Before we begin today's post, I wanted to offer our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Quiet Riot drummer Frankie Banali, who passed away earlier today at the age of 68, after a year+ long battle with pancreatic cancer. The longest serving member of the pioneering Los Angeles metal band, and the face of the group since their 2010 reunion, Frankie drummed on all but Quiet Riot's first two albums, and was behind the kit for their platinum selling LPs "Metal Health" & "Condition Critical". Local fans will recall seeing Frankie & Quiet Riot with Dokken & Skid Row at The Dreammaker's Theatre at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino in October 2005, and perhaps earlier still, though I won't get into everything surrounding their cancelled March 2017 Sault Ontario date. Frankie was a skilled drummer who fought cancer bravely, and Quiet Riot's role in metal's commercial explosion in the 1980s cannot be understated. R.I.P. Frankie, you will be missed!
Now, today's news post deals with (believe it or not) LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS on each side of the border, one a SHORT NOTICE one for this weekend, and one coming next week from a familiar group we've only seen in videos as of late! With all of that said, here's what you should know!
Sault Michigan classic/hard rock cover quartet Highway 63 will end their local run with one final public concert set on SUNDAY outside of frontman Henry Switzer's own business Hank's Body Shop! Apologies for the short notice, the show was only announced via the band's Facebook page on Monday. After an over 6 year run on the local scene, Highway 63 are reportedly disbanding due to guitarist Nathan Switzer (Henry's son) moving out of town, so this event will serve as a send-off party for him. This "farewell jam" will be Highway 63's first live set as a band since the pandemic shutdowns, and this is absolutely a public event despite the non-traditional locale. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, refreshments are strictly on a "bring your own beer/food" model, but admission is free, and a 12:00 PM start time is advertised. This show is weather permitting, and while a lot can change before then, note that 9&10 News is calling for scattered thunderstorms that day.
For curious attendees in the E.U.P., Hank's Body Shop (who fix, buy, and sell used vehicles) is located at 3757 South Mackinac Trail, just down the road from Dondee Lanes, and the band will be set up behind the shop. Now, what does Nathan's big move mean for his St. Ignace-based progressive metal band Heavy Lies The Crown? I don't expect it will change a lot, honestly, as personal Facebook postings indicate that he's moving downstate to Holland, where drummer Cale Krist already lives. H.L.T.C. have never been a regular sight on local stages, and so far, they've managed to run just fine with Cale not living up here. However, Nathan's move will definitely take adjusting for local fans familiar with his cover repertoire with his dad, not to mention his original output in prior solo and band projects. He's a talented guitarist, and I know he'll be a musical asset wherever the road takes him!
Note that Nathan was never a member of Highway 63's side project Mackinaw Trail, who also promoted this event on Facebook, but will Henry, George, and Ron continue forward in that band? Time will tell, but Highway 63 had a good run locally and achieved a solid fan base with their hard rocking covers, and hopefully the weather cooperates to give Nathan a strong send-off THIS SUNDAY! Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Highway 63 live in Sault Ste. Marie last fall!
Finally for today, here's that other new concert, as Sault Ontario acoustic hard rock quartet The Wyld Stallyns will end their live concert drought with a one night only event on Friday, August 28th at The Rockstar Bar! After 5 months without live bands at The Algonquin Hotel's upstairs nightclub, they are starting to bring back live music this weekend with jam-encouraged solo shows by ex-Phatstick frontman Jason Taillefer (details here), but next Friday's show will be their first with a band. The Stallyns have not played a Rockstar Bar show since 2019, with a February date there called off due to a band member falling ill, so if you've been waiting to see the Speers', Jesse, and Jonas together in person for the first time post-shutdown, next Friday is your next chance! Venue advertising does not blatantly outline the bar's social distancing rules for this event, but it's safe to assume that face masks are mandatory to enter the building.
I would imagine that they'll be operating at reduced capacity given the ongoing pandemic, and of course, please use common sense if you are thinking about attending. Hopefully Jason's shows and next weekend's will be a good harbinger of things to come at The Rockstar Bar! Otherwise, expect a 19+ age limit, no cover charge, and a 9:00 PM-ish start time. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and stay tuned for more news and notes in the coming days! Thanks everyone!
