LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Tarnished), More Weekend Concert Previews, And New Videos!!

Let's wrap up this weekend's known hard rock concert previews in today's second post, and to round things out, we also have some new live concert videos and a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next month, so here's what you should know on this Thursday night!

Sault Michigan classic metal/hard rock band Tarnished will head back to St. Ignace for a one-nighter on Saturday, April 12th, but not at their Kewadin Casino branch. Rather, the guys will be debuting at the Driftwood Sports Bar at 590 North State Street, which is a long established nightclub there that has been kicking tires on hosting live musicians in the past month. While Tarnished will be the first SMS-amenable band to play at the Driftwood since, St. Ignace residents may have seen classic rock cover band Aisle8 there at the start of March, while they brought in Project 906 singer Billy Bernier (with frequent guest hand drummer Brian Duford) for a St. Patrick's Day concert as well. Good to see Tarnished spreading their wings to a new venue, and hopefully things go well in two weeks! No word yet on if Alex & Josh will be joined again by Chris & Ron next month, but the band photo in the venue's poster is obviously a stock photo, so it's not a hint as to their live makeup at present.

Tarnished's Driftwood debut takes place at 9:00 PM on April 12th, there is no announced cover charge, and this should be a 21+ event. Visit the above links for more details on this show, and stay tuned for more from Tarnished!

Next up, let's wrap up this weekend's hard rock concert previews, and we'll do so in Sault Ontario, starting with local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations, who will end the month with shows at Reggie's Place TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! These will be Generations' first shows of any stripe since rocking Jay's two weeks ago, and their first at Reggie's since last year, and it will be good for fans to see this talented veteran group at this downtown staple again this weekend! No major frills to speak of from the usual, just solid rocking covers from Valerie, the Tonys, and Pierre, so don't miss out tomorrow and/or Saturday! No word on when we'll see Generations next after this weekend yet, but stay tuned for updates on their April schedule. Tomorrow and Saturday's shows have 9:30 PM start times, 19+ age limits, and no announced cover charges. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Generations live!

Lastly for known hard rock concerts this weekend, local classic/hard rock cover quintet Headrush will return to The Esquire Club for their second concert weekend of the year TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Not the most regular sight on the weekend nightclub circuit among their cover cohorts, this will be Headrush's first pair of concerts since rocking The Esquire Club two months ago. If you like their hard rock-leaning slate of old school 1980s-centric covers, including a nice selection of Canadian content, then don't miss out on the return of Headrush (not HeadFirst) to this Second Line West staple this weekend! As usual for bands at The Esquire Club, both tomorrow and Saturday's concerts are at 9:30 PM with no announced cover charges, and you must be 19 or older to attend. Should be a good weekend of rocking hits from the Johns, Wes, and crew, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Headrush live!

We'll close tonight's post with new videos from a local classic/hard rock cover band not playing live this weekend, but who has been openly plugging and supporting ones that have been lately, namely Double Down! Their most recent shows were three weeks ago at Jay's Piston Broke Pub, with the gig on Friday, March 7th being their live debut with Sidekicks bassist Dan Beaupre, but as The Sidekicks were playing at The Water Tower Pub on Saturday the 8th, Double Down had to find a fill-in bassist for the night. Mid Life Crysis/ex-Havadder bassist Lori Reinholtz stepped in for that concert, and a video of them covering Big Wreck's "That Song" with her was uploaded to their Facebook page the following day. Guitarist Joel Syrette handled lead vocals on that song, which was filmed from a high stationary vantage point. Very dark lighting, but at least it's horizontal! Strong cover with good melody, and Lori fits in well!

One more video was uploaded yesterday from what appears to be the March 8th show with Lori as well, but the lighting is even darker still and I can barely make out anything visually as a result. The video sees Double Down covering Gary Numan's "Cars", and I think drummer Ric Datson is providing lead vocals here, but I can't be 100% certain given the lighting, let alone that the video was forcibly pillarboxed into vertical dimensions despite being shot horizontally. "That Song" is shorter but much easier to watch, so check it out below, and see more from Double Down (and Lori) above!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site soon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Tym Morrison, Dodge This, And The Isolation Sessions!!)

