The Rest Of This Weekend's Hard Rock/Punk Concert Previews!!

As promised, here's the rest of this weekend's known hard rock concert previews as we plunge deeper into the Civic Holiday long weekend for many (but not all) readers on the Ontario side of the border. Mercifully, all of today's shows had prior advance notice, but one was postponed a day, so here's what else you should know to end July!

We'll start at Gateway Casino TOMORROW NIGHT, where local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations will end their recent break! After members spent last month working on other projects and bands (including a one-off Jus' Chillin reunion), tomorrow's show will be Generations' first at Sault Ontario's downtown casino in almost two months. Hopefully this one-nighter delivers more of the classic and hard rock goodness for fans of Valerie, Joe, Pierre, and Tony's tried-and-tested brand of rock covers, so keep this show in mind for your (long?) weekend plans! If you can't make it tomorrow, Generations will return to The Water Tower Pub next week. Tomorrow's concert takes place at the casino at 8:00 PM with a 19+ age limit and no announced cover charge. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and for a preview, here's Generations live in concert a few months ago!

Next up, if you crave some original music and/or multiple bands, you might want to head to Blaster Powerhouse TOMORROW NIGHT, where four local bands will join forces, including rising young hard rock quartet 5 Dollar Bribe as the headliners! Proving that their rapid ascent this year isn't a fluke, this skilled high school-aged group should have an intriguing array of covers (expected and unexpected alike) tomorrow, so keep this show in mind! Crossover thrash trio Hails will play their first show at the former Soo Blaster with their current lineup tomorrow, while veteran local punk supergroup The Gambit will play just their fourth show with this name and first since Rotaryfest two years ago tomorrow as well. Space/hard rock duo The Spaceship Opening will... open this concert in their first public gig of 2026, and this is definitely an interestingly varied lineup of newer and established names!

Promoted by former Ha!ls guitarist Mikhal Muto's own agency Underground Events SSM, this all ages concert begins tomorrow at 8:30 PM with no age limit, and admission is $20 at the door ("no tickets will be made for this one", so apologies to ticket stub collectors, alas). Despite a somewhat out-there poster (at least it's not AI!), this is shaping up to be a fun concert for punk fans, so visit the above links for more details, and here's a new video of 5 Dollar Bribe at the ARCH Run earlier this month! Uploaded to their Facebook page last week, this is their frequent live cover of The Atlanta Rhythm Section's "So Into You", albeit for just 34 seconds. Well played and relaxed, if not that heavy, so give it a watch for yourselves below!

Also this weekend, local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 will have the rare double header weekend TOMORROW NIGHT & SUNDAY at Beck's Bar! On the weekend that they release their new studio single "Welcome To The Shit Show" (more on that next week), tomorrow's concert is a regular plugged-in, full band concert for fans of "the dirty three" in their full splendour, so you'll be ending July on a loud and high note if you come to the former Vibe Lounge tomorrow! If you're curious, tomorrow's matinee performer (who isn't "opening" for Bone Yard) is new local singer/guitarist Stephen Biason, who plays from 3:00-7:00 PM. On Sunday, your local 225 will go "uncorked" for an acoustic matinee concert, which coincides with Beck's weekly euchre tournament on Sundays, so whether you play cards or not, you'll have a fitting soundtrack from Greg, Alex, and Warren! 

Tomorrow's nightcap is at 9:00 PM, the Sunday unpl... uncorked concert is also at 3:00 PM, both shows are 19+ affairs, and none have an age limit. Visit the above links for more details on Bone Yard's busy west end weekend, and for a preview, here they are live in concert last year!

Finally for these previews, we'll head south to Cedarville, Michigan for the annual Government Bay Barge Bash, but later than you may think, as it has been postponed from tomorrow to SUNDAY. As revealed via this AI-generated poster, organizers have decided to push the Barge Bash back a day due to the rainy weather forecast tomorrow. 9&10 News currently has rain forecasted for Cedarville in the 12:00 PM hour, but an even likelier chance for precipitation is spotted from the 4:00 PM hour onward, which would not be ideal for bands, let alone everyone else. Sunday's forecast is much better (sunny skies all day with 73-76° temperatures, 23-25° Celsius), and all bands are able to play the rain date, so adjust your schedules accordingly! The Les Cheneaux Islands Barge Bash will again feature bands playing on a literal barge floating in Government Bay off of East Hodeck Street, so if you want to boat or swim over for the music, you can! Click here for non-musical details.

Sunday's headliners are hard rock cover quintet Project 906 (likely around 4:00-5:00 PM) alongside Cedarville rock veterans Shipheads On Shore (likely around 2:00-3:00 PM), and The Haske Brothers (now featuring prolific local singer/guitarist Mark Bowen!) kicking things off at noon, giving us a near identical lineup to last year. The Barge Bash is FREE & ALL AGES, though please drink responsibly, and be careful out on the water regardless. This is always a fun and very unique concert event on the EUP calendar, so visit the above links for more on Sunday's action, and here's Project 906 live!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site next month! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Project 906, Tarnished, And The Nameless) & Weekend Concert Previews!!

