Originally planned to be a new news post with the last of this weekend's concert previews, it instead balooned into an almost full concert preview post thanks to LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, largely on SHORT NOTICE, but we do have a new video to cap things off with! Here's what you should know to cap off this busy concert weekend!
Local acoustic hard rock/funk trio The Wyld Stallyns
will make their debut at Northern Superior Brewing Company(?!) TODAY, before returning to Room 21 above Low & Slow for another concert
TOMORROW NIGHT! Profuse apologies for the short notice on both shows, these concerts were only announced via their Facebook event pages (linked here and here) on Tuesday and yesterday respectively. The former was created by band members, but the latter has not been publically acknowledged by the band at press time, for what it's worth. TODAY's special set at Northern Superior Brewing (at 50 Pim Street, near the Bushplane Museum) will see the Speers' and Jesse rock out at a special early start time of 5:00 PM, so head there after work or before your night time plans for high energy acoustic covers TODAY! As for TOMORROW, Room 21 is hyping up
this show as taking place on "Sangria Saturday" which will apparently involve specials for the drink in question.
If you want to wind down at this Albert Street West nightclub with some live music and/or a sangria, you can do far worse TOMORROW NIGHT! Neither of this weekend's short notice concerts have an announced cover charge, both are 19+ events, and TOMORROW'S show starts at 10:00 PM. Visit the above links for more details, and here's The Wyld Stallyns live!
Next up, and fresh off of their Go Skateboarding Day set yesterday, local indie/alt-hard rock quartet Id Iota will return to LopLops Lounge for a headlining concert TONIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice, this concert was also only announced via it's Facebook event page yesterday, and the band acknowledged there that this was a "last minute show." This will be Id Iota's first headlining concert of the summer season, and despite the short notice, hopefully they rock out as effectively as ever for fans and patrons at LopLops TONIGHT! Note that the event page mentions that they'll be playing "after the Case's Music concert", but I have no public details on what that concert entails, as I couldn't find anything concrete from the Id Iota, LopLops, or Case's Music pages. My guess is that it's an unrelated private concert for students in lessons there, but I am not positive.
In any event, TONIGHT'S Id Iota concert is a regular 10:00 PM affair with a presumed $5 cover charge and 19+ age limit, and there are no advertised opening bands (unless the Case's Music show preceding is considered as such schedule-wise.) Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Id Iota live earlier this year!
Closing this weekend's hard rock concert previews with a show that had lots of advance notice, we'll head to The Water Tower Pub TOMORROW NIGHT, where local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck are scheduled to play a headlining concert, with another newly announced show coming there on Saturday, July 7th! Advertised on this month's venue concert calendar as being "back by popular demand", tomorrow's gig will be their first appearance at this locale since early last month, but they'll have just a two week turnaround before hitting The Water Tower Pub again. Neither show has been announced by Soundcheck themselves publically online, but it's hard to argue with the venue's own concert calendar with this much detail! Click here for July's, which confirms Soundcheck's show on the 7th. You can take in the Mourning Wood successors' classic and hard rock hits tomorrow and in two weeks at 9:30 PM each night, with 19+ age limits and no cover charges in effect. See above for more details, and no preview videos yet!
We'll close today's post with the newest video shared to Sault Michigan classical metal project Theatre of Night's Facebook page, via keyboardist Craig Harrison's personal Facebook page yesterday! Self-described by Craig as "just a glimpse of what's to come", this 35 second clip features live video of a tracking computer featuring an unidentified studio recording. Sounds good from what I can make out, so give it a look below, and stay tuned for more on Theatre of Night's ongoing studio work!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site in the coming days! Thanks everyone!
Another busy concert weekend is drawing closer, so what is there to say for this latest slate of hard rock and punk concert previews? Well, due to the amount of shows, we'll be holding our preview of Saturday night's Soundcheck concert at The Water Tower Pub for our next news post (not to mention possible short notice announcements), but there's a lot to get to first, and we'll start with shows from an artist with another LOCAL CONCERT ALERT to touch on for later this month!
