TONIGHT marks the debut of The Sault Riverview Music Festival, a two day family event on the north lawn outside of City Hall at 225 East Portage Avenue, and it will feature lots of Sault Michigan-area musical talent and family activities, so here's what you need to know! All proceeds from this event will go towards the Chippewa County Hospice, and aside from the music, you'll get events like beer & concessions tents, music workshops, family games and activities, a fish fry, a 50/50 draw, and even a chance to meet members of the Soo Eagles hockey team, so click here for all details on the event, or look at the poster on your right! As for the schedule of bands, I know most of the performers, though likely not all, as I can't find a full itinerary. According to the poster, local hard rock veterans Monkey's Uncle, young metal quartet Tantrym Tyme (the former Abstract), and Kinross hard rockers Banned (more on them in a second) will be playing TONIGHT alongside local indie rock quartet The London Gentlemen and likely at least one more act. In terms of times, their respective Facebook pages indicate that Tantrym Tyme will open tonight's music lineup at 5:00 PM, while Banned will play at 7:00 PM, but I can't confirm the rest of the times at present.
TOMORROW'S lineup will indeed include a metal band, as despite what the poster tells you, Banned will be on both nights! Their Facebook page states that they'll be on at 3:00 PM tomorrow afternoon, joining fellow Friday crossovers The London Gentlemen, plus some unique acts, including that band's Mike Russo & Steve Sivret in their acoustic project Fallen Heroes, local southern rockers Bittermoon, a band named Omega Rock (can anyone confirm who they are or what they play?), and The Grooves All-Stars, a band likely comprised of staff & instructors at local music store (and festival sponsors) Grooves Music. As well, local acoustic pop duo Missy & Chelsea indicated on their own Facebook event page that they'd be playing tomorrow as well at 6:30 PM (though they're not mentioned on event advertising.) If I hear any updates to the lineup or schedule, I'll try and let you guys know! Admission is FREE for this ALL AGES event, and the music starts at 5:00 PM today and 12:00 PM tomorrow, with both schedules running until 10:00 PM. Check the above links for more details! It's great to see this new festival launching, and hopefully lots of money is raised with the entertaining bands and family entertainment going down, so if you can make it to City Hall today or tomorrow, check everything out!
For a video preview of the festival, we're in luck, as the aforementioned Banned have a few new videos online to check out! A few days ago, frequent filmer & family member Ashley Traynor uploaded three new videos to her YouTube channel of Banned at summer 2012 concerts, so if you've wanted to see them in action again after a few months without new footage, these should work! One is from their set at the Chippewa County Fair's Rock Till You Drop battle of the bands on August 30th, where 3/5ths of the band ("occasional" singer Mike Straw & guitarist Alex Schrovenwever are absent) played their original song "Plaid Girl"! I'm not sure why they were shorthanded, but it's a solid performance, if feeling empty compared to their earlier video of this song from a Gould City concert in May. I'm still not 100% sure on who won, but this video is of good quality and shows the present members of Banned in good form, so check it out at the above links! However, the other new videos are of Banned's full quintet lineup at a concert set of some type on July 28th (I have no idea where, but it's outdoors), and they feature drummer Don Traynor singing lead on covers of The Rockets' "Oh Well" and, as embedded below, AC/DC's "Whole Lotta Rosie"!
The quality's good on these, but the location's still a mystery, and I still think Mike should get chances to sing lead more often, even if his band status is just occasional. Don's vocals don't sound as powerful as I remember from earlier Banned videos, but the guys have talent and it shows, so check out their cover of "Whole Lotta Rosie" below, and go check out Banned this weekend at the Riverview Festival and (if you're up for an hour+ drive) the Michihistrigan Bar in Gould City on Saturday night!
Next up, here's plenty of updates relating to the Evans Blue-headlined benefit concert at The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino on September 29th! The third band has been confirmed for this show, and they are Detroit hard rock quintet Fifth Way, who will return to the Soo Kewadin for the first time since opening for The Gin Blossoms there in April! Local fans are bound to recognize Fifth Way for their frequent stops here in recent years and for featuring Rudyard native Zak Stelmaszek on guitar, so prepare for some great modern hard rock from them in their return! Also of note, this will be Fifth Way's first local concert with new bassist Victor Wooten, who replaced Mike McMann in the band earlier this summer. Also in recent concert news, it has been revealed that proceeds from this concert will also go to The Kim Rogers Scholarship Fund, in memory of the late Kim Rogers, a local student who passed away in a snowmobile accident in 2010. It's great to see Allstar Promotions and others associated with the event remembering Kim again for this show, along with The KDR Foundation in memory of the late Kelsey Raffaele, and hopefully funds raised at this show can help both causes just as they did at the 2010 Pop Evil benefit show here!
Now, with that said, how can you support the cause before seeing Evans Blue, State Your Cause, and Fifth Way on the 29th? Of course, tickets are now available for just $10 at 1-800-KEWADIN, online at this location, in person at the Kewadin box office, or at Allstar Graphics on 822 Ashmun Street, who are also owned by Allstar Promotions manager Dave Atkinson. There are plenty of tickets still available in close rows and back, but like at the 2010 Pop Evil show here, there is a huge charitable push to enable this show to be sold out and easy to attend. Local radio stations such as Rock 101 and 99.5 Yes FM are hyping this as well, and the aim is for local businesses and even non-attendees to buy tickets for the cause, so they can be freely distributed to local schools and attendees who will go. The radio stations are also pushing for people to beat or match tickets purchases, with the person who buys the most tickets recieving a $100 gift card for Allstar Graphics. For full details, click here or the above links, and read this article from The Soo Evening News a few days ago! The wheels are in motion to raise a lot of money and awareness in Kim & Kelsey's names, so whether you're a charitable citizen or wanna rock out, you'll be helping the greater good, and on a great ticket bargain, so follow the campaign at the above links, and stay tuned for updates on this show as I hear of them!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news hopefully this weekend and our next two Defunct Local Band Profiles on Monday! Thanks everyone!
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