LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Queen: It's A Kinda Magic, Peril, 415E, And Highway 63!!)

Much like on Monday, our newest post is largely devoted to Sault Michigan-area updates, with a Sault Ontario story ending things, but instead of videos, this has only LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS! The Eastern U.P. ones concern the new concert announcements on Kewadin Casino's entertainment pages, as we now know of currently booked acts at The Rapids Lounge in Sault Ste. Marie and The Northern Pines Lounge in St. Ignace through early July. There are more to touch on, courtesy of surprise touring hard rock bands from afar, but visit the above links for heads-up on those events and others from non-hard rock acts. Now, here's what you should know!

We'll start with local hard rock quartet 415E, who have two announced concert weekends in the first half of 2019, one at each Kewadin branch! Firstly, you can see them at The Northern Pines Lounge in St. Ignace on January 24th & 25th, before they play their first announced Sault Ste. Marie dates of 2020 on May 8th & 9th. This month's St. Ignace gigs will be their first there since July, while May's Soo dates will be their first in their hometown since New Year's Eve. The former Hubbard-Menard Band had a very quiet 2019, with only 5 publically announced gigs, so it is encouraging to see them almost match that in the first half of 2020 alone, and hopefully all four shows have great turnouts! You can check out their Van Halen-influenced cover selection on these nights at 9:00 PM with no cover charges and 21+ age limits, as usual. Visit the above links for more details, and hopefully we hear more updates from 415E (and Hubbard) in the near future!

Next up, Traverse City classic metal trio Peril have three regional Kewadin weekends of their own lined up for early 2019! We covered their sister band Scarkazm's Kewadin concerts during this timeframe in our weekend concert preview post on Thursday. Local fans will first be able to see Jeff, Adam, and Brooks on February 14th & 15th when they rock The Northern Pines Lounge in St. Ignace, while they will head north to The Rapids Lounge in Sault Ste. Marie on May 29th & 30th, with a return to the St. Ignace Kewadin planned for two weeks later on June 12th & 13th. The St. Ignace gigs next month will be Peril's first there in three months, but Soo fans will have waited eight months between Rapids Lounge weekends. It's great to see Peril (and Scarkazm) keep up their regular schedule in the E.U.P., so don't miss their old school cover attack at the above dates! Like with 415E, these are 9:00 PM & 21+ gigs with no cover. See above for more details!

Lastly for the regular local/Northern Michigan hard rock acts with new Kewadin Casino lounge bookings is Sault Ste. Marie classic/hard rock cover quartet Highway 63, who have four concert weekends booked through July, two at each location! The Jager/Monkey's Uncle successors will return to The Rapids Lounge in the Soo on March 6th & 7th, before playing two weekends at The Northern Pines Lounge in St. Ignace in May, as they're booked there on May 1st & 2nd, and then on the 29th & 30th. They'll close these announced dates back at The Northern Pines Lounge on July 3rd & 4th. For what it's worth, their new side-project Mackinaw Trail are not among the announced Kewadin lounge acts during this timeframe. Highway 63's old school blend of covers should go over just fine at both Kewadin branches, so don't miss the Switzers & company this spring and beyond! Again, these are 21+ gigs with no cover and 9:00 PM start times. Get more details at the above links!

We'll close today's post with a new concert announcement in Sault Ontario, where Australian tribute band Queen: It's A Kinda Magic will make their local concert debut on Wednesday, June 17th at the Sault Community Theater Center! An acclaimed, internationally performing band who faithfully recreate the concerts Queen played on their 1986 world tour, Q.I.A.K.M. do appear to live up to their hype in live videos that I've seen, so Queen fans should have a ball with this stage show this summer! It's definitely a good time to be a Queen fan locally, given the success of last year's St. Mary's production of the We Will Rock You musical, plus the touring version later this month, and now a full tribute concert. Tickets for this 8:00 PM event run for $62 a piece for adults, $33 for kids 12 and under, and a group rate for $57 a piece is also available. Get yours at this link or at the Station Mall's box office, and see more from Queen: It's A Kinda Magic at the above links!

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