LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (The Lazys & WestFest II!)

Happy Canada Day to our Canadian readers! Just a quick note that the full music schedule for TODAY'S opening day of Poutine Feast was finally revealed on the You Belong SSM Facebook page yesterday, confirming that Vito Tassone (credited as "VT Music") and Josh "The Preacher" McNally will also be performing, as will unspecified indigenous performers. The official timeslots weren't given, but they're in descending performance order with Eli Russell & The River Fools up first at 12:00 PM, and BookcluB & Dos Amigos both confirmed on Instagram that they'd be at 8:15 and 4:15 PM respectively. If you're going to the plaza, have fun and stay hyrdrated! Now, here's two big LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS to look for in the coming months!

The full lineup for the second annual WestFest at Anna Marinelli Park on Saturday, August 8th was gradually revealed on the West Village Renewed Facebook page last month, and with this video 100% confirming the five final acts (down from seven last year), who all is heading to Jamestown next month? Surprisingly, only one band from 2025 is returning this year, and unlike last year's focus on Rotaryfest alumni (all but one act being from recent Stage 2 lineups), the four newcomers here have never played Rotaryfest in the forms you'll be seeing at WestFest II. Headlining this year are local/Collingwood folk rock quartet The Ontarians (featuring the Soo's own Frank Deresti and Chris Johns), while folk/country quartet The Golden Scoundrels will co-headline as the only return act from last year. Two familiar faces will play solo sets prior, including the solo debut of BookcluB/ex-Hails guitarist Carmen Muto!

I have no idea what Carmen's solo set will entail in terms of genres, possible bandmates, if he'll be singing too, etc., but he's an exceedingly talented guitarist for his age, so hopefully he makes a big impression! Also performing at WestFest next month is Ava Nori, the daughter of Treble Charger frontman Greig Nori, who you may recall guesting with her dad's band at their last local concert at The Machine Shop in March 2024. Ava's arguably better known for her poetry (she was interviewed about it on The Borderline, even), but come out to Anna Marinelli Park to see how she does as a solo musician! Opening on August 8th are new local alt-hard rock quintet Riverside Stasis, one year after singer Tea Emlaw headlined WestFest 1 with Handsome Sandwich in that band's final Sault Ste. Marie concert set. I have no clue if Riverside Stasis were always planned to play next month, or if they had signed up for the cancelled battle of the bands to find the opening act.

Given their pedigree (including 3/5ths of HeadFirst), hopefully they were picked on their own merits, but regardless, Sault Ontario has been snakebit for battles of the bands since the pandemic! Like last year, WestFest is a centerpiece event for The West Village Revitalization Project in their efforts to revive and bring attention to the Jamestown and Steelton areas in the west end of the downtown core, and community initiatives and causes therein. Termed as a "block party meets music festival", this outdoor event at 169 James Street will also feature local vendors and family activities, and if the same as 2025, a beer garden, so click here for full non-musical details and any to come. This year's WestFest is blocked to start and end later than last year's, with an advertised runtime of 4:00-11:00 PM, with Riverside Stasis kicking off the live music at 5:00 PM. While last year's was free, WestFest II will have admission by donation, so pay what you can to support the cause.

While Riverside Stasis are the only assuredly hard rock-leaning act next month (again, I don't know what to expect from Carmen solo), there should be a little for everyone to enjoy musically at WestFest II, and I do hope that the weather cooperates, both in terms of possible rain and the temperature/humidity next month. Kudos to West Village Renewed for keeping their revitalization going, and visit the above links for more details!

Finally, Australian hard rock quintet The Lazys will make their local concert debut on Friday, October 9th at Blaster Powerhouse! Announced late last month via this poster that bafflingly doesn't give the date (The Lazys' website and the Facebook comment replies confirmed it), this is a band that will be familiar to listeners of 104.3 The Fox, as The Lazys have far more Canadian rock radio success than American thanks to hit singles like "Too Tough To Die" & "Hot Under The Collar". While not as AC/DC-coded as their fellow Aussies in Airbourne, there's still a retro flair to their catchy brand of hard rock, and no less than Ian D'Sa from Billy Talent has co-wrote music with them, so it'll be neat finally see The Lazys in the Soo! Opening on October 9th (also in their local debut) are Winnipeg "nu grunge punk n' roll" quartet The Bloodshots, an all-Indigenous group whose described genre is pretty accurate, as they cover a lot of ground in their original music, so there's a lot to like within, and do check them out in advance!

