More New Videos & Related Updates From The EUP, Plus A New Live Video Of The Gambit!!

Here's another news post as we continue staying busy on the SMS this weekend, and it just so happens with our backlog clearout that we have a heavy focus on Sault Michigan and/or the Eastern Upper Peninsula again today. This includes a follow-up to recent coverage from a local battle of the bands and local musicians' involvement in an indie film premiering later this month, but we are capping things off on the Canadian side for a new live performance video. However, we'll start south of the border, so here's what you should know on this Sunday morning!

While featuring the video yesterday of Molly Escherich's Music In The Park set at last month's Superior Whitefish Festival, I realized that a video from last year's battle of the bands at this Brimley-based festival was also uploaded to her YouTube channel! While the Dafter-based teenage singer/guitarist led The 8th Fire to second place in year #2 of this battle, and she led Molly & The Other Guys to victory at 2024's Lake Superior State University Battle of the Bands (more on this year's soon), the two battle runs bookended an off day for Molly as a local battle competitor. Molly & The Other Guys were revived with a mostly new lineup for 2025's inaugural Superior Whitefish Festival battle, but with five competing acts (four guaranteed prizes), Molly & crew surprisingly finished in last place. Possibly because of this, the video is now unlisted on YouTube, but it was publically shared to her Facebook page at the time. 

For this set, Molly was joined by returning Other Guy Nathan Webber (ex-Tarnished/Exit 808) on guitar, alongside bassist Destini Smith (who guested with Tarnished at the previous year's LSSU Battle) and Molly's brother Cayd on drums. Cayd was a very late replacement for About:Blank drummer Kade DesArmo (what are the odds on the similar first names?), stepping in that same day for his first ever appearance as a drummer in a live concert. Things started with a full band version of Molly's original song "Cheap Cologne", before Molly put down her guitar for a cover of Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band's "Old Time Rock & Roll". and then picked up a tambourine to cover Paramore's "Hard Times". This was actually the entire set, and as Molly explained on her Facebook page at the time, they wanted "to give the band some stage time" despite the lack of rehearsal and the drummer change, so the set was heavily pared down from the expected 45 minute runtime.

The 10 minute length will likely explain the lack of a podium finish last year, but I did notice timing issues during the set, and to me, they picked two covers that would have suited having a second guitarist present (Molly or otherwise). Still, they did perform well and likely would have won cash had they played a full set! This would end up being the swan song for any version of The Other Guys, with The 8th Fire becoming Molly's new full-band concern last month, let alone her heading to Interlochen last fall, but she has a bright future ahead, and Nathan, Destini, and Cayd are talented musicians too, so give Molly & The Other Guys' 2025 battle set a watch below!

Next up, let's stay in the EUP by heading north to Sault Ste. Marie for... the premiere screening of an indie horror movie? On Saturday, August 22nd, Lake Superior State's Arts Center will host the premiere of Yooper Frankenstein, a locally-filmed and produced horror movie by local filmmaker Dave Cairns that was shot here from mid-2024. The movie will be screened twice that evening at 7:00 & 9:00 PM, and the movie will definitely be R rated for violence, adult content, coarse language, and disturbing scenes (it is a horror movie, after all!). Teasers from the shoot have been shared to the movie's Facebook group and across multiple YouTube videos, one embedded below, but why is this relevant to SMS coverage? Well, look at who is soundtracking the movie, namely Viscera frontman "Blind" Bob Quinn, X's & Y's/ex-Life's Eclipse guitarist Jason Mills, and ex-Half Stupid/Plastic frontman (and former Crooked Music owner) Zac Crook!

Blind Bob also has a small acting role in the film proper, and Zac is the film's music director. Zac and Jason have shared songs from the film to YouTube, and while what they have shared so far is atmospheric and feels inspired by 1980s horror classics, there will be some level of metal music, as heard in the teaser below from YouTube user gothicsoldier (listen to those drums!). A locally made horror movie in Sault Michigan is sure intriguing, and they've certainly put the work in over the past two years, but will this be horror's answer to Escanaba In Da Moonlight? See above and below for more on Yooper Frankenstein and the premiere in two weeks! 

