LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Wax Mannequin & Tym Morrison) And Weekend Concert Previews!!

It's time to dive into another round of weekend concert previews, and while things aren't as hectic as the last two weeks, there are still enough shows to get to where we'll have to break things in twain, so shows that are only on Saturday and/or Sunday (Generations, 5 Dollar Bribe, Bone Yard 225, and the Barge Bash) will be in tomorrow's post. Now, here's what you should know on both sides of the border for bands playing shows tonight and tomorrow in some fashion, including a pair of SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!

Local classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison will play his third solo acoustic concert in as many days TOMORROW NIGHT at Ije's Place in nearby Desbarats! Apologies for the short notice, this show was first announced via his Facebook event page on Monday. You may recall seeing late notice word that Tym would be making the 45 minute drive southeast to Desbarats (hometown of Central Algoma Secondary School) four weeks ago for his debut gig there, which I unfortunately missed at the time, so thankfully I heard about this one! Fresh off of shows at The Trading Post and the Up & Down Lounge, Tym should have lots of entertaining hard and classic rock covers in store for fans TOMORROW, and clearly his July 3rd show went well for him to get called back again before July is up! Ije's Place is located off of Highway 17 at 4 Lake Huron Drive, and is roughly between St. Joseph Island and Bruce Mines near the edge of our coverage area.

This indoor concert goes down TOMORROW from 6:00-8:00 PM, this is likely all ages given that Ije's is a cafe & bakery, and there is no announced cover charge. See above for more details, and for a preview, here's a live-streamed video of Tym there earlier this month! The 2 minute clip sees Tym covering much of The Black Crowes' "She Talks To Angels" and doing a solid job of it, but alas, the filmer didn't zoom in at all, so full screen is your friend here. As this was live-streamed on Ije's Facebook page, it will vanish early next week unless re-uploaded or converted, so watch it below (while you can?) 

Next up, Hamilton "weird folk art punk" solo project Wax Mannequin will return to the Soo TOMORROW NIGHT for a concert at... Unnecessary Noise? Again, apologies for the short notice, the show was first announced via its Facebook event page this past Friday. As to my understanding, Unnecessary Noise is the private location that has been used for recent Underground Events SSM concerts like the Danger Box one and Soopfest, but the space now has an official name, and it's being used for public event promotion going forward, even if the address isn't at a public locale ("ask a punk"). This isn't entirely new for Wax Mannequin, as Chris Adeney's last show here in August 2024 was also not at a standard venue, instead a residence's backyard. Hopefully Unnecessary Noise proves a fitting spot for Wax Mannequin's return, and their noise definitely isn't unnecessary, with punk and metal tinges across their wide ranging setlist and discography!

Fellow Hamilton alt-folk/punk solo project The Kettle Black will make their apparent local debut tomorrow while on tour with Wax Mannequin, while comedy rock band The Floor Between Us (featuring Stones & Crows bassist Nicholas Gingras) will return as openers after doing the honours two years ago. Like in 2024, this is an all ages concert at 8:00 PM, but unlike that Piecing It Together Shows-promoted event, admission is "pay-what-you-can" with $15 recommended (down from $20 in advance/$25 at the door last time). This should be a fun concert for fans of eclectic original music with punk and hard rock influences across the board, so see above for more details, and here's Wax Mannequin live!

We'll head to the Eastern Upper Peninsula of Michigan to round out this post, starting with local classic/hard rock cover quarter Tarnished, who will make their way an hour south to St. Ignace TOMORROW NIGHT when they rock American Legion Park as part of St. Ignace's Music By The Bay summer concert series! Once again, St. Ignace is impressively hosting a different live music act daily until Labour Day, with tomorrow's show being the first of two that Tarnished are playing under the canopied stage at 200 North State Street this year, the other being the penultimate show for 2026 on September 5th. Hopefully tomorrow's concert is a smash hit for Alex, Josh, Chris, and Ron, though note that the band has not corroborated the booking on their Facebook page at press time. Tomorrow's concert takes place at 7:00 PM with no cover charge or age limit, and lawn chairs are suggested given the park setting.