An extremely eventful and busy weekend of hard rock concerts is in store for the Twin Saults and area this weekend, so much so that I might have to break our previews into three posts! For now, this post is 100% devoted to Sault Michigan and the E.U.P., including LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, two on SHORT NOTICE, so here's what you should know to start the weekend!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Tarnished will return to The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, I was aware of these shows for a few weeks now after being announced on Kewadin's entertainment page, but they got lost in the shuffle in a very busy month (not helped by the glut of new-to-the-EUP touring bands playing there this summer that I covered initially). Last seen at the Soo Kewadin in May when they were late replacements for The Louie Longoria Band, these will be another good chance to see Alex, Josh, Chris, and Ron's 1980s-leaning hard rock covers all weekend long, so don't miss out if this is up your alley! No word on if SATURDAY'S booking is why their sister band Crush aren't defending their title at the second annual Superior Whitefish Festival Battle of the Bands in Brimley or not though.

As usual for Kewadin lounges, TOMORROW & SATURDAY'S shows are 21+ affairs at 9:00 PM with no announced cover charges.  If you can't make their next two shows in St. Ignace, then don't miss out on Tarnished here TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT, so visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here they are live!

Next up, let's head to Rudyard, Michigan, where Sault Ste. Marie blues/hard rock cover quintet Project 906 will return to Huck's Pub & Grill TOMORROW NIGHT, but in a new confirmation, they will also return to the annual Government Bay Barge Bash in nearby Cedarville on Saturday, August 1st! The #summerof906 marches on first tomorrow with a show timed with the annual Summerfest in Rudyard, and while this isn't an official Summerfest event, there should be a good crowd at the former Joe's Bar for Project 906 (or "906 Band", as it were) rocking out tomorrow! This is a one-nighter due to or resulting in Saturday's Private Drive concert, and it goes down at 8:00 PM on Friday with a 21+ age limit and no cover charge. While we're on the subject, let's discuss the aforementioned Government Bay Barge Bash one week from Saturday, which will again see Project 906 in Cedarville for quite a unique outdoor concert on the local summer calendar!

Billy, Joe, Dustin, Jason, and Brian have played this event many times, which is quite literally named, as the bash takes place on a barge in the water off the coast of Government Island near Bumpas on East Hodeck Street in Cedarville, and attendees are more than welcome to swim or boat over to the stage! 906 and Cedarville classic rock veterans Shipheads On Shore are both returning from last year's Barge Bash, while The Haske Brothers (formerly of Oddfellow fame) will replace The Mark Bowen Band as the third band this year, though of course, Jason Haske was in Mark's band last year. Project 906 are this year's headliners, with their set likely beginning on August 1st at around 5:00 PM, with the Shipheads playing a mid-afternoon set likely around 2:30 PM or so, and The Haske Brothers kicking things off at 12:00 PM  This is a fun event for those in and around the Les Cheneaux Islands, so keep it in mind, especially if you love being out on/in the water!

The Barge Bash is a FREE & ALL AGES event, and remember to please drink responsibly if you are so inclined here, especially given the nature of the concert being literally held on the bay. Visit the above links for more details on the Barge Bash and tomorrow's Huck's show in Rudyard, with lots of hard rocking covers in store from this talented local band at both events, and for a preview, here's Project 906 live! 

Finally for this preview post, we'll head back to Kewadin Casino in Sault Ste. Marie, where local hard rock cover quartet The Nameless will serve as the musical entertainment at the third annual American Legion Riders' Hell To Paradise motorcycle rally on SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for erroneously noting when this was first announced that they'd be at The Rapids Lounge (Tarnished are there, obviously), the band has since confirmed that they'll actually be playing in The Dreammakers Theatre, so the ending banquet will be well staged! The two-day Hell To Paradise rally will see bikers drive north from Stockbridge to the Soo (15 minutes west of Hell & an hour+ east of Paradise respectively) to support awareness of post-traumatic stress disorder and mental health, as those battling depression can feel lost between Hell and Paradise. Click here for full details and how you can support the cause!

The Nameless will be rocking out after a buffet dinner and awards ceremony, and as best as I can tell, you do not have to pay a dedicated admission fee or buy dinner to see the concert, which will be 21+ at 8:00 PM. If you'd rather see them in normal concert confines, Kewadin's entertainment page confirms that their previously teased Kewadin dates (lounge then unclear) will indeed be at The Rapids Lounge on Friday, August 28th & Saturday, August 29th, so consider those LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS too! Same ground rules as Tarnished this weekend. Visit the above links for more on Josh, the Mikes, and Jamie's Kewadin gigs of any scale ahead, and for a preview of the Hell To Paradise afterparty, here are The Nameless live!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for previews of Sault Ontario concerts and the Superior Whitefish Festival Battle of the Bands next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (The Blitz, Nolium, Rock N' Roll Ave, And Project 906!!)

Before we dive into weekend concert previews on both sides of the border, let's take a trip to Sault Michigan and the E.U.P. for this all-American SMS post, which solely features LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for the coming weeks! Here's what you should know on this Wednesday night!

Local hard/blues rock cover quintet Project 906 will apparently return to Huck's Pub & Grill in Rudyard for one night only on Friday, July 24th! The show was announced via this concert calendar image on Huck's Facebook page, which calls them "906 Band", but who else could they be referring to? Fans last saw Project 906 at Huck's on Halloween last year, and their show in two weeks will actually coincide with another special occasion, as that will be during Summerfest weekend in Rudyard (click here for this year's program), but events at the former Joe's Bar are not official Summerfest events, just well timed. As such, things should be busier that night, so hopefully Project 906 have a strong night of live hard rock action! Note that singer Billy Bernier will actually be playing a solo gig at Huck's tomorrow (source here) as this week's Bike Night entertainment, but I don't know if his solo shows are basically 906 unplugged or take new paths.

