Blood Opera Concert Preview, Crooked Music's Closure, And More News & Notes!!

Today's post wraps up this weekend's concert previews, explores the surprise closure of a local music store, looks at a new hard rock cover from last year, and covers some assorted recent updates, so here's what you should know on this Friday evening!

Here's the remaining hard rock concert preview for this weekend, as Toronto "dead metal/zombie glam" band Blood Opera will return to the Soo TOMORROW NIGHT when they rock Soo Blaster! For the record, this show was quietly relocated from The Queen Of Hearts Club above Shooters to Soo Blaster last month for publically unannounced reasons. Blood Opera first rocked Sault Ste. Marie in May in the afterparty to the Steel City CollectorCon, and this is basically a sequel to that event in every way, as Blood Opera are headlining the afterparty for the related Steel City NerdCon, which goes down tomorrow at the Quattro Hotel on Great Northern Road (click here for full details on the convention proper). Blood Opera's theatrical, horror movie-inspired, and very violent stage show will play very well with attendees once again, even better than in May given that this is the Halloween season!

Local hard rock quintet HeadFirst will be the local openers this time out, which will be huge for them, and if you can't make it tomorrow, they'll be rocking Reggie's tonight! Despite the gory spectacle ahead, this is an all ages event with a 9:00 PM start time, and admission is $20 online at this link or at the NerdCon proper. It'd be foolish of me to try to hype up the stage show that Blood Opera put on, so I highly recommend checking them out online if you missed the CollectorCon afterparty, and this should be a fun spectacle to cap off a busy NerdCon with! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and for a preview, here's Blood Opera live!

Next up, here's some sad news out of Sault Michigan, as local music store Crooked Music is closing at the end of the month. Owner/local musician Zac Crook made the announcement on their Facebook page on Wednesday, noting that "the benefits no longer outweigh the risks" towards keeping the store open. The costs of being a small business owner in this economy and the availability of inventory were cited as primary concerns, but Zac did thank everyone for their support and encouraged everyone to support other mom & pop businesses and locally owned music stores. For the next two weeks, all remaining store items and fixtures are on sale for 50% off during regular hours. Zac and his wife Christy had bought the former Grooves Music from Gary Hatch in 2017, moving it from 540 Ashmun Street directly across the road to 539 Ashmun in 2019, and they even expanded their repertoire to include clothing, used albums, and books.

Crooked Music serves an important purpose to musicians in the EUP, and it'll be that much harder for musicians to get equipment and lessons now (if you can't come to Sault Ontario, I think the nearest equitable stores are over an hour away). Alas, economics are a concern for many entrepreneurs and business owners, but kudos to the Crooks for keeping the store active for over seven years, and weathering the pandemic in the middle! Visit Crooked Music while you still can at 539 Ashmun Street near the Soo Theater, and our best wishes are with Zac, Christy, and family!

Let's head back to Sault Ontario for a new hard rock cover from local acoustic classic rock/country singer/guitarist Jeremy Logan Newman's Facebook page! We've mentioned Jeremy on here a few times, notably when he opened for Fort Creek at one of their original run concerts, but most of his public media doesn't point to SMS-amenable material. This is an exception, of him and veteran local guitarist/Soo's Got Talent judge Darren Robertson (who perform duo sets under the name Fog Brain) covering Ozzy Osbourne's "Mama, I'm Coming Home" at The Water Tower Pub in August of last year.  The harsh and over-exposed blue lighting is far from ideal, let alone the vertical camera angle (at least both musicians are in frame), but this is an effective rendition that lets Jeremy apply his voice in a unique way, with a tone you may not expect for this classic Ozzy ballad. 

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

 

• Dormant local concert promotion agency Live705 have changed their name to Algoma Underground, as per their Facebook page on September 22nd. The change was made to avoid confusion with Mike Blair's 705Live Sound Co., who I believe launched after the members of A Dire Setback started promoting as Live705, but 705Live are far more active nowadays providing sound at local concert events. Obvious AI logo for Algoma Underground aside, hopefully the rebranding is a good sign that they plan on resuming work as promoters next year!
  
