Project 906 Concert Preview, A New Live Album, And Much More!!

In what I project will be our last post of the month on the SMS, we have some assorted shorter topics from recent weeks, a new cover video, and a new album release to take note of, but first, here's one more concert preview for the Canada Day long weekend, ironically in Michigan!

We'll start today by wrapping up our publically known and advertised hard rock concert previews in Brimley, Michigan, where Sault Ste. Marie blues/hard rock quartet Project 906 will return for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT at the Back Bay Grill & Games at Bay Mills Resort & Casino! Quietly postponed two weeks from the venue's originally advertised date, this will be their first stop at "your perfect up north retreat" since August of last year, and it's the first of three scheduled stops that they're making at the waterfront bar and restaurant through September. Fans of 906's hard rocking covers should have a fun time in Brimley tomorrow, so don't miss out on all of the action then! This 21+ concert has a 10:00 PM start time and no announced cover charge. See the above links for more details, and for a preview, we have a new live video of Project 906 to share! This was filmed at their Strongs Tavern set last week during the Brenda Holmes benefit fun run afterparty, as filmed by attendee Tina Knox, so what should you know on it?

Shared to the band's Facebook page on Monday, this is of Project 906 covering Mountain's "Mississippi Queen" alongside a young attendee named Riley on his own guitar. Nice of the guys to invite the kid on stage, and while Joe Jenkins' placement isn't optimal for view of the band, he's clearly engaging with Riley and playing along with him, which is nice to see! The cover's solid, and Billy Bernier's vocals are particularly strong, so give this cover a look below, and don't miss Project 906 in Brimley tomorrow night!

Next up, we have a surprise album release to take note of on here, namely a new live album from Sault Ontario solo artist and former Din frontman Mike Haggith! Entitled "From The Nickel Stage", this was recorded at Mike's solo acoustic headlining set at the Nickel Days festival in Thompson, Manitoba this past Sunday, and was quickly released on a "name your price" model on his Bandcamp page on Monday. The album is comprised of 7 songs, 6 being newer originals (including the title track for his next planned studio album "Bridges"), as well as a cover of The Din's original song "Missing". Whether this set had additional outside covers or not isn't clear, but this does all fit into a half hour set with room to spare. This is Mike's first album as a solo artist since the release of "The Warinside" three years ago, and his first live album in four years, so this has been a long time coming for his revived solo project! With all of this stated, is a review imminent?

I'd say no, as precedent goes to studio albums, and with "Bridges" announced for later this year (if not with recording sessions underway), I'm inclined to wait for that album and not risk delaying it by reviewing a live album with versions of these songs that aren't the final studio copies. Plus, who knows if The Din's ongoing July 21st, 2018 teaser has anything to do with said album, as no one's showing their cards regarding the date yet. Still, give "From The Nickel Stage" a listen above to hear Mike's Manitoba-based new material, and consider buying it as well!

Also today, here's a new solo cover video from Highway 63 frontman Henry Switzer, courtesy of the still-on-hiatus band's Facebook page on June 17th, but it's not of a song you might be expecting. The cover in question is "I Can Only Imagine" by the Christian rock band MercyMe, which Henry spoke above on how the song was inspiring to him and that hoped to "touch people's hearts" with this performance. This may seem out of left field, but Henry's singing is solid, and remember that Sault Michigan has more of a history with Christian rock than Sault Ontario, with notable bands like Seeking Reverence, Outshined, and OmegaRock in recent years. Give it a look below!



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

• Nashville hard rock quartet The Dead Deads have been added as the second openers for the Seether/10 Years concert at The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino on August 11th, as per promoters Allstar Promotions' Facebook page on June 18th. This 3/4ths female group have an energetic and creative sound with influences from grunge to science fiction, and they're definitely worth coming early for! Tickets are still available for $46, so act now before it's too late!
• Though curiously not advertised on Rotaryfest's website, their individual performer Facebook event pages indicate that Sault Ontario funk/hard rock quartet The Elements have been added as the opening band for Stage 2 on Saturday, July 21st at 1:30 PM! This makes them the only heavier band playing on the last day, which we already outlined in our post on the Rotaryfest schedules, so I won't restate our original write-up here. Hopefully The Elements have a blast in their Second Stage debut next month!
• If you've seen references to a concert from Jesse Cook at The Sault (Kiwanis) Community Theater Center on March 31st, 2019, be advised that this is not the prolific local metal and punk guitarist going solo. Rather, this Jesse Cook is a Juno Award winning flamenco/jazz guitarist from Toronto, and genre fans would be well served to give this show a look! Of course, you can see the Soo's Jesse Cook with Winkstinger, Handsome Sandwich, The Wyld Stallyns, and the aforementioned Elements at local stages near you later this year, but wouldn't it be something if he opened?

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site next month! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (The 3 Day Millionaires & Tym Morrison) And Most Of This Weekend's Concert Previews!!

Helping to end this month on a busy note, we have another busy weekend of hard rock concerts to cover this weekend (on the Canada Day long weekend, no less.) As such, we're pushing our preview of Project 906's concert in Brimley to tomorrow's post to spread everything out, so don't worry, it's coming! Now, here's what you should know to start this weekend off right, starting with SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!!

Local classic hard/rock cover quartet The 3 Day Millionaires will reportedly end their local run when they headline at Reggie's West TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, these shows were only announced via the official Facebook event page on Tuesday. Yes, advertising for TOMORROW & SATURDAY's shows indicates that The Millionaires are disbanding after this weekend's bookings, though they have not publically stated a reason for this surprising news. The 3 Day Millionaires have been a steady sight on the local bar circuit for over 2 years now, and they had solid chemistry and a nice long setlist for fans wherever they went, and I just hope their breakup is amicable! For what it's worth, drummer Scott McLurg's old band Turner Up is reuniting for Rotaryfest next month (alongside former Millionaires bandmate Travis Sharpe), but I have seen no reference to that being more than a one-off.

As usual for The 3 Day Millionaires' Reggievelt gigs, TOMORROW & SATURDAY's concerts are 9:30 PM events with no announced cover charges or age limits. Visit the above links for more details, here's The Millionaires live, and best of luck to Steve, Jeremey, Bill, and Scott in the future! They're all talented musicians that will be assets wherever they go next!



