Thursday, January 17, 2019

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (The Elements & Chase Wigmore) And Weekend Concert Previews!!

It's now time for another round of weekend concert previews for your hard rock delectation! Barring further late announcements, we have three batches of shows to get to in the area this weekend, but we'll start with two LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, one on SHORT NOTICE!

Local funk/hard rock quartet The Elements will headline a special karaoke-infused concert at The Rockstar Bar TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, this concert only came to our attention via advertising on the venue's physical marquee boards on Wednesday. While Friday karaoke nights have been teased and promoted at varying levels this season at The Rockstar Bar, the Facebook event page for TOMORROW'S concert clearly states that The Elements' set will be married to the karaoke aspect, as attending fans are encouraged to come up and sing with The Elements as the live backing band. One assumes frontman Rob Speers will sing when no one's ready to join in, and likely host in between time. This may call to mind Mourning Wood's brief 2015 run of Thursday jam/open mic nights at The Rednecks Saloon, but unlike those, The Elements will be playing each song, rather than handing off to new performers at unknown times.

In any event, this will be The Elements' first public concert appearance of 2019, and first show since their Chili Peppers tribute turn at the same venue last month. They should be in fine form with their alternative, funk, and metal covers TOMORROW, but who will sing with them, and what? Find out then! There is no cover charge for this 19+ concert, which has a 10:00 PM start time. See above for more details, and here's The Elements live!



Next up, remember that poll that Chase Wigmore's Facebook page ran on January 4th that asked if fans would be interested in attending a free show at The Rednecks Saloon this month? Well, 77% of fans voted in the affirmative, and the show will take place on Saturday, February 2nd! Originally planned for this Saturday before being postponed two weeks "to make thing a little easier", Chase is calling this a "free concert/jam" that will include "various acts", though it's not clear whether they're all intended to be a mystery, or if the search for performers is still ongoing. The presumed headliner is Chase himself, who will perform his rock opera "A Story About A Kid Named Todd" in full for his first public concert set of the year, and if you've seen that in action, you'll know that his intense storytelling will appeal to both folk and metal fans! Of course, we'll let you know if other acts are announced.

This FREE concert has a 19+ age limit and early advertised start time of 8:00 PM. There's a lot of unknowns as of yet for this concert, but Chase's irreverent stage show and extreme musical diversity alone should be worth your attention next month! Visit the Facebook event page for more details, and stay tuned for updates as they roll in!

Also, let's continue with this weekend's concert previews by moving to Gliss Restaurant, where prolific local hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison will continue his long-term weekly arrangement with acoustic matinee concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY! Fans of his unplugged live shows should be in fine company on these two evenings, and if you like your hard and classic rock covers in a more intimate setting, this should be worth a trip either night! Tym's prolific setlist and solid talent should seal the deal, and you can take in all of the action tomorrow and/or Saturday at 6:00 PM. Both shows are free with no stated age limits, but remember that this is a formal restaurant, not a typical nightclub venue. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, here's Tym live, and stay tuned next week for details on his February concert schedule at Gliss and elsewhere!



Finally for this weekend(?) is the 2019 debut of Sault Michigan classic/hard rock quintet Highway 63, as they are advertised to return to The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Just as a heads up, Highway 63 have not acknowledged these shows on their Facebook page, and have only posted there once in 2019 so far, via photos of studio updates they recently made. However, these shows are still advertised on Kewadin's entertainment page, so we will treat them as on unless otherwise stated. These are Highway 63's first advertised concerts of the new year, and their first at the St. Ignace Kewadin since 2017, and just their second & third gigs since bassist George Belleau, drummer Justin Lawless, and keyboardist Brian Drumheller joined the Switzers in the group. How will the new-look band sound this weekend? Head to The Northern Pines Lounge either night to find out!

As usual for Highway 63's prior Kewadin gigs, expect these shows to have 9:00 PM start times, no cover charges, and 21+ age limits. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Highway 63's old lineup live!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates on the site this weekend, plus a new poll tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

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