LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Generations), Darsombra Concert Updates, And A New Pillory Song!!

I'd like to begin today's post by offering our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Darsombra synth player/vocalist Ann Everton, who passed away on Friday in a car crash in Essex County, New York. She and her husband/bandmate Brian Daniloski had been on the road towards Montreal for the beginning of their fall North American tour, which was slated to include a local concert this Friday at the Downtown Plaza, but their tour van collided with a police cruiser this past Friday. Brian and the police officer inside the cruiser were hospitalized with minor injuries, and you can read more about the incident at this link. A GoFundMe campaign has been launched to raise money for Brian and Ann's family to cover related expenses in the aftermath of this tragic accident, so consider donating to help out. Local fans will recall seeing Darsombra (all the way from Baltimore, Maryland) thrice here at three different venues in the past.

The psychedelic hard rock duo's multimedia stage show debuted here at The New American Pub in July 2017, before rocking LopLops Lounge in August 2019, and they last played here at the so-called March Street Stage in July 2023. All but the Six, Two, Oh.-hosted LopLops gig were promoted by Dryer Fire (now Piecing It Together Shows), and Darsombra were to have played at the Downtown Plaza on Friday alongside British Columbia punk band Mean Bikini, locals The Floor Between Us, and a Muel Goods-hosted independent sellers market. That show will still take place, and according to P.I.T.S. owner Nicole Dyble on their Facebook page, they'll be showing Darsombra videos on the screen above the Plaza's stage, Brian will still receive his artist fee despite being unable to perform, and Mean Bikini will donate $5 from all t-shirt sales on Friday to him. Kudos all around for the support being shown in Ann's memory, both locally and afar!

I was unable to see Darsombra's local dates, but their brand of "post-apocalyptic galaxy rock" made a mark on local fans, and it was impressive to see an American touring band come here this much! Darsombra's mix of hard rock, drone, psychedelic, and experimental sounds, plus a diverse visual experience that Ann had deep involvement in, made them a captivating watch. I've heard very good things about Ann as a person, and I feel so bad for Brian and the rest of their family at this difficult time. We'll have more on Friday's concert in this weekend's concert previews, but consider coming out to show your support and still see some live outdoor music. R.I.P. Ann!

Today's post otherwise features a new song from an upcoming album and a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, as local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations will end their recent hiatus by headlining at Gateway Casino on Saturday, October 18th! This will be Generations' first concert in over two months, last seen at the now-closed(?) Reggie's Place in late July, and their first show at the downtown casino in four months, so fans will have been waiting a long time to see them in action! This wasn't a summer break like some other local cover rock bands had, as drummer Tony Santoro was recovering from carpal tunnel surgery, as per their (now-private) Facebook group. Of note, next Saturday's show will be Generations' first since they parted ways with guitarist Tony Kajnar after a two year run with the band, with Tony S. confirming that he left "due to personal reasons pursuing a new project".

 

Otherwise best known around here from Flat Stanley and The Peace Vibe, hopefully Tony K.'s new band is successful, but it will be easier to not have to specify which Tony when covering Generations! Smokehouse frontman Michael Yurich (who filled in with Generations before Tony K. came on board) will guest on guitar for next Saturday's one-nighter, which takes place at 8:00 PM with a 19+ age limit and no cover charge. Visit the above links for more on Valerie, Pierre, and Tony's return to the stage!

Finally for today, here's the first advance single from local death/thrash metal trio Pillory's upcoming full length album "Old Soul!" Released on September 30th to Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music (all linked here) as well as their new YouTube Music channel, the song in question is "The Angst Of Existence", which has been a staple in Pillory's sets since their mid-2010s revival era. Of note, the Distrokid tags for the album credit 2015-2017 bassist Jordan Leach as a co-writer of the song alongside Robert and Bret. I have no idea if Jordan (who moved out of the country for work reasons in 2017) recorded bass tracks remotely for the album, or if this is just giving him credit for co-writing the song, but we'll let you know if the band confirms anything! I'll hold comment on "The Angst Of Existence" until we review "Old Soul" on the site next year, but give it a listen below!

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

Band Together To Rock Cancer Video Showcase!!

On September 20th, four local cover rock bands joined forces at The Tarentorus Sports Club at 56 Avery Road for Band Together To Rock Cancer, a fundraiser concert to help support Mustang Heart guitarist Lorenzo Fabbri through his ongoing cancer battle. Based on what I've seen and heard from the event, it sounds like it was a huge hit, but don't take my word for it, as we have videos from that night to show today! Attendee Audrey Marshall (a frequent sight at local cover rock concerts) was present, and she filmed three songs from each band for this batch post that was publically shared by both Mustang Heart and Generations on their respective Facebook pages after the fact. Audrey also got a handful of pictures throughout the event, and we'll start with the band of the hour, classic rock cover veterans Mustang Heart in their first show of the year! Lorenzo himself was unable to attend physically, but they made sure that he could still be there!