We'll start this weekend's concert previews with Tym Morrison's ongoing busy slate of acoustic hard rock concerts, as he'll be debuting at Burger Don TONIGHT in advance of his regular Gliss Steak & Seafood matinee concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY! With his expected return to Thursday nighters at Gliss only a couple of weeks away, tonight's show at the former Gigi's Bistro could be seen as a preview of that re-expansion, though this concert has a "Back to the '80s" theme, so look for a night full of 1980s cover selections from his extensive setlist! His Gliss shows tomorrow and Saturday should provide more of the same (just with no decade theme), so keep his regular ongoing concerts there in mind also! While we're on the subject, here's those new concerts we alluded to above, as Tym has announced a new Room 21 gig for Friday, June 29th, presumably with their new Finger Food Friday theme. This should help him end the month in style, so head down to Low & Slow and go upstairs for his cover action next Friday!
Tonight's Burger Don show (complete with new taco and margarita menus) is at 8:00 PM with no announced cover charge, while tomorrow & Saturday's Gliss shows are at 6:00 PM with no cover or announced age limit, and next Friday's Room 21 concert is a 19+ event at 10:00 PM with no cover either. Visit the official Facebook event pages linked here, here, and here for more details, and here's Tym live a few years back!
Next up, let's head to Queen Elizabeth Park TODAY for Tidal Records' sixth annual Go Skateboarding Day festivities, with live music on the docket for the fourth consecutive year! Once again, the worlds of extreme sports and local music will collide at the skatepark outside of the John Rhodes Center, with free skateboarding lessons and competitions ongoing tomorrow for experienced and beginning riders alike, so be sure to head down there for all of that if you're at all interested! Musically speaking, there are surprisingly no returning bands from the past 3 Go Skate Day events, and no, Garden of Bedlam aren't back, they're just the band used on the poster. This year's quality lineup will include online page-less punk quartet The
Cover Up (fronted by Tidal Records' own Dustin Jones), indie/punk quintet Northwest, "no genre" alt-hard rock trio Handsome Sandwich, and indie/hard rock quartet Id Iota (fronted by experienced local skateboarder Christian Lemay.)
This is a great lineup whose music will be an ideal match this afternoon, so don't be late! As is usual for this annual event, there will be vendors, sponsors, and refreshments on hand for what should be a sunny (if warm) one at this outdoor locale today. Everything is FREE & ALL AGES, and the festivities start at 3:00 PM, so hopefully there's a great turnout of skaters and music fans alike at the skate part this afternoon! Visit the above links for more details, and here's Northwest live!
We'll now head to the Sault Michigan area for this post's second half, starting with local hard rock/blues quartet Project 906's busy weekend, starting with their debut at Three One Three on Ashmun (the former Back Door) TOMORROW NIGHT! Last seen as a complete unit at Bird's Eye Outfitters last month (remember, their Brimley show last week was postponed), this should be a prime opportunity for Soo fans to see their brand of hard rocking cover action at a relatively new locale, especially given how infrequently Three One Three hosts heavier bands, so don't miss out tomorrow! Then on SATURDAY NIGHT, Project 906 will be the musical entertainment at The Strongs Tavern in nearby Eckerman after that day's benefit fun run for Brenda Holmes, a Newberry woman who has recently been battling cancer. The poster on the right outlines details on the fun run proper, which will see stops in Eckerman, Trout Lake, and Hulbert bars on Saturday before meeting in Strongs for dinner, draws, and music.
Our best wishes go out to Brenda and her friends and family, hopefully the fun run raises lots of money and awareness for her fight, and hopefully Project 906 provide a quality soundtrack to end the night with! Tomorrow's Three One Three concert in the Soo is at 10:00 PM with a 21+ age limit and no cover, while the post-fun run concert is at 7:00 PM with a presumed 21+ age limit and $20 admission (though remember the cause and the included dinner.) You can get tickets for that event at The Strongs Tavern itself, and 906's set is scheduled to begin at 9:00 PM. Visit the Friday show's Facebook event page and the above links for more details, and here's Project 906 live!
