Before we begin today's all E.U.P. post, I wanted to apologize for a missed concert in this weekend's previews, as local hard rock/metal band Tarnished played a solo headlining gig at The Savoy Nightclublast night. Of course, they were among the openers there for Scotty Austin/Redburn on Thursday night, but the band announced that they were playing "round 2" there on their Facebook pagetwo hours before showtime, and the venue's Facebook page never posted that Tarnished were pulling double duty. Maybe the idea of Tarnished playing last night came together quickly after how things went on Thursday, but I do profusely apologize for missing this show on here, I'd have covered it had I gotten more notice!
That said, The Savoy's Facebook page does have a couple of relevant videos to the big show on Thursday, one being this brief promotional clip from February where Scotty Austin himself plugged the local date. He even mentioned playing in the Soo previously and that Redburn have been up here before (they opened for Saving Abel here in 2015), and little details like that make a video like this seem less cookie cutter and more personal, so kudos! The other video comes from the show proper, as a Savoy staffer(?) filmed who I believe to be opening local hard rock band The Nameless, specifically the (vocal-devoid) last 20 seconds of their third-to-last song. The video quality isn't great, with the filmer panning around quickly to show the packed house more than the band, not to mention the vertical camera angle, so we never see enough of the band with any clarity. If you told me I was wrong and that this was Tarnished, I wouldn't be shocked!
In any event, I don't know off hand what song this is based on the instrumental snippet on offer (The Nameless were covers-centric upon their debut last year, and if this was Tarnished, it doesn't match any of their or Alex's studio originals). For what little we hear, it sounds good, and the solid audience at this early stage is encouraging, so give it a look below, and we'll let you know if more videos turn up!
The rest of today's post is devoted to the Pop Evil-headlined concert at The Dreammakers Theatre at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino on March 17th, as the ever-prolific Christopher Paci's YouTube channel has us covered with videos of all three bands from last week! As far as I have seen so far, Chris is the only person to upload videos from this show on YouTube, at least publically. Yes, I am aware that he filmed videos at the Leash show in Sault Ontario earlier this month, check back for those next week. As for the Pop Evil concert, Chris uploaded 12 videos from that night, including seven of the Muskegon hard rock mainstays' headlining set, those being "Breathe Again", "Torn To Pieces", "Footsteps", "Skeletons", "Dead Reckoning", "Paranoid (Crash & Burn)", and as embedded below, "Eye Of The Storm". The audio quality on his camera/this sound setup is fairly raw, but Chris had a strong central angle of the stage!
You can tell that Pop Evil are very much on their game here with good energy, and if soundboard audio existed, I can tell that it'd be fairly similar to the studio tracks, so fans of Pop Evil's ample rock radio hits should be right at home with these videos above & below!
Phoenix metalcore band The Word Alive were filmed thrice for Chris' channel, including their original songs "Trapped", "Why Am I Like This", and as embedded below, "Nocturnal Future". The same audio quality harshness aside, The Word Alive are well captured here with a nice melodic flavour on their modern aggression, and the stage lighting for their set is accentuated nicely, so check it out below!
Finally, Seattle metalcore band Avoid got two videos from Chris, namely "Song About James" and, as embedded below, their opening two songs "Gator Fest" and "Cowabunga". Avoid's electronic-tinged attack helped get this show off on the right foot with some explosively energetic songs to boot, and I can see how them opening was the best call, so check out their videos above & below, and stay tuned for Chris' Leash videos next week!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site in the coming days! Thanks everyone!
Irish eyes are definitely smiling upon the calendar this year, as with St. Patrick's Day falling on a Friday this year, it means the concert calendar is quite stacked, so be sure to check out your favourite nightclubs' and venues' online pages & schedules to see if bands are playing, let alone if they will have St. Patrick's Day themes. However, the weather gods are not smiling upon the Sault Ste. Marie area, with a winter storm watch currently in effect from late tonight through Saturday morning, with up to 3-8 inches of snow expected, so if you are at all concerned that a band or St. Patrick's Day party will be impaired by the impending storm, keep tabs on their online accounts for further details, as things can easily change.