A monitor was set up to the right of the stage so he could watch the show/talk to attendees over a video call, moved as needed to change what he could see. Very nice idea to involve the man of the hour! In his place, former Mustang Heart guitarist Adam King returned to fill in as a special guest, while Lorenzo's Stages bandmate Sam Spadafora guested on keyboard, meaning that he and Vito Tassone both played keyboard at the same time during this set. Shades of modern day Guns N' Roses doing that, but it's great to see Sam showing his support! Audrey filmed Mustang Heart covering three songs on the 20th, including Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble's "Pride & Joy", John Mellencamp's "Hurts So Good", and as embedded below, Grand Funk Railroad's "Some Kind Of Wonderful". It is good to see Mustang Heart back on stage, if under these circumstances, but they sound good on these familiar covers, with hard rock fans benefitting via the Grand Funk one!

Crank Sound Distribution was on hand to make all four band sound as good as possible, and everyone performs well in the three filmed videos on what had to be an emotional night, with a lively crowd response and good energy, so check out all three Mustang Heart videos above & below!

Next up, Adam's old band Double Down took the stage beforehand, with Audrey filming the classic/hard rock cover quartet covering three songs featuring three different singers! Embedded below is their cover of Bachman-Turner Overdrive's "Let It Ride" with guitarist Joel Syrette on vocals, but she also got videos of their covers of The Cars' "Just What I Needed" (with guitarist Beej Syrette singing) and The Temptations' "Shakey Ground" (with bassist Brad Stephen on vocals). Nice little cross-section of Double Down's vocal capabilities here, let alone a very surprising cover choice for Brad's song, and fans of their hard rocking shows should enjoy these clips, so check them out above & below as well!

Audrey also filmed three songs by fellow local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations, but with guitarist Tony Kajnar unable to attend for unannounced reasons, they called in Muckrakers frontman Mike McDonald (one of their 2023 fill-in guitarists before Tony joined full time) to return for the evening. Their videos filmed at The Tarentorus Club include covers of The Tragically Hip's "Blow At High Dough" (with bassist Pierre Anthony on vocals), Alannah Myles' "Black Velvet" filmed in two chunks (here and here), and as embedded below, The Beatles' "I Saw Her Standing There". Solid and casual yet well played across the board, so give Generations and Mike's videos a watch above & below!

Finally, classic rock cover quartet RPM were also in attendance for Band Together To Rock Cancer, with Audrey filming them covering The Romantics' "What I Like About You", Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Lookin' Out My Back Door", and as embedded below, Bryan Adams' "Cuts Like A Knife". Some of the vocals aren't a complete tonal match for the songs in question, but they're a talented group for classic rock fans, and it's great to see them showing their support for Lorenzo here, so check out their videos too!

That's all for now, but I'm very glad to see that the concert was a success, and of course, our continued best thoughts and wishes are with Lorenzo and his family and friends as he continues his battle! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (It's The Pits) And Mikey & His Uke's New Cover!!

As teased at the end of yesterday's post, we are looking at the other new summer concert festival announced for the same venue via an extended LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, and a new high profile cover video rounds things out. Here's what you should know for this punk-leaning post!

Make it two summer concert festivals hitting Robbie Adamson's church in nearby Leeburn in the coming months, as local concert promoters Piecing It Together Shows (née Dryer Fire) will host their own festival named It's The Pits on Saturday, June 22nd! Playing into the whole peach pit motif as seen in their post-renaming materials (has Nicole explained the inspiration behind that?), It's The Pits will beat the metal-centric Crucifest to the stage by over a month, but the two festivals do share a common band. Of course, the former Dryer Fire are hardly metal/punk-centric promoters, but many events have featured some heavier crossover, this festival included, so who all is playing next month? Apologies if I err on any band identities, P.I.T.S. did not share social media links for the bands, they just listed them on the official poster. As best as I can gather, five of the bands are from out of town, so who's making the way to Leeburn?

The touring acts are Toronto ambient/house duo LAL, Toronto/Minnesota "deep Earth folk" band Twintwa, Ottawa indie rock singer/guitarist Catriona Sturton, Toronto skate punk trio The Mendozaz, and Grand Rapids, Michigan folk duo Rabbit Fur. A lot of talent for genre fans can be found with these artists, and for you punk fans, The Mendozaz will get things amped up with a strong and melodic brand of modern punk, and with distinctive vocals!  Local performers include skate punk/thrash trio Hails (the only band also playing at Crucifest in July), DJ Seith (who played at The Bear Hunters' private Leeburn event last July along with Ha!ls), local/Gatineau, Quebec surf/indie rock solo project Tampa (led by Mulch & The Mire alum Christopher West), indie rock singer/guitarist Shae Tull, former Shit Liver bassist Mike Kyle's acoustic folk solo project Sibling, and the cryptic anti-folk/Americana act Tye Lawless Co.

Note that Sibling and Tye opened for Catriona Sturton at Case's Music in October for Dryer Fire, so if you liked that concert, here's your encore! Sam Emerson from local quilting/product repair company Muel Goods is slated to host It's The Pits, while local artist/photographer Chandra Barnett of Lady Of The Glue will be selling her art here. Partially brought to you by the Ontario Arts Council, tickets for this all ages festival are on sale this month for $40, but the advance fee jumps to $45 on June 1st, and tickets at the gate will cost $50. Like at Oh!No before it and Crucifest after it, camping is encouraged, so keep that in mind if you want to stay the night and head home on Sunday the 23rd! You can buy your tickets in advance at this link. While the festival is slated to begin at 2:00 PM, bands are expected to start playing at around 4:00 PM. More details on It's The Pits are forthcoming.

