Kewadin Casino 25th Anniversary Summer Festival & Turner Up Previews. Plus A Cancellation!

Second post today, and we'll focus on just concert previews today, as we have both a local band's weekend return, and of course, a very large music festival! But before we discuss these new shows, we have a cancellation, so here's what you should know!

Last month, I announced to you guys that AC/DC tribute band Who Made Who would be performing at The Rockstar Bar on Saturday night with local band Wishbone opening. Well, the concert appears to have been cancelled, as the event page for it has been deleted, and the band's Facebook page announced that their show in London on Friday would be their last Ontario show on the tour, implying that they wouldn't be coming here on Saturday like was previously announced. Really, I should have known about this cancellation earlier, because Turner Up are already scheduled for The Rockstar Bar on Saturday in their place (more on that in a second), but remember, I was without a computer all weekend, so that didn't help. I don't know what happened to cause the cancellation, but it's disappointing, cause I'm a fan of Who Made Who and would have definitely went if I could have! Well, hopefully they'll be back down the road, they put on a great show!

So with Who Made Who's cancellation, The Rockstar Bar found more than suitable replacements with local classic hard rockers Turner Up, who are also booked for a concert on Friday as well! And yes, I know I just alerted you guys to their shows earlier today, but this is to preview the concerts, and I gotta do it today before the Kewadin festival starts, so I apologize for the redundancy. In just their second weekend performances featuring new frontman Brent Royer, Turner Up will be on at 10:30 PM on Friday and Saturday for two concerts with no announced cover charge and a 19+ age limit! Confirm your attendance for these shows at the official Facebook event page! These should be fun, hopefully Turner Up get some good attendances for these shows! And for a preview, here's a video from the Todd Killam days of the band covering Wild Cherry's "Play That Funky Music", and yes, once video of the band with Brent on vocals pops up, I'll show you guys!



And now, it's time for the biggest event of the weekend, maybe even the summer, as tomorrow marks the kickoff of the Kewadin Casino 25th Anniversary Summer Festival! Kewadin Casino's been going strong since 1985, and to mark this milestone, they are holding a major three day ALL AGES music festival outside at Kewadin Casino featuring loads of entertainment, from bands to celebrities to games and much more! As of Tuesday, most of the stages and tents were set up (click here for SooToday coverage of the festival construction), and all the festival needs now is YOU! We'll start this preview by going over each day's entertainment, with special attention paid to the scheduled metal and hard rock bands, with ticket and parking information and other assorted tidbits at the end! And if there's an item or band that I haven't covered yet on here, I'll let you know, cause some new stuff popped up during the weekend when I couldn't post about it. Sources for my information come from the official festival page and it's official blog, with other links included as needed.

Tomorrow is the festival's kick off, and it starts with a bang, as two legendary hair metal frontmen headline at the festival, neither of which are strangers to the Sault area! Poison frontman Bret Michaels (who is definitely healed enough from his recent health scares) and Motley Crue singer Vince Neil are headlining tomorrow's festivities at the Kewadin Festival! You'll no doubt remember seeing Bret Michaels here in 2005 at Sault Ontario's Eastgate Hotel and from his 2008 birthday concert at The Dreammaker's Theater, while Vince Neil and his Motley Crue bandmates played the first ever major concert at the then-Steelback Center way back in December 2006! It's great to see both of them back here, and they're sure to rock Kewadin Casino pretty hard tomorrow night! Vince hits the stage for his solo set at 7:15 PM, which will feature a mix of solo originals (including hits like "Sister of Pain" and "Tattoos & Tequila"), covers, and Motley Crue classics, while Bret Michaels performs at 9:00 PM to sing some of his hits with Poison, and solo tracks like "All I Ever Needed" and "Nothing To Lose"! Hair metal fans will no doubt have a ball with the headliners tomorrow, and Vince and Bret are sure to deliver nothing but a good time tomorrow night! For previews of their sets, here's two music videos for Bret Michaels' solo song "Menace To Society" and Vince Neil's "Tattoos & Tequila"!





