The Next Local Battle Of The Bands, The Body Lens Concert Preview, And More!!

With some big news as of late, let's tackle a big new story to lead off this post, which could well turn into a local concert alert in time pending who signs up, while we also have a mid-week concert preview and a new video to round things out. Here's what you should know!

An increasingly rare battle of the bands will take place in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan this July, though the stakes and scope are bigger than you may expect. Hosted by Kewadin Casino, the battle will be held on two nights (Wednesday & Thursday, June 12th & 13th), and while it will take place at The Dreammaker's Theater, the winning band will receive the local opening slot for the newly announced Great White concert at the Manistique Kewadin branch on July 27th! For clarification, this is the original version of Great White, not the Jack Russell-led version that played St. Ignace in 2017 (there are two concurrently active versions of the band a'la LA Guns.) And yes, I did say the Great White show was in Manistique (2 hours west of the Soo), but Kewadin is targeting this battle towards bands who live near all 5 of their casinos, which means that acts from the Soo, St. Ignace, Hessel, Manistique, and Christmas, or surrounding areas are free to compete if they can make the trip

Entitled the "Rock Me Battle", bands who wish to compete must submit a performance video to the Facebook event page. Six bands will be selected, and four songs (including at least one original) will be performed by each band. It's not clear how the two day structure will be handled (three bands each night? Eliminations after night 1?), but we will let you know if Kewadin clarifies. In lieu of judges, a fan vote will determine the winners, but uniquely, the vote will be decided by concert attendees and likes on the Facebook event page linked above, with online voting ending on Friday, June 21st. Alongside the Great White opening slot, the battle winners will also recieve guaranteed bookings at The Rapids Lounge in Sault Ste. Marie and The Northern Pines Lounge in St. Ignace next year, so keep that in mind if you'd like to play at Kewadin's E.U.P. nightclubs in 2020. Luckily given the weekday placement, each night of the battle starts at 8:00 PM, and this is presumably a 21+ event, as usual.

Admission will be $5, which will get you entry to both nights and a +1 credit for online voting. Despite the mid-week scheduling, a battle of the bands stretching out to the Central Upper Peninsula in both band pool & final prize definitely helps set it apart, but who might we see compete in June to open for the "Once Bitten Twice Shy" legends? Might we see some bands from Munising, Newberry, or maybe even Sault Ontario along with the 5 Kewadin locations? And what kind of hard rock/metal acts will jump in? Stay tuned for updates as they roll in, and see above for more details!

Next up, here's our preview of a special Wednesday concert in Sault Ontario TOMORROW NIGHT, as Lethbridge, Alberta post-punk quintet Body Lens will play one of the first concerts at local concert promotion agency Dryer Fire's seasonal pop-up venue at 128 Bruce Street! Playing an artsy/garage rock-influenced sound with a punk attitude and some gothic touches, Body Lens' unique sound should attract a diverse fanbase tomorrow, so definitely give them a look to see what they bring to the table! Debuting local "dungeon synth" band Hot Goblin will open the proceedings tomorrow, though nothing has came out publically on this group, we'll let you know if anything pops up. As mentioned above, this concert is taking place at Dryer Fire's eponymous temporary location downtown, and will serve as a summer replacement for Nicole Dyble's 2018 bookings at the M.S. Norgoma.

It's great to see Nicole find a new location for the summer season, temporary as it may be, and hopefully lots of great events hit Dryer Fire in the coming months! As well, Trenton-based mobile bookstore Samson Books will be on site selling their wares, so keep that in mind if you love to read.  This ALL AGES concert has a $10 cover charge and a 7:00 PM start time. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Body Lens live!



Finally for today, here's a new commercial for the Dopethrone-headlined concert at The New American Pub on May 20th, courtesy of openers AlgomA's YouTube channel yesterday! The first upload on their channel since 2017, the 47 second commercial features text information on the show proper, plus video clips of the headliners, AlgomA, and fellow openers Shit Liver, including footage of an AlgomA show at The Oddfellows Hall that A. is sadly dated, and B. isn't immediately familiar. The commercial closes with a suitably edited image from the poster for the film Maniac. Well done promotion while it lasts, so give it 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!