LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Stiffler's Mom) And Weekend Concert Previews, Including Jackyl!!

Today on the site, we're covering this weekend's metal and hard rock concert previews in the Sault and close surrounding areas, and there's a few big shows going down, including a certain huge show in Sault Michigan! For reference, yes I do know of Banned's show in Gould City this weekend, but that's a bit outside of our coverage range (1 hour of drive time from either of the Twin Saults), though look for some other Banned news on the site in the coming days! Now, here's what you need to know, starting with a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!!

Local party hard rock cover trio Stiffler's Mom will take the stage at The Rockstar Bar TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the band only confirmed the show on their Facebook page last night, though it had been displayed on the marquee outside of the venue as early as Tuesday. This will be Greg, Mike, and Jon's first public concert since rocking the same venue late last month, and following Greg's show with That's Chester last week, the guys should be in fine form to deliver a fun night of hard rocking classics for their fans tomorrow! Remember, this is a one night only gig due to the Red Rails/Danger Cats show on Saturday that we'll touch on in a bit. Like usual for Stiffler's Mom's Rockstar Bar shows, this will be a 19+ event with a likely $5 cover charge, and a 10:00 PM-ish start time is to be expected. For more details, check the above links, and for a preview, here's Stiffler's Mom covering Golden Earring at Rotaryfest!



Moving to previously announced concerts, the last hard rock show of the summer at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino's Dreammakers Theatre goes down TONIGHT, when Georgia heavy metal quartet Jackyl & New York glam metal favourites Winger make their way to our neck of the woods! This will be the second local stop for Jackyl following their great (though poorly attended) Essar Center show in May 2008, and their chainsaw-laden classics like "The Lumberjack" and "When Will It Rain" should be more than welcomed tonight, so if you're a fan of their AC/DC & southern rock hybrid sound, don't miss out on their local return! Of course, Winger had their own string of late 1980s and early 1990s hits like "Seventeen" and "Heading For A Heartbreak", and hair metal lovers will be sure to enjoy Kip & company's set to open tonight's proceedings as well! This ALL AGES concert still has tickets available from the second row and back, but judging by seating charts, Jackyl will have a much fuller house than they did six years ago, so make sure to get your tickets A.S.A.P. at this link, 1-800-KEWADIN, or at the in person box office!

Everything starts at 7:00 PM tonight, and there is no announced local opening band. For more information, visit the above links! This should be a fun night of metal from two of the more popular bands from the turn of the 1990s, and fans who saw Jackyl in Sault Ontario should agree with that especially, so don't miss out on tonight's action, as who knows when we'll get another Dreammaker's Theater hard rock/metal show! For a preview, here's Jackyl playing "I Stand Alone" live earlier this summer!

Heading back to Sault Ontario next, Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison has a busy weekend on his hands, as he returns to The Roadhouse Bar & Grill once again TONIGHT for their monthly customer appreciation night, before kicking off his 38th straight week in his ongoing weekly arrangement with The Harp Bar & Grill with yet another hosted jam night TOMORROW and a normal unplugged concert on Saturday night! Tonight's show coincides with free food and specials at The Roadhouse (a venue Tym has recently returned to play a monthly show at), while his ongoing run at the former Madison's Pub will be business as usual from what I can tell this weekend, but does precede a weekend where he'll only be playing next Friday, so if you prefer Saturdays, don't miss Tym's second show this weekend! TONIGHT's show has an earlier supper start time of 5:00 PM, and is likely all ages as a result, but the regular Harp shows are at around 10:00 PM with 19+ age limits, and in any case, there's no announced cover charge. For more details, check the above links, and for a preview, here's Tym covering Metallica!



Finally for known hard rock concerts this weekend within our distance range, we return to The Rockstar Bar THIS SATURDAY NIGHT, where local all female hard rock quartet The Danger Cats will take the stage as openers for Ottawa rock trio The Red Rails in that band's second local appearance! This will be the girls' first live set since opening for Late & Loud at the same venue earlier this month, and they should be in fine form after that show (albeit likely without the guest performers), so don't miss out on their opening set! As you may remember, The Red Rails are the current band from former Driving Dave Home drummer Steve Brogno, and their blues-tinged alt-rock sound will surely be welcomed this weekend, so give Steve a nice return home if you're in attendance for this next stop on tour for their new CD "A Living Fiction"! A higher admission price of $7 if in effect for this concert, you must be 19 to attend, and there's a likely 10:00 PM start time as well. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page!