Due to the amount of scheduled hard rock/punk concerts this weekend, I'll save the Bone Yard, Scarkazm, and Tym Morrison shows for tomorrow morning's post, and maybe anything that falls into our lap beforehand. Now, let's start with three Friday-only shows, including the big one this weekend, as Muskegon, Michigan hard rock mainstays Pop Evil will make their long awaited return to the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino TOMORROW NIGHT when they headline at The Dreammakers Theatre! This will be Pop Evil's seventh local concert, sixth at the Soo Kewadin, first since their outdoor gig with Buckcherry back in August 2019, and their first here with touring bassist Joey Walser in place of Matt DiRito. Of course, Pop Evil have loads of familiar rock radio hits, including "Breathe Again", "Eye Of The Storm", and "Survivor" since their last local date alone, so fans should be in good hands tomorrow!
Support bands include Phoenix metalcore band The Word Alive and Seattle metalcore quintet Avoid, and while both are more aggressive than Pop Evil by rule, their fast rising takes on the subgenre shouldn't be avoided tomorrow night! A presentation of Allstar Promotions, this 8:00 PM & all ages concert is actually a big deal on a wider scale for Pop Evil's sake, as it is both the full kickoff show for this tour, as well as the day that their new album "Skeletons" is released, so get your copy while it is hot off the presses! Tickets run for $29.50 USD (up from $25 at their last Dreammakers Theatre show in 2018), and limited seats in the left and right sections are still available, albeit in the back three rows only. If you want any seat that you can get, or want standing room only admission, click here, call 1-800-KEWADIN, or visit the in-person box office. For the record, this concert has no overt St. Patrick's Day ties in the promotion.
Pop Evil have been very good to Sault Ste. Marie in the past decade+, and with their upbeat, high energy brand of modern hard rock still going high on the Billboard Mainstream Rock charts, they should be in fine form with a huge crowd to match tomorrow night! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and for a preview, here's Pop Evil live here!
Next up, local blues/hard rock quartet Project 906 will return to The Islander Bar in nearby Hessel TOMORROW NIGHT! Their first trip to The Islander Bar (almost an hour south of the Soo) since Halloween weekend, tomorrow's festivities will definitely be St. Patrick's Day-themed, including a traditional corned beef/boiled cabbage dinner if you are so inclined beforehand, plus multiple Irish-themed drink specials. Project 906 themselves will bring the rock as usual, and they should deliver entertaining hard rock covers and select originals for Mackinac County fans tomorrow!This is a one-nighter due to or resulting in Gary Hatch's show there on Saturday, and be advised that The Islander Bar will actually close for nearly a month starting on Sunday (the venue didn't say why, but renovations seem likely)
Tomorrow's concert has a 8:00 PM start time, no cover charge, and a 21+ age limit. Between this show and Scarkazm in the Soo (more tomorrow), hard rock fans in the eastern U.P. will have some solid options for St. Patrick's Day, so don't miss out, and for a preview of Project 906's Hessel gig tomorrow, here they are live a few months back!
Lastly for this preview post, we'll head north to Sault Ontario, where debuting local skate punk trio Hails and folk punk/extreme metal solo musician Chase Wigmore will join forces for a special concert/art exhibition TOMORROW at The Art Hub at Spring! Named the "Full Circle Rock & Roll Spectacular", this event is being held at the former Big Brothers Association property at 504 Queen Street East, and it is being held as part of the Fishbowl Festival and, within that, Hails frontman Brenton Ellis' own art exhibition named Full Circle, which celebrates "connectivity & continuity". Remember, if you've seen any of Brent's recent concerts or him at events where sale of his artwork occurred, you'll know his painting talents and this should be a good showcase for his visual art endeavours! Hails feature Brent alongside Vanity First's Mikhal Muto & Keeghan McAllister (yes, Vanity First is still active) and shouldn't be far off musically.
As for Chase, this will be a rare pandemic-era live concert set from him, but will this lean more to his recent metal studio work or his past unplugged folk punk live sets? Come out tomorrow to find out! This all ages event has a 7:30 PM start time, and admission is $10 or "pay what you can", and if you are so inclined, tickets are available at this link. If there are St. Patrick's Day themes tomorrow, then they go unsaid in Facebook promotion. Should be a fun evening for punk fans and art aficionados alike, so visit the above links for more details, and here's one of Chase's recent acoustic videos!
That's all for now, but we'll wrap up the St. Patrick's Day weekend hard rock concert previews on the site next! Thanks everyone!