It's The Pits has to be the biggest event that Dryer Fire/P.I.T.S. have ever put on, and hopefully it's a huge hit for Nicole and crew so they can do this again next year, or at least something of a comparable scale! It's not a punk haven, but genre fans will be satiated by The Mendozaz and Hails, and while not everyone will be into the remote camping appeal, it's very much in this year. The two Leeburn festivals at 5756 Highway 638, Go North on St. Joseph Island, and Northern Vibe in Ophir are all scheduled for the summer, so keep all four in mind if you wanna go off the grid and enjoy some high energy local and touring music! Visit the official Facebook event page and the above links for more on It's The Pits!

We'll close tonight's post with the ninth installment of local punk supergroup project Mikey & His Uke's 30th anniversary series of covers of Green Day's breakthrough album "Dookie"! Just over two weeks removed from their rendition of "She", song #9 from "Dookie" was posted to the project's YouTube channel this morning, and keeping with the album's running order, this cover is of the Green Day deep cut "Sassafras Roots". Bookclub/ex-Lion Ride frontman Mikey Hawdon is back on guitar and (initially) ukelele here alongside former Goldfinger drummer Darren Pfieffer (wearing a baseball jersey here for a change), while Buck-O-Nine bassist Andy Plafoot is back here for his fifth "Dookie" cover in this series, after missing the last two. Vocals are provided here by Jeff "Kepi Ghoulie" Alexander of the Sacramento horror punk veterans The Groovie Ghoulies, who is seen painting something while singing the song.

Kepi does reveal what he painted at the end, but I won't spoil it here. Perfectly sound cover with strong melodies, and well edited from the remote filming locations, though aside from Kepi's painting in a very blue room, there's no quirks in settings or on-camera activities to note. Green Day diehards will like the cover though! Tenth in this series will be the classic "When I Come Around", which is the final yet-covered single from "Dookie" before they hit a home stretch of deep cuts. Given past timeframes, it should turn up at any point between Monday and June 4th (the current average would be May 19th). Check out Mikey & crew covering "Sassafras Roots" below, and look for more soon!

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

Shit Happens Concert Preview, New Videos, And Much More!!

Let's kick off the last week of the month with a new news post, which features some new videos, updates on an upcoming album release, and some shorter recent updates, but first, let's preview a punk concert taking place sooner than you may think!

Here's a special Monday night concert preview for TONIGHT, as Winnipeg punk quartet Shit Happens will make their local concert debut when they headline at The Distraction! The first full metal or punk band (i.e. not a solo project) from out of town to play at the East Street barbershop-turned-concert venue, this female-fronted group are currently touring throughout eastern Canada and even in a few American cities. Shit Happens' up-tempo and in-your-face original attack should find a solid audience tonight, so don't miss out if you can swing coming by on a work/school night! Rising young metal trio The BAG will open in their second show of the year and first ever at The Distraction, and while not a punk band, their intensity should start things off on the right foot! This all ages concert begins at 7:00 PM tonight, and admission is "$5 or pay what you can", as is typical for this venue.

The Monday night scheduling won't be ideal for many, but as an all ages show with two bands at 7:00 PM, it won't be a late night, so consider coming down to The Distraction for some hard hitting punk and metal action! Visit the above links for more details, and here's Shit Happens live!

Next up, here's the latest from local punk trio Vanity First, who have released the second advance single from their upcoming album "Identity Crisis"! Entitled "Habitual Vanity", this partial namesake song can be heard on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and (as embedded below) via YouTube, though at press time, the song is not yet on Bandcamp. If you believe a comment on their Facebook page from Jim McAllister (possibly drummer Keegan McAllister's dad?), Vanity First will release "Identity Crisis" on Saturday, April 20th with a CD release party at Soo Blaster, and he allegedly has tickets. The band has not confirmed this publically, so stay tuned for official word on the album's on-sale date and/or a possible release party when it comes in! It's also worth noting that prolific local/Barrie alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith "played a small part in bringing the album over the finish line", as per his Facebook page.

How involved Mike was, I can't say yet, but this is shaping up to be better produced and distributed than their 2020 "Vanity" EP! Lastly, the album's first advance single "Off With The Heads" somehow got included in Hamilton indie punk label Lockdown Records' brand new compilation "What A Wonderful World We Exist In" alongside 32 other notable bands like The Ripcordz and Broomfiller. Very neat, and there's many other name punk bands from Canada and abroad there, so buy/stream the whole thing above! As before, I'll hold comment on "Habitual Vanity" pending our eventual full album review, give it a listen for yourselves below!