Next up, local acoustic hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison has a busy weekend ahead, though with some changes. Joining his previously announced matinee gig at Gliss Steak & Seafood TOMORROW and nighttime show at Room 21, he'll be playing a special SUNDAY NIGHT concert at the latter venue as part of that venue's Canada Day festivities! Again, apologies for the short notice on the Sunday show, we only learned of it via SooToday's events calendar. Regarding his Gliss shows, the planned Saturday nighter this weekend is not taking place for unannounced reasons, but it could be related to Canada Day weekend event conflicts. As for rumours regarding Gliss' future at the Quality Inn, I will wait until there's public confirmation before elaborating here, but see Tym there TOMORROW, just in case! As for SUNDAY, Tym's personal Facebook page implied that he'd have two shows on Canada Day, but I have seen no public reference to the second, so it may be a private booking, and wouldn't be covered here as a result.

Of course, tomorrow's Room 21 show is part of their new Finger Food Friday theme nights for you appetizer fans, while SUNDAY'S show is timed so attendees above Low & Slow can see the fireworks, so keep that in mind to kick off the month! Tomorrow's shows are at 6:00 PM (Gliss) and 10:00 PM (Room 21), while the Canada Day show there has a special 8:00 PM start time. The Room 21 shows are 19+, and none of these concerts have an announced start time. Visit the above links and the Facebook event pages for the Friday nighters linked here & here for more details, and here's Tym live!



Moving to shows that were entirely previously announced, we'll next head to Outspoken Brewing at 350 Queen Street East for our first ever concert preview there, as London "true-psych/post-metal' quintet Whoop-Szo will rock Sault Ste. Marie for the first time TOMORROW NIGHT!  With a creative hybrid sound melding experimental, post-punk, folk, and psychedelic sounds into one package, as well as socially conscious lyrics, Whoop-Szo should have a little something for everyone while bringing enough heavy sounds to make SMS fans happy tomorrow! The opening act is Hamilton garage rock band Billy Moon, who have some punk influences in older material, and have an up-tempo indie vibe that should be a nice match tomorrow as well! A rare hard rock headline booking from Ears & Eyes, this concert will be held at the aforementioned craft brewery on Queen Street East beside Shabby Motley Handcraft, and with bookings ramping up there, it'll be interesting to see what else comes to Outspoken Brewing!

Tickets for this 19+ concert can be bought online at this link for $10 (there's no stated hike for admission at the door), and a 9:00 PM start time is advertised. This should be a fun concert for fans of the more experimental fringes of hard rock and punk, and at a relatively unique locale to boot, so visit the Facebook event page for more details, and here's Whoop-Szo live!

Finally for today's concert preview post, we'll take a detour to St. Ignace, where Sault Michigan classic/hard rock cover quartet Cousin Eddie are slated to return to The Northern Pines Lounge at St. Ignace's Kewadin Casino branch TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! After a 3+ month hiatus from announced public concerts, the Highway 63 sister band should have another entertaining weekend of live cover action in store for patrons in the southeast U.P., so consider a trip to the St. Ignace Kewadin to see the guys in action this weekend! Note that Cousin Eddie have not confirmed these bookings on their Facebook page, nor have they posted on there yet this year, but the venue has advertised them right along. As usual for Kewadin lounge bookings, these are 9:00 PM concerts with 21+ age limits and no announced cover charge. Check the above links for more details, and when some public preview videos of Cousin Eddie turn up, we'll let you know!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for our Project 906 preview and more tomorrow! Thanks everyone! 

The Din - "Suburban Sendoff" Album Review!!

It's now time for our 108th monthly CD review at The Sault Metal Scene, as we're finally taking a look at defunct local alt-hard rock trio The Din's posthumous live album "Suburban Sendoff"! Released on February 16th of this year, this is their fourth paid release and their second live album (but first from a non-acoustic concert), with this album being recorded from the soundboard at The Din's farewell/CD release concert at LopLops Lounge on October 21st, 2017. Like on their prior three albums, The Din are represented here by singer/bassist Mike Haggith (now of Thompson, Manitoba's Between The Ditches and his revived solo project), Steeletown Girls guitarist Tammy Hill, and Re:Born drummer Brandan Glew. "Suburban Sendoff" is only available on their Bandcamp page on their "name your price" model, but consider supporting The Din's work by paying an amount for it! As usual, you can stream it there too, and song names linked below are to their live versions.

This album has 20 tracks running for about 98 minutes in length, but keep in mind that this is a live album, and with one (technically two) exceptions, we have reviewed nearly every song in the past via our reviews of The Din's studio albums "Give In To The Din" and "Suburban Dream", while we looked at the acoustic version of "We Met At The Circus" on "The Din Does Laundry", Mike's studio solo version on "The Warinside" notwithstanding. Given that, I am not re-reviewing most of those songs here, but I will compare them to their studio versions and as live performances. Visit the album names linked above for our original reviews of 9/10ths of this album's songs!

After a brief introduction, "Suburban Sendoff" kicked off in album and live form with the first song on their then-brand new album "Suburban Dream", namely "Give Me A Reason". The LopLops performance sticks close to the original version, which is a fun and upbeat hard rocker already, but I do like that the chorus vocals sound a little looser and less forced. Mild overkill on the cymbals at times, but fans of the studio version will have nothing to complain about in live form! Next on "Suburban Dream" and "... Sendoff" alike is "High Park", which again hews close to the original version, but is played a little faster here, which doesn't hurt things at all! Fans responded well to this steadily paced rocker, and while I'm still not a fan of the "Ooooh" chorus, they again only used it once. Third up is a rendition of "Alleyways & Apartments" from 2016's "Give In To The Din."

This live rendition honestly has a rawer, less grand feel than the original studio copy, but that suits the live setting and the energy within! It's not really any faster, but there's a loose and casual nature to it, especially when Mike tries to get some back-up assistance on the chorus, so fans will be right at home. After acknowledging their impending breakup and that night's release of "Suburban Dream", they launch into the next song from "G.I.T.T.D.", namely "Out Of My League.", itself a prior solo song of Mike's. Aside from his voice showing some strain compared to The Din's studio version, this live take is well performed again, showcasing the song's upbeat and hard rocking strengths to good effect! We flip back to the "Suburban Dream" album for the next two songs, with Mike acknowledging that they're going a little more intimate at this stage of the set, before referencing Shaw TV filming the show (has their footage turned up yet publically?), and introducing the band to the crowd.

