LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Tarnished), We Will Rock You Preview, And Fort Creek Updates!!

In what may be our last full news post of the month, we have updates from a newer local band, a preview of a special touring musical event, and leading off, LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (one on SHORT NOTICE) and related concert previews as we get an early jump on this weekend's concert previews! With all of that said, here's what you should know!

Sault Michigan hard rock band Tarnished have a busy few days ahead, including their previously announced acoustic concert TOMORROW NIGHT at The Signatures Lounge at the local Kewadin Casino branch and full band gigs at The Double D Bar & Grill at Dondee Lanes on FRIDAY & SATURDAY, but there are new confirmations to note as well! First up,we can now confirm that their "every Thursday" run of matinee concerts at Biggby Coffee is alive and well, despite going weeks between plugging shows there, as the band confirmed another show there for THIS THURSDAY in their latest Facebook page post. As it turns out, the coffee shop's Facebook page plugged Tarnished (well, Alex solo) as playing there "every Thursday" last week on short notice, marking the first firm confirmation that the arrangement was alive and well since early December. Maybe the lack of online advertising is reflective of the Biggby run not really changing week to week?

In any event, I profusely apologize for missing the past 6 weeks (assuming there were no breaks) for Tarnished's Biggby run on here, but alas, the shows were not being advertised by band or venue during that time on social media. With that in mind, I have added Tarnished (be it Alex solo or with Josh/Nathan) to our concert calendar for Biggby concerts on THURSDAY and then on February 6th, 13th, 20th, and 27th! All are 12:00 PM matinees with no cover charges or age limits, and see above for more details! Of course, you can see Alex (and company?) unplugged at Kewadin tomorrow in a rare Wednesday nighter (6:00 PM, 21+, no cover), plus their Dondee stops with the full roster this weekend (9:00 PM, 21+, no cover), but their previously announced Thursday night show at Moloney's Alley (coinciding with the I-500 pub crawl) has quietly been cancelled for unannounced reasons, as per their removal from the venue's Facebook event page, though Tarnished themselves never confirmed that booking. Hopefully nothing bad happened, but the pub crawl proper is still on!

Lastly for Tarnished, their I-500 association doesn't end there, as they will be performing unplugged at the I-500 beer tent THIS SATURDAY! A timeslot wasn't given, leading me to believe this is more of an informal jam, so I won't include it in our concert listings, but if you're at the annual snowmobile race this weekend, look for Alex and crew under the tent! Visit the above links for more details, apologies again, and here's Tarnished live!



Next up, this isn't a concert per say, but I'd be hard pressed to not acknowledge this on the site, as the North American touring production of the Queen musical We Will Rock You will perform at GFL Memorial Gardens in Sault Ontario TOMORROW NIGHT! Eight months removed from St. Mary's College's student production of this same musical, the real thing will bring this dystopian tale about rising against the oppressive ruling class to life, as set to two dozen classic Queen songs. I'm not a huge musical buff, but this should be a great time for fans of Queen and classic rock, and the over-the-top theatrical nature and skilled actors should provide ample entertainment! Besides, it's not often when a touring production like this gets performer interviews from two different local news sources (click here & here for SooToday & The Sault Star's separate coverage.) Presented by Annerin Productions, tickets for this ALL AGES and 7:00 PM show run for between $69.50 & $89.50.

You can buy them at this link, at the Gardens' in-person box office, or at 1-866-775-9422. Between the two We Will Rock You productions and Queen: It's A Kinda Magic coming here in June, this is a good time to be a Queen fan in Sault Ste. Marie, so check the above links for more details on tomorrow's touring production, and if you can swing tit, don't miss out!

Finally for today, here's the latest from newer local southern hard rock quintet Fort Creek, who have been hard at work in studio in the last month, while also hitting the stage three weeks ago at Reggie's West during one of blues rock veterans Mojo's weekly jam nights. The Halfway Loaded successors haven't shown their cards towards what specifically they're up to in the studio, let alone when they might make their formal concert debut, but their Facebook page is loaded with recent teases. Bassist Robin "Bones" Lee shared not one, but two more covers of Thriving Ivory's "Angels on the Moon" onto his YouTube channel this month (making three total there), while he's featured in this Facebook video from earlier today where he's "dialing in a sound." Solid playing from this local veteran, and the Thriving Ivory covers sound solid! Embedded below though is a new preview video for the band at large, as shared onto The Wicked Wire's YouTube channel on Sunday.

For the record, I don't know what The Wicked Wire refers to (possibly an old band name?) The video features monochrome still images of band members, logos, and even a map showing where Fort Creek is, as set to audio recordings from their recent jamming, primarily Pink Floyd's "Time" and Luke Combs' "Can I Get An Outlaw". Solid teaser of what's to come, and 2020 looks like it will be a big year for Fort Creek, assuming all goes according to plan! Give it a look below, and see more above!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews and this month's CD review shortly! Thanks everyone!