That's hardly all on Monday though, as there's much more music and entertainment to go around! Backing up Bret & Vince on the main stage are local metal band Nixxon Dixxon, who you'll remember as the short-notice backup band for Bret Michaels at his 2008 Kewadin concert! Fittingly, the picture I'm using here is of Nixxon Dixxon & Bret Michaels, I wonder if they'll get another one this time around? Nixxon Dixxon open the main stage tomorrow at 5:00 PM, with another local band, Electric Motor Fish, playing at 6:00 PM. Though not metal, they are talented, and feature Shift drummer Tony Rogers, so that's worth noting! Also, there will be other stages! The announcement of new stages was made while my computer was in the shop, so here's what else you should know for tomorrow!

As it turns out, the Rock Camp youth group (which I think is connected to The Guitar Studio) & local country singer Paul Perry WERE NOT dropped from the lineup, they just weren't on the main stage, as they'll both be performing tomorrow! According to the schedule, the Rock Camp group will be playing from 12:00-5:00 on the second stage, which seems VERY long, so either there's multiple Rock Camp bands, or they're taking breaks mid-set. I can't verify which band(s) in particular are on the Second Stage, but I found a rock camp band named Aux on YouTube that very well could be the band, or one of them, check them out at this location! Paul Perry will be performing on the third stage for three 1 hour sets at 12:00, 2:00, and 4:00, with DJ Chef spinning tunes and cooking gourmet meals at 1:00, 3:00, and 5:00! The Rock Camp band(s) are also on for the same times on Friday, and Paul Perry & DJ Chef will both be playing at the same times on Friday and Saturday too. Saturday's second stage bands will NOT be the Rock Camp bands, I'll detail that lineup when we get to it.

Friday's main stage bands are mostly non-metal, but there is one SMS-coverable band! Detroit hard rockers Fifth Way, fresh off opening for Tesla at Kewadin Casino, will return to Sault Michigan on Friday as one of the opening bands! They'll be on for a 45 minute set at 6:00 PM on Friday, and here's who else to look out for that day! Multi-platinum Mississippi rock band Three Doors Down will headline the Friday festivities at 9:00 PM, with Boston pop rockers StilrizE (one of Papa Roach's opening bands from their 2009 show here) at 8:00 PM, and Essexville indie band Finding Clyde at 7:00 PM. Opening the main stage on Friday at 5:00 PM is Grand Rapids pop punk band Dannison, with Fifth Way following them at 6:00 PM! Note that the second and third stage entertainment (Rock Camp, Paul Perry, & DJ Chef) is no different from tomorrow's schedule. Sounds like a good Friday lineup, even if we only get one really "hard rock" band. Three Doors Down should pull in a great crowd though, and it should be fun! Nice to see Fifth Way back locally too, I really like their sound, and they'll hopefully deliver a good set! For a preview, here's Fifth Way playing their song "Rock N' Roll" from the Tesla show last month!



Saturday's main stage entertainment is headlined by rock legend Meat Loaf, who is sure to impress us Saultites to cap off the festival! But there will be some metal to go around on Saturday, courtesy of the returning Clownsack! Yes, the local funk hard rockers return after a long live break to bring their unique brand of music to us once again, and give you all the reason in the world to love their clown sauce! Great to see them back, and maybe they'll play some new material from their forthcoming CD? Time will tell! Clownsack are immediately before Meat Loaf at 7:45 on Saturday, with Meat Loaf's set running from 9:15 til close. The remaining main stage acts on Saturday include International Idol winner Kellan Perron at 5:00, Lansing classic rockers Showdown at 5:45, and that newer local band Elipzis at 6:45. If anyone can tell me anything about Elipzis, let me know, cause I can't find anything at all about them! Very solid lineup to cap the festival, and it will be great to see Clownsack on stage again, cause their live shows have just been getting rarer and rarer lately. Head on out, you won't be disappointed by Clownsack! For a preview, here's the video for Clownsack's song "Clown Sauce"!



