LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Lucky 13, Tym Morrison, and Powerslug), A New Local Band, And Much More!!

After the recent sad news of another local musician being lost way too soon (see the post below this one for more information on Justin Fratpietro's sudden passing), we have a big news post to get to on this Monday evening, so what's on tap? We have news on which returning local band are opening for Queensryche this weekend, some more assorted stories, and leading off, LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for two shows this Friday and two more next weekend, so here's what you need to know!

Following all of the concert cancellations last week, we've got a busy Friday coming up to kick off the year in local metal/hard rock concerts thanks to two newly announced shows, including the second ever live appearance from our newest addition to our local metal band links, Sault Ontario alternative hard rock band Lucky 13! Just launching their Facebook page tonight, this will be their first concert since Toystock at The Canadian Nightclub in November, but for their first ever headlining gig, they'll be rocking The Rockstar Bar on Friday with a set of 1990s-centric alternative and hard rock covers, and hopefully they deliver a great night of music! In case you forgot, their lineup features former Aftersight frontman Ed Vowels alongside his former Route 69 bandmate Jeremey Salatuk (ex-Wishbone) on guitar, former Turner Up/Johnny Lunchbox bassist Jeff Gray, and ex-Gully Yodelers drummer Roger Sartini, and if their Toystock set was any indication, they'll have a gritty and edgy take on their diverse cover selection on Friday that should set them apart from other local cover-centric bands!

Admission should be in the $5 range for this 19+ concert, which has a 10:00 PM start time. Check the above links for more details, and don't miss Lucky 13's first solo headlining performance at The Rockstar Bar this weekend! As for their new Facebook page, it's mostly bare so far aside from show plugs and some band photos, but become a fan at this location, and they're now in our active band links on your left!

Also in new concerts on Friday is Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison's first solo show of 2013! Just a few days after Caveman Morrison's cancelled concerts at The Rosie, Tym will bring his unplugged solo cover set back to The Roadhouse Bar & Grill on Trunk Road on Friday night, and if you know his solo gigs well, you should expect a long and entertaining night of metal and hard rock covers in a more intimate setting! Just in case, remember that this show is NOT at the similarly named Zone Roadhouse in Goulais River, which Tym hasn't played at since March. Tym's show on Friday will take place at 10:00 PM, and I'd figure a 19+ age limit and no cover charge would be in affect. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Tym's solo concerts always impress musically and for his large set list, so keep Friday's show in mind as we finally see our first hard rock concerts of 2013! Tym, Lucky13, Haggith, and The Suicide Kings will all be rocking the area on Friday night, so don't miss out!

Finally in new concerts, we have one new weekend of hard rock in the Eastern U.P. to announce, courtesy of page-less Sault Michigan trio Powerslug! In rare concerts of theirs with advance notice, they'll return to The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino on January 18th & 19th (next weekend) for their first announced live dates of 2013! These are the only hard rock shows announced at any of the bars at the close Kewadin Casino branches so far for this year (joining Sault Michigan and Hessel), with other shows through February so far including Bittermoon, Chump Change, Crossroads, Jimmie Cowles, and an unknown band named The Back Yard Boys, so if you like classic rock and country, explore these scheduled shows at this location! For Powerslug, look for this somewhat elusive band to impress with their array of hard hitting covers next weekend in St. Ignace, and hopefully we'll see and hear a lot more from them in 2013! Admission should be free for these 21+ concerts, and 10:00 PM start times are likely. Check the above links for more details, and hopefully there's much more to come!

(UPDATED: Tuesday, 8:46 PM) Staying across the river, we originally had huge news relating to the local openers for Saturday's Queensryche concert at The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino, but just a day after it was confirmed, Brimley metal trio Half A Man have already been dropped from the bill. An official public confirmation has not been made, but Half A Man's own Facebook event page for the show was deleted on Tuesday, which speaks for itself. While the band hasn't elaborated yet on their online pages, drummer Mikey Bishop mentioned on his personal Facebook page that Queensryche won't have the right pre-production setup for an opening band, as they're flying in for this show rather than driving, so a second band wouldn't work without repacking all of the gear for it. As best as I can tell, the band and their management have made things right over what happened, so it doesn't look like there's any hard feelings. Had Half A Man played on Saturday, it would have been their first show in 7 months, their public Kewadin Casino debut, and just their third gig with their current lineup, but hopefully they bounce back from this disappointing news to seize 2013 with some more big shows and material! Also, get your Queensryche tickets at this location A.S.A.P.!

Finally for today, here's three shorter stories from the last little while, and as always, these are in alphabetical order by artist name:

• Redundant frontman Justin Langlois is exploring the possibility of launching an I Mother Earth-style rock band that he'd sing in, as per his post on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group on December 19th. I Mother Earth had heavier songs (especially in the early 2000s), so this could be up some of your alleys, so message Justin at this location or check out his post at the above links for more info!
• Was Kid Rock in town for this past weekend's Bubba Sparxx concert in Sault Michigan? Nope. From what I can tell, it was either an impersonator or a lookalike, and both Bubba Sparxx & Kewadin Casino confirmed that the real Kid Rock (who used to play rap metal) was not in town for the show through this Twitter exchange. The Facebook photos did sort of look like him, but this always seemed fishy, and I hope most of you weren't fooled!
• Sault Michigan classical metal trio Theatre of Night have announced a new Valentine's Day contest where three lucky fans will win CDs and t-shirts! They've done this before on special occasions, and if you want to win some Theatre of Night merchandise, visit their official website to enter! The winners are drawn on February 14th.

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes this week! Thanks everyone!