New Videos From Three Local Acts, Plus More Recent News & Notes!!

For our last post of February 2020, we're diving into some recent video postings from a few familiar local faces, including a solo cover, a revived band's album plans, and a prolific artist's TV hosting gig, plus a handful of shorter stories at post's end. Here's what you should know!

Here's the latest from local/Thompson, Manitoba alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith, starting with the fact that his new single "To Be With You" premiered on February 15th on local internet radio station The Borderline! The song has not been posted elsewhere as of this writing, so until it is, you'll have to tune in to The Borderline to see if it comes up in rotation. The song is brand new, and is not from his still-unreleased "Bridges" album, but it's not yet clear whether it's a standalone single or will be part of another new album release. We'll keep you posted! As for new content of Mike's that you can check out on demand, he hosted another Shaw Spotlight virtual community concert that aired locally on TV and radio in Thompson yesterday, specifically Thompson's Winterfest, an 80 minute event that you can watch on the Shaw Community Link YouTube channel and embedded below!

As hyped with this teaser video, this is very similar to the virtual Christmas concert that Mike hosted for Shaw Spotlight in Thompson in December, with Mike introducing acts & talking to viewers, but the tone is somewhat less jokey and sarcastic this time. Admittedly, Saultite interest in Thompson-based acts may be limited, but there's a lot of talent on display, and Mike himself does perform two songs, including "MorningStar" 32 minutes in & "Come On Home" (from "Bridges", which he promised will come out this year) about 67 minutes in. Solid performances from Mike & Thompsonites alike, and this all came together nicely, so give Thompson Winterfest a watch!

Next up, local progressive metal duo Kraken Mara are back (again!) After a public hiatus since September 2019 (their only month with updates since 2017), the band quietly posted a "scheduled video" of a play-through of a song from their upcoming debut EP, which will now be named "Vibe Check" rather than be self-titled. The video is not watchable until it premieres at 10:01 AM on March 12th, which is definitely unique for a local band to post, and it's proof that this return is going to lead somewhere in the short term! Kraken Mara's Facebook page hasn't been newly updated yet, but their Instagram page has new updates, albeit with all prior videos deleted, sadly. Four short clips are there to check out, including two of guitarist Jake Valois practicing solos for the EP, and two featuring his bandmate/brother-in-law Brendan Christie in brief samples from the "Vibe Check" playthrough premiering on the 12th.

The scheduled YouTube video's description notes that drums on the EP are being provided by Cliff Aubut, who drums for the Kelowna, B.C. metalcore band Stasis. I presume he's a session drummer given the distance, but we'll let you know if his involvement is greater. Assuming that "Vibe Check" does see it's intended release, I'll hold comment on the music proper until then (especially with the full song video not watchable yet), but it's great to see Brendan & Jake back at it once again, and fans of djent-laden progressive metal will want to take notice! Give the second of Brendan's teaser videos a look below, see more above, and stay tuned for updates!

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Also today, here's a new cover video from ex-Sense Of Truth/Skeyes Of Seven frontman Cory Murchison's YouTube channel on Friday, where he covered Seether's ballad "Broken" (not the version with Amy Lee.) The video quality is a little hazy, but the music comes through well enough, and Cory's voice is a good match for this song (the descripion notes that he plans to do more Seether covers), so give this well done rendition a watch below!

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

• I have moved Sault Michigan hard rock trio Mackinaw Trail to our inactive band links due to the sudden passing of frontman Henry Switzer earlier this month. It's certainly possible that George and Ron could continue forward in a band, bur they hadn't posted anything on their Facebook page about Mackinaw Trail in particular since late 2019, rather sharing info on Highway 63 and Henry's solo pursuits (and don't forget about the pandemic either). Hopefully we hear more from George & Ron musically down the road!
  