Weather-wise, 9&10 News is calling for a 40% chance of rain during showtime tomorrow, with temperatures of 72-73° (22-23° Celsius). Yes, artists get to play under a roof, but attendees aren't so lucky, so if you are at all concerned about the forecast and/or the potential for the show being cancelled or abbreviated by the rain, keep tabs with Tarnished for updates. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Tarnished live!

Finally, let's head north to Sault Ste. Marie, where Petoskey classic/hard rock cover quartet The Blitz are scheduled to make their local debuts at The Rapids Lounge at the local Kewadin Casino TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! While not mentioned in new social media posts in the past month & a half, The Blitz are the first of three non-local hard rock cover bands debuting at Kewadin lounges over the next month. Videos from after their 2022 reunion point to a well varied but often heavy range of covers played with talent and professinalism, and I do hope that things go well so they can blitz a local stage again in the coming months! As usual for Kewadin lounges, this weekend's shows both have 9:00 PM start times, no cover charges, and 21+ age limits. See above for more details, and for a preview, here's The Blitz in a recent jam session!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for the rest of this weekend's previews or this month's CD review next! Thanks everyone!

YouTube Channel Profile Series: Vern03's Channel

For our last monthly feature post of September 2025, here's this month's YouTube Channel Profile, and for our latest spotlight on a YouTube channel whose content is at least half devoted to local metal, hard rock, and punk artists/concerts, we're heading back almost two decades to one of the biggest metal concerts to hit Sault Ontario. Here's what you should know!

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Vern03's Channel (http://youtube.com/Vern03)

Owner:  YouTube user Vern03, a.k.a. j.vernz, but I don't 100% know his full identity

Channel Timeline: Launched on September 11th, 2006; Videos uploaded on March 21st & 22nd, 2007

Channel Summary: Intended as a channel to host videos from both concerts that he attended and his then-band, Vern03 only ever uploaded six videos here, all from the Heaven & Hell/Megadeth concert at the Steelback Centre (now GFL Memorial Gardens) on March 20th, 2007, capturing footage of all three bands on this night.

Why You Should Watch: As a window to one of the first major rock concerts at the new Gardens, this is a fun look back, especially given that there hasn't been much (if any) heavier shows there since! I was there and it was a really good concert, and it's hard to believe that it was over 18 years ago now, though be advised of the scratchy and poor audio quality with hindsight. Note that Vern03 explained in the description that he had a 100 MB file size limit to stay under at the time, implying that he filmed some videos longer than 4:50 that he couldn't upload at the time, though there are a few other videos from this show floating around YouTube.

 Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:

 

Black Sabbath LIVE: Mob Rules: Despite headlining this concert, Vern03 only got two videos of headlining metal supergroup Heaven & Hell at the Gardens, and just to get this out of the way now, he always labelled them as "Black Sabbath" on his channel. Heaven & Hell were a reunion of Black Sabbath's "Mob Rules"-era lineup fronted by Ronnie James Dio, renamed afer Dio's first album with Sabbath to avoid confusion the then-still active Ozzy Osbourne-led Black Sabbath. Alongside footage of Vinny Appice's drum solo, Vern03 shot Heaven & Hell playing "The Mob Rules", which has had over 19,000 views in the process. That is quite a feat given the poor audio quality, but you have to remember where digital cameras were in 2007 compared to now. It was a very loud show, but excellent to witness live, and Vern03 had a good side angle of the stage from where he was!

 

Megadeth LIVE: Hangar 18: Co-headlining on this night were Los Angeles thrash metal legends Megadeth, who Vern03 must have liked more than Heaven & Hell (or Black Sabbath) as he filmed them thrice for his channel, including playing "Holy Wars... The Punishment Due" and "Symphony Of Destruction". Featured here is the last uploaded video on this channel, of Dave Mustaine and crew playing "Hangar 18", which is the longest and most complete of his three Megadeth clips. Audio-wise, the Megadeth videos survive better than Heaven & Hell's thanks to quieter audio levels, and it doesn't hurt that Dave's singing voice wasn't impaired by the metal plate in his neck yet, so fans should take to Dave, James, and the Drover brothers' performances after adjusting for the camera quality!

