LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Sugar Island Music Festival) & New E.U.P. Concert Videos!!

Plans for today's SMS post got very upended by a big SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT that has tripped me up multiple times in the past, so that and some new concert videos are on the docket in this all-Michigan post. Here's what you should know on this Saturday morning!

Reports of this weekend's quiet hard rock concert lineup were slightly premature, as Sault Michigan hard rock quartet The Nameless will rock the annual Sugar Island Music Festival TODAY! I profusely apologize for the short notice, the band only confirmed their involvement on their Facebook page yesterday, but the lineup was quietly confirmed for some time on the festival's website. As you may recall, the Sugar Island Festival gathers numerous local musicians (mostly not regulars on the E.U.P. bar scene in these projects) to perform on the outdoor stage on the island just east of the Soo, but there is always at least one token rock band who fans will be familiar with, and The Nameless have been that band since 2023. While we're at it, I profusely apologize for not covering their set at last year's Sugar Island Fest, as per the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine backup of their website.

For full details on this year's lineup (including bands yesterday and tomorrow), click here, but note that performers on Sugar Island tend to lean more towards bluegrass and country from my understanding. After playing last year at 6:00 PM on the Friday, fans can see Joshua, the Mikes, and Jamie (fresh off of their third place run at the Superior Whitefish Festival battle of the bands) TODAY at 5:00 PM. Your top three acts again this year are 3½ Men at 9:00 PM, 3-Zip at 8:00 PM, and Aberdeen at 7:00 PM, while festival regulars 2 Cents take the stage at 6:00 PM after not playing on the Saturday last year. Gentleman George Snider also returns at 4:00 PM, while afternoon newcomers include The Blue Lines at 3:00 PM, The Russells at 2:00 PM, and Rich Klenle at 1:00 PM. February Sky will return as the opening band at 12:00 PM, and an open mic block will kick off TODAY'S program as usual at 11:00 AM.

Music aside, expect a beanbag tournament, childrens' activities, and camping on site, so be sure to check the above links for more on the family friendly entertainment, as well as instructions on how to get to the stage on Sugar Island (and remember that you have to take the ferry to get there from Sault Ste. Marie). This all ages festival has admission of $20 via buttons purchased at the Hilltop Bar and Westshore Convenience Store on the island proper, or at the gate (there are no single day passes). 9&10 News is calling for partly-mostly cloudy skies TODAY with weather ranging from 77-84° (25-29° Celsius) with a 20% chance of rain for the final two acts, so mind the current heat wave if you're coming out. Despite the relative lack of social media advertising (The Nameless never even plugged their 2024 set on Facebook), it's great to see a stacked lineup of local talent back for another year of music on Sugar Island!

Even with the genre focus away from live rock music, there's a lot of talent to take in TODAY and tomorrow, as there was yesterday, so don't bypass the Sugar Island Festival for a pleasant (if hot) outdoor diversion this weekend! Visit the above links for more details, apologies again for the short notice and missing last year's festival on the SMS, and for a preview, here's a new video of The Nameless live at The Islander Bar in Hessel last month! In this one, you can hear them covering the end of Lit's "My Own Worst Enemy" but the visual focus is on dancing attendees, with the band not even in frame. The audio is muffled, and Josh's vocals don't always match the song in intensity, but fun was had, so give it a watch below!

We'll take the ferry back to Sault Ste. Marie to end this post, and like yesterday, we'll do so with local hard rock/punk trio About:Blank via a long awaited public video of their opening set at the Musicians Unite benefit concert at Bird's Eye Outfitters in March! The guys only uploaded a clip of them at the Mary Jo Jenkins fundraiser event to their Facebook page on June 5th (over two months later) and it features Parker, Nathan, and Kade playing an original song named "Unheard". Like with their jam session video shared here yesterday, this horizontal video was uploaded in letterboxed vertical dimensions, making it needlessly tiny again, and like on "Why", we're only seeing the end of the song here, but there is promise to be had! The audio is muffled somewhat, but "Unheard" sounds solid with a little more of a punk edge to it, and Parker's intense screams suit the ending of it well! Check out About:Blank's new video below, and stay tuned for more from them!

