LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Pop Evil), Soo Blaster Updates, And An Apparent Major Lineup Departure!!

Here's a new news post for your Saturday morning, and it includes news on a surprising lineup change from a prominent band, lots of updates from a big downtown venue & it's related concerts, and leading off, here's a major LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for this summer!

A huge outdoor concert is hitting the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino on Saturday, August 3rd, as Muskegon hard rock quintet Pop Evil and Anaheim hard rock veterans Buckcherry will join forces in their respective local returns! By no means strangers to the area, this will be Pop Evil's sixth local concert appearance, and fifth under the Kewadin Casino auspices, though this is their first outdoor show here. Still riding high off of their self-titled CD from last year, Pop Evil's litany of rock radio hits like "Torn To Pieces", "Footsteps", and "Take It All" are surely in the cards for August 3rd, so fans won't want to miss out! It's been a longer wait for Buckcherry to play the Soo again, last playing The Dreammaker's Theater in 2011, though a lot has changed since then, with Keith Nelson, Jimmy Ashhurst, and Xavier Muriel out of the group, and Kevin Roengten, Kelly Lemieux, and Francis Ruiz now in the fold. Of course, Josh and Stevie are back to rock the border (for real, this time!)

Touring in support of their brand new CD "Warpaint", expect songs from that album alongside hits like "Sorry", "Lit Up", and Everything" with their usual raunchy party vibe! Potential opening acts have not yet been announced, and this show is surprisingly not credited publically to Allstar Promotions. Tickets for this all ages, 8:00 PM concert are $25 for general seating, which increase to $35 & $45 in closer rows. You can buy yours at this link, the Kewadin box office in person, or call 1-800-KEWADIN. This should be a huge concert for modern hard rock fans, and the outdoor setting (a'la Kiss in 2007) is a neat attraction, so see above for full details!

Next up, here's some more videos from Sault Ontario power rock outfit Re:Born's new lineup's debut concert at Soo Blaster, though changes are afoot there. As per this SooToday article by James Hopkin from last week, owner Das Kumar is rebranding the sports bar & restaurant in the coming weeks, including replacing the on-site arcade games with newer tiles, buying a new sound system to attract more concerts, reworking the menu, and changing it's name to just BlaSter (capitalization apparently intentional.) A grand re-opening is planned for later in the spring, but for now, the status quo is more or less in place. Given the mixed responses I've heard for the restaurant side of things, a change might be what the doctor ordered, but will the revamp mean more for the concert side of things? In any event, those Re:Born videos come from their headlining show there two weeks ago, as uploaded to Christopher Paci's great YouTube channel earlier this week.

While Chris didn't film anything from Tym Morrison's opening set, he did post two Re:Born videos, capturing the Project 421 successors covering Poison's "Talk Dirty To Me", and as embedded below, Iron Maiden's "Wasted Years". The sharp camera angle to the left of the stage isn't ideal, especially given how the booth seating cuts off the bottom right corner, but Re:Born themselves sound fine at this early stage with their new lineup, and Elly's vocals fit in fine on these very different 1980s metal tracks! Give these videos a look above & below, and stay tuned for more!



While we're on the subject, the next big metal concert at (Soo) BlaSter goes down two weeks from today when Canadian glam metal legends The Killer Dwarfs return to Sault Ste. Marie, and as promotion for the show, the venue's Facebook page shared this video on Tuesday featuring drummer Darrell "Dwarf" Millar hyping up the show, including it's related hotel package if you need to stay the night, and a mystery signed item in a case that will be passed around, which attendees will be able to win. Nice promotion, and hopefully it helps move some more tickets ($24.50 at this link), so give it a look below and see above for more details!

Finally for today, it looks like local punk trio Redundant may have parted ways with bassist James White. No statements have been made on their Facebook page at present, but drummer Rick White (James' brother) posted on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group this morning that he is "looking for a bass player", and to message him or Redundant frontman Justin Langlois on Facebook if you're interested in trying out. They apparently have "a few shows lined up for the summer and after", they want someone dependable, and they want to "get jamming again A.S.A.P", while Rick cited Green Day, Operation Ivy, NOFX, and Rancid as current bands covered alongside their existing originals. If you're interested in trying out, message Rick or Justin at those links or above! James had been a member of Redundant since replacing Jamie Whalen in mid-2011, and featured on their long awaited debut EP last summer, but he was absent for their last gig at The Rockstar Bar's Halloween Party for unannounced reasons.

Assuming that I read everything correctly, and that this isn't a temporary absence, it's very surprising to see James leave Redundant after 7 solid years, and his strong bass skills were ever present! Hopefully he keeps busy with The Elements and other future projects in 2019 & beyond, and visit the above links for more on Redundant's apparent bassist search! That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes soon! Thanks everyone!