Three Days Grace/Finger Eleven Concert Video Showcase (Part 1!!)

Have you been wondering where our coverage of last week's Three Days Grace/Finger Eleven concert at GFL Memorial Gardens has been? So have I, but compared to Triumph & April Wine at the arena last month, videos have been surprisingly harder to come by, and barring belated videos being posted from that night, I'll be lucky to fill two posts. Despite the relative lack of videos, the show was a huge hit with a sold-out audience (I'm told that The Sheepdogs drew well that night at The Machine Shop too!), and Kenneth Armstrong from SooToday got 12 solid photos of the headlining Norwood, Ontario hard rock quintet's set for this article! Nothing of Finger Eleven or Royal Tusk though. We'll highlight uploads from three filmers today, starting with Three Days Grace's set-opener "Dominate", which was one of five songs from their new dual-singer album "Alienation" to be played last week.

This was filmed by YouTube user MsSawfiler (who also filmed one Triumph video last month), and if you need context as to why the video screen has a random kid on it at the start, Three Days Grace literally preceded their set with an old Station Mall commercial! You can see fan-shot video of just that moment on (where else) Station Mall's Facebook page. As for the song itself, this is a well shot video (helped by Ms. Sawfiler being right along the extended stage walkway), so Matt and Adam get nice and close! The audio is a little muffled here, but it's a quality first look at Three Days Grace's first song, so check it out for yourselves below!

The most prolific filmer (so far?) of Three Days Grace was YouTube user MasonTheGoat, who also filmed at last year's Our Lady Peace concert at the Gardens, and he shot seven videos of the headliners last week! Again, nothing of the openers. Mason filmed 3.D.G. playing "Break", "Pain", "Kill Me Fast", "Apologies", "Don't Wanna Go Home Tonight", "Never Too Late" (which was his only vertically shot video), and as embedded below, "World So Cold". If you're curious, of the 17 pre-"Alienation" original songs in that night's setlist (according to Setlist.fm), 11 were from their first four albums with Adam Gontier on vocals, and 6 were from the three albums after Matt Walst replaced him, with the other singer providing backing vocals or follow-up verses as needed. They also played three covers, two in the acoustic portion (more on that in a bit) and a rendition of 3 Doors Down's ballad "Here Without You".

Mason was in the stands for this concert, and while not close to the stage, he zoomed in a bit, and he had a good side-stage vantage point that lets us see the crowd levels well. The stage lighting is really accentuated from where he was too! Audio is somewhat quiet (though not as muffled), but given where he was seated, you can't complaint too much, so give Mason's videos a watch above and below as well!

Today's last videos actually come from 104.3 The Fox's Facebook page, and much like at the Triumph show, a representative of the Sault Ontario rock radio station included short videos from the show in a batch post alongside a handful of photos. Five of their six videos were of Three Days Grace, including clips of them playing "Dominate", "Animal I Have Become", 10 seconds of the crowd chanting the band's name, and "Kill Me Fast", but embedded below is 31 seconds of them playing "Lost In You" during the acoustic break, which is set around a faux campfire on this tour (you may recall seeing a contest from The Fox to win a chance to be on stage for it, hence the onlookers!). During this stretch, they also played "Lifetime" and a medley, the latter of which included a cover of "Porn Star Dancing" by Matt's old band My Darkest Days (it would be interesting to hear how that came across in an unplugged setting!)

Alas, they don't cover Saint Asonia at all in return ("Better Place" is too good of a song to leave untouched, but that's just me). Like with The Fox's Triumph videos, these are all vertical, and were clearly shot from the stands, but they zoom in a lot to capture the action while it lasts, and the campfire motif is well done for a palate cleanser! Give these a watch above & below, and hopefully longer (and horizontal) videos of the campfire songs surface!

Finally, let's take a look at (surprisingly) the only public video that I have found from Finger Eleven's support set, which was also included in 104.3 The Fox's aforementioned batch post. This sees the Burlington alt-hard rock quintet playing "Together Right" from their 2023 greatest hits album, and it's a decent quality performance that accentuates the stage well despite the verticality of the aspect ratio! Scott does seem to be straining his voice a bit, but the energy and enthusiasm are clearly there, so give this video a watch below, and hopefully more turn up!