A local opening band is to be announced for this all ages concert, which is expected to start at 8:15 PM. Advance tickets are on sale for $40 at this link and presumably at the former Soo Blaster, and the price will jump to $50 at the door. This should be a fun concert for modern hard rock fans with an old school flair, and there's three months to prepare for it, so visit the above links for more details, and stay tuned for weekend concert previews and this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Poutine Feast), New Videos, And Hails Updates!!

Before we kick off our likely last news post of June 2026, just a heads up that Sault Michigan classic/hard rock cover band Tarnished had to cancel their St. Ignace Car Show matinee gig on Saturday, as per their Facebook page 22 minutes prior to showtime. A reason wasn't given, but Alex & Josh still played their acoustic Bay Mills gig that night, so Chris and/or Ron being unavailable could explain things. Disappointing given the timing, but Tarnished will return to St. Ignace for an outdoor Music By The Bay concert on September 5th! Now, here's a Canada Day SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT and more recent news and notes from the last little while!

Local punk/alternative cover sextet BookcluB and their sister acoustic punk cover duo Dos Amigos will reportedly both be among the lineup on WEDNESDAY at The Downtown Plaza as part of the opening Canada Day program for this year's Poutine Feast! Apologies for the short notice, we only caught lineup details for this year in the batch post promoting the touring poutine festival on Facebook (only the paid advertisement version lists any scheduled musical performers, not the static promotional images shared as permanent posts). After 2025 had a reduced music lineup that was never announced on social media, we at least know some of the 2026 performers, with BookcluB and Dos Amigos (neither of which have corroborated the Poutine Feast advertising) joining new local southern/indie rock quartet Eli Russell & The River Fools and classic rock veterans RPM on WEDNESDAY.

Also teased are "...and more!", but who they are isn't known, let alone the timeslots, or the entire Thursday music lineup beyond Jay Case, but we will touch on the Friday program in our next weekend concert previews. Expect games, family entertainment, other vendors, and of course, lots of touring poutine food trucks on WEDNESDAY through Sunday at the plaza, so click here for full details on the daily themes! Poutine Feast is on daily from 11:00 AM-9:00 PM, this is absolutely FREE & ALL AGES (food purchases aside), and 9&10 News is calling for partly-mostly cloudy skies, with temperatures ranging from 25-30°, so prepare accordingly for the heat. Visit the above links for more details, and here's BookcluB live at the plaza!

Next up, here's the first public video that I can actually embed here (not a "Story") from local ska punk/"crackrocksteady" quartet A.S.D.P. in concert! The band still doesn't have a formal social media page outside of Bandcamp, but this was uploaded to drummer "Just" Ralph Barber's personal Facebook page yesterday, and then publically shared to frontman Mikhal Muto's promotion agency Underground Events SSM's Facebook page. This comes from the all-local concert that they headlined at Blaster Powerhouse this past Saturday, and this may not be representative of Adam Smith Death Parade's general sound for two reasons. One is that it's not a ska punk song (rather a cover of Pennywise's "Bro Hymn"), but also because this doesn't just have Mikhal, Tucker, William, and Ralph on stage. No, everyone is on stage, from members of other bands that night (Chris Nielsen and Spencer MacGillivray among them) to other fans and friends.

If you know anything about "Bro Hymn", the community aspect adds a lot, and it's great to see everyone having a blast in what I can only assume is the last song of the night! The attendee who filmed this (I recognize him but don't know his name off hand) unfortunately shot this vertically and only for a minute, but it's a fun watch, and I wonder who brought the balloons? Check it out below, and hopefully some more public videos of A.S.D.P. surface, even without a Facebook page of their own!