This concert is a one-nighter due to or resulting in a show on Saturday the 25th from a mystery band named Private Drive, and we'll let you know if we hear anything about them. "906 Band" take the stage for this 21+ concert at 8:00 PM with no cover charge, and there will be an outdoor cash bar on site. Before we get too far, Project 906 played their second show of this year's #summerof906 in Curtis (90 minutes west of here) on Wednesday, July 1st at the Erickson Center For The Arts as part of their own Music In The Park series. Curtis is outside of our hour's drive coverage area, but I hope the outdoor show went well! Visit the above links for more from Project 906!

Next up, Kewadin Casino has updated their entertainment page for bands playing at the Soo and St. Ignace branches through the end of August, and there's some newer touring faces to look out for, starting with the local debuts of Petoskey-area classic/hard rock cover quartet The Blitz at The Rapids Lounge in Sault Ste. Marie on Friday, July 31st and Saturday, August 1st! The Blitz have been rocking Northern Michigan and the tip of the mitt since at least the late 2010s, and they reunited in 2022, but as far as I am aware, their shows in three weeks will be their first in the E.U.P.. Videos on their Facebook page show The Blitz covering the likes of Def Leppard, Better Than Ezra, and Royal Republic, and were recently tapped to open for a cancelled Firehouse concert in Wolverine, so they definitely have a good array of hard rock-leaning covers, and it will be interesting to see how they go over in the Soo!

As usual for concerts at Kewadin Casino's on-site lounges, their shows on the 31st and August 1st are 9:00 PM affairs with 21+ age limits and no cover charges. Hopefully The Blitz deliver a solid weekend of rocking covers for fans in a few weeks, so visit the above links for more details!

Also new at The Rapids Lounge next month is the local debut of Mount Pleasant classic/hard rock cover quintet Rock N' Roll Ave (as in "avenue"), who will rock the Soo Kewadin on Friday, August 7th and Saturday, August 8th! A recently reunited cover band featuring Brock Williams from the defunct Central Michigan metalcore band Black Out, the Sault Ste. Marie dates will actually be Rock N' Roll Ave's first anywhere after their return, which is unusual when you consider that Mount Pleasant is 3 hours south of here, but they are a talented band with a good ear for hard rock! In their three jam session videos from this summer on their Facebook page (all shot vertically, alas), you can see them covering Poison, Stone Temple Pilots, and John Mellencamp songs, though tread lightly when backtracking there, as Black Out videos are also posted on their page, and R.N.R.A. aren't that heavy by comparison!

They should get a good reception from Yooper fans at the Soo Kewadin next month, so welcome Rock N' Roll Ave here in style then! Like with The Blitz the previous week, these are 21+ shows with no cover charges and 21+ age limits. See above for more details on their local debut weekend!

Finally for today, The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino isn't lacking for new touring rock bands either, as Ontonogan hard rock quartet Nolium will make their own EUP debut at that branch on Friday, August 7th and Saturday, August 8th! Their Facebook calendar says that the shows are in the Soo, but Kewadin's entertainment page confirms that Nolium are in St. Ignace with Rock N' Roll Ave playing an hour north that same weekend. Nolium may actually be the heaviest of the three touring bands in this post (the likes of Tool, System Of A Down, and Silverchair are covered in their set), and they actually have their own original music that fans of modern hard rock and grunge will take to, and it will be neat to see them make the 4½ hour drive east next month! If you really want a big sampling of Nolium live, here's an 80 minutes long concert of theirs from 2021.

As above, these are free concerts with 9:00 PM start times and 21+ age limits, just at the St. Ignace Kewadin. It's not every day when we get bands from that far west in the Upper Peninsula coming here (Nolium play a lot of Wisconsin dates as such), so give them a warm welcome in Mackinac County next month if this interests you! Visit the above links for more details on all of these newly confirmed hard rock shows in the E.U.P., and stay tuned for weekend concert previews on the SMS next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Project 906), Cory Marks Concert Videos, And An Inactive Band Note!!

One more SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT has fell into my lap, so to fill out a surprise Saturday evening post, we have new videos from a big recent concert and a solo project newly moved to our inactive links, so here's what you should know on all fronts!

Sault Michigan hard/blues rock cover quintet Project 906 will return to the stage TONIGHT at The Strongs Tavern in nearby Eckerman! Apologies for the short notice, the band first announced this one-night-only gig on their Facebook page on Sunday, but it slipped past me before our last two weekend concert preview posts went live. After taking a three month break from the stage (characterized by the band as "some much needed time off"), this will be 906's first show since rocking Hulbert Happy Hour in early March, with the band last playing at The Strongs Tavern at the end of February. Of course, this belatedly kicks off their annual "#summerof906", so more shows should be announced in due course, but since we last heard from Project 906 at The Strongs, they completed renovations in the spring, so hopefully things look as good as the rock will sound TONIGHT! Billy, Joe, Dustin, Jason, and Brian will take the stage TONIGHT at 8:00 PM with a 21+ age limit and no cover charge, as usual.

If you've missed the guys in recent months, and/or are up for the hour's drive west, don't miss out on their summer season kickoff! Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview of TONIGHT'S opening #summerof906 event, here's Project 906 live!