The next track is "Weekend Delivery", which maintains it's short and soft nature from the studio version, but the vocals are the big change, as Mike doesn't sound quite as reserved and delicate in this performance, and Brandan's backing vocals don't mesh as well at the same time. I prefer The Din's faster and heavier songs, and this didn't alter that, but it sounds fine otherwise while it lasts! On both live and studio albums, that's followed by "Missing", and I honestly didn't notice this song's verse similarities to "Ahead By A Century" by The Tragically Hip (to me, at least) until today's review! The moody, mid-tempo original is mostly intact here, and it's well performed for fans of The Din's middle ground between heavy and light material! After thanking attendees and Mike's family for attending the farewell show, the guys tackle "Flux" from "Give In To The Din". A slightly faster rendition, this is fairly standard with the original song otherwise, but that's fine by me!

"Flux" was one of my favourite songs" on their debut, and I'm glad to see that it didn't suffer at all in this live setting! Next is the set's only original composition not on The Din's studio albums, namely "We Met At The Circus" (otherwise known as "We Met As Surrogates".) You could call this The Din's de facto studio version of that song, and for comparisons sake with Mike's 2015 solo version on "The Warinside", The Din dropped the highway and telephone sound effects, as well as the orchestral base, in favour of just focusing on the basics. That said, this version is much longer than the original due to some extended jamming that Tammy shines on, as well as Mike thanking all of his friends in Sault Ste. Marie before his big move. The Din's live versions always turned this song into a more energetic, heavy, and fun composition, and that's no different here. It's a shame this song never made one of a Din studio album, but this will do!

We return to their debut album for the next song, "In Search Of The Perfect Moment", which is another faithful live rendition, save for a pause for drama late and a moment where Mike jokingly forgets the last chorus. The Din handles their first album's opener with the requisite enthusiasm and chemistry, and for one of that album's highlights, it definitely deserved it's positive reception (and the mystery balloons that showed up during this song!) The first half of the album concludes with "35's The Limit" from "Suburban Dream", which is another lively and faithful rendition in structure, but it honestly sounds a little more aggressive than it originally did. I don't mind that approach at all, but either way, this is perfectly on pace with earlier songs on this live album! Another "Suburban Dream" track follows next, that being "Up In The Air", which maintains it's leisurely indie-inspired pacing, but slightly amped up for the live concert atmosphere.

Not one of my favourites from that album, but it holds up well live, and the crowd seems to like it! Next is another softer original, "Remember" from "Give In To The Din", which was arguably that album's pure ballad. Live, the instrumentation's a little more prominent, and it feels a little less like a campfire jam, but whether the less casual feel is an improvement or not is subjective. I'm undecided, but it's well performed! Then we have "A Brief Intermission",  where a friend of the band named Kyle Foster comes on stage to compliment and congratulate The Din for their run. Nice of them to include this on the album, but given that it's not a song and runs for just 52 seconds, why not just tack it onto the end of "Remember"? Two successive songs from "Suburban Dream" come on next, starting with "In The Moonlight", which is played a little faster, but primarily differentiates from Mike's voice starting to crack during the first chorus.

That shows how much intensity and passion Mike was giving for The Din's sendoff, and it just adds to the mood of the night! I always liked the slow burn as the song evolved from an intimate performance to having the full band rocking out at the end, and that mostly comes through in this quality live take! Next is "The Price That You Pay", and I'll be honest, this song came through better in studio. The progressive, grand nature of it didn't translate to the farewell concert, and while still well performed, it has more of an emotional, raw feel here that doesn't click the same to me. The song immediately segues into "Potato (You Should've Known Better)" from their debut album/Mike's solo catalog. Again, the studio version of this song is more optimal to hear this song, both via the inclusion of the noodling guitar intro and due to Mike's vocal fatigue and Tammy's guitar coming unplugged, but the hard rock energy is welcomed back after their quieter and more reserved sketch to help get the home stretch in high gear!

The band teases ending their set before calls for an encore prompt a few more songs, starting with "75" from "Give In To The Din" and Mike's old band Haggith's debut CD. Fans of this song dating back to Haggith's run will be pleased to hear that it survived intact with no edits or visible fatigue, and for The Din'a harder edged, faster-paced side, this is surely welcome news! The encore continues with a surprise (though very welcomed) cover of The Tragically Hip's "Blow At High Dough" in tribute to their frontman Gord Downie, who lost his battle with brain cancer just four days prior to this concert. The Din had already covered this song live frequently, so it's short notice inclusion felt natural and right on all accounts. Their rendition was really solid, it's clear that they know the song very well, and Mike injected emotion with a mid-bridge speech about Gord's impact on him as a frontman, while also adding some humor with the "some kind of Elvis thing" lyric.

A cover of "Blow At High Dough" would benefit from two guitarists just for the melody, but you couldn't ask for a more fitting tribute from one Canadian band to another, and kudos for managing to include this in the album! The show seemingly ends with the title track of the "Suburban Dream" CD, and this rendition is really solid, flowing with the original while better using the backing chorus vocals at the same time! The guys bottled up their energy and talents well to unleash here, and this was a great capper.... or was it? After soaking in the emotion and the fan response, they tackle one more song, namely their debut album's extended closer and prior Mike solo track "A Drive Through The Peninsula", which runs for an album record 11 minutes in this live form! Already an extended jam number, it's existing nature lends itself well to Mike reflecting on The Din's local career.

As a slight homage to their early days as an acid jam band, this song is a fitting closer and lets Mike, Tammy, and Brandan jam out and have a little fun to close out their local run! If you like The Din's studio version, you'll surely like this one, but if you dislike jam rock, you may want to stick to Mike's solo rendition from a few years back, which is much shorter.

So, what are my final thoughts on The Din's second (and final?) live album? Well, in terms of a "Suburban Sendoff", you couldn't ask for much more! With the exception of "The Rose" and three Mike Haggith solo songs from "The Din Does Laundry", this comprises virtually all of The Din's recorded (post-acid jam) originals for one extended farewell, and given the emotion and the hype, they delivered! It's impossible to compare this objectively to their past albums, as studio releases will be perfected compositions, and their first live album was acoustic, but the majority of songs here are true to their prior studio versions, while adding the usual live concert quirks and introductions. There are occasional flubs and missed steps, but as they noted on Bandcamp, this concert was unaltered for it's album release, and "the human element is on full display." A few songs don't translate as well to studio, or show noticeable strain from the lengthy headlining set, but The Din went out on top doing what they did best as a group!