With some big news as of late, let's tackle a big new story to lead off this post, which could well turn into a local concert alert in time pending who signs up, while we also have a mid-week concert preview and a new video to round things out. Here's what you should know!
An increasingly rare battle of the bands will take place in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan this July, though the stakes and scope are bigger than you may expect. Hosted by Kewadin Casino, the battle will be held on two nights (Wednesday & Thursday, June 12th & 13th), and while it will take place at The Dreammaker's Theater, the winning band will receive the local opening slot for the newly announced Great White concert at the Manistique Kewadin branch on July 27th! For clarification, this is the original version of Great White, not the Jack Russell-led version that played St. Ignace in 2017 (there are two concurrently active versions of the band a'la LA Guns.) And yes, I did say the Great White show was in Manistique (2 hours west of the Soo), but Kewadin is targeting this battle towards bands who live near all 5 of their casinos, which means that acts from the Soo, St. Ignace, Hessel, Manistique, and Christmas, or surrounding areas are free to compete if they can make the trip
Entitled the "Rock Me Battle", bands who wish to compete must submit a performance video to the Facebook event page. Six bands will be selected, and four songs (including at least one original) will be performed by each band. It's not clear how the two day structure will be handled (three bands each night? Eliminations after night 1?), but we will let you know if Kewadin clarifies. In lieu of judges, a fan vote will determine the winners, but uniquely, the vote will be decided by concert attendees and likes on the Facebook event page linked above, with online voting ending on Friday, June 21st. Alongside the Great White opening slot, the battle winners will also recieve guaranteed bookings at The Rapids Lounge in Sault Ste. Marie and The Northern Pines Lounge in St. Ignace next year, so keep that in mind if you'd like to play at Kewadin's E.U.P. nightclubs in 2020. Luckily given the weekday placement, each night of the battle starts at 8:00 PM, and this is presumably a 21+ event, as usual.
Admission will be $5, which will get you entry to both nights and a +1 credit for online voting. Despite the mid-week scheduling, a battle of the bands stretching out to the Central Upper Peninsula in both band pool & final prize definitely helps set it apart, but who might we see compete in June to open for the "Once Bitten Twice Shy" legends? Might we see some bands from Munising, Newberry, or maybe even Sault Ontario along with the 5 Kewadin locations? And what kind of hard rock/metal acts will jump in? Stay tuned for updates as they roll in, and see above for more details!
Next up, here's our preview of a special Wednesday concert in Sault Ontario TOMORROW NIGHT, as Lethbridge, Alberta post-punk quintet Body Lens will play one of the first concerts at local concert promotion agency Dryer Fire's seasonal pop-up venue at 128 Bruce Street! Playing an artsy/garage rock-influenced sound with a punk attitude and some gothic touches, Body Lens' unique sound should attract a diverse fanbase tomorrow, so definitely give them a look to see what they bring to the table! Debuting local "dungeon synth" band Hot Goblin will open the proceedings tomorrow, though nothing has came out publically on this group, we'll let you know if anything pops up. As mentioned above, this concert is taking place at Dryer Fire's eponymous temporary location downtown, and will serve as a summer replacement for Nicole Dyble's 2018 bookings at the M.S. Norgoma.
It's great to see Nicole find a new location for the summer season, temporary as it may be, and hopefully lots of great events hit Dryer Fire in the coming months! As well, Trenton-based mobile bookstore Samson Books will be on site selling their wares, so keep that in mind if you love to read. This ALL AGES concert has a $10 cover charge and a 7:00 PM start time. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Body Lens live!
Finally for today, here's a new commercial for the Dopethrone-headlined concert at The New American Pub on May 20th, courtesy of openers AlgomA's YouTube channel yesterday! The first upload on their channel since 2017, the 47 second commercial features text information on the show proper, plus video clips of the headliners, AlgomA, and fellow openers Shit Liver, including footage of an AlgomA show at The Oddfellows Hall that A. is sadly dated, and B. isn't immediately familiar. The commercial closes with a suitably edited image from the poster for the film Maniac. Well done promotion while it lasts, so give it a look below!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates on the site in the coming days! Thanks everyone!