Finally for today's concert previews (remember, Soundcheck are coming in our next post), we'll head to Kinross, where the second in hometown classic/hard rock trio Banned's series of concerts at the Jack Passmore Grandstand at Kinross Speedpark during this year's auto racing season THIS SATURDAY NIGHT! After previously serving as post-practice entertainment three weeks ago before the season opener, THIS SATURDAY'S concert will follow the practice sessions for Sunday's Triple Crown events, so be sure to visit this link for full details on the racing proper. Hopefully these unique outdoor concert series is going well for the Traynors and Wayne, and don't miss them on Saturday for another round of classic covers! A 9:00 PM start time is in effect once again, this is ALL AGES, and while there are no listed admission fees for Banned's concert, the races proper on Sunday will of course have a ticket fee. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Banned live!
That's all for now, but stay tuned for our Soundcheck preview and more next! Thanks everyone!
Let's get a new post on the site on this Tuesday morning, which is half devoted to the final results from our most recent poll, and to lead off, some big news on a new and old band project each in the E.U.P.!
415E guitarist Chris Hubbard has launched his own eponymous solo project, entitled Hubbard! This talented Sault Michigan guitarist will be familiar to many fans dating back to his mid-late 2000s work with Nixxon Dixxon, and with 415E still officially on hiatus, this appears to be Chris' current musical pursuit. Posts are minimal as of yet on Hubbard's Facebook page, but Chris indicated on Sunday that it was "song writing time", and a later post teased that he will have pictures and videos to share "as I record my solo album." This picture is currently the project's Facebook profile photo, and if this is the album's planned cover artwork, than the album is named "415E" like his dormant band (both coming from the police radio code for a disturbance from loud music or a party.) There are no musical hints yet as to how Hubbard will sound, but it is no secret that Eddie Van Halen has been a major influence on his guitar playing and past songwriting, not to mention live covers.
This is all sudden news, but also very welcomed, as Chris is an excellent guitarist, and it'll be interesting to see how his solo project shapes up in studio and possibly beyond! Remember that 415E (as The Hubbard-Menard Band) had teased recording sessions for a debut album in 2012, so might some of those tracks return in this new project? Stay tuned at the above links for more details, and Hubbard is now in our active band links!
While we're on the subject, we'll now move Chris' aforementioned local hard rock band 415E to our inactive Sault Michigan band links. Aside from this month's post regarding the new Hubbard project, 415E has not posted on their Facebook page since June 24th of last year when they advertised Chris and his dad (drummer Tony Hubbard) playing an open mic set in Rudyard. In any event, the band proper last played live at the St. Ignace Kewadin earlier that same month, which were teased as their last St. Ignace concerts "for a while." Active from 2012-2017, 415E evolved from a two man studio project into a full live band in 2013, debuting live at the Sebastian Bach concert at The Dreammaker's Theater that January. A frequent attraction at Kewadin Casino branches in the mid-2010s, 415E often had a cryptic online presence, with few photos of the band shared on their Facebook page, and even fewer videos circulating, but that may have been intentional to encourage fans to attend their shows.
While arguably not hitting Nixxon Dixxon's preceding heights, 415E was a popular sight at The Rapids and Northern Pines Lounges for over 4 years, even during their brief period of playing two man concerts, and I hope this isn't the last that we've seen of 415E on a local stage! Best of luck to Dave, Chris, Mitch, Tony, and other former members in the future, and don't miss Tony's reunion with his old classic rock band Stonewall Creation at Three One Three on Ashmun next month!