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

Musicians Unite Fallout & Videos (Part 2!!)

In today's post, let's continue our fallout from the Musicians Unite fundraiser concert for Mary Jo Jenkins at Bird's Eye Outfitters on March 22nd! We'll pick things back up with local hard rock band Exit 808, whose guest musician-laden set last month was also captured for guest singer Molly Escherich's Facebook page via two different videos. One is a longer alternate take of the band (plus Molly, guest guitarist Joe Jenkins, and guest bassist Bob Libick) covering Evanescence's "Bring Me To Life", confirming here that co-lead singer Amy Beach did start the song before Molly took over lead vocals. While it is good to see the full rendition on video, let alone horizontally shot, I'm not embedding it here because it was still pillarboxed into vertical dimensions, making the video tiny, and I'll never quite get how that happens. The other video was uploaded in full landscape dimensions, and it's their rocked-up cover of Rihanna & Eminem's "Monster", so what is there to see?

Once again, Amy started the cover before ceding the floor to Molly, with co-singer Dillion Semasky obviously handling the Eminem parts. This atypical cover has become a regular in Exit 808's sets, and they do a good job with it, and while Molly does have some unsteadiness early, she puts her vocal range to good use here! The angled view to the stage's right gives a unique perspective of the proceedings compared to other videos that I have came across too, so check the new Exit 808 + Molly videos out above & below!

Next up, we'll stay with Molly for a second, as clips from her three between-bands acoustic sets were included in a Facebook video of her own! Unfortunately, it was uploaded as a "Reel", complete with a hard-coded caption at the bottom, so it is vertical, unplayable in background tabs, and unembeddable on the SMS. The "Reel" features a few clips from the day's events, including Molly covering Eddie Rabbitt's "Driving My Life Away" and Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down" (she does have range!), shredding with About:Blank guitarist/Other Guys bandmate Nathan Webber (I don't know if this was during the band's set or hers), and playing the bass during her final set, while clips of the two aforementioned Exit 808 videos were also included. My complaints about "Reels" aside, this is a well done teaser of what Molly has to offer musically, and given her age, she has a very bright future ahead, so click here to see the whole thing!

While photos from their set were posted to their Facebook page, local hard rock quartet Dirty Musky did not post any of their own videos. The only public one that I have seen is in a comment reply on Project 906's Facebook page from this post on March 24th, which captures Dave, the Blackwoods, and Jamie covering The Barenaked Ladies' "The Old Apartment". Nice to see a Sault Michigan band covering The Ladies, and the 30 seconds-long clip is lively and melodic while it lasts! I can't embed videos posted directly in Facebook comments here. As for Project 906 proper, they were very central to Musicians Unite, given that guitarist Joe Jenkins is Mary Jo's husband, so their family were definitely feeling the good vibes and well wishes at Bird's Eye! Unfortunately, singer Billy Bernier was on vacation during the show's timeframe, so 906 called in the aforementioned Amy Beach and Dillion Semasky to fill in on vocals for their set, 

Project 906's Facebook page posted a (sadly vertical) video of them covering Candlebox's "Far Behind" with Dillion on vocals, and yes, frequent guest hand drummer Brian Duford was also performing here. The minute-long clip was shot at a good angle despite the orientation, and Dillion really nails the vocals! Project 906 fans will have nothing to worry about on this cover despite Billy's absence, and you get a good view of everyone rocking out while it lasts, so check out this cover for yourselves below!

Finally, the other known public Project 906 video comes from Amy's Facebook upload of official photographer John Bullman's media from Musicians Unite, this time capturing the band, Brian, and Dillion again covering "Far Behind". What are the odds that both John and the band's own filmer would capture the same song? While still vertical, John's video is arguably better thanks to a higher quality camera, a slightly longer run-time, and a closer angle of the stage, especially to Dillion's benefit. Compare and contrast both of Project 906's Candlebox covers above & below!

We'll have more videos and fallout from Musicians Unite, particularly from About:Blank's set, in an upcoming post, so stay tuned for that and more on the site soon! Thanks everyone!

