LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Tarnished), A Surprise New Album Release, And Much More!!

Well, this is a rare sight: two posts in a two day span! I wasn't planning to have anything new on the site today, but surprisingly, a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT dropped into my lap courtesy of a prominent Sault Michigan band, so I cobbled together stuff I was saving for next week to fill this post out. There are some Sault Ontario topics to get to, including a new album release and more, but we're mostly staying in the E.U.P. here via some new videos and that concert, so here's what you should know!

Local hard rock trio Tarnished will return to Hulbert House Bed & Breakfast (well, outside of it) in nearby Hulbert Township TONIGHT for a special "summer rock party" concert! Apologies for the short notice, the band only announced the event via this poster on Wednesday, but the venue had posted the Facebook event page for it over a month ago. While I'm surprised Tarnished waited until this week to plug the event, I should have caught Hulbert House's own event page before now, and I profusely apologize for that! Tarnished have played a few shows downstate in the interim, but this will be their first publically advertised local concert since March (also at Hulbert House), and this will mark their first E.U.P. date since the departure of bassist Donald Alexander. As per this low-res photo from their concert in Vandalia last week, it looks like Josh is still on drums, but I can't tell whether someone's playing bass instead of guitar or not.

As best as I can tell, Tarnished are the only band playing TONIGHT, and with no lockdown order in Michigan, why not come out to see some live hard rock, let alone outdoors! Be advised that 9&10 News is calling for isolated thunderstorms in Hulbert around 10:00 PM. TONIGHT'S all ages concert has a 6:00 PM start time, a $15 cover charge, and takes place outside of the B&B at 9920 South North Hulbert Road. Concerts, let alone outdoor ones, have been rare for obvious reasons in recent months, so if you can make the drive west, don't miss Tarnished under the stars TONIGHT, and here they are live!

Next up, defunct Sault Ontario classic metal quartet Late & Loud are back (kinda) with a new album.... kinda! While the band proper did dissolve following their two standalone reunion gigs in 2014, with members largely moving out of town at least temporarily, they obviously remained friends, as evidenced by the creation of their role playing game podcast Late & Legends last fall. I'm not super knowledged about D&D-style role playing games, but clearly the guys know their stuff and have made up a detailed fantasy world and characters to work with, and you can get links on their website towards audio and video episodes of their exploits in Renlan. Much to my surprise, the podcast has led to the release of a "new" album in April entitled "Late & Legends 1" that is on sale for $5 on the Late & Loud Bandcamp page, marking their first album since 2013's "Heavy Rockin' Hard Metal" reissue!

Honestly, this is more of a score than a proper album, compiling backing music heard in the podcast proper, so expect something more along the lines of SweetKenny's late-period albums than a true sequel to "Heavy Rockin' Hard Metal". Still, it does feature 12 new instrumental compositions, six each by guitarists Brendan Christie & Jonathan Tiberi, though I don't know if Benn or Josh contributed to the recording sessions. As this is technically a new Late & Loud album, it is eligible for a review on the SMS (perhaps this month?!), but in any event, give the podcast and/or album a listen, watch the pilot below, and Late & Loud are surprisingly back in our active band links!

Also today, here's another new original song from Heavy Lies The Crown guitarist Ted Olson's YouTube channel on Tuesday! Entitled "Devoured", this is a collaboration that the St. Ignace product made with Darien Deilami, an Oklahoma-based metal vocalist from the band Xeropthalmia (among others). Given the long distance, it's surprising that the final product is only 73 seconds, but it's a brutal death metal track while it lasts, and Darien's brutal vocals fit very well (there's even a lyric track on the video if you want to try and sing along!) Give "Devoured" a listen for yourselves below!

Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by band name:

 

• The Buckcherry-headlined concert at Soo Blaster in Sault Ontario has been rescheduled once again, this time to Tuesday, October 19th, as per a quiet update to the Facebook event page. Organizers and bands haven't made a massive deal of the new date yet, perhaps due to the uncertainty on the border and if normal concerts will have the go-ahead in the province by then, but optimistically, I have listed the new date on the site. Fingers crossed that things will be more opened up by the fall! If you do want tickets for the new date, or to inquire about refunds, click here.
  
• St. Ignace, Michigan progressive metal band Heavy Lies The Crown teased on their Facebook page last week that they are in "talks of a music video for a new song that has never been heard yet", but followed that up a day later by apologizing for not posting lately (despite the previous day's post), saying that "things have happened recently that has changed our route a little." Nothing too detailed has followed since, just vague teasers, but hopefully all is well in their camp!
• The rescheduled Queen: It's A Kinda Magic tribute concert at the Sault Community Theatre Centre in Sault Ontario did not take place on Wednesday for obvious reasons, but it has been rescheduled once again, as their website's tour schedule now lists it as taking place on Sunday, May 22nd, 2022. Surely, we won't have to worry about lockdowns and social distancing by next spring.... right?! Again, fingers crossed, and the new date is listed on the site! Yes, tickets are on sale at this link.
  

 

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