Getting to hear fan favourite songs like "75", "Flux", and "We Met As Surrogates" one more time was a thrill, and the crowd and atmosphere was suitably cool on this fall night! As all of a piece, this is as good of a farewell as you could ask for from Mike, Tammy, and Brandan, and here's hoping that we hear more from them in their current projects for the foreseeable future! I hope you guys liked our extended review of "Suburban Sendoff", but what's coming on the site next? We're definitely reviewing a new album next, and I am currently leaning towards our first review of an album from another Mike, namely "Ultimate Chaos" by former Bear Hunters guitarist Mike Vincent! That could change (there are new albums from SweetKenny and the aforementioned Mike Haggith to take note of as well), but that's my current instinct. In any event, look for our next review at some point in July, and stay tuned for weekend concert previews next! Thanks everyone!

YouTube Channel Profile Series: Brook Moreau, Mike Deresti, And Maltheus

Here's this month's YouTube Channel Profiles to check out on this Tuesday afternoon! Today, we're spotlighting 3 randomly selected channels, as the first one we chose only had 3 very similar videos, so we had to fill things out, and the second channel only had one video period, so three it is. This month covers solo, live, and studio material from a handful of notable performers, so here's what you should know on this month's chosen YouTube channels and their content within!
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Brook Moreau (http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3oG6AxI8g4ueU4yCdxdZ6A) 

Owner: Ex-For All That Is Lost guitarist Brook Moreau

Channel Timeline: Launched on January 5th, 2012; Videos posted from March 15th-18th, 2015

Channel Summary: Two years after the breakup of his Central Algoma death metal band F.A.T.I.L., Brook uploaded three solo performance videos on YouTube, including a cover of August Burns Red's "Composure" and two Killswitch Engage covers, "Take This Oath" and "Self Revolution", his most popular video. Oddly enough, Brook doesn't appear to have his guitar plugged in for the covers (hence why you can hear him hitting the guitar strings), but he is clearly playing the songs in question and seems to know them very well! Though Brook hasn't visibly used his channel in over three years, check out For All That Is Lost videos for higher quality views of Brook in action, he was a highly underrated player!


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Mike Deresti (http://www.youtube.com/deresti64) 

Owner: YouTube user and area resident Mike Deresti

Channel Timeline: Launched on April 28th, 2011; Only video posted on July 16th, 2017

Channel Summary: Mike's only upload is a video of Windsor hard/world rock trio The Tea Party's free headlining concert at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion last July during the provincial government-sponsored ONTour concert series. Posting this shortly after the show wrapped up, Mike's video is of The Tea Party playing their classic ballad "Heaven Coming Down" (plus a mid-song rendition of U2's "With Or Without You"), though it starts with frontman Jeff Martin talking about filming the music video for this song. One of the better public videos from this concert, you get a nice look at the stage and video wall from Mike's vantage point, and The Tea Party sound as good as ever on their biggest hit! Though Mike hasn't visibly used this channel since, other YouTube accounts have more videos from this show.


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Maltheas (http://www.youtube.com/maltheas) 

Owner: YouTube user Maltheas, who I don't believe is locally based

Channel Timeline: Launched on June 17th, 2010; Videos posted on June 19th & 20th of that year

Channel Summary: Maltheas' channel is solely made up of two videos of songs he likes with accompanying lyrics in both English and Spanish, including Jonathan Coulton's "The Future Soon", and the more locally relevant "Brand New Low" by Treble Charger. I don't speak Spanish, so I can't comment on how good the translation is, but commenters on the more popular Jonathan Coulton cover seem appreciative of the effort! Of course, the Treble Charger song in question was a fan favourite from their 2000 CD "Wide Awake Bored", but there are many channels with this and far more content from the local indie/punk veterans, so the channel may only be of a vested interest for Spanish-fluent fans.


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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profiles! Next month in this series, our randomly selected channel will be that of Pillory guitarist/Id Iota bassist Robert Sartini, who has over two dozen videos from Pillory and his solo endeavours, so look for that on or around July 26th, and stay tuned for more news and notes soon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Rotaryfest Stage 2), Plus Mike McCleary's New Albums!!

Here's a new news post for your Saturday afternoon, and while we have some new album releases to take note of, most of this post is devoted to a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT reflecting the second half of our local summer festival's concert lineup for this year! Here's what you should know!

The full lineup for this year's Rotaryfest Stage 2 has been announced, so what should you know for this year's 13th installment of the all-original stage? While this year's lineup is not following Stage 1 with a "Rewind" theme for the 100th anniversary of the local Rotary Club, this year will actually be a bit of a throwback to Second Stage lineups of the old 2005-2013 era in some respects. Stage 2 will occur on Saturday, July 21st as expected, but it'll also take place on Friday the 20th for the first Friday lineup of the "redirected" era, and there will be Stage 2 bands playing on Thursday the 19th, marking the first time that day has hosted the event since 2006! As announced on Rotaryfest's website earlier this week, 15 acts will be playing on Stage 2 this year (returning once again to the outdoor Clergue Park stage beside the Art Gallery), including an out of town band for the first time since the 2014 hiatus, so who should you look for next month?

The five act lineup on Thursday, July 19th is basically an all-folk lineup, with no hard rock or punk acts in sight (mirroring Stage 1's Thursday bills in that respect.) The 9:00 PM headliner is veteran folk musician M.D. Dunn in his third Stage 2 set and first since 2013, though he'll be backed up by a new backing band named The Innocent Weapon Ensemble. The remainder of that day's lineup is made up of folk/indie acts in their Stage 2 debuts, including Telephone & Address drummer Jackson Reed's solo project at 8:00 PM, Hannah Lindsay at 7:30 PM, Shae Tull at 7:00 PM, and The Autumn Roots (which may now be a solo project) returning at 6:00 PM.

Friday, July 20th's lineup will likely be of the most interest to SMS readers, as it's the only night this year with heavier acts. That night's 8:30 PM headliners are Toronto electro-pop trio Parallels, becoming the first out of town band to play Stage 2 since The House of David Gang closed out the Saturday bill in 2013. Parallels' creative, upbeat electronic sound should find an audience at Clergue Park on the 20th! Local hard/alt-rock quartet Id Iota will co-headline at 7:30 PM, making them just the third band to play the Second Stage in three consecutive years (joining Kalle Mattson and Porter), while alt-punk band A Dire Setback will play their second straight year at this stage at 6:30 PM, and first as a trio. The opener that day will be Christian rapper Tristan "Bold Noize" Goslow in his Rotaryfest debut, and he should give a positive, inspirational performance to kick things off with! Like with Thursday's lineup, this is a FREE and ALL AGES concert event, so don't miss out!

