LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Soundcheck), A Dire Setback Updates, And Much More!!

(Updated at 2:18 PM) Let's get a new news post up on this Saturday morning, with the latest from a prominent Sault Michigan act, a new album of sorts from a talented solo artist, and some long awaited updates from a fan favourite punk band. Thanks to a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT after this post went online, I have opted to move our shorter story block from this original post to our next news post, so that it doesn't become overly long. Don't worry, they will return, but for now, here's that new show!

There will indeed be one hard rock concert this weekend in the Sault area, as local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to The Esquire Club for one night only TONIGHT! Profuse apologies for the short notice, this show was only announced via it's Facebook event page this morning, and I wanted to ensure it was covered here, as we'd otherwise have had no hard rock show previews this weekend. This will be Soundcheck's first concert at The Esquire Club in over 2 months (and since the ace was caught), but the guys will be shorthanded, with bassist Paul Belair and drummer Glen Thomas not able to join Soundcheck TONIGHT. I don't know why Paul's missing out, but this show conflicts with Glen's previously announced Peace Vibe gig tonight at The Water Tower Pub. Mustang Heart's Dama Chindamo will handle bass TONIGHT, while former Soundcheck drummer Scott McLurg (who Glen replaced) will come out of retirement to fill in behind the kit.

Long-time Mustang Heart fans know that they can handle heavier covers, and Dama's a skilled bassist himself, while it's great to see Scott pause his retirement for one more gig! TONIGHT'S show has a 19+ age limit, no announced cover charge, and a 10:00 PM start time. For hard rock fans, this is basically the only show in town this weekend, so keep this one in mind for TONIGHT, and here's Soundcheck (with Scott) live earlier this year!



Next up, here's the latest from local alt-punk trio A Dire Setback, so what have they been up to lately? After a month's hiatus from public updates following their Oh!No set, bass recording teases, and the birth of drummer Nick Kainula's daughter (congratulations!), the guys resurfaced with a few new updates on their Facebook page last week from their ongoing recording sessions towards their long awaited debut CD. One is a link to a Patreon-exclusive video featuring frontman Chris Nielsen tracking guitar parts for the album (back them there for access to that clip and more), but the other is a 9 minute Facebook video available for all to see. In this one, you'll see Chris and sound engineer Dustin Goodall battling with "tone demons" as they search for the right tone for guitar tracking that was continued on the Patreon backer video. This will be of primary interest to fans familiar with studio recording, but the guitar snippets will help tide fans over for the album, so give everything a look!

Also, local experimental/folk/metal solo musician Chase Wigmore has released his new solo album "Seven Curses" as a free stream on his YouTube channel! If you count Coyote Speedfreaks and Black Lodge Masters releases under the same umbrella, this is officially Chase's seventh album and third of 2018, but online availability isn't consistent, with some as free streams only, while he only presses physical CDs based on "quality and level of interest." In this case, he's only referenced "Seven Curses" via this YouTube posting, and it features 10 songs. For his solo efforts under his own name, this is a huge departure, as it's heavily themed around black metal over acoustic folk, but he has the guitar chops to make this work, and his harsh vocals are a nice fit as well! Black metal is still not a common local genre, but the raw aggression, samples, and creativity help this stand out, and hopefully a sale copy turns up! Give "Seven Curses" a listen below!



Finally, here's some more updates from Sault Michigan classical metal project Theatre of Night, starting with some apparent clarification to dates of this year's Christmas tour. According to a comment reply by keyboardist Craig Harrison on their Facebook group last week, they're apparently only playing November 30th in Zeeland, with December 1st (and 2nd) gigs planned for Grand Rapids, plus a December 8th show in Holland, and a Sunday, December 16th show in Sault Michigan. None of these dates have Facebook event pages, and I don't know if that apparent Soo gig on the 16th is also at Kewadin Casino or not, but if we get clarification, we'll let you know! Their website also includes this poster for the Blanchard shows, which confirms their lineup for this year's tour, and while it's mostly identical to last year's, there is one absence, namely singer Stacie McCarthy. Hopefully nothing bad happened, as her vocal harmonies with Rachel were effective, but don't miss Theatre of Night's five-piece 2018 lineup over the holidays!

Audio recordings and Patreon teasers aside (more on those soon), Theatre of Night have one more proper video to acknowledge here, as live streamed to their Facebook page on October 7th, and it features Craig tracking an ominous instrumental piece on his keyboard. Not bad for what it is, especially given it's short length, so give it a look below, and stay tuned for more from Theatre of Night (in studio and on stage) soon!



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