A busy final concert weekend for March 2025 is upon us, so much so that I'll have to hold our previews of this weekend's previously announced Generations and Headrush concerts for our next post. Don't worry, they are coming, but this post is 100% devoted to LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, mostly on SHORT NOTICE, so here's what you should know, starting with a surprise band reunion at a special charity event!

Local acoustic hard rock band The Isolation Sessions are back and will play their first ever public concert at The Grand Gardens Downtown (the former Queen of Hearts Club above Shooters) TONIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the band's involvement was only confirmed via the official Facebook event page on Thursday. The event in question is Helping Hearts For Helping Hands, a fundraiser being held by Sault College's social service worker program's 2025 graduating class for Sault Ste. Marie Helping Hands, a local non-profit that donates basic and household items for those in need. For this special event, a dress code of red, pink, and white is suggested, and there will be food from The Grand Gardens on offer, as well as live music. The Isolation Sessions (a side project of hard rock quartet Half Past) had been inactive for the past four years after only previously offering up at-home covers from 2020-2021 during the first year of the pandemic.

No word on how their lineup will look, but Half Past singer Jordan Rains and bassist Arthur Lacasse (on guitar) should still be involved. In their original run, they were joined by guitarist Todd Kidd (who isn't in Half Past) and the late Chris Thompson on drums. TONIGHT'S other musical performers are DJs, namely Shane "DJ Seith" Erickson and DJ "Dark" Mark Millington (last seen on the SMS at Toystock last fall), who is in the social service worker program himself. Cash only activities will also be offered TONIGHT, including a silent auction and door prizes. While there is an early 6:00 PM start time in effect, this is sadly a 19+ event. Admission is via $15 tickets at this link and presumably at the door, while $10 support tickets for those who are unable to attend in person have sold out. Sounds like a great event is in store for supporters of both Helping Hands and the SSW program, so keep it in mind for TONIGHT!

Gotta be honest, I didn't have an Isolation Sessions reunion on my 2025 bingo card (their original run seemed like something that only the early pandemic could have fostered, and members focusing on full live bands since made sense), but kudos to Jordan and Art (and crew?) for supporting these worthy causes, and hopefully there's more in store from The Isolation Sessions in the months ahead! Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview of TONIGHT'S Helping Hearts For Helping Hands, here's Jordan & Art from The Isolation Sessions in their original run!

Next up, local classic/hard rock cover duo Dodge This will bring their acoustic live show back to The Water Tower Pub TOMORROW NIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice, this concert was only announced on the band's Facebook page on Tuesday, and the venue has not posted a March concert calendar on social media that I have found. Last seen two weeks ago at the Up & Down Lounge on Second Line West (at least TOMORROW'S show got a few days' notice!), this will be Dodge This' first show at The Water Tower Pub since early February. Hopefully things go smooth for Jason and Jamie (and Jeff?) as they rock this popular central venue again TOMORROW! You can enjoy Dodge This' often heavy range of covers TOMORROW at 8:00 PM with a 19+ age limit and no announced cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Dodge This live!

Finally for this post, local acoustic classic/hard rock musician Tym Morrison will return to The Fraternal Order Of Eagles Club at 246 Wellington Street West for three more solo headlining matinee gigs THIS SATURDAY and then for two more Saturdays on April 19th & May 3rd! Apologies again for the short notice on SATURDAY's concert, all three were only announced via their batch Facebook event page on Tuesday. Tym had just debuted his solo unplugged show at the Eagles Club two weeks ago, and clearly that show went well for him to get re-booked there thrice, including the April 19th show over the Easter long weekend. If you want to see Tym somewhere other than Misty's Fifties, maybe a trip to Steelton for his talented covers on SATURDAY or beyond will do the trick! All three of the new shows at Aerie #3991 are at 2:00 PM with no cover or announced age limit. See above for more details, and here's Tym live!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for our Headrush and Generations previews (and more) next! Thanks everyone!