Saturday, July 21st's lineup (while lacking in heavier and punk acts) is the largest of all, and it will be headlined by local/Toronto indie rocker Jesse Merineau and his solo band at 7:30 PM in his second straight Stage 2 set, in advance of his CD release concert on the July 26th. Soft prog rock favourites The Wild Iris will play Stage 2 for the third time in four years at 6:30 PM, while drone/noise rock trio Pointless will make their festival debut at 5:30 PM. Progressive rock quintet Machines Dream will make a rare live appearance at 4:30 PM in their record-tying fifth Second Stage booking (if you count their early run as The Craig West Band, at least), while indie pop duo All Us Others will also return from last year at 3:30 PM, and country/blues outfit The Barn Board Trio will make their festival debut at 2:30 PM. Again, all three days of Rotaryfest's stages are FREE and ALL AGES, so visit the above links for complete details!

And no, The Din's Facebook page teaser of "July 21, 2018" does not appear to reflect a Rotaryfest reunion, unless there's a massive secret being kept, and no one's advertising a special guest timeslot anyway. Of course, we'll let you know what that date entails when announced. This year's 3 day expansion of Stage 2 is more than welcomed, and hopefully this year's lineups get a great reception to encourage the local summer festival to keep it a multi-day event in the future! See above for more on this year's band lineup, and stay tuned for potential updates if they roll in!

We'll close today's post with a couple of surprise album releases, as local hard rock solo musician Mike McCleary has two new albums on sale on his Bandcamp page! One is Mike's previously announced "The Party Album", which was quietly released on May 25th, and while I apologize for the delay in acknowledging it on the site, Mike didn't announce it's release on his Facebook page as it was. Loosely inspired by the Ontario provincial election earlier this month, "The Party Album" features 9 songs, some of which being familiar from prior postings, with Mike sharing it's song 'This Is The Funk To Believe In" via this Facebook video last month. The other new album is a complete surprise, as Mike put out "What You've Done To Me" on Wednesday, which he describes as "a personal and politically charged album" that has "a much different sound than any of my others." Specifically, this album has 7 songs, and this brings his solo discography to five original albums in a year's time, which is an impressive production rate, to be sure!

Both new albums are available on Bandcamp at the above links on a "name your price" model, but consider paying for each album to support Mike's work and talents! In terms of when we might review either album, one could come as soon as August, but with four albums newly released since the spring (not counting "Weight of the World"), I couldn't begin to predict which one we'll review next.  In any event, Mike's talents and increasingly prolific nature are shining nicely, so pick up his new and old albums above, and here's the title track of the latter album via his YouTube channel!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates on the site next week! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Id Iota, Soundcheck & The Wyld Stallyns), Plus More Weekend Concert Previews!!

Originally planned to be a new news post with the last of this weekend's concert previews, it instead balooned into an almost full concert preview post thanks to LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, largely on SHORT NOTICE, but we do have a new video to cap things off with! Here's what you should know to cap off this busy concert weekend!

Local acoustic hard rock/funk trio The Wyld Stallyns will make their debut at Northern Superior Brewing Company(?!) TODAY, before returning to Room 21 above Low & Slow for another concert TOMORROW NIGHT! Profuse apologies for the short notice on both shows, these concerts were only announced via their Facebook event pages (linked here and here) on Tuesday and yesterday respectively. The former was created by band members, but the latter has not been publically acknowledged by the band at press time, for what it's worth. TODAY's special set at Northern Superior Brewing (at 50 Pim Street, near the Bushplane Museum) will see the Speers' and Jesse rock out at a special early start time of 5:00 PM, so head there after work or before your night time plans for high energy acoustic covers TODAY! As for TOMORROW, Room 21 is hyping up this show as taking place on "Sangria Saturday" which will apparently involve specials for the drink in question.

If you want to wind down at this Albert Street West nightclub with some live music and/or a sangria, you can do far worse TOMORROW NIGHT! Neither of this weekend's short notice concerts have an announced cover charge, both are 19+ events, and TOMORROW'S show starts at 10:00 PM. Visit the above links for more details, and here's The Wyld Stallyns live!

Next up, and fresh off of their Go Skateboarding Day set yesterday, local indie/alt-hard rock quartet Id Iota will return to LopLops Lounge for a headlining concert TONIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice, this concert was also only announced via it's Facebook event page yesterday, and the band acknowledged there that this was a "last minute show." This will be Id Iota's first headlining concert of the summer season, and despite the short notice, hopefully they rock out as effectively as ever for fans and patrons at LopLops TONIGHT! Note that the event page mentions that they'll be playing "after the Case's Music concert", but I have no public details on what that concert entails, as I couldn't find anything concrete from the Id Iota, LopLops, or Case's Music pages. My guess is that it's an unrelated private concert for students in lessons there, but I am not positive.

In any event, TONIGHT'S Id Iota concert is a regular 10:00 PM affair with a presumed $5 cover charge and 19+ age limit, and there are no advertised opening bands (unless the Case's Music show preceding is considered as such schedule-wise.) Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Id Iota live earlier this year!



Closing this weekend's hard rock concert previews with a show that had lots of advance notice, we'll head to The Water Tower Pub TOMORROW NIGHT, where local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck are scheduled to play a headlining concert, with another newly announced show coming there on Saturday, July 7th! Advertised on this month's venue concert calendar as being "back by popular demand", tomorrow's gig will be their first appearance at this locale since early last month, but they'll have just a two week turnaround before hitting The Water Tower Pub again. Neither show has been announced by Soundcheck themselves publically online, but it's hard to argue with the venue's own concert calendar with this much detail! Click here for July's, which confirms Soundcheck's show on the 7th. You can take in the Mourning Wood successors' classic and hard rock hits tomorrow and in two weeks at 9:30 PM each night, with 19+ age limits and no cover charges in effect. See above for more details, and no preview videos yet!

We'll close today's post with the newest video shared to Sault Michigan classical metal project Theatre of Night's Facebook page, via keyboardist Craig Harrison's personal Facebook page yesterday! Self-described by Craig as "just a glimpse of what's to come", this 35 second clip features live video of a tracking computer featuring an unidentified studio recording. Sounds good from what I can make out, so give it a look below, and stay tuned for more on Theatre of Night's ongoing studio work!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site in the coming days! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Tym Morrison) & Most Of This Weekend's Hard Rock Concert Previews!!