Down LIVE @ STEELBACK: Vern03's only video of New Orleans sludge metal band Down's opening set is of them playing "Bury Me In Smoke". Down's presence on this tour notably meant that the still-surviving members of Pantera's classic lineup (Phil Anselmo & Rex Brown) played in Sault Ste. Marie, alongside alumni of Corrosion of Conformity, Crowbar, and Eyehategod, which is very neat! Unfortunately, even if the audio quality here was better, Phil's voice was really rough due to a recent illness. I prefer Pantera to Down, but there's a lot of talent in that band, and they set the tone well for who was to come on this night!

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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! The joys of our random selection model, as after one month looking at something else, we'll be dipping back into the waters of local "blue Chinese metal crash rock" quartet Sykotyk Rampage via another auto-generated YouTube Music channel featuring some of their studio material for the second time in three months! Like last month, this one features two recent albums of theirs, so look for that on or around October 26th, and for more news and notes on the site soon! Thanks everyone!

The Inner City Surfers' Black Album Review!!

It's now time for our 186th monthly CD review at The Sault Metal Scene, and final one of 2024! With our new album backlog finally cleared up, it's time to dip into the archives for the first time since 2022, but as local concerts in general slowed down this month, there's not much to tie in with bands who played live recently. As such, let's go with a prominent album that I have yet to review on here, and a glaring omission on my part is local punk quartet The Inner City Surfers' self-titled fourth (and final?) CD from October 23rd, 2007! Released through Fontana North and Universal Music Canada, this album (commonly nicknamed the "Black Album" to distinguish it from their also-self-titled debut "Blue Album" from 2000) was produced by Simon Head at Insight Recorders in Toronto, and features The Surfers' classic lineup, including singer/guitarist Dustin Jones, singer/bassist Brad "Example" Lacell, guitarist Dave Bahun, and drummer Mikey Hawdon. 

By far the most successful Inner City Surfers album, it's long out of print today and surprisingly elusive to find physical copies of despite its renown among fans (I don't even have a CD copy of it), but the album is readily available on major streaming services. If you want to actually buy it, mp3 copies of the "Black Album" are on sale via Amazon Music for $9.49 and iTunes for $9.99, so consider doing so to support the guys extra! Song names below are linked to their YouTube copies. With 13 tracks (including four re-recordings from 2002's "Laughing On The Outside") running for around 40 minutes, let's begin this long overdue CD review!

2007's "Inner City Surfers" leads off with "All I Know", whose lively bass intro leads into a nice folksy punk number that picks up with some strong punk riffing alternating with casual and laid back vocals and slightly punkier choruses. It changes tempo a lot, but subtly, and it's a good balance to hit the punk beats while also showing their influences and diversity! Dustin's relatable lyrics and melodic vocals fit really well, and everyone does their part musically to start this album on the right foot! Next up is the album's shortest song, "Pickin' From The Country", which is a rollicking cowpunk song that appears to feature bassist Brad Example on lead vocals, as he did on "A Few Drinks" & "If I Leave" on prior albums. I can picture this one being a live favourite with more country-amenable fans, and while I prefer punk, it's certainly a toe tapper! Brad's raspy singing fits well, and Dave's fast picking guitar shows off his range!

Third on the CD is "Getaway", which takes things back to punkier territory with Dustin singing, but this is a mid-tempo number that reminds me of something that could have been pitched as a rock radio single. In that way, it's not super ambitious, but it's a familiar song that's tightly composed and has a catchy melody. If anything, I think it could have been lengthened a bit, perhaps with a guitar solo, but it's a fun song for what it is, and it shows off their ear for good melodies and lyrics right along! That's followed by "Booze 'N Doobs", which is the first of four re-recordings from "Laughing On The Outside" five years prior. Essentially the Surfers' official drinking/smoking song, the 2007 version is played a little faster than on the original version, and obviously has better recording quality with more distinct instruments, but both versions are largely identical. A little too reserved still, but fans of their country sides will still like it!