We do have a little bit more from the Three Days Grace (and Triumph) concerts to come, so stay tuned for all of that and more on the SMS as the month of May rolls along! Thanks everyone!

Our Recap Of An Episode Of Metal Nation On KLT!!

For this post, I wanted to talk about a radio show that, while not technically airing in the Sault Ste. Marie market, can be picked up in the Soo with the right location and equipment. Last fall, a new 3 hour radio show named Metal Nation premiered on KLT: The Rock Station out of WKLT 97.5 FM in Kalkaska (serving Traverse City), and as you may be aware, KLT has long gotten fringe reception in the Soo via its more easterly repeater stations, formerly including WKLZ 98.9 in Petoskey. In 2020, that affiliate was moved to WBCM 93.5 FM in Boyne City during a station swap when KLT was sold to their current owners, but also joining the KLT network that year was WRGZ 96.7 in Rogers City (serving Alpena). Your mileage may vary, but for me, I have an easier time pulling 96.7 in the Soo, and the presence of KLT there is a big factor as to why it's hard for me to latch any kind of signal for the McMillan/Newberry-based Flash 96.7 (WMJT) in city limits.

Just for context, from my experience hearing the three Northern Michigan FM rock stations with fringe reception in the Soo, KLT plays more recent music than Classic Rock: The Bear (WWSS 95.3 FM) but more classic rock than Rock 105 & 95.5 (WGFM 105.1 FM), so assess that balance as your music preferences dictate. All three have their merits, but for general rotation, I honestly prefer Rock 105. It is worth noting that Alice's Attic (the successor to Nights With Alice Cooper via a separate syndicator) debuted on KLT on Sunday nights in 2024 after the prior show aired on The Bear (albeit on weeknights), so if you missed Alice's radio show, keep that in mind!

The idea of a new dedicated local-ish metal radio show on a regional station seemed worth noting on the SMS, but if you can't pick up 93.5 or 96.7 FM with your radios, KLT's online stream is available on their website, TuneIn, and so forth, and is not geoblocked in Canada. Metal Nation is hosted by Sean "Finster" Finnegan (a.k.a. "The Mayor of Metal"), who has co-hosted the morning drive show Omelette & Finster on KLT since 2006, save for a 2016-2023 spell where he worked on other regional stations. If you're familiar with The Hair Scare on Rock 101, the same basic idea applies, but Metal Nation is devoted to metal of varying subgenres in an identical three hour timeslot. A big distinction with Metal Nation is that the show airs live, and Finster does take on-air requests from listeners, though an online pre-request is recommended for deep cuts or local bands so he can make sure the song is ready.

Compared to The Hair Scare, there's a lot of sponsorship, but hey, you've gotta pay the bills somehow! Select songs are introduced as weekly picks based on theme or timeframe, including the "80's Metal Haircut" (not always a hair metal band though), "Rusty Old Metal" (40+ year old songs), the "Metal Remake of the Week", and the "Request from Hell", where "Satan" calls in! There's also a "Metal Minute" featuring metal news, and a recent change is that a Metallica song leads off each hour. I listened to the show on Friday, and 29 songs were played across the 3 hour runtime, ranging from the "Rusty Old Metal" pick (Motorhead's self-titled song) to four cuts from this year. 17 of the songs came from the 1980s and 1990s, and there were no songs chosen last week that were released between 2011-2020 (not that this is indicative of every playlist; remember, Finster does take requests).

In terms of subgenres, Finster and listeners do lean to classic metal legends (the big four of thrash all got played), but with a surprising amount of modern nu-metal and radio metal. For example, Linkin Park's "In The End" followed Venom's "As Above So Below" to end hour #1, and in hour #3, W.A.S.P. and Pantera sandwiched the new Machine Gun Kelly & Fred Durst song. Metal has many flavours, and requests happen, just be prepared for variance! At least last week, nothing more extreme than Slipknot was played. I did like what I heard for the most part, and being a live show means that unscripted moments and amusing ad-libs can happen. You can tell that regulars and familiar faces do call in, from an 11 year old drummer to the frontman of Elmira hard rock band Driving Dawn (who played here last year), and Finster is a knowledgeable host who clearly is a metal fan and is happy to promote stuff that he enjoys!