We'll close today's posts with the final results of last month's poll, where we posed this question to you guys: What was your favourite local metal, hard rock, or punk concert of 2017? A whopping 6 votes came in last month, which isn't great, but thanks to those of you who did vote! Here are the final results on Sault Ontario shows last year:
The Din & Bizotic at LopLops Lounge on October 21st (3 votes, 50%) Diamond Head at The Rockstar Bar on September 2nd (2 votes, 33%) Garbageface & Vaultry at The Canadian Nightclub on July 7th (1 vote, 17%) Gianni Gagoots at LopLops Lounge on February 18th (0 votes) Rock For Autism at The Canadian Nightclub on May 6th (0 votes) Northwest & Greg Callaghan at LopLops Lounge on May 27th (0 votes) CKY & The Wild at The Canadian Nightclub on June 8th (0 votes) Go Skateboarding Day at Queen Elizabeth Park on June 21st (0 votes) Mike Mikus & Id Iota at LopLops Lounge on July 15th (0 votes) Oh!No 2017 Music Festival in Leeburn on September 9th (0 votes) AlgomA & Shit Liver at The New American Pub on October 2nd (0 votes) Taryn Bugyra benefit at The Rockstar Bar on October 14th (0 votes) Other (0 votes)
After losing the late 2017 poll to Diamond Head, The Din's farewell(?) concert came from behind to win the year end poll, which is a sign that their loyal fans are still giving in to The Din, even after their dissolution! Both were high profile concerts last fall, and it's nice to see that July's Live705 event with Garbageface and Vaultry didn't fall in vote count! Unfortunately, every option from the first half of 2017 failed to receive a single vote, even the CKY concert which won our early 2017 poll, but perhaps recency mattered this year to see the earlier shows get snubbed. It's all in who votes! All of these concerts received a vote at some stage of the year for our biennial polls, and hopefully the involved bands continue to entertain local audiences this year, but congratulations to The Din and Bizotic on their victory to end 2017's concert calendar with! That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews on Thursday, and for our poll on your favourite shows from the first half of 2018 next month! Thanks everyone!
After a quiet weekend, we're back on this Father's Day with a new news post, so what's in store today? Lots of assorted shorter items, including three removals from our active band links, plus a surprise interview of a local punk band from 18 years ago, but first, here's a new album release!
Dafter, Michigan solo hard rock musician Ken "SweetKenny" Sutton is back with another new score album, so what should you know on it? Quietly released on Wednesday, this album is titled "Management", and is his 26th official solo album and third put out in 2018 alone. Going along with his mid-late 2010s focus on scores intended for use in other media, the intended storyline is about a CIA agent named Kenneth (of course), who finds a spy in "management", and has to find and stop the spy before the Russians do. Definitely a jump in intensity from "Music For The Body", if nothing else! The 12 song score album is available on iTunes for $9.99, but the album is oddly not available yet on SweetKenny's Bandcamp page, similarly to last year's "Music Composed For Film". In any event, you can stream it for free on his website and on Spotify. That all said, is a review of either of SweetKenny's last two albums imminent on The Sault Metal Scene?
Not in June, as it's the last month of our 6 month anti-bias buffer from our review of "The Dogs Are Watching" in January, but next month is entirely possible! Given the intensity, themes, and length, I would go with "Management" over the fitness/aerobics-themed "Music For The Body" for our next SweetKenny album review. Stream or buy these and other albums from this prolific E.U.P. artist at the above links!
Next up, here's a surprise new video find of Sault Ontario/Toronto indie/punk quartet Treble Charger, as uploaded by YouTube user Miker Phone yesterday! The channel is best known from commercials and bumpers from children's television channels, and that's perfectly in line with this video, a late 2000 interview with Treble Charger conducted by then-YTV PJ Pat Kelly (now of CBC Radio One's This & That) during their after school programming block The Zone, specifically following a Rugrats episode. After a clip of the "Friend of Mine" music video, the interview proper kicks in with Pat talking to the guys at a playground (remember, YTV) about their then-new album "Wide Awake Bored", though an advertised quiz segment where Pat tested their rock 'n roll acumen has not made this channel... yet? The interview footage here isn't too long, but it's nice and casual, and Greig even name drops the Soo at one point, so give this interview a look below, and don't miss them at Rotaryfest next month!