Next up, let's head north to Sault Ontario for some new videos from the Cory Marks concert at The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre on June 11th! Last week, Cory uploaded a highlight video from the event to his Facebook page, where he highly praised the concert, which included a sold-out meet & greet session, and some fans driving 8+ hours to see it. Cory called the the Bushplane Museum's hangar "a dream concert setting for me", and if you weren't there, the hangar doors were open with the stage was set up inside, allowing for outside light to get inside and for some nice views while the North Bay country/hard rock musician rocked out. The highlight video (set to the studio version of his song "Are You With Me?") features clips of Cory at the meet-and-greet, including of him playing acoustic for VIP fans, before we see footage of the proper concert.

Good thing that we knew ahead of time where this was, as the video only has fleeting glimpses of bushplanes, which is a testament in a way to how well everyone got the hangar looking like a concert venue for more than just local bands! I would prefer hearing raw audio from the concert, but miraculously, Facebook didn't content match the studio track, so I can embed it below!

If you do want to see raw audio from the concert proper, good news, as Mike Blair's 705Live Sound Co. were on hand to take care of sound for Cory and crew, and a video of them playing "Blame It On The Double" was posted to 705Live's Facebook page! Mike doesn't do the "pan the camera up from the soundboard" thing this time, FYI. Alas, the video only runs for 46 seconds, but it does let us get more of a view of where exactly in the Bushplane Museum that the concert was set up at (and where the VIP pre-show area was). Of note, Cory actually grabs someone's cell phone from the crowd to film things mid-song, which would be neat for that fan! What Mike shot looks and sounds good, so if you like Cory's southern fried hard rock, you can relive a snippet of this high production concert for yourself below, and we'll let you know if Cory returns to the Soo for a fifth straight year in 2027!

Finally, I have a local metal act to move to our inactive band links, namely local goregrind solo project Crucify The Whore. We have heard no public updates from C.T.W. since 2024, with their final album "Bummer" being released on Bandcamp that July, and more recent updates from their owned-and-operated indie label Blood Shed Productions dried up by the spring of 2025. Active since 2012 and led by singer/guitarist Tyler "Ringsnaps" Gibson, C.T.W. became one of the more unique underground sights among extreme metal fans of the early-mid 2010s, releasing lots of studio material online and at concerts, including many of the final Oddfellows Hall concerts, plus various private & house party events. Updates from C.T.W. (let alone Blood Shed) really tailed off after the pandemic, even for a one-man project, which wasn't helped by their Facebook pages being taken down, if not by Tyler's own hand.

C.T.W. were really a critic-proof act, as a one-man goregrind band with such explicit imagery, pig squealing vocals, extremely short song lengths, a drum machine, and an ardent "I play what I want to play" ethos made it difficult to look at them in comparison with most contemporary bands. I still believe that all of the early-mid 2010s Blood Shed 1-2 man bands had the collective talent to make a great five-piece death metal band, but Tyler did what he wanted and kept this project going for a strong length of time, with fun crowd reactions and a solid skill set as a guitarist & producer. Hopefully we hear more from him and the label down the road! That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes next week! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Project 906, Unfortunate Sun, And Double Down), And New Videos!!

As promised, let's round up the rest of this weekend's hard rock concert previews along with some new live videos, so here's what you should know (mostly from Sault Michigan), starting with LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, mostly SHORT NOTICE ones!

Local hard rock cover quartet Unfortunate Sun will return to The Merchants Bar for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the band only announced this show on their Facebook page on Tuesday (The Merch never acknowledged it on social media, as usual). You'd think that Unfortunate Sun would have given this more of a push, as TOMORROW'S concert will actually be their final gig with singer Skip Parish, who is retiring from the band for unannounced reasons. This is the second lineup departure in under two months for Unfortunate Sun, following bassist Tony Rogers' exit in January, with the band playing just three gigs with new bassist Brett Blackwood in the fold before announcing that Skip is leaving too. From their predecessors Fake Chow to today, Skip has been a strong presence on vocals, and hopefully TOMORROW's show is a fitting sendoff!

In their post announcing Skip's departure, they said that Jody, Jason, and Brett are "not going anywhere" and to "stay tuned for the next chapter". We'll let you know when more on their further plans is announced! Everything goes down TOMORROW at The Merch at 9:00 PM with a 21+ age limit and no cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Unfortunate Sun live!

Next up, local blues/hard rock cover quintet Project 906 will return to Hulbert Happy Hour in Hulbert Township for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT themselves! Again, apologies for the short notice, the band also only announced this show on their Facebook page on Tuesday (and given the weather forecast, you may not want to bring an AI-generated snowmombile to the bar for it). Last seen at Hulbert Happy Hour five months ago during a poker run, TOMORROW'S show will be their first anywhere since rocking The Strongs Tavern last week. Of course, drummer Jason VanLuven is playing in the Soo TOMORROW with Unfortunate Sun, who get priority when the two bands have conflicting dates, but 906 have not announced whether there will be a guest fill-in drummer or not (but they have played shows with hand drummer Brian Duford as the sole percussionist in the past, so they won't be out of luck regardless).

You can enjoy Project 906's hard rocking cover slate TOMORROW at 8:00 PM with a 21+ age limit and no cover charge. See the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's a brand new video of the guys at The Strongs Tavern in Eckerman last week/month! This clip from their Facebook page sees the guys covering the end of Guns N' Roses' "Paradise City", which really tests Billy's vocal range, but he hangs in there well! Alas, this video is A. partial, B. very blue (blame the tavern's lighting), and C. vertical (oh so much ceiling here), but it's a fun performance for what we do get, so give it a watch below, and don't miss the Hulbert action TOMORROW NIGHT!