We'll close this post with a rare live video from veteran Sault Ontario punk supergroup The Gambit's Facebook page! As you may recall, they played their first public concert set since Rotaryfest Stage 2 in 2024 on August 1st when they opened for 5 Dollar Bribe on an all-local bill at Blaster Powerhouse. This was just their fourth show period since changing their name from The Sick Sons in 2022, and given their stacked lineup and original material, it's a shame that they don't play more often. This video captures the last 2 minutes of what I believe to be a new original song named "Searching For A Signal" (if it's a cover, I don't know the original at all), and while the audio levels are too loud and staticy as filmed, it's an upbeat punk rocker that fits in line with members' past bands! Good stuff, and hopefully we're not waiting until 2028 for The Gambit's next gig, so give their new video a watch below!

That's all for now, but there should be at least one more post on the SMS later today! Thanks everyone!

"Yooper Bars" Book Review!!

Hey guys, here's a special feature post to help add to the recent stretch of posts, and it's our fourth ever book review at The Sault Metal Scene, that being of "Yooper Bars"! Described as "a travel guide to Michigan's Upper Peninsula bars", it was written by Randy and Kevin Kluck, published by the Whiskey River Publishing Company in Sault Michigan, and released on December 22nd, 2011 after an 8 month journey of most of the U.P.'s bars, taverns, and pubs, many of which serve as concert venues. Clocking in at 234 pages long, the book costs $20 and can be bought online at this location and at various local storefronts, including (but not limited to) the Barnes & Noble bookstore at Lake Superior State University, but the store locator on the book's website is not updated. Given the nature of this book (it's a travel guide, not a narrative story or recollection), this will be a shorter book review than our past ones, and I'll try as I usually do to not give away anything too in-depth, as I want to encourage sales of the book. With that said, let's begin this review!

"Yooper Bars" is broken up into three sections based on geography, starting with the Eastern U.P. (anywhere east of Newberry), and then going west through the Central U.P. (between Gwinn & Gould City), ending with the Western U.P. (everywhere west of Negaunee), adding up to 109 bars in total. Each bar is given an equal space of two pages to be profiled on, with the first page of each including a short biography of the bar in question, ground rules and amenities there, the bar's address & phone number, and a check off box to denote which Yooper bars you've been to. The second page of each generally features fun facts and bits of knowledge on the bar, ranging from popular drinks & historical background notes to celebrity sightings & favourite jokes, along with recommendations from bar regulars. Both pages for each bar also feature scattered photos of the bar, it's staff, and it's patrons, including some occasional shots of live performers, food, and special events. This formula helps give each bar equal time and importance in the book, with the familiar layout helping connect everything and making it easier to read and follow.

In terms of "local" bars, the book covers 28 bars in Chippewa County (mainly in Sault Michigan and De Tour Village), 3 bars in Newberry/Luce County, and 9 bars in Mackinac County (mostly in Cedarville & Hessel), though Gould City and Curtis are counted in the Central U.P. section. Notable Sault Michigan hard rock concert venues like The Bird, The Satisfied Frog, and The Corner Pub are among the covered bars, along with Eastern U.P. concert spots like The Cozy Corners Tavern, Timmy Lee's Pub, and Dan's Place, among numerous others. In terms of metal/hard rock references, there are a few photos of hard rock performers in the Eastern U.P. section, including Half A Man, ex-Splitshot drummer Tony Hubbard, Scofflaw, and former Detroit Red Wings star Darren McCarty's hard rock band Grinder, and there's some interesting celebrity sightings of some rock legends to take note of!

