LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Tarnished) & Theatre Of Night Updates!!

With the American Thanksgiving fast approaching, let's devote today's SMS post entirely to Sault Michigan bands, primarily from the latest updates from a very prominent local metal group, but leading off, here's a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!

Local hard rock quartet Tarnished will play a special one-night-only concert TOMORROW NIGHT at The Merchant's Bar! Apologies for the short notice, the band announced this gig via their Facebook event page this past Wednesday, but I held it until closer to the event to avoid redundantly plugging it twice in under a week. For full disclosure, The Merch have not acknowledged this show on their Facebook page at press time, not having posted there since October. The unusual Wednesday night booking is due to the American Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday, so most Yoopers are able to come out on the middle of the week TOMORROW and rock out with Tarnished without fear of compromising work/school the next day. Tarnished last played at the 108 West Spruce Street nightclub four months ago, and hopefully the guys deliver another solid night of hard rock and classic metal covers and originals TOMORROW!

Of course, this can also be seen as a warm-up for the Steel Panther concert on Saturday that Tarnished are opening, and our preview of that event hits the site later this week. As for TOMORROW's Thanksgiving Eve show, expect a 21+ age limit, no cover charge, and an early 8:00 PM start time. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Tarnished live!

Next up, here's the latest from local classical metal band Theatre of Night, who have been very quiet in a Facebook sense since the summer, but they have actually been far more active on their Instagram page in recent months, so what can we learn there? As you can see, the band has finally given their current lineup an official band photo, and via their website's band members page, we can confirm that their new bassist (who replaced Scott Andringa last year) is Luke Bernard. I'm unfamiliar with Luke musically beyond his Theatre of Night work, but he is from the Soo, he has worked with the band already as a guest musician & photographer, and he's actually the head researcher for the Soo Area Ghostbusters! As in, real paranormal investigations, not film cosplay. From what I have seen, Luke holds his own with Theatre of Night, and for the longest, Instagram-unencumbered look at him on bass, check out their music video for "We Three Kings" from last year!

With their non-website updates lately being Instagram exclusive, what else will fans have missed from Theatre of Night as of late? Well, as established fans may know, the band will often post teasers and allusions to new music and/or an album being in the works, but things often aren't finalized publically, though of course, the pandemic is acknowledged. Still, among the last year's posts on Instagram, Theatre of Night teased songs named "Vanquish The Damned" and "Into Darkness" plus a second Christmas album with vocals, plugged their epic instrumental compilation "album" on Spotify, and posted assorted teaser videos, usually involving keyboardist Craig Harrison or guitarist Steve Giles jamming, with Luke also getting some camera time. A music video for their song "The Killing" (with guest singer Ida Elena) is also planned, and a remastered version of that song can also be checked out on major streaming platforms like Apple Music.

Regarding their Christmas tour, it is indeed returning for 2022 after missing the last two years for very obvious reasons, and three stops are listed so far! Unfortunately, all are downstate (in Jackson, Battle Creek, and Wayland), but you can get details on these three dates (all on successive Fridays) at their Reverbnation page. Hopefully they can lock down at least one local stop on the tour, but we'll keep you posted! Anything else new is via the assortment of Instagram videos, all under a minute long as per that site's limits, but the performances and teasers there trend towards slick and professional, and the ones that are rawer jams showcase members' talent well! Would be nice to see Rachel and Erik more in these videos though. Instragram videos are tricky to embed on the SMS, but luckily, the newest one was cross-prosted to their YouTube channel earlier this month, featuring Steve shredding a Pantera-esque riff.

The monochrome clip is solid while it lasts (35 seconds), but will it be part of a song from Theatre of Night, or is this just a studio jam? Time will tell, but definitely visit the above links for much more on Theatre of Night's recent activity and upcoming plans, stay tuned in case they do play in the U.P. for their fourth Christmas tour, and here's that new video of Steve!

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