Another busy concert weekend is drawing closer, so what is there to say for this latest slate of hard rock and punk concert previews? Well, due to the amount of shows, we'll be holding our preview of Saturday night's Soundcheck concert at The Water Tower Pub for our next news post (not to mention possible short notice announcements), but there's a lot to get to first, and we'll start with shows from an artist with another LOCAL CONCERT ALERT to touch on for later this month!

We'll start this weekend's concert previews with Tym Morrison's ongoing busy slate of acoustic hard rock concerts, as he'll be debuting at Burger Don TONIGHT in advance of his regular Gliss Steak & Seafood matinee concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY! With his expected return to Thursday nighters at Gliss only a couple of weeks away, tonight's show at the former Gigi's Bistro could be seen as a preview of that re-expansion, though this concert has a "Back to the '80s" theme, so look for a night full of 1980s cover selections from his extensive setlist! His Gliss shows tomorrow and Saturday should provide more of the same (just with no decade theme), so keep his regular ongoing concerts there in mind also! While we're on the subject, here's those new concerts we alluded to above, as Tym has announced a new Room 21 gig for Friday, June 29th, presumably with their new Finger Food Friday theme. This should help him end the month in style, so head down to Low & Slow and go upstairs for his cover action next Friday!

Tonight's Burger Don show (complete with new taco and margarita menus) is at 8:00 PM with no announced cover charge, while tomorrow & Saturday's Gliss shows are at 6:00 PM with no cover or announced age limit, and next Friday's Room 21 concert is a 19+ event at 10:00 PM with no cover either. Visit the official Facebook event pages linked here, here, and here for more details, and here's Tym live a few years back!



Next up, let's head to Queen Elizabeth Park TODAY for Tidal Records' sixth annual Go Skateboarding Day festivities, with live music on the docket for the fourth consecutive year! Once again, the worlds of extreme sports and local music will collide at the skatepark outside of the John Rhodes Center, with free skateboarding lessons and competitions ongoing tomorrow for experienced and beginning riders alike, so be sure to head down there for all of that if you're at all interested! Musically speaking, there are surprisingly no returning bands from the past 3 Go Skate Day events, and no, Garden of Bedlam aren't back, they're just the band used on the poster. This year's quality lineup will include online page-less punk quartet The Cover Up (fronted by Tidal Records' own Dustin Jones), indie/punk quintet Northwest, "no genre" alt-hard rock trio Handsome Sandwich, and indie/hard rock quartet Id Iota (fronted by experienced local skateboarder Christian Lemay.)

This is a great lineup whose music will be an ideal match this afternoon, so don't be late! As is usual for this annual event, there will be vendors, sponsors, and refreshments on hand for what should be a sunny (if warm) one at this outdoor locale today. Everything is FREE & ALL AGES, and the festivities start at 3:00 PM, so hopefully there's a great turnout of skaters and music fans alike at the skate part this afternoon! Visit the above links for more details, and here's Northwest live!

 

We'll now head to the Sault Michigan area for this post's second half, starting with local hard rock/blues quartet Project 906's busy weekend, starting with their debut at Three One Three on Ashmun (the former Back Door) TOMORROW NIGHT! Last seen as a complete unit at Bird's Eye Outfitters last month (remember, their Brimley show last week was postponed), this should be a prime opportunity for Soo fans to see their brand of hard rocking cover action at a relatively new locale, especially given how infrequently Three One Three hosts heavier bands, so don't miss out tomorrow! Then on SATURDAY NIGHT, Project 906 will be the musical entertainment at The Strongs Tavern in nearby Eckerman after that day's benefit fun run for Brenda Holmes, a Newberry woman who has recently been battling cancer. The poster on the right outlines details on the fun run proper, which will see stops in Eckerman, Trout Lake, and Hulbert bars on Saturday before meeting in Strongs for dinner, draws, and music.

Our best wishes go out to Brenda and her friends and family, hopefully the fun run raises lots of money and awareness for her fight, and hopefully Project 906 provide a quality soundtrack to end the night with! Tomorrow's Three One Three concert in the Soo is at 10:00 PM with a 21+ age limit and no cover, while the post-fun run concert is at 7:00 PM with a presumed 21+ age limit and $20 admission (though remember the cause and the included dinner.) You can get tickets for that event at The Strongs Tavern itself, and 906's set is scheduled to begin at 9:00 PM. Visit the Friday show's Facebook event page and the above links for more details, and here's Project 906 live!

Finally for today's concert previews (remember, Soundcheck are coming in our next post), we'll head to Kinross, where the second in hometown classic/hard rock trio Banned's series of concerts at the Jack Passmore Grandstand at Kinross Speedpark during this year's auto racing season THIS SATURDAY NIGHT! After previously serving as post-practice entertainment three weeks ago before the season opener, THIS SATURDAY'S concert will follow the practice sessions for Sunday's Triple Crown events, so be sure to visit this link for full details on the racing proper. Hopefully these unique outdoor concert series is going well for the Traynors and Wayne, and don't miss them on Saturday for another round of classic covers! A 9:00 PM start time is in effect once again, this is ALL AGES, and while there are no listed admission fees for Banned's concert, the races proper on Sunday will of course have a ticket fee. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Banned live!



That's all for now, but stay tuned for our Soundcheck preview and more next! Thanks everyone!

A New And Inactive Band Each In Sault Michigan, Plus Last Month's Poll Results!!

Let's get a new post on the site on this Tuesday morning, which is half devoted to the final results from our most recent poll, and to lead off, some big news on a new and old band project each in the E.U.P.!

415E guitarist Chris Hubbard has launched his own eponymous solo project, entitled Hubbard! This talented Sault Michigan guitarist will be familiar to many fans dating back to his mid-late 2000s work with Nixxon Dixxon, and with 415E still officially on hiatus, this appears to be Chris' current musical pursuit. Posts are minimal as of yet on Hubbard's Facebook page, but Chris indicated on Sunday that it was "song writing time", and a later post teased that he will have pictures and videos to share "as I record my solo album." This picture is currently the project's Facebook profile photo, and if this is the album's planned cover artwork, than the album is named "415E" like his dormant band (both coming from the police radio code for a disturbance from loud music or a party.) There are no musical hints yet as to how Hubbard will sound, but it is no secret that Eddie Van Halen has been a major influence on his guitar playing and past songwriting, not to mention live covers.

This is all sudden news, but also very welcomed, as Chris is an excellent guitarist, and it'll be interesting to see how his solo project shapes up in studio and possibly beyond! Remember that 415E (as The Hubbard-Menard Band) had teased recording sessions for a debut album in 2012, so might some of those tracks return in this new project? Stay tuned at the above links for more details, and Hubbard is now in our active band links!

