LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Lake Superior State University Battle Of The Bands II)!!

Apologies for this being so delayed to first make the SMS, but the second annual Lake Superior State University battle of the bands will take place on Thursday, October 17th! Around eleven months after the Sault Michigan university's Arts Centre hosted six acts at their inaugural community battle of the bands, things are even bigger for next week's encore edition, with eight acts hitting the stage for unspecified prizes, so who all is playing this year? Only two of last year's performers are returning under the same names, including classic metal/hard rock band Tarnished and local folk musician Kevin Blakeney, neither of which made the podium last year. Obviously, Tarnished will look different this year (with Chris Leask and Ron Suchey currently playing bass and drums), while Kevin hinted on his personal Facebook page when promoting the 2024 battle that "this year, I'm going to go heavy". We will have to see how that goes!

As you may recall, Tarnished's battle set last year was their first public gig with now-ex bassist Parker Talentino, but he will be back this year with a solo set. Parker's own music leans more to acoustic folk/alternative, so a definite leap from what Tarnished play, but it'll be interesting to see how he goes over, especially as a solo musician in a battle of the bands! Of course, that's not disqualifying for an event like this, as seen last year when young Dafter singer/guitarist Molly Escherich was edged out for first place by three fan votes, and she will be back to make another run at the top prize, but not solo! Molly had teased plans to get a band together a few months back, and she confirmed last month that she will be fronting Molly & The Other Guys at the battle, so who are "the other guys"?  Molly was seen jamming with former Tarnished/Double Jack guitarist Nathan Webber and her brother Cayd (on drums) in this "Reel" on her Facebook page.

It seems likely that they'll be her bandmates next week, though no word on a possible bassist. The "Reel" sees them solidly covering Disturbed's "Down With The Sickness", and Molly shows some brutal versatility on that part of the song! I can't embed "Reels" here, but you can watch it above. The other four acts scheduled for the battle of the bands are new to me, one being Kaleb Shannon, a local country/rock singer/songwriter who hasn't posted on his Facebook page since last summer. but has an album ("Light My Darkness") on major streaming services. Kaleb is a talented musician with a very distinct voice, but can he outperform the bands, Parker, and Kevin next week? Of the other three bands, one is named Unsure (possibly The Unsure?), and I can't find anything concrete about them on social media. We'll let you know when we hear something! Also playing is Small Town Society, so who are they?

I can tell you that they're the new rock band from former Stoned Ape Evoluton/Double Jack guitarist Melvin Willis, but tags referencing participation in the battle on Facebook that include him may reflect multiple groups, so I'm not going to jump the gun beyond that. Again, I don't know much on Small Town Society, but we'll keep you posted! The last band is Sonic Dayze, and unlike the other two new bands, they have a Facebook page with lots of content, so I will be talking about them very soon with a proper write-up, as they have a lot more to say that I don't want overshadowed by the battle details. Conspicuous by their absence are defending champions The Sole Aggressors, but I don't know if they declined the chance to compete again or if LSSU has it so winning bands can't come back. Last year's third place band (Double Jack, now known as Exit 808) aren't back either, but only one band remember remains from last year.

I'm unsure on some of the finer details of this year's battle, but last year, the winners were decided by a fan vote, bands had 15 minute sets, and the prizes were $150 for first place and $50 for second. Admission is the same as last year, at $10 for general attendees, $5 for kids 10 and under, and free for current LSSU staff or students with valid ID. It's great to see Lake State trying the battle of the bands again (still waiting on a new Sault Ontario one...), and hopefully any kinks from last year have been ironed out in time for Thursday's encore at their Arts Center! Visit the official Facebook event page and the above links for more details, and stay tuned for more details on Sonic Dayze shortly! Thanks everyone!