Also today, here's the latest from Mikhal's old hardcore punk band Hails, who announced the addition of With Gunfire/ex-Jack Spades guitarist Anthony Orazietti to their lineup on June 3rd, replacing Carmen Muto (Mikhal's cousin). A reason for the switch was not publically announced, but Carmen didn't immediately leave when Mikhal did at the end of 2025, and he has since been confirmed as the new lead guitarist of the aforementioned BookcluB, so follow them for his next live outings. Anthony is a talented and underrated shredder, so hopefully he bolsters the ranks well with Brent & Keegan going forward! While Ha!ls' first local date of the year and with Anthony will be at the Ripcordz concert at Beck's Bar on July 18th, they will actually debut the new lineup on Friday, July 10th at the conveniently named Dock Ellis sports bar in Toronto, which will be a headlining date alongside three bands from the GTA.

Hails are a ripping live act that fans of Brent's past work as a frontman will take to with ease, and it's great to see that their six month+ break from the stage is winding down, so if you won't be in Toronto in two weeks for the new lineup's soft launch, don't miss out on the new Ha!ls lineup with The Ripcordz the following week (on Rotaryfest Saturday, even!)

Finally for today, here's some updates from local classic/hard rock cover quartet Silent 9! The band is in the midst of their annual summer break from nightclub concerts, instead focusing on festivals and private events, but even given that, this is a quiet stretch for them, as their only public booking in Sault Ste. Marie until the fall was at Throttle Fest at Runway Park on Saturday, June 20th. If you want to get a glimpse of how the set at the outdoor motorcross/mud drag event looked, then here's a (sadly) vertical clip of Jess, Ryan, Paul, and Steve covering Twisted Sister's "We're Not Gonna Take It" late in the concert, as per their Facebook page the following day. Silent 9 were playing on a flatbed trailer at Runway Park, and there was an active crowd rocking out at this point in the night, if perhaps with a few bugs. The video is only 20 seconds long, but what we hear is well performed!

Note that the thumbnail image is from much earlier in the set for one reason or another (the video was 100% shot at nighttime), and as such, I do think that the stage lighting on the trailer made Silent 9 look too purple, especially in contrast to the outdoorsy locale, but you shouldn't be expecting Bell Border Jam II either. The description of the video does imply that Silent 9 will be back for Throttle Fest II next year, but with no Rotaryfest or Giovanni's sets this month (or anywhere else), local fans won't be able to see Silent 9 again at a public event until September, unless you wanna drive to Thessalon or White River. Give this new video clip a watch below!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news, updates, and concert previews as we enter the month of July! Thanks everyone!

YouTube Channel Profile Series: Fuller - Topic & xCrimsonCrusade's Channel

It is now time for this month's YouTube Channel Profiles after a few days' delay, and as usual, we're taking a look at YouTube channels whose content is at least half devoted to local metal, hard rock, or punk musicians/concerts! This month's randomly selected channels both take us to local bands who originated local content over a decade ago, with one completing said music last year and the other emerging improved after this, so here's what you should know on both fronts! We're doubling up because the first channel only has uploads from one album and I only felt comfortable spotlighting two songs without getting too repetitive, so a single-video channel was sourced.

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Fuller - Topic (http://youtube.com/channel/UC_vmb5Gu_u_dKwscM4LOI8Q)

Owner: If anyone, Fuller frontman Jamie Vincent, but this channel is auto-generated to facilitate Fuller's newest studio album being available on YouTube Music

Channel Timeline: Launched on March 27th, 2025; All videos uploaded that same day

Channel Summary: This channel solely features all ten songs from the local midwest emo/post-hardcore band's second album "II", which was released to major streaming platforms as part of their mid-2020s revival, with the release sandwiched between Fuller's two reunion concerts in December 2023 and July 2025

Why You Should Watch: If you were a fan of Fuller's dating back to their early-mid 2000s heyday, and/or are a fan of this era of emo and alt-rock, you'll definitely enjoy hearing "II", which finally saw Mark/Nathan-era originals of theirs recorded in studio as originally intended! However, the band has not made their 2002 self-titled EP (the one where no song was titled) available to match.

 Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:

 

And I End: The most popular song on YouTube Music from this album is its second track and first advance single "And I End", a slower but melodic number that will appeal to emo fans of the era while also still harbouring a raw DIY indie rock edge! Fuller are represented here by singer/guitarist Jamie Vincent (ex-AlgomA) and bassist Mark Rand (Cross Dog), with David Peredun (Convergence) taking over drums for Nathan Sauve, who retained writing credits. Producer Dustin Goodall (who guested with Fuller at Rotaryfest Stage 2 last year) provided "additional instrumentation" on the album, but they didn't specify his exact roles and on what songs.