Also today, here's a new live video from local classic/hard rock cover quartet Silent 9's Facebook page! Despite the thumbnail being at what appears to be last year's Cory Marks show at The Machine Shop, the video was instead filmed at one of their gigs over the March 8th weekend at The Esquire Club, with the band seen covering Mark Ronson & Bruno Mars' "Uptown Funk". Definitely a more poppy cover, and as is usual for Silent 9's Facebook videos, we don't see the full song (just 70 seconds of it), but this horizontal video captures a good angle of Jess and the guys in action earlier this month, and the performance is well done! Give it a watch below!

Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items from the last while, and as usual for these short-form stories, these are in alphabetical order by band or company name:

 

• Local concert promotion agency Dryer Fire has changed their name to Piecing It Together Shows (or P.I.T.S.), as per their Facebook page, complete with a logo of a peach to tie in with the acronym. Owner Nicole Dyble stated that the Dryer Fire name (inspired by the former Gore Street Cafe's attached laundromat) "was only ever meant to be a temporary name", but didn't give any direct insight into the new name's inspiration. I will admit that the Piecing It Together name will have to grow on me, but look for more shows from them as 2024 progresses!
• Newer local metal duo Hollow Sky revealed on their Facebook page on February 5th that they have a "new track coming soon", complete with a picture of singer Liam Tallon presumably tracking the new song in question. So far, this is their only post in 2024, but hopefully the new song (their second to be released) is coming along in studio as planned!
• I can't embed it here, as it's a "Reel", but Sault Michigan metal band Tarnished posted a clip (a horizontal landscape clip pillarboxed to fit the "Reel" dimensions, mind you) of them playing the guitar solo to Ratt's "Round & Round" on their Facebook page yesterday! It sounds good, but it's not clear who the second guitarist with Alex Traynor is, with Alex even acknowledging in the comment section that "tis a mystery". Stay tuned for updates on their identity, but give the "Reel" a watch above! No sign of their Alpena battle of the bands video yet though.
   

That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's YouTube Channel Profile next! Thanks everyone!

More Concert Cancellations, SooToday's COVID-19 Benefit Concert, And More!!

For your Friday reading, we have some new at-home concerts, one from a prolific local mainstay, and the other featuring over a dozen local entertainers joining forces for great and relevant cause. However, we're leading off with some news on more upcoming concerts getting called off for sadly predictable reasons, so here's what you hould know!

This was inevitable the way things are going, but we have some more concert cancellations to take note of today, mostly related to Michigan's stay-at-home order, as Governor Gretchen Whitmer extended it to May 15th this morning, and click here or visit your preferred Michigan news outlets for more details. While some of the restrictions were loosened at the same time, concert venues and restaurants are still closed during this time, so don't look for any concerts there in the near future. The new May 15th cutoff will definitely cancel Highway 63's concerts at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino on May 1st & 2nd, plus 415E's Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin shows the following week. All that's left for our Sault Michigan-area hard rock concert calendar in May are a pair of hard rock concert weekends at the Kewadin branches at the end of the month, and we will let you know when/if anything is firmly stated about them. At this time, the Sault Ontario shutdowns have not been similarly extended.

From what I have seen, neither the Numbing nor Anti-Queens concerts in May have been visibly cancelled or postponed by local promoters or the headliners, but their status is precarious as best, especially as Numbing's would have been cancelled by the Michigan government today had it been across the river. It's also worth noting that the Downtown Association has cancelled all events through the end of July (source here), but none of those had regularly established concerts. We'll keep you guys posted!

Next up, local news website SooToday hosted their own YouTube concert event yesterday, entitled Come Together Sault Ste. Marie, featuring 17 musical and entertainment acts performing from home. Of course, this was organized as a coronavirus pandemic benefit event, and viewers are encouraged to donate money to the Algoma COVID-19 Response Fund and the Sault Area Hospital Emergency Fund. Wonderful causes at this time of need, so definitely consider donating to one or both! This event seemed to come together quickly, but a wide swath of talented local artists took part, and while the roster does not primarily feature hard rock or punk acts, there are a handful of familiar faces for long-time readers. Some of the artists performing yesterday included the rap collective Sound Syndrome featuring Conika, folk musician/promoter Jackson Reed, the always prolific Jay Case featuring Frank Deresti & Sheldon Jaaskelainen, and veteran local rock musician Tracey Hilderley with Steve Cardiff, among many others.

The 93 minute run time limited musicians to a song each, and introductions by host Jasmyn Rowley & remarks from local dignitaries were also included, but give the whole thing a watch to see some great local talent coming together, if from afar, at this really strange time! There was one punk act on the bill yesterday, they being local Celtic punk quintet Dustin Jones & The Rising Tide (in Sheldon's first of two appearances in Come Together Sault Ste. Marie), so what should you know here? The Tide are actually the second entertainment act on yesterday's bill (after The Musical Comedy Guild), and due to social distancing, the guys perform remotely in each other's homes, with the five miniature videos arranged together in the frame. I'm surprised more musicians aren't doing that locally! Dustin and company performed "Lost & Found", the first single from their forthcoming fourth studio album, and while audio variance is inevitable due to the different camera setups, everyone sounds great!

