LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Banned), New Sault Michigan Videos, And More!!

While I rock out at TONIGHT'S Airbourne concert, here's a post for Yooper readers out there, as everything today relates to bands and shows across the river! This includes updates to one of our monthly feature series, new videos from both a local band and major recent concert, and first, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT and related updates from a prolific local band, so here's what you need to know!

Kinross classic/hard rock quintet Banned will be playing a solo concert set at this year's Chippewa County Fair on Friday, August 30th, the night after their Rock Till You Drop battle of the bands appearance at the fair! This isn't cited on the fair's website, but I believe they aren't alone for bands playing live sets this year. According to Banned's Facebook page, they'll be playing at the pavilion near the Lions Club's food trailer from 4:00-7:00 PM that day. An admission fee isn't announced beyond fair entry fees, which you can get details at via this link, while there's definitely no age limits. Check the above links for more details! Note as well that Banned (fresh off a Drummond Island show this past weekend) will also take another road trip to Gould City this coming Saturday, but barring an interim announcement, their next shows within an hour of the Sault will be their Chippewa County Fair sets. Nice to see Banned keeping busy, so don't miss their varied mix of heavier and more general covers and originals at the fair, but can they top RamWagon or Tantrym Tyme at the battle on the 29th?

Also to note: The picture above (posted on their Facebook page by attendee/band member relative Holly Traynor) shows guitarist Alex Traynor's former TraynWreck bandmate Sam Lalruatpuia playing keyboard with Banned at their Pickford concert on August 3rd, with singer Tara Starr noticeably absent. Banned haven't listed their official lineup on Facebook since Tara and Denny Smith joined, so I have no idea if she's out and/or if Sam has signed on, but I'll note that Sam's personal Facebook page still lists him as living in Pennsylvania. If I hear any confirmation either way, I'll let you guys know!

Next up, here's another new video from last week's Pop Evil/Team Jessica benefit concert at The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino! This was uploaded by YouTube user KFNightFire23, who previously uploaded a clip of Pop Evil's Leigh Kakaty playing an acoustic version of "Hey Mister" at their 2010 show here, but this video is of the full band playing their hit single "Trenches"! The first Kewadin hard rock video in a while to be filmed on our left side of the theatre, KFNightFire23 got a great side-stage angle that catches Pop Evil well, but the audio sounds muffled and slightly scratchy during choruses. Still, this is a very solid video, so check it out below, and stay tuned in case more videos turn up!



Also in new videos, another teaser clip for local hard rock band The Highest of Fives' film/possible show pilot "Bang!" was posted onto the band's YouTube channel yesterday, so what's in it? It basically features band members daring Crusty Puck (who is one & the same as guitarist Marcel Grengs, I think) to jump off a cliff, with text teasers asking "What will happen?" It's just 27 seconds long, and we don't learn a whole lot about the end product, but give the video a look below and see what you can deduce!

Finally for today, here's some recent updates to some of our Defunct Local Band Profiles from Sault Michigan bands! First, I did update, remove, and note as many changes and deletions as possible that were caused by the recent MySpace layout/profile edits (namely for information and videos) through mid-2012, and expanded videos to fit the bigger post field we have now, but I'll just acknowledge visible changes below to avoid soudning like a broken record. In our Lower S.E.S. profile, I replaced the embedded MySpace video with this 1996 clip when they opened for L.A. Guns, and I also replaced Bludgeoned and Sadomasochism with Train Wreck and Dirtbag In A Dress when noting members Erik Rintamaki & Mikey Bishop's other band work, just to keep it current. I also added links to Melissa Krahnke & Jason Mapes current out-of-town solo projects on our Bad Side profile, and added former Bent Rollercoaster singer Jeff Parish (who was only minimally acknowledged in later band postings) to their lineup on their profile, while also noted drummer Paul Burns' current work in Plastic as well there.

We'll edit and update the last year's worth of Sault Michigan profiles (and begin on Sault Ontario) in this series in upcoming posts, and for now, stay tuned tomorrow for my review of TONIGHT'S Airbourne concert! Thanks everyone!