 

Six: Fuller ended this album with a re-recording of the untitled sixth song from their self-titled 2002 EP, even bringing back original drummer James Kersley to record backing vocals for it. While it is currently the least streamed song from "II" on YouTube Music, it's actually one of my favourite cuts on the album, so I wanted to highlight it anew. Technically beginning with a two minute intro at the end of the preceding song "Kerosene", the 2025 revision is louder, has a more satisfying ending, and is a better produced, in-your-face midwest emo song that builds and gets the point across with an interesting trancey vibe. I'll likely be moving Fuller to our inactive band links next month, but it would be neat to see Jamie and crew make new versions of the rest of their first EP at some point down the road!

 

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xCrimsonCrusade's Channel (http://youtube.com/xcrimsoncrusade)

Owner: A member of 2010-2013 local/Central Algoma death metal band Crimson Crusade, exact identity unclear

Channel Timeline: Launched on September 13th, 2010; Only video uploaded that same day

Channel Summary: The original YouTube channel for "The Crimson Crusade" saw just one upload, featuring an audio recording of their original song "Left For Dead" from an empty theater, credited as "thy shitty demo". They apologized for the recording quality, blaming the sound tech, but I'll let you determine if the only comment is from the same sound tech. As best as I can gather, this features original singer Curtis Moir, guitarists Devon Lucier (Pillory) and Brent Beaulieu, bassist Riley Marshall, and Curtis' ex-Inhuman Methods bandmate Robert Crossley. Despite the audio quality, there is promise here for death metal fans, especially given that members were still CASS students at the time, but the vocals do sound somewhat forced, and they would develop a Death-influenced technicality by the time their 2013 album "Upon The Eve Of War" came out, so give that a listen afterwards!

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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! This series will return on or around July 26th when we look at another randomly selected channel, this time Stonesmyth, featuring many original songs and videos from the defunct local hard rock project Stone Smyth (R.I.P. Troy), so look for that then, and for more news and notes this week! Thanks everyone!

Viscera - "From Feast To Famine" EP Review!!

It's now time for our 204th monthly CD review at The Sault Metal Scene, and as our crawl through out lengthy new album release backlog continues, we're taking a detour to Sault Michigan for a look at newer local hardcore punk/metal band Viscera's debut EP "From Feast To Famine"! Independently released to major streaming services on October 30th, the band is represented here by Small Town Society alum "Blind" Bob Quinn on vocals & guitar alongside drummer Mitchell Leon. This EP was recorded before Chris Lovins joined Viscera on bass, and the band did not specifically credit who played bass here. You can hear all five songs on Spotify and Apple Music (as linked here) plus on YouTube Music and Bandcamp, and if you want to properly buy this EP, mp3 copies are on sale on iTunes for $4.95 and on Bandcamp for $9. With five tracks running for 19 minutes, let's get things rolling!

Things open with their first single "Disassociate", which is also the shortest song on offer. An in your face rocker that feels very Clutch-esque in its structure and vocal style, this benefits greatly from a catchy lead guitar riff, and Bob acquits himself well for angry hardcore singing, but ending the choruses by dramatically yelling "Ow!" felt like a stopgap measure, and if I was Mitchell, I'd have toned down the cymbals. Good stuff in a tight 2+ minute package, and a fun way to introduce Viscera to Yooper audiences! Next up is "Got Away", which has a surprisingly jaunty and bouncy structure and riff that calls to mind southern rock more than their name, imagery, and the opening song would suggest. Blind Bob sings melodically on the verses and gets away with it, though the "Ooooh oh" parts again feel like filler.

Choruses are more aggressively in-your-face, but the song on the whole almost feels like a different band aside from the production quality being similar. Not a bad number at all, and it has a fun down-home quality without dipping into country territory, but I preferred the hard-edged metal aspects of "Disassociate" more. At the midpoint, we have "Refraction", which has more of a bluesy feel with a chugging riff, more guitar solo input, and more straightforward vocals that don't have the melody of the preceding track, but are also more muted than on the opener. Bob's singing does come across a little processed compared to what came before it, but he shows off more as a pure guitarist, which I appreciate! The ending breakdown heavies things up well, and it's an improvement on "Got Away", but you do get the sense that Viscera wanted to shake things up for sounds on their original material.