• On a similar note to the Mackinaw Trail link update, I have removed Henry's old classic/hard rock band Sir Charge from our inactive band links, this time due to the page's deletion at some point last year. Sir Charge were the short-lived successors to Henry and his son Nathan's old band Monkey's Uncle, and were active on the E.U.P. bar circuit from 2012-2013, though I don't believe they ever had videos to show for their brief run. Hopefully Nathan and the Mayers stay active in music!
• Sault Ontario-based Foo Fighters tribute band The Soo Fighters have quietly added Isolation Sessions/ex-Half Past bassist Arthur Lacasse to their lineup, replacing Max Ambeault, as per an update on their Facebook page this month. A reason for Max's departure was not announced, but he only played live with The Soo Fighters once in 2019 before the pandemic scuttled their 2020 plans. Hopefully we hear from Max musically again, but Art should fit in fine when The Soo Fighters play live next, whenever that is!
  

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

R.I.P. Henry Switzer

The Sault Metal Scene sends it's deepest condolences to the family and friends of veteran local singer/guitarist Henry Switzer, who suddenly passed away earlier today, according to numerous postings on Facebook from friends and family. A staple of the Sault Michigan music scene dating back to the 1990s (if not further) as both a musician and guitar instructor, Henry will be more familiar to current readers from his work fronting the 2014-2020 classic/hard rock cover band Highway 63 and their sister group Mackinaw Trail, but bands of his have been a staple of our E.U.P. coverage as long as I've been following Sault Michigan. You may have seen Henry live with local favourites The Mama's Boys, his 2006-2012 band Monkey's Uncle (née Jager), and their successors Sir Charge through 2013, with his son Nathan (now of Heavy Lies The Crown) a regular bandmate of his throughout the 2010s.

I don't feel comfortable going into great detail here about Henry's health battles in the past year or so, but he was candid on Highway 63's Facebook page in March about wanting to come back to live performances following a heart ailment (obviously before the pandemic began), and the band ultimately cancelled a planned Rudyard Days festival in June. Highway 63 would return for one more concert in August, when they played outside of Henry's automotive business Hank's Body Shop to send off Nathan before he moved downstate, and his last public music work was in a series of classic rock studio covers that you can check out above and on his YouTube channel. I never had the honour of meeting Henry, but the outpouring of condolences definitely paint him as a kind soul, a devoted husband and father, and a great music teacher, and his strong vocal range and guitar skills were apparent throughout his local music career.

As of this writing, details on services are not online, but I would keep tabs on The Sault Evening News' obituary page for further information. My kindest thoughts are with Nathan (I can relate to losing a parent) and to Henry's wife Kristina at this difficult time, but from everything I've read, it's apparent that he was a fighter, and he will be sorely missed. R.I.P. Henry!

New Airbourne Concert Videos & Assorted Sault Michigan Updates!!

Keeping the news rolling on this Friday afternoon, we have some more fallout from a big recent concert to touch on, along with some recent Sault Michigan updates, so read on below for what you need to know!

A bunch of Airbourne concert videos from Sunday night have turned up online yesterday, so we'll start with six from YouTube user Christopher Paci's channel! A frequent uploader of videos from Kewadin Casino hard rock concerts in the past year, the Airbourne concert was just the second Sault Ontario event he's uploaded footage from (following one video from the Tragically Hip show in February) Four of Christopher's videos are from Airbourne's set, including "Ready To Rock", "Diamond in the Rough", "Raise the Flag", and (as embedded below) their extended closing number "Runnin' Wild", so click each link to see the clips! Chris would have a good angle, but The Canadian Nightclub was very packed, so attendees' heads are definitely in the way often, but I imagine this was a problem many people had unless they were very tall or in the first few rows, so I won't judge. The audio is also a bit scratchy, but it's not unlistenable. Solid attempt to catch the action, so give "Runnin' Wild" a look below!



Christopher's other videos are from openers Bleeker Ridge's set, as he filmed them playing their originals "Shine" and (as embedded below) "Last Cigarette", so again, click each link to check them out! They have a better and more central view of the Orillia hard rockers, and Taylor Perkins is definitely easier to hear from Christopher's angle, but front row fans do block some areas of the stage, albeit not as much as the crowding for Airbourne. These actually don't sound as scratchy either somehow, so give Bleeker Ridge playing "Last Cigarette" a look below, and see more of Chris' Airbourne concert videos at the above links!