Musicians Unite Fallout & Videos (Part 1!!)

This has fallen through the cracks for way too long now, so let's talk about fallout from the Musicians Unite benefit concert at Bird's Eye Outfitters on March 22nd! Held in honour of Project 906 guitarist Joe Jenkins' wife Mary Jo in order to raise money for her and her family during her ongoing battle with breast cancer, you can read more about all that happened last month in this personal Facebook post by co-promoter & Exit 808 singer Amy Beach (which has been shared publically by some of the bands). Over $5,000 was raised for the Jenkins family on this night, and Bird's Eye was packed all day, so it's awesome to see the support from Sault Michiganders and the E.U.P. at this trying time! I initially had planned to cross the border for it, but the whole tariff/trade war thing came up and I didn't want to risk any hiked up duty payments at customs for whatever I happened to buy. Amy's post also includes 50 photos from the concert, so what is there to see?

While John Bullman was the official photographer, these attached photos are Amy's, and include shots of attendees and performers alike, and there's a lot of quality shots from her camera from bell to bell! In terms of videos, let's start with headlining Marquette hard rock cover band Spun (featuring frequent Exit 808 guest bassist Bob Libick), who live-streamed two vertical videos from their set to their Facebook page. Now, I want to preface this by noting that Facebook will now be removing live-streamed videos from accounts after 30 days in an effort to declutter storage and improve program efficiency (source here). Pages/users will then have a 90 day window to either re-post it as a normal video or "Reel", or save it to their hard drive before it is permanently deleted (one six month postponement will also be allowed). This was announced before Musicians Unite, so I don't know if Spun intended for these to be short-term content or not, but watch them while you can!

I get where Facebook is coming from, as the amount of uploaded videos never ends, but that's a lot of videos that are doomed, so hopefully not all of them are unceremoniously deleted! In any event, Spun's videos (which should be live until around April 21st barring a permanent re-upload) feature a rocked-up cover of Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues" and, as embedded below, Guns N' Roses' "Sweet Child O Mine" featuring Amy on guest vocals. Sadly, both videos are vertical, and the filmer was behind attendees in both clips, but both covers are solid, and Amy's voice holds up well for this GNR classic, so check both videos out (while you can?) above and below!

Co-headlining Elmira hard rock band Driving Dawn didn't post videos of their own from Musicians United, but attendee Miranda Bigger got some really good pictures of their set that you can see on the band's Facebook page and/or this link. Acoustic filler sets aside, the aforementioned Exit 808 closed things as far as local bands went, and in terms of their lineup, they were joined at Bird's Eye by the aforementioned Joe Jenkins and Bob Libick as guests on guitar and bass. while Amy's 10 year old niece Stella even joined them on bass for at least one song! Regardless of whether he's officially on guitar or bass now, Amy's son Blaze Beairl was not in attendance, and while I didn't see an official statement as to why, he was on the road with Heavy Lies The Crown that weekend, drumming with them at Cabin Fever Fest 2 in Oscoda the previous day. We'll have more on H.L.T.C.'s March activity soon!

A handful of videos from the show were shared in this batch post of John Bullman's photos that was posted to Exit 808's Facebook page, and one video is of their set, where they were joined by another guest musician, namely Molly Escherich, who fronted The Other Guys to victory at last year's LSSU Battle of the Bands, and was one of three between-set guest acoustic musicians on this night. The 50 seconds-long clip sees Exit 808, Molly, Joe, and Bob covering Evanescence's "Bring Me To Life", with Amy sitting out to allow Molly to handle lead vocals (co-singer Dillon Semasky did the Paul McCoy parts). I have no idea why this video is so skinny (even if you like vertical videos), but everyone performs well on this hard rock staple! Molly does come across a little nervous, but her vocals suit the cover nicely, and remember, she is 13 years old. Good stuff all around, so check out Exit 808 & crew below!

We'll touch on media and fallout from the earlier three local bands and the acoustic performers in an upcoming post, but I'm glad to finally get coverage rolling from Musicians Unite, and our continued best wishes are with Mary Jo and the Jenkins family as he continues her cancer battle! That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews next! Thanks everyone!