(Review note: Links on this post exclusively go to Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Blogger links except one, which was changed to an Amazon link as a precaution. If that wasn't it, I fear that this may have been a false positive, as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Blogger are all active sites that I use frequently on this blog, and I do not intentionally post malware links in my posts. If I missed something, I'll be happy to address it according to Community Guidelines if someone tells me what the offending link(s) is/are.)
Here's a new news post to check out on this Tuesday evening, and it includes a new concert video of sorts, a new compilation album release, and a preview of a special Wednesday night metal concert, but let's lead off with a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next month at an unexpected locale!
Lethbridge, Alberta post-punk/art rock quintet Body Lens will make their local concert debut on Wednesday, May 8th when they play at local concert promotion agency Dryer Fire's new summer pop-up venue at 128 Bruce Street! A throwback in ways to Gnaeus with their indie-tinged post punk sound, Body Lens' sound isn't too aggressive, but it has enough punk attitude to go around while also harbouring some darker goth influences, and they should be a good fit for a Dryer Fire-hosted event! A new local "dungeon synth" project named Hot Goblin will open this concert, who I know nothing on, hopefully we can fill in some blanks at some point. In lieu of the former Gore Street Cafe and the soon-to-be moved M.S. Norgoma, Dryer Fire owner Nicole Dyble will open her own temporary venue near The Farmhouse Collective on Saturday, May 4th, and there are more concerts coming there over the summer season, while vendors like Oosik Records will be on hand for events.
I like the idea of the temporary summer space for Dryer Fire events, and while they only infrequently book punk and hard rock concerts, this should be an interesting run to see if this leads to a longer stay and/or permanent location elsewhere! Click here for details on the grand opening. As for May 8th's Body Lens show, it has a $10 cover and a 7:00 PM start time, and it is an ALL AGES event (no word on what "notaflof" means though.) Visit the official Facebook event page and the above links for more details!
Next up, here's our preview of a special mid-week metal concert TOMORROW NIGHT, as Vancouver death metal quintet West of Hell will return to the Soo when they headline at The New American Pub! This will be West of Hell's third concert appearance in Sault Ste. Marie, and their first in over 5 years, so their brutal and melodic originals have been a long time coming for their fans, and they should be ready to melt lots of faces at The New A tomorrow! Fellow Vancouver metal quintet Expain will bring their own thrash-laden brand of original music to the stage in their own local debut as the direct openers, and extreme metal fans should take to them nicely in the lead-up! A diverse local opening roster will include the apparent live debut of Blood Shed Productions cybergrind solo project Malignant Neoplasm, who were previously known for their studio demo output. I'm very surprised they're playing rather than C.T.W., but this should be an interesting set!
Despite event advertising saying that this show has "1,000% Metal", the opening act is local rapper Conika, who's no stranger to being a musical outlier on an otherwise rap-free concert. She's a skilled MC and should set the tone well tomorrow! Promoted by Six, Two, Oh. in their first concert booking of 2019, tomorrow's concert has a 19+ age limit, $5 cover charge, and 9:00 PM start time. Visit the official Facebook event page for more on this extreme metal Wednesday night blast, and here's West of Hell live!
Also today, we have a new compilation album release to take note of from a prominent artist, namely local/Thompson, Manitoba solo musician Mike Haggith, though in this case, it's the soundtrack to the film he contributed to! As you'll recall, songs from Mike and his old local band The Din comprised the official soundtrack to the Windsor-shot independent film Ashes of K, with Mike's involvement announced in 2017, preceding it's premiere last year, but the soundtrack was only released through Mike's Bandcamp page yesterday. The 11 song soundtrack features all of the tracks from his 2015 solo album "The Warinside" except "The Snake", "Candy Is A Hooker's Name", and "Of Cars & Criminals", plus 4 songs from The Din's 2016 debut CD "Give In To The Din" This does include both the solo and Din versions of "A Drive Through The Peninsula", as both are in the movie. The Ashes of K soundtrack is available at the above links on a "name your price" model.
