LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Power Slug & Plastic), Plus More News From Sault Michigan!!

Before we post our first introductory post to the first of the punk bands in our expanded SMS coverage, here's another new Sault Michigan-centric post on this Friday evening, as the steady news from across continues to come in! On the Yooper side of things, we have some recent video finds, the latest from a local metal band, and first, SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for THIS WEEKEND and some for next month, but check out our big announcement for our 7th anniversary in the post below this one!

According to their newest Facebook page (which I only just discovered yesterday), Sault Michigan bar/venue The Savoy Bar & Nightclub will welcome local hard rock cover trio Power Slug back TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, these shows were only recently announced, and not by Power Slug themselves, but hopefully they'll say something on their Facebook page soon. Fresh off of their Manistique show on June 21st, Power Slug will not be playing inside this recent favourite venue of theirs this weekend, instead playing outside in The Savoy's back parking lot, as part of the venue's "Summer Fest" series, which sees bands playing outdoors on weekends over a 6 week span through early August (classic rock cover quartet Ricochet kicked things off last week), and Power Slug should keep the good vibes going with their hard hitting setlist this weekend! 10:00 PM start times, 21+ age limits, and no announced cover charges are in effect, so check the above links for more details!

Though not a unique concept for Sault Michigan (The Corner Pub often hosts bands on their outdoor patio), this will be a nice change of pace, especially given the running series theme for the summer, and hopefully there's a solid turnout this weekend for fans to chug their mug along with Power Slug! Keep these shows in mind for TONIGHT and TOMORROW, and here they are inside the Savoy earlier this year!

As for future weeks of the Savoy's Summer Fest, we don't yet know the other bands playing in July (we'll let you know if a hard rock band plays, or if Power Slug comes back), but we know who's last on August 1st & 2nd, as local alternative hard rock trio Plastic will rock the Savoy, or, outside of it! Announced late last month, these will be Plastic's second & third gigs (and first as headliners) since the addition of new drummer Aaron DePalma, and they'll also be their first solo shows at a local bar since rocking The Merch last September, so keep both those angles in mind, especially if you missed their LemmaFest set! Barring a new show announced in the interim, you can see Plastic's creative and hard-edged covers & originals next month at 10:00 PM both nights, with 21+ age limits and no announced cover charge also in effect. For more details, check the above links and the Facebook event page, and don't miss these shows as part of The Savoy Bar's Summer Fest!

Next up, here's the latest from local classical metal band Theatre of Night, starting with confirmation that the band has indeed parted ways with drummer Greg Giles. Keyboardist Craig Harrison told me in a recent Facebook e-mail that he amicably left due to scheduling conflicts and to pursue his own projects, though it's unclear yet whether they include the artistic work and side project band that he had once plugged on their website. Craig said that they will seek a replacement for future gigs, though no word on if they'll use a live drummer for future studio work yet. Disappointing news, especially knowing how good Greg was his brother Steve and Craig in this and other recent bands, but best of luck to him for sure! Craig did confirm that they are still working with German singer Gaby Koss on upcoming music, and she will be recording new vocal tracks in the fall. Theatre of Night's website has recently also had a streamlined overhaul featuring less info but more emphasis on material, though curiously, there's no mention of their second CD "The Dawn's Early Light" outside of press quotes.

The website even lists a handful of gigs that the band played in 2012 (which I don't even remember being announced), and it includes recent Reverbnation uploads, the newest of which being the symphonic instrumental piece "5th Movement in E Minor" that holds up with their other recent recordings. Though the winds of change surround Theatre of Night's recent output, the future looks bright, so keep an eye out for updates!

Finally for today, we'll close with some of the older videos on local hard rock trio Division of Sanity's YouTube channel, now that they're the newest Sault Michigan band in our links! Videos dating back to March of last year are posted there, including an introductory video, 4 very brief vlogs from frontman Caine VanderMolen to update band news at the time (though none have been posted since last May), and five studio demo tracks, those being of the songs "Just Listen", "Division of Sanity", "The Start Again Feel", "Seasons", and "Time", so click each link to hear those! The other videos include a loose interview with Caine from last April about a variety of topics, and as embedded below, this video from last March featuring both Caine (on drums) and Plastic frontman Zac Crook jamming covers of Lynyrd Skynyrd and Warren Zevon songs, and it's an interesting clip, though the camera is from right behind Caine, with his shoulder area taking up much of the video's right half.

Solid videos all around, though the vlogs are short, and the early demos are mostly of the acoustic minimal vein that LemmaFest attendees didn't see. Division of Sanity have a solid modern rock sound and very distinctive vocals, so be sure to catch them at some of their upcoming dates that we'll touch on next week, and here's Caine and Zak from Plastic jamming last year!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for our first of our introductory posts to the punk bands now covered on the site! Thanks everyone!