Grady Concert Review & A New Kewadin Casino Video!!

I'm back from last night's Grady concert, and my review of it is today's top story at The Sault Metal Scene! How was it? Read on to find out, and stay tuned afterwards for an interesting documentary video on a local concert venue! First off, it was great to be back at The Grand Theater for a concert! I've been back there for events like the Anvil! movie screening and the Soo Zombie Walk, but I missed seeing live bands there, so I welcomed the return of something heavy! I was glad to see that the tables were moved to allow a standing concert atmosphere inside, further amped up with the presence of nice lighting and the services of Crank Sound Distribution! Lots of merchandise for both bands were on sale too, though the merch table was set up in the lobby, oddly enough. I do want to complain about the concert's start time, which was 10:00 PM, 90 minutes after the door opening time of 8:30 PM. Call me crazy, but that's too long to wait. The opening band was Moncton punk rock group The Motorleague, who delivered a high energy set packed to the brim with original songs! Their set was pretty no frills, with the on-stage banter mostly limited to scattered and mostly shouted words from frontman Don Levandier. As a result, we got more music, and it felt like we got a lot more than the 45 minutes they played! Good stuff, they have some catchy riffs and a nice enthusiasm, with effective higher pitched singing, and the crowd responded well, even if they didn't populate the floor! Not metal, but entertaining nonetheless! After them, Grady hit the stage for the headlining set, and I have to say something before I forget. You know how their concert rider says that "this show is loud"? Well, they weren't kidding! My ears actually STUNG a bit when I was standing too close to the speakers! And just like at their concert last October at The Canadian Nightclub, I had trouble hearing Gordie Johnson's singing over the music, which is a shame considering his singing abilities and entertaining crowd banter! The music came through clearly despite the loudness, but I don't like excess volume when it's a detriment to individual portions of a song, like the vocals. Now with that out of the way, I can say that Grady were awesome! It may seem unlike me to like anything with a hint of country, but Grady are definitely more metal than country, and comparisons to Big Sugar shouldn't be used. They're their own animal, and it works! Gordie was great on guitar, the singing I could make out was solid, and he luckily brought back his trademarks from last year! The double guitar, the steel finger sliders, the smoking cow skull, you could tell it was a Grady concert! Big Ben Richardson's bass work was solid and very clear, and his backing singing added more of a country flair to the proceedings, fitting well with their theme! Nina Singh was great on drums as well, though she seemed to be hidden behind the cow skull and the large drumkit for much of the set, when her abilities deserved some more attention! Grady have great chemistry, and it shown on their collection of southern fried metal tracks like "Good As Dead", "Whiskey River", "When The Boots Come Off", and many others! The band looked to thoroughly enjoy being on stage, and the crowd (luckily much larger than last year) responded very well! I wish more people had stayed up at the front of the stage, which is why I ended up leaving the floor, cause it slowly grew bare as the night went on. But if you could handle the volume and leave your country perceptions at the door, you'll have found a great concert from a very talented trio of musicians! Overall, this was a fun concert only hampered by the loudness, but even if it can affect the songs negatively, it's a Grady trademark, and it works for them! Kudos to Beyond Borders at LopLops for putting on something heavy for a change, and hopefully they give it another shot down the road! It was fun, and I hope Grady come back soon, cause they're definitely a solid metal band with a nice Southern flavour and some very well written and sang material! Watch out for a possible review of this concert (with photos) from SooToday's Donna Hopper in the near future, check out my photos at this location (or at our Facebook page), and I did get a video! Check it out below, Grady's performance of their song "Good As Dead"! Finally for today, I wanted to share a video that I found on YouTube the other day that has a slight local metal connection. Last Thursday, Kewadin Casino uploaded a short documentary film onto their YouTube channel that celebrates their 25th anniversary. It's mostly about Kewadin Casino's economic and social impact on Northern Michigan through the casino end of things, featuring a historical timeline and interviews with major figures in Sault Michigan and Kewadin Casino. It's cool to see Kewadin's development and the impact it has, but I know, you want the local metal connection, right? Well, at 4:35 of the video, the narrator discusses how Kewadin Casino brings top entertainers to the Dreammaker's Theater and their outdoor venues. Kiss are namedropped as one of the acts they've brought in, while high quality clips from this year's Kewadin Casino 25th Anniversary Summer Festival are shown, including a couple seconds of Bret Michaels' set. The segment only lasts 27 seconds, but it's nice to see the concerts included in the video, and I wonder if we'll see this concert footage in full in some fashion later on? Check out this documentary short below, and see Kewadin's impact for yourself! That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news in the coming days, including this weekend's concert previews tomorrow! Thanks everyone!