• If you were curious what the etymology of new local death metal band Bardo's name was, they have clarified it on their Facebook page. The name refers to a Buddhist belief in a transitional intermediate state between death and rebirth, which is definitely a deep concept, and it'll be interesting to see what slants the Them successors' original songs so far will take in that regard! Follow Bardo above for continuing updates!
• Local southern hard rock band Fort Creek have filmed their first music video for their upcoming single "One For The Road", as per their Facebook page! Golden Scoundrels/ex-Shit Liver frontman Josh Penno filmed the video via his company Spacebag Productions, and it was shot at Jay's Piston Broke Pub, with a black & white teaser image from the shoot also posted on Facebook featuring singer Justin Grayson sitting at the bar. Good sign towards Fort Creek's return to full activity, so visit the above links vor more details on the song and video ahead!
  

 

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

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

A good old fashioned weekend concert preview post is now live on the SMS, and it includes some SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT  ALERTS on both sides of the border, one recently familiar, and one with a bigger scale, all told. As well, we have some news on a prolific local cover band's new weekly role that will be familiar for long-time fans, so here's what you should know!

 

Local hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison will play his third solo headlining concert at The Mike Case Memorial Stage at The Trading Post TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, Tym only announced this show via it's Facebook event page on Sunday, though this date did have two more days' word than last week's show there. Given how quickly Tym's dates at The Trading Post's outdoor concert stage have piled up (this will be his third show there in four weeks), he's clearly making a good impression, and it's great to see Tym finding a new locale to play concerts are frequently in this late stage of the pandemic! Like Tym's two shows at 1332 Great Northern Road last month, TOMORROW'S date is a 2 hour set at 7:00 PM with no cover charge or age limit. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Tym live! 

 

 

Next up, let's head to Sault Michigan, where local hard rock trio Tarnished are rocking The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT as previously announced, but that's not all for them this weekend, as they will also play outside of Crooked Music at 540 Ashmun Street THIS SATURDAY as the closing act during the local music store's slate of live musicians during the returning Sidewalk Sales event! Again, apologies for the short notice on Sidewalk Sales, Crooked Music only announced who was performing on their Facebook page on Monday. Tarnished have confirmed that they will be the headliners at 3:00 PM, and while they didn't specify if this would be a two-man acoustic set or not, their current three-piece lineup is pictured in event advertising. That said, the other acts are all acoustic leaning, so who else is playing on SATURDAY?

The apparent performance order also includes Rudyard Musicians Festival regular Kevin Blakeney at 2:00 PM (he does cover some grunge/alternative songs), while Project 906 singer Billy Bernier & guitarist Joe Jenkins will play a rare acoustic duo set at 1:00 PM. Nice to see them 906 back in the Soo for the first time since the pandemic begin, even without Dustin & Gary, so don't bypass their set! The preceding artists are all solo, including former Pick-Me-Ups frontman Trevor "T.S." Yake at 12:00 PM (no word on if his modern day music is punk-leaning), ex-Inspid Brutality guitarist Tyler Dettloff's current blues project at 11:00 AM, and classic rock/country musician Annis George leading off at 10:00 AM. Crooked Music's Sidewalk Sales Serenade is FREE & ALL AGES, snacks of some kind will also be available, and consider shopping at the store and at other participating local merchants on SATURDAY!

As for Tarnished's Kewadin dates in St. Ignace, attendees will be able to see Alex, Nathan, and Josh in more traditional setting delivering their usual hard rocking covers and originals for gathered fans, so don't miss out there either! Those shows are tomorrow and Saturday night at 9:00 PM with 21+ age limits and no cover charges, and both there and at Crooked Music, please respect either venue's current social distancing/mask protocols where applicable to ensure everyone's safety. Click here and visit the above links for more details on all three dates, and here's Tarnished live!