In one more show announcement, let's take a brief detour to Sault Ontario, where local classic/hard rock cover quartet Double Down will return to The Water Tower Pub on Saturday, March 28th! This show was announced via the venue's March concert calendar, and Separate Wayz TONIGHT aside, is the only new hard rock-leaning show revealed thusly. The pub didn't post a monthly calendar online last month, and January's seemed extremely rushed, so it's good to see the Great Northern Road nightclub putting the regular one up for March! Joel, Beej, Dan, and Ric will rock out at month's end with no cover, a 19+ age limit, and an 8:00 PM start time, and as the venue hosts different nightly bands, classic/pop rock veterans Encore are playing there on Friday the 27th. Visit the above links for more details, and while we're on the subject, here's a newly uploaded video from Double Down's Facebook page of them live with a special guest!

As you may recall, Double Down welcomed former Quite Frankly singer Jack "Jacklyn Hyde" Alisat as a guest for a handful of gigs last summer, including a Beck's Bar date that I don't believe the band ever officially confirmed she would be singing at. While the video description alluded to Cher, the video itself actually sees Double Down and Jack covering Daft Punk & Pharrell Williams' "Get Lucky", which is a surprisingly modern and poppy cover for them. The extremely dark foreground lighting isn't ideal, but at least this was filmed horizontally, and it's a fun cover with strong vocals, so give it a watch below, and don't miss the guys back at Beck's tomorrow night!

Finally for today, let's head back to Sault Michigan for some new videos from a band who isn't playing live this weekend, namely hard rock quartet The Nameless! On January 4th, the band shared videos from drummer Jamie Costner's personal Facebook page of them at a private event the previous day, where they were filmed on a stationary camera covering Blur's "Song 2", The Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Otherside", the end of Guns N' Roses' "It's So Easy" (with bassist Mike East on vocals), Chevelle's "Vitamin R (Leading Us Along)", and as embedded below, Papa Roach's "Last Resort". Most of the videos are incomplete, and alas, all five were shot vertically, but things were framed as well as they could have been given that, even though Josh is largely blocking Jamie from view. Solid work all around, and they should use Mike's vocals more, as we don't hear him leading songs often, just the end of "It's So Easy" a couple of times on video. Give these a watch above & below!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site this weekend! Thanks everyone! 

Not A Leap Year Party & Project 906 Previews, Plus Double Down & Tym Morrison Videos!!

As promised, here's the rest of this weekend's hard rock concert previews, and in case you were wondering, the late replacement band at The Esquire Club was covered in an update to yesterday's post below this one, Along with this weekend's remaining heavier shows, we also have new videos from acts not playing live imminently, so here's what you should know!

We'll start with in Michigan for this post, as Sault Ste. Marie blues/hard rock cover quintet Project 906 will play at The Strongs Tavern in Eckerman TOMORROW NIGHT! Historically a favourite venue for the 906 crew despite not playing a public concert there since July, tomorrow's show will be the first from Billy, Joe, Dustin, Jason, and Brian since rocking the Snowsfest weekend at Snow's Bar & Grill in Cedarville two weeks ago. Hopefully there's a solid crowd beating the winter blues in Eckerman tomorrow for Project 906's entertaining blend of hard rock covers, and there's lots of videos online to sample what they bring to the table! As usual for their trips an hour west to Eckerman, tomorrow's Strongs Tavern concert is an 8:00 PM affair with a 21+ age limit and no cover charge. Visit the above link for more details on Project 906's Strongs concert tomorrow night, and for a preview, here they are live last year!

Next up, if you've missed a multi-band concert in Sault Ontario in recent months, this might fit the bill, as local promoters Underground Events SSM are hosting a "Not A Leap Year Party" TOMORROW NIGHT! While this is a house party concert (something I usually don't cover due to their not-usually-public nature), this is a publically advertised event on Bruce Street with an admission fee and 19+ age limit, and while they don't give the exact address, there will be balloons outside the locale so you know where to go! Specifically, the venue is being called "Mellow D's Basement", which is an allusion to the former pop-up venue Mellow D's Underground. Six acts will gather in said basement tomorrow, including new local ska punk trio A.S.D.P. (in their first concert set since releasing their debut album "Atom Bombs & Lemonade"), party metal trio The Apocalypse Afterparty, and online page-less space rock duo The Spaceship Opening (featuring A.S.D.P. drummer Ralph Barber).

As well, three solo acoustic acts will be playing tomorrow, namely Sylo frontman Eli Russell, folk singer/guitarist Gimiiwan Ikwe, and former Vanity First frontman Andrew Keith (Beggs). Promoted by A.S.D.P. frontman/Apocalypse Afterparty bassist Mikhal "Châ" Muto, this show has a $10 cover charge (or "suggested donation"), and doors open at 5:00 PM. An intriguing event for sure, especially as these six acts do not collectively update social media much, so come to Bruce Street tomorrow for all of the action, and look for the balloons! See above for more details, and here's The A.A. live!

