Havadder Concert Preview, Plus Lots Of New Videos!!

Here's one more news post before I return home and get ready for night #3 of the VM Radio Battle of the Bands, and conveniently, two of Wednesday's competing bands have new videos to share in today's post! We also have our first look at a new band from across the river, but first, here's a special mid-week concert preview for a popular holiday!

We'll start with a rare Tuesday night concert preview, but there's a seasonal tie for it, as local classic/hard rock cover quartet Havadder will rock The Rednecks Saloon TOMORROW NIGHT in honour of St. Patrick's Day! We usually see a handful of local concerts each year to mark this Irish holiday, but as of this writing, this is the only heavier show that we can confirm for tomorrow. After a month off from the local stage, I'm sure the green beer will be flowing tomorrow for Havadder, though I should note that some personal postings for the show implied that they'd be playing as a trio without guitarist Jamie July. If true, hopefully the guys still deliver a solid night of hard rock classics at the former Nicolet! A 10:00 PM start time is advertised, you must be 19 to attend, and there's no announced cover charge. Check the Facebook event page for more details, and here's Havadder last year!



Next up, here's some long overdue new videos from local jam/alternative rock trio Mike Haggith & The Din, and our apologies for the delay in mentioning these on the site! The guys (who you'll see at the VM Radio Battle of the Bands on Wednesday) have uploaded 5 new videos to their pages in the past month showcasing their recent sound and lineup alterations. We won't critique or review them given that I still have to judge The Din on Wednesday, but the videos include a YouTube video (from Mike's YouTube channel) of their lengthy song "The Dog", which was filmed at a jam session in January, still has Daniel Horton on drums, and also features their Haggith bandmate Jordan Leach on guest guitar. The other videos are via their Facebook page from the past few weeks, all featuring new drummer Brandan Glew, including black & white jam session clips of them playing "The Snake" & "Of Cars & Criminals", both prior solo songs of Mike's.

The other two videos both actually come from the Benighted concert at The Oddfellows Hall last weekend, where Mike & The Din replaced their sister band Haggith on the lineup! This was never announced by promoters that I saw, but the switch was at least partly due to Daniel Horton being out of town last weekend, as per personal Facebook posts. Hopefully The Din's set went well! Two Facebook videos from the show are online, those being of the aforementioned "The Dog" (in black & white) and, as embedded below, "The Snake". Guitarist Curtis McKenzie has told me that The Din now has more of a pop rock sound, but it still has a grit to it, just with less of an extended jam rock base. Give everything a look, and don't miss The Din at the battle!



Also, here's our first video look at new Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Ten Kings in concert! Actually, the band itself aren't the focus of the video (uploaded to their Facebook page yesterday), as it mainly focuses on guitarist Joe Jenkins' dad Jeff dancing during Ten Kings' rendition of ZZ Top's "Sharp Dressed Man", presumably at The Northern Pines Lounge this weekend. Fun, especially if you know Jeff and family! Ten Kings sound good in what little we hear (mainly the chorus), but this admittedly doesn't best utilize Brandon Carr's vocal range. Still, check it out below!




We'll close today with a new Facebook video from masked local rap/metal quartet The Apocalypse Afterparty, as per their Facebook page on Thursday! The video features "songwriter" Paul Stanghetta explaining a lingering question regarding their new expanded lineup, as recent posts have mentioned that they'll be featuring an Akai MPC500 (or "music production center") in upcoming shows like at this Wednesday's VM Radio Battle. It's basically like an enhanced drum machine that is capable of producing beats and rhythms on the fly like a regular instrument, and it will be played by new member z (pronounced "zed", identity to be confirmed) at the battle on Wednesday and at future shows, while x (pronounced "times") is their new second bassist. Intriguing for sure, so check out Paul's video below, and don't miss the new lineup's debut at the battle!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for our extended preview of night #3 of the VM Radio Battle of the Bands TOMORROW! Thanks everyone!