LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Powerslug) & Sault Michigan Weekend Concert Previews, Including LemmaFest!!

Keeping with our recent abundance of Sault Michigan-centric updates, we're focused on Yooper country once again in our first post of the day, which is devoted to two topics: LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for later this year, and previews of this weekend's heavier regional shows, including two dates in St. Ignace, and a nice long look at a returning local music festival, so read on below for what you need to know!

Local hard rock trio Powerslug will return to the stage for shows at The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino on August 23rd & 24th, and December 6th & 7th! These were the other heavier shows confirmed on Kewadin's entertainment page that I alluded to on Wednesday, but I postponed them on purpose to tie them in with our previews of their shows TONIGHT & TOMORROW at The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino, so there's your next chances to see Bob and the two Chris' live! Though still without an online page or frequent advance online updates, this talented hard edged local band are definitely live favourites, so don't miss their next Soo Kewadin dates in August and December, and of course, don't miss this weekend's St. Ignace shows either! Plus, even though they won't be at LemmaFest this year, you can still see them tonight or tomorrow! Admission should be free for all dates, you must be 21 to attend, and 10:00 PM start times are likely. Check the above links for more details, and if I ever come across live video of them again, I'll have it here!

Finally for today, the third annual LemmaFest goes down TOMORROW outside of Dondee Lanes, so here's our extended preview! As usual, this event is in memory of the fondly remembered Michael Lemma, who suddenly passed away at this time of year in 2010, and each year since, the fourth Saturday of June has played host to this local music festival. Tomorrow, there will be bands all day along with merchandise sales, food by donation, prize draws, drink specials, and bracelets for the first 100 attendees. As well, this year's LemmaFest will see proceeds going to help local infant Hunter Ross, who was born 15 weeks premature with a chronic lung disease, so keep that in mind, and read more on all of this year's non-musical events at the Facebook event page! The band lineup this year is technically smaller than last year (down to 8 acts from 9), with set times varying depending on the band, but there's still wall to wall music to enjoy, and lots of heavier bands (including some newer faces), so read on below for the complete schedule, including two newly confirmed performers that were only just announced on Sunday!

LemmaFest 2013 will open with a newly confirmed solo artist named Matthew Carl at 12:00 PM tomorrow, though I admit knowing nothing on him, his sound, or if he's even local. If anyone can fill in any blanks, let me know! Following them at 1:15 PM is young local metal quartet Tantrym Tyme in their LemmaFest debut, and their fast improving metal & hard rock covers should be a welcome sight tomorrow afternoon, so don't miss the former Abstract this year! A 90 minute set goes to local metal trio Scofflaw at 2:30 PM, who return to the stage after another hiaturs from publically confirmed shows, and with two past LemmaFest sets under their belts, Jeff and company should have another gritty and fun set of originals in store for the Dondee tomorrow! They're followed by the other new confirmation, Bucksaw alum Mark Bowen and "friends" for a 90 minute set at 4:15 PM, and while I don't know much about Mark's solo work, he's been a favourite regular performer at The Merchant's Bar in recent months, and he and his friends should have a fun and varied cover set tomorrow!

A pair of debuting local hard rock acts will take the stage afterwards, including new trio Plastic (featuring Half Stupid's Zac Crook, Cherubic Red's Nick Moreau, and Bent Rollercoaster's Paul Burns), and while I don't know much else on them yet, their lineup and past band work is promising, so don't miss their set at 6:00 PM tomorrow evening! Following them with a 90 minute set is newer cover hard rock quintet RamWagon (featuring Full Throttle & Analog Deficiency alumni) at 7:15 PM, and they should have a familiar yet new sound in store for LemmaFest attendees (especially if you liked early Full Throttle gigs), so be there to get rammed! This year's headliners are Brimley metal trio Half A Man (in their first live concert since last year's LemmaFest), and hopefully there's no stage rust for their return, which should be full of extreme metal originals and select covers for their 90 minute set at 9:00 PM! Note as well that drummer Mikey Bishop will join his new band Dirtbag In A Dress (formerly Bucksaw from the last 2 LemmaFests) for at least a few songs at the end of their set, so keep an eye out for their debut under this name and lineup at the end of the night!

Admission will be $10 for this ALL AGES event, and everything starts at noon tomorrow, so check the above links for more details! This year's LemmaFest should be another awesome tribute to Mike Lemma, and there's lots of newer and established talent to rock the outdoor stage at the Dondee, and hopefully the Ross family gets some much needed funds to help Hunter through this tough battle! We'll have plenty of fallout as it comes in, but for a preview, here's the first part of Half A Man's slideshow from last year, featuring live audio of their set and lots of slideshow pictures of the bands!



That's all for today, but stay tuned later today for my review of last night's Golers-headlined metal show at The Roosevelt Hotel in Sault Ontario! Thanks everyone!