I have no idea how the pandemic has affected the album recording and release plans, but it's good to see The Rising Tide in fine form here, and hopefully everyone's safe and healthy in their camp and families! Visit the above links to go directly to their performance (or go to 11:04 in the video below), but don't bypass the rest of Come Together Sault Ste. Marie!



Finally for today, here's all of the latest on local hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison's seventh live-streamed concert from his YouTube channel last night! This time, his 2 hour set begins about 18 minutes into the video, and Tym starts off with his regular Spanish guitar instrumental. He dives into covers after that, and in order, they include The Steve Miller Band's "Abracadabra", Billy Joel's "She's Always A Woman", The Proclaimers' "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)", Tommy Tutone's "867-5309/Jenny", Kim Mitchell's "Patio Lanterns", Eric Carmen's "All By Myself", Aerosmith's "Dream On", Peter Cetera's "Glory of Love", Toto's "Africa", Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time", Abba's "The Winner Takes It All", Peter Gabriel's "Solsbury Hill", Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline", The Beatles' "Something", Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues", The Scorpions' "Rock You Like A Hurricane", The Who's "Behind Blue Eyes", Cheap Trick's "I Want You To Want Me", Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean"...

...Journey's "Open Arms", Starship's "We Built This City", The Bangles' "Eternal Flame", The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's "Fishin' In The Dark", Bryan Adams' "Summer of '69", Amanda Marshall's "Trust Me (This Is Love)", and The Beatles' "Here Comes The Sun". Nice selection of classic rock-leaning covers here, including a handful of new songs for his live-streamed series, and his performances remain as solid as ever, so give Tym's newest show a watch, and look for more next week, one presumes!



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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Pseudo & Bay Mills Bands Together), Darsombra Concert Preview, And New Videos!!

For the first time in almost a week, we have a news post on the site that isn't primarily focused on concert previews or inactive bands, though there is one concert preview to note for a rare Monday night concert in a couple of days. Alongside that, we have some recent tour videos from a prominent local band, and to lead off, LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for this fall, so here's what you should know on this Saturday evening!

The third Bay Mills Bands Together fundraiser concert in nearby Brimley, Michigan has been announced for Saturday, September 2nd with a special Labour Day event that's unlike any that the non-profit organization has held yet! This benefit event will be in honour of recent Brimley High School graduate Brandon Mills, who was diagnosed with leukemia earlier this year and has been undergoing treatments in Detroit. You can find out more about Brandon's fight at this link, and while there have been fundraisers already this summer for him and his family, this has to be the first one that's a joint concert and softball tournament! Instead of Pickles, this event is to be held at the Bay Mills Ballfield (roughly across from the Police Department building on West Lakeshore Drive) in order to facilitate the "Labour Day Rock & Jock Softball Tournament", and for full details on that aspect of the fundraiser, visit the official Facebook event page or the event poster on your right.

The only confirmed band at the moment is hard rock quartet Project 906 as headliners, returning from the last two B.M.B.T. concerts, with remaining sets intended for acoustic performers, including an afternoon open mic block. If you're interested in playing either, contact organizers via the above links! Timeslots aren't out yet, but the event will begin at 8:00 AM, with softball ending at 10:00 PM and Project 906 playing into the night. Food, a bat raffle, and a 50/50 draw will also be on hand for this FREE (competitors aside) & ALL AGES benefit, though donations will surely be accepted. It's great to see another huge fundraiser like this for Brandon and his family, so stay tuned for updates when they roll in!

Next up, here's one of three new Halloween weekend concerts that was recently announced (the other two are coming, but they lack a public venue at press time), as Live705 will host their first ever Halloween event on Saturday, October 28th at The Canadian Nightclub! As of this writing, the show only has out of town headliners confirmed to perform, but if you saw the February 21st Six, Two, Oh. concert at The New A, consider this a sequel eight months later, as Toronto punk trio Pseudo and Peterborough doom rapper Garbageface will return to the Soo for this event! Evidently, the two acts left a huge impression earlier this year to get re-booked together, and Garbageface similarly made many fans at the Vaultry show earlier this month, so prepare for another night of punk and rap action on October 28th!  Local opening acts have not been announced yet, but for reference sake, both A Dire Setback and Mikey Thomas opened the aforementioned shows in February and this month, alongside other acts in the latter case.

Given the Halloween weekend timing, expect a costume contest, drink specials, and giveaways during this concert, which has an advertised 8:00 PM start time, though ticket prices, voucher or advance ticket availability, and a prospective age limit (or lack thereof) are not public knowledge yet. There are a lot of unanswered questions as of yet, but Live705 have delivered regularly with their local concerts so far, and hopefully they can conjure up a scary good time on October 28th, so visit the official Facebook event page for current details, and stay tuned for updates!

Also today, here's our preview of a special concert taking place THIS MONDAY NIGHT, as Baltimore, Maryland psychedelic hard rock duo Darsombra will make their local concert debut with a headlining set at The New American Pub! An exceedingly creative and unique instrumental duo, don't expect singing or drumming from Darsombra, whose guitar/synth attack lends itself very well to their audiovisual stage show, replete with 10 minute+ extended jams that can be heavy, psychedelic, or droning at any given moment, so be sure to watch some Darsombra videos to see what's in store! Do not just listen, trust me! Local openers will include alt-hard rock quartet Bizotic alongside new local drone/noise trio Pointless (featuring Treble Charger's Bill Priddle alongside The Peach Thieves' Jordan Leach & David Peredun), so don't be late for their own unique original material! Promoted by Six, Two, Oh., this concert has a 19+ age limit, $7 cover charge, and 9:00 PM start time.