As for the smaller stages on Saturday, Paul Perry and DJ Chef are on for the same times for the third stage, but the second stage will have different performers than the earlier two Rock Camp-centric lineups! This is also a new announcement, and yes, there will be metal, as Nixxon Dixxon return for a second set at the Kewadin Festival on the second stage! They're on for an hour at 2:30 PM on Saturday, immediately backing up Dannison, who are also returning after a main stage slot on Friday! Electric Motor Fish also return from the Thursday main stage for a set on the Saturday second stage at 1:15 PM, with a brand new performer, local blues/cultural artist Jody Gaskin, opening the second stage on Saturday at 12:00 PM. Nice to see some bands get a second crack at a slot at the festival, and it will be great to see Nixxon Dixxon again too, because they are absolutely one of the best known and most talented young local bands around! For a preview of both of their sets, really, here's Nixxon Dixxon's set from December's Kiss Battle of the Bands!



So those are the bands scheduled for the Kewadin Festival, and here's some more details on scheduled entertainment! From 1:00-3:00, 4:00-7:00, and 8:00-10:00 each day, a strolling magician will be doing magic tricks for those in attendance (no, it's not my dad), while there'll be lots of fun games going on from 12:00-4:00, including a NASCAR simulator, Nintendo games, "birdie golf" (probably mini golf), bumper cars, and a mechanical bull, with carnival food on sale as well! Numerous local merchants and vendors will be on hand for the entire festival to sell and advertise, get a complete list of the vendors by clicking here! From 1:00-3:00, each day, there will be eating contests and connected registration for them, so if you wanna show off your iron stomach, there's your chance! Also during this time frame, there will be celebrities on hand to meet you guys and sign autographs, including Playboy playmates Amber Campisi, Shannon James, and Brittney B. tomorrow, Detroit Lions legends Herman Moore & Billy Sims on Friday, and The Fonz himself, Henry Winkler, on Saturday! A bean bag toss tournament will be held from 1:00-7:00 daily, and fireworks will cap off each night's music after each headliner's set concludes! Kewadin's certainly pulling out all the stops, hopefully it all flies without a hitch!

Now, onto details about how to get to the festival and tickets, because it's not sold out! Tickets are $50 for an individual day and $75 for all three, so if you're planning to go on two days, buy a three day pass, not two single day passes, it's a better value! Hopefully you have your ticket already, but if you don't, you can buy tickets online at this location, or in person at The Dreammaker's Theater box office at the casino! Doors open at 11:00 AM for each day of the festival, and there are no discounts available on tickets. The festival itself will be held in the south parking lot (the Superior lot) and in the RV park. As such, and because large crowds are anticipated, extra parking has been set up for the festival at Sault High School, the old Wal-Mart building, The Big Bear Arena, and at The Cultural Center. There will also be a shuttle to transport festival goers back to these parking spots each day, which is nice and convenient! Food and drinks will be on sale at the festival, contests can be registered for at the registration table, the seating is general (first come first serve), no coolers and outside drinks are allowed, and tickets and 21+ patrons will be marked and monitored. For more questions, call Kewadin at 1-800-539-2346 for more information, and ask about meet and greets too, because Kewadin often has those with performing bands.

This should be a very fun festival, if very ambitious at the same time, and here's hoping for it to be a huge success! I don't think I'll be there for it, I'd be most inclined to go on Thursday but I dunno if it's entirely worth the money given my typical preferences. Should be awesome though, and hopefully the festival is a huge success, cause it's been suggested that it could be a yearly event if it's a hit! As I hear more on festival updates, including videos, news coverage, and band info (especially concerning Bret Michaels, Vince Neil, Nixxon Dixxon, Fifth Way, and Clownsack), I'll let you guys know! And if you're going to the festival, have a blast, make it a weekend to remember!

That's all for today, stay tuned for more backlogged news tomorrow and, after a bit of a delay, the results of last month's SMS poll and our brand new poll! Thanks everyone, I'll be back very soon!