Finally for today, here's six assorted shorter news stories from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist or event name:
Local alt-punk trio A Dire Setback were added as late openers to The Elements' Rockstar Bar show last night, as per the Facebook event page. Solid choice, hopefully A.D.S. delivered a solid set and helped out before The Elements took the stage! Apologies though for this not making the site beforehand, we admittedly couldn't rush a new post in time to include mention of them being added to the bill.
We have moved local hardcore quintet As It Stands back to our inactive local band links due to a year's inactivity. After their prior local runs from 2005-2014, the band had reunited last spring to play at the CKY concert on June 8th, 2017, but quietly dropped out beforehand, with no public statements following their exit. It would have been awesome to see As It Stands back on stage after far too long, one-off or not, but hopefully we see Justin, Garrett, Albert, Angelo, and John back together at some point down the line!
We have also moved local death metal band Exploring Detritus to our inactive band links, as they have not posted a new Facebook page
update (a flashback video share aside) since June 1st of last year.
Primarily active with a handful of live dates in 2016, nothing much
really followed last year, but hopefully Joey, Dan, Jeph, and Kevin
resurface at some point, they had a lot of promise! In our band links,
they're now listed under their old name Kaepora Gaebora, which their
concerts were played as, but if they resurface under the Exploring
Detritus name, we'll change it back.
Local indie/acoustic project The Autumn Roots and indie/prog quartet The Wild Iris have both indicated on their respective Facebook pages that they'll be playing Rotaryfest's Stage 2 this year, expected for Saturday, July 21st at Clergue Park near the Art Gallery. These acts have not
been confirmed by Rotaryfest proper at press time, but if accurate,
this would seem to indicate that Stage 2 is not going with the band
reunion theme like Stage 1 is doing, or at least not as in-depth. We'll
keep you posted when more comes out on this year's Second Stage!
In one more band link alteration, we have removed local punk duo Slow Children Playing from our
band links due to the quiet deletion of their Facebook (and only online) page for
unannounced reasons in recent months. Active as a sporadic studio project from 2014-2017, Slow Children Playing had some promise and originality, and while I wish they hadn't deleted their page, hopefully Don and Caleb turn up in this or other projects in the future!
Reunited classic/hard rock cover veterans That's Chester reformed for the first time in almost two years when they played during drummer Ric Datson's regular jam night event with his current band Mojo at Reggie's West on June 7th, as per That's Chester's Facebook page. Hopefully that was a fun way to shake off the rust in advance of their (otherwise) one-off reunion at Rotaryfest next month!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for last month's poll results on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!
Let's just take care of the second half of this weekend's concert previews tonight before we forget about them! On this busy weekend, we already tackled shows from The Elements, sister band The Wyld Stallyns, Soundcheck, and Tym Morrison earlier today, so look for those previews in the post below, but here's the rest of the heavier and punk shows to watch for this weekend, along with a postponed concert, but all recieved plenty of advance notice! Here's what you should know!
A partial sequel to March's Punk Covers Night at LopLops Lounge
goes down at the same venue TOMORROW NIGHT, where that show's lineup
(sans Redundant) returns for another night of high impact punk rock
renditions! Headlining tomorrow are online page-less punk supergroup The
Cover-Up (featuring Surfers, Rising Tide, Lion Ride, and K.I.C.K.
alumni), whose setlist is floating around on personal Facebook accounts,
and if things line up, a lot of familiar and up-tempo punk favourites
are in store tomorrow night from them! Opening are the similarly online
page-less punk trio The Bananas Guerrillas, who themselves feature
Stereo North, Long Shot, and Gnaeus alumni in their own talented lineup.
If you missed them in March or at their Blink-182 tribute debut last
fall, prepare for more punk rock action from them to start at LopLops
tomorrow, and a setlist is floating around for them too! This concert is presented by Tidal Records, though it curiously hasn't been promoted by the venue proper online at press time.