While we're on the subject, we'll now move Chris' aforementioned local hard rock band 415E to our inactive Sault Michigan band links. Aside from this month's post regarding the new Hubbard project, 415E has not posted on their Facebook page since June 24th of last year when they advertised Chris and his dad (drummer Tony Hubbard) playing an open mic set in Rudyard. In any event, the band proper last played live at the St. Ignace Kewadin earlier that same month, which were teased as their last St. Ignace concerts "for a while." Active from 2012-2017, 415E evolved from a two man studio project into a full live band in 2013, debuting live at the Sebastian Bach concert at The Dreammaker's Theater that January. A frequent attraction at Kewadin Casino branches in the mid-2010s, 415E often had a cryptic online presence, with few photos of the band shared on their Facebook page, and even fewer videos circulating, but that may have been intentional to encourage fans to attend their shows.

While arguably not hitting Nixxon Dixxon's preceding heights, 415E was a popular sight at The Rapids and Northern Pines Lounges for over 4 years, even during their brief period of playing two man concerts, and I hope this isn't the last that we've seen of 415E on a local stage! Best of luck to Dave, Chris, Mitch, Tony, and other former members in the future, and don't miss Tony's reunion with his old classic rock band Stonewall Creation at Three One Three on Ashmun next month!

We'll close today's posts with the final results of last month's poll, where we posed this question to you guys: What was your favourite local metal, hard rock, or punk concert of 2017? A whopping 6 votes came in last month, which isn't great, but thanks to those of you who did vote! Here are the final results on Sault Ontario shows last year:

The Din & Bizotic at LopLops Lounge on October 21st (3 votes, 50%)
Diamond Head at The Rockstar Bar on September 2nd (2 votes, 33%)
Garbageface & Vaultry at The Canadian Nightclub on July 7th (1 vote, 17%)
Gianni Gagoots at LopLops Lounge on February 18th (0 votes)
Rock For Autism at The Canadian Nightclub on May 6th (0 votes)
Northwest & Greg Callaghan at LopLops Lounge on May 27th (0 votes)
CKY & The Wild at The Canadian Nightclub on June 8th (0 votes)
Go Skateboarding Day at Queen Elizabeth Park on June 21st (0 votes)
Mike Mikus & Id Iota at LopLops Lounge on July 15th (0 votes)
Oh!No 2017 Music Festival in Leeburn on September 9th (0 votes)
AlgomA & Shit Liver at The New American Pub on October 2nd (0 votes)
Taryn Bugyra benefit at The Rockstar Bar on October 14th (0 votes)
Other (0 votes)

After losing the late 2017 poll to Diamond Head, The Din's farewell(?) concert came from behind to win the year end poll, which is a sign that their loyal fans are still giving in to The Din, even after their dissolution! Both were high profile concerts last fall, and it's nice to see that July's Live705 event with Garbageface and Vaultry didn't fall in vote count! Unfortunately, every option from the first half of 2017 failed to receive a single vote, even the CKY concert which won our early 2017 poll, but perhaps recency mattered this year to see the earlier shows get snubbed. It's all in who votes! All of these concerts received a vote at some stage of the year for our biennial polls, and hopefully the involved bands continue to entertain local audiences this year, but congratulations to The Din and Bizotic on their victory to end 2017's concert calendar with! That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews on Thursday, and for our poll on your favourite shows from the  first half of 2018 next month! Thanks everyone!

SweetKenny's New Album, A New/Old Treble Charger Interview, And Much More!!

After a quiet weekend, we're back on this Father's Day with a new news post, so what's in store today? Lots of assorted shorter items, including three removals from our active band links, plus a surprise interview of a local punk band from 18 years ago, but first, here's a new album release!

Dafter, Michigan solo hard rock musician Ken "SweetKenny" Sutton is back with another new score album, so what should you know on it? Quietly released on Wednesday, this album is titled "Management", and is his 26th official solo album and third put out in 2018 alone. Going along with his mid-late 2010s focus on scores intended for use in other media, the intended storyline is about a CIA agent named Kenneth (of course), who finds a spy in "management", and has to find and stop the spy before the Russians do. Definitely a jump in intensity from "Music For The Body", if nothing else! The 12 song score album is available on iTunes for $9.99, but the album is oddly not available yet on SweetKenny's Bandcamp page, similarly to last year's "Music Composed For Film". In any event, you can stream it for free on his website and on Spotify. That all said, is a review of either of SweetKenny's last two albums imminent on The Sault Metal Scene?

Not in June, as it's the last month of our 6 month anti-bias buffer from our review of "The Dogs Are Watching" in January, but next month is entirely possible! Given the intensity, themes, and length, I would go with "Management" over the fitness/aerobics-themed "Music For The Body" for our next SweetKenny album review. Stream or buy these and other albums from this prolific E.U.P. artist at the above links!

Next up, here's a surprise new video find of Sault Ontario/Toronto indie/punk quartet Treble Charger, as uploaded by YouTube user Miker Phone yesterday! The channel is best known from commercials and bumpers from children's television channels, and that's perfectly in line with this video, a late 2000 interview with Treble Charger conducted by then-YTV PJ Pat Kelly (now of CBC Radio One's This & That) during their after school programming block The Zone, specifically following a Rugrats episode. After a clip of the "Friend of Mine" music video, the interview proper kicks in with Pat talking to the guys at a playground (remember, YTV) about their then-new album "Wide Awake Bored", though an advertised quiz segment where Pat tested their rock 'n roll acumen has not made this channel... yet? The interview footage here isn't too long, but it's nice and casual, and Greig even name drops the Soo at one point, so give this interview a look below, and don't miss them at Rotaryfest next month!



