Today's post is devoted to Kewadin Casino concert videos, new and old alike, and we'll start with the Skid Row-headlined concert at The Dreammakers Theater in Sault Ste. Marie on March 23rd, which took on new significance when frontman Erik Gronwall left the New Jersey glam metal band just four days later to focus on his health (Erik is a leukemia survivor & bone marrow transplant recipient with a compromised immune system). In fact, the Sault Ste. Marie show was the final one with Erik, so how's that for timing? Our first post with videos from the show went up on the day his departure was announced! Of course, our best thoughts go out to Erik, whose health actually caused this show/tour to be postponed from the fall as it was, and for my money, he was the best singer Skid Row had brought on since Sebastian Bach left! Halestorm's Lzzy Hale will fill in temporarily with Skid Row in their upcoming festival dates.
As for the Soo show, the ever prolific Christopher Paci was in attendance to film all three bands on the 23rd for his YouTube channel, filming Skid Row in eight videos! He shot them playing "Big Guns", "18 & Life", "Psycho Therapy", "Time Bomb", "I Remember You", "The Gang's All Here", "Youth Gone Wild", and as embedded below, their set-opener "Slave To The Grind". Chris was further away from the stage than in prior local videos that we've seen, but we do see more of the stage at once here, and it was an honest sell out based on the audience! The sound here is a little soft but you hear everything you need to, and Erik was nailing these songs even on his final date, so check them out above & below!
Next up, Chris also filmed six videos from co-headlining Los Angeles hard rock quintet Buckcherry's set, including "Say Fuck It" (they titled it, not me), "Hellbound", "Sorry", "Gluttony", their extended & covers-infused "Crazy Bitch" medley, and as embedded below, their opening song "Lit Up". I've never been a huge fan of theirs, and Josh's voice is inconsistent across these videos, especially later in the set, but they put in an energetic performance for fans, and they've always been good to the Twin Saults, so give Buckcherry's newest local concert videos a watch above & below!
As for opening Philadelphia hair metal quartet Britny Fox, Chris filmed them playing "Plenty Of Love", "Girlschool", and as embedded below, "Dream On". Even with a mostly different lineup than when fans last saw Britny Fox in town, they sound good for glam metal fans on these videos, and for better or worse, less fans had cameras rolling so you get a clearer view of the band than you do with the later acts. Check these out for yourselves above & below as well!
Finally, let's wind back to 2014 for a video that I didn't feature on the site in the first place. Back in November 2014, Staind frontman Aaron Lewis came to Sault Ste. Marie for the first time since launching his solo career as a country musician, and while that obviously doesn't fit our genre range, he did and still does cover Staind ballads in his solo sets. At the time, I covered videos filmed by attendee Dana Howland on here, as she filmed Aaron playing Staind's "It's Been Awhile" and covering Pearl Jam's "Black" (which was a solo radio hit for him years before he acutally went solo). Either due to my own omission or due to that post being written before she uploaded it (it's been nine years, I don't remember), I never acknowledged that she also filmed Aaron playing the Staind hit "Right Here Waiting" at Kewadin on this night, so it is embedded below! This came to my attention because it was re-uploaded as a "Shorts" video.
As such, her Staind videos from 2014, this one included, turned up in their own special section when searching for recent Kewadin videos. "Shorts" are not as restrictive as Facebook "Reels", and her videos were vertical and focused on a solo musician right along, so I won't complain about the formatting here (no comment on Aaron's political views either, but this show was before a lot of that became more prominent). The stage lighting is VERY over-exposed here, but Aaron's performance is on point for Staind fans, so give this belated local concert video a watch below!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site soon! Thanks everyone!