The other chapters are laid out very similarly to the Eastern U.P. section, and as someone who doesn't travel west through the U.P. often, I can't reliably comment on those bars beyond what I've read, but they definitely intrigue me in many ways! A number of bars in cities like Marquette, Menominee, Ishpeming, Munising, and Escanaba are featured, and you're bound to have heard of many of them from your own travels or band associations, and yes, one featured tavern is the Gay Bar in Gay, Michigan! Notably, local favourites Nudge pop up in the section on Rookie's Sports Bar in Negaunee, and they join notable Yooper bands like Slave to Gravity among the later thirds of the book. Of course, whether any given bar in "Yooper Bars" lives up to the praise it receives from the authors is subjective depending on the reader and their own experiences, but if you go in with an open mind and expect the best, you'll learn a lot in advance of your own U.P. bar hopping!

Overall, I would recommend "Yooper Bars" to anyone who loves bars and concert venues in the Soo area and/or the Upper Peninsula! It lays out a ton of quality information and previews on each featured bar, and any novice to the 21+ scene or uncharted waters should find this book invaluable in their barhopping! That said, there are a few things I'd correct, including the book's size, which doesn't help the clarity or context of some photos, though the Yooper Bars Facebook page features many of the photos in larger versions. As well, given it's 2011 release, some entries are now slightly dated (i.e. Bullwinkle's Bar & Grill is now Todd's Tavern), but it's still mostly accurate from what I can tell. Most disappointing of all is that "Yooper Bars" isn't entirely comprehensive, omitting local bars like the one at Dondee Lanes and the bars at the Kewadin Casino branches, but I won't pass judgment as to why they're not in the book. It'd be nice to see a later pressing with added bars and updated references down the road, and maybe in a larger size, but other than that, I can't complain!

Definitely pick up "Yooper Bars" at the above links, and hopefully if you have a copy, you can begin your own journey throughout the U.P. to explore their bars and taverns, just like Randy & Kevin did, and kudos to them for their journey across all of these bars last year! Thanks everyone, and stay tuned for more news and notes this week!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Sault Riverview Music Festival) And Lots Of Sault Michigan News & Notes!!

Today's news post is entirely dedicated to Sault Michigan, partly thanks to new stuff I bought and learned on a trip I made there this morning! Though mainly to set up some stuff for classes, I bought a book I'm touching on in this post, and stopped by Grooves Music where I bought a CD by a Lansing metal band named Genocya (featuring Saultite Matt Cunningham) who you'll hear more about on the site this fall, and I got some concert information there for a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT in this post as well! Along with news on a local concert from the 1990s that you can buy, and some more assorted notes, read on below for today's all-Sault Michigan post!

A new local music festival is going down next weekend, and it's The Sault Riverview Music Festival! Presented by The Sault Events Inc., this family festival will see all of it's proceeds going towards the Chippewa County Hospice, and there will be plenty of non-musical activities going down on September 7th and 8th, including beer & concessions tents, family activities and games, a 50/50 draw, and a fish fry, so click here or look at the poster on your right for more details! As for the bands, while a full schedule hasn't been posted, the Friday schedule does feature three local hard rock bands, those being Sault Michigan hard rockers Monkey's Uncle, Kinross classic hard rock cover quintet Banned, and young local hard rock quartet Tantrym Tyme (formerly known as Abstract!) They'll join local indie rock quartet The London Gentlemen (featuring Nixxon Dixxon alumni) on the Friday lineup, while the bands on Saturday the 8th don't lean in a heavy direction. The Saturday bands include The London Gentlemen again, plus members Mike Russo & Steve Sivret's acoustic band Fallen Heroes, along with local southern rock band Bittermoon (featuring Monkey's Uncle alum Jim Belleau), a band named Omega Rock that I can find nothing on (can anyone help?) and The Grooves All Stars, who I believe are a band comprised of employees at local music store/festival sponsors Grooves Music. More bands are possible to be announced, so stay tuned in case I hear anything!