Spades GT Updates & Recap Videos From Earlier This Month!!

Let's spend today's post by covering some recent news and notes from local/Barrie crossover thrash band Spades GT, so what have they been up to since seemingly wrapping up their new album's recording sessions last month? The album was "in the bank and just waiting for mixes" as of March 3rd, for the record. Spades played three concerts this month in Southern Ontario, starting when they opened for new guitarist Matthew Voros' psychobilly band The House Of Haunt at The Hard Luck Bar in Toronto on March 7th, and they did post a recap video onto their Facebook page from that night. While a short and vertical video, it is not a "Reel", so I can embed it here! The 2:49 video features the guys arriving at and getting ready for their set, and while live concert footage is rarely a highlight for the recap videos, you do see a bit of Spades' set, confirming that they have finally filled their vacant bassist position, so who has signed on?

While not confirmed by name on the band's social media at that point, Matthew's House of Haunt bandmate Sean MacNab has officially replaced the already departed James Roy Daley on bass in Spades GT (Sean confirmed his addition on his personal Facebook page earlier this month). You may also recognize Sean from bands like Defile and Conflicting Plaid, and he does have multi-instrumental talent, as he drums for the latter group. We'll have fuller media of Spades with Sean soon, but he is a solid bassist, and it's good to see the guys finally restored whole as a five-piece! If anything, the recap video shines more for showing The House of Haunt's set anyway, with closer camera angles and some very eclectic fans performing on the floor, but Spades' set reportedly went well despite "a couple (of) boo boos". Good stuff for a recap video, so give everything included from The Hard Luck Bar a watch below!

The following day, Spades played in their adopted hometown of Barrie for the first time this year, when they rocked The Queens Nightclub with guitarist Daniel Horton's other punk band The Fast Life, Cornwall metal band Hellrager (featuring ex-Spades guitarist Jay Sarrazin) and fellow Cornwall hard rockers Don't Tell Sarah. Another recap video was shared from this concert, and while a little longer (just over 3 minutes) and not a "Reel", it's still vertical, and I still can't embed this recap video here due to Facebook content matching the backing studio material added in post, so click here to check out the full recap video. It features Daniel hanging out with attendees (primarily members of Hellrager, Jay included) before showing actual video footage with raw audio of all four bands! If only this wasn't a recap video (and wasn't shot vertically), and I wonder how much footage was cut in editing? Some of the visual fidelity is inconsistent (Spades' video is fuzzy), but the audio is solid for the clips that we do get, and Spades are playing their brand new song "We Are United" in their clips!

The brotherhood between the four bands is definitely visible on camera, and while that will mean more if you're in Barrie/the GTA, it is great to see that the former Jack Spades have been so embraced and integrated into the scene down south! Daniel belatedly chimes in at video's end as he didn't do any on-camera thank yous or plugs at The Queens Nightclub. Good stuff across the board, so give this recap video a watch at this link or above!

Lastly, in a later announcement from earlier this month, Spades GT joined nine other bands on March 14th to open for London-based tribute band System A La Down at The Rockpile in Toronto. This was a memorial concert for Steve Edwin MacLeod, who was the sound guy at multiple Spades concerts at The Rockpile over the years. Kudos to everyone involved for throwing this tribute show together on such quick notice, and from what I've read, Steve seemed like a great guy! You can see 61 photos of Spades GT's set at this link courtesy of attendee Miles George, and while there was a recap video on the band's Facebook page, it was sadly uploaded as a "Reel", so I can't embed it here. Daniel again takes the lead here, shooting lots of footage of him mingling with attendees and his bandmates, with Sean getting his most camera time yet since joining Spades. There is some live footage of their set here (nothing really of the other bands), but there's no raw live audio, and the "Reel" ends super abruptly.