Finally, this isn't a full fledged concert per say, but Sault Ontario classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck began hosting the weekly Thursday open mic nights at Reggie's West last week, and night #2 of their run there begins tonight! Now, this isn't a new concept for Terry Eaton-featured local band, as their predecessors Mourning Wood did host a brief series of open mic nights at The Rednecks Saloon in 2015, but this time, it's not a brand new thing for this venue, as blues rock cover trio Mojo had been hosting the Thursday jam nights at Reggie's West successfully for a few years. However, Mojo have moved their open mic nights downtown to Reggie's Place (I don't know if that was their call, the venue's, or both), so Soundcheck have stepped in to keep the open mic nights going at The Reggievelt. That said, historically, I don't cover open mic nights as concerts on the SMS.

By design, these events allow for an unknown number of outside performers, either joining the house band or by themselves, and if things are busy enough, there's no guarantee that the house band will even play much. Still, open mic nights are fun and a good way for musicians to play on stage without the usual stress, and you'll likely see Soundcheck tackle some hard hitting classic covers in between time, so keep their second open mic night in mind for tonight at around 9:00 PM! 19+, no cover. That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site soon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Tarnished & Tym Morrison), Plus A New Addition To Our Band Links!!

Here's a new news post on this Saturday afternoon, devoted to two topics: SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS as we ease back into live concerts post-lockdown (again), and a long belated addition to our Sault Ontario band links! Here's what you should know!

We have a new-ish band to add to our active local band links, and they are relaunched "shield rock" duo Swampgut! Not to be confused with the defunct Sault Michigan metal band Swampghas, this is the studio project led by former Rising Tide/Gianni Gagoots drummer Frank McCormick and collaborator Rob MacDonald that you may recognize from their initial active run from circa 2011-2015. I will admit, I didn't include Swampgut in our primary coverage in their first run because their music didn't seem to skew towards hard rock, but in listening to their material on Rob's YouTube channel once again, there's enough of a variance there where I probably should have covered them actively then. My belated apologies, so let's make up for lost time! Listed as being from Batchewana Bay, Swampgut describe themselves as blending "many styles including rock, psychedelic, and funk music."

Swampgut don't have a dedicated Facebook page, but Frank has promoted their relaunch on his visual arts page since December. Nine songs (some long, many themed after the Soo region) can be heard on Rob's YouTube channel linked above, while three "jam room sessions" can be heard on their new Bandcamp page, which were uploaded as "albums" with a "name your price" payment option, though given the strong hint Frank made on his Facebook page with this image containing apparent album track listings, there may be more up their sleeves than on a quick glance. Note that the second session featured guest performers "Kev & Boyd" (no last names, but you can infer likely candidates from there.) This may fit in with Frank's post in December hinting that "this time, the Others will be summoned", so are "the Others" guest musicians? Time will tell, but Swampgut are somewhat cagey online with who does what on their songs (I can't find any public mention of instrument roles.)

The music on offer so far from Swampgut has a very varied spread of hard rock and trippier, eclectic elements that can be hard to sum up succintly, but if you liked Frank's work with Gianni Gagoots, or took to old local bands like Sykotyk Rampage, you should find solid entertainment value here. Strong performances, if having somewhat lo-fi recording methods, and I'd be curious to see what Swampgut have in store for their revival! Check out their 10 minutes-long original "As Old As These Hills" below!

Next up, here's some SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, and now that we're out of the Ontario lockdown, Sault Ontario's first hard rock gig of 2021 will see veteran local guitarist Tym Morrison return to Reggie's Place TOMORROW as their first Sunday matinee performer since re-opening! Apologies for the short notice, this concert was only announced via it's Facebook event page on Monday. After his Motley Market series ended last fall, Tym made his first modern-era appearances at the newly re-opened downtown Reggie's in December with two shows in four days right before the lockdown, including another Sunday matinee. It's great to see Tym back at one of the few concert venues willing to host local music during this screwy time, albeit with obvious social distancing measures in effect, so go check out his hard & classic rock, and covers TOMORROW!