A
$5 cover charge is in effect for tomorrow's concert, which has doors
opening at 9:00 PM, and a 19+ age limit. Despite the lack of online
pages for tomorrow's bands (not to mention public videos of them in
concert), both The Cover-Up and The Bananas Guerrillas are loaded with
talent and familiar faces who have a firm grasp of punk rock from the
1990s and 2000s, so don't miss either band at LopLops tomorrow night!
Next up, we'll head south to the Eastern Upper
Peninsula, where Traverse City, Michigan classic metal trio Peril will return to The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino
for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! These shows will
surprisingly be the Scarkazm sister band's first concerts in St. Ignace
of 2018, last having played at this Kewadin branch in October, with
dates at the Soo Kewadin and in Harbor Springs filling their schedule in
the interim. This fan favourite trio should have another hard hitting
weekend of familiar covers ready to go for fans in St. Ignace tomorrow
and Saturday, so keep one/both shows in mind for your weekend plans! As
usual for Peril's Kewadin concert weekends, expect 9:00 PM start times
tomorrow and Saturday night, you must be 21 or older to attend, and
there are no announced cover charges. Visit the above links for more
details, and here's Peril live a few years back!
Also this weekend, let's head back to Sault Ontario, where local punk trio Redundant are among the performers for Algoma Ride For Autism's official after party THIS SATURDAY NIGHT at The Bridge View Banquet Hall
(a.k.a. The Verdi Hall!) This is the fifth straight year of involvement
for Redundant or frontman Justin Langlois with the annual autism
awareness motorcycle rally, as the guys played their annual family fun
day from 2014-2016, while Justin played a special solo set at their
pre-ride fundraiser last year. In 2018, the live musical component moves
to the Queen Street West banquet hall as an afterparty once the rally
proper concludes, with supper, live music, and some sort of prize/raffle
element also on hand for the cause. Redundant will be joined by local
classic rock veterans (Tex &) The Ride, but two new bands were
also confirmed in recent days on the ride's Facebook page, namely local country/bluegrass trio A Band Named Soo and Korah Collegiate's school band Mustang Sally, in advance of their Rotaryfest return next month.
Quite
the varied lineup to be sure, and it's great to see the two new bands
sign on to help support the ride and the ongoing work to understand and
manage autism! Admission for this licensed event (which appears to be
all ages) is $20, but full Algoma Ride For Autism participants will get
in for free with their registration. All of the musical entertainment
starts at 6:00 PM tomorrow, so visit the Facebook event page and the above links for full
details (including on how to participate in the actual rally), and here's Redundant live in concert a few years back!
Finally, we were going to wrap up this post with a preview of the previously announced Project 906 show at the Back Bay Grill & Games at Bay Mills Resort & Casino in Brimley, Michigan this Saturday, but it turns out that both this concert and their Saturday, August 11th show at the same venue have quietly been postponed to June 30th and
September 1st respectively. Reasons for the postponements weren't announced, but note that Project 906 themselves had not acknowledged the shows online publically, we first learned of them via Bay Mills' events calendar in April. In their place, both of the original dates have been taken over by The 3 Wisemen, a new local classic rock band featuring former Bad Side drummer Jonah Brockman. I don't know much about The 3 Wisemen yet, but it'll be interesting to hear some media of them or see what songs they cover at some point! Keep the shifted dates in mind, and don't miss Project 906's next concerts in Sault Ste. Marie and in Eckerman next weekend!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the SMS in the coming days! Thanks everyone!
A busy hard rock concert weekend is finally upon us for the summer season, so the first of this weekend's hard rock and punk shows make up the entirety of this post! We will need two full preview posts to spread things out, so shows with advance notice and no Thursday component will be covered in tomorrow's news post, namely this weekend's Cover-Up and Redundant shows, and hard rock events in the E.U.P.. Don't worry, they are coming! Now, here's what you should know to start this weekend, leading off with lots of SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!