For today's post, let's take our first gander at videos from Saturday night's sold out Skid Row/Buckcherry concert at The Dreammakers Theatre at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino! What I have heard from the concert has been largely positive, but you can see for yourself here, as at least two attendees so far have posted videos from Saturday's festivities, and more is absolutely to come. Just a heads up, both of the channels mentioned here don't appear to be locally based, and moreso are Skid Row fans who travel to film them at multiple gigs, so the majority of the videos on their channels are not local. We'll start with the headlining New Jersey glam metal veterans, who were the only band filmed for attendee theheidis' channel. She shot Skid Row playing "Youth Gone Wild", and while I would normally embed that one here as it's much longer, I'm instead embedding the video of them playing their new album's title track "The Gang's All Here".
Why that video? Because it's multi-camera, but not in the way you're thinking. While one half of the video is shot by theheidis, the other was shot on her friend's camera by Skid Row singer Erik Gronwall! It looks like he filmed vertically and theheidis opted to crop her horizontal video to fit both in frame within a 16:9 aspect ratio. Not ideal for her copy, but we get a very unique split view for over a minute, with Erik filming the audience and himself in "selfie mode" (as it were) while synced up with theheidis' video. Very neat, and the song is solid for fans, who shouldn't have much to worry about with Erik behind the mic! Check out theheidis' videos above & below!
Today's other videos come from YouTube user Diana, a.k.a. yuthgonwild (sic), who did film all three bands on Saturday. Diana filmed eight videos at Kewadin, with five being of Skid Row's set, including "The Gang's All Here", "Resurrected" (abbreviated when her phone cut out), and "Monkey Business", albeit in two chunks, again due to her phone cutting out during the song. The longer first part is embedded below, but you can watch part 2 here, and a forcibly vertical/abbreviated version can also be seen there in "Shorts" format. Diana had a similar vantage point to theheidis, with a close seat near the stage's far right corner, but her video quality is a little rougher by comparison. Fans will still very much enjoy her videos, especially "Monkey Business" (one of my favourite Skid Row songs), and the guys sound really good across all three songs filmed for this channel, so definitely give these a watch above & below!
Diana filmed two videos of Los Angeles hard rock quintet Buckcherry's co-headlining set, including of their song "Gluttony", but embedded below is their set closing hit "Crazy Bitch!" Now, the video is 11+ minutes long because, as is common for this song in recent years, they extended it by making it a medley with a bunch of covers and incomplete songs, along with band introductions and crowd banter (they definitely did this at their Sault Ontario show in 2021). Filmed at more of a low side-stage vantage point here, the performances are lively and well received, but Josh's vocals are definitely tired by this late stage of the night, and he can be heard to hear. Check everything out above & below!
Finally for now, Diana filmed opening Philadelphia hair metal quartet Britny Fox playing their hit song "Long Way To Love" on Saturday! Now, 15 years have passed since their last show here, during which time the band went on hiatus, with bassist Billy Childs relaunching them in 2022 with no other classic members, so any preconceptions from 2009 should be avoided. Still, this lineup seems to have a good handle on things and they have a good ear for melodies, not to mention strong vocals from new frontman Ronnie Rogers, so give their performance a watch below!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews on the site next! Thanks everyone!
Another concert weekend is upon us, so let's preview known hard rock/punk concerts taking place over the next couple of days! As heavier shows go, this is a quieter weekend, perhaps the hangover after St. Patrick's Day, but there is a big concert in the E.U.P. to note, and first, a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for Sault Ontario, so here's what you should know!
Online page-less local alternative/punk cover band Bookclub will play their first publically advertised concert of 2024 when they return to Searchmont Resort TOMORROW for their Spring Bash! Apologies for the short notice, we only heard about this event via this poster on Searchmont's Facebook page this past Saturday, and Bookclub still do not have social media pages to promote their concerts with. While this Inner City Surfers alum-laden supergroup have played Searchmont before inside at The Kiln, TOMORROW'S concert will be outdoors on Searchmont's patio, marking out first concert preview of 2024 where a weather forecast will be optimal! Along with the music, skiiers and snowboarders can expect a terrain park party TOMORROW with drink discounts, fun & games, prizes, and more, so visit Searchmont's post linked above for more details on what to expect!