This festival will take place outdoors at the grounds of City Hall at 225 East Portage Avenue, it's definitely all ages, and admission is FREE! Bands will be on from 5:00-10:00 PM next Friday and from noon-10:00 PM next Saturday, and check the above links for more details! This sounds like a fun family festival with lots of talented area bands, and hopefully it's a big success so it can return next year! Also, it's nice to get advance notice of a Monkey's Uncle show that isn't at Kewadin Casino, for what that's worth. Stay tuned for updates on the Sault Riverview Music Festival as they roll in!

Next up, I'm glad to finally note that I now have the book "Yooper Bars" that was released last year! I picked it up for $20 at the Lake Superior State University book store, and if you're unaware of it, it's a travel guide and collection of profiles of most of the bars and taverns in the Upper Peninsula. Written by local authors Randy & Kevin Kluck after an 8 month journey through the U.P.'s bars last year, and published by the Whiskey River Publishing Company in the Soo, it does feature a heavy dose of bars in Sault Michigan & the Eastern Upper Peninsula, including some references to metal bands & live concerts that go down at them! This includes 28 bars & taverns within our current coverage range, 10 more in Chippewa, Mackinac, and Luce County that we'll likely touch on in future SMS expansions, and dozens more in the central and western U.P.. Just on my first readings of it, I notice that it's not entirely comprehensive (the bars at Dondee Lanes & and at any of the Kewadin Casinos aren't covered, for example), and parts are now a bit outdated (i.e. Bullwinkle's Bar & Grill in Moran is now Todd's Tavern), but this looks like it will be a quality resource for barhoppers & revellers in the U.P.! That said, I'll leave full assessments until my formal review, but definitely get more info at this location, and pick it up wherever you can!

Thirdly today, does anyone out there wanna pick up a live video from the old Tumble Inn in Eckerman, Michigan? There's a glam metal band that is actually selling a full concert video from their show there in the 1990s, so here's what you need to know! Some of you guys may be familiar with the Phoenix, Arizona glam metal band Tuff, who may be best known for their ballad "I Hate Kissing You Goodbye" and their Kid Rock parody "American Hair Band", but back in their late 1980s/early 1990s heyday, they came through the area once with cameras in tow! Tuff played at The Tumble Inn on September 8th, 1994, and while online details of said show are minimal, you can purchase the full video of that concert by clicking here or here! The concert (and other past show videos) are $22 plus tax and shipping, which will tip the total cost to $30 and higher depending on where you're having it sent. I don't know whether the show will be on DVD or VHS, but this is an interesting offer, especially knowing how hard it can be to find 1990s concert videos from the Sault area, and I might have to take Tuff up on this offer and buy the Tumble Inn show for SMS uses! If you guys are interested, visit the above links, and check out Tuff online for some fun glam metal originals!

Finally for today, here's four assorted shorter stories across the river from the last little while, and as always, these are in alphabetical order by band name:

• Local concert promoters Allstar Promotions have posted a photo album from the Buckcherry/Fuel concert at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino on August 13th onto their Facebook page featuring shots of the headlining bands and the pre-concert autograph & meet and greet sessions! I wish they'd advertise the meet & greets more online, but everyone looks like they had fun, and for photos of The London Gentlemen's opening set, click here!
• One of the opening bands for the Evans Blue-headlined concert at the Soo Kewadin Casino on September 29th will be State Your Cause, an Ohio based hard rock quintet who have been opening for them on Evans Blue's current tour run. Local promoters haven't confirmed their addition online, but concert posters in town confirm their involvement. They have a solid radio hard rock sound and should fit in well for this special charity concert, so check them out at the above links! The other band isn't known yet, but my money's on a local band. I'll keep you guys posted!
  