Closing today's post, we'll head to Sault Michigan starting with some news relating to newer local hard rock trio Plastic (who, like Power Slug, still don't have an online page.) In rather surprising news given that they only first played live two months ago, they'll apparently be opening for The Misfits at Harpo's Concert Theater in Detroit on October 21st! I have no idea how that came about, but my source is drummer Paul "Dorothy" Burns' new solo Facebook page, which he recently started to keep fans to date on his music projects (Plastic or otherwise.) Paul also launched a number of Facebook event pages there for gigs all over Northern Michigan (including in Alpena and Rogers City), along with the Misfits/Detroit show and a pair of local dates (Dan's Bar in Rudyard on September 7th & The Merchant's Bar in the Soo on September 20th), but I can't verify at present if these are all Plastic dates or not, as he uses the page for all of his music work. If I hear more, I'll keep you posted, but if you want tickets to see Plastic open for The Misfits, message members Zac Crook, Nick Moreau, or Paul Burns on Facebook!

Finally for today, it looks like Sault Michigan classic hard rock quartet Sir Charge have dissolved. This hasn't been officially confirmed (their Facebook page hasn't been updated in almost 3 months), but members Henry Switzer, Ray Mayer, and Ruseell Mayer have apparently reformed their pop rock cover band The Mama's Boys, re-debuting at at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino on August 5th. My source is Ray's personal Facebook page, and like before, I believe he sings lead rather than Henry. Also, with Sir Charge guitarist Nathan Switzer taking on their existing Kewadin Casino dates for his other band RamWagon,  that helps lead me to think that Sir Charge have at least ceded focus to the Mama's Boys' reunion. Sir Charge had been active since succeeding Henry & Nathan's similar earlier band Monkey's Uncle last fall, playing a number of gigs at regional bars through at least June of this year, and while it is disappointing to see Henry-fronted bands end locally, at least everyone from Sir Charge is still active in local music, so best of luck all around!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more this weekend, including a few more Airbourne concert videos! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (The Suicide Kings & Haggith), This Weekend's Concert Previews, And A Cancellation!!

Before we get into the concert previews for this weekend, I wanted to note that the previously announced Sir Charge shows at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino this weekend have been cancelled. A reason hasn't been announced, but talented local country duo The Perry Hatch Band are now listed for The Northern Pines Lounge in their place via Kewadin Casino's entertainment page. Disappointing, but Sir Charge will return to the Soo Kewadin next month, so keep that in mind! With that said, today's post previews concerts going down this weekend through Saturday (Airbourne's coming on Sunday, probably), starting with SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for the next two nights, so here's what you need to know!

After 4 weeks away from the local concert stage, local hard rockers The Suicide Kings will return to The Rockstar Bar TOMORROW NIGHT for the first time since their Battle of the Bands win there in April! Apologies for the short notice, they only just announced this show yesterday. After their packed Rotaryfest weekend, it'll be nice to see the guys rocking a local stage once again, especially for a solo headlining gig, a type of show they haven't played in 3 months! Note that their hyped bassist search has not concluded publically yet, so unless they're keeping things very secret, I'd assume Mitch Sirie will still handle bass on most songs tomorrow. An 11:00 PM-ish start time is hyped for this 19+ show, and bring $5 or so for a cover. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! The Suicide Kings' talented and hard edged sound should be welcomed back to the stage after a long break (for them), so don't miss their next live concert TOMORROW NIGHT! For a preview, here's their first two songs from the battle finals in April!