Other names heard on Friday included Rob Zombie (twice, thrice if you count The L.A. Rats), Corrosion Of Conformity, Faith No More, Primer 55, and Testament, among a bunch of others. If you can pull KLT on 93.5 or 96.7, this would be a good companion piece to both The Hair Scare on Saturday nights and Eddie Trunk Rocks (Sunday nights on Rock 101) to give metalhead Yoopers and Saultites a three day weekend of classic-leaning metal on the FM dial. A little too much AI art for my liking, but if this interests you, tune in from 9:00 PM-midnight on Fridays on KLT! We'll get back to fully local news and notes on the SMS next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Pet Retina & 5 Dollar Bribe), Convergence Videos, And More Recent Notes!!

Before we begin this post, I wanted to apologize for a missed concert(s?) in this weekend's concert previews, as Sault Michigan classic/hard rock cover quartet Tarnished played at The Rapids Lounge at the local Kewadin Casino last night. The band only announced the show yesterday morning, noting that "it's last minute for us too", and while unstated there, they were late replacements for St. John's country veterans The Louie Longoria Band following the passing of Louie's brother, as per their Facebook page. I do not know if Tarnished played at the casino on Friday also, but kudos to the guys for filling in late, and hopefully the show(s?) went well! And of course, our condolences go out to the Longoria family at this time.

Today's news post otherwise features some new videos and assorted recent updates, but let's lead off with two LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for later this month in Sault Ontario, and we'll start with new local hard rock quartet 5 Dollar Bribe, who will play their second public concert on Friday, May 15th at Jay's Piston Broke Pub! Another trip to the west end for this promising young group, who received a strong reception for their matinee debut at Beck's Bar last month, but unlike that concert, this Victoria Day long weekend show will be in Jay's usual 9:30 PM timeslot, so how will 5.D.B. go over at the former Roosevelt Hotel? Find out next weekend, but give their ample videos from the Beck's show a watch on their Facebook page to see what Jayce, Tyler, Randy, and Chase bring to the table! This is a 19+ show (5 Dollar Bribe members aside), I do not yet know who is playing on Saturday the 16th, and there is no cover. Visit the above links for more details on their sophomore gig!

Next up, Victoria, B.C. noise rock duo Pet Retina and drummer Max Patterson's solo project i.o will make their return to Sault Ste. Marie on Wednesday, May 27th to play at Piecing It Together Shows' pop-up venue in their last concert of the 2025-2026 season! As the former Dryer Fire have done a few times in the past, P.I.T.S. have rented a vacant space to serve as a short-term host venue since September, this time at 331 Wellington Street West (beside Angela Le Fashion and across from Bruni's Fine Foods). A nine month residency is pretty good, but in that span, Nicole and crew haven't really dipped into hard rock or punk territory aside from open mic hosts, so this will be a party to cap off their Steelton stint! Pet Retina & i.o last came here in May of last year to open for Shae Tull's album release party, and this will be Pet Retina's third local stop, and i.o's fourth. Should be some explosive sets of minimalist noise ahead, so keep this one in mind!

Local support will come by way of local comedy rock band The Floor Between Us (more on them soon) and new local experimental group A.D.H.D. (who I still know nothing about). This all ages concert goes down in just over three weeks at 8:00 PM with advance tickets going for $15, but as of this writing, the online ticket link is not live. Visit the official Facebook event page for updates in that regard, but the door charge will jump to $20. The event page also notes that no one (will be) turned away for lack of funds. Should be a fun and diverse capper to P.I.T.S.' pop-up run on Wellington Street West, despite the mid-week scheduling, so see above for more details!

Also today, here's the latest from local progressive metal quartet Convergence's YouTube channel, where they have been surprisingly active in the past month posting there like it is Facebook, even though you basically have to be subscribed to them to not have to seek the posts out yourself. Of note, they launched a poll last week asking for fan input on a new original song name, giving the options "Cooked/Chopped", "Ultraluminari", "I Hate My Day Job", and "Erode". Assuming these aren't joke titles, this confirms that their long-gestating self-titled album will have new originals and not just re-recordings and holdovers from their instrumental era, but if you want to pick your favourite name, do so above! Along with "new content, new music, and some heavy surprises on the way", three new vertical "Shorts" videos were posted there as well as on the band's Facebook page, so what can you see therein?

