday, which will again see Project 906 in Cedarville for quite a unique outdoor concert on the local summer calendar!

Billy, Joe, Dustin, Jason, and Brian have played this event many times, which is quite literally named, as the bash takes place on a barge in the water off the coast of Government Island near Bumpas on East Hodeck Street in Cedarville, and attendees are more than welcome to swim or boat over to the stage! 906 and Cedarville classic rock veterans Shipheads On Shore are both returning from last year's Barge Bash, while The Haske Brothers (formerly of Oddfellow fame) will replace The Mark Bowen Band as the third band this year, though of course, Jason Haske was in Mark's band last year. Project 906 are this year's headliners, with their set likely beginning on August 1st at around 5:00 PM, with the Shipheads playing a mid-afternoon set likely around 2:30 PM or so, and The Haske Brothers kicking things off at 12:00 PM  This is a fun event for those in and around the Les Cheneaux Islands, so keep it in mind, especially if you love being out on/in the water!

The Barge Bash is a FREE & ALL AGES event, and remember to please drink responsibly if you are so inclined here, especially given the nature of the concert being literally held on the bay. Visit the above links for more details on the Barge Bash and tomorrow's Huck's show in Rudyard, with lots of hard rocking covers in store from this talented local band at both events, and for a preview, here's Project 906 live! 

Finally for this preview post, we'll head back to Kewadin Casino in Sault Ste. Marie, where local hard rock cover quartet The Nameless will serve as the musical entertainment at the third annual American Legion Riders' Hell To Paradise motorcycle rally on SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for erroneously noting when this was first announced that they'd be at The Rapids Lounge (Tarnished are there, obviously), the band has since confirmed that they'll actually be playing in The Dreammakers Theatre, so the ending banquet will be well staged! The two-day Hell To Paradise rally will see bikers drive north from Stockbridge to the Soo (15 minutes west of Hell & an hour+ east of Paradise respectively) to support awareness of post-traumatic stress disorder and mental health, as those battling depression can feel lost between Hell and Paradise. Click here for full details and how you can support the cause!

The Nameless will be rocking out after a buffet dinner and awards ceremony, and as best as I can tell, you do not have to pay a dedicated admission fee or buy dinner to see the concert, which will be 21+ at 8:00 PM. If you'd rather see them in normal concert confines, Kewadin's entertainment page confirms that their previously teased Kewadin dates (lounge then unclear) will indeed be at The Rapids Lounge on Friday, August 28th & Saturday, August 29th, so consider those LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS too! Same ground rules as Tarnished this weekend. Visit the above links for more on Josh, the Mikes, and Jamie's Kewadin gigs of any scale ahead, and for a preview of the Hell To Paradise afterparty, here are The Nameless live!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for previews of Sault Ontario concerts and the Superior Whitefish Festival Battle of the Bands next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (The Blitz, Nolium, Rock N' Roll Ave, And Project 906!!)

Before we dive into weekend concert previews on both sides of the border, let's take a trip to Sault Michigan and the E.U.P. for this all-American SMS post, which solely features LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for the coming weeks! Here's what you should know on this Wednesday night!

Local hard/blues rock cover quintet Project 906 will apparently return to Huck's Pub & Grill in Rudyard for one night only on Friday, July 24th! The show was announced via this concert calendar image on Huck's Facebook page, which calls them "906 Band", but who else could they be referring to? Fans last saw Project 906 at Huck's on Halloween last year, and their show in two weeks will actually coincide with another special occasion, as that will be during Summerfest weekend in Rudyard (click here for this year's program), but events at the former Joe's Bar are not official Summerfest events, just well timed. As such, things should be busier that night, so hopefully Project 906 have a strong night of live hard rock action! Note that singer Billy Bernier will actually be playing a solo gig at Huck's tomorrow (source here) as this week's Bike Night entertainment, but I don't know if his solo shows are basically 906 unplugged or take new paths.