Fourth of five cuts here is "Pillar Of Doom", which is giving me "Sleep Now In The Fire" vibes in terms of the verses, but the song is an interesting mashup, with the steady aggressive vocals counter-balanced with a fast bluesy rock riff, if one that gets a little repetitive as it goes. The music is (on the whole) too loud, that or Bob's singing is too low in the mix, but Mitchell's drumming is the best that I've heard yet on this EP,  More than any song so far, I think this could have been edited down without losing unique elements, but it's the heaviest wall-to-wall song yet, so that counts for something! Last up is the EP's longest song & title track "From Feast To Famine", which opens with a slow bassline and low bluesy melodic singing alternating with yelled choruses before the song gets into a faster breakdown at the midway mark. While definitely heavier, it also has that swinging southern rock affect to it.

The lyrics are more pointed and clear than what some other songs here had, but this song jumps around too much in styles for my liking, with deliberate spare instrumentation at points, fast hard rock at others, and they don't naturally flow in ways that I would have written. A good showcase of Viscera's diversity but they have better songs here. With all of that said, how do I grade Viscera's debut EP? It's a good batch of songs, but descriptions and teasers point to sounds you won't expect. Given the "visceral" lyrics and socially charged cover artwork, I wasn't expecting the southern rock and bluesy essence on these songs, which often don't feel like they're from one specific band, but it does hold credence to "whatever you need, Baby" being one of their Bandcamp tags! Bob and Mitchell pair well to bring their intense but varied music to life, and their talents are stretched to match the sounds that they're going for, and this doesn't feel like a duo effort!

As someone who tries not to spoil album reviews by listening to advance material, I didn't know that this wouldn't be as hardcore punky as implied, and while nothing here is bad, I did find the songs to be inconsistently plotted, with buried vocals, stop-start momentum on the title track, repetition on "Pillar Of Doom", and filler "Oooh" vocals on the opening tracks among things that I would address. Viscera have since released a new single, so it'll be interesting to see how it compares to any of these five songs, but this is a solid (if somewhat deceptive) debut EP, and here's to much more ahead! I hope you guys liked this month's CD review, and we're looking at Mike Haggith's live album "Under A Moonlit Sky" here in July! Thanks everyone!

Saturday Hard Rock/Punk Concert Previews, Plus New Live Videos!!

Before we begin this post, I wanted to apologize for not being able to get About:Blank's late notice Art In The Park acoustic matinee set at Moloney's Alley today into a regular post, but alas, they only announced their involvement on their Facebook page this morning, and they were not on the AI poster promoting the music lineup there. I'd have happily covered it here had it had been announced even yesterday, but I did get the word out on our Facebook page, at least. From here, we leave Sault Michigan to cap off this weekend's hard rock concert previews in Sault Ontario, including new videos from two of the bands in question, so here's what you should know!

We'll pick things back up at Beck's Bar TOMORROW NIGHT, and while Stones & Crows are debuting there tonight, Saturday belongs to Bone Yard 225, as the southern hard rock trio are playing a standard 9:00 PM nightcap concert and doubling up by going "uncorked" in the 3:00-7:00 PM matinee timeslot as well! The extended eight hour concert (with two hour gap) is so they can be the musical entertainment at the Biker Rights Organization's annual Shoot & Scoot motorcycle rally, which starts at the newer A&W on Great Northern Road and ends at Beck's (relocating from The Moose Lodge this year). Also at Beck's, attendees can expect a barbecue and concert action from "the dirty three", but visit the above links for what to expect at the rally, which does involve some field target shooting en route! Bone Yard have long been supporters of motorcycle riding and the B.R.O., and hopefully there's a good crowd for acoustic show #1 and plugged-in show #2!

