Our extended Rotaryfest weekend concert previews continue marching onward on this Friday morning, and due to how long our write-up for Stage 2 went this year, I am pushing our preview of tomorrow's Project 906 show in Eckerman, Michigan to our next post. That, and the sudden occurrence on Stage 1 yesterday that everyone was talking about, will get addressed on the site shortly, but let's dive into previews of Sault Ontario concerts taking place tomorrow for our third weekend concert preview post this week!
We'll start today's previews by heading back to Rotaryfest at Clergue Park for this year's Stage 2, as the originals-focused Second Stage returns to its "Redirected" locale beside the Art Gallery of Algoma for its seventh year there and sixteenth total, hiatuses aside. Last year's Friday Night Blues theme night addition went over well, so it is back this year with five bands, including The Rusty McCarthy Band (in Rusty's fourth Stage 2 set as frontman) at 8:30 PM, blues/rockabilly quartet The Steeltown Playboys (who played the drive-in Rotaryfest in 2021) at 7:30 PM, progressive/blues rock trio The Hyperion Effect at 6:30 PM, indie rock trio All The Tired Horses (who played Stage 1 last year) at 5:30 PM, and blues rockers Smokehouse (in their second straight Stage 2 set) at 4:30 PM. No hard rock/punk bands here, but if you like the blues, come on down for all of the FREE & ALL AGES action, assuming that the weather forecast doesn't complicate things!
As for Saturday, the seventh "Redirected"-era program of younger indie-leaning bands is curated again by stage director Dustin Goodall (ex-Free Beer/Id Iota), with local alt-hard rock quintet Handsome Sandwich headlining this year in their second straight Stage 2 set at 8:30 PM! Their strong momentum following their "Deconstructed" album release (review coming this month) should be a good omen for a fun set, so don't miss out tomorrow! Local progressive rock veterans Machines Dream will play their record sixth Stage 2 set (seventh if you count 2021) as co-headliners at 7:30 PM in arguably the biggest show of their original lineup's summer 2023 reunion, so expect a highly proficient block of originals from them! Online page-less alt/indie rock quartet The Hollow Heads will play their second straight Stage 2 set at 6:30 PM, ahead of pop rock sibling band Distich at 5:30 PM.
Folk singer/songwriter M.D. Dunn plays the Second Stage for a fourth time at 4:30 PM, ahead of three Rotaryfest newcomers, including folk/pop singer/guitarist Matthew James at 3:30 PM and resurgent country/folk musician & radio host Brian Tremblay at 2:30 PM. Tomorrow's opening band are Suicide Kings successors Far From Fine in their first show of the year, first since changing their name from Ravencore, and just their second public gig outright. The Rotaryfest program intriguingly calls them "a punk-rock powerhouse", which largely goes against what we know musically from Mike, Mitch, Matt, and Austin, but it will be interesting to hear how they do in their sophomore gig tomorrow at 1:30 PM! As always, this is a FREE & ALL AGES event, and but do keep tabs on the weather forecast for tomorrow, as 9&10 News is calling for a 50% chance of showers and thunderstorms.
Otherwise, they have mostly cloudy skies with a high of 23°. Their hourly forecast doesn't go that far ahead yet, but The Weather Channel projects likely thunderstorms during the majority of the Stage 2 timeslots. Yes, Stage 2 has a roof, but that won't help attendees, so follow your preferred local weather forecast for updates if you are at all concerned about rain during tomorrow's Stage 2 sets. The music should be hopping, and with heavier bookends, there should be a little something for everyone by the Art Gallery, weather permitting. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Handsome Sandwich live on Stage 2 last year!
Finally for today's previews, let's head to Shooters Downstairs Lounge, where local funk/hard rock cover sextet The Wyld Stallyns will take the stage TOMORROW NIGHT! This is basically the afterparty for their Rotaryfest Stage 1 set tomorrow at 5:15 PM, and given the weather forecast during their set (23° with thunderstorms according to The Weather Channel), them playing at Shooters later in the night may prove to be advantageous given that they everyone will have a roof over their heads! Whether you're seeing them for a first or second time tomorrow, The Stallyns' fan-friendly and often heavy covers should get a solid reaction at the Dennis Street nightclub, so don't miss out! A one-nighter due to tonight's concert from Vancouver world rock band Stubbs & The, tomorrow's Wyld Stallyns show is a 19+ affair with no cover charge and a 9:00 PM start time. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's The Stallyns live!