What we do see is effective to set up Spades' set, and you do get more pre-set input from the band as a whole than on the other March concert recap videos, so click here to check it out, but remember, this one is a "Reel" and you can't play it in background tabs. When we next talk about Spades GT on the SMS, it will be via longer raw footage of their set at The Rockpile, so stay tuned for that in the near future! Thanks everyone, and as they like to say, raise 'em up and cause a scene!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Apocalypse Afterparty) And The Pit Updates!!

Here's another news post to check out on this Monday night, and while it mostly revolves around updates from half of the lineup of an upcoming metal show, we're leading off with a somewhat unique LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next month, so here's what you should know! (Updated on Wednesday)

Local party metal trio The Apocalypse Afterparty will open for another major rap concert at Soo Blaster on Sunday, April 27th when they support Guelph rapper Robbie G once again! Hip-hop fans may recall seeing The A.A. inject a dose of rock into the proceedings when they opened for Tech N9ne, Madchild, Afroman, and Robbie G in early 2020s headlining concerts at Soo Blaster, with this being their first such booking since opening for Robbie G back in December 2023. Good to see the Stanghettas and Mikhal back for another genre hybrid concert, and their guitar-devoid brand of original metal has sure turned heads and made fans across sonic lines at prior rap shows! Robbie G (a regular of Soo Blaster rap shows) will be joined by DJ Bizick on April 27th, while the other opening hip hop artists will be unspecified representatives of No Filter Records, Bold Noize (good to see him back out there, albeit likely sans his punk material), 1Don, Strangers, and Q-Bone.

For reference, Q-Bone is the handle being used by two-time The Soo's Got Talent finalist Demoy MacSamuels. Admission for this all ages concert is $20, though VIP packages also exist that will get you a meet & greet with Robbie G, included merchandise, and more depending on level, so click here to get your tickets in advance or get your in person at Soo Blaster. Rap fans will definitely want to circle April 27th on their calendar for some pre-election live music crossing genre lines, so visit the official Facebook event page and the above links for more details on this rap/rock hybrid show!

Next up, here's some updates relating to the local metal concert named The Pit at Soo Blaster on April 18th! One of the four local bands that night will be the debuting Maynard Hayes, so who are they? There are still some unanswered questions about them, but according to personal Facebook postings, they are the new local metal band from guitarist Damon King, who you may recognize from a smattering of mid-2010s gigs like Sault Band-O-Rama and the 2015 VM Radio Battle of the Bands with his prior group Infamous. Convergence drummer David Peredun will reportedly be drumming with Maynard Hayes next month, but I don't know who else is in this band, let alone if there's anyone involved named Maynard and/or Hayes.  This new band does have an Instagram page, but not much is there yet, and time will tell if they launch something more substantive as social media goes. If nothing else, we'll learn more on Good Friday!

Speaking of local progressive metal trio Convergence, they have posted some new content on their Facebook page as they begin the lead-up to their own live concert debut at/in The Pit, to the extent of deleting most of their old postings, even. Signalling a new era for the band, I'll assume? Five teaser videos can be seen on their Facebook page from the past couple of weeks, though unfortunately, all are "Reels", so I can't embed any of them here, and all are vertical and short. Granted, they are teasers by design, but still. The first "Reel" sees the band reflecting that their live debut (which they are hinted as promoting) is jut over a month away, but there's still gear that they need for their concert sets that they didn't have at the time. The second "Reel" has guitarist Jake Valois talking to the camera while his bandmates work with producer Dustin Goodall in studio (still finishing "Gemini", or is this even newer studio material?)

As of that "Reel" (episode?) being posted, Convergence was still tracking drums, and planned to track lyrics with "Steve" (not Rhodes) while they also planned to fine tune how they would sound, be positioned, and perform on stage as a live unit. An ultimate goal from their recent work is to make an official electronic press kit (or EPK), so having some live performances in their back pocket will make that look better! The third "Reel" focuses on David tracking drums and showing off the kit that he's using for the recordings, and the fourth "Reel" is more of the same, but with more empahsis on the recording setup with explanations from Dustin about what the rig is like. The last "Reel" from earlier today features the band asorting out the planned live setlist and some of their recording equipment. Lots of behind the scenes details that local bands often don't share, so these are pretty neat to see!

