This Weekend's Heavier Concert Previews, Including Bret Michaels!!

Today's post is 100% devoted to previews of this weekend's hard rock & metal shows, though of course, any with a late/short notice will be covered if possible in the next couple days. This weekend also features a major Kewadin Casino show for you Hair Scare fans, but let's begin in rough chronological order with shows you should take note of in Sault Ontario!

Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison will continue his current weekly concert arrangement at The Harp Bar & Grill TOMORROW NIGHT for another evening of unplugged classics! Though unannounced on Facebook from what I can tell, his website's calendar confirms that Tym will be back at the former Madison's Pub for an seventh straight Friday night acoustic event tomorrow, and if you're familiar with Tym's talent and extensive setlist, you should enjoy his latest solo show tomorrow night! Remember, Tym's Harp dates double as open mic events too, so keep that angle in mind. Like his past 6 gigs in his current Harp stint, Tym should be on at 10:00 PM, there's no announced cover charge, and you must be 19 to attend. For more details, check the above links! Tym's diverse hard rock and metal covers should get another solid response tomorrow, so keep it in mind, and for a preview, here's Tym covering Heart at The Service Grill!

Next up on the heavier weekend concert schedule, local hard/classic rock quintet The Thrill Junkies will make their first live appearances of 2014 TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT when they return to The Roosevelt Hotel! Last seen at The Rosie almost two months ago, the Turner Up successors will be the second act for at least tomorrow's entertainment at this Korah Road venue, as local classic rock veterans Highway 17 are playing a matinee set tomorrow afternoon, so keep that in mind. The Thrill Junkies have been thrilling fans constantly since their local debut last fall, and their return to The Rosie should continue the trend, so if you're up for some entertaining hard rock, head down to the West End this weekend! There should be no cover charge for these 19+ events, and both Friday and Saturday night will kick off at 10:30 PM. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page, and for a preview, here's The Thrill Junkies live at Toystock last month!

Moving to some out of town hard rock action to close today's post, prolific local musician (and former Lion Ride frontman) Mikey Hawdon will bring his Toronto-based Ramones tribute band The Merves back home TOMORROW NIGHT at The Rockstar Bar, continuing their annual trend of playing a Soo date in January, but there's an added hard rock wrinkle. While they still cover Ramones songs that all you punk fans should enjoy, they added singer Amy Zuccheto to their lineup last year, and began dividing their setlist to cover Ramones and Joan Jett songs in equal measure, so they'll have a lot of hard rocking Blackhearts & Runaways songs to play tomorrow as well! The Merves will be on at 10:30 PM tomorrow night, there's a likely $5 cover charge, and you must be 19 to attend. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! I haven't heard a lot of The Merves doing Joan Jett, but Amy's a talented singer, and the guys all rock out well on Ramones songs, so don't miss The Merves' new half-sound tomorrow night, and for a preview, here's their original lineup covering "Judy Is A Punk"!

Finally for the known heavier concerts today is the first major hard rock show of 2014 at The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino, as Poison frontman and reality TV personality Bret Michaels will play his (at least) fifth local concert date THIS SATURDAY NIGHT! Last seen locally almost two years ago in December 2011, Bret's proven to be a local favourite with his mix of Poison classics like "Talk Dirty To Me" and newer diverse original songs, and with his new collaborative CD "Jammin' With Friends" still on sale, he's bound to have lots of quality and memorable tunes to rock his Saultite fans with on Saturday! Opening for Bret are North Carolina glam rock notables FireHouse, who will finally open for Bret almost six years after dropping out of his March 2008 show due to singer C.J. Snare's wife going into labour. Though we saw them open for Skid Row at Kewadin the following year, we're finally getting the original 2008 package, so don't be late for FireHouse's hits like "Don't Treat Me Bad" either!

Tickets for this stop on Bret Michaels' "Life Rocks Tour" have went fast, with only 7 seats (from the 9th row and back) and 100 or so standing room tickets remaining as of this writing, but if you don't have a ticket yet, buy yours A.S.A.P. at this link, 1-800-KEWADIN, or at the in-person box office before it's too late! The show has a 7:00 PM, it is ALL AGES, and check the above links for more details! Bret Michaels & Firehouse (and Poison) have a lot of local fans, and Bret's held up well over the years if his successful past local dates are any indiciation, so don't miss it THIS SATURDAY, we'll have fallout as it comes in, and for a preview, here's Bret live in the Soo in 2011!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news as soon as we have it! Thanks everyone!