This concert is a one-nighter due to or resulting in a show on Saturday the 25th from a mystery band named Private Drive, and we'll let you know if we hear anything about them. "906 Band" take the stage for this 21+ concert at 8:00 PM with no cover charge, and there will be an outdoor cash bar on site. Before we get too far, Project 906 played their second show of this year's #summerof906 in Curtis (90 minutes west of here) on Wednesday, July 1st at the Erickson Center For The Arts as part of their own Music In The Park series. Curtis is outside of our hour's drive coverage area, but I hope the outdoor show went well! Visit the above links for more from Project 906!

Next up, Kewadin Casino has updated their entertainment page for bands playing at the Soo and St. Ignace branches through the end of August, and there's some newer touring faces to look out for, starting with the local debuts of Petoskey-area classic/hard rock cover quartet The Blitz at The Rapids Lounge in Sault Ste. Marie on Friday, July 31st and Saturday, August 1st! The Blitz have been rocking Northern Michigan and the tip of the mitt since at least the late 2010s, and they reunited in 2022, but as far as I am aware, their shows in three weeks will be their first in the E.U.P.. Videos on their Facebook page show The Blitz covering the likes of Def Leppard, Better Than Ezra, and Royal Republic, and were recently tapped to open for a cancelled Firehouse concert in Wolverine, so they definitely have a good array of hard rock-leaning covers, and it will be interesting to see how they go over in the Soo!

As usual for concerts at Kewadin Casino's on-site lounges, their shows on the 31st and August 1st are 9:00 PM affairs with 21+ age limits and no cover charges. Hopefully The Blitz deliver a solid weekend of rocking covers for fans in a few weeks, so visit the above links for more details!

Also new at The Rapids Lounge next month is the local debut of Mount Pleasant classic/hard rock cover quintet Rock N' Roll Ave (as in "avenue"), who will rock the Soo Kewadin on Friday, August 7th and Saturday, August 8th! A recently reunited cover band featuring Brock Williams from the defunct Central Michigan metalcore band Black Out, the Sault Ste. Marie dates will actually be Rock N' Roll Ave's first anywhere after their return, which is unusual when you consider that Mount Pleasant is 3 hours south of here, but they are a talented band with a good ear for hard rock! In their three jam session videos from this summer on their Facebook page (all shot vertically, alas), you can see them covering Poison, Stone Temple Pilots, and John Mellencamp songs, though tread lightly when backtracking there, as Black Out videos are also posted on their page, and R.N.R.A. aren't that heavy by comparison!

They should get a good reception from Yooper fans at the Soo Kewadin next month, so welcome Rock N' Roll Ave here in style then! Like with The Blitz the previous week, these are 21+ shows with no cover charges and 21+ age limits. See above for more details on their local debut weekend!

Finally for today, The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino isn't lacking for new touring rock bands either, as Ontonogan hard rock quartet Nolium will make their own EUP debut at that branch on Friday, August 7th and Saturday, August 8th! Their Facebook calendar says that the shows are in the Soo, but Kewadin's entertainment page confirms that Nolium are in St. Ignace with Rock N' Roll Ave playing an hour north that same weekend. Nolium may actually be the heaviest of the three touring bands in this post (the likes of Tool, System Of A Down, and Silverchair are covered in their set), and they actually have their own original music that fans of modern hard rock and grunge will take to, and it will be neat to see them make the 4½ hour drive east next month! If you really want a big sampling of Nolium live, here's an 80 minutes long concert of theirs from 2021.

As above, these are free concerts with 9:00 PM start times and 21+ age limits, just at the St. Ignace Kewadin. It's not every day when we get bands from that far west in the Upper Peninsula coming here (Nolium play a lot of Wisconsin dates as such), so give them a warm welcome in Mackinac County next month if this interests you! Visit the above links for more details on all of these newly confirmed hard rock shows in the E.U.P., and stay tuned for weekend concert previews on the SMS next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Riverside Stasis & The Nameless) Plus Related Updates!!

Before we get into another round of weekend concert previews, let's take a look at some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS ahead next month, plus related updates from two of the bands in question, so we'll start today in the E.U.P.!