That's all for now, but stay tuned for our Project 906 preview and more on the site next! Thanks everyone!
Let's continue this weekend's concert previews by primarily looking at bands playing tomorrow night, with Rotaryfest Stage 2 and Saturday-only events still to come. Kicking things off are SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, two tied to a new local band, so here's what you should know!
We have a new local classic metal cover band to add to our band links, namely The Nostalgic Band! Debuting with gigs at Reggie's Place in May and June, and originally named Nostalgia, this is the first full band project from prolific local singer/guitarist Tym Morrison since his old band Caveman Morrison's last show in 2016, so fans of his will be extra curious, even without his long hair! Tym is joined here by his 2012-2013 Caveman bandmate Randy "Dutch" Vanderploeg (otherwise best known as Browbeat's frontman) on bass, while former Nikkfitt drummer Chet Dziergas rounds out their lineup. Yes, Dutch is a Nikkfitt alum too, but they were not in that band concurrently. The Nostalgic Band's new Facebook group was actually created in time for their third & fourth gigs last month, but I only just found out about it this week, and they have confirmed a handful of new concert dates for the coming month.
These include returns to Reggie's Place TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT, then on Friday, August 4th & Saturday, August 5th! Apologies for the short notice on TOMORROW & SATURDAY's concerts, they were only announced via the Facebook event page for all four Reggie's dates, which only went up on Sunday. The other new date will see The Nostalgic Band make their Jay's Piston Broke Pub debut in an apparent one-nighter on Friday, July 28th (click here for its Facebook event page), so fans of Tym, Randy, and Chet have lots of chances ahead to see them live, starting TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! All of these are 19+ concerts with 9:30 PM start times and no cover charges. For a preview of this weekend's gigs, four live videos of The Nostalgic Band are online to check out, so what can you see here?
All shot at Reggie's gigs, the videos include Facebook-exclusive covers of Starship's "We Built This City" and System of a Down's "Aerials" uploaded by Dutch, but they also have a YouTube channel that features cross-posted videos of Ozzy Osbourne's "I Don't Know" and, as embedded below, a 9 minute promotional video featuring assorted cover fragments from their debut gig on May 26th. So far so good for The Nostalgic Band performance wise, with strong musicianship and chemistry dating back to the Caveman Morrison days, and while I'd have made transitions more obvious in the promo clip, classic metalheads won't want to miss them TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT at Reggie's Place!
Next up, we'll head across the river for another short notice announcement, as Sault Michigan metal quartet Tarnished will return to Snow's Bar & Grill in nearby Cedarville for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice, this show was only announced on their Facebook page this past Friday when they posted their concert slate for the next month+ there. Fresh off of their even later-notice Hessel gig last week, TOMORROW'S Cedarville show will be Tarnished's first at Snow's in three weeks, so if you're in the area or are up the 40 minute drive due south of the Soo, keep Tarnished's brand of old school metal originals & covers in mind! A one-nighter due to or resulting in Project 906's previously announced show there on Saturday (preview forthcoming), Tarnished are on TOMORROW at 8:00 PM with a 21+ age limit and no cover. See above for more details, and here's Tarnished live last year!
As the Tarnished show was on short notice, I gave it priority in this post, hence why three naturally linked shows are broken apart here, but to close, let's head back to Sault Ontario for Nostalgic Band frontman Tym Morrison's previously announced solo acoustic concert TOMORROW NIGHT at The Mike Case Memorial Stage outside of The Trading Post! The second weekly gig of his new seasonal arrangement at the outdoor stage at 1332 Great Northern Road, shows in this series won't conflict with Nostalgic Band concerts on Fridays because Tym is only blocked from 7:00-9:00 PM at The Mike Case Stage. Long day for Tym, but hopefully easing into things with an unplugged gig will get things rolling naturally before he joins Randy and Chet downtown! You can enjoy Tym's solo classic/hard rock covers tomorrow at 7:00 PM with no age limit or cover charge, and the weather forecast is much the same as it will be at Rotaryfest happening concurrently.