It can be easy to take for granted the act of playing live concerts, but this will be Convergence's live debut, let along playing a much more technical and proficient brand of metal than members are known for in prior bands of theirs, so getting a window into their preparation for The Pit is fun to see! Granted, I'd far rather these videos were horizontal, embeddable externally, and longer, but you still learn a fair amount, and more should be in the pipeline. Visit the above links for more from Convergence, Maynard Hayes, and The Pit, and stay tuned for more on the site soon! Thanks everyone!

Our Recap Of Mike Haggith's Newest Podcast Interview With Brian Tremblay!!

Remember when local/Barrie alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith was interviewed by local folk/country musician Brian Tremblay for an episode of Rock 'N Roll Heaven on The Borderline back in March 2023? Well, the two have united for another podcast interview almost two years later! However, this one isn't affiliated with The Borderline, rather The Lonesome Cowboy Podcast, Brian's own independent series that you can check out episodes of via Substack. This podcast debuted in November of last year, and you read more about its raison d'etre at this link, and while an allusion is made as to why he seemingly left The Borderline, new Rock N' Roll Heaven episodes were still being released this month, so who is to say what's going on. Regardless, this new interview with Mike is exclusive to The Lonesome Cowboy Podcast, and it is much shorter (37 minutes as opposed to the almost 2 hour long interview from 2023).

If you want to hear their Rock N' Roll Heaven interview from 2023, click here, but one plus to the February 2025 interview is that it was uploaded in video format with Mike interviewed via Zoom! To that end, Brian hosts in front of a green screen of a western sunset, but the chroma-keying isn't perfect, and often blends with his shoulders. The interview here differs from 2023 beyond length and visuals by focusing mostly on Mike's work as a do-it-yourself independent musician and owner of MorningStar Records (which was still in the works during his last interview with Brian), with Mike first discussing how MorningStar fully came to be and why he decided to start his own artist-friendly label, with information about the label operations and amenities being given on air. Mike even has copies of Brian's output with MorningStar to show on camera, so there's your proof as to the label's success with releasing physical albums for affiliate artists!

This leads into Brian drawing comparisons between Mike's music career and the discipline of his day job as a pilot, as well as the pilot/flying references made in Mike's Frequent Flyer newsletter program, including a rare public reference to Mike's "Frequent Flyer" studio album that is being released piece by piece to newsletter subscribers (I'll mention it on the SMS when unequivocally completed in its release there). At the midpoint of this interview, Brian asks about Mike's lack of pushiness when promoting his artistic endeavours, before asking about Mike's plans for future concerts, with Mike explaining why most of his modern concerts are in the Soo and not elsewhere, but he does hope to play solo dates in other markets, possibly in conjunction with where he travels as a pilot. Brian then asked how the pandemic affected Mike's live concerts and the audience turnout after things re-opened and shows resumed in earnest.

After talking about Mike's live concert experiences and feedback, Mike spends the last few minutes by promoting his music directly, particularly his post-2011 output and his Din albums, and where you can hear/buy everything. While much shorter than 2023's interview and completely lacking in songs of Mike's, this is an informative watch that covers lots of ground in a nice casual manner, and it's good to see Mike & Brian talking about music again like this! No word on if we'll ever see the teased "Face To Face" live album from the two of them though. Unfortunately, I'm unable to directly embed the video proper on the SMS, just as a shared link from Substack, but click here to watch the 2025 interview, and if Mike does have new content to tease, it doesn't sound like another interview with Brian will be far off! That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site this week! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (HeadFirst & Project 906) Plus Upcoming Album Updates!!

Here's a packed news post to check out on this Saturday afternoon, and it includes new announcements on two upcoming album releases from Sault Ontario acts, and two LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for the spring, so without any further ado, here's what you should know!

