In June, you may remember that a new local band named Swayze Train debuted at the first annual LemmaFest at Dondee Lanes as a replacement for the now-defunct acoustic quartet Electric Motor Fish (both bands shared two members), and they've since played varying shows at The Satisfied Frog & Kewadin Casino in St. Ignace. Now I held off from officially covering them on the SMS for this long because I couldn't verify a definite genre or sound for Swayze Train, who have yet to post audio or video clips of their concerts. I wasn't sure if they'd be an "electric" variant of Electric Motor Fish, hard rock/metal, or something completely different. Well, judging by the fact that their Facebook page now "likes" bands like Avenged Sevenfold, Flyleaf, Rage Against The Machine, and Tool, I think it's safe to assume that Swayze Train are a hard rock band, and as such, they're now in our active Sault Michigan band links! Just in case you forgot, "Swayze Train" is a reference to a plotline in the last season of "Trailer Park Boys", and the band features Electric Motor Fish frontwoman Melissa Strand & drummer Tony Rogers on bass (just like in Clownsack & Shift), along with guitarists Mike Libertoski (Galactic Alignment/ex-Slackjawed Rats) & Scott Savoie (ex-Insipid Brutality) and Tyler Tidwell (Traces) on drums.
Talented lineup, and I'm sure they're very impressive live! I've heard Electric Motor Fish, and though they aren't all that heavy, Melissa is another talented female singer across the river, which seems to be a great breeding ground for women fronting heavier bands, which is very refreshing! I hope Swayze Train posts some videos or material at some point, cause I'm sure there's demand for it! That said, now that we are covering them on the SMS, we have LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, as Swayze Train will hit The Satisfied Frog in Sault Michigan next Friday & Saturday and on October 7th and 8th! The band seems to be on a one weekend a month schedule there, and hopefully the next four shows go well for them! As you could expect, all of their upcoming concerts are 21+, a 10:00 PM start time is listed, and there's no announced cover charge. For more details, click here to see the event pages for these shows! These should be successful concerts, so don't miss Swayze Train this fall at The Frog! Stay tuned for more Swayze Train news as I hear it!
Also in the realm of new concerts, Sault Michigan hard rockers PowerSlug (formerly River Witch) are now apparently playing a concert weekend at The Rapids Lounge at our local Kewadin Casino on September 30th & October 1st! The news was quietly broken on Kewadin Casino's entertainment page, where the concert weekend was added at some point earlier this year before their name change. As I regrettably expected, their badly outdated Facebook page hasn't confirmed the shows, but Kewadin's word is good! These shows should have 9:00 PM start times, no cover charge, and 21+ age limits. Check the above links for more details! PowerSlug should put in some good shows to end this month and start October, so make it out to see them if you can! As for the band's name change and any other recent developments, I've heard nothing new, but if either a band member or a venue says something that I can absolutely verify, you'll of course hear it here, so keep an eye out for more PowerSlug news!
Next up, here's some news from Woods of Ypres, mostly concerning their upcoming fifth album! In case you missed it in our "Where Are The New Albums" post, the full title for "Woods V" was finally announced on Earache Records' Tumblr page on Tuesday, and the album will officially be titled "Woods V: Grey Skies & Electric Light"! Sounds like a promising enough name, and it creates cool mental images for the album artwork! That said, the mixing for "Woods V" began on Sunday, so a release for it is coming ever closer! Also in the realm of new Woods of Ypres news: It looks like the band's bassist & drummer search is now just for Canadian musicians, as per a recent posting on Woods of Ypres' Facebook page. It'd be awesome to see some local talent try out, but above all else, the most qualified and talented should get the gig regardless of where they're from. If you're interested in trying out to join Woods of Ypres, e-mail davidypres@gmail.com! And finally, Woods of Ypres, Earache Records, and the metal blog Headbang or GTFO are partnering together for a "Pursuit of the Beard" contest, where fans are challenged to grow the best beard they can between now & December 15th for a chance to win a Woods of Ypres prize package! Click here for details, and get those beards growing! Stay tuned for more Woods of Ypres news very soon!
And now, here's three assorted shorter stories from the last little while, and as always, these are in alphabetical order by band or group name:
- If you've been wondering why Sault Michigan promoters Allstar Promotions haven't booked any major hard rock shows at Kewadin Casino since March, it appears to be related to contractual differences relating to Kewadin's new contracts that are more difficult to work with. They're not giving up though, so stay tuned to their Facebook page for details, and fingers crossed that Allstar Promotions get back to booking big concerts soon!
- Which ex-members of Bring The Misery played at the Thessalon concert with For All That Is Lost, Biipiigwan, and local bands this past weekend? It looks like guitarists Dan Souliere & Daeson Lesage and drummer Travis St. Amour played there, although I can't verify too much else, including full lineups. Click here for photos, and stay tuned for updates on the members' current and next bands!
- It looks like Sault Michigan hard rockers Clownsack have welcomed original guitarist Butter Cookie back into the fold after briefly leaving following the "Funny Farm" recording sessions. The news was broken Wednesday on their Facebook page, and I assume Sparxx will remain on second guitar, going in line with their plans to become a quintet full time. Awesome to see them back out there, hopefully we hear some more news soon!
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