LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Sugar Island Music Festival) & New Videos!!

With the exception of tomorrow's poll, this will be our last post on the SMS before we dive head first into the busiest concert weekend of the year (holidays excepted), so what's in store for today? A couple of new videos from each side of the border, but we will start with LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS concerning a returning concert festival, so here's what you should know!

Kinross, Michigan classic/hard rock trio Banned will return to nearby Sugar Island for the 18th annual Sugar Island Music Festival on Friday, August 10th and Saturday, August 11th! Though Banned haven't acknowledged the dates on their Facebook page at press time, the festival website confirms their involvement. Since debuting, Banned have never missed the Sugar Island Fest, with this year being their eighth straight year playing at least one day. As it turns out, they're headlining both of the above nights at 9:30 PM, so make sure to stay late for their hard rocking covers! Like in recent years, the lineup for this year is largely comprised of online page-less festival regulars, none visibly being hard rock, and many playing multiple nights. Friday will feature The Schutz Boys, Hillsdale jam band All Arms, 2 Cents, Davey MacLeod, and artists to be announced, with all playing on Saturday as well, and The Schutz Boys will headline the Banned-free lineup that Sunday.

Saturday will feature those same exact artists alongside 2½ Men, Joel Choate, Gentleman George Snider and friends, Chicago folk duo February Sky (with special guests Moose River), and an open mic block, while Sunday's lineup is largely comprised of prior performers except for the two collaborative sets from Lise White and friends, and Rollie Mayer, John Price and friends. For full timeslots, click here! Once again, the Sugar Island Festival will unite regional music with camping, food and craft vendors, kids activities, and even a beanbag toss tournament, for what should be another entertaining weekend, so make sure to head up to Sugar Island next month for all of the excitement! As usual, admission for this year is via purchase of a $10 souvenir button that will get you in all 3 days (there's no reduced 1-2 day rate), but accompanied kids under 12 remain FREE. Camping rates are $15 for the weekend, and see above for vendor rates.

General admission buttons are available at Ed's Bayview Store, The Hilltop Bar & Grill, or the Westshore Convenience Store in Sugar Island, and presumably Crooked Music in Sault Ste. Marie as well, but the site still credits it as Grooves Music. Music begins at 5:00 PM on Friday and 11:00 AM on Saturday and Sunday, so don't be late for the varied musical entertainment on Sugar Island next month, with Banned ending nights #1 & 2 with a bang! See the above links for current details on The Sugar Island Festival XVIII!

Next up, here's a new video of from Sault Ste. Marie hard/blues rock quartet Project 906, as filmed at their Strongs Tavern concert on Saturday! Shared on their Facebook page the next day via attendee Ellen Grigsby's personal Facebook page, the near-2 minute video is of Project 906 covering AC/DC's "You Shook Me All Night Long", and it sounds good and lively! The crowd clearly enjoys it, though I will admit, the pool table's placement isn't fantastic considering where the band is. Give 906's new video a look below, and don't miss them at the Rudyard Musicians' Festival next month!

Finally for today, we'll close in Sault Ontario for a video that I'm surprised we forgot to acknowledge when this concert was originally announced, as defunct local hard rock trio The Din posted this video onto their Facebook page two weeks ago as a teaser for their reunion concert at LopLops Lounge on Saturday! The humorous video features drummer Brandan Glew calling frontman Mike Haggith to ask if he'd be interested in coming home a reunion show on July 21st (Mike was "conveniently off" that week already), later calling guitarist Tammy Hill to see if she'd be available. The whole thing has a suitably humorous tone (even with Top Gun and Airplane! references), and it's a fun way to build excitement for the "Dinunion"! Give it a look below, and stay tuned for our full preview amist our weekend concert previews later this week!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for our busiest concert preview weekend coverage of the year in the coming days! Thanks everyone!