Local acoustic hard rock cover trio The Wyld Stallyns will return to Room 21 TOMORROW NIGHT for their latest Finger Food Friday installment! Apologies for the short notice, this show was only announced via it's official Facebook event page on Tuesday. While this is the Elements side project's most frequent live venue, this will be the second appearance for Rob, Christina, and Jesse there during their new appetizer-laden Friday theme nights, last seen there in this setting two weeks ago. TOMORROW's concert should be another prime opportunity to hear The Wyld Stallyns' fan favourite and involved covers, so don't miss the action and the finger food above Low & Slow then! As usual for The Wyld Stallyns' Room 21 stops, this one-night-only concert has a 10:00 PM start time, no announced cover charge, and a 19+ age limit. Visit the above links for more details, and here are the headliners live!
Next up, we'll head to The Rockstar Bar, where local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck are advertised to return for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice, this show was only announced via it's official Facebook event page yesterday, and while the band proper hasn't acknowledged them on their Facebook page at press time, note that they haven't plugged their shows there since April. On that same token, the Mourning Wood successors will also play a one nighter at The Water Tower Pub on Saturday, June 23rd, as part of that venue's ever-changing array of nightly entertainment, and our source for that booking is the poster featured below for our Tym Morrison previews. TOMORROW'S Rockstar Bar show will be Soundcheck's first concert at this venue since playing a Saturday nighter there early last month, and fans of their classic and hard rock covers should be right at home once again, while next weekend's Water Tower Pub concert should be a good one too as they make a rare appearance at that venue!
A one-nighter due to or resulting in the Saturday show at the same venue that we're covering next, TOMORROW'S Rockstar Bar concert is at 10:00 PM with no cover charge and a 19+ age limit, and while this mostly translates to Soundcheck's Water Tower Pub show on the 23rd, note that their advertised start time is 9:30 PM. Visit the above links and below poster for more details, and hopefully some public videos of Soundcheck turn up sooner or later!
So, who's playing at The Rockstar Bar THIS SATURDAY NIGHT? Well, how do local funk/hard rock quartet The Elements sound? Apologies again for the short notice, this show was also only announced via it's Facebook event page yesterday. While we have seen Rob and Jesse live frequently this year in the aforementioned Wyld Stallyns, this will be their first concert with the full plugged-in band since September, so if you're missed The Elements live this year, here's your next opportunity! Of course, this booking is a one-nighter due to tomorrow's Wyld Stallyns show at Room 21 and/or the Soundcheck concert at the same venue. Also, while The Elements themselves haven't promoted this show on their own Facebook page at press time, it is definitely a go, as Rob Speers did ask for our help in finding an opening act for SATURDAY, preferably a "new band". This could be a big opportunity, so if you or a band you know would be interested in opening for The Elements on SATURDAY NIGHT, message him at this link!
As with tomorrow's Soundcheck concert, this show has a 10:00 PM start time (with or without an opener), a 19+ age limit, and no announced cover charge. See above for more details, and here's The Elements live!
Finally for today's previews, we'll touch on shows that did have advance notice, those being the latest array of acoustic solo shows from former Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison, as he'll make a rare solo headlining appearance at The Water Tower Pub TONIGHT, before continuing his long term arrangement at Gliss Steak & Seafood with matinees there TOMORROW & SATURDAY! Joining a busy entertainment roster at The Water Tower Pub this month, Tym's one nighter there tonight could serve as a prelude to his expected return to Thursday concerts at Gliss next month, though fans of his lengthy run at The Quality Inn's house restaurant will be right at home tomorrow and Saturday evening, so keep all three of these dates in mind! Tonight's Water Tower Pub show is a 9:30 PM affair with no cover charge and a 19+ age limit, and while the two Gliss shows are also cover-less, they are at 6:00 PM with no announced limit (though mind the locale, it's not your typical nightclub.) Visit the official Facebook event pages linked here & here for more details, and here's Tym live!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for our Peril, Cover-Up, Project 906 and Redundant previews tomorrow! Thanks everyone!