Finally for today, here's six assorted shorter news stories from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist or event name:

• Local alt-punk trio A Dire Setback were added as late openers to The Elements' Rockstar Bar show last night, as per the Facebook event page. Solid choice, hopefully A.D.S. delivered a solid set and helped out before The Elements took the stage! Apologies though for this not making the site beforehand, we admittedly couldn't rush a new post in time to include mention of them being added to the bill.
• We have moved local hardcore quintet As It Stands back to our inactive local band links due to a year's inactivity. After their prior local runs from 2005-2014, the band had reunited last spring to play at the CKY concert on June 8th, 2017, but quietly dropped out beforehand, with no public statements following their exit. It would have been awesome to see As It Stands back on stage after far too long, one-off or not, but hopefully we see Justin, Garrett, Albert, Angelo, and John back together at some point down the line!
• We have also moved local death metal band Exploring Detritus to our inactive band links, as they have not posted a new Facebook page update (a flashback video share aside) since June 1st of last year. Primarily active with a handful of live dates in 2016, nothing much really followed last year, but hopefully Joey, Dan, Jeph, and Kevin resurface at some point, they had a lot of promise! In our band links, they're now listed under their old name Kaepora Gaebora, which their concerts were played as, but if they resurface under the Exploring Detritus name, we'll change it back.
• Local indie/acoustic project The Autumn Roots and indie/prog quartet The Wild Iris have both indicated on their respective Facebook pages that they'll be playing Rotaryfest's Stage 2 this year, expected for Saturday, July 21st at Clergue Park near the Art Gallery. These acts have not been confirmed by Rotaryfest proper at press time, but if accurate, this would seem to indicate that Stage 2 is not going with the band reunion theme like Stage 1 is doing, or at least not as in-depth. We'll keep you posted when more comes out on this year's Second Stage!
• In one more band link alteration, we have removed local punk duo Slow Children Playing from our band links due to the quiet deletion of their Facebook (and only online) page for unannounced reasons in recent months. Active as a sporadic studio project from 2014-2017, Slow Children Playing had some promise and originality, and while I wish they hadn't deleted their page, hopefully Don and Caleb turn up in this or other projects in the future!
• Reunited classic/hard rock cover veterans That's Chester reformed for the first time in almost two years when they played during drummer Ric Datson's regular jam night event with his current band Mojo at Reggie's West on June 7th, as per That's Chester's Facebook page. Hopefully that was a fun way to shake off the rust in advance of their (otherwise) one-off reunion at Rotaryfest next month!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for last month's poll results on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

This Weekend's Remaining Hard Rock & Punk Concert Previews, Including A Postponement!!

Let's just take care of the second half of this weekend's concert previews tonight before we forget about them! On this busy weekend, we already tackled shows from The Elements, sister band The Wyld Stallyns, Soundcheck, and Tym Morrison earlier today, so look for those previews in the post below, but here's the rest of the heavier and punk shows to watch for this weekend, along with a postponed concert, but all recieved plenty of advance notice! Here's what you should know!

A partial sequel to March's Punk Covers Night at LopLops Lounge goes down at the same venue TOMORROW NIGHT, where that show's lineup (sans Redundant) returns for another night of high impact punk rock renditions! Headlining tomorrow are online page-less punk supergroup The Cover-Up (featuring Surfers, Rising Tide, Lion Ride, and K.I.C.K. alumni), whose setlist is floating around on personal Facebook accounts, and if things line up, a lot of familiar and up-tempo punk favourites are in store tomorrow night from them! Opening are the similarly online page-less punk trio The Bananas Guerrillas, who themselves feature Stereo North, Long Shot, and Gnaeus alumni in their own talented lineup. If you missed them in March or at their Blink-182 tribute debut last fall, prepare for more punk rock action from them to start at LopLops tomorrow, and a setlist is floating around for them too! This concert is presented by Tidal Records, though it curiously hasn't been promoted by the venue proper online at press time.

A $5 cover charge is in effect for tomorrow's concert, which has doors opening at 9:00 PM, and a 19+ age limit. Despite the lack of online pages for tomorrow's bands (not to mention public videos of them in concert), both The Cover-Up and The Bananas Guerrillas are loaded with talent and familiar faces who have a firm grasp of punk rock from the 1990s and 2000s, so don't miss either band at LopLops tomorrow night!

Next up, we'll head south to the Eastern Upper Peninsula, where Traverse City, Michigan classic metal trio Peril will return to The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! These shows will surprisingly be the Scarkazm sister band's first concerts in St. Ignace of 2018, last having played at this Kewadin branch in October, with dates at the Soo Kewadin and in Harbor Springs filling their schedule in the interim. This fan favourite trio should have another hard hitting weekend of familiar covers ready to go for fans in St. Ignace tomorrow and Saturday, so keep one/both shows in mind for your weekend plans! As usual for Peril's Kewadin concert weekends, expect 9:00 PM start times tomorrow and Saturday night, you must be 21 or older to attend, and there are no announced cover charges. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Peril live a few years back!

Also this weekend, let's head back to Sault Ontario, where local punk trio Redundant are among the performers for Algoma Ride For Autism's official after party THIS SATURDAY NIGHT at The Bridge View Banquet Hall (a.k.a. The Verdi Hall!) This is the fifth straight year of involvement for Redundant or frontman Justin Langlois with the annual autism awareness motorcycle rally, as the guys played their annual family fun day from 2014-2016, while Justin played a special solo set at their pre-ride fundraiser last year. In 2018, the live musical component moves to the Queen Street West banquet hall as an afterparty once the rally proper concludes, with supper, live music, and some sort of prize/raffle element also on hand for the cause. Redundant will be joined by local classic rock veterans (Tex &) The Ride, but two new bands were also confirmed in recent days on the ride's Facebook page, namely local country/bluegrass trio A Band Named Soo and Korah Collegiate's school band Mustang Sally, in advance of their Rotaryfest return next month.

Quite the varied lineup to be sure, and it's great to see the two new bands sign on to help support the ride and the ongoing work to understand and manage autism! Admission for this licensed event (which appears to be all ages) is $20, but full Algoma Ride For Autism participants will get in for free with their registration. All of the musical entertainment starts at 6:00 PM tomorrow, so visit the Facebook event page and the above links for full details (including on how to participate in the actual rally), and here's Redundant live in concert a few years back!

Finally, we were going to wrap up this post with a preview of the previously announced Project 906 show at the Back Bay Grill & Games at Bay Mills Resort & Casino in Brimley, Michigan this Saturday, but it turns out that both this concert and their Saturday, August 11th show at the same venue have quietly been postponed to June 30th and September 1st respectively. Reasons for the postponements weren't announced, but note that Project 906 themselves had not acknowledged the shows online publically, we first learned of them via Bay Mills' events calendar in April. In their place, both of the original dates have been taken over by The 3 Wisemen, a new local classic rock band featuring former Bad Side drummer Jonah Brockman. I don't know much about The 3 Wisemen yet, but it'll be interesting to hear some media of them or see what songs they cover at some point!  Keep the shifted dates in mind, and don't miss Project 906's next concerts in Sault Ste. Marie and in Eckerman next weekend!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the SMS in the coming days! Thanks everyone!