One is a vertical clip taken from Stephen's vocal tracking from their behind-the-scenes video from last month, so if you want the full upload in widescreen and without a "This chorus hits different" caption hard-coded on the video, watch that instead. Another just reuses the same promotional Soo Blaster video used in other "Shorts" seen on social media, this time following a jumpscare (with a warning, at least). Embedded below is the only new "Short", which gives us an alleged glimpse at what the band members hear in their in-ear monitors when recording their music. Amusing while it lasts, so give it a watch below, and stay tuned for more from Convergence soon!

Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist name:

 

• Some Facebook users may have seen a "Story" video shared from The Speak Easy's Facebook page showing newer local ska punk band A.S.D.P. playing at Friday night's Write-Ups concert there, but alas, as a "Story", I could only watch it once before it vanished forever, despite being the first public A.S.D.P. video that I have ever seen online. You'll have to take my word for it that the vertical video showed a second guitarist (wearing a Vanity First t-shirt) playing with Adam Smith Death Parade, but I didn't immediately recognize him, nor do I know if he was a new permanent member or just a guest. We'll let you know if something is confirmed!
• In a quiet announcement on his Facebook page on April 23rd, local hard rock solo musician Mike McCleary announced that the first single from his new album will be released to major streaming services on June 5th! The song is named "Carousel", and while I can't go back and check due to Mike delisting most of his back catalogue, this appears to be a re-recording of a song of the same name that he included on his 2018 EP "Hourglass" and its full-album expansion "Weight Of The World" (which I reviewed at the time). Stay tuned for the (re-?) release next month!
• At this year's Northern Ontario Music & Film Awards, Dustin Goodall has received his third nomination for Outstanding Engineer for his work producing local death metal trio Pillory's new album "Old Soul"! Dustin was previously nominated in this category in 2024 for producing both The Northwest's last EP and Handsome Sandwich's first album. He does great work at Unsalted Audio, so congratulations to Dustin and the other nominees! The winners will be announced on June 20th, and fellow local musicians Crystal Shawanda and Kalle Mattson have been nominated in other categories,

 

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site this week! Thanks everyone! 

Where Are The New Albums? (May 2026 Update)

It's gonna be May, so it is now time for this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post! While our amount of upcoming albums to spotlight has dropped by one due to the successful release of The BAG's "Sacculus" last month, the other five upcoming albums with publically acknowledged recording sessions are back tonight, and two do have updated info since this post's April installment went live (look for the titles in italics). So, where are the new albums? Read on below to hopefully find out!

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Bone Yard 225's debut album

Rumoured Songs: "F.A.F.O.", "Gypsy Spell", "Fuck!", "I Took A Pill In Ibiza" (Mike Posner cover)

Background: After months of teasers that they were planning to record original music, local southern hard rock cover trio Bone Yard 225 began releasing their own songs on major streaming services in July 2024, fifteen years after the pre-225 band debuted as a country cover quartet. Their first three singles (all recorded at their home studio) were posted online by January 2025, though it took until May for the band to confirm on their Facebook page that they were indeed working on a proper album. It's not immediately clear if their existing three singles will be included, but it's not a given, as Jonesy Land fans saw with "Zoom-Out". As of August 11th, it was reportedly "album tracking time", while this video from three days later shows bandmates Alex D'Ettore & Warren Reville recording backing vocals for their cover of Mike Posner's "I Took A Pill In Ibiza". That will be one of "a couple of covers" for the album, as confirmed by frontman Greg Simpson during recent concerts. "Fuck!" was renamed "The F Word" on streaming services in December, but it's not clear if the less explicit name will stick on the album. The band was still "in the studio finishing shit" as of December 4th, source here.

Current Release Status: In that Facebook post from May 30th, your local 225 said that "the album is coming along nicely", and they hoped to release it "by the end of 2025", but Greg has since adjusted the timeframe to "early 2026" when mentioning it during live shows. While singer/drummer Greg Simpson did release an EP with his old band Stiffler's Mom, it's hard to compare the release methods and schedule given that "The Demo" came out in 2004. It is neat to see that Greg, Alex, and Warren are going all in on a studio album, and stay tuned for updates as they roll in!