"Here's To The Days" is up next with a more upbeat & rock based sound that always feels like it has forward momentum. For me, it's a little cheery, but it's another good example of an audience involvement number that goes well with a mug of beer, and we get Dave's best rock guitar solo on the album yet as a result! Brad's bass line is well implemented, and he shares vocal duties with Dustin, with the two alternating vocals on the verses, which is subtle but you catch on after a bit. Good stuff, if not as punk as other cuts! Another drinking-friendly song is next, namely "Never Ender Bender", which has Brad on lead vocals again. This is definitely a more rock-driven song than "Pickin' From The Country", but it surprisingly has a piano bridge to the final chorus. Nice casual sound that would again play well live, and Mikey's drumming suits the pacing of it well, so it's a fun number for fans of their drinking songs!

We hit the midpoint of the "black album" with "What A Life", which was the CD's advance single, and even had its own music video. Lyrically about wasting the best parts of life due to responsibilities, this song leans more into driving folk influences, with Dustin employing some very fast singing on the verses, which help tell the story better, so listen close! It's a little short, but they pack a lot in, and everyone handles this song with ease, though I did find that the acapella layered singing at the end went a tad too long. Fun while it lasts though! Song #8 is "Won't Belong", the second of four "Laughing On The Outside" re-recordings, Like with "Booze 'N Doobs", this doesn't stray far from the original upbeat country number, but it is a little longer, and the difference in vocals from Brad's lead singing and Dustin's portrayal of what "she" said is more distinct. I like my Surfers punkier than this, but the redo is well made!

Ninth up is "Lil' Shy", which has Mikey on lead vocals (no idea if he and Dustin traded roles as sometimes happened live though), so this will appeal to fans of his later work as a punk frontman here and in the GTA! A female singer guests on the bridge, but without access to the original album's liner notes, I don't have credits for her identity at hand. This is definitely one of the punkiest songs on the album so far, with Mikey's vocals fitting the pounding riff nicely, and it's a fun rocker with strong riffs, but the soft bridge with the female singer does kill the mood in its tracks. Then we have "Grab My Pen", which makes use of Brad's raspy lead vocals once again. Another speedy country-influenced number, guitars are really a secondary instrument here, so if you like the rhythm section, Brad and Mikey get lots of time to shine until Dave's solo, when things ramp up a little. Ends a little abruptly, but the last half will please rock fans moreso than the start!

The third "Laughing On The Outside" re-recording is next, namely "Screwed", which is the longest song on the "Black Album", despite the 2007 version being slightly shorter than the 2002 version was. Again, this doesn't reinvent the wheel from the original, with a very similar structure applied with better recording quality, but Dave's guitar solo comes off a lot better and less distorted this time! That alone makes a huge improvement for this folksy number with rocking choruses, so don't bypass it when listening! The last brand new song on this album is "Someone To Lean On", which is a fuller rock song with some southern flourish in the lead guitar. Strong track with a good melody and lots of stuff for everyone in the band to do, and it leans more towards punk than some tracks on offer while still having a rootsy influence, so it's a late highlight for fans, especially if you prefer Dustin on lead vocals!

The "Black Album" ends with one more re-recording from "Laughing On The Outside", that being "The Quest". Compared to the original, the 2007 version of "The Quest" is a little faster, but otherwise sticks close in structure despite the newer and better recording quality (the "Fire!" yells are better layered here also). Fun galloping punk number to close things, and it's well accentuated from the revision, so fans of The Inner City Surfers' punk side will get their fill to close! So, what are my final thoughts on The Inner City Surfers' last and biggest CD? While there are more punk-centric albums out there from the members in other projects, especially their prior self-titled album from 2000, this really showed off their genre hybrid sound to its maximum appeal, and it's a fun listen! Given that four songs are re-recordings, it's easy to write this off as just "Laughing On The Outside 2", especially as its predecessor "Time To Travel On" leaned more into punk than the Surfers albums that surrounded it.

The guys knew what sound they wanted to present, and it's a nicely refined sound that let them naturally play punk, folk, or country without it sounding out of place. Brad definitely got a lot of time to shine on vocals here, and his raspy grit was welcomed even if not generally used on punk songs, while Dustin's melodic singing fit those tracks better and kept things familiar on that level. Dave had some strong solos and lead guitar, and Mikey's drumming was great as always! "Getaway", (most of) "Lil' Shy", and "Someone To Lean On" were among my favourites of the new cuts, and while the re-recordings didn't change a lot, props to Dave for making his guitar solo fit better and more naturally on "Screwed" the second time around! I would have liked more punk than we got, especially as I'm not a big country fan, but the "Black Album" perfectly encapsulates The Surfers' mid-late 2000s peak!