9&10 News is still calling for a high temperature of 23° tomorrow, and while the chance of showers and thunderstorms has slightly dropped to 40%, keep the forecast in mind, as this is very much an outdoor concert (roof on the stage acknowledged). Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Tym live!
That's all for now, but look for our Rotaryfest Stage 2, Wyld Stallyns, and Project 906 previews on the site next! Thanks everyone!
The Sault's Summer Festival returns to Clergue Park this weekend, as Rotaryfest is (according to promotional material) "celebrating 100 years" this year! The first Community Day parade was held in 1922, and if you omit the parade-less 2020, this will be the 100th year since, so I think that's how they got to that milestone count. This year's Rotaryfest is even more a return to normalcy than last year (proof: the midway is back), so visit the official website or read the program that came in the mail last week for full non-musical details about this year's community events downtown! We'll start by looking at the covers-focused Stage 1, which returns to its usual outpost beside the Centennial Library, with Valerie Pluss as stage manager and Andrew Stuetz as the M.C. between bands. Band names below are linked to their Facebook event page from Rotaryfest, who made one up for (almost) each set once again.
Musically, things begin TOMORROW NIGHT when local/Barrie alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith returns home for the second straight Rotaryfest when he opens Stage 1 at 6:00 PM! Coinciding with the release of his brand new album "All The Best In All You Do" (more on that when able), expect to hear cuts from that and other recent albums during this full band set, with Mike joined by returning local bandmates Chris Nielsen (A Dire Setback) on guitar and Brandan Glew (ex-The Din) on drums. Now on bass is Sainte-Marie/Bad Chug alum Jacob Quarrell (replacing A Dire Setback's Matt Quinn), who ironically was supposed to be Mike's guitarist for his pandemic-cancelled album release show here in 2020. Should be a big way to kick off Rotaryfest, so don't miss out tomorrow! The other three bands include local Abba tribute band Abba Soo at 9:30 PM, ...
... blues/jazz sextet The Hustle Brothers at 8:00 PM (both in their festival debut), and The Northern Jazz Ensemble at 7:00 PM in their fourteenth Stage 1 set (and fifth straight) since the modern format was established in 2001. As always, Stage 1 entertainment is FREE and ALL AGES, and while 9&10 News is calling for a high temperature of 21° tomorrow with partly cloudy skies, they also have a 20% chance of rain in the forecast (yes, Stage 1 has a roof). There is a little something for everyone tomorrow at Rotaryfest, and Mike's high profile album release set will be quite a kickoff, so visit the above links for more details, and here's Mike live last year!
Six bands take on Stage 1 on FRIDAY NIGHT, with two newer bands that cross our genre radar playing Stage 1 that day, including punk/alternative cover quintet Bookclub at 9:00 PM and classic/hard rock cover quartet Double Down at 8:00 PM. The former's unpredictable trumpet-infused covers and Surfers-majority lineup will definitely turn heads, while Double Down's talented & familiar lineup will be right at home on this big stage, so don't miss them on Friday! In a change from past norms, there will be a touring headliner on Friday AND Saturday, with Friday's being Renegade: The Ultimate Tribute To Styx, a Winnipeg-based tribute to the 1970s-80s classic rock/AOR icons, and if you like Styx, their 10:20 PM set will do them justice! The opening three bands on Friday include classic rock cover quartet RPM (in their third Stage 1 appearance) at 7:00 PM, new country/classic rock cover group The Way Backs at 6:00 PM, ...
...and classic rock trio The Sidekicks (debuting at Rotaryfest here after dropping out of Stage 1 last year) opening at 6:00 PM. Once again FREE & ALL AGES, 9&10 News is calling for warmer and cloudier weather with a high of 23° on Friday, but the chance of rain (including thunderstorms) moves up to 50%. Hopefully the weather cooperates for the bands this weekend, including new and familiar faces alike on Friday, so visit the above links for more on that day's bands, and here's Bookclub live!