Sault Michigan hard rock quartet The Nameless have announced multiple gigs into the fall via this image on their Facebook page! Unusual to see them post a proper schedule, but I'll gladly take this over short notice plugs the week of! We already knew about next weekend's St. Ignace Car Show-timed gig at The Driftwood, and they're also playing a private party the following day, but when will you be able to see Josh, the Mikes, and Jamie after that? On Saturday, July 25th, they will be the house band at the third annual American Legion Riders' Hell To Paradise motorcycle rally, and the name is more literal than you think, as participating bikers are travelling from Stockbridge (15 minutes west of the town literally named Hell) to Sault Ste. Marie (over an hour east of the town named Paradise). That alone is a near 5 hour drive, as Stockbridge is outside of Lansing, so even over two days, kudos to everyone making that kind of trip for a good cause!

The Hell To Paradise ride is in support of post-traumatic stress disorder and mental health awareness, as those with PTSD or depression often literally feel stuck between Hell and Paradise, so click here for details on the rally proper! The rally will end with a buffet dinner & awards ceremony at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino, and with The Nameless rocking out at The Rapids Lounge, but they have not (yet?) confirmed if they'll be playing there on Friday the 24th or not. Based on the FAQ page, you do not have to buy dinner to enjoy the band, but click here if you do want to participate or donate, and this will obviously be a 21+ concert at 9:00 PM. On August 15th, The Nameless will make the 3½ hour trek west to Republic for a gig at The Pine Grove Bar, which readers may recognize from multiple Exit 808 road trips during their run. The Nameless will end the summer with gigs at a Kewadin Casino branch over the last weekend of August, but which one?

Oddly, they have yet to 100% confirm which branch (Kewadin's entertainment page isn't even updated for July yet), and while they are debuting at The Rapids Lounge next month, their only prior public bookings under the Kewadin umbrella were in St. Ignace in July 2024. The last show on the calendar is just barely outside of our coverage range, as they'll play an early Halloween party at the Paradise Inn (one guess where that is) on Saturday, October 17th, but despite being in Chippewa County, it is a 70 minute drive from the Soo. Maybe not a packed summer for truly local gigs, but it's good to see The Nameless stretching their legs, so visit the above links for more details, and we'll have more from them soon!

Next up, four newer Sault Ontario rock bands will join forces for an all-local concert at Blaster Powerhouse on Sunday, July 26th, entitled "2 Stoned Crows In The River"! The name alludes to all four bands, as two have "Stones" in their name, and two have "River" in theirs. Whether the poster and Facebook event page's band order is reflective of the actual order come showtime or not, the "River" bands are listed first, including new local southern rock quartet Eli Russell & The River Fools (featuring Sylo, Sense Of Truth, and Pesto Shirts alumni) and alternative/hard rock quintet Riverside Stasis (featuring 3/5ths of Headfirst and half of The Barbarians). The show will also feature newer hard rock quartet Stones At The Alter in their first multi-band event without their sister band Doo & The Boyos, and blues/hard rock trio Stones & Crows (featuring Riverside Stasis drummer Anthony Boudreau). There's a lot of established and newer talent here, so don't miss out!

Promoted by Underground Events SSM (check out the lovingly hand-drawn and not-at-all-AI poster that Mikhal made!), this all ages concert will have a flat $15 admission fee at the door, and no advance tickets will be sold online. While it will be on a work/school night for many, this will be an early show, running from 7:00-10:00 PM. If you want to check out some new local talent in one convenient package, then come to the former Soo Blaster for all of the action next month, and visit the above links for more details!

We'll close today with new media from the aforementioned Riverside Stasis, who posted two new videos onto their Facebook page in the last few days! The first video sees the band jamming their new original song "Love You More" to promote their live debut at another all-local show from Underground Events SSM at Blaster Powerhouse on June 27th, though the beginning has no vocals, and Liam is nowhere to be found in frame (if he was there, this is another point in favour of shooting horizontally!). If you want more of "Love You More", let alone with Liam present and in view, then check out their newest video embedded below, which sees Tea and the guys jamming this song in another locale for 65 seconds (if you want to see it in full, go to Blaster next weekend). From what is heard, this will obviously appeal to fans of early-mid 2020s Handsome Sandwich, and it has a catchy groove to the guitar!

I do wish that this wasn't shot vertically, but it is good to get some more previews of what Riverside Stasis bring to the table, and hopefully fans are not in stasis when they debut one week from Saturday, so give their new videos a watch for yourselves above & below!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Soundcheck) & This Weekend's Hard Rock Concert Previews!!