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Chase James Wigmore - The Chaotic Rite

Rumoured Songs: "The Cities Alive & It's Angry"

Background: Ever the prolific artist & songwriter, local folk punk/extreme metal musician Chase Wigmore has been working on an extensive rock opera for years (once claimed to be a 33 part work), originally named "A Story About A Kid Named Todd". Worked on in between his other unrelated solo albums, released for sale or otherwise, Chase posted a lengthy elaboration of the rock opera in 2022, now titled "The Chaotic Rite", outlining its concept, recording plans, and long-term release timeline. Clips of songs have surfaced on his Facebook page, as have full songs not explicitly tied to the album, as well as the final artwork. In more recent promotion, Chase has hinted that "The Chaotic Rite" might be his final solo album as part of aims to focus on his personal life more than his prolific original material. Regardless, the final product has been pared down to 25-30 minutes.

Current Release Status: Chase elaborated on Facebook in mid-2024 that the album was 95% done earlier that year when the files "got trapped on my desktop's hard drive", and he had been unable to procure a backup of the material or recover the files as of that post. In any event, three of the full songs uploaded to Facebook in 2023 were clarified as not being planned for "The Chaotic Rite", but they could surface on a separate EP. Fingers crossed that Chase is able to save this album and put it out when able, especially given the years that he's put into the making of it!

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Convergence's self titled album

Rumoured Songs: "Gemini", "The Ebb", "In Bloom", "Breaking News", "It Ate The F&$%ing Moon", "Kraken Mara", "You Are Not Flesh", "Dead & Dreaming", "Dig Up Your Ghost", "Glass Statues", "Awake"

Background: After previously teasing a third instrumental EP named "Gemini" for much of 2024, local progressive/djent metal group Convergence wiped most most prior media as they retooled as a full band, now including singer Stephen Gagnon-Ruscio and drummer David Peredun. Convergence worked in studio last year with producer Dustin Goodall at Unsalted Audio, documenting the sessions in Facebook "Reels", eventually confirming in concert that the now-full length album (then named "In Bloom") is still in progress, with Adam Roxner mixing the songs in Sweden. A new version of "The Ebb" (from their delisted second EP "Dead And Dreaming") was released to streaming services on Christmas Day, while the song "Gemini" followed last month. As "Dead And Dreaming" was pulled from streaming, the possibility of Convergence doing full versions of its other four songs for this album has been hinted at, and other songs from that EP have been played live with the full band. Now self-titled , you can sample the studio sessions for the album in this video.

Current Release Status: No clue, and given the complexity of their music yet their independent studio trappings so far, that could bode a quick or lengthy timeline for this album to come out, depending on what angle you take. Since their modern studio cycle commenced in 2023, things have been relatively steady for Brendan and Jake as a recording act, and here's hoping that Convergence keep that up for their third offering! 

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Fort Creek's debut album

Rumoured Songs: "One For The Road", "Sweet Rosie"

Background: Local southern/hard rock band Fort Creek have sporadically teased plans to record an EP since February 2020, but they wouldn't release any samples until almost two years later when they shared (now-deleted) clips of their original song "Hammer Down" on their Facebook page. The guys would play it regularly at concerts from 2022-2023, with studio sessions taking place in early-mid 2023 as well. After the departure of bassist Robin "Bones" Lee and drummer Anthony Fabiano in the fall of 2023, Fort Creek opted to abandon material recorded with them "as a show of good faith", and have been working on new material and rebuilding their studio over the past two years. Now featuring Phil Greco on drums, their first single (the acoustic "One For The Road") was posted online in January 2025, with the band confirming plans to now record a 10 song album at Jettison Studios prior to returning to live concerts. Their new single "Sweet Rosie" was being recorded as of August 31st, and a teaser of the song was posted to their Facebook page on New Year's Eve.

Current Release Status: Prior release timelines for their debut EP reflected their early 2020s lineup's material, and Justin, Shane, Bill, and Phil have largely kept things somewhat close to the vest prior to putting out "One For The Road". There are a lot of unknowns, especially given the 6+ years of production time and their decision to basically start over in 2023, and that this is a band that was primarily known for their work on the weekend cover circuit before their rhythm section left. It will be interesting to see how things develop, so stay tuned for updates!

