In the first news post of our second decade, we're splitting things between the border for some new videos and LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for later this month! Here's what you need to know!
Marquette, Michigan hard rock quartet Spun will return to The Satisfied Frog in Sault Michigan on Friday, July 14th and Saturday, July 15th! Making their third trip east next weekend, the Nudge successors have proven to be similarly popular and talented in their first four gigs at The Frog, and here's hoping that Tim, the Bobs, and Doug deliver another pair of hard rocking nights of favourite songs in just over a week's time! No major frills for next weekend's shows otherwise, which have start times of 9:30 PM each and lack an announced cover charge, and as usual for E.U.P. concerts at bars, have an age limit of 21 years old and up. Also, just as a related reminder, former Nudge frontman Danzo McCracken's current 1990s rock cover band Reality Bites are playing at The Frog this weekend, so get details at this link, but as for Spun, click here for details on next week's shows, and don't miss out on all of the action at The Satisfied Frog for their return!
Next up, we'll head north to Sault Ontario for a concert at The Gore Street Cafe on Monday, July 31st that will be headlined by Calgary industrial punk trio Dri Hiev in their local concert debut! Presumably an intentional misspelling of "dry heave" moreso than a Dirty Rotten Imbeciles allusion, Dri Hiev are definitely not your average punk band, with their music sounding what happens when you have a noise punk band record an album in a hydraulic factory. How in the world will this fit at the laundromat? Be there at month's end to find out, but Dri Hiev are definitely worth a listen, as you won't hear this every day in the Soo! The local opener is acoustic punk solo project Telephone & Address in their first concert since Chris Shoust opened for Benj Rowland on short notice at the same venue in February. Nice to see Chris playing live again, his shows have been more infrequent lately, so keep this one in mind for later this month!
Note that Telephone & Address' newest album "Are You Now or Have You Ever Been..." will be on sale at the laundromat on the 31st, but unlike some of Chris' recent shows, this will not be a release party for his still-upcoming CD "Monster". As usual for Gore Street Cafe shows, this concert is a 7:00 PM ALL AGES concert, and while this is a "pay what you can" event as usual, a $10 entry donation is suggested. Check the official Facebook event page for more details on this unique punk show!
We'll close today with new videos, starting with the newest solo performance video from veteran local hard rock guitarist and Audiofumes podcast host Mike Cliffe! Inspired by Robin Trower's blues rock standard "Bridge of Sighs", this is an instrumental performance using the Rakkarak processor tio emulate a guitar pedalboard, and it's solidly done with a very bassy tone and effect, so give it a look below!
Finally for today, here's that other video from YouTube user spiritinthesky blue's YouTube channel filmed at last month's Jack Russell's Great White concert at the Kewadin Shores Casino in St. Ignace, Michigan! This is of the meet & greet after the show, visibly held indoors at the casino proper, and it's nice to see some candid footage of an event we don't typically see video of! Granted, it's a 27 second clip that largely showcases autograph seekers, but for those of us who don't buy VIP tickets or inquire about meet & greets at Kewadin, give this video a look!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!
Before we begin our final post before our 10th anniversary (tomorrow!), here's a note regarding Sault Michigan classic/hard rock cover quartet Highway 63, who revealed on their Facebook page on Sunday that they are playing live tonight in De Tour Village at the pavilion there, possibly as entertainment after their Independence Day 5K run. We're not formally covering the show here as De Tour Village is outside of our coverage range (being 75 minutes from the Soo), but hopefully the show goes well as they end their spring break and finally signal the "travelling" they had teased!
Now, today's all-Sault Michigan post is on with some recent concert videos and a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, so let's get things rolling with that new show, as local hard rock quartet Project 906 will play a special Fourth of July concert TOMORROW NIGHT at... the Kings Club Casino in Brimley?! Apologies for the short notice, the band only announced this show via it's Facebook event page on Thursday. While no strangers to Bay Mills Resort & Casino (who also own Kings Club), this will be Project 906's first publically advertised trip a mile up West Lakeshore Drive to Kings Club, which was actually the first tribally owned casino in the United States, so there's history there! As per the event page, Project 906's set will be on this casino's back patio, though I can't confirm whether it connects to Chum's Cafe or not. It's great to see Project 906 back on a public stage after over a month away, so don't miss them at the other Brimley casino TOMORROW NIGHT!
