LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Powerslug & Rotaryfest's Main Stage), Including The Return Of That's Chester!!

A bit of a change of plans for today, as while I'd intended for this post to 100% focus on Rotaryfest's music lineups, we have a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT to cover, so I reluctantly decided to postpone the Second Stage info to tomorrow so we could fit these late notice shows in, but I promise, they'll headline our very next post tomorrow! Read on below for what you need to know, and check out our all-Sault Michigan post (featuring a new show, 415E previews, and LemmaFest videos) in the post below this one!

As is often the culprit for our late notice Sault Michigan concert announcements, local hard rock trio Powerslug will return to The Corner Pub Bar & Grill's outdoor stage TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, drummer Bob Helsten only just announced these shows a few hours ago on his personal Facebook page. Powerslug should have a pair of fun covers-heavy sets of hard rock songs to chug your mug along with, so keep these shows in mind, especially as they're the first shows that Powerslug have played at The Corner Pub since last year, barring any that I may have missed. There's no announced cover charge for these 9:00 PM-ish shows, and I'd assume a 21+ age limit is in effect. Despite their odd continuing lack of online pages or media to promote shows, Chris, Bob, and Chris should entertain all weekend long outside of The Corner Pub, so keep these shows in mind, and hopefully their next local dates have more advance word!

Now, let's discuss Sault Ontario's annual summer music festival Rotaryfest, as organizers finally confirmed the performer lineups for both the covers-centric main stage at Clergue Park and the original-friendly Tenaris Second Stage outside of Case's Music & The Grand Theatre on Queen Street East earlier today! My sources are SooToday's article on the lineup, and the official schedule on our local summer festival's website, though other local news sources have the schedule online as well. As expected, the music will go down from Thursday, July 18th-Saturday, July 20th, though like past years, there's no bands on the Thursday for the Second Stage, and each stage's first night has an abbreviated length. There's a hard rock leaning band on each full night of the main stage, and one on the Saturday for the second stage, and we'll of course talk about the second stage TOMORROW, so for now, read on below for our rundown of the musical lineup for this year's main stage at Clergue Park in three weeks!

We'll start by mentioning that the Thursday, July 18th lineup at the main stage has just four scheduled acts for 2013, including a local blues band named Goodtime Charlie at 6:00 PM, jazz quartet The Bob Jenkins Band at 7:15 PM, and the classic/oldies rock cover bands Flathead Ford and Coverfly at 8:30 & 9:45 PM each. Note that both The Bob Jenkins Band & Coverfly are returning from last year, while past themes of the Thursday being jazz/blues centric don't appear to be in play this time around.

The Friday, July 19th main stage lineup at Clergue Park features just one hard rock band, that being the previously announced Suicide Kings! The local hard rock quartet will make their Rotaryfest debut as the co-headliners at 9:00 PM that night, despite being a band that plays originals on a stage that doesn't allow them. Whether they got an exception or are playing only covers, it's great to see The Rockstar Bar Battle of the Bands winners expanding to larger opportunities, so don't miss their modern hard/alternative rock sound in 3 weeks! The Friday lineup will be headlined by local country quartet Thin Ice, and the bands preceding The Suicide Kings include Full Circle successors K.T., Kyle, and the Pocket at 8:00 PM, country rockers Summer Thunder at 7:00 PM, classic rock quartet Mid Life Crysis at 6:00 PM, dance rockers Obsession at 5:00 PM, a local salsa orchestra band named Orangatango at 4:00 PM, and two Mike Case junior student bands opening the day, including his Junior All Star Band at 2:30 PM and the his Rock School band at 3:10 PM.

Note that all of the Friday bands except The Suicide Kings, Obsession, and Orangatango played at Rotaryfest's main stage last year, adding to a familiar and varied lineup of local talent, so keep Friday's schedule in mind for your Rotaryfest concert planning!

As for the Saturday, July 20th lineup, the featured hard rock-leaning band will be the returning That's Chester, who will take the stage at 6:00 PM this year! The veteran cover band had amicably broken up in October after a successful 8 year run, but they hinted at a couple of new gigs this summer (their first in over a year) on their Facebook page two weeks ago, so it looks like they're back for more than just a one off. I'm very happy to see That's Chester back at it, even if it's a temporary return, and hopefully their hard-edged cover selections bring back some good memories on the 20th! The Saturday lineup will be headlined by Canadian Rolling Stones tribute band The Blushing Brides at 10:15 PM, while unlike past years, two out of town bands will play the main stage, with noted Toronto jam rock band Ground Zero preceding them at 9:00 PM, as they've done at many other recent Blushing Brides gigs. The other bands in front of That's Chester will be classic rock veterans Mustang Heart at 8:00 PM and country rockers Bone Yard at 7:00 PM.

The Saturday lineup is rounded out by classic rock duo Spyder's Web at 5:00 PM, newer local rock cover quartet Griphook at 4:00 PM, local blues rockers Five Below Zero at 3:00 PM, soft/progressive rock quartet The Pesto Shirts at 2:00 PM, and R&B big band veterans The Repitles opening at 1:00 PM. Another familiar lineup, with only That's Chester, Griphook, and the out of town bands not returning from last year, but like on the 19th, there's plenty of diverse sounds for the fans in attendance, so don't miss out! Each night is FREE & ALL AGES, so check the above links for more on the musical and other entertainment, and stay tuned tomorrow for the Second Stage schedule, and more! Thanks everyone!