The Musicians Unite Benefit Concert Preview!!

A huge assortment of local and Northern Michigan rock talent will join forces at Bird's Eye Outfitters TOMORROW NIGHT for Musicians Unite, a special benefit concert! As you may know, Project 906 guitarist Joe Jenkins' wife Mary Jo has been in a fight with breast cancer for the past year+, and this event is to raise money for her and her family to offset the cost of treatments and medically-related travel downstate. Along with tomorrow's concert action, there will be official t-shirts available for purchase, a bake sale, and a silent auction on site at Bird's Eye, so visit the official Facebook event page for complete non-musical details on what's going on and how you can help May Jo and family at this difficult time! Your headliners tomorrow are Marquette hard rock cover quartet Spun in their first local concert appearance since 2022, though bassist Bob Libick has guested locally with Exit 808 multiple times since.

It's cool to have Spun proper back on a local stage tomorrow at 10:45 PM, and hopefully they rock the house tomorrow, especially given that they're letting the opening bands use their sound system! Elmira hard rock quintet Driving Dawn will co-headline at 9:00 PM in their first ever E.U.P. concert appearance, though Exit 808 fans may know them too, as they won last year's Rock Recovery battle of the bands in Alpena. Driving Dawn's skilled modern rock sound should be welcomed by Yoopers tomorrow night as well! The aforementioned Exit 808 are the highest slotted local band at 7:30 PM, and members Amy Beach & Jackie Moon are the promoters of Musicians Unite as well. Should be a big set for them, and given how open they are to have guest and fill-in musicians, could some surprises turn up? One is definitely hinted, as young Dafter singer/guitarist Molly Escherich is listed as making "appearances" mid-set.

Whether just the band, with Molly, or with other guests, Exit 808 should leave a good impression with their double vocalist-led hard rock! Fellow local hard rock quartet Dirty Musky will take the stage at 6:00 PM with their own set of unique hard and alternative covers, and they should make some noise early in the evening, as will hard/blues rockers Project 906, who are (of course) one of the central bands tomorrow given who Mary Jo is married to. Unfortunately, the band will be playing sans singer Billy Bernier due to a previously scheduled vacation, but Exit 808 singers Amy Beach and Dillion Semasky will be guesting behind the mic with 906, returning the favour after both Joe & Dustin have sat in with Exit 808 in recent months, so look for this special set tomorrow as well! The opening local band is new alt-punk trio About: Blank (featuring Tarnished and Midnight Logic alumni), who will kick off the day's musical program at 3:00 PM.

As for the previously teased acoustic performers between the full band sets, organizers confirmed earlier today that three solo musicians will do the honours across the five breaks between bands. The aforementioned Molly Escherich (who was teased to guest with Exit 808) is slated to play unplugged music at 10:15 PM, 7:00 PM, and 4:00 PM, while veteran local folk singer/guitarist Kevin Blakeney is blocked for a mini-set at 8:30 PM, and About:Blank frontman Parker Talentino will go solo for a bit of his own at 5:30 PM. Admission is by donation tomorrow night, and while I have not seen a firmly stated age limit at Bird's Eye (which is licensed), Molly's presence alone is noted. Official event t-shirts will also be on sale. While I won't be in attendance (I was hoping to go before the tariff/trade war complicated imminent Sault Michigan trips), this is a huge concert for EUP live music fans, so don't miss it!

Alas, I can relate all too well to what the Jenkins family is going through right now, as I lost my mother (named Mary, incidentally) to ovarian cancer in October 2020. From what I have seen and read, Mary Jo's strength, courage, and devotion to her family (including her three kids) is extremely commendable, and kudos to Joe, his bandmates, and everyone else involved with Musicians Unite for putting on what will be a packed night of live music and good vibes! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details on tomorrow's benefit concert, and for a preview, here's Spun live!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for some new concert announcements on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Pillory) And Musicians Unite/Exit 808 Updates!!

