LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Tripod The Dog & Soundcheck), Concert Cancellations, And Much More!!

Before we get into today's post, just a heads up on two more concert cancellations for later this month. First, the planned Jack Russell's Great White acoustic show at The Dreammakers Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino next Friday has been cancelled outright "after meeting with Tribal health professionals", which appears to be how Kewadin explains shows called off due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic & related rises in positive case counts. No word on why they're not trying to reschedule it, but it is a shame to lose an intriguing hair metal show like this, and hopefully either version of Great White comes back down the line! All tickets will be refunded, contact kewadinboxoffice@saulttribe.net if you have any extra concerns. Meanwhile, in Sault Ontario, the Glambition fundraiser for Pauline's Place next Saturday at the Bushplane Museum has been postponed a month to December 18th.

As per this SooToday article yesterday, the date change was "due to unforeseen circumstances", though they did not elaborate on if COVID was part of the reasoning or not. Tickets bought for next Saturday will be honoured next month, but refunds are available on request. While the postponement pushes Glambition out of Hunger & Homelessness Awareness Week, it will now be seasonal reflecting Christmas for the homeless community, which is a great idea! All other aspects of the event will be unchanged, though aside from The Apocalypse Afterparty, a performer list is not public yet anyway. Stay tuned for Glambition updates as they roll in!

Now, today's post is mostly comprised of new videos, but it appears that I can't escape SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS this weekend, as we have four more to take note of in the west end, so let's start there, as local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to Reggie's West TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! I apologize for the short notice, Soundcheck only announced these shows via their Facebook event page this morning, as recently usual for their non-Esquire Club gigs. Fans may have seen Soundcheck at Reggie's West last night too as hosts of their weekly open mic night (which is they only sporadically promoted online), but TONIGHT & TOMORROW'S shows will be their first proper concerts at The Reggievelt since Halloween weekend. Despite the late notice, their brand of hard rocking covers should go over fine with attendees this weekend!

TONIGHT & TOMORROW'S shows have 9:00 PM start times, no cover charges, and 19+ age limits, but vaccine passports are mandatory to attend, and please respect and follow any social distancing and public health guidelines. See above for more details, and for a preview, here's a brand new video of Soundcheck live at The Esquire Club last week! Posted to their Facebook page on Sunday, this features the guys covering The Black Keys' "Lonely Boy" with guitarist Cameron Oliver on lead vocals. Honestly, I hate this song, but Soundcheck do liven it up a fair amount compared to the original, and the recording quality is solid! Give it a look below, and don't miss these shows!

Next up, veteran local alternative hard rock trio Tripod The Dog will play their first concerts of the pandemic when they return to The Esquire Club TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice, we only heard about these gigs via bassist John Amendola's Facebook event page late last night (remember, Tripod The Dog have not launched any social media accounts to reflect their 2018-present activity, and their 2000s Facebook group is not administrated by current members). Note that John only refers to the band as "Tripod" on the event page, no word on if he's just using the common short form or if the band actually changed their name. Tripod The Dog had last been seen on stage at the same venue in February 2020 before the pandemic ground their live schedule to a halt, but after 21 months, they're back and ready to roll, and hopefully their pace of concerts isn't as sporadic as it was in 2019!

Yes, they are back in our active band links too. You can see Mark and the Amendolas TONIGHT & TOMORROW at 10:00 PM with 19+ age limits and no announced cover charges, but please respect any and all social distancing and public health measures at The Esquire Club, and you must show your vaccine passport to get in the building. See above for more details, and here's a classic Tripod (The Dog) original!

Finally, I have regrettably moved local punk quartet The Inner City Surfers to our inactive band links. After previously falling inactive in 2013, The Surfers reunited for a highly successful show at LopLops Lounge on August 3rd, 2019, and followed that up by hitting the studio to record three new songs, but only one ("Excess Express") has seen a public release to date, and the pandemic stopped plans to hold a Toronto reunion gig last year as well. The band proper has not updated their Facebook page since wishing fans a happy Halloween last year by way of a Poison parody, so we're well past our standard one year mark. Given their further music commitments and half the band currently living out of town, activity seems to be a bonus when everyone's available, and hopefully they'll return when the time is right, especially given the pandemic! However, I hate to end a Surfers topic on a low note.

Instead, here's a new video from when bassist Brad "Example" Lacell was recently in town, featuring him, frontman Dustin Jones, and Dustin's daughter/frequent guest performer Jett covering the late great John Prine's song "Angel of Montgomery"! Uploaded to Jett's YouTube channel on November 3rd, this is obviously a huge departure musically from The Surfers, but the entire band are huge fans of John Prine, and it's nice to see Dustin & Brad playing together again, if acoustically. The audio quality isn't crystal clear, but everyone performs well, and Jett's developing a strong voice herself, so give their cover a watch below!

Unless there's another hard rock band with short notice gigs this weekend, that's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site this weekend! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Jack Russell's Great White Acoustic Show), A Concert Preview, And More!!