Nice to see Steve playing locally again, if only for one night, so check out The Red Rails to see what you think, and come early for The Danger Cats! For a preview, here are the girls live at their most recent concert!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes this weekend, plus this month's YouTube Channel Profile tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Jackyl), Jack Spades On Tuned, And More!!

It's been a few days since we've had a proper news post at the SMS, so let's rectify that this afternoon! Today, we have a new preview video of a local band, a bunch of updates and changes concerning a newer project, and the latest episode of Local2's Tuned webseries, but first, here's a huge LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for later this summer!

Georgia heavy metal quartet Jackyl will return to our area for a headlining concert at The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino on Thursday, August 21st! Best known for songs like "Down On Me" and "Push Comes To Shove", this will be their first local stop since headlining at The Essar Centre in May 2008, and their southern rock & AC/DC influenced sound will be great to see again in a couple of months, especially with some expected chainsaw action! Opening for them at this show will be New York glam metal notables Winger, who (I think) will be making their first regional concert appearance at this show. Best known for hits like "Headed For A Heartbreak" and "Seventeen", late 1980s hair metal fans should be right at home with Winger's energetic and talented originals in August! This show has a 7:00 PM start time and no age limit, but tickets don't go on sale until June 14th, and I haven't seen a price confirmation yet. In any event, you can buy them then at this link, 1-800-KEWADIN, or at the in-person box office.

Click here for more details! This should be an entertaining concert, especially if you loved Jackyl's 2008 Sault Ontario gig, which was a very fun show! I just hope this current one has lower ticket prices, as that was a factor in the low turnout in 2008. Stay tuned for updates on the ticket release and show in general as they come in!

Next up, the newest episode of Local2's music video profile series Tuned with Donna Hopper went up on Saturday, so what should you know for it's newest episode? This installment is focused around local punk/metal quintet Jack Spades' EP release show at The Rockstar Bar from May 16th, with the first two minutes showcasing concert footage of opening bands Project 421 and The Elements (though Johnny Belanger & Jesse Cook's acoustic opening set isn't featured.) After that, we get most of an interview that host Donna Hopper hosted outside of the venue with the members of Jack Spades and producer Jamie Vincent, so what's discussed? After introductions, we hear about topics like frontman J.D. Pearce's draw into punk music and initial plans for forming Jack Spades, the individual members' musical talents and styles, Jamie's recording process for the EP sessions, the album's packaging and release plans, and more, so definitely give that 6 minute segment a look! It's a fun interview, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves!

The concert calendar segment after the interview plugs the Heart/Jason Bonham show at The Essar Center on June 20th, and that's followed by a couple minutes of concert footage from Jack Spades' set at the release show, and then some bloopers. Awesome footage as usual, and everything's covered in solid detail, so Jack Spades fans will want to check the new Tuned episode out for sure! As Local2's video host doesn't allow external embedding, give it a look at this link and above!

Also today, here's the latest updates from local doom/punk trio The Revolution (formerly the second Brutaly Fatal), so what's going on in their camp? Apparently, the band has left Blood Shed Productions to sign with Haggith's label PaperClip Productions, which is surprising given that frontman Austin McRae co-founded Blood Shed, but their new sound is a better fit on the PaperClip roster, for what it's worth.  I'll note that Blood Shed Productions' statement on the matter didn't sound too amicable, but hopefully things aren't that bad. A photo confirming the new deal is up on the PaperClip Facebook page, and if anything, it's really surprising how detailed and official their label contract is! Leading from that, The Revolution's first concert under their new name will come on June 24th, as they've replaced the departed Pillory as the local openers for the Anciients/Havok show at The Canadian that night! Very interesting choice, hopefully they've shored up their sound and are ready to rock, so don't miss The Revolution at this huge ALL AGES metal show in 3 weeks, and click here for further updates!

Finally for today, local punk/metal quartet Chronic Demonic launched their own YouTube channel last week, and there is some new sneak peak footage at their current sound there! While we wait for their full live debut, the new-ish band featuring Gates of Winter, Bear Hunters, Fitswitch, and Faithless Sin alumni have posted both a YouTube copy of their latest preview clip and this new sample, which is shot in the same location as before, albeit in a sepia tone filter. Like before, this reminds me of one of Kevin's punk-influenced bands, but with death metal vocals, which is an interesting hybrid, but at just 49 seconds, there's still many unanswered questions. Check it out below though, and see more of Chronic Demonic above!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and concert previews this week! Thanks everyone!