Today's news post is divided cleanly between the Twin Saults as we cover two big upcoming concerts, one a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next month and one a major benefit concert that was already on the site, so here's what you should know on this Wednesday evening!

If this weekend's Selias concert at Soo Blaster doesn't fill your metal quota, the next one on (Good) Friday, April 18th should help, as four local acts that have not played live yet this year will take the stage for this show named "The Pit"! Your headliners are reunited death/thrash metal trio Pillory in their first public concert date in eight months, and it will be good to see Robert, Blair, and Bret in a rare headlining appearance next month with their brutal original set! Metal/hard rock trio The BAG will co-headline in their first gig since Halloween, and their intensity and familiar original/cover blend should draw a solid response of their own on this Easter long weekend event! Local progressive/djent metal trio Convergence (featuring Late & Loud, Palm Trees, and Fuller alumni) will make their first ever local concert appearance on this night, and while I'm not sure if it's directly related, they have been planning their first ever tour run!

The former Kraken Mara are currently running a GoFundMe campaign to help fund a tour and its related costs, and they aim to raise $2,400, a goal that they're 77% of the way to completing as of this writing. Between this, "The Pit", and the delayed "Gemini" release, this should be a big year for Convergence, so click above for more details on the crowdfunding efforts! No word on if their live set will be instrumental or if they'll incorporate vocals (Brendan has provided vocals on some of their material). The opening act on Good Friday is a debuting artist (band?) named Maynard Hayes. At press time, I have no idea who Maynard Hayes is/are, but we'll let you know more details when they go public! Unlike the Selias concert, this one does have advance ticket sales on Soo Blaster's website, where they cost $10 in advance, and the price jumps to $15 at the door. There is no announced age limit, and doors are advertised to open at 7:00 PM.

It's always good to see pure metal concerts in the Soo, and let alone a roster of bands that we haven't seen much of on stage in recent months (if at all), and this will be a fine and brutal way to kick off the next long weekend, so visit the above links for more details on all of the action at/in The Pit!

Next up, here's some updates to next Saturday's Musicians Unite fundraiser concert at Bird's Eye Outfitters in Sault Michigan! There have been additions to the lineup, as there will now be "acoustic acts in between" the six scheduled bands, as per performers Exit 808's Facebook page on March 5th. There are five half hour gaps between the bands' timeslots, for the record. I haven't seen firm printed reference to which acoustic acts will be on hand, but Kevin Blakeney had expressed interest on social media as to playing in between bands here, so it seems likely that he'll be one of them. Always good to see more local talent hop on board to help support Mary Jo Jenkins and her family during her breast cancer fight! Speaking of which, her husband Joe's hard/blues rock band Project 906 will be playing shorthanded on March 22nd, as singer Billy Bernier will be on a previously scheduled vacation.

It will be odd to see Project 906 playing live without Billy, especially given this show's purpose, but I'm sure he'll be there in spirit! To fill in on vocals, Exit 808 singers Amy Beach and Dillion Semasky will split duties on the mic next Saturday, kinda sorta returning the favour after Joe filled in with Exit 808 live last year. Kudos to them for helping out, and fans of theirs will know the vocal abilities that they bring to the table! Lastly, let's touch on Exit 808's last updates about the band proper, courtesy of their Facebook page on March 9th, where they revealed that Amy's son Blaze Beairl has been practicing to handle a full four-set concert with them on bass. The implication is that he is fully replacing Myke Young on bass in the band, at least for the time being, and while a public reason for Myke's departure has not been announced, note that he hasn't been credited in the band's social media posts since November. 

Blaze has been a steady and familiar utility player for Exit 808 in recent months, playing (along with bass) rhythm guitar for partial sets after Will Robbins left, as well as lead guitar for a set when Alex Zimmerman was delayed by weather, with Spun's Bob Libick often travelling east from Marquette for bass fill-ins as well. Hopefully things go smoothly for Exit 808 on Saturday in Brimley and next weekend at Bird's Eye, so stay tuned for more on both events, and hopefully we see Myke back on stage in due course! That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews on the site next, Exit 808 included! Thanks everyone!