Also today, let's talk about two acts that aren't playing this weekend, but have new videos to share, starting with classic/hard rock cover quartet Double Down! As you may recall, they played their first show with bassist Dan Beaupre in six months this past weekend at The Water Tower Pub, and while there are videos from the show on their Facebook page, both of them have guest performers. One is a cover of Traffic's "Dear Mr. Fantasy" (possibly the Big Sugar version) with guitarist Joel Syrette on vocals and RPM's Joseph Bertrand on drums in place of Ric Datson. Still a relatively original cover choice as local bands go, and the guys do a good job with it! Joseph shows his stuff well behind the kit too, and don't bypass RPM, they have developed a good following with their own classic rock covers! The other video is embedded below, and it features the return of Mid Life Crysis bassist Lori Reinholtz, who was Dan's "stunt double" for most of his absence.

Thanked for helping Double Down out with this Cameo video by musician/social media personality Joey Breaux, Lori did two songs last week as a guest singer, with the filmed one being Joan Jett & The Blackhearts' "I Hate Myself For Loving You" (yes, Ric was back on drums here). While both videos are sadly vertical and incomplete, they are unique in that guitarist Beej Syrette filmed them with a headcam while performing, so we got to see his direct point of view on both videos. The audio quality is kinda tinny on both, but you sure get a different view of everything this way, and it'd be interesting to see Beej (let alone other local musicians) do this more! Check both videos out!

Finally for today, let's talk about local hard rock/metal solo musician Tym Morrison, who is taking a break from concerts until at least late March while he heals up from a broken pinky finger. He's not staying musically idle though, as he has posted four original songs to his YouTube channel in the past two weeks! All have accompanying music videos featuring assorted linked video clips, though be advised that some feature apparent generative AI. One song is an instrumental metal song named "Moon Patrol" that you may remember as being planned for his unreleased second album. The other three seem to be new, and the only one to exceed two minutes is "Jesus Save Me", which leans heavily into his faith. It is a lyric video if you wanna sing along! The other two new tracks are secular, including a comedy rock song named "Liar Liar Pants On Fire", which is about who the title suggests!

Embedded below is his new metal instrumental "Frantic Delay". It's good to see some heavy new music from Tym, who gets to let loose on these tracks and shred to his standards (granted, I assume these all predate his broken finger), and his singing voice is put to good use on the two songs with lyrics! Note that only "Jesus Save Me" even cracks 2 minutes in length. Give Tym's new songs/videos a look above and below, and we'll let you know if he has more material to post before he returns to the stage!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Project 906 & Even Flow) And More Recent Updates!!

Before we get too far today, we have another missed concert to acknowledge on the site, from Saturday, February 7th in Sault Michigan, albeit one that had no public advertising that I can find. On that night, local hard rock bands About:Blank and Crush joined forces at The Savoy Nightclub, and for a show that About:Blank plugged after the fact on Facebook & thanked attendees for coming out to, why didn't either band mention it on their public pages? Especially as it was both bands' first gig of 2026, though Crush haven't even posted on their Facebook page in over a month. I do apologize for not covering this show on here, but alas, it's hard to when no one publically advertises it online, especially from the Ontario side of the border. However, About:Blank did post two new videos to their Facebook page from Saturday's show of them playing their original songs "Hearse", and as embedded below, "Unheard", so what can we glean from them?

The video quality of these videos isn't the greatest (the vertical orientation and The Savoy's lighting don't help), but the performances are solid and have a good energy that fans of Parker's past work with Tarnished will appreciate! Note that this set appeared to be as a duo following Nathan Webber's departure last month (I knew Nathan isn't in Crush, cold bug-induced error, sorry Alex), and hopefully the guys find the right guitarist and/or bassist to refill their ranks soon! Check out Parker & Kade rocking out at The Savoy above and below, and apologies again! I'd have happily promoted this show had someone said something publically!

Today's post otherwise features updates from a rising young metal band and some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, and we'll an hour west in Eckerman, where local blues/hard rock cover quintet Project 906 will play The Strongs Tavern for the first time this year on Saturday, February 28th! The band just announced this concert earlier today via their Facebook page when thanking everyone for seeing them in Cedarville last night, and it will mark their first show at The Strongs Tavern since July, an unusually long wait given that they historically play there often, especially compared to other regional hard rock bands. Hopefully the guys deliver a fun batch of rocking covers for fans out in Eckerman to end the month! If you're wondering, the picture is from the Cedarville show, but I don't know if hand drummer Brian Duford missed the gig, was just not present for the photo, or if he was one of the Snowsfest Bigfoot mascots in disguise.

If things go identically to 906's prior Strongs concerts, this will be a 21+ event with no announced cover charge and an 8:00 PM start time. Visit the above links for more news and updates from Project 906!

We'll head north to Sault Ontario for the back half of this post, starting with one more new show announcement, as new local Pearl Jam tribute band Even Flow will play their second concert on Friday, March 27th at Soo Blaster! Coming almost five months after Even Flow debuted on Halloween at Beck's Bar, you know that the guys have high aspirations when they're already headlining a larger venue like this, and while public media of them performing isn't on social media yet, the talent is certainly there! And yes, their singer is indeed Barbarians/ex-Wyld Stallyns frontman Rob Speers, as per personal Facebook postings (the band's bio doesn't give his last name). Also featuring Papa Fogals Chair and Odd Man Out alumni, this grunge and alternative tribute goes down at 8:00 PM on March 27th, it will presumably be all ages, and advance tickets cost $10 at this link or through band members. See above for more details on this event!