Greg, Alex, and Warren's marathon day will have no cover charge for general attendees, and this is a 19+ event. Just two weeks removed from their last Beck's stop (which was their first electric gig in three months), hopefully things go smoothly for their southern fried hard rock originals and covers tomorrow, and that they use the 7:00-9:00 break wisely before recorking! Visit the above links for more details on your local 225's double concert and/or the Shoot & Scoot, and for a preview, here's a brand new live-streamed video of them live at the Queen Street Cruise last week! This comes from the outdoor waterfront portion of their Saturday gig during the car show (placed again near Montana's), and it features the guys covering Wild Cherry's "Play That Funky Music". It's a lively cover played in nice weather conditions, but the video is vertical, and it comes in midway through the first chorus.

Unfortunately, the band representative shot this video as a live-stream for their Facebook page, not a standard video, so as per Facebook's current guidelines, it will vanish from Facebook around July 20th unless they convert it to a regular video or re-upload it.  Give it a watch (while you can?) below, and click here for Greg's own highlight/behind the scenes video from the Cruise proper! No music there, but all of the band make appearances.

Next up, an intriguing package of newer and not-as-frequently seen local bands will join forces at Blaster Powerhouse TOMORROW NIGHT thanks to Underground Events SSM! Ska punk quartet A.S.D.P. (led by promoter Mikhal Muto) will play a rare headlining set tomorrow at the former Soo Blaster, while local metal trio The BAG will return to the site of their album release party in their first show since then tomorrow as the co-headliners, returning the favour after A.S.D.P. opened for them in April. Local alt-punk trio A Dire Setback will end a 15 month stage hiatus when they take the stage tomorrow themselves, and it's great to see them back after way too long! Opening tomorrow is the live debut of Riverside Stasis, the new band from Handsome Sandwich, Raincourt, HeadFirst, Jack Spades, and Stones & Crows alumni. The talent is certainly there, but how will things go for their first live concert set?

Admission is $15 via advance tickets from the performers or at The Rad Zone, but the price will jump to $20 at the door. This is an all ages event that will begin tomorrow night at 8:00 PM. Definitely a solid lineup of newer and established local talent that hard rock and punk fans won't want to bypass, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and in lieu of a publically embeddable video of A.S.D.P. (remember, their social media presence is slight), here's The BAG live at the same venue!

Finally for known hard rock concerts this weekend, we'll head north to The Water Tower Pub, where local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations will take the stage for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT! Last seen at Minelli's 75th anniversary festival this past weekend, this will effectively be a rescheduling of their cancelled April 18th show at The Water Tower Pub due to an unspecified family emergency. Exactly 10 weeks later, they're back, and hopefully there's lots of fun classic and hard rock favourites from Valerie, Joe, Pierre, and Tony once again! I do not know who is playing at this venue tonight, but tomorrow's show will be at 8:00 PM with a 19+ age limit and no cover charge. For a preview, we have some brand new videos of Generations live outside of The Marconi Hall for the Minelli's festival! Shared to the band's Facebook group in a batch post, the videos were shot by drummer Tony Santoro's wife Dawn.

She filmed them covering John Mellencamp's "Authority Song", Brandi Carlile's "The Story", Pat Benatar's "Hit Me With Your Best Shot", Bryan Adams' "Summer Of '69", and as embedded below, Nazareth's "Turn On Your Reciever". All have Valerie Powley on lead vocals except "Authority Song", which had Tony singing. While the videos are sadly all vertical (you don't have to accentuate the pavement like that when people aren't even standing there), the performances are sound, and this looks like a well staged event fitting a 75th anniversary! Visit the above links to see all of Dawn's videos, and turn on your receiver so you can check out the cover below!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for this month's YouTube Channel Profile next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Tarnished) Plus The Peril And Stones & Crows Concert Previews!!

This packed slate of hard rock concert previews marches on with a second Thursday post, this time looking at SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS in the E.U.P., more Michigan concert action related to a big ongoing event this weekend, and a Sault Ontario debut concert, but let's head to Mackinac County to kick things off! Our previews of announced hard rock shows in Sault Ontario on Saturday will be in our next post.

Sault Michigan classic/hard rock cover band Tarnished will return to St. Ignace for a second straight year of St. Ignace Car Show-timed live music on SATURDAY! Apologies for the short notice, these two(!) shows were first announced on the band's Facebook page. Last year, Tarnished played at The Driftwood Sports Bar during this annual event, but they will actually be playing two shows elsewhere, and they appear to be linked to the car show proper for show #1, a matinee gig from 2:00-5:00 PM outdoors at McGregor Lot, a parking lot behind the former Shell station at 200 South State Street (some vendors from the car show will be set up there, but the actual car show is spread out through town). After things wrap up in St. Ignace, Alex & Josh will disembark from Chris and Ron, taking the 45 minute drive north to Brimley for a rare acoustic duo concert at Bay Mills Resort & Casino that night!