This rare Monday nighter should deliver a very intriguing and diverse blend of genres at The New A, and Darsombra need to be seen to be fully understood, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details on this night of trans-apocalyptic galaxy rock, and here's Darsombra live!



Finally for today, here's some overdue videos from local alternative punk quartet A Dire Setback's Facebook page last week, as they filmed some pre- and post-show videos from their Timmins road trip when they played there on July 8th! Apologies for the delay in these making the site, this busy concert weekend took up a lot of time. Three videos are considered parts of a series called "The Road to Timmins", with part #1 (embedded below) features an interview of sorts where bassist Matt Quinn asks guitarist Chris Nielsen about the show and trip while he drives one of their tour vehicles. Part #2 is about "the search" for frontman Larry Babic and drummer Nick Kainula during a stop, and without giving anything away, the search doesn't take very long! Part #3 features an amusing exploration of trees along the highways, and discussions about what a cockle is, while an epilogue video features Matt talking directly to the camera about how the show went, what the guys dodged on the road, and their trip home.

As well, a video posted by Chris' wife Heather onto her personal Facebook account was shared by A Dire Setback publically , and it features Chris & Matt singing a song about a little black crow on the side of the road. Nice to see some light and fun videos from A.D.S.' successful road trip, which I hope is repeated on future runs, so definitely give them a look above & below, and I wonder if anyone got any footage at the concert proper?



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates in the coming days as we continue getting caught up post-Rotaryfest! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Highway 63), Bay Mills Bands Together II Preview, And Much More!!

Let's tackle a large amount of Sault Michigan updates today (with one tiny Sault Ontario story to boot), and before anyone asks, we'll be covering Tuesday's Pop Evil show in our next news post, in order to give it proper emphasis closer to showtime, so don't worry, it's still coming! Below, you'll find some assorted notes, a new live concert video, a preview of an anticipated charity concert, and first, a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT & related apology, so here's what you should know!

Sault Michigan classic/hard rock cover quartet Highway 63 will return to Dondee Lanes TONIGHT, after previously playing there last night! Profuse apologies for the short notice (and for missing last night's concert) we only first learned of these shows overnight via their Facebook page, though the band only just plugged them at 5:51 PM yesterday, leaving no time to rush a post here even if I'd heard as soon as announced. This weekend's Dondee gigs are the first public evidence of Highway 63's teased "travelling" this year away from The Rapids Lounge, and while the South Mackinac Trail bowling alley may be seen as unusual ground for the Monkey's Uncle successors, Highway 63 have played the Dondee before, rocking out there in October 2014 early in their run. It's great to see the Switzers, Chris, and Ron spreading their wings to some different venues, though who knows if they'll travel to more regional venues or go outside of the E.U.P.? In the meantime, don't miss Highway 63 at the Dondee TONIGHT!

TONIGHT'S show (and yesterday's) has an oddly early start time of 8:00 PM, you must be 21 to attend, and there is no announced cover charge. For more details, visit the above links, and for a preview, here's a new live video of Highway 63 in concert! Filmed by attendee Bobbiejo MacArthur and shared to the band's Facebook page last week, this comes from the band's Rapids Lounge weekend at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino last week, reportedly their last there "for a while". The video features the guys covering Theory of a Deadman's "Lowlife", and while the video runs for an incomplete 63 seconds, and is filmed from a distant sharp angle of the stage, the audio is solid, and Henry Switzer's vocals are in fine form on this recent rock radio hit! Hopefully the guys aren't gone from the Soo Kewadin for too long, but give this new live video a look below, don't miss them TONIGHT at the Dondee, and apologies again for missing last night's concert, we'd have plugged it here had the band announced it well beforehand!



Next up, here's a preview of a show that was previously announced, as the second Bay Mills Bands Together fundraiser concert goes down at Pickles Bar & Grill in Brimley TOMORROW NIGHT! Following in the lead of their Marissa Kronemeyer benefit concert 9 months ago at the same venue, this is the second gig for the non-profit group, this time coming together to raise funds to cover medical expenses for Liz & Christian Perron, who lost their son Wesley recently after a hard fought medical battle (click here for more on their story.) Tomorrow's performers are all donating their time to help the Perrons, and they include headlining cover quartet The Whole Shabang at 12:00 AM, masked metal band Stoned Ape Evolution at 11:00 PM in their first show of the year, hard/blues rock quartet Project 906 at 9:30 PM, cover rock trio Absolute Magnitude (with Chump Change & London Gentlemen alumni) at 8:00 PM, country rock cover veterans The Brooks Band at 6:30 PM, and solo musician Ken Jahnke opening at 6:00 PM.