An early 7:00 PM start time is in effect for this 21+ show, which has no announced cover charge. Check the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's some new videos from their private Sault Area High School class of 1997 reunion gig at Moloney's Alley last month! All shared via the downtown bar's Facebook page last week, two videos are of the fireworks in honour of the 20th anniversary celebrations (nice precursor to the July holidays), with one featuring guitarist Joe Jenkins' rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner", before starting The Foo Fighters' "Everlong", while the other video contains more of "Everlong", though the latter is only 15 seconds and focuses on the fireworks over the band. The fireworks looked good, the reunion committee didn't skimp on them! Embedded below is Project 906 covering Poison's "Nothin' But A Good Time", and though this is also abbreviated (only capturing the solo and final chorus.)
Solid videos overall, despite not being optimal views of Project 906, but remember, the reunion and fireworks are the stars of these videos moreso than the band. Still nice to see some new footage, let alone at a venue we rarely cover on the SMS, so give Project 906's new videos a look above & below, and don't miss them at Kings Club Casino in Brimley TOMORROW!
Finally for today, here's some new videos from Jack Russell's Great White's late notice opening set outside of the Kewadin Shores Casino in St. Ignace last month! Filmed by YouTube user spiritinthesky blue and uploaded to her YouTube channel on Tuesday, she had some backstage access of some kind to the outdoor concert, so in her concert videos, you'll see some different and unique angles than you might otherwise see, rather than sticking to one static location. Spirit (I guess you'd call her?) filmed this version of Great White covering Ian Hunter's "Once Bitten, Twice Shy" and Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song", as well as playing their originals "Save Your Love", "Lady Red Light", and "Call It Rock 'N Roll", plus this pre-set video where the band are practicing and setting up, and she remarks on what to expect and being backstage for the show. Embedded here is a two song, 12 minute video of Jack and company so can you find in this clip?
Here, you'll see the band playing "Mista Bone" (with Jimi Hendrix "Voodoo Child" interlude) and "Rock Me", so click each song name to hear the individual song. Overall, these videos are solid quality and capture Jack Russell's Great White in fine form, even though with the nightfall, there's still no obvious way to tell that this was an outdoor concert! The alternate camera angles are a nice touch to see more of the stage from angles you wouldn't expect, so keep all of them in mind above & below! Note however that she didn't upload anything from Lita Ford's headlining set.
There is one more video from this channel that I'll show separately just to spread things out, but here's a final video to close, as "Spirit" informally interviewed frontman Jack Russell backstage for one of her YouTube uploads! The video features Jack being questioned about the meet & greet to come, his upcoming autobiography, and some general praise for himself and his talents. Loose and candid, it's a nice look at the show and Jack's open and friendly nature before their set, so give it a look below as well!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for a special post TOMORROW to commemorate our 10th anniversary! Thanks everyone!
Today's news post at the SMS is devoted to two topics: Videos from a recent major concert, and a huge LOCAL CONCERT ALERT relating to a portion of Sault Ontario's annual summer festival, so here's what you should know on this Tuesday morning!
The lineup for the twelfth annual Stage 2 at Rotaryfest has been announced via it's official Facebook event page, so what should you know about this year's all-original second stage action? For a third straight year, Stage 2 will be held at the "redirected" stage beside the Art Gallery at Clergue Park as a one day event on Saturday, July 15th, but the lineup has been expanded from 7 bands to 8, so who can you look for in three weeks' time? Mostly a new lineup, with only three returning bands from last year, and none from lineups prior to then, including indie rock artist Jesse Merineau headlining at 8:00 PM! It's good to see the 2016 Speak Easy Battle winner back on stage after the cancellation of his Canadian Nightclub show this weekend, so look for him with a full band in his Rotaryfest debut on the 15th! Last year's headliners K.I.C.K. will play the same 7:00 PM timeslot this year with their own indie rock originals, while hard/alternative rock trio The Din are the highest slotted heavier band at 6:00 PM in their own Rotaryfest return.