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Mike McCleary's new album

Rumoured Songs: "Carousel"

Background: Background: A talented studio hard rock musician who has released multiple solo albums in the past (albeit almost entirely delisted from streaming services as his musical approach and personal life changed), Mike McCleary announced plans to record an instrumental album in 2023, but after a year+ public hiatus, he opted to shelve that unfinished album in 2025 in favour of a new album with vocals. He signed with Swedish indie label Rexius Records, with plans to put out an 8 song album covering "a variety of topics" and featuring "some fun, catchy, and energetic rock music for everyone to enjoy". A teaser video from the sessions was posted onto his Facebook page on December 6th, and as of February, the planned first single had been recorded and was in the mixing process. As quietly confirmed last month, that song ("Carousel") will be released to major streaming services on June 5th (source here).

Current Release Status: Your guess is as good as mine, but as this is is a one-man project likely aimed at streaming services, this album could pop up at any time, and may be close given that an advance single is being unveiled next month. The Rexius Records connection is a variable, but Mike is a strong musician with morals and a lot to say about himself, and hopefully this album comes out successfully in the near future!

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I hope you guys liked this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post! This monthly series is slated to return around June 2nd, while our next monthly feature will likely be our next Defunct Local Band Profile schedule for a week from tomorrow, so stay tuned for that around then, and for more news next week! Thanks everyone!

Triumph Concert Video Showcase (Part 4!!)

After getting through this weekend's hard rock concert previews and a bit of other E.U.P. items, we're covering the remaining known and public fan-shot videos from the Triumph/April Wine concert at GFL Memorial Gardens last week! As I previously indicated, this post will only feature Triumph, as these four filmers only posted one or two videos each of the Mississauga hard rock legends without uploading anything involving April Wine. We'll start with attendee April Barnes' YouTube channel, which has videos of Triumph playing "Rock & Roll Machine" and as embedded below, their cover of Joe Walsh's "Rocky Mountain Way". I hadn't mentioned it in prior posts, but original drummer Gil Moore (who sang lead on many of their songs) left the kit entirely to do the honours here, and with touring second drummer Brent Fitz on hand, he was able to do so! April picked two longer jam-infused performances here.

April was on the floor for the concert and had a good vantage point of the stage (not a dissimilar one from some other recent filmers either), and her camera capture nice quality video and audio with stability to capture everyone's solo jams in this cover! Gil sounds good here on vocals too, so check out April's Triumph videos above & below!

Next up, in just their second YouTube upload, user Penguin (a.k.a. OGpenguinBTW) posted a video of the first 11 minutes of Triumph's set, including their "Time Canon" intro, "When The Lights Go Down", and "Somebody's Out There". Penguin even gave a brief review of the show in the description, saying that "Triumph really kicked ass that night", which is more or less the consensus that I have read since! While not the highest quality video recording and featuring scratchier audio, Penguin was front row or very close to it, so you get a nice look at everyone kicking off the Canadian tour in style, so give this video a watch below!

If you like "When The Lights Go Down", then good news, as that's what attendee MsSawfiler uploaded to her YouTube channel! She also filmed at the recent Gardens shows from Foreigner and Three Days Grace (more on the latter very soon, I promise!), but in all three cases, just one video apiece. Ms. Sawfiler was to the left of the stage, but still very close, and while she didn't zoom much, she did have a stable view of the song in action with good audio quality, so give their first full song from last week's concert a look below!

Finally, this actually comes from Facebook, specifically 104.3 The Fox's Facebook page, but not from the station (we already covered their own videos in Triumph video post #3). In the comment thread to The Fox's batch post of media from the concert, attendee Jeremy Treadwell publically posted this video of Rik Emmett's standalone guitar solo, as filmed off of the video screen. Sure, it's of the screen showing Rik, not Rik directly, but it counts! In this case, I won't complain that it's vertical because Rik is the 100% focus of this minute-long clip, and he can still deliver a quality solo, as you saw if you were at the arena last week. Check out Jeremy's video below!

There are a couple more videos of note regarding the Triumph concert that aren't fan-shot live videos, but we'll get to those in an upcoming post, and yes, Three Days Grace and more are coming, but first, look for this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Viscera), The Bimbo Concert Preview, And New Mammoth Concert Videos!!

