LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Northwest), Highway 63 & Handsome Sandwich Videos, And More!!

Here's a new news post for your Friday afternoon, and if you're wondering where an announcement regarding a major show coming up in September is, don't worry, I am aware of it! We'll absolutely cover it in the coming days as a headline topic, with or without an announced venue! Now, let's clear out some recent backlogged stories with some shorter items, new videos from bands on each side of the border, and first, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!

Local indie/punk quintet Northwest will return to the stage for a concert at LopLops Lounge on Saturday, May 27th! This show will end a nine month hiatus from live concerts for this talented band, who were last seen opening for 1971 at The New A last August, and while I'm not sure where they've been for the majority of their break, they have recently been recording material in studio. Northwest's blend of high energy punk rock should find another solid audience in this rare headlining concert, so don't miss out on their LopLops return in three weeks' time! This show has a 9:00 PM start time, a $5 cover charge, and a 19+ cover charge in effect. It's great to see Northwest back on stage after way too long, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details!

Next up, here's a new video of Sault Michigan classic/hard rock cover quartet Highway 63 from one of their gigs at The Northern Pines Lounge at the Kewadin Shores Casino in St. Ignace two weeks ago! Filmed by fan Leann Ross and shared to their Facebook page on April 23rd, this video was uploaded twice accidentally, and it captures the Sir Charge successors covering AC/DC's "Dirty Deeds Done Dirty Cheap". Dancing fans get in the way of the band's view, but it's a sign that they're connecting with the crowd and encouraging lively responses, so you can't go wrong there, and the guys handle this classic hard rock number with gusto! Give it a look below!

Also, here's the latest from new Sault Ontario trio Handsome Sandwich, who now allege themselves to have "no genre" according to their Facebook page (not unlike The Fury), but there is one live video floating around so we can finally sample them! Sadly, this video was only uploaded on a personal Facebook account and not shared publically that I have seen, so I won't link it here, but it is of this curiously named band covering Biffy Clyro's "Black Chandelier" at Monday night's Gutter Demons show at The New American Pub during their soundcheck. It's hard to base them on one song, but the guys sound good on this alt-rock cover, and the bridge has a particularly heavy groove! As for drummer Johnny Belanger's singing voice, he handles things fine, as fans of his older acoustic sets will expect. If you can locate this video, give it a watch, as well as an Elements performance clip from the same filmer that same night!

That said, Handsome Sandwich did upload one new public video to their Facebook page on Monday, and it's basically a short epilogue to their earlier video of Johnny customizing a Bic lighter with a pen and white wrap-around label. Here, Johnny shows off a tray of 50 similarly labelled lighters, all visibly with the band's name on them, and he notes how long it took to make them, before plugging Monday's show, where you could presumably get or buy the lighters. Solid pre-show promotion, especially as it clarifies the whole lighter business, so check it out below!



Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter items from the last while, and these are in alphabetical order by artist name:

• Former Garage Inc. guitarist & No Shadows Cast mainman Brian Lester is looking for a bassist for his new local band project, who will apparently play originals and covers, and though he didn't specify a genre, he said that they would play "whatever sounds good and entertains a crowd", and applicants "must have an open mind." We haven't heard a new musical update from Brian in way too long, and he did showcase clear talent back in his mid-2000s band work, so message him at this link or via his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from Wednesday if you're interested in trying out!
• Very similarly to Brian's search, Eclipse guitarist Daniel Horton is looking for a bassist as well via the Musicians Wanted group on Wednesday, where he inquired about where all of the bassists have been hiding. It's not clear which project he intends for the bassist to be a part of, but if it's not Eclipse (who teased a bassist search so he could move to guitar last year), it's for the brand new project he hinted at starting over the winter. Message Daniel at this link or above if you're interested!
• Treble Charger guitarist Bill Priddle's new local "drone/noise/psych" band Pointless have been added as a surprise late band for FRIDAY'S Soo Art Rocks concert at The Canadian Nightclub, as per promoters Live705 on the Facebook event page this past Wednesday. Bill has been a steady sight locally in solo sets & open mics in recent months, and while this new band doesn't have an online page or public media yet, it will be very interesting to find out how they look and sound next week! See above for more details on this unique concert!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates on the SMS over the weekend! Thanks everyone!