This is a 3:00 PM event with no cover charge and a likely 19+ age limit, but wear your mask and be mindful of Reggie's capacity limits and social distancing measures to keep you and them safe. For what it's worth, I don't expect that this is the start of a weekly engagement for Tym at Reggie's, as their Sunday matinee has always had a rotation of acts, but we'll let you know when Tym does return. See above for more details, and here he is live!

Lastly, Sault Michigan hard rock band Tarnished (minus Nathan) will do an encore of last week's matinee gigs at Crooked Music on Ashmun Street with special weekday matinee performances there on MONDAY & WEDNESDAY! Again, apologies for the short notice, these dates were only announced on their Facebook page on Wednesday, and only in one sentence of that post. Those same days this week saw Alex & Josh bring back their Biggby-era acoustic show to the downtown music store, and they appear to have went well to get re-booked this coming MONDAY & WEDNESDAY, so look for more hard rocking hits from two members of Tarnished then! Like this week, these are 12:30 PM matinees with no age limits or cover charges, but please respect Crooked Music's social distancing measures. See above for more details, and for a preview, here's a new video from this past Wednesday!

Posted to their Facebook page that night, this is of Alex & Josh covering The Scorpions' "Rock You Like A Hurricane", albeit in black & white, and only 44 seconds of the first verse and chorus. Solidly done acoustic version while it lasts, and Alex hits the right vocal notes throughout, so give it a look below, and see much more in colour on MONDAY & WEDNESDAY!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Tarnished), An Inactive Band Note, And A Full Concert Video From 2006!!

Three posts in five days, things are definitely starting to get a little busier around here, which can't be a coincidence given that the second Ontario lockdown is officially over! Fingers crossed that there won't be a third. Today's post features a nice long look a a full local concert set from 14 years ago, a note on a likely inactive local band, and leading off, a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT?! Here's what you should know!

Sault Michigan hard rock band Tarnished (well, frontman Alex Traynor & bassist Josh Fair) will play a special acoustic matinee concert at Crooked Music at 539 Ashmun Street TOMORROW! Apologies for the short notice, this show was only announced on their Facebook event page yesterday, in conjunction with a show there yesterday as well. That was announced on only 90 minutes notice, which isn't ideal, but it's great to see Tarnished playing live again! Apologies again, I would have plugged yesterday's show here had it had more reasonable notice! That was Tarnished's first publically advertised concert since the Rock The Block event at the same venue in July (blame the pandemic on the delay), but yesterday's & TOMORROW's shows are two-man acoustic jams with no drummer or Nathan in sight, a'la their live-streamed concerts from last year. If you can't make it out, Tarnished have promised that videos from these gigs are forthcoming.

These bookings make me wonder if last week's "Crooked Jam" video (embedded as a preview below) was either an unadvertised first gig here in their return to live performances or just a private warm-up, but given the absence of any kind of audience, I'd assume it's more the latter. TOMORROW'S show (as was yesterday's) has a 12:30 PM start time, no age limits, and no cover charge, but be respectful of Crooked Music's capacity, social distancing, and mask-wearing regulations. Visit the above links for more details, and stay tuned for more from Tarnished soon!

Next up, I will likely (and reluctantly) be moving Sault Ontario funk/hard rock quartet The Elements to our inactive band links tomorrow due to a year's inactivity. The band has not issued a public update since quietly posting a studio track from their unreleased debut album on their Facebook page one year ago tomorrow, and while the ongoing pandemic could be a huge factor as to their lack of activity, their sister band The Wyld Stallyns have updated social media & played a couple of live-streamed concerts in the interim. Debuting at the former Roosevelt Hotel back in February 2014, The Elements would become a steady fan favourite sight at concerts over the ensuing six years, including the occasional headlining gig, a few turns as tribute acts with themed sets & fake names, appearances at Rotaryfest, Hempfest, and Toystock, and sets opening for the likes of Saving Abel, Random Killing, and K-Man & The 45s.