Indie/punk quintet Northwest will debut on Stage 2 at 5:00 PM (fresh off of theirs and K.I.C.K.'s LopLops show the previous night), while fellow local punk standouts A Dire Setback will do the same at Clergue Park during the 4:00 PM set. Alt-hard rock quartet Id Iota will rock the 3:00 PM set at the Second Stage for the second straight year, while former Pixo Control frontman Mike Mikus and company will play their penultimate local concert before Mike's big move at 2:00 PM, with him saying farewell later that night at LopLops with Id Iota opening, so keep Stage 2 in mind if you're underage and want to see him before he heads east! Opening at 1:00 PM on July 15th are All Us Others, a new all-female singer/songwriter duo signed to Tidal Records, though I don't know their specific genres or much else beyond their Instagram page. See what they have in store next month at Stage 2!
As usual, Stage 2 is FREE & ALL AGES, and is once again curated by Chelsie Parayko, and be sure to visit the above links for full details on this year's lineup. While maintaining the youthful alternative path of the "redirected" era, this year's Second Stage lineup is also largely different from 2016 and completely different from any prior year, so there's lots of variety, talent, and relatively new blood to take in on July 15th! Stay tuned for more updates, as well as the covers-only Stage 1 lineup reveal, when they roll in!
We'll close today with the only public videos that I've located from Saturday night's Lita Ford/Jack Russell's Great White outdoor concert at the Kewadin Shores Casino in St. Ignace, Michigan! These come from YouTube user Annette Chandler (co-organizer of the local hydrocephalus charity walk Troy's Trail), who you may recognize as a filmer of February's Pop Evil concert in Sault Michigan. On Saturday, she filmed one video of each band, including this video of Lita Ford playing her biggest solo hit "Kiss Me Deadly", so what can we glean from it? Performance-wise, she still sounds good, and the band has the chops for the material, so there's no problems there! In terms of the setting along Horseshoe Bay, I really can't judge, as the videos were both taken during nightfall, and I can only really see the stage and lighting with any clarity, but hopefully the outdoor stage was set up well for fans and bands alike! Give Lita's video a look below!
Finally, here's Annette's video of Los Angeles hard rock veterans Jack Russell's Great White covering Ian Hunter's "Once Bitten, Twice Shy", which was their biggest chart hit and most recognizable song. The video's better lit than on Lita Ford's, which helps visibility beyond the stage a tiny bit, but I wish the videos would have zoomed in a little bit to counter attendee heads. Still, this version of Great White sound solid, even if only 20% of the lineup from their 2009 Kewadin gig was back this month, and the crowd get prime opportunities to sing along! Give their video a look below, and kudos to Annette for filming these, hopefully someone has more!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates soon, plus this month's CD review! Thanks everyone!
Another weekend of concert previews is here, so what do we have to hype up with only a week to go before Canada Day? Shockingly, no short notice events (yet?), but there's a fair amount of intriguing concerts going down over the coming days, including a huge outdoor event in the E.U.P., so here's what you should know in rough chronological order!
We'll start at The New American Pub TOMORROW NIGHT, where local instrumental jam/hard rock quintet Gianni Gagoots will return to the stage as openers for Niagara Falls experimental prog rock quartet The Road Waves! Last seen opening for The Hazytones at this venue two months ago, this will be the Gagoots' first concert appearance since announcing that they were self-promoting concerts of theirs under the Like Ten Productions banner. This creative union of Redefined, Sailor's Tongue, and Rising Tide alumni should have another creative set of instrumental funk and jam rock in store, so don't miss out tomorrow at The New A! As for The Road Waves, they don't quite cross the hard rock line, but their own improvised, ever-changing, and creative original jams should attract a solid audience tomorrow in the second stop of their summer tour, so keep them in mind as well! Doors open at 9:00 PM tomorrow for this 19+ concert, which has a $5 cover charge. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Gianni Gagoots live earlier this year!