Let's dive into this weekend's hard rock concert previews today, and while this is somewhat of a quiet weekend for heavier gigs (possible late notice shows acknowledged), we're leading off with a huge LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for the spring, so here's what you should know!
Muskegon hard rock band Pop Evil will return to The Dreammakers Theatre at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino for their seventh local concert appearance and first post-pandemic on Friday, March 17th! Last seen when they & Buckcherry headlined a special outdoor gig at the local Kewadin branch in August 2019 (and, for shows at The Dreammakers Theatre, in February 2018), it will be great to welcome these modern hard rock mainstays back to the E.U.P., especially as they're still performing quite well on rock radio! Since we last saw them, "Breathe Again", "Survivor", and "Eye of the Storm" have reached #1 or #2 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock charts, so look for another high octane set of melodic and hard hitting original favourites in three months! This will also be Pop Evil's first local show since bassist Matt DiRito left the band, with Joey Walser currently handling bass as a touring performer.
Opening bands will include two metalcore quintets, namely Phoenix's The Word Alive and Seattle's Avoid, and with the former's techno-influenced sound and the latter's rawer, more abrasive attack, both should set the tone nicely! Brought to you by Allstar Promotions once again, tickets run for $29.50 USD (up from $25 in 2018), and they go on sale tomorrow at 10:00 AM at this link, at 1-800-KEWADIN, or at the in-person box office, and if you use the password ALLSTAR2023 online, you can get yours today until 10:00 PM. This stop on Pop Evil's Skeletons Tour is an all ages & 8:00 PM event, and it should be another huge one for hard rock fans, so definitely visit the above links for more details on Pop Evil's return!
Now let's dive into this weekend's hard rock concert previews, and we'll start while staying in Sault Michigan, as Traverse City metal trio Scarkazm will return to The Rapids Lounge at the very same Kewadin Casino branch for their last E.U.P. dates of 2022 TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Their sister band Peril will wrap up the year in St. Ignace on New Year's weekend, but this is the 2022 last call for Scarkazm in our area. If you want to enjoy Dave, Adam, and Jeff's hard rocking and classic tinged originals & covers, you know where to be tomorrow and/or Saturday! As usual for Scarkazm's Kewadin gigs, expect this weekend's shows to be 9:00 PM affairs with 21+ age limits and no cover charges. Visit the official Facebook event pages linked here & here for more details, and here's Scarkazm live!
Now let's head north to Sault Ontario to round out the weekend concert previews (barring any late notice gigs), starting with local southern hard rock cover trio Bone Yard's return to Jay's Piston Broke Pub for shows TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! These are the final dates in Bone Yard's six weekend run of steady local gigs, and will mark Greg, Alex, and Warren's first shows at 306 Korah Road since Reggie's West changed names & owners in October, so if you want to see how Bone Yard do in a somewhat new locale, head to the former Rosie this weekend! In fact, these shows will be Bone Yard's last of 2022 before they "go into hiding for a few weeks", if you believe the Facebook event page, so there's extra reason to get out and enjoy their southern fried classic & hard rock covers! As usual, these are 9:30 PM affairs with no cover charge and 19+ age limits. See above for more details, and here's Bone Yard live!
Finally, fellow local southern hard rock band Fort Creek will return to Soo Blaster on SATURDAY NIGHT when they headline a special one-night-only holiday concert that they're calling their "Christmas blowout"! Much like their May 7th date at the same Queen Street East venue, this will be a bigger event in scope than just your usual weekend nightclub gig, including a Christmas Cheer element to the proceedings that may make up for Fort Creek not playing at Toystock last month, including food donations accepted at the door for this show's expected merchandise giveaway contest, and Santa Claus himself will reportedly show up too! Beyond that, 705Live Sound Co. will be on hand to make things sound great, and their established hard rock and metal covers, plus burgeoning originals, should be enough of a draw on their own! No opening acts are advertised for this 8:00 PM event, which is for ages 19+ as you'd expect.
Proving the larger scope of this one, "minimal" advance tickets are still available for $10 (higher than in May) at Soo Blaster, Sessions Cannabis at 216 Second Line West, through band members, and in a later confirmation, Stone's Office Supply at 529 Queen Street East. This will be the biggest event yet for Fort Creek's new lineup, so hopefully Bill and his new bandmates leave a great first impression with fans on Saturday! Visit the above links for more details, and here's Fort Creek live!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site soon! Thanks everyone!