I wouldn't be shocked at all if The Elements return when normal concerts get the go-ahead, but if this is it, they had a solid run with a fun live presence, never taking themselves too seriously despite proficient covers and strong original material! They could easily fit in with metal and punk shows with their diverse yet aggressive set, and most of the band have honed their unplugged chops with The Wyld Stallyns in recent years. Best of luck to Rob, Jesse, James, Jonas, and Alex in the future!

Finally, here's a surprise find, as a 14 year old video of Toronto-based AC/DC tribute band Thunderstruck live at The Canadian Nightclub was posted on YouTube two weeks ago! This was uploaded onto bassist Pete Dove's YouTube channel as part of a recent spree of full concert videos he's uploaded from this and various other bands of this, but this is the only Soo date, which took place at The Canadian (back when it's host hotel was still The Knights Inn) on December 27th, 2006. AC/DC fans will be more familiar with fellow tribute bands Who Made Who and Hells Bells from their more frequent local dates since, but Thunderstruck remained active through at least the fall of 2019, pandemic acknowledged. Pete gave some insights into this video in the description, noting that it was his second concert with Thunderstruck, their first in a four date swing of Northern Ontario, and his first proper full-concert video that he had filmed of one of his bands.

If you want blood, you've definitely got it here, as Pete's video runs for over two hours, so what AC/DC classics did Thunderstruck tackle on this night? In the first set, they covered "Live Wire", "If You Want Blood (You Got It)", "Shoot To Thrill", "Shot Down In Flames", "Rock 'N Roll Damnation", "Sink The Pink", "Sin City", "Givin' The Dog A Bone", "Dog Eat Dog" (which is not credited in the description's setlist), "T.N.T.", "Rock 'N Roll Ain't Noise Pollution", and "Whole Lotta Rosie", before taking their break, which Pete did abbreviate here. The second set features renditions of "Hells Bells", "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap", "Who Made Who", "Jailbreak", "Back In Black", "It's A Long Way To The Top ("If You Wanna Rock 'N Roll)", "Girls Got Rhythm", "Have A Drink On Me", "Highway To Hell", and "You Shook Me All Night Long"...

...before returning with their namesake song "Thunderstruck" as an encore. Intriguingly, the last seven minutes of the video features the band hanging out in their rooms at the former Knights Inn after the concert, and seeing this VCR camcorder video of them watching a CRT TV makes it feel even older than it actually is! Very solid set of AC/DC classics from a band with the requisite chops, especially with Blair Briceland & a very energetic Rich Trevor nicely channeling Brian and Angus respectively, and the audio quality holds up well after 14 years! Give Thunderstruck in the Soo a watch below!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for last month's poll results and our new poll on the site on Thursday, and with the recent uptick in news, we shouldn't be waiting until Sunday for a traditional post! Thanks everyone!

Tarnished Updates, Plus A Look Back At An Old Favourite Local Band Of Mine!!

I'm hoping the site will see more updates and content as we enter the home stretch of July, and fingers crossed that starts with today's post, which has something new from a prominent local band who you may have seen live on stage(!) recently, but we also have something old for local metalheads who frequented live events in the mid-2000s. Here's what you should know!

Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Tarnished have indeed released their debut EP "Down To The Wire" earlier today! Despite not promoting the release anew on their Facebook page, you can now buy or stream it on Spotify, Apple Music, Google Play, Deezer, and iHeartRadio, all as helpfully linked on the band's Distrokid page. On Google Play, the album costs $7.99, though no word as of yet on if it will turn up on other platforms, not to mention it's presumed CD copies ahead. "Down To The Wire" features five songs, including "Cocaine Riot", "Cabin Fever", "Metalyn", "Shortcut", and "The Path". The opening track may interest fans of frontman Alex Traynor's prior group Banned, who first played "Cocaine Riot" live in concerts back in the early 2010s, as seen here. With "Down To The Wire" now on sale, I should confirm that this will be our monthly CD review for July 2020, so look for it at some point in the week ahead, and buy or stream the whole thing above!