This show will reportedly be in the "Lakeside Lounge", which has been given as the name for their location of their concerts and karaoke nights this month rather than the Back Bay Grill & Games. "Your perfect up north retreat" finished renovations and expansions in January, and it does seem like they're shifting concerts to the new lounge (all of which have been acoustic, for what it's worth) at least for the summer. Hopefully things go well for half of Tarnished there on SATURDAY NIGHT! The Lakeside Lounge show in Brimley is a 21+ affair at 8:00 PM, the car show matinee in St. Ignace is all ages, and neither has an announced cover charge, though click here for full details on what to expect at the car show. Weather-wise, 9&10 News is calling for sunny skies and temperatures hovering around 74° (23° Celsius), so for an outdoor concert, you can't ask for much nicer summer weather than that!

I wish Tarnished had announced their two gigs on SATURDAY with more advance notice, especially with the hype around the St. Ignace Car Show's 50th anniversary, but hopefully this talented hard rock group (in full form in the afternoon or unplugged in Brimley) have a solid pair of concerts with attendances to match! Visit the above links for more details on both, and for a preview, here's Tarnished live and unplugged a few years ago!

Next up, there's one more familiar hard rock cover band rocking the St. Ignace Car Show weekend, as Traverse City classic metal trio Peril will return to The Northern Pines Lounge at their Kewadin Casino TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Peril haven't hyped up the car show angle in their own promotion, but Jeff, Howard, and Brooks landed two key timeslots at the casino, as Kewadin hosted and sponsored the cruise night tonight and will be hosting the after-party on Saturday, so it is somewhat of a hub for official events outside of showing/driving the classic cars. If you're not into the car show or would prefer to stay closer to the Soo, they'll be back at The Rapids Lounge in two weeks, but Peril should get a sizable crowd for both of this weekend's gigs, and hopefully their hard hitting and crowd friendly covers go over as well as ever! These are 21+ shows at 9:00 PM with no cover. See above for more details, and for a preview, here's Peril live!

Finally for weekend concert preview post #2, we'll head north to Sault Ontario, where new local southern hard rock trio Stones & Crows will make their live concert debut TOMORROW NIGHT at Beck's Bar! This new band features Jupiter Marvelous guitarist/ex-Electric Church frontman Spencer Pine (a.k.a. "Bukky VanZant"), Floor Between Us bassist Nicholas Gingras ("Nikki Crow"), and Riverside Stasis/ex-HeadFirst drummer Anthony Boudreau ("Tony Stone"), which is definitely a promising lineup! Stones & Crows have not yet posted public media of them performing in any capacity, but they claim to "hit with a modern hard rock sound rooted in blues & grit", which sure sounds like an extension of Electric Church to me, and it will be good to see Spencer fronting a live band again! Remember, when Beck's does book live bands on Fridays, it's never the band playing the Saturday nightcap, and we'll preview Bone Yard 225's show there on Saturday in our next post.

Just to clarify something, I am aware that Spencer is the owner of local internet radio network Tomahawk 141, and I'd love to talk about it on here, but since I belatedly discovered it (when Stones & Crows launched), the rock/blues station has never worked for me. If Spencer gets it back online, I'll let you know! Tomorrow's Beck's concert will see them "rock the night" and "all night long" (assuming that the night only runs from 9:00 PM-1:00 AM), this is a 19+ event, and there's no cover charge. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and stay tuned for our Bone Yard, Generations, and A.S.D.P. previews next! Thanks everyone!

Downtown Street Party & St. Ignace Car Show Weekend Concert Previews!!

Thanks in part to the St. Ignace Car Show and Canada Day being mid-week this year, the last weekend of June 2026 is very busy, so much so that I'll have to break up this weekend's hard rock concert previews into three posts! As such, our previews of this weekend's Peril, Stones & Crows, Tarnished, A.S.D.P., Bone Yard 225, and Generations shows will be in our next two news posts, with today's focusing on shows taking place tonight and tomorrow. Let's get things rolling with tonight's festivities in Sault Ontario!