This is a quieter weekend for hard rock-leaning concerts, so let's lead off this preview post with a couple of notes for events this weekend that glanced our radar. If you follow veteran country cover band Tex Riviera & The Ride, you may be aware that they're in the midst of their "Dale Corcoran Appreciation Tour" in memory of the recently passed local musician, who played with Tex in the 1990s country rock band The Hillbilly Heartbreakers. Songs played with Dale and stories about Dale have been shared and will continue to be, but tomorrow & Saturday's Ride concerts at Jay's Piston Broke Pub will feature a one-off (two-off?) reunion of The Hillbilly Heartbreakers, with guitarist Tim Laplante, drummer Jeff Pennett, and saxophonist Risk Wysynski joining in. Tex did note that The Heartbreakers "were the first who managed to get away with playing Motorhead & (Merle) Haggard in the same night", so who knows what you'll hear from The Ride and gang this weekend!

The other SMS-adjacent event this weekend will be the first ever "big three" emo night at Shooters Downstairs Lounge on Saturday night! The big three being My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, and Panic! At The Disco. Of course, this era of emo and pop punk are very intertwined, and while this isn't a concert, the TVs will be playing music videos by emo bands (especially ones from the 2000s), and Tattoo Tearz will be offering flash tattoos. No word on if you'll hear songs from local emo/post-hardcore bands of the era like The Crossed, Fuller, or A Fall From Innocence in the rotation, but see above for more on this event if you're curious!

Now to our known hard rock concert previews, and we'll start with SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, as local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will rock Reggie's Place TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, these shows were first announced via the venue's Facebook page on Sunday, though note that the band has not corroborated these bookings on social media at press time. Last seen at The Esquire Club three weeks ago (unless that reported Tap Room show last week actually took place despite a lack of public promotion), TOMORROW & SATURDAY's concerts will be Soundcheck's first at Reggie's since their revival and since Travis and Johnny joined the band's new lineup. If you missed Travis' original run with Soundcheck and/or just wanna rock out with this talented veteran group, head downtown!

All of the action goes down TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT at 9:30 PM with 19+ age limits and no announced cover charges. Visit the above links for more on Soundcheck's first Reggie's stops of 2026, and here they are live!

Next up, let's head to Sault Michigan, where Traverse City metal trio Scarkazm will end their schedule for the first quarter of 2026 by rocking The Rapids Lounge at the local Kewadin Casino TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! After a busy start of the year that saw them and sister band Peril play three combined weekends at the Soo and St. Ignace Kewadin branches, tomorrow & Saturday's shows mark Scarkazm's first in the E.U.P. since they last rocked The Rapids Lounge at the end of January. Scarkazm always deliver a fun mix of hard hitting crowd favourites and select originals, and hopefully Adam, Dave, and Jeff keep their momentum rolling in their latest local stops this weekend! If you can't make it, the guys will be back at the St. Ignace Kewadin in just over a month. Tomorrow & Saturday's concerts are 21+ affairs with no cover charges and 9:00 PM start times. See above for more details, and for a preview, here's Scarkazm live!

Finally for known/advertised hard rock-leaning shows in the area this weekend, we will head back to Sault Ontario, where local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations will set up shop on SATURDAY NIGHT at The Kiln at Searchmont Resort! Note however that Searchmont have yet to corroborate this booking on social media (they often don't). Temperatures are expected to warm up this weekend, but regardless, the music should be cooking inside the ski resort from this experienced veteran quartet! Generations had previously had a Saturday nighter at The Kiln on February 21st called off due to "a booking error", so this will be their first show at Searchmont since late January. If you're up for the drive or are hitting the slopes already, don't miss Valerie, Joe, Pierre, and Tony's latest classic rock blast on Saturday! This is a 19+ show at 8:00 PM with no cover. See above for more details, and here's Generations live! 

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Tarnished) And The First Of This Weekend's Concert Previews!!

With Christmas just a week away, there's just one more concert weekend to touch on beforehand, so that's what today's post is focusing on! It is sufficiently busy to warrant two posts though, so Saturday's Generations and Tym Morrison shows will be previewed next. Now, here's what you should know, starting with SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS in the E.U.P.!