Now is a good time to post this month's Defunct Local Band Profile, our monthly spotlight of a local metal, hard rock, or punk band (or two) that is not an active project at present, but deserves a look back for current readers! This month's randomly selected band comes from across the river in Sault Michigan, and was one of the most prominent young hard rock bands there in the early-mid 2010s, so here's what you should know on them! -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Members: (Members not in their last full lineup in italics.)
Jacob Hotlen (Unleashed), vocals/guitar Mike East (The MC Experience), bass/occasional guitar Ethan Twardy (Meant To Last), drums
Kyle Burton (OmegaRock), guitar Quinton Jacobson, guitar/bass Michael McLeod, guitar
Audio/Video:
Videos from Tantrym Tyme's run (under any name) aren't as plentiful as they used to be, partially due to the deletion of all videos from Jacob's YouTube channel, but there are still a fair amount of clips to check out! Their Facebook page has 5 sporadically posted clips from shows between 2012 and 2016, and a few YouTube uploads exist from a couple of different sources, like like two early official channels under older names (here and here), and a pair of more recent videos from Christopher Paci's channel, with covers of everyone from Pantera to A Perfect Circle to Rise Against. Songwriting sessions and an album were also teased in 2015, but original Tantrym Tyme content hasn't surfaced online. Here's Tantrym Tyme covering Alter Bridge at The Savoy Bar in 2015!
Info/Analysis: Publically launching in 2010 via the former Guitar Studio summer rock camp, this group immediately gained recognition by their ages alone, each being around 10 or 11 years old at the time! Soon changing their name from Aux to Abstract, they made waves with a set at that year's Kewadin Casino 25th Anniversary Summer Festival, and would become regular performers at community events, festivals, battles of the bands, talent shows, school functions, and sporting events around the E.U.P., and even at some nightclubs, plus a long association with Harmony Health Foods. After a brief name change to Tantrum in early 2012, they settled on Tantrym Tyme later that same year, coinciding with their first guitarist replacement. Online coverage of their shows was often on little or no notice, but concerts continued through at least August 2016's Downtown Days festivities in Sault Michigan. Tantrym Tyme quietly dissolved by 2017, with frontman Jacob Hotlen moving out of state that same year.
Arguably surviving longer together than any of the young hard rock bands that came out of the Guitar Studio, Tantrym Tyme improved with age from promise-laded kids to well rounded teenagers, and their musical evolution as they got older and more experienced is worth exploring! Jacob's vocal range and tone was a good sign of that, and he always had solid chemistry with Mike, Ethan, and their rotating second guitarist. I wish they'd promoted their shows with more advance notice online, but Tantrym Tyme were a young highlight in the E.U.P. in the early-mid 2010s, and hopefully everyone stays active in music in some form or another! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! This series returns to Sault Ontario next month for another randomly selected profile, and next month's selection is (assuming they don't return from hiatus in the coming weeks) inactive local "blue Chinese metal crash punk" quartet Sykotyk Rampage! That should be an interesting profile, so look for it on or around July 10th, and stay tuned for more news and notes on the site as the week rolls along! Thanks everyone!
Closing this weekend's hard rock concert previews with a show that had lots of advance notice, we'll head to The Water Tower Pub TOMORROW NIGHT, where local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck are scheduled to play a headlining concert, with another newly announced show coming there on Saturday, July 7th! Advertised on this month's venue concert calendar as being "back by popular demand", tomorrow's gig will be their first appearance at this locale since early last month, but they'll have just a two week turnaround before hitting The Water Tower Pub again. Neither show has been announced by Soundcheck themselves publically online, but it's hard to argue with the venue's own concert calendar with this much detail! Click here for July's, which confirms Soundcheck's show on the 7th. You can take in the Mourning Wood successors' classic and hard rock hits tomorrow and in two weeks at 9:30 PM each night, with 19+ age limits and no cover charges in effect. See above for more details, and no preview videos yet!
