LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Fyrbird, Rhythm & Brews, And The Nameless), A Big Concert Postponement, And More!!

On this Friday afternoon, today's post takes us entirely to Sault Michigan and the Eastern Upper Peninsula, courtesy of some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, a major show postponement, and an apology for missing a festival featuring one of the bands in question. Here's what you should know!

Local hard rock band The Nameless will return to the stage with their apparent headlining debut on Friday, September 22nd at The Merchants Bar! This very sporadically seen quintet have only played two publically acknowledged concerts to date, most recently at the Scotty Austin show at The Savoy Bar in March, and while I'm not sure why they've been so publically quiet since debuting last year, hopefully their cover-centric set and on-stage chemistry have developed to the point where they can comfortably headline a solo concert! Be advised that The Merch's Facebook page has not publically acknowledged this show at press time, which shouldn't be all that shocking, as the venue rarely promotes artists playing there online. Next week's show has a 9:00 PM start time, no cover charge, and 21+ age limit. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and stay tuned for more!

Before we move on, note above that I said "publically acknowledged concerts", as The Nameless actually played at this year's Sugar Island Music Festival on Friday & Saturday, August 11th-12th. Their sets were advertised on the festival's website, but the band did not promote their involvement in advance online. The Sugar Island Festival (45 minutes east of the Soo by road/ferry) came back after a pandemic hiatus in 2021, but hadn't booked known hard rock bands again until this year, after usually having a token hard rock act in the past (often Banned or Tarnished). I profusely apologize for missing out on the Sugar Island Fest for coverage here, but hopefully The Nameless made a strong impression!

Next up, Kewadin Casino have announced their band schedules for this and next month on their website's entertainment pages! As noted in yesterday's post, two will see Traverse City classic metal trio Peril back at The Northern Pines Lounge in St. Ignace on October 13th & 14th (following tonight & tomorrow's Rapids Lounge concerts), while we already knew about Manistique hard rock duo Fyrbird's shows in St. Ignace next weekend. Two of the upcoming weekends were not known to us prior to yesterday, and are now listed in our calendar, starting with the aforementioned Fyrbird, who Kewadin has returning to The Rapids Lounge in the Soo on Friday, October 6th & Saturday, October 7th! These shows are not listed on the schedule posted on their Facebook group in June, which says that they're playing a show in Stephenson in the western Upper Peninsula on that Saturday.

Given that Kewadin's schedule is newer than the aforementioned schedule on the band's end, I'm inclined to believe that the Stephenson booking was cancelled, but we'll let you know if Kewadin erred on the schedule in some form. You can enjoy Fyrbird's hard rocking minimalist covers back in the E.U.P. in three weeks at 9:00 PM with 21+ age limits and no cover charges as usual, but again, they'll definitely be in St. Ignace next weekend first, plus in Gould City (in Mackinac County but beyond our one hour's drive-time coverage range) at month's end. See above for more details!

The other new Kewadin dates ahead for hard rock fans will see local hard rock cover quartet Rhythm & Brews return to The Rapids Lounge on Friday, October 27th & Saturday, October 28th! Yes, this talented union of Nixxon Dixxon & Highway 63 alumni drew the Halloween weekend at the Sault Ste. Marie branch, so you can expect lots of entertaining hard rock tunes from Brandon, the Chris', and Ron in a month & a half's time! No word on a costume contest or specific spooky frills for the occasion, but one imagines that costumes will be encouraged, especially on that Saturday. Of course, remember that Rhythm & Brews rarely update their Facebook page, so they may not plug these shows there. Once again, these are 21+ events with 19+ age limits and no announced cover, Halloween weekend timing acknowledged. See above for more details, and stay tuned for more from Rhythm & Brews if it comes in!

To close this all-Sault Michigan post, we have a major concert postponement to note on here, as the Skid Row/Buckcherry concert at The Dreammakers Theatre at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino will no longer take place on Saturday, October 28th. On Wednesday, the headlining New Jersey hair metal legends announced that the third leg of their The Gang's All Here tour with Buckcherry was being postponed to next spring due to health concerns with singer Erik Gronwall. Skid Row's camp did not go into complete details about what's wrong, but Erik is a leukemia survivor, and he noted in the press release that he still has a compromised immune system following a stem cell transplant two years ago, which can make it harder for him to beat infections. Given Erik's vocal abilities and how well he's been received after their carousel of vocalists in the 2010s, it speaks to their faith in him that they'd postpone the tour while he heals up!

The tour run will now end in the Soo on Saturday, March 23rd, a postponement of exactly 21 weeks. Tickets bought for the October date will be honoured next year, but refunds are available at point of purchase, so inquire with Kewadin Casino if you don't think you can make the new date. With the date change, there has been a band removal, as while Buckcherry will still return to our area as co-headliners, the new tour poster no longer lists Philadelphia hair metal quartet Britny Fox. Disappointing to see them apparently drop out, presumably due to scheduling, but hopefully they come back up here down the road! Note that the poster does credit an opening set on this leg from Waterloo, Ontario hard rock quartet Sierra Pilot (featuring Spades GT guitarist Jay Sarrazin, and as seen at The Northern Vibe Festival last month), but as best as I can gather, Sierra Pilot's own advertising only has them playing the Canadian dates next March.

Sierra Pilot aren't a new addition to the tour, for the record, as they were scheduled to open north of the border next month as it was. If they do happen to be able to play in Sault Michigan (or if another bands it tapped to open then instead), we'll let you know, but keep the new date circled for your hair metal and hard rock fix in March, and hopefully Erik gets well soon! That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site over the weekend! Thanks everyone!