LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Highway 63) & Our Theatre Of Night Concert Previews!!

As promise, our extended preview of this weekend's remaining Sault Michigan metal concerts makes up the bulk of this morning's post, including a new video of that band in action, but we are leading off with a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next weekend for you Yooper readers to check out! Here's what you should know!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Highway 63 will end their year+ concert hiatus at the previously teased Dondee Lanes concert on Saturday, December 22nd! The band termed this event as a "back on the road party", but the venue is calling this their Christmas party, and it will take place inside the bowling alley's nightclub, which was renamed from the Sportman's Lounge to the Double D Bar & Grill this fall, complete with it's own Facebook page. I don't know whether or not there were renovations in conjunction with the renaming, but the new moniker works well enough, and it has more allusions to the Dondee name than before! The Christmas party proper will be an all day event with drink specials and a pizza/wing buffet, but Highway 63's return set will cap off the night, in what will be their first public show since late 2017, and their first since drummer Justin Lawless & their yet-unrevealed new bassist replaced Ron Suchey & Chris Leask.

This should be a fine way for Highway 63 to resume their local run, with their new lineup and setlist in tow, so keep all of the action in mind for next Saturday! The party begins at 12:00 PM (with Highway 63 playing at 8:00 PM), this is presumably a 21+ event, and there is no announced cover charge. Visit the Facebook event page & above for complete details on the Christmas party, Highway 63's return, and the newly renamed Double D Bar, which is now included in our venue listing for the Dondee!

Next up, here's our last concert previews for this weekend, as local classical metal project Theatre of Night will make the local stops of their second Christmas tour this weekend, including a return to the Pickford United Methodist Church TONIGHT and their debut at The Dreammaker's Theater at the Soo's Kewadin Casino branch TOMORROW NIGHT! Earlier teasers of a Sunday date in Sault Ste. Marie have not had a public follow-through. Just under a year removed from their dates in Pickford & at The Soo Theater, this talented ensemble will return almost intact from 2017, with only singer Stacie McCarthy absent from the first tour. Fans across Michigan have been enjoying Theatre of Night's metal-infused take on Christmas standards for over a month now, and it'll be great to have Craig, Steve, Rachel, Scott, and Erik back home for the holidays! Tonight's Pickford show (at 115 East Church Street) will have a later 7:00 PM start time compared to last year, and is absolutely ALL AGES.

Like last year, there is no admission fee, but a free will offering will be taken at the church. As for tomorrow's Kewadin gig (a rare show of this scale there from a local headliner), this special concert will be held in The Dreammaker's Theater's table seating configuration, and to go along with that, food, drinks, and a cash bar will be on hand for willing patrons. Some proceeds for this show will go towards local Salvation Army operations, and the Sault Lions Club is helping put this on, so some worthy causes are involved this weekend! Tickets are still available at this link, at the in-person box office, or at 1-800-KEWADIN for $15 at a table or $25 in the theatre seating. Similarly, a 7:00 PM start time is advertised, and this is definitely ALL AGES as well. This should be a great weekend of metallized Christmas standards from a very talented quintet of local and Western Michigan notables, you'll be entertained at either venue over the coming days! Note that the tour ends in Holland next Sunday.

For complete details on both of this weekend's concerts, visit the official Facebook event pages linked here & here, and for a preview, here's a new video of Theatre of Night in concert, as live-streamed on their Facebook page from their show last week! This concert took place at the Fountain Street Church in Grand Rapids, so this is arguably more of a preview of tonight's Pickford church show than anything. The video was taken on a stationary camera behind what appears to be all of the seats, so the distance isn't optimal, but you do get a good sense of the church's grandeur and design! The live-stream unfortunately includes 20 minutes of set-up, but from then on, you'll get the band's full 2018 stage show for 75 or so minutes, so if you can't come out this weekend, this is a must watch! Carols performed include (in order) "What Child Is This?", "Carol of the Bells", "The Little Drummer Boy", "Away In A Manger", "The Nutcracker Suite", "Silent Night", "O Come All Ye Faithful"...

... "O Holy Night", "Hark The Herald Angels Sing", "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen", and "We Three Kings", plus some instrumental/aria spots, and all as bookended with pre-recorded narration about the birth of Jesus and the nativity, keeping with the setlist's rough concept. Theatre of Night sound great here, and Rachel's vocals are beautiful, so fans of Christmas carols done heavy will enjoy how this turned out! If only the camera was zoomed in more, and if only more people came out! Whether or not you can see the guys in Pickford tonight or in the Soo tomorrow, give Theatre of Night's full live concert experience a look below!



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