As usual, the SATURDAY lineup is the longest of all, and the closing band this year will be a one-off reunion of local classic/hard rock cover quartet That's Chester! Making their eleventh Rotaryfest appearance, we haven't seen That's Chester (who oddly didn't get a Facebook event page from Rotaryfest) since playing this festival in 2018. For this year, Gabe, Aubrey, and Ric will be joined by original singer Richard Fullerton rather than Greg Simpson for the whole set, while Dan Belanger will return in place of late guitarist Eugene Orlando once again. The program erroneously says that their last show was their involvement in The Who's Tommy in 2015 despite playing two Rotaryfests since, but it will be neat to see them back again, especially if you were a fan of mid-2000s That's Chester with Ritch on the mic! Their set is at 10:30 PM on Saturday, ahead of the featured touring headliners, as usual for Rotaryfest.
This year's touring Saturday attraction is Winnipeg's Bed Of Roses: The World's Best Bon Jovi Tribute, whose lineup is made up of the members of Renegade from Friday night, hence why two are playing this year. 11 years removed from hybrid Bon Jovi/Journey tribute band Bon Journey's Stage 1 set, Bed Of Roses will bring just Bon Jovi classics (their hair metal era chief among them) back to Rotaryfest on Saturday at 8:30 PM, so don't miss out then! Classic rock veterans Mustang Heart are scheduled for 7:15 PM in their record eighteenth Stage 1 set under the modern format, while hard rock fans can check out new classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations at 6:15 PM in their festival debut, preceded by local funk/hard rock sextet The Wyld Stallyns in their third straight Stage 1 set at 5:15 PM before their Shooters gig that night. The opening bands on Saturday include country musician Brendan Hodgson (also back for a third year) at 4:15 PM, ...
...classic rock veterans Dorian Grey in their Stage 1 debut at 3:15 PM, new local bluegrass.country band Lands & Forest at 2:15 PM, classic rock sextet Ladies Sing The Blues in their second Rotaryfest set (third if you count Lady Sings The Blues) at 1:15 PM, and classic/party rock cover band Encore in their third Stage 1 set to kick things off at 12:00 PM. Expect FREE & ALL AGES entertainment to cap off Rotaryfest with on Saturday, and 9&10 News is calling for similar weather as on Friday, but the chance of rain drops slightly to 40%. If you are at all concerned about the weather forecast, keep tabs on your preferred local forecast in the leadup. It is worth noting that one more touring tribute band is playing at
Rotaryfest this year, namely the Toronto-based Abraxas: The Ultimate Santana Tribute, who will be performing on Friday outside of The Machine Shop (no idea if they'll be at The Rink) as part of this year's
Wheels On The Water car show.
How's that for an extra pull to come down to Mill Square? Click here for more details on that event, and as for Saturday, there's a stacked lineup of local bands plus some Bon Jovi classics to take in, with familiar faces and new bands alike for your delectation, hopefully with no weather-induced complications! It will be weird not seeing Bone Yard, Mid Life Crysis, and the now-defunct Obsession playing this year though, the first in-person Stage 1 that they have all missed since 2018. Visit the above links for much more on Rotaryfest's Stage 1 lineup for 2023, stay tuned for our Stage 2 preview and more next, and here's That's Chester live!
That's all for today, but more weekend concert previews are on the way tomorrow! Thanks everyone!
Before we get too enveloped in this weekend's stacked slate of concert previews, here's our look at Christopher Paci's videos from the Josey Scott's Saliva-headlined concert at The Rink at The Train Station (outside of The Machine Shop) last month, as uploaded to his excellent YouTube channel! Chris also filmed Flo Rida at the National Cherry Festival in Traverse City, Michigan last week, plus last month's Dustin Lynch concert at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino, so if you like rap and/or country, don't bypass those new concert videos either. Back north to Sault Ontario, Chris filmed seventeen videos on June 24th, including eight of Josey Scott's Saliva (he labelled them as "JS Saliva" in all of the video titles), with three being covers of Rage Against The Machine's "Killing In The Name", "Hero" by Chad Kroeger featuring Josey Scott (natch), and mildly confusingly given the name, "My Hero" by The Foo Fighters.
The other five videos are of Saliva originals, with Josey and crew tackling "Always", "Greater Than/Less Than", "Ladies & Gentlemen", "Black Sheep", and as embedded below, "Click Click Boom". Josey's voice can be a little strained at times, but these are solidly performed on the whole, and he got a strong backing band for this alternate version of Saliva! Chris was stationed in roughly the third row of fans at The Rink, and while the lighting is a little hazy, the videos have a strong and unique look given the locale, so check them out for yourselves above & below!