• Defunct local hard rock quintet Swayze Train have quietly deleted their Facebook page. A reason for the page's removal isn't known, but the breakup in April is likely tied in with it. That said, as their Reverbnation page is still online (bare as it may be) and as we have online information on them still in good supply, I just replaced their link on our inactive Sault Michigan band listings. Stay tuned for hopeful updates on the members' next moves!
• I wanted to apologize for another missed concert, as young local hard rockers Tantrym Tyme apparently performed at this year's Sidewalk Sales event in downtown Sault Michigan last month, as per postings on their Facebook page. Bands generally play outdoors for free during this sales event at local stores, such as the recently inactive Free Refill, but these slipped me by, and I sincerely apologize for that! Keep an eye out for future proper concerts from them as I hear of them!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for our last posts of the summer (this weekend's concert previews and our Oddfellow CD review) tomorrow & Friday! Thanks everyone!

Half A Man News And The Winner Of March Mayhem!

In our final post for this Saturday three-for-all, we have three aims: Preview a concert tomorrow night, update you guys on some recording plans from that band, and unveil the winner of our March Mayhem tournament! Before we preview tomorrow's concert, remember that the previously announced punk show at Foggy Notions tomorrow featuring Dancing With Paris has been cancelled, but you can still see them at The Oddfellows Hall on May 28th, details of which you can find at this location! But there is still one metal show tomorrow, so here's what you need to know!

Brimley hard rockers Half A Man are back on the local stage tomorrow night for a special early concert at Golanka's Bar (The Bird)! Though the band have lots of great original hard rock in store for their fans tomorrow, there's a lot more going on than just their set. This show will serve as an afterparty for a softball team's opening game, though I'm not sure of the specifics. I'd guess it's either a Bird-sponsored team, a team made of Bird employees, or has band members or family/friends on the team. Aside from that, I have heard that Half A Man have giveaways planned for free band merchandise, and the people behind the upcoming "Yooper Bars" book will officially be on hand to gather photos and info on The Bird for their book, so if you want to make a cameo in the book or talk about The Bird, there's some added incentive! This show has a special early start time of 7:30 PM, you must be 21 to attend, and there is no cover charge. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! There's a lot going on tomorrow evening, but remember to be there for Half A Man's set, as their hard hitting music is making a fast rise in the local scene, so they'll be on the top of their game! For a preview, here's Half A Man playing their song "Drunk" at The Bird in February!



Also, I wanted to add that Half A Man announced on their Facebook page last month that they've unveiled their official plans to record a full length album this summer! They're planning to hit McNally Smith Studios in St. Paul, Minnesota in June to record the album, with a hoped release date for late 2011. The band also noted that they could get former Machine Head/Soulfly guitarist Logan Mader to mix and master the album, presumably through his production team Dirty Mind Productions, but nothing is concrete. Click here for full details! Intriguing news overall, I hope everything falls into place, and I'll absolutely pick the album up when it comes out!

And now, here's the conclusion to the SMS March Mayhem tournament! So, who won the tournament, and how does the final bracket look? The results are below!


Congratulations to Sykotyk Rampage, the winners of the March Mayhem tournament! The local "blue Chinese metal crash punk" quartet took a surprising 207-83 win over Frightlight in the last week of voting to claim 1st place in this tournament! This was definitely a surprising result in both vote totals and pre-final round predictions, but Sykotyk Rampage did good to win all 5 matchups they were placed in! What does this all mean though? In terms of the spoils for the winner, it's just bragging rights, as the tournament was all basically an experiment in good faith. Some could point to band member-run voting campaigns for some of the results, but to me, it's just indicative of their devoted fan base rallying together! The results are interesting overall though, providing some interesting insights into some band's fan bases and how they can surprise you when the votes come in! Will we do this again, possibly with Sault Michigan bands? I don't know. I won't do one right away, as I do want to get back to some old school polls on the SMS over the next few months, but if I do do another, you guys will get lots of advance word, and it'll hopefully get an even bigger response! So congratulations to Sykotyk Rampage again, and here's hoping you guys enjoyed the tournament on the whole!

That's all for today, but stay tuned tomorrow, as I have a "surprise" post to share tomorrow to help make up for the delays the other day. What's the surprise? Well, if you see me at The Canadian Nightclub tonight, that could be a hint. Thanks everyone!