This Weekend's Hard Rock Concert Previews, Plus 415E Updates!!

It's Friday, and with a new concert weekend upon us, we have new local metal & hard rock concerts to preview! Three weekend sets, to be specific, including a debuting band, but we also have news from a Sault Michigan hard rock band to cover at the end of this post. Without any further adieu, here's what you need to know for this weekend's concert hopping!

We'll start with this weekend's only heavier Sault Ontario concerts, as The Suicide Kings will make their live concert debut TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT at The Nicolet Tavern! The new band featuring singer/guitarist Mike Gaetano, guitar/bass players Steven Flint (Wishbone) & Mitch Sirie (The Bear Hunters), and drummer Ben Boudreau (Limelight) only just launched last month, but there's already buzz for their first concert weekend! We have yet to hear anything concrete on their setlist or potential covers, but their lineup and Facebook postings at least lean in a heavy path, so if you wanna check out the Sault's newest live rock band, be at The Nic tonight or tomorrow! Admission should be free for both nights, you must be 19 to attend, and 10:00 PM start times are advertised. For more details, click here! It remains to be seen how The Suicide Kings' first shows will go, but if there's any fallout, videos, or more, we'll be sure to have them here! Until then, keep their debut shows this weekend in mind, as I sense good things!

Working our way south for the rest of this weekend's heavier shows, we'll next head down to Hessel, Michigan, where Kinross hard rockers Banned will return to The Runway Bar! Last seen at this venue in August, Banned's Hessel shows this weekend will be their first in a string of two consecutive weekends at The Runway Bar, and hopefully they go just as well as their past gigs there! Note that The Runway Bar's Facebook page has misspelled Banned's name in recent advertising, as well as calling them "The Banned", but it's more concert press than some local venues give on Facebook! Like Banned's other recent gigs, I'd expect these shows to be 21+ affairs with no announced cover charge, but these have 9:00 PM start times. Check the above links for more details! These should be some quality concerts from Banned, as usual, so don't miss their diverse hard rock covers and originals tonight or tomorrow in Hessel! For a preview, here's 3/5ths of Banned playing their song "Plaid Girl" in August!

Finally for heavier concerts this weekend, we'll travel down to St. Ignace, where Sault Michigan hard rock notables Monkey's Uncle will return to The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino! The Henry Switzer-led outfit will be making their last stop of 2012 at the St. Ignace casino's bar/concert spot, but as usual, their lack of updated online pages has left it hard for me to plug recent shows of the former Jager's at non-Kewadin venues. Still, we can plug Monkey's Uncle's stops here without worry thanks to the Kewadin Casino entertainment page, so kudos to them as always! Going by their most recent available media and information, I'd expect their hard rock covers and originals to go well tonight & tomorrow, so don't miss a second if you can help it! I'd expect these shows to have 21+ age limits, no cover charges, and 10:00 PM-ish start times, but check the above links for more details! Monkey's Uncle have the talent and longevity, so go see them in St. Ignace this weekend, and for a preview, here's an older lineup covering Finger Eleven's "Paralyzer" in 2007!



Finally for today, here's the latest updates from new Sault Michigan hard rock project 415E! The former Hubbard-Menard Band uploaded a new video to their Facebook page on Wednesday that operates as an 11 minute+ preview of tracks from their planned self-titled debut album, and it's extra notable in that we finally have audio recordings of singer Dave Menard! With his & guitarist Chris Hubbard's old band Splitshot never posting videos from their concerts online, how he sounded as a singer was a mystery unless you saw them live, so how does Dave do? He has a solid voice (particularly on heavier material), but his range sounds somewhat limited, which becomes more noticeable on softer samples. Also, it's raspier than I expected, but it seems to work well for the 415E material, and at least we know how he sounds now! Along with the video, the band hyped that you should contact them if you want to buy the CD upon completion, but a timetable for it's future release had yet to be made. I'm intrigued to hear more from 415E, and that includes hopeful live concerts, so stay tuned for more, and check the above links to hear these newest samples! (As a Facebook video, I can't upload it here.)

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes this weekend, including poll results and our next monthly poll on Sunday! Thanks everyone!