As this is a compilation, it does not jump Mike's unreviewed & future studio albums in line for CD review consideration on the SMS, but if you really want to see our thoughts on the 11 songs, check out our reviews of "The Warinside" & "Give In To The Din", both written shortly their initial releases. It's great to see the soundtrack finally on sale/to stream, but might Ashes of K get a local screening at some point? See above for much more, and stay tuned for updates on his new album "Bridges"!
Finally for today, let's close up our coverage of Soundcheck drummer Glen Thomas' new live videos from his YouTube channel, as the last of the 11 recent uploads is the 15 minute compilation of live clips that he has (mostly) posted to YouTube already. As such, you get a lot of bang for your buck here, but if you prefer full videos, visit Glen's channel. The compilation begins with Soundcheck and then-drummer Scott McLurg at the Wawa drag races last August, with the 2nd-5th songs from their regular cover medley, including Journey's "Don't Stop Believing", Metallica's "Enter Sandman", Boston's "Foreplay/Long Time", and Bon Jovi's "Livin' On A Prayer", albeit cut off. The compilation continues elsewhere with concerts featuring Glen behind the kit, including covers of Alanis Morissette's "Ironic" at The Esquire Club, Kenny Loggins' "Footloose", Queen's "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", and John Mellencamp's "Wild Night" at Toystock, and Keith Urban's "Somebody To Love" at Reggie's West.
The big scoop here is a previously unseen clip of Soundcheck covering Def Leppard's "Hysteria" (with Travis on lead vocals) at The Esquire Club, courtesy of a vertical cell phone camera angle at a crooked angle. Visuals aside, the cover is well done and melodic, if a little slow, and it's worth a special look! The video closes with their previously seen cover of Greta Van Fleet's "Highway Tune" at the Reggievelt. There's a lot to take in here, so if you want a sampling of Soundcheck at the top of their game, give this video a look below, and see most covers in full on Glen's channel!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews and last month's poll results soon! Thanks everyone!
Here's a Sault Michigan-heavy post for your Friday morning, and it includes videos from a big recent concert, a surprise album release, and even a few Sault Ontario notes, but let's kick things off with a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for readers in the E.U.P.!
Kinross, Michigan classic/hard rock trio Banned will return to The Runway Bar in Hessel for one night only TONIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, Banned only announced the show via their Facebook event page late last night, though the venue's Facebook page has covered it since Tuesday. TONIGHT's show will mark Banned's first gig since taking a road trip to Engadine (outside of our coverage range) last week, and their first in Hessel since a deer season party in November. That said, this concert is also tied to special festivities, as it coincides with the annual Snowsfest in Hessel, with this taking place during the festival's annual Pub Shuffle, so if you like pub crawls and such, click here for full details on participating venues and the favourite bar contest! And in case you're curious, this year's theme is cartoons, hence the cartoon imagery on The Runway Bar's Facebook page when covering this concert, but if there's a hidden meaning behind only using underwater-set cartoons, I don't know it.
TONIGHT'S show at The Runway Bar (I mean, Bikini Bottom?!) has a 9:00 PM start time, no announced cover charge, and a 21+ age limit. Visit the above links for more details, best of luck with Snowsfest and the pub crawl this year, and here's Banned live!
Next up, here's (so far) the only public videos that I've found from the Pop Evil concert at The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino on Valentine's Day! Uploaded by YouTube user Om G shortly afterward, these videos are of the Muskegon hard rock quintet playing their songs "Boss' Daughter" and, as embedded below, "Ways to Get High". These aren't optimal looks at this concert due to the vertical camera angle, shaky visuals, and muddled audio, but while the vocals come through fine, Leigh's range doesn't hit the heights I'm used to from Pop Evil's studio versions. These work well enough though, so check them out above & below!