Also, and in adding to the recent emergence of hard rock shows at The New American Pub, local grunge/alternative quartet Haggith have struck a deal to play one show a month through November at this Bay Street venue, including dates on September 25th, October 20th, November 22nd, and THIS SATURDAY! Apologies for the short notice for the first show of the run, Haggith only just announced it on Tuesday. For reference, the shows are not on the same day of the week, with the fall dates coming on a Wednesday, Sunday, and Friday respectively. Each show will reportedly feature an opening band, with local acid jam/hard rock trio Mike Haggith & The Din opening on Saturday in their own New A debut, while guitarist Daniel Horton told me on Facebook that they, Stone Temple Pilots tribute Purple Core (who feature Mike & The Din in swapped roles), local solo rocker James Watterworth, and fellow PaperClip Productions artist Frank McGillvray are all opener possibilities for the other dates. All 4 shows have 19+ age limits and 9:00 PM start times, while Daniel also told me that the cover will be $4.

For more details, check the Facebook event pages linked above (through each show's listed date.) For a band known for originals, a regular run at the same venue like this is somewhat different, but it's great to see them playing some headlining dates, Mike & The Din playing more Sault Ontario shows, The New A booking more original bands, so don't miss these fast rising hard rock bands THIS SATURDAY at The New American! For a preview, here's Haggith playing an STP cover and "Rage Train" at The Rockstar Bar in April!



Now to previously announced weekend concerts, starting with Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison's third show of his "every Friday in August" concert arrangement with The Road House Bar & Grill TOMORROW NIGHT! Easily his favourite recent concert venue for his solo acoustic gigs, this will be his fifth Friday night show in the past 6 weeks at this Trunk Road tavern, and it sounds like things are going well so far! As usual, Tym should have a night full of metal and hard rock covers and renditions for fans and bar regulars to check out, so if you're up for a trip out east, The Road House will have you covered for some acoustic metal action tomorrow night! Admission should be free for this 10:00 PM show, and you must be 19 to attend. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Tym's solo gigs are always a good time full of familiar songs, so keep tomorrow's show in mind, and for a preview, here's Tym covering Heart live at The Service Grill!



Finally for today, Frightlight will bring some local metal flavour to what's being billed as a "Horrorween" concert THIS SATURDAY NIGHT at The Roosevelt Hotel featuring two out of town horror punk bands, including Oshawa horror punk quartet Black Cat Attack and Welland punk/psychobilly trio Chainsaw Lobotomy! The Black Cat Attack (featuring Sum 41 alum Dave Baksh) have a unique female-voiced blend of horror punk and rockabilly that local fans should take to, while Chainsaw Lobotomy's hard to define mix of genres (everything from hardcore to bluegrass) should find an enthusiastic audience of their own! As for Frightlight, this will be their second show with James "Slim Cadaver" White filling in for Eddie Fright on bass, and he should fit in well again for their high impact originals and Misfits covers on Saturday, so if you crave metal, they'll have the majority of it! Note that the Facebook event page still lists a band to be announced, but recent press for the show has treated the show as having only 3 bands.

Originally scheduled for The Algonquin Pub before being relocated, this show (which is promoted by Frightlight frontman Johnny Pints) has a 10:00 PM start time, 19+ age limit, and a $10 entry fee, but it can be halved to $5 if you bring your Airbourne concert ticket, or it'll be FREE if you show your Airbourne & BFGs tickets! Also, there will be a prize package going to the winner of a Halloween costume contest on Saturday, and costume wearers get in for $5 too, so keep that in mind as well! For more info, visit the Facebook event page, and if you love punk, rockabilly, horror, and a dash of metal, be at The Rosie THIS SATURDAY (and have your costumes!) For a preview, here's Frightlight (and Slim) live at The Rosie in June!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news likely tomorrow, including hopefully some Pop Evil fallout, and yes, short notice show alerts if they come in! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!! (Peril, Powerslug, Sir Charge, And RamWagon)

Today's post is 100% dedicated to LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS at The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino, as they've  recently added new dates to their entertainment page's schedule through the end of the year! Note that The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino has not added any new dates to their schedule that I have seen, so all of these new shows will require a road trip to St. Ignace, which is 50 minutes south of the Soo. Now, let's look at these new show announcements in rough chronological order!