Today's news post is 100% devoted to Sault Michigan and the Eastern Upper Peninsula, including the last of this weekend's heavier concert previews, a related LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, and some new live concert videos, so here's what you should know on this Friday afternoon!

Local hardcore punk trio Viscera will return to Pizza Hut at 225 Ashmun Street for another basement concert on Saturday, May 16th! Taking place on the Victoria Day long weekend (for passport-holding Sault Ontarian reference), this will be their second show in a two week span at the chain restaurant, but unlike tomorrow's Bimbo concert, this is more of a mixed genre event, as they'll be local support for two non-rock, including local/Detroit electronic solo project Priority Waste (check them out on Soundcloud) and Grand Rapids drone rock/shoegaze trio Scanners, both in what I believe is their local concert debut. Definitely a jump in sounds from these three acts, and Scanners' slow and repetitive music may be a particularly acquired taste for some, but even if you include Sault Ontario, how often do you get shows like this? This concert is definitely promoted by Serious Business, who aren't listed by name on the Bimbo poster, but I believe that is their doing also.

This 18+ concert takes place two weeks from tomorrow at 7:00 PM, and admission will be $15 at the door (no word on if there will be advance ticket sales). Should be an interesting night of varying styles of alternative music, so see above for more details, but what about Viscera's next concert?

Well, here's our preview of that very show, as they'll rock Pizza Hut TOMORROW NIGHT when they open for Marquette art punk duo Bimbo and Detroit electronica solo artist Nicholas "R. Solomon" Sapounas for another basement concert! This one leans more towards hard rock/punk territory, with Bimbo's siblings delivering a noise rock-inflected punk attack that delivers a full sound despite their minimalist trappings, and they should make a good impression tomorrow! R. Solomon previously headlined at Pickles in Brimley in 2024, and will be familiar recently for mixing local punk trio The Sole Aggressors' album, and he has some entertaining music for electronica and techno fans! Tomorrow's show will be Viscera's first with new bassist Chris Lovins, so welcome him in style for their hard hitting cuts from their debut EP "From Feast To Famine"! Local punk/hard rock duo About:Blank will open the proceedings, as they did for Viscera last time.

No big updates from their camp as of late, but a Facebook "Story" from their most recent at Three One Three On Ashmun in March was shared on Facebook in the past week featuring Parker and Kade (no new third member yet) playing an aggressive song, but alas, "Stories" vanish after one or two viewings and it wasn't posted on its own as a separate permanent video. Bimbo, R. Solomon, and locals hit the stage tomorrow at 7:00 PM with a $15 cover charge (same as in two weeks), and I'd assume that the 18+ age limit is the same tomorrow as well. After last fall's Permanently Pissed concert proved that Pizza Hut can sustain a local concert, hopefully this one is a hit! See above for more details, and here's Bimbo live!

Now let's move to some new videos from last month's Mammoth concert at The Dreammakers Theater at the local Kewadin Casino, and this is a good time to finally get to them before we get back into GFL Memorial Gardens concert videos on the Ontario side of the border! YouTube user Thomas (a.k.a. topdollar187) uploaded 13 videos from the show to his YouTube channel, and while most of his concert videos are from downstate, we did feature his videos from the Cheap Trick concert in St. Ignace here. Of his 13 videos, all but one are of the headliners, where you can see Wolfgang and crew playing "The End", "Don't Back Down",  "I Really Wanna", "Take A Bow", "Something New", "The Distance", "Resolve", "Happy", "Stone", "Epiphany", "The Spell", and as embedded below, their set openers "One Of A Kind" and "Another Celebration At The End Of The World" in one combined 10+ minute video.

Thomas wasn't in the closest rows, but he was in the center section and well placed to capture Mammoth, the video screen, and the silhouette effect of closer fans' heads, so it's a good view of what has to be most of the (if not the entire) set! Audio is a little muffled at points, but everyone sounds good, and Wolf can sure shred when the songs call for it, so give these Mammoth videos a watch for yourselves above & below!