Next up, Chris filmed three videos of Detroit hard rock band Sponge's co-headlining set, where they played their songs "Plowed", "Jump While The House Is On Fire", and as embedded below, "Rotting Pinata". There was still daylight for the openers' sets, so the venue looks different from that alone, while also allowing for clearer videos, so that is worth noting! Sponge's 1990s-era brand of hard and alternative rock comes through well in these videos, if with somewhat of a scratchy sound in these clips, so definitely check these out above & below as well!
From the local openers, Chris filmed three videos of local/Barrie crossover thrash quintet Spades GT (minus guitarist Jay Sarrazin) in their first Sault Ste. Marie gig since the former Jack Spades' wholesale relaunch and move to the GTA in 2021. Specifically, he shot them playing three cuts from their new album "Sewer City Radio", including the title track, "Succubus", and as embedded below, "Red". I'll hold comment on the individual songs pending our planned review of this album in September, but it's great seeing J.D. and Daniel back home rocking up a storm with their usual energy and attitude, and James & Tyler fit in nicely, so give their videos a watch!
Finally, Chris got two videos of opening local southern hard rock quintet Fort Creek covering Blackfoot's "Train, Train" and, as embedded below, Black Stone Cherry's "White Trash Millionaire". There is definitely more of a daylight haze on their videos compared to the later bands to come, but these southern-tinged songs come through well, and it is nice seeing Fort Creek tackle some different covers that other local bands aren't doing! Hopefully their relatively quiet summer is a sign of big things to come, but give parts of Fort Creek's newest live concert set a look above & below!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for much more on the site in the days ahead, especially as Rotaryfest weekend is near! Thanks everyone!
It's now time for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile, continuing our monthly look at a local metal, hard rock, or punk act who is no longer publically active, in order to spotlight their run and activity for current readers! Today's randomly selected project is from a very familiar face to readers who follow the small original metal scene in the E.U.P., so here's what you should know about his solo work!
Audio/Video: Not counting his output with Heavy Lies The Crown, guitarist Ted Olson has released no albums of his solo material, but you can hear studio quality and jam session original recordings from his solo project's active run across his Facebook page (2018-January 2020) and YouTube channel (anything later). Aside from a playthrough video of H.L.T.C.'s "Choke" and a "thank you" video for YouTube viewers, everything relates to Ted's original compositions (complete, teasers, or otherwise), typically played on his favourite headless guitars made by Strandberg or Kiesel. Here's Ted playing his 2021 original song "Odin"!
Info/Analysis: A few months prior to the public launch of his band Heavy Lies The Crown, Ted created a Facebook page for his solo pursuits in mid-2018, later clarifying in January 2020 that content there would be "mostly crappy idea videos". A YouTube channel followed that September, for which his H.L.T.C. bandmate Brandon West helped out in filming some videos with a higher production value. A healthy stream of solo performance videos and original compositions followed through mid-2021, including the song "Devoured" with guest singer Darien Deilami (of the Oklahoma metal band Xeropthalmia), but Ted has not updated his solo accounts since November of that year. Of course, he has focused on Heavy Lies The Crown ever since,but fans of that band will be right at home with Ted's technical and brutal solo work, which often touches on more of a progressive/djent influence than H.LT.C. does!
While typically short, Ted's solo songs like "Pulse" & "Aurora" show him at a strong skill level with heavy riffs with some well balanced melodies that fans of Sault Ontario bands like Convergence and PROV3RB5 will be into, so do check out Ted's solo work to hear what he brought to the table sans Brandon & crew, but look for more from Heavy Lies The Crown soon!
I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profile! Our next randomly selected local band will take us north to Sault Ontario for a band that we only belatedly rolled into our links in January, namely 2014-2020 blues/hard rock cover trio Mojo! Look for that on or around August 10th, and for more news and notes on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!
Today's post is designed to cover some recent notes and content from two different local acts that eventually moved to Barrie, Ontario, as both have new albums, videos, and other news to touch on that have fell by the wayside in recent weeks. Here's what you should know!