This CD deserved the success, exposure, and accolades that it got at the time, so buy or stream it for yourself at the above links, and I hope you guys liked this month's CD review! For 2025, we'll have another new review to kick off the year in January, and while I don't yet know what album that will be, check next month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post for new possibilities. That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site very soon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Shit Happens) & Saint Asonia Concert Previews!!

Here's another new post on this Saturday morning, which is mostly devoted to recent concert videos from a major concert last month, but first, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for later this month!

Winnipeg punk quartet Shit Happens will make their local concert debut on Monday, March 25th when they headline at The Distraction! While not the first touring act booked at the East Street barbershop-turned-concert venue, I believe Shit Happens (not to be confused with the Soo's own Shit Liver) are the first full metal or punk band from out of town to play there, as opposed to a solo project, so this will be neat! Shit Happens are touring Eastern Canada and a select few U.S. cities this month, with the local show being the final date before they head back to Manitoba. Expect an upbeat and in your face brand of punk originals from this female fronted group two weeks from Monday! Local support will come by way of metal trio The BAG in their Distraction debut and second show of 2024, and while not a clean genre match to Shit Happens, the energy should be hopping for their hard hitting originals and covers later this month!

Despite the touring headline band, this show is standard for protocol with The Distraction's all-local events, including no age limit, a 7:00 PM start time, and a "$5 or pay what you can" entry model. While an early night with no 19+ limit hanging overhead, the Monday scheduling and relative short notice may give some pause, but if you like explosive modern punk rock, don't miss out on the action on the 25th! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details on this concert!

Next up, we finally have some videos to feature from last month's Saint Asonia concert at The Dreammakers Theatre at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino! After a near two week delay, prolific local concert filmer Christopher Paci uploaded videos from the show to his excellent YouTube channel, and he spoiled us this time, filming eighteen videos across the three bands that night! Half of his videos come from the headliners, with Chris filming multiple originals and covers from the Toronto hard rock quartet. In terms of covers, you can see Saint Asonia covering frontman Adam Gontier's old band Three Days Grace's "Never Too Late", "I Hate Everything About You", and "Riot", while they also tackled Apocalyptica's "I Don't Care" (which Adam guested on originally). The rest of the filmed songs began with Saint Asonia, aside from their own recent cover of The Weeknd's "Blinding Lights".

The originals filmed here are "Better Place", "Wolf", "Let Me Live My Life", and as embedded below, their set opener "Above It All". Chris had a nice spot in the center section with good zoom usage and a relatively clear view of the stage (fans' heads in front of him acknowledged), and Saint Asonia sound great, with Adam's vocals crystal clear in the mix! I recall that he was more muffled when Three Days Grace came here last, but of course, arena acoustics could have been a factor. Check out Saint Asonia's local concert videos for yourselves above & below!

Chris also filmed Kentucky southern hard rock band Black Stone Cherry in six videos, getting them playing "White Trash Millionaire", "When The Pain Comes", their medley of The Marshall Tucker Band's "Can't You See" and their own "In My Blood", "Blame It On The Boom Boom", "Lonely Train", and as embedded below, their set-opening songs "Me & Mary Jane" and "Burnin'". Good stuff all around from these talented rock radio mainstays, who have established themselves so much since they last came here in 2006, so give their videos a watch above and below as well!

Finally, Maryland hard rock quartet Any Given Sin were filmed for three of Chris' videos, specifically their songs "Insidious", "The Way I Say Goodbye", and as embedded below, "House On Fire". Hopefully these guys continue on their upward trajectory, as their melodic and soaring originals seemed to play well with local attendees last month, and they definitely seem like a band we'll hear more from on the radio in the coming months! Check out Any Given Sin's local videos above & below!

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

Saint Asonia/Black Stone Cherry & Tarnished Concert Previews, Plus New Videos!!

As promised, let's round out this weekend's hard rock concert previews today via the two Sault Michigan/E.U.P. hard rock concerts that we didn't preview in yesterday's post! To round things out, I do have some new videos of a prominent local band, so here's what you should know!