We'll start this coming weekend, as newer local hard rock quintet RamWagon will make their Kewadin Casino and St. Ignace debut on Friday & Saturday at The Northern Pines Lounge! Fresh off their fourth and fifth shows (on late notice) at The Satisfied Frog, this union of Full Throttle and Analog Deficiency alumni should have an entertaining and proficient slate of hard rock covers for attendees in St. Ignace this weekend, so keep them in mind for this coming weekend's schedule! Admission should be free for these 9:00 PM-ish concerts, and you must be 21 or older to attend. For more details, check the above links! It's great to see RamWagon's bookings picking up steam, and hopefully this is just the next stop in a successful local run, so don't miss this new band's latest concert weekend at The Northern Pines Lounge on Friday and Saturday, and stay tuned for more updates as they roll in!

The rest of the new hard rock show announcements for the St. Ignace Kewadin are in the fall and early winter, starting with two new concert weekends from Monkey's Uncle successors Sir Charge! Though their Facebook page hasn't been updated in two months, sporadic online updates for Henry Switzer-fronted bands are par for the course, sadly, but at least Kewadin Casino keeps us up to date on their next shows at their local branches! The veteran local hard rock cover quartet will return to The Northern Pines Lounge for shows on October 4th-5th & December 6th-7th, so if you're up for some gritty old school hard rock and more recent hits, don't forget about these dates! (Also to note, guitarist Nathan Switzer is also in the aforementioned RamWagon.) 21+ age limits, 9:00 PM start times, and no cover charges are all very likely, so get more at the above links, and don't miss Sir Charge's next shows in St. Ignace in two weeks!

Two weeks after the first of the new Sir Charge shows, The Northern Pines Lounge will welcome Charlevoix classic metal trio Peril back to the region for a pair of shows on October 16th & 17th! Curiously, Peril's Facebook page hasn't seen updates for two months either, but according to frontman Jeff Hudson's concert schedule, they don't have any dates for the rest of the summer, with his other bands Audio Circus and Scarkazm (neither of which are local regulars) playing most weekends. Given the new local bookings (Peril's first St. Ignace shows since February), I'll assume this is just a break unless I hear otherwise, so circle the middle of October on your calendars for some classic metal originals and covers from this talented trio (featuring ex-Bad Side drummer Brooks Elliott!) Also, this will likely be their first local weekend since the departure of bassist James Cvengros, with either Adam Crawford or Steve Gauthier rotating bass duties in his absence. Like the above shows, expect 21+ age limits, 9:00 PM start times, and no cover charges, but check the above links for more details, and hopefully Peril rock the U.P. again come October!

Finally for the new St. Ignace concert announcements, Sault Michigan hard rock trio Powerslug will return to The Northern Pines Lounge on November 22nd and 23rd! Their first shows in St. Ignace since June, Powerslug's busy (though often online-elusive) schedule sees them play often in the area (as seen this past weekend at The Corner Pub), and their hard rock covers should get the crowd going and lots of mugs chugged for their Northern Pines Lounge return in November! Still wish they had an online page and more shareable media though, it'd help their exposure. Same as the above shows for ground rules, with a 9:00 PM start time, 21+ age limit, and no likely cover charge for both nights, so check the above links for more details! Nice to get some more advance notice gigs of theirs, so keep Powerslug's November Kewadin dates in mind, and (barring a short notice announcement) go see them live next at the Sault Kewadin on August 23rd & 24th!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for an all-video post TOMORROW! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Griphook, The 7 Year Itch, & Powerslug) And The First Of This Weekend's Concert Previews!!

With such a big weekend for concerts upon us, we're gonna break this weekend's metal & hard rock concert previews into three posts: Today's post for the general Friday-Saturday shows in the region, one dedicated to Rotaryfest's music stages tomorrow, and we'll touch on Saturday's Bushplane Musical Madness and Sunday night's Shinedown concert either on Friday. With that all said, let's begin this busy weekend with previews of the non-Rotaryfest/Bushplane/Shinedown hard rock shows this weekend, starting with SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS on each side of the border!

