LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Caveman Morrison & Driven), Weekend Concert Previews, And More!!

On day 67 of our posting streak at the SMS, we're mainly focusing on this weekend's announced metal/hard rock concerts in the Twin Saults and surrounding areas, and if I missed any, I'll let you guys know A.S.A.P.! Along with some recent updates to one of our monthly feature series', we have previews of 5 shows this weekend, and LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS from two of those bands, so here's what you need to know!

After a seven week hiatus from the stage, local metal/hard rock cover trio Caveman Morrison will return to the stage TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT at The Roosevelt Hotel! I apologize for the short notice, but these shows were only announced on Tuesday, and I didn't want to redundantly cover the same details twice in a few days. This will be the first full concert weekend from Caveman Morrison's full current lineup since February (as their show last month was a one-nighter with guest drummer T.J. Case), and while we have seen frontman Tym Morrison often in the interim at solo shows, it'll be great to see the full band back together to rock The Rosie with their widely varied covers again! Admission should be free for TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT, you must be 19 to attend, and both nights have 10:00 PM start times. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! These should be some fun concerts, so don't miss Tym, James, and Johnny playing some great metal & hard rock classics again this weekend! For a preview, here's Caveman Morrison covering Stevie Ray Vaughan's "Pride & Joy" in 2011!

Also in new concerts, Cheboygan classic hard rock trio Driven will return to The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino on September 20th & 21st for their second regional concert weekend of 2013! These will also be just their third & fourth local dates since drummer Kurt Beard returned to the fold, so long time fans of Driven's cover onslaught should welcome that! However, you can see Driven in St. Ignace much sooner than September, as they're also playing at The Northern Pines Lounge TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT, so we have this weekend's shows to preview as well! My source is this image on Driven's Facebook page, Kewadin Casino has yet to confirm fall concert dates. Always an entertaining band, don't miss Driven this weekend or in September for their varied covers and classics, and like usual, expect a 10:00 PM-ish start time, 21+ age limit, and no announced cover charge for tonight, tomorrow, and their September gigs.

For more details, check out the Facebook event pages via the above links! Don't miss Driven's regional return this weekend, keep their September shows in mind, and stay tuned in case we hear about some live videos or more local dates from them!

Finally for weekend concert previews (albeit with no attached new show announcements), Kinross hard/classic rock quintet Banned will return to Todd's Tavern in nearby Moran, Michigan TOMORROW NIGHT for yet another concert at arguably their favourite recent concert venue! Their first of at least two shows in Moran this month (they'll be back there on the 25th), the Traynors and company should have a nicely varied set of covers & originals in store for their latest in a prolific string of recent regional concerts, so don't miss out tomorrow night for this show (and no, they're not playing anywhere tonight.) Admission should be free tomorrow, there's a 21+ age limit, and I imagine the earlier 8:00 PM start time will be in effect as usual for Todd's Tavern dates. For more details, click here, and best of luck to the Banned crew on yet another night of music tomorrow in Moran! Take the drive down there tomorrow if you can, and for a preview, here's Banned covering The Black Keys in the Soo in March!



Finally for today, here's some more updates to our past profiles in our Battle of the Bands Rewind series! In our profile of the Algoma University Battle from December 2009, I added trivia on competitors Josh Stephney & Nolan Rainville (Bring The Fallen) & Terrence Gomes (Creedon & The Animal Detectives) in the Rockstar Bar Battle of the Bands last month with The Bear Hunters, Giwakwa, and The Northern Tragedy. Then, I updated our profile on the Sault College Battle from February 2010, to note third place band Sykotyk Rampage's own appearance at the Rockstar Bar Battle, and to add ex-bassist Brian Cattapan's new Sudbury band Zero Hour (plus Nebraska Arms' Guy Thiffault's new band Crawfather) to the section on competitors' later bands. Finally, I updated our Downtown Showdown profile to note the likely inactive status of 3rd place band The Tenagens, and to add Ottawa indie band Paterson Hall (featuring 3/5ths of The Tenagens) to the section on competitors' later bands. Plus, I added notes on the Rockstar Bar Battle appearances from Len Ward (who judged at both), B.T.F. frontman Josh Stephney, and The Fury bassist Tony Briglio (now of Sykotyk Rampage.)

We have one more to update, so look out for that in a future post, along with more news and notes to come, so stay tuned, and go occupy a venue this weekend! Thanks everyone!