Local classic/hard rock quartet Tarnished will return to The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the band only announced the gigs via their Facebook page yesterday, and they are late replacements for this weekend. Sault Ontario classic rock veterans Touch Of Class were originally slated for The Rapids Lounge this weekend, but they had to cancel their scheduled Kewadin dates since last month due to paperwork issues (source here), presumably related to their ability to perform in Michigan. Hopefully they get everything sorted out in time for their scheduled 2026 dates, but kudos to Tarnished for stepping in TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! With no public New Year's dates teased, these will likely be Tarnished's final shows of 2025, and their first at the Sault Kewadin in almost two months.

You can enjoy Alex, Josh, Chris, and Ron's hard rocking mix of covers at The Rapids Lounge at 9:00 PM as usual TOMORROW & SATURDAY with 21+ age limits. Visit the above link for more details, and here's Tarnished live!

Next up, we'll head south to The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino, where Traverse City metal trio Scarkazm will set up shop for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! While not newly promoted on their Facebook page at press time, the shows have Facebook event pages linked here, and will be their first shows in our neck of the woods since rocking the Soo Kewadin three weeks ago. After tomorrow and Saturday, Scarkazm have just two other shows left in 2025 (downstate in Crystal Mountain), but they will be back in the Soo in January and in St. Ignace in April, so if you don't wanna wait, head to The Northern Pines Lounge for Adam, Dave, and Jeff's hard rocking covers and originals before Christmas! Like with Tarnished up north, Scarkazm's Kewadin dates this weekend are 9:00 PM affairs with no cover charges and 21+ age limits. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Scarkazm live!

Also this weekend, let's head north to Sault Ontario for a stacked multi-genre concert TOMORROW NIGHT at Beck's Bar named Broke & Hungry! This concert will be a Soup Kitchen Community Center benefit as part of touring rapper/host Twitchy T. Tantrum's national food drive, and entry will be via non-perishable food items. Always a wonderful cause, and kudos to Twitchy and all involved at this rare multi-band concert at Beck's! A wide swath of musicians will include two SMS-amenable bands, namely crossover thrash quartet Hails and online page-less metal quintet The Sault Side Squad, while this show will also feature Juno-nominated Toronto rapper Unknown Mizery (a.k.a. King Mizo), local bluegrass quartet The Golden Scoundrels (featuring Shit Liver and Handsome Sandwich alumni), and local rapper Mike "Mic Swiff" Sylvester. This is a 19+ event which starts at 8:00 PM tomorrow.

Note that Twitchy T. Tantrum has a scheduled live-stream for this concert on YouTube, suggesting that it may be played live there for remote and belated viewing, but I haven't seen any firm confirmation of that elsewhere. Keep tabs on that link just in case though!  There's a little something for multiple tastes at Beck's tomorrow, and it will be nice to support the Soup Kitchen just before Christmas in the process, so don't bypass this concert in your weekend plans! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Ha!ls live!

Finally for this preview post, it's our first ever preview of a heavier concert at The Full Throttle Saloon (well, at least since the former Primavera Hall rebranded), as local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 will set up shop at the Wellington Street West venue TOMORROW NIGHT! This one-nighter will see Greg, Alex, and Warren give Steelton a run for its money, and hopefully things go well there so they can bring their high-octane slate of covers and their originals to a new venue and audience more regularly in 2026! With just their ticketed Moose Lodge show on New Year's Eve ahead, Boneheads will have just this show left for the year in terms of normal nightclub gigs, and it's a normal one for them aside from the locale (9:30 PM start time, 19+ age limit, no cover). Note that the Full Throttle Saloon doesn't host bands on Saturdays at all, and is only open to the public from 12:00-4:00 PM that day (reserved seating after 4:00).

For more details on your local 225's concert tomorrow at the Full Throttle Saloon, the venue's menu options and specials, and more, visit the above links, and for a preview, here's "the dirty three" live! 

That's all for now, but stay tuned for our Generations and Tym Morrison previews next! Thanks everyone!

The First Of This Weekend's Hard Rock Concert Previews!!