Next up, the ever-prolific Tym Morrison will continue his ongoing weekly concert arrangement at Gliss Steak & Seafood with two more acoustic solo matinee gigs TOMORROW & SATURDAY! With a likely return to thrice-weekly gigs there coming in the near future, Tym's unplugged hard rock covers don't appear to be solely a two night affair for too much longer, so if you can make it down to The Quality Inn's house restaurant tomorrow or on Saturday evening, expect more solid renditions from this prolific veteran artist! As usual for Tym's long-term run at Gliss, expect 6:00 PM start times, no announced cover charges, and no age limits, but remember that this is a sit-down restaurant, not a typical nightclub venue. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and for a preview, here's Tym live!
Also, here's this weekend's arguable main event, as former Runaways guitarist Lita Ford and Los Angeles hard rock legends Jack Russell's Great White will play a special outdoor concert at the Kewadin Shores Casino in St. Ignace, Michigan THIS SATURDAY NIGHT to kick off the venue's summer concert series! The other events in the series are August's Josh Turner concert and demolition derby. A rare major Kewadin headlining concert to not take place at the Dreammaker's Theater in the Soo, fans should take to the regional debut of Lita Ford, whose solo hits like "Kiss Me Deadly", "Hungry", and "Close My Eyes Forever" should rock the stage on the shores of Horseshoe Bay on Saturday night, so don't miss out on her set! Lita was promoted to headliner last week after April Wine were forced to drop out due to frontman Myles Goodwyn falling ill, so the Jack Russell-led version of Great White will step in to replace them on Saturday, with classics like "Once Bitten, Twice Shy" and "The House of Broken Love" in the repertoire.
Though this isn't the version of Great White that played Sault Michigan in 2009 (they've had an L.A. Guns-like split in two since), frontman Jack Russell is back from that event, and the original voice of Great White and his new band should deliver for fans on Saturday night! This FREE & ALL AGES concert has $18 general admission tickets and $28 for front row seating from the fourth row and back, so click here, call 1-800-KEWADIN, or visit the in-person box offices to get hooked up. This should be a solid concert for 1980s metal and Hair Scare fans, especially given the unique outdoor setting, so see above for more details, and here's Lita Ford live earlier this year!
Finally for today's concert previews, THIS SATURDAY NIGHT will also play host the Sault Ontario debut of all-female Barrie hardcore punk quartet Beaver Slap when they rock The Rockstar Bar! The show was quietly moved upstairs from The Algonquin Pub on Sunday for unannounced reasons, as per promoters Six, Two, Oh. on the Facebook event page, so ignore the venue listed on the poster. This concert should provide a quality showcase for Beaver Slap's aggressive brand of old school hardcore punk with some noise and crust rock touches for good measure, so don't miss out on the ladies as they take the stage on Saturday night! Only two bands are opening this one, including Six, Two, Oh.'s resident doom/sludge metal trio AlgomA in their second ever Rockstar Bar appearance and first concert anywhere since their European tour in the spring, while local punk/metal quintet Jack Spades will play their second show with their new lineup and their first Rockstar Bar set in well over nine months as well, last seen there opening for SNFU.
Solid choices to open, including a rare appearance by Jack Spades at an event not promoted by frontman J.D. Pearce, so don't be late for the local openers! Notably the first ever Rockstar Bar concert promoted by Six, Two, Oh., this event has a $7 cover charge, a 19+ age limit, and a 9:00 PM start time. This should be a great time for fans of hard edged punk with a hint of sludge, so visit the above links for full details on all of Saturday night's action, and here's Beaver Slap live a few years back!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates over the weekend! Thanks everyone!