Local hard/blues rock quartet Project 906 will return to The Back Bay Grill & Games at Bay Mills Resort & Casino in Brimley for one night only on Saturday, April 12th! While bassist Dustin Paras just played there last week filling in with Exit 808, this will be 906 proper's first show at "your perfect up north retreat" since September 2023. Long time coming for fans of theirs in Brimley or who frequent Bay Mills, but hopefully their hard rocking cover selection goes over swimmingly in three weeks' time! Of course, Project 906 (minus Billy) will be playing live later today at the Musicians Unite benefit concert at Bird's Eye Outfitters in the Soo, which we previewed on the SMS yesterday, and our continued best thoughts go out to guitarist Joe Jenkins, his wife Mary Jo, and their family as she continues her battle with breast cancer. Head to Bird's Eye today for nine hours of music to support the cause!

As for next month's Back Bay concert, expect a 9:00 PM start time, 21+ age limit, and no announced cover charge. Visit the official Facebook event page for more on Project 906's return to the stage with Billy in three weeks, and stay tuned for more from Musicians Unite when it comes out!

Next up, here's a big new show confirmation for Sault Ontario on Saturday, May 3rd, as three local acts will join forces for a pre-party for this year's Steel City CollectorCon the following day! Before the comic con action descends on the Quattro Hotel on May 4th, there will be vendors, a pool tournament, and live music at Soo Blaster on May 3rd, and the nominal headliners that night are local hard rock quintet HeadFirst, whose long teased new project album will be released on this day! Entitled "Road Trippin'", the band has yet to 100% corroborate what Vintage Games & Junque have announced in event promotion, but this is all very encouraging for fans, so stay tuned in the coming month+ for more on HeadFirst's new album and this show in general! Local alternative/hard rock quintet Handsome Sandwich will also rock Soo Blaster on May 4th in their first announced concert in over seven months.

No idea where the Sandwich has been since last fall, but hopefully they rock the house on May 3rd, especially a new album of their own still awaiting release! Last but not least, local/Barrie alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith is advertised to return to the Soo for the first time since last fall's The Soo's Got Talent finals as well, though we await confirmation if Mike will be playing with The Big Finish Band or purely as a solo artist. Always good to see Mike back home, so don't bypass his Soo Blaster set in a month+! No word on what copies of "Road Trippin'" will cost, but admission to this presumably 19+ event will run for $20, and doors open at 7:30 PM. $35 VIP passes are also on sale that will grant you access to a question-and-answer panel (with the bands?) and a free door prize ticket. If you're inclined to enter the pool tournament, tickets for that are $20 and cash prizes will be offered.

To buy your tickets online in advance, click here, but they should also be on sale at Vintage Games & Junque, and maybe also at Soo Blaster and/or through the bands. While the lack of promotion from the scheduled musicians is still a little surprising, this is shaping up to be a huge pre-party for this year's CollectorCon, so visit the above links for more on what to expect at Soo Blaster in six weeks, and we'll have updates when they come out!

Finally, we move from a band who is releasing a long teased album in May to one who's releasing theirs.... on Friday! That is the day where local midwest emo/post-punk trio Fuller will release their long-awaited follow-up album "II" on major streaming services, as per their Facebook page yesterday! In said post, the band revealed the full ten song track listing, including the already-released advance singles "And I End" and "Kerosene", plus songs with the full titles "Batteries From Old Flashlights", "I Will Crush You", "A", "Image In My Sight", "Love Is Always Better When You're Dreaming", "B", "Can You Die From Embarrassment?", "and "Six". These all line up with the (mostly shortened) titles on the setlist from their reunion show at LopLops in December 2023 in performance order, for the record, so the extended set-ending jam must have been "Six". Also, based on that setlist, are "A" and "B" actually that night's two covers?

Co-producer Dustin Goodall will perform additional instrumentation on the album, while original Fuller drummer James Kersley (who was on their 2002 self-titled EP with no song names) will provide additional vocals on "Six". The release of "Fuller II" appears to solely be on streaming services for now, with no promised CD/vinyl printings or release concert (yet?), but for emo fans and classic Fuller supporters, this is an album two decades in the making, and assuming it comes out on Friday as planned, we now know this month's CD review at the SMS! Look for that next week, follow along for more from Fuller as "II" nears release, and stay tuned for more news and notes on the site next week! Thanks everyone!