Prices for skiing and such aside, TOMORROW'S show has no cover charge or age limit, and Bookclub are playing a 3:00-5:00 PM matinee, with the bash proper beginning at noon and running into the evening. Weather-wise, 9&10 News is calling for sunny weather at -5°, so the recent winter resurgence will likely not have new precipitation TOMORROW, but the cold temperatures will be a plus or minus depending on what you personally like if not hitting the slopes. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Bookclub live last fall!
Next up, here's some previously announced concerts, stating with local southern hard rock veterans Bone Yard 225, who will return to the stage TOMORROW NIGHT for an unplugged (uncorked, if you prefer) concert at Gateway Casino!
Last seen in their acoustic format at The Water Tower Pub four weeks
ago, this will be Bone Yard's first unplugged show since tacking "225"
to their name late last month. If you like/prefer their stripped down
"uncorked" set, and/or miss The Bearded Lounge, don't miss out on all of
the action tomorrow, with lots of classic and hard rock hits to go
around! A one-nighter as is standard for the venue, Bone Yard 225 take
the stage at Gateway Casino tomorrow at 9:00 PM, and expect a 19+ age
limit. See above for more details, and for a preview, here's two brand new videos from Bone Yard 225's jam night-hosting duties at Reggie's Place last night!
Originally filmed by attendee Marcy Catherine before being shared to their Facebook page, the videos are not standard fare in any sense. Reggie's was in the part of town hit by a raccoon-induced power outage last night (click here for details), so Bone Yard 225 made the most of it by getting uncorked a day early! Marcy filmed them (with Greg on vocals, Alex on guitar, and Warren providing hand clap percussion) covering Van Halen's "Ice Cream Man" and, as embedded below, Queen's "Fat Bottomed Girls". Lighting is much worse on the latter, but again, they were literally blacked out at Reggie's. Fun, if vertically shot, covers that show Bone Yard 225 turning lemons into lemonade, so check them out above & below!
Finally, here's the big one for known & announced hard rock shows this weekend, as New Jersey glam metal icons Skid Row and Anaheim hard rock band Buckcherry will both return to The Dreammakers Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino TOMORROW NIGHT! This sold out concert will be Skid Row's first here since October 2005 (the cancelled 2008 show at Runway Park in Sault Ontario acknowledged), but they've had momentum on their side in recent years since their lead singer carousel stopped on Erik Gronwall, whose energy and Sebastian-esque voice have won very positive reviews as of late, so hopefully classics like "Youth Gone Wild" and "Monkey Business" go over strongly tomorrow! Buckcherry have been more prominent on local stages since we last saw Skid Row, with this being their fifth show in the Twin Saults since 2011, and third in under five years!
Readers will have last seen Josh Todd and crew in October 2021 when Buckcherry were the first major touring hard rock headliners in Sault Ontario following the pandemic lockdowns, but they last played at Kewadin during their outdoor show with Pop Evil in 2019. While I'm admittedly not a fan of theirs, Buckcherry have been good to the area in the past 13 years, and hopefully their hits like "Crazy Bitch" and "Lit Up" draw a solid response once again! Philadelphia hair metal quartet Britny Fox will open the proceedings in their first local concert since opening for Great White at the Soo Kewadin fifteen years ago, though only bassist Billy Childs remains in the band from that 2009 set. He's found a solid lineup to bring hits like "Long Way To
Love" & "Dream On" to the stage, so don't be late for their set! This concert (and its tour leg) was postponed from October 28th to tomorrow due to Skid Row singer Erik Gronwall's health concerns.
Presented by Rock 101 and The Hair Scare, this all ages concert begins at 8:00 PM tomorrow night, and it is legitimately sold out (hair metal's a proven draw up here!). If you want to be notified on late ticket availability, click here, call 1-800-KEWADIN, or check the in person box office, and for reference, anything that opens up will start at $45 USD. Non-refunded tickets from the original October date will be honoured tomorrow. This will be a huge night for hair and glam metal fans, and the new Skid Row lineup definitely deliver the goods for old and new fans alike, so visit the above links for more details, and here's Skid Row live!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site this weekend! Thanks everyone!