We'll start with this weekend's main event for hard rock fans, as Toronto hard rock quartet Saint Asonia will make their first ever local concert appearance TOMORROW NIGHT at The Dreammakers Theatre at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino! As well promoted on Rock 101 in recent months, Saint Asonia's debut will mark frontman Adam Gontier's first time on a local stage since he and his old band Three Days Grace last played here in 2009. Along with a few 3DG hits and select covers, look for Saint Asonia's own hard hitting originals like "Better Place", "The Hunted", and "Devastate" during what should be an explosive set! Note that Saint Asonia's usual guitarist (Staind's Mike Mushok) is not part of this tour. Also playing tomorrow is Kentucky southern hard rock band Black Stone Cherry, in their first local concert appearance since 2006 (when they opened for Staind, incidentally), so they've been a very long time coming!

With rock radio hits like "In My Blood", "Again", and "White Trash Millionaire" in the eighteen years since , familiarity with B.S.C. will be much greater for this set, so hopefully they get a really strong reaction for their southern tinged rock & roll! Maryland hard rock quartet Any Given Sin will open the proceedings with their high energy, Shinedown-reminiscent brand of original material, so don't be late for their set tomorrow! This is the first major concert of 2024 from Allstar Promotions, and you can see brief promotional videos on their Facebook page featuring both Adam Gontier and Black Stone Cherry guitarist Ben Wells hyping up the show/ticket availability, which are definitely welcomed to get the word out, especially as both pronounced Sault Ste. Marie correctly! Tomorrow's all ages concert has an 8:00 PM start time, and third row tickets are still on sale in the left & right sections!

Center section tickets are all sold out in the first thirteen rows. Tickets run for $39.50 in rows C-J (left and right sections) and row N (center section only), while anything else left costs just $29.50. Buy your tickets at this link, at 1-800-KEWADIN, or at the in-person box office. I hope this show does well, as I greatly prefer Saint Asonia to modern Three Days Grace, and Black Stone Cherry have multiple catchy songs of their own, so definitely consider heading to Kewadin Casino for all of tomorrow night's action! Visit the Facebook event page for more details, and here's Saint Asonia live!

Lastly for known hard rock concerts in the Sault area this weekend, we'll take the 20 minute drive south to Kincheloe, where local classic metal/hard rock trio Tarnished will return to The Fraternal Order Of Orioles Nest TOMORROW NIGHT! This atypical venue brought in Tarnished for their New Year's Eve party last year, so clearly that went well for Alex, Parker, and Josh to get a call back for a standard concert less than two months later! Regardless of how normal the venue is for Tarnished fans, you can expect the same hard hitting and fan friendly covers and originals in Kincheloe tomorrow, so consider hitting the road for the Orioles Nest tomorrow for all of the action! This show takes place at Nest 311 (at 4916 West Curtis Street) at 8:00 PM, it has a 21+ age limit, and there is no announced cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Tarnished live!

Finally for today, here's some new videos of local blues/hard rock quartet Project 906, but not how you may expect to see them. Fans may recall that, when drummer Jason VanLuven had to miss a few shows last summer due to conflicts with his other band Fake Chow, they enlisted Paradise Excuse alum Brian Duford to fill in behind the kit. Well, that wasn't it for Brian playing with Project 906, as he has guested with the band since on shows that Jason was there for, albeit with Brian playing hand drums instead! Three videos from recent 906 shows have been uploaded to his YouTube channel, all ostensibly intended to focus on his performances moreso than the whole band. This one (likely from their Brimley VFW concert in November) has Brian and Project 906 playing an extended instrumental for their soundcheck, while this vertical clip is of his drum solo at The Strongs Tavern in Eckerman this past Saturday.

The latter clip is shot from the crowd, but the other two are drum-cam videos, including the one embedded below, which is the only one of everyone playing a proper cover song. In this video, also from The Strongs Tavern on Saturday, Project 906 and Brian covered The Who's "Eminence Front", albeit extended with some more jamming in the middle. Rare to see a Kenney Jones-era Who song covered locally, so kudos there! The venue lighting can impair the view sometimes, but this is certainly a unique concert video, and everyone performs well, including Brian, and he does add a looser vibe to Project 906 shows from what I've seen! Give Brian's videos a watch above & below!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for a new Sault Ontario-centric news post on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Saint Asonia), Toystock Band Clarifications, And More!!