Also today, here's a surprise, as Dafter hard rock solo artist Ken "SweetKenny" Sutton has released yet another studio album to his Bandcamp page! Entitled "Music For The Body", this is officially SweetKenny's 25th official album, and his second of 2018 already, but it does depart from his recent formula of intended scores for other media. Instead, this is an EP-length release featuring 6 instrumental tracks, including his recent song "Bikini", and as it turns out, he's intended "Music For The Body" to be used for fitness purposes, specifically aerobic or Zumba workouts. That's an angle I didn't expect, but hey, it shows his diverse thinking! You can buy this EP at the above links for $7, and can stream it for free there as well. It's great to see SweetKenny release a new non-score album, even if it's a fitness EP, but might we see a review of it on the site? It's possible, but given that we just reviewed "The Dogs Are Watching" last month, it wouldn't be until July at the earliest due to our 6 month anti-bias buffer period.
As well, keep in mind that SweetKenny has released six studio albums since the beginning of 2017, so I'd be shocked if he didn't have anything else put out by July. Given that, a fitness-geared EP likely wouldn't be our optimum choice for a review over a potential full length album (score or otherwise) that follows, but stranger things have happened! Give SweetKenny's new album and more of his extensive back catalog a listen above!
Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items (all regarding Sault Ontario acts) from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist name:
Local alt-punk trio A Dire Setback announced on their Facebook page last week that they have begun pre-production for their debut album, and will post updates on it along with "a few surprises." No word on when and where they'll officially begin recording tracks for it, but the guys did note that their planned next concert will be in May. Intriguing, so stay tuned for more from A.D.S. as it rolls in!
Local indie/hard rock quartet Id Iota and DJ Seith took a road trip to Espanola for rare out of town concerts last Friday and Saturday as part of the Boogie Mountain Night Jam skiing event there, as cited at this link. Hopefully the shows were a hit, and that both Id Iota and Seith made some new fans out east! However, no public word yet on Id Iota's teased new bassist.
Former Bear Hunters guitarist Mike Vincent posted the first track from his planned second solo album onto his Bandcamp page on Wednesday! Entitled "Apocalypse", this is a well recorded technical death metal instrumental that fans of his other recent solo material should like, so give it a listen above! For what it's worth, Mike still hasn't formally released "Ultimate Chaos" in an formal album packaging on Bandcamp or elsewhere that I've seen, with the songs still only posted as separate single tracks.
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates on the site in the coming days! Thanks everyone!
Sault Michigan classic/hard rock cover quartet Highway 63 will end their local run with one final public concert set on SUNDAY outside of frontman Henry Switzer's own business Hank's Body Shop! Apologies for the short notice, the show was only announced via the band's Facebook page on Monday. After an over 6 year run on the local scene, Highway 63 are reportedly disbanding due to guitarist Nathan Switzer (Henry's son) moving out of town, so this event will serve as a send-off party for him. This "farewell jam" will be Highway 63's first live set as a band since the pandemic shutdowns, and this is absolutely a public event despite the non-traditional locale. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, refreshments are strictly on a "bring your own beer/food" model, but admission is free, and a 12:00 PM start time is advertised. This show is weather permitting, and while a lot can change before then, note that 9&10 News is calling for scattered thunderstorms that day.
Finally for today, here's that other new concert, as Sault Ontario acoustic hard rock quartet The Wyld Stallyns will end their live concert drought with a one night only event on Friday, August 28th at The Rockstar Bar! After 5 months without live bands at The Algonquin Hotel's upstairs nightclub, they are starting to bring back live music this weekend with jam-encouraged solo shows by ex-Phatstick frontman Jason Taillefer (details here), but next Friday's show will be their first with a band. The Stallyns have not played a Rockstar Bar show since 2019, with a February date there called off due to a band member falling ill, so if you've been waiting to see the Speers', Jesse, and Jonas together in person for the first time post-shutdown, next Friday is your next chance! Venue advertising does not blatantly outline the bar's social distancing rules for this event, but it's safe to assume that face masks are mandatory to enter the building.