Let's look at another range of weekend concert previews on this Thursday morning, but with a lot to talk about, I'm holding our previews of this weekend's Tym Morrison and Bone Yard 225 shows at Beck's Bar for our next post due to the amount. Before I begin, I wanted to offer a couple of clarifications for this weekend's schedule. Regarding the now-defunct Exit 808's scheduled St. Ignace Kewadin Casino gigs on Friday and Saturday, Kewadin's entertainment page still lists "Double Jack" (their original name) as playing there this weekend. As best as I can tell, ex-band members haven't retained the booking in a new project (at least not in a publically acknowledged state), but if I hear something about a band there this weekend, I'll let you guys know! Meanwhile, Sault Ontario's Double Down (more on them in a bit) mentioned in their Facebook post on Monday that classic/hard rockers Headrush are playing this weekend at The Full Throttle Saloon?

The question mark is on their end, not mine, implying that they weren't 100% sure about if the shows were taking place. I don't know if Double Down heard about a tentative booking or not, but at press time, neither Headrush nor the former Primavera Hall have said anything publically about matching bookings this weekend. This is not to definitively say that Double Down are wrong, but we'll let you know if firm public announcements come out either way! Now, let's dive into verifiable hard rock concerts!

We'll start with Double Down themselves, as the local classic/hard rock cover quartet will rock Jay's Piston Broke Pub TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! These will be Double Down's final concerts of 2025, their first shows anywhere in three weeks, and their first at the former Roosevelt Hotel in almost a month. Should be a good way to rock out with this talented veteran quartet, who have lots of entertaining hard and classic rock covers in their vast setlist, so don't miss out in the west end! Regarding their bassist slot, recent promotional images include bassist Dan Beaupre (who has missed all of their fall gigs while recovering from an undisclosed ailment), but the band has not 100% said in writing if he will be playing this weekend or not. Granted, they never revealed who their guest bassist was at The Water Tower Pub last month either (it wasn't Lori). We'll let you know if something is said either way!

This weekend's shows are at 9:30 PM with 19+ age limits and no cover charge. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details on these shows, and for a preview, here's Double Down live!

Next up, we'll head to Sault Michigan, where Iron Mountain classic/hard rock cover quintet Oz will make their long awaited return to the E.U.P. TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT when they rock The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino! Like with Double Down, these are Oz's last shows anywhere in 2025, but they will be back in the Soo in two months if you can't make it this weekend. As it turns out, Oz had been on a bit of a break prior to this road trip, but they were working on new material over the fall, and fans will get the first chance to see what classic cuts are now in their setlist this weekend. Oz are a very talented band with lots of heavier covers from 1970s and 1980s rock legends, so don't miss out on this weekend's shows if you're in the region! Tomorrow and Saturday's shows are at 9:00 PM as usual for The Rapids Lounge, with no cover charges and 21+ age limits. Visit the Facebook event page for more details, and here's Oz live!

Finally for this preview post, we'll make the hour's trip south to Hessel, where local hard rock cover quartet Unfortunate Sun will take the stage for one night only on SATURDAY NIGHT at The Islander Bar! As of this writing, we're just over two weeks removed from Skip, Jody, Tony, and Jason's most recent Islander Bar show (said venue's "Drinksgiving" bash), but this is the second straight weekend where the guys have played a normal weekend gig in the E.U.P., following last weekend's Soo Kewadin stops. While not acknowledged in Unfortunate Sun's own promotion, Saturday's concert doubles as The Islander Bar's ugly sweater party, so if you have a particularly ugly Christmas sweater, this is the day to break it out, especially as a prize awaits the ugliest sweater of all! There will also be holiday cocktail specials if that's your thing. Of course, Unfortunate Sun promise "music that will melt your faces off like that poor bastard in Indiana Jones", so no pressure at all there!

As usual for concerts at The Islander Bar, Saturday's festivities are at 8:00 PM with a 21+ age limit and no cover charge, and if you believe Unfortunate Sun's AI poster for the show, you may get a Facebook friend request if you bring them cake! Visit the above links for more on this concert, and for a preview, here's Unfortunate Sun live!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for our Beck's Bar previews on the site next! Thanks everyone!