The first downtown street party on Queen Street East for 2026 goes down TODAY, so what can you expect? While the City of Sault Ste. Marie has taken over development of these events from the former Downtown Association, things will be similar to past downtown street parties, with Queen Street being closed from Pim to Brock Street to enable vendors, bands, family activities, and beverage gardens to pop up for the occasion, with business in this block also opening, many with deals. Click here for full details on what to expect! Musically speaking, there is only one SMS-leaning band playing today, specifically newer local Pearl Jam tribute band Even Flow in just their third public concert, so if you want to check out this supergroup's take on the grunge/alternative icons, head downtown! They'll be playing on the "Brock Street Stage" and are listed as the middle band in social media promotion.

Also playing tomorrow are Half Scoundies (Josh & Todd from The Golden Scoundrels in an acoustic folk/country set, as last seen at Go Skate Day) and classic rock veterans The Cloud Bandits. Meanwhile, the "Pim Street Stage" will feature sets from rocakabilly cover trio The Steeltown Playboys, classic rock staples Angry Joe & The Growlers, and Mustang Heart keyboardist/singer Vito Tassone, and they are spaced far enough apart where music won't be fighting to be heard at either end. The street party goes down tomorrow from 6:30-11:00 PM, this is absolutely an all ages event, and it has no cover charge. 9&10 News is calling for temperatures of 14-17° tomorrow night, and while there is a chance of rain through the 9:00 PM hour, the You Belong SSM Facebook page assures everyone that the party will go on rain or shine. I'd say be prepared for the elements regardless, but hopefully things stay dry!

Visit the above links for more on what should be a fun evening of entertainment, and for a preview, here's the first public video of Even Flow, courtesy of their Facebook page on Monday! The jam session clip sees them covering Pearl Jam's "Animal", as filmed by singer/Riverside Stasis bassist Rob Speers while singing. The tight camera angles mean that Rob has to pan around for the duration to capture everyone in view (including himself), but it's a well handled cover of this early Pearl Jam classic, and not an obvious song that gets modern radio over-play, so look for this(?) and more tonight!

Next up, let's take an hour's drive south to St. Ignace, Michigan for some of the concert action taking place this weekend in conjunction with the St. Ignace Car Show! As this is the 50th anniversary of this popular car show, there's lots of activities happening in town for the next few days, and The Driftwood Sports Bar is capitalizing again like they did for Bronco The Mac, with three days of live music at their 590 North State Street headquarters. Coinciding with TONIGHT'S cruise night, The Driftwood will welcome back Manistique hard rock cover duo Fyrbird for a Thursday night encore almost three weeks later, and with lots of folks in Mackinac County for the car show alone, hopefully there is another sizeable crowd at The Driftwood for Jamie and Rikk's hard hitting slate of rock favourites! Like earlier this month, tonight's Fyrbird concert is at 9:00 PM with a 21+ age limit and no announced cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Fyrbird live there!

Finally for today's preview post, we'll stay at The Driftwood Sports Bar, who are tripling up live music this weekend like they did for Bronco The Mac, and like then, this includes DJs on Saturday night. However, they will have another familiar hard rock band gracing their stage TOMORROW NIGHT, namely Sault Michigan cover quartet The Nameless! Leading out from tomorrow's annual Down Memory Lane Parade of classic cars, this is the first show on their most recent schedule posting on their Facebook page, and marks their first publically advertised show in St. Ignace in two years, believe it or not. Hopefully their Driftwood debut proves to be a success for Josh, Mike M., Mike E., and Jamie, and that it sets the tone well for their private booking on Saturday night! Their next currently advertised public show is in the Soo late next month. The Nameless will also be up at 9:00 PM tomorrow with a 21+ age limit and no cover. See above for more on The Driftwood's car show weekend slate, and here's The Nameless covering Chevelle live!

That's all for now, but barring a late notice announcement of some type, our next post will preview this weekend's Tarnished, Stones & Crows, Peril, and Bone Yard 225 concerts, so look for that next, with Generations and A.S.D.P. to follow! Thanks everyone!