Note that a teased set by a mystery band named The Lost Dogs has been cancelled for unannounced reasons, though rather than remove them from the updated poster, it actually notes that they cancelled (why draw attention to it like that?) In any event, hopefully nothing bad happened! Bay Mills Bands Together II has a $5 minimum cover charge, while there will be 50/50 and door prize draws as well, and extra donations will be accepted. This sounds like another great event for a great cause, and with a varied lineup like this, hopefully there's a great turnout at Pickles tomorrow night to help the Perron family at this difficult time! Check the above links for more details, and here's Stoned Ape Evolution live last year!



Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter stories from the last while, including one from Sault Ontario, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist or program name:

• Allstar Promotions owner Dave Atkinson was quoted in this new Sault Evening News article hyping tomorrow's Pop Evil concert at The Dreammaker's Theater, where he noted Pop Evil's growth since they last played Sault Michigan in 2013, and noted openers Badflower's rising chart success. The rest covers already-trodden ground to hype this huge concert, but the article does allude to Allstar Promotions' quiet 2016, albeit without going into details on why they didn't book anything last year. Nice promotion from the local newspaper, so check everything out above, and stay tuned for our preview!
• Project 421 bassist Daniel Horton is looking for a bassist as soon as possible for an apparent new band of his (I presume he's on guitar for this project.) The band plays originals as well as covers, and jam every Wednesday evening. This may be the same band he referenced wanting to start in December that would play "well structured & tasteful" hard/pop rock with an intent of 5 or less shows a year, but I can't confirm that. In any event, message Daniel at this link or via his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from Wednesday if you want to try out!
• We can now confirm that Scarkazm, not Peril, are the Traverse City metal band playing at The Northern Pines Lounge at the Kewadin Shores Casino in St. Ignace on March 10th & 11th, as per this updated concert calendar! This confirms that Kewadin Casino's entertainment page was right all along regarding which of Jeff Hudson & Adam Crawford's bands was playing that weekend (spelling mistake regardless), so either their prior concert calendar saw a band mix-up, or Peril's drummer can't make the March gigs. It'll be a great weekend regardless, so don't miss Scarkazm back in St. Ignace in two weeks!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's YouTube Channel Profile next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Bay Mills Bands Together), A New Band Discovery, And New Videos!!

On this mild Saturday, let's keep our relatively busy streak at the SMS rolling with a new news post! Below, you will find some new videos from Sault Ontario artists, and a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT from the Sault Michigan area, but first, here's a new defunct band to add to our band links!

We have a newly found local punk band to add to our inactive band links, and they are a short lived all-female punk/emo band from 2005 named Murder By Romance! Launched that July, the band featured Aisha Day on lead vocals alongside singer/guitarist Brianne Fournier, and keyboardist Katie Niskanen (I believe), while an earlier post on Brianne's personal Tripod page indicated that a guitarist named Misty (full identity unclear) was a later addition on lead guitar. At last word, Murder By Romance was a work in progress, without a firmly established bassist or drummer, but a search for them was underway. The band's Tripod page features some basic biography & contact information from that time, and an extensive potential setlist suggested by a friend of the band, which indicates that bands from AFI & Avenged Sevenfold to Weezer and Yellowcard were possible to be covered in concert.

Aside from Aisha's past work as a concert promoter, I can't place anyone from Murder By Romance in a musical context, so I can't comment on how they sounded, especially with no posted media or reference to live gigs. That said, the prospect of an all-female punk/emo band is definitely intriguing, and would have been very unique in the mid-2000s local punk scene had they played live, much like Apocrytha were around the same time. Check the above links for more on Murder By Romance!

Next up, here's that LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, as a second Bay Mills Bands Together fundraiser will be held on Sunday, February 25th at Pickles Bar & Grill in nearby Brimley, Michigan! Nine months removed from the non-profit group's debut concert at the same venue in support of Marissa Kronemeyer, a number of local bands will unite to help raise funds for Liz & Christian Perron, who recently lost their son Wesley after a long medical fight, which you can read up on at this link if you're not familiar with their story. This concert is designed to help raise funds for the Perrons to help cover medical expenses, and bands are donating their time to the cause, which is awesome of all of them! On the SMS-covered front, this show will feature four returning bands from last year, including local hard/blues rock quartet Project 906 and the first 2017 date from masked metal quartet Stoned Ape Evolution, while female-fronted cover rockers The Whole Shabang are the advertised headliners, and solo artist Ken Jahnke will also return.

New performers on the 25th will include local rock cover trio Absolute Magnitude (featuring Broke on Sunday & Oddfellow alumni), country rockers The Brooks Band, and a mysterious band named The Lost Dogs, whom we'll have info on if found. Bay Mills Bands Together II has a 6:00 PM start time, $5 minimum entrance fee (you can donate more if you want), while there will be tickets on sale for door prizes & a 50/50 draw.  It's great to see another fundraiser concert of this scale at Pickles, so click here for more details, keep the Perrons in your thoughts, and Bay Mills Bands Together is finally in our Other Local Metal Links!