Finally, here's the latest from local metalcore duo Hollow Sky, and while they just resurfaced for their first Facebook page update since June of last year, observant fans may have noticed recent activity on streaming services attributed to them. In December, an album named "Echoes Fade Slowly" by a band named Hollow Sky surfaced on major streaming platforms, and the local band's Linktree page kicks to this album on YouTube Music. The three red flags here were A. the genre (indie/pop rock), B. the singer (female), and C. the online footprint (minimal, I have suspicions that this Hollow Sky is AI-generated). I reached out to the local band to tell them about this so they can address the links and attribution as needed, and they confirmed that they are 100% not behind "Echoes Fade Slowly". I fear that this isn't the only time that such a name/credit issue will crop up on streaming, so be observant!

In terms of actual content by Liam and Adam, their new posting is of a cover-ish of the riff from "1. The Many Names Of God", a new song by Birmingham, Alabama progressive metalcore band Erra that isn't even coming out until Thursday. However, Erra posted the tabs for the main riff of the song on social media, encouraging fans to try to perform their own interpretation of the riff to guess how it will sound. The video (with Liam on guitar and Adam on bass) sure sounds good with a nice technical crunch, but it's a hypothetical teaser of another band's song. Check out Erra's new song when it drops later this week, and give Hollow Sky's interpretation a watch below!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site this week! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Demon King, Project 906, And Generations), And More!!

Here's a packed news post for your Monday night reading, which mostly features LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for the next three months on both sides of the border, plus an inactive band note, so let's get things rolling!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations have announced five upcoming concerts for the next month and a half, courtesy of their Facebook group yesterday, so where can you see them next? The band will return to The Kiln at Searchmont Resort for Saturday nighters on January 24th and February 21st, so clearly their debut there on January 3rd was a hit for them to get rebooked this fast! You can also see Valerie, Joe, Pierre, and Tony back at The Full Throttle Saloon for two more concerts on Saturday, February 14th & Friday, February 27th, with the former falling over the Family Day long weekend (and on Valentine's Day). Lastly, their busy February will also include a one-nighter at The Water Tower Pub on Friday, February 20th, and because that venue never books the same band on consecutive nights, and The Kiln only books bands on Saturdays, the two gigs pair well to keep them busy all weekend!

The Kiln and Water Tower Pub gigs are all at 8:00 PM, the Full Throttle Saloon shows are at 9:30 PM, all are 19+ events, and none have an announced cover charge. Fans of this veteran group will want to circle these winter dates on their calendar, so visit the above links for more details! 

Next up, Family Day weekend for Sault Ontario = Presidents' Day weekend for Sault Michigan, and hard rock fans in the E.U.P. won't be lacking either, as local blues/hard rock cover quintet Project 906 will return to Snow's Bar & Grill in nearby Cedarville for a Valentine's Day concert of their own on Saturday, February 14th! The band mentioned this show at the end of their Facebook post thanking everyone for coming to see them at The Merch on Saturday night, but didn't note that the show will coincide with the annual Les Cheneaux Islands Snowsfest, the annual winter festival held jointly in Cedarville and Hessel over the long weekend. Full event details are forthcoming (check back on the Facebook event page), but this will be the (at least) fifth straight year where either The Islander Bar or Snow's Bar included a regional hard rock band playing at Snowsfest that weekend, typically during the annual pub crawl. Project 906 previously did the honours in Cedarville in 2023. 

We'll let you know when more comes out regarding the exact itinerary for Snowsfest and how bands tie in, but it's good to see 906 making the hour's trek again for what should be a busy weekend! Expect a 9:00 PM start time, 21+ age limit, and no cover charge on Valentine's Day. See above for more from updates from Project 906 and Snowsfest!

Also newly announced is a big Sault Ontario death metal concert for the spring, as Nashville-based death metal band Demon King will make their local concert debut on Tuesday, March 24th at Soo Blaster! Not to be confused with Maynard Hayes frontman Damon King (though imagine if they were added to the bill!), Demon King bring their own brand of technical blackened death metal to the forefront, and they have a ferocious and punishing sound that should start a good sized pit in two months' time! A multi-national touring roster will also include London progressive death metal quartet Sentiment Dissolve (who headlined at Jay's Piston Broke Pub this past May) and Norwegian death metal band Celestial Scourge. Both will deliver the brutality you expect, and how often do bands literally from Norway come here? Local openers will include death/thrash metal trio Pillory and progressive metal quartet Convergence.

Both local bands are making their first announced live concert appearances of 2026, and they are solid choices to set the tone! Promoted locally by Mikhal Muto via his newly created agency Underground Events SSM (more on them soon), this all ages concert has a 7:00 PM start time, and while tickets are not on sale yet, they will cost $15 in advance and $25 at the door, and will be available through the local bands, at The Rad Zone, and online. If yo u love death metal, especially of a technical and complex variety, you won't want to miss out on this concert, so visit the Facebook event page for more details!

Finally, I have moved local death metal quartet The Bear Hunters back to our inactive band links. This may not come as a surprise to many readers given their sporadic updates in the 2020s, but the band was last publically active on January 13th of last year, when they posted a belated music video for their song "Collapse The Sun" on YouTube, one of two new music videos spearheaded by guitarist Mitch Sirie that month. After previously being inactive from late 2021 onward, The Bear Hunters awoke from "hibernation" in July 2023 to play a private event that drummer Johnny Belanger put on at Robbie Adamson's church in Leeburn. Despite teasing that they'd be working on new music, no updates followed for almost a year, when Mitch said on their Facebook page that a final album and concert would be in the works, as connected to a contest relating to wearing band t-shirts.