Here's a new news post to check out on this Thursday night, and while we do have a Sault Ontario concert preview here, this post mostly takes us into Michigan's Eastern Upper Peninsula for a new video, an apology for a missed pair of concerts, and leading off, a big LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for later this year! Here's what you should know!

The Jack Russell-led version of Los Angeles glam metal icons Great White will (partially) return to our area on Friday, November 19th when Jack and guitarist Robby Lochner play a special acoustic concert at The Dreammakers Theater at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino! I'm not sure what the impetus is for this being a two-man acoustic gig (it's the only show labelled as such in their 2021 tour dates), but this won't be all that shocking for genre fans when you consider the Eric Martin/P.J. Farley acoustic show here in February 2020. This will be Jack's third Great White-branded show in the E.U.P. on record, following Kewadin dates in the Soo with the original band in 2009 and outdoors in St. Ignace in 2017 after his version with Robby split off. If you're up to hear some more intimate takes of Great White hits like "Once Bitten, Twice Shy" & "Desert Moon", then don't miss this show!

No opening acts are advertised for this all ages, 8:00 PM concert, and tickets run for just $15 general admission, which is a great deal for Hair Scare loyalists! You can buy them at this link, at 1-800-KEWADIN, and at the in-person box office. Of course, please follow all public health guidelines re: the pandemic where applicable to ensure everyone's safety at the casino, especially as a lot can happen (good or bad) in the next two months. It will be interesting to see how this show does, and not because of the unplugged nature, but because we still don't know if the land border will be opened for Canadians to legally enter the U.S. by November 19th (remember, Black Label Society are still scheduled to play there on the 13th). Kewadin historically gets a lot of it's major concert ticket sales from Canada and Sault Ontario residents, but will either show even be able to welcome those fans?

Note that Staind frontman Aaron Lewis' country show at the Sault Kewadin next month is sold out, though I have no idea how many of those ticket buyers are Canadians hoping the border will be opened before October 28th. Of course, we'll keep you posted whenever the border re-opens for us to travel south (the current deadline is October 18th but that is re-assessed monthly), and fingers crossed that there will be a Canadian contingent of vaccinated fans in time for these November dates! See above for full details on Jack Russell's Great White Acoustic Show!

Next up, here's a preview of a Sault Ontario concert taking place THIS SATURDAY NIGHT, as a diverse lineup of local musicians will hit The Klub at The Pall Mall at 1-642 Queen Street East, with new local alt-hardcore duo These Magnificent Tentacles opening! The first concert we've ever covered at any location in The Pall Mall (right by Case's Music), The Klub is an events & community wellness center that is highly active in the LGBTQ2SIA+ community and serves as a safe and inclusive space therein, so they definitely do great work that should be commended, but how will The Klub fare as a concert venue at this scale? The full lineup includes Shit Liver bassist Mike Kyle's solo folk project Sibling as a headline act, alongside Soo's Got Talent finalist Juliana Regan & ex-Id Iota bassist Blair St. John in a joint set, and the homecoming of local folk/pop solo musician Shae Tull.

As for These Magnificent Tentacles, this will be Brent & Steve's first public concert together, and will presumably serve as a first chance to hear their new original material, so come out to see the show kick off with a bang! Promoted by Dryer Fire, this ALL AGES show has a 7:00 PM start time and a recommended $10 admission fee, but "pay what you can" is also an option. Pandemic protocols are in effect, so mask up and use common sense, while vaccine passports & ID must be presented upon entry. This should be a fun show to check out a wide array of sounds, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's T.M.T.'s first full song!

Finally, I profusely apologize for not previewing these dates last week, but Sault Michigan hard rock band Tarnished rocked The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino this past Friday & Saturday! I originally covered them in June when Kewadin Casino finally returned to booking bands at their on-site lounges, but amidst a lot of personal commitments this month (my mom's long-delayed funeral principal among them), they fell through the cracks. The band didn't plug them in advance on Facebook either, but I already knew about them, so I messed up. I apologize again, hopefully the shows were a hit, and don't miss them at The Rapids Lounge in the Soo in November! That said, if you want to see how they did this past weekend, Tarnished did post a video of them covering AC/DC's "You Shook Me All Night Long" onto their Facebook page on Tuesday and it appears to show that they're back to a quartet after a few months as a trio!

Specifically, it looks like Tarnished have added a new full-time bassist (also present in their first new TikTok video in seven months) with frontman Alex Traynor moving back to guitar. I'm sure they credited him this past weekend, but I have not seen any public confirmations of the bass player's identity online. He seems to fit in for this cover, which is well performed and makes solid use of Alex's melodic vocals, but stay tuned when we hear more on their newest lineup! Lastly, Tarnished will hit the road for a short notice gig in Gould City (90 minutes west of the Soo) on Saturday night at The Michihistrigan Bar, so see above for more details, and here's their AC/DC cover!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site in the near future! Thanks everyone!