Saturday, February 25, 2017

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Highway 63), Bay Mills Bands Together II Preview, And Much More!!

Let's tackle a large amount of Sault Michigan updates today (with one tiny Sault Ontario story to boot), and before anyone asks, we'll be covering Tuesday's Pop Evil show in our next news post, in order to give it proper emphasis closer to showtime, so don't worry, it's still coming! Below, you'll find some assorted notes, a new live concert video, a preview of an anticipated charity concert, and first, a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT & related apology, so here's what you should know!

Sault Michigan classic/hard rock cover quartet Highway 63 will return to Dondee Lanes TONIGHT, after previously playing there last night! Profuse apologies for the short notice (and for missing last night's concert) we only first learned of these shows overnight via their Facebook page, though the band only just plugged them at 5:51 PM yesterday, leaving no time to rush a post here even if I'd heard as soon as announced. This weekend's Dondee gigs are the first public evidence of Highway 63's teased "travelling" this year away from The Rapids Lounge, and while the South Mackinac Trail bowling alley may be seen as unusual ground for the Monkey's Uncle successors, Highway 63 have played the Dondee before, rocking out there in October 2014 early in their run. It's great to see the Switzers, Chris, and Ron spreading their wings to some different venues, though who knows if they'll travel to more regional venues or go outside of the E.U.P.? In the meantime, don't miss Highway 63 at the Dondee TONIGHT!

TONIGHT'S show (and yesterday's) has an oddly early start time of 8:00 PM, you must be 21 to attend, and there is no announced cover charge. For more details, visit the above links, and for a preview, here's a new live video of Highway 63 in concert! Filmed by attendee Bobbiejo MacArthur and shared to the band's Facebook page last week, this comes from the band's Rapids Lounge weekend at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino last week, reportedly their last there "for a while". The video features the guys covering Theory of a Deadman's "Lowlife", and while the video runs for an incomplete 63 seconds, and is filmed from a distant sharp angle of the stage, the audio is solid, and Henry Switzer's vocals are in fine form on this recent rock radio hit! Hopefully the guys aren't gone from the Soo Kewadin for too long, but give this new live video a look below, don't miss them TONIGHT at the Dondee, and apologies again for missing last night's concert, we'd have plugged it here had the band announced it well beforehand!



Next up, here's a preview of a show that was previously announced, as the second Bay Mills Bands Together fundraiser concert goes down at Pickles Bar & Grill in Brimley TOMORROW NIGHT! Following in the lead of their Marissa Kronemeyer benefit concert 9 months ago at the same venue, this is the second gig for the non-profit group, this time coming together to raise funds to cover medical expenses for Liz & Christian Perron, who lost their son Wesley recently after a hard fought medical battle (click here for more on their story.) Tomorrow's performers are all donating their time to help the Perrons, and they include headlining cover quartet The Whole Shabang at 12:00 AM, masked metal band Stoned Ape Evolution at 11:00 PM in their first show of the year, hard/blues rock quartet Project 906 at 9:30 PM, cover rock trio Absolute Magnitude (with Chump Change & London Gentlemen alumni) at 8:00 PM, country rock cover veterans The Brooks Band at 6:30 PM, and solo musician Ken Jahnke opening at 6:00 PM.

Note that a teased set by a mystery band named The Lost Dogs has been cancelled for unannounced reasons, though rather than remove them from the updated poster, it actually notes that they cancelled (why draw attention to it like that?) In any event, hopefully nothing bad happened! Bay Mills Bands Together II has a $5 minimum cover charge, while there will be 50/50 and door prize draws as well, and extra donations will be accepted. This sounds like another great event for a great cause, and with a varied lineup like this, hopefully there's a great turnout at Pickles tomorrow night to help the Perron family at this difficult time! Check the above links for more details, and here's Stoned Ape Evolution live last year!



Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter stories from the last while, including one from Sault Ontario, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist or program name:

  • Allstar Promotions owner Dave Atkinson was quoted in this new Sault Evening News article hyping tomorrow's Pop Evil concert at The Dreammaker's Theater, where he noted Pop Evil's growth since they last played Sault Michigan in 2013, and noted openers Badflower's rising chart success. The rest covers already-trodden ground to hype this huge concert, but the article does allude to Allstar Promotions' quiet 2016, albeit without going into details on why they didn't book anything last year. Nice promotion from the local newspaper, so check everything out above, and stay tuned for our preview!
  • Project 421 bassist Daniel Horton is looking for a bassist as soon as possible for an apparent new band of his (I presume he's on guitar for this project.) The band plays originals as well as covers, and jam every Wednesday evening. This may be the same band he referenced wanting to start in December that would play "well structured & tasteful" hard/pop rock with an intent of 5 or less shows a year, but I can't confirm that. In any event, message Daniel at this link or via his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from Wednesday if you want to try out!
  • We can now confirm that Scarkazm, not Peril, are the Traverse City metal band playing at The Northern Pines Lounge at the Kewadin Shores Casino in St. Ignace on March 10th & 11th, as per this updated concert calendar! This confirms that Kewadin Casino's entertainment page was right all along regarding which of Jeff Hudson & Adam Crawford's bands was playing that weekend (spelling mistake regardless), so either their prior concert calendar saw a band mix-up, or Peril's drummer can't make the March gigs. It'll be a great weekend regardless, so don't miss Scarkazm back in St. Ignace in two weeks!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's YouTube Channel Profile next! Thanks everyone!

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