We're definitely behind on recent updates from local/Barrie crossover thrash quintet Spades GT, so what's new to report from their camp? Firstly, we do have more Josey Scott's Saliva videos coming, but there's stuff before and since that we haven't even hinted at from the former Jack Spades yet! One year to the day after playing Spiderfest in Meyersburg on the same weekend as Random Killing, the two bands (both fronted by Saultite vocalists) joined forces at The Atria in Oshawa last night, so how's that for another hardcore homecoming from afar? Following their already announced gigs in Cambridge and Toronto, the band (minus Jay) made their way home to the Soo for the Josey Scott's Saliva concert on June 24th, and while that was the de facto release party for us, the actual release party will take place tonight at The Queens Nightclub in Barrie, over a month after "Sewer City Radio" came out!
No idea why they didn't time a release party with the actual on-sale date of June 2nd, but better late than never! Spades GT, guitarist Daniel Horton's other band The Fast Life, and fellow Barrie punk band Kill/Death Radio are playing this event, which also coincides with the release of their "Final Girl" music video, details forthcoming. Good luck tonight, of course! In another new GTA concert announcement, Spades GT will open for No Signal at Inside Skatepark in St. Catharines on Saturday, July 22nd (details here), while they & The Fast Life will both be opening for Hamilton death metal band Death Perception on Saturday, July 29th at The Killroom in Hamilton. Should be good shows if you're in the area! All other updates since have been in the form of *sigh* "Reels", including two teaser clips of the "Final Girl" music video (linked here and here), with the latter edited more like a horror movie trailer, which is very fitting.
The letterboxing of the widescreen music video is not ideal whatsoever in the vertical "Reels" format, but the wait is almost over! As of this writing, the video is not live yet but we'll give that its own feature in an upcoming post. The last "Reel" was to promote yesterday's Random Killing show, featuring drummer Tyler Reiner and singer J.D. Pearce plugging it from a pool, if you can believe it. Can't embed them externally, so give them a watch above, and stay tuned for more from Spades GT in the near future!
Next up, here's some recent updates from local/Barrie alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith, starting with a video interview with him that I've put off for way too long! On June 8th, Mike was one of the remote guests on the first episode of The S.W.A. Happy Hour (S.W.A. stands for Songwriters Anonymous), an interview series hosted out of New York by musicians Dominick Torregrossa and Chris Lane Sr. that you can see episodes of at this link. Mike is not the only guest, but he is an S.W.A. member, so there was familiarity with him & his music from the hosts. Mike's segment begins about 26 minutes into the 2+ hour livestream, and includes a full airing of his "Carousel" lyric video, which more or less premiered here before it went public. At 31 minutes or so, Mike pops in for a 45 minute interview, where he discusses the lyric video & song, his involvement with Songwriters Anonymous, his own songwriting process, ...
... the lyrical choices & thematic sensibilities in "Carousel" and other songs, his upcoming album "All The Best In All You Do", guest guitarist Hetriani's appearance on it, Mike's musical journey from Windsor to the Soo to Thompson, his musical influences, whether he listens to stuff like he actually plays, and his recording process, before playing "Carousel" again so they can re-analyze the song again with the benefit of what Mike has said. The interview ends with some summative and fan-submitted questions, plus plugs for Mike's current and upcoming music links. Not a bad interview at all, and the ultra-focus on songwriting will be appealing to some, especially compared to some of his other interview/guest appearances on similar webshows! That interview is embedded below, but just to get some other recent notes covered on here, this image is in fact the "All The Best In All You Do" album cover, despite the lack of any credits.
This is something that wasn't immediately clear when it first popped up on Mike's social media channels, but this means it will be his first album since he moved from Windsor to not have his name or the album name on the front. You can now pre-order "A.T.B.I.A.Y.D." for $10 on Bandcamp (no sign yet of the teased bonus songs for Bandcamp buyers only), but if you'd rather wait for the official on-sale date, that is Thursday, coinciding with his opening set at Rotaryfest Stage 1! Stay tuned for more from Mike soon, and here's his S.W.A. Happy Hour interview!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile next! Thanks everyone!
Let's finally wrap up this weekend's concert previews today before things get even busier next weekend! As the last remaining (known to me) hard rock concert this weekend was in Michigan, I opted to group everything in today's post around bands from the E.U.P., including updates from a resurgent local metal project and some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (with related missed show apology), so here's what you should know!