Updates never came on the album or farewell gig, and while the two videos from last January (including a music video for their live favourite "Squirrel Buddy") were welcomed by long-time fans, the "Collapse The Sun" video was 100% archival content, and "Squirrel Buddy" was co-opted from Mitch's 2023 solo project Sir Hell, and only featured Johnny among other Bear Hunters members in audio or video. Mitch did say "slay tuned for more" at the time, and hopefully we do get more eventually, but their activity levels have been slow since the end of 2017, and members have talked about the eventual end multiple times in recent years. Hopefully we do hear from Nik, Mitch, Justin, and Johnny again, even if it's only once more, but stay tuned for more updates on the site this week! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Project 906), The Headf1rst Concert Preview, And More Recent Updates!!

Tonight's post wraps up this weekend's hard rock concert previews (including a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT), but new videos from a newly renamed band and some assorted recent updates round things out. Here's what you should know on this Friday night!

Sault Michigan hard/blues rock quintet Project 906 will begin their year with a one-night-only concert TOMORROW NIGHT at The Merchant's Bar! Apologies for the short notice, the band quietly announced this show on their Facebook page on New Year's Day, which slipped us by late last week. After taking the last couple months of 2025 off, this will be 906's first concert since their Halloween gig in Rudyard, and while they played often prior, the guys haven't played a public gig in the Soo since the Musicians Unite fundraiser in March, and they last rocked The Merch in July of 2024. It's been a while regardless, so it's good to see Billy, Joe, Dustin, Jason, and Brian back at it at a familiar local venue, and hopefully they deliver for assembled fans as expected TOMORROW NIGHT! This show has an 8:00 PM start time, 21+ age limit, and no cover charge. See above for more details, and here's Project 906 live!

Next up, we'll wrap up this weekend's known hard rock concert previews, as Sault Ontario hard rock quintet HeadF1rst will play their... first concert of 2026 TOMORROW NIGHT at Beck's Bar! Last seen just over a month ago at Shooters, west fans won't have seen this talented quintet at the former Vibe Lounge since June of last year, and hopefully they have a good turnout for their hard rocking covers and originals to kick off another new year! This show has a 9:00 PM start time, 19+ age limit, and no announced cover charge as usual for Beck's. Tomorrow's matinee performer at 3:00 PM is newer local acoustic duo Whiskey Hippy, who have their own separate 4 hour timeslot and are not "opening" for HeadF1rst, but you can hang around to see bothif you want. Visit the above links for more details, and here's HeadF1rst live!

Also, let's finally look at videos of the band formerly known as The Sault Side Squad when they opened the Fist Magnet/Spigots reunion concert at Soo Blaster last month! On the night of December 27th, the online page-less metal band revealed that they had officially changed their name to With Gunfire. No idea if they gave a reason for the name change at that show, but their original name (a play on "Suicide Squad") did seem to get a mixed reception. While Kevin Campbell didn't arrive in time to film With Gunfire's set for his YouTube channel, drummer Jonas Gasperas did upload four videos shot by attendees to his new YouTube channel! All are of original songs named "Beatdown", "Nuisance", "Well Of The Dead", and embedded below, "M.F.C.". Alas, all four were shot vertically, but these are our first proper videos of this band that aren't technically unlisted.

These also give us our first look at the former Sault Side Squad with The BAG's Spencer MacGillivray on lead vocals in lieu of Justin Pregent, and if you're familiar with heavier BAG originals, you'll approve of what Spencer brings to the table here, with some harsher vocals and yelling mixed in. A newer local metal band with this stacked lineup of familiar faces should be getting more attention (they debuted in 2024, they really should get social media pages going), but they have a very heavy sound that straddles a few genre influences, and Anthony and Chris have strong guitar work throughout, so With Gunfire's first truly public videos a watch above and below! We'll have more from them soon!

Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items from the last while, and as usual for these short form stories, these are in alphabetical order by band or company name:

 

• I have moved local hard rock trio Bullet Train to our inactive band links. The band last posted a public update regarding their activity on their Facebook page on Christmas Eve 2024, where they promised that they would "be seeing you in the new year", but their only post in 2025 was in memoriam to the late Ozzy Osbourne. This union of Sense of Truth and Fort Creek alumni released three current events-driven original songs in 2024, but plans to release two EPs never went publically far. Hopefully we hear more from Cory, Bones, and Tony when the time is right!
• While not announced publically on social media prior, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Double Down's show at The Water Tower Pub on Saturday was without bassist Dan Beaupre, but he was out of town in this case, rather than the ailment that knocked him out of most of their late 2025 concerts. Mid Life Crysis bassist Lori Reinholtz (their primary fill-in when Dan was out of action) returned on the low end for this one-nighter. I hope the concert was a hit on all fronts, and that Dan's trip went well!
• Rogers Radio closed their physical office at 642 Great Northern Road in October, with a "for lease" sign currently in the window of the building. This is part of a consolidation into remote operations from radio employee's homes or alternate locations for certain smaller markets, including the Soo and Timmins, as per this article from Broadcast Dialogue. No local jobs at either 104.3 The Fox or Kiss 100.5 were affected, though note that local mid-day DJ Dan Koo previously left the former Q104 in August, with North Bay's Mitch Belanger replacing him on our dial. Not ideal, but at least the stations are alive and well, and today is actually 104.3 The Fox's first anniversary as a rock station!

 

That's all for now, but stay tuned for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile next! Thanks everyone!