The Musicians Unite Benefit Concert Preview!!

A huge assortment of local and Northern Michigan rock talent will join forces at Bird's Eye Outfitters TOMORROW NIGHT for Musicians Unite, a special benefit concert! As you may know, Project 906 guitarist Joe Jenkins' wife Mary Jo has been in a fight with breast cancer for the past year+, and this event is to raise money for her and her family to offset the cost of treatments and medically-related travel downstate. Along with tomorrow's concert action, there will be official t-shirts available for purchase, a bake sale, and a silent auction on site at Bird's Eye, so visit the official Facebook event page for complete non-musical details on what's going on and how you can help May Jo and family at this difficult time! Your headliners tomorrow are Marquette hard rock cover quartet Spun in their first local concert appearance since 2022, though bassist Bob Libick has guested locally with Exit 808 multiple times since.

It's cool to have Spun proper back on a local stage tomorrow at 10:45 PM, and hopefully they rock the house tomorrow, especially given that they're letting the opening bands use their sound system! Elmira hard rock quintet Driving Dawn will co-headline at 9:00 PM in their first ever E.U.P. concert appearance, though Exit 808 fans may know them too, as they won last year's Rock Recovery battle of the bands in Alpena. Driving Dawn's skilled modern rock sound should be welcomed by Yoopers tomorrow night as well! The aforementioned Exit 808 are the highest slotted local band at 7:30 PM, and members Amy Beach & Jackie Moon are the promoters of Musicians Unite as well. Should be a big set for them, and given how open they are to have guest and fill-in musicians, could some surprises turn up? One is definitely hinted, as young Dafter singer/guitarist Molly Escherich is listed as making "appearances" mid-set.

Whether just the band, with Molly, or with other guests, Exit 808 should leave a good impression with their double vocalist-led hard rock! Fellow local hard rock quartet Dirty Musky will take the stage at 6:00 PM with their own set of unique hard and alternative covers, and they should make some noise early in the evening, as will hard/blues rockers Project 906, who are (of course) one of the central bands tomorrow given who Mary Jo is married to. Unfortunately, the band will be playing sans singer Billy Bernier due to a previously scheduled vacation, but Exit 808 singers Amy Beach and Dillion Semasky will be guesting behind the mic with 906, returning the favour after both Joe & Dustin have sat in with Exit 808 in recent months, so look for this special set tomorrow as well! The opening local band is new alt-punk trio About: Blank (featuring Tarnished and Midnight Logic alumni), who will kick off the day's musical program at 3:00 PM.

As for the previously teased acoustic performers between the full band sets, organizers confirmed earlier today that three solo musicians will do the honours across the five breaks between bands. The aforementioned Molly Escherich (who was teased to guest with Exit 808) is slated to play unplugged music at 10:15 PM, 7:00 PM, and 4:00 PM, while veteran local folk singer/guitarist Kevin Blakeney is blocked for a mini-set at 8:30 PM, and About:Blank frontman Parker Talentino will go solo for a bit of his own at 5:30 PM. Admission is by donation tomorrow night, and while I have not seen a firmly stated age limit at Bird's Eye (which is licensed), Molly's presence alone is noted. Official event t-shirts will also be on sale. While I won't be in attendance (I was hoping to go before the tariff/trade war complicated imminent Sault Michigan trips), this is a huge concert for EUP live music fans, so don't miss it!

Alas, I can relate all too well to what the Jenkins family is going through right now, as I lost my mother (named Mary, incidentally) to ovarian cancer in October 2020. From what I have seen and read, Mary Jo's strength, courage, and devotion to her family (including her three kids) is extremely commendable, and kudos to Joe, his bandmates, and everyone else involved with Musicians Unite for putting on what will be a packed night of live music and good vibes! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details on tomorrow's benefit concert, and for a preview, here's Spun live!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for some new concert announcements on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!