Local hard rock/metal quartet Tarnished announced their slate of concerts through the next month+ on their Facebook page yesterday, and unfortunately, that started with a short notice gig at The Islander Bar in Hessel last night. I profusely apologize for missing this show (Tarnished's first in Hessel since their New Year's party), as while Tarnished only announced it the day of, The Islander Bar's Facebook page first mentioned it on Tuesday. I must do a better job of keeping tabs with that venue's promotion, but hopefully last night's show was a hit despite the late notice! For the record, we also missed Tarnished's debut at Shelly's Rainbow Bar in Ishpeming on June 30th, but at a 3 hour drive west of the Soo, that is well out of our coverage range. Hopefully Tarnished had a good maiden outing there! Of the shows that we haven't missed, I'll save their now-short notice show on Friday the 14th for next weekend's concert previews.
Alex, Nathan, Isaac, and Josh will return to Sault Ste. Marie for a one-nighter at The Merchants Bar on Friday, July 21st, marking their first show at The Merch since St. Patrick's Day. Always good to see Tarnished play a hometown gig, and despite the venue's usual lack of promotion for bands who play there online, hopefully there's a solid turnout in two weeks! The last new & truly local dates in this wave will be Tarnished's return to The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino on Friday, August 4th & Saturday, August 5th, a venue they last played over the Memorial Day weekend. Should be another good time for local fans, so don't miss their hard hitting originals and classic covers then either! Kewadin has yet to announce their August concert slate at their lounges, we will let you know when they do. All three of their upcoming Sault Ste. Marie shows are 9:00 PM affairs with 21+ age limits and no cover charges.
The final date anywhere that Tarnished announced last night will see them rock this year's Grand Marais Music & Crafts Festival again, bringing them back to Grand Marais (2 hours west of the Soo) on Friday, August 11th as that day's headliners (the band said the 12th but festival promotion confirms the 11th). Should be a fun time for fans in Alger County or who are up for a road trip! Visit the above links for details on Tarnished's upcoming concerts, apologies again for missing them in Hessel last night, and we'll touch on their show on FRIDAY in our stacked weekend concert previews!
Next up, we'll stay in the E.U.P. for this weekend's final hard rock concert preview, as local blues/hard rock quartet Project 906 will return to The Strongs Tavern in nearby Eckerman for one night only TONIGHT! This will be 906's first show at one of their favourite regional venues since making the hour's trip west back in January, while this will be their first show there with new drummer Jason VanLuven, and fourth total since he came on board. It's always good to see Project 906 at a familiar locale, and hopefully tonight's show is another hit for fans in the area! This show takes place at 28952 West Mile 28 tonight at 9:00 PM, there is a 9:00 PM start time in effect, and you must be 21 or older to attend. If you can't make it, they'll be live in Cedarville next Saturday. Visit the above links for more details on Project 906's Strongs Tavern gig tonight, and here they are live!
We'll close today with the latest updates from local metal band Buddy Repperton & The Camaros, who had been silent on their Facebook page for almost a year before they resurfaced there in April, so what's new from their camp? That month, they revealed that they have been writing new original music and planned to bring in new collaborators to work on material with. First up is former Integrated System of Machines drummer Bart Rennels, who more recently drummed for the Muskegon-based Judas Priest tribute band Vengeance Rising, and who is helping record three new Camaros tracks. Existing drummer Jason VanLuven (of the aforementioned Project 906) has not left this band, but frontman David Waite expressed a desire to work with "ALL of my musically talented friends from different genres", and the songs in question appear to fit Bart better musically than Jason. They have also had a bassist switch, as Dennis Rudis has left the group.
A public reason for his departure was not announced, but personal postings about his exit do sound amicable. His replacement is "Badger" (no full name given), who previously played in the Livonia hardcore band Exploder, and has known David since their youths. Hopefully he's a good fit in what sounds more and more like a collective than a rigid "band"! David did share this black & white video from his personal Facebook page last month of him playing 51 seconds of riffs for a new original song, and it sounds promisingly heavy with a good groove, so check it out below, and stay tuned for more from The Camaros when it rolls in!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site next week! Thanks everyone!