One day before playing Rotaryfest for the first time, local classic/hard rock quartet Griphook will play their first ever concert at The New American Pub House THIS FRIDAY! Apologies for the short notice, the band only announced this show last night. Coming just days after the announcement of next month's Catgut/Bad Back show at The New A, it's interesting and nice to see some heavier bands playing at this downtown venue, compared to past bands there generally attracting an older clientele with much older covers. It's also been announced (on short notice) that following their Rotaryfest set on Saturday, 3/4ths of Griphook (minus guitarist Brian Oja) will be playing later that night at The Rockstar Bar under the name The 7 Year Itch, though I don't know why Brian will be absent (scheduling conflict?), why they're using a different name, or how different The 7 Year Itch's sound will be compared to Griphook's. I'm thinking it's likely a scenario of the guys not wanting to play under that name if someone's absent (i.e. General Striker or Pools of Booze), but regardless of name, the guys are hoping to attract Rotaryfest attendees after the bands wrap up at Clergue Park, so keep these shows in mind!

9:30 PM start times and 19+ age limits are to be expected for each show, and while The Rockstar Bar should have a cover charge in the $5 range, I have no idea if The New American generally does (remember, we only started hearing finalized hard rock shows there this week.) For more details on both Griphook & The 7 Year Itch's shows this weekend, click here and here, and remember, our Rotaryfest preview is coming TOMORROW! Now knowing that Griphook's sets do lean heavier, they should deliver some good times on Friday in their New A debut, and The 7 Year Itch should sound similar for fans, and don't miss their set either on Saturday if you couldn't get enough of the full Griphook sound at Rotaryfest! For a preview, here's Griphook covering Alice In Chains' "Would?" at The Rockstar Bar last month, and if it's not familiar, don't worry, we have a lot of videos from this channel to share on the site shortly that have never been referenced on here, so stay tuned! (Also, The New American is now in our active Sault Ontario venue links on your left!)



We'll close this post in Sault Michigan (Shinedown's coming in a couple of days), starting with another short notice announcement, and as you may have guessed, it's for local hard rock trio Powerslug! The pageless but talented trio (featurning Clownsack and Blind Baby alumni) will play their next gigs THIS FRIDAY AND SATURDAY at The Corner Pub Bar & Grill, though no word yet on if these are outdoor parking lot gigs like their last show there or not. Apologies for the short notice, frontman Chris Leask only confirmed the shows last night on his personal Facebook page. Admission should be free for these 21+ concerts, and 10:00 PM start times are likely. Powerslug's hard rock covers should find another solid response at The Corner Pub this weekend, so don't miss out if you're up to chug your mug with the guys, and if we ever find media to preview their shows with, we'll let you know!

Finally for today, Monkey's Uncle successors Sir Charge will return to The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino on Friday & Saturday as well! Announced in advance via Kewadin Casino's entertainment page, I believe these will be their first shows since playing the St. Ignace Kewadin last month, and it'll be good to see the band featuring Mama's Boys & RamWagon alumni back at it for a weekend of hard and classic rock covers! Both shows will be 21+ affairs with 9:00 PM-ish start times and no announced cover charge, but check the above links for more details! Long time fans of Henry Switzer's bands (regardless of name) should be right at home with Sir Charge's shows this weekend, so head on down to the Soo Kewadin to rock out with Sir Charge this weekend if possible, and if I come across videos of them in action, I'll let you know!

That's all for today, but stay tuned at midnight for last month's poll results and this month's poll, and later tomorrow for our preview of Rotaryfest's stages, featuring 3 hard rock-leaning bands this year! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (415E & Sir Charge) And Two New Sault Michigan Hard Rock Bands!!

For the second time in the last 4 days, we're devoting an entire post to Sault Michigan-area bands and concerts, as we have LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS and newer local bands to announce, and these sure are helping to inject some quantity and quality to our active band links and concert listings! As usual when we have new bands to launch, we'll start with them first, so here's what you need to know!