Alright, let's finally start clearing out our backlog of topics and news from the last while (joys of the holidays), and we'll start with some unfinished business from a recent charity concert, some assorted updates, and leading off, a big LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for early next year!

Here's the big show announced earlier this week, as Toronto hard rock quartet Saint Asonia will make their local debut on Saturday, February 24th when they headline at The Dreammakers Theatre at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino! Saint Asonia is the current band from former Three Days Grace frontman Adam Gontier and (when available) Staind guitarist Mike Mushok, and while they haven't had the continued rock radio success/airplay as modern 3DG have gotten, I personally greatly prefer Saint Asonia's originals like "Better Place" and "The Hunted". Adam does still tackle Three Days Grace songs live, and select other covers, so if you've missed that band since their last Sault Ontario date fourteen years ago, don't miss out! Kentucky-based southern hard rock band Black Stone Cherry will make their long awaited return to the Soo as openers, last seen at The Dreammakers Theater opening for Staind way back in 2006!

Since we last saw B.S.C. in town seventeen long years ago, they bettered their early Billboard rock chart success with songs like "White Trash Millionaire" and "In My Blood", and they're a very skilled group in their own right with a fun energy, so don't miss them either! Opening this show and tour are rising Maryland hard rock quartet Any Given Sin, whose technical and heavy brand of melodic hard rock will definitely set a good tone in a couple of months, so don't be late for their set! Promoted by Allstar Promotions in their 2024 debut and presented by Rock 101, tickets run for $29.50 (row 15 and back in the center section, row 11 and back in the left and right sections, and standing room only), $39.50 (closer seating), and $139.50 (first 8 rows in the center plus a full VIP package including priority access, show memorabilia, and a meet & greet with Saint Asonia.)

Tickets are on sale for this all ages & 8:00 PM concert at this link, at the in-person box office, or at 1-800-KEWADIN. This feels like such a throwback to the 2000s via the returns of Adam, Mike, and Black Stone Cherry a decade+ after last performing in Sault Ste. Marie, and I hope this show does well, especially given that we lucked into this being a Saturday nighter! I do highly recommend Saint Asonia to fans of old school Three Days Grace too, they deserve way more success on the charts. Visit the official Facebook event page for more on this big show early next year!

Next up, let's move north to Sault Ontario for some clarification on three bands that played at this year's tenth annual Toystock at The Grand Gardens on November 26th! First off, the debuting online page-less band Headrush was a new classic rock quintet featuring veteran local bassist John Amendola (Cherry Crush, Tripod the Dog, etc.) and singer John Anderson, though I couldn't immediately identify the other band members. A video is floating around on personal Facebook accounts of Headrush covering Foreigner's "Hot Blooded", and it sounds good, but it is incomplete. Give it a look if you're friends with anyone connected to the band! Earlier in the program, new local rock quartet Skinbox played at Toystock, and they have since revealed via promotion for their shows at Jay's this weekend that they play "90s/2000s alt rock", with The Arctic Monkeys cited as a band that they cover. Not overly heavy on the surface, but their familiar lineup is definitely capable of it!

Lastly from Toystock's mystery/cryptic band array, new local rock band Kickstart is a new trio featuring ex-Suicide Kings guitarist Steven Flint alongside ex-Sneaky Pete bandmates Sean Berlinguette & Mike Oakley (I am unsure who sings here). If any of these three bands lean to what we cover on the SMS, it'd likely be Kickstart, but at press time, they don't have an online page that I am aware of. We'll let you know when/if anything else comes out, but hopefully these bands and the known commodites had a great time for Christmas Cheer on the 26th!

