Before we dive into a late notice-riddled array of weekend concert previews, here's a new news post to check out on this Wednesday evening, and it includes videos from a recent major concert, clarification from a recent battle of the bands, and leading off, a mid-week death metal show to preview in Sault Ontario. Let's get things rolling!
We'll start today with a special Wednesday night concert preview, as Gatineau, Quebec death metal band Insurrection and Toronto deathcore quartet Beguiler will make their local concert debuts TONIGHT at Soo Blaster! Insurrection's groove metal-influenced brand of brutality has been a prominent sight among extreme metal in la belle province since 2008, so this stop on their Obsolescence Tour should deliver all of the metal action that you can get on a work night! Meanwhile, this show is over a year in the making for Beguiler in a sense, as they were one of the five touring Ontario metal bands slated to play at Crucifest, the cancelled death metal festival in Leeburn in July of last year. So far, they're the only one of the five to land a new booking in the area, which is great to see, and they should crush it tonight as well! Local support includes death/thrash metal trio Pillory in their first gig since former bassist Devon Lucier returned to the band.
Devon hasn't played with Pillory since 2014, so welcome him back in style tonight! As well, crossover thrash quartet Hails will continue their recent momentum with their own in your face originals tonight as well, so don't miss out on this brutal foursome if you can come out! Promoted by Ha!ls guitarist Mikhal Muto, this all ages concert has a 7:30 PM start time, and tickets ran for $20 in advance through the local openers and at this link, with the door price jumping to $25. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details on this very heavy way to help end July 2025, and here's Insurrection live!
Next up, if you're wondering why I haven't shared any YouTube videos from Maryland stoner/hard rock band Clutch's headlining concert at The Dreammakers Theater at the Kewadin Casino in Sault Michigan yet, it's because I hadn't found any... until now! YouTube user Jamesmclaughing (who also saw Clutch in Flint a few years ago) was on hand on June 19th, capturing two brief videos, both hovering around 42 seconds in length. At least they're horizontal! The first clip (of the end of a song that I couldn't make out) can be seen here, but embedded below is Clutch playing the end of "Big News II" early in their set. Muffled audio on both, but James had a good view of the stage & Neil's intense presence, so watch these above & below!
While we're on the subject, let's address some unanswered questions regarding our belated coverage of the concerts at Saturday's concerts at the Superior Whitefish Festival in Brimley, and our thanks to Molly Escherich's mom Tiffany for helping fill in some blanks via her comment on our Facebook page's post to promote yesterday's post here! After noting technical difficulties on the Music In The Park half (which ultimately cancelled Acoustic Beaches' set), she clarified that performers Whistle & Fish are a duo comprised of local musicians Jason Smith & Ken Murphy, who jam often at the Christopher Columbus Italian-American Society Hall in the Soo. No genre hints, but from what I have gathered, they aren't a hard rock group. Regarding the battle of the bands that day, Tiffany was kind enough to reveal who won the top three spots, and the mystery band Crush actually won the $1,000 top prize, so who were they?
They weren't the girl group covering Chappell Roan, for the record. According to Tiffany, Crush is a new local band featuring Tarnished bandmates Alex Traynor and Josh Fair alongside former bassist Isaac Royer, and the intent appears to be for this to be an original music outlet while saving Tarnished for covers (note that Tarnished have an EP of original songs and put out "Lightswitch" last year, but that was before Chris & Ron joined full-time). We'll let you know when/if we get clarification on Crush's lineup, sound, and intent, but congratulations on winning the $1K! Tiffany also confirmed that Kaleb Shannon won the $750 second place prize (no small feat for a solo artist, as Molly knew in 2023), while The Nameless claimed the $500 third place prize. Surprisingly, Molly & The Other Guys (who won last year's LSSU Battle) finished in last on Saturday, but Tiffany did partially chalk that up to their late drummer switch.
Molly's brother Cayd filled in when About:Blank's Kade DesArmo had to drop out that same day, and it was the first time Cayd has ever played a live concert with a band, so there were obvious setbacks, and Tiffany did concede that maybe it should have been an acoustic set instead. I don't know if the battle was judged by actual judges or by a fan vote, but clearly something was missing here for Molly & crew given her talents & how she did at the LSSU battles (2023's was fan voted, last year's had judges). Hopefully everyone had a great time regardless, and if the Superior Whitefish Festival has a battle of the bands in 2026, I will not miss covering it here! Apologies again, and thanks again to Tiffany for helping out here!
That's all for now, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews on the site next! Thanks everyone!
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