Our first new band is Sault Michigan hard rock metal/quartet Dirtbag In A Dress (interesting name), but you may have previously known them as two-time LemmaFest veterans Bucksaw! I haven't heard why they changed their name, but Bucksaw seems too common for it not to have been used by another existing band. Their lineup is mostly the same as it was last year, including singer/guitarist (and local boxer) Ryan Franklin, ex-Blind Baby guitarist Bill Ogston, and Scofflaw bassist Barney Gravelle, but with Half A Man drummer Mikey Bishop now a member in place of Chump Change's Jason VanLuven (no word on why Jason left though.) Aside from the band's LemmaFest appearances, news and information on Bucksaw was fairly elusive to find, but according to posts on their Facebook page (and recent correspondence with Mike), they'll play a lot of heavier material (moreso than Bucksaw did), including Seether, Slipknot, and Volbeat covers, and that definitely is a good sign!

It's great to finally see Bucksaw (now Dirtbag In A Dress) launch an online page, and their sound descriptions are promising, but when can you see them live? This Saturday at LemmaFest again, as they're gonna take part of Mikey's other band Half A Man's set to make their debut under this name, and they reportedly have another gig of some kind next month in Sugar Island, though I'm waiting for more information before calling it on here. Stay tuned on Friday for our full extended LemmaFest preview for more!

The other new band is also quite familiar given the members' past work, and they're a local classic/hard rock quartet named Sir Charge! We've alluded to them on here before via their listing on the Kewadin Casinos entertainment page, but I had no concrete info on them to establish whether they fit on the SMS. As it turns out (and this was actually a hunch I had), they're essentially the successors to the (I assume) similar sounding Monkey's Uncle, though I can't 100% verify if they're a completely new band or just renamed. Their Facebook page was launched in November, but only saw major updates commence last month, including confirmation of shows at Kewadin branches and Dondee Lanes, and some live photos. Sir Charge's lineup includes longtime frontman Henry Switzer on vocals & guitar and his son Nathan (also of RamWagon) on guitar, along with Henry's old Mama's Boys bandmates Ray & Russell Mayer on bass & drums respectively, both of which are newer additions.

And yes, this more or less confirms that other recent Monkey's Uncle members like Donny Newell and Ron Suchey are not involved with Sir Charge. The lineup is promising and has chemistry from their past collective band work, and if they have the same gritty hard rock sound as Monkey's Uncle, they should be a must see band locally! That said, when can you see them next? In the first of our LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS today, Sir Charge will hit The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino on July 19th & 20th, September 6th & 7th, and November 1st & 2nd, along with dates at The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino on August 16th & 17th, so make note of these if you've missed the various named acts that Henry Switzer has fronted locally! Admission should be free for each, you must be 21 to attend them all, and 10:00 PM start times are likely. Check the above links for more details, and both they and Dirtbag In A Dress are now in our active Sault Michigan band links!

Leading from the above shows, the Kewadin Casino entertainment pages for each venue have been updated at the above links, with Sault Michigan now mostly scheduled through the end of the year, so visit those links for details on new dates from non-metal regional acts like Perry Hatch, Bittermoon, The London Gentlemen, Crossroads, Chump Change, Helen Debaker-Vorce, Touch of Class, The Backyard Boys, and Jimmie Cowles, along with all previously announced gigs from local hard rockers Banned.

We have more Kewadin Casino dates from one more regional hard rock band to plug on here too, but we'll cap today's post with the newest concerts from local hard rock/classic metal quartet 415E, who'll return to The Rapids Lounge in Sault Michigan on August 30th & 31st and to The Northern Pines Lounge in St. Ignace on July 26th & 27th, joining their already announced dates at each this month and next. The band featuring Nixxon Dixxon, Splitshot, and Highest of Fives alumni have made a great impression with their metal and hard rock covers & originals since their debut in January, and hopefully these new Kewadin Casino dates add to their growing repuation locally! Odd that there's no fall dates announced though. Like the Sir Charge shows above, admission is likely free, you must be 21 to attend, and I'd assume these shows will start around 10:00 PM. Check the above links for more details, and don't miss 415E next weekend in St. Ignace!

That's likely all for today, but stay tuned for Sault Ontario weekend concert previews (including a new show announcement) tomorrow! Thanks everyone!