Finally for today, here's three shorter assorted news items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist name:

 

• In his newest post on his Facebook page on November 22nd, local hard rock solo musician Mike McCleary revealed that he is working on a soundtrack for a novel being written by a local author, which will be instrumental in line with his recent solo output. There's no timeline or details to spill yet, as Mike's keeping things close to his vest until he and the author are happy with the results, but he has wrote at least two songs for it. We'll keep you posted when more details come out, but this is certainly unique locally!
• Local indie/punk quintet The Northwest were featured in the November 26th episode of The Music Jerks Radio Show on Canadian internet radio station Alt Rock Radio, where hosts Kristen Goetz & Nolan Jodes played one of their original songs along with ten other tracks. I don't believe that the episode is hearable on demand, but hopefully The Northwest made some new fans two weeks ago, and don't miss them at LopLops in two weeks!
• Just to clarify more details on another new online page-less local band's identity, The Psychic Spies (who, as far as I know, share members with Skinbox) are indeed a Red Hot Chili Peppers tribute band, so inferring that based on "Psychic spies" being the first words sung in "Californication" was prescient. The Chili Peppers' career doesn't lean heavier anymore, but fans should take to The Psychic Spies, who are playing with Skinbox at Jay's Piston Broke Pub this weekend, so visit the Facebook event page for details!
   

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

Defunct Local Band Profile Series: The Red And Black & Stoned Ape Evolution

It's now time for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile, continuing our monthly spotlight of randomly selected local metal, hard rock, and punk acts of the past in order to spotlight them and their run for current readers! This month's installment is a double profile, as the first band only had minimal information online, so I randomly picked a second band, namely early 2010s Sault Michigan hard rock band Swayze Train, only to re-discover that I had announced their removal from our band links last year due to a lack of surviving public content (their Reverbnation page proves it), but forgot to actually delete them. Blonde moment! I picked the closest un-profiled & alphabetically adjacent Sault Michigan band with minimal info to fill things out, so here's what you should know on both!

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The Red & Black

Hometown: Garden River, Ontario

Genre: Post Punk/Grunge

Lineup:

Christopher Shoust (Telephone & Address), vocals/guitar
Damjan Binda (Spider Fingerz, F.F.B.), drums

Info/Analysis: Launched by former F.F.B. bandmates in August 2014, The Red & Black posted seven songs to their Soundcloud page & six mostly-shared songs on their Bandcamp page over the next three months. Plans were teased for a full length album, then a split release with Christopher's recently reunited punk duo Orange, but neither came to fruition. A planned live debut opening for The Whiskey Shits in November 2014 was cancelled, but they did play an unrehearsed impromptu set in June 2015, opening for Toronto doom metal band IRN at The New American Pub. Public updates did not follow, and the band dissolved by the end of 2015. If you know Telephone & Address' more aggressive, plugged-in material, then The Red & Black's raw, unpolished sound & Chris' distinct vocals on songs like "Talk Talk Talk" will be very familiar, and Damjan's drumming fit in well! Solid stuff for fans, hopefully we hear from both guys musically again!

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Stoned Ape Evolution

Hometown: Bay Mills, Michigan

Genre: Thrash Metal

Lineup: Stoned Ape Evolution never revealed their lineup publically and always wore masks on stage, not unlike prior Sault Michigan metal band Clownsack. Two of the band's four (later five) publically depicted members were John Napoletano and Melvin Willis, instrument roles unclear, though I believe John was the frontman. If you can fill in any blanks as to this band's lineup(s) and if it's alright to reveal them now, let me know!

Info/Analysis: Formed by early 2016, Stoned Ape Evolution sought to "bring a taste of a bigger metal band to a smaller area". Primarily seen at the Bay Mills Bands Together series of charity concerts in the mid-2010s, they debuted at Pickles Bar & Grill in Brimley in May 2016, and also played at that year's Rudyard Musicians Festival. Their final gig was an outdoor Bay Mills Bands Together event in September 2017, and the band otherwise shared memes on their Facebook page into early 2018 before quietly dissolving. Two public videos are known to exist from their run, including covers of Megadeth's "Sweating Bullets" in Rudyard and of Metallica and Megadeth songs in Brimley, and while I do think the vocalist was trying a little too hard to sound evil, they were technically sound and definitely unique for the E.U.P. in this day and age! Hopefully their members are still active!

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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! This series will return on or around October 10th when we look at another randomly selected band, this time back in Sault Ontario with inactive local "shield rock" band Swmapgut! Look for that in a month's time, and for more news and notes on the site next week! Thanks everyone!