We'll close today with new videos, starting with a new live concert video posted to Sault Ontario alternative/hard rock trio The Din's YouTube channel on Thursday! This comes from their headlining show at LopLops Lounge two weeks ago, and it's of their original song "The Rose", which kicked off their set that night. The stationary camera footage is nice and close, and while it sounds largely good with nice & clear vocals from Mike Haggith, I will note that Tammy Hill's guitar work is fairly quiet until her guitar solo. The Din teased that they have much more footage from this show to post or share in the near future, so stay tuned, and give "The Rose" a look below!

Finally, here's a new solo cover video from Stegadeth guitarist Tiffany Stocco's YouTube channel! Uploaded there yesterday, this is a cover of Bad Religion's "Sinister Rouge", and while it is visibly well performed, the audio quality is once again an issue, with the loud backing track coming out very scratchy, and it can be hard to make out Tiffany's part. Still well done, so give it a look below, and keep watch for more from her & Stegadeth!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for much more on the site next week! Thanks everyone!

Bay Mills Band Together Preview, Friday The 13th New Music On Werehold Records (Part 10), And More!!

Before we get to this all-Sault Michigan post, we have a concert cancellation to take note of, as local classic/hard rockers Mourning Wood are not playing at The Park Grille tonight. Frontman Terry Eaton confirmed the news on drummer Glen Thomas' personal Facebook page earlier today, saying that bands at the venue "are on hold until further notice." He, the band, and/or the venue haven't elaborated since, but hopefully this is a temporary measure, as the venue seemed to be well received, and don't miss Mourning Wood at Rednecks TOMORROW! Now, today's post has one last concert preview, a label's long awaited resurgence, and a new cover video, so here's what you need to know!

A number if local musicians will join forces for a great cause THIS SUNDAY NIGHT when they take part in Bay Mills Bands Together! at Pickles Bar & Grill in Brimley! This benefit show is in support of Maryssa Kronemeyer, an area high schooler who was seriously injured after being hit by a car in March. To that end, all proceeds will go to her and her family & the related medical costs, so definitely consider coming out to support the cause! In a unique format, Sunday's bands will be playing on two stages at Pickles, one acoustic and one for plugged in bands, so who all is scheduled? The main stage will feature headlining local hard/blues rock quartet Project 906 at 12:00 AM, with a mysterious band named The Whole Shabang (replacing or renamed from Brainstorm) playing at 11:00 PM, and online page-less metal quartet Stoned Ape Evolution hitting the stage at 10:00 PM. The remaining main stage bands will include the family band The Karstons at 9:00 PM and Broke On Sunday frontman Mark Bowen at 8:00 PM.

The acoustic stage will be headlined by Train Wreck alum Mitchell Willis and Brenda (last name not given) at 9:45, preceded by Infathom frontman Dillion Semasky with a solo (rap?) set at 8:40 PM, Ken Jahnke at 7:30 PM, Mitchell & Brenda again at 6:50 PM, and country/pop artist Caitlin LeBlanc opening at 6:00 PM. Door prizes and a 50/50 draw will also take place on Sunday to be drawn during the show, which has a $5 minimum cover, and this is presumably still a 21+ event. Though there's a lot of unknowns regarding the lineup, this should be a great event for Marissa and her family, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Project 906 live!

Next up, Sault Michigan independent record label Werehold Records has re-emerged for their seventh Friday the 13th music posting event! After mass artist "downtime" scuttled the November 13th plans, the label is back for their first Friday the 13th music since March of last year, but compared to past installments, this latest event is fairly lean. Label acts Awaken Eidolen, Drayton Fever, East Branch, Moss, Palaver, and Swampghas are all not featured, but we do have 2 songs to take note of,  including this new song from Werehold's flagship metal band Life's Eclipse! We were actually this close to moving them to our inactive band links if there was no Friday the 13th postings, so it's great to see that they're still active! Entitled "When The Night Falls", it's planned to be the first song on their album "The Dark Kingdom", and it has a nice dramatic opening and a melodic groove metal base, though in this form at least, it's an instrumental. A little repetitive, but it's very heavy, and the opening sets the tone well for the planned album, so give Life's Eclipse's newest song a look!



The other new Friday the 13th song from Werehold Records comes from label owner/Life's Eclipse mainman Jason Mills' solo side project The 1,000,000,000s Who Died, whose song is called "Beneath The Black". A short 1:50 number, it has a crushing riff at it's peak, but parts do sound artificial, and I'm not sure what the description comment of "stupid chorus" means when the song is an instrumental. It's a strong song while it lasts though, so give it a look below, and hopefully we see more from Werehold Records by the next Friday the 13th in January 2017!



Finally, here's the latest solo guitar cover from ex-Elipzis bassist Ryan Harrison's YouTube channel, this time a cover of The Beatles' "The Ballad of John & Yoko", albeit with completely different lyrics and the new title "The Ballad of Rocky & Lil" (perhaps this is a reference to friends of his?) Resembling an old webcam with the washed out colour and low framerate, the song itself is well done and is well suited to Ryan's vocal range, so give it a look below!



That's all for today, but we'll see you at The Rockstar Bar TONIGHT for Project 421's return to the stage! Thanks everyone!