Finally, Thomas also filmed openers 10 Years playing their song "Now Is The Time (Ravenous)", and no, he did not film (or at least upload) any videos from James & The Cold Gun's set. Not one of their bigger singles, but still a catchy hard rocker here that fans of the Knoxville-based quintet will easily take to, and it has similarly good quality for camera angle and vantage point, so check it out below as well!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes soon, plus this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Soundcheck) & Sault Ontario Weekend Concert Previews!!

For our last post of April 2026, let's look at most of this weekend's hard rock concert previews! Due to the amount (though we have seen busier weekends), I'll hold our preview of Saturday night's Bimbo-headlined concert in Sault Michigan for tomorrow's news post. Now, here's what you should know in Sault Ontario this weekend in a hard rock/punk context, starting with SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!

Local classic/hard rock cover sister bands Soundcheck and Separate Wayz will join forces for another "epic crossover" weekend, this time at The Esquire Club TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, these shows were only announced via Separate Wayz' Facebook page on Tuesday, though note that the venue has not corroborated the bookings on social media. Marking their first joint appearance together since rocking Beck's Bar a month ago, TOMORROW & SATURDAY'S shows will be Soundcheck's first at this Second Line West staple since they played there in February, albeit with no crossover, as Separate Ways singer Nicole Thibodeau was ill that weekend (the shows were originally planned for solely Separate Wayz, but Travis bailed them out on short notice for Soundcheck gigs instead). Of course, remember that the two bands have a 75% identical lineup, just swap Travis for Nicole.

Good to see Terry, Jim, Johnny, and both singers together again for what should be a stacked pair of classic and hard rock shows, so keep both in mind TOMORROW & SATURDAY! Both are 9:30 PM affairs at 9:30 PM with no cover charges. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Soundcheck live!

Next up, here's some shows that did have advance notice before Tuesday, starting with a rare punk concert at The Speak Easy at Algoma University, where Flint, Michigan-based ska punk band The Write-Ups will make their local concert debut TOMORROW NIGHT! A spiritual successor to the Quit It! concert at the same venue last fall (if with much better promotion), The Write-Ups have the ska bonafides (including a horn section) and socially charged lyrics to go along with a fun and bouncy brand of punk rock that subgenre fans should easily take to tomorrow, so welcome them north of the border in style! Fittingly, newer local ska punk trio A.S.D.P. will be the local openers in their debut at Algoma University's campus pub, and expect their own original cuts to set the mood right! This is the newest promoted concert from A.S.D.P. frontman Mikhal Muto's agency Underground Events SSM.

This stop on The Write-Ups' "Up North Weekender" is an all ages concert (yes, The Speak Easy is licensed), doors open at 7:00 PM, and admission is $15 for general attendees and $10 for current Algoma University students with valid student ID. If you love ska punk, you don't want to miss out on this one, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and for a preview, here are The Write-Ups live late last year!

Also this weekend, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Quite Frankly will return to Beck's Bar for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT! Fresh off of their debut at Gateway Casino last week, this will be Linsaey, Frank, Harley, and Joe's first stop at the Goulais Avenue nightclub of 2026, having played one of their first post-reunion gigs there in November. The band promises "another night of great energy & your favourite hits", and who am I to doubt that kind of claim? Their blend of accessible but often heavy covers can be seen at the former Vibe Lounge tomorrow at 9:00 PM with a 19+ age limit and no cover charge. In the increasingly frequent cases where Beck's hosts a band on Fridays rather than a DJ, they don't double up a band on both nights, so Saturday night's band there are classic rock trio The Sidekicks. Visit the above links for more on tomorrow's concert, and here's Quite Frankly live!

Finally for this preview post, prolific local classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison will return to Misty's Fifties for his second matinee concert there of the spring on SATURDAY! After ending his 2+ month break from concerts at this Second Line West pub in mid-April, this will be the first of three May matinee concerts at Misty's for Tym, so if you're up for a few hours of unplugged rock covers from this veteran talent, then head west on Saturday! Tym will be back every other week for the rest of the month, and we await a public announcement of his schedule at Misty's (and elsewhere) for the summer and beyond. This Saturday matinee concert goes down at 4:00 PM with a presumed 19+ age limit and no announced cover charge. It's great to see Tym back on a more normal schedule after his finger healed up, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here he is live! 

That's all for now, but stay tuned for our Bimbo concert preview and more on the site next! Thanks everyone!