While we're on the subject of Tarnished, let's get back to their Rock The Block concert at Crooked Music this past Saturday night, and despite the social distancing guidelines and restricted attendance, it was a hit! So much so that Tarnished are planning to host a second Rock The Block show near the end of August (perhaps on Saturday the 29th?), and they are looking for musicians interested in playing. If you're chosen to perform, you'll receive $25 and get a 45 minute set, and if you are interested, e-mail tarnished.musicviews@gmail.com or message the band on Facebook. Of course, the fluid situation with the COVID-19 pandemic is very much a concern, even if left unsaid by the band, so hopefully things don't get any worse in the next month. Finally for today's Tarnished topics, the guys quietly deleted the two live performance videos from Saturday that had faulty audio (from their own and Letters From Abel's sets), but one of the two has new video footage on the band's Facebook page!

Our first full look at Tarnished with new drummer Gary Croad (and working audio), this sees them cover Queen's "Another One Bites The Dust", as filmed by Crooked Music co-owner Christy Crook for her personal Facebook page, before being publically shared by the band. Despite a vertical camera angle, the video is nicely shot with solid audio, and the lively performance of this Queen classic is well done across the board, so give it a watch below!

Finally for today, with news remaining slow right now, I wanted to give a long overdue spotlight to one of my favourite Sault Ontario metal bands from my teenage years, albeit one who never had a known online page, namely thrash metal quartet Soldiers of Misfortune. This way, they can have some collected literature online. Featuring frontman Mark Kulmala, guitarist Jesse Cook, bassist Alex "Xander" White, and drummer Jonas Gasperas, Soldiers of Misfortune were active from circa 2004-2007, and were mainstays of the local metal scene in the mid-2000s, with many of their concerts still featured in local news articles of the time. Commonly seen sharing the stage with Gates of Winter and Fitswitch in 2005 & 2006, readers may recall S.O.M. opening for out of town bands like Burn The 8 Track, Lights Below, and Sunday Night Cruise, and taking part in major events like Gates of Winter's debut EP release party, Heatwave 2005, and Hempfest 2006, while they did have at least one battle of the bands win.

Soldiers of Misfortune's last documented concert was when they and The Crossed opened for iT and Gates of Winter at The Oddfellows Hall on December 29th, 2006, and they were not still playing live concerts when The Sault Metal Scene launched in July 2007. Jesse & Jonas have continued playing together in metal/hard rock bands like Operation: Killdozer, Winkstinger, The Elements, and The Wyld Stallyns, while Mark and Alex have largely diverted from metal in their succeeding music (like My Father's Son and Cowboys & Indians respectively), and both have furthered their musical pursuits since moving out of town. I was too young to see Soldiers' nightclub shows, but when I got to see them at all ages events (primarily at The Oddfellows Hall), they were reliably a highlight with their hard hitting cover attack, and in my circle, they were a big reason to attend certain concerts!

One of the first local bands I ever saw live in 2005, I fondly remember Soldiers of Misfortune covering songs like Pantera's "Shattered", Van Halen's "Hot For Teacher", and Ozzy Osbourne's "Mr. Crowley" (to one old friend's chagrin), and their enthusiasm, talent, sense of humour, and Jesse's occasional costumes were always a welcome sight even back then. Unfortunately, no public video or audio clips are known to exist online, and the guys may not mind given how they've progressed as musicians in the past 14 years, but I do miss Soldiers of Misfortune, and it would be great to see a reunion show if the cards fell the right way!

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

Rock The Block Fallout, Plus New-Ish Maxx Entertainment Concert Videos!!

After a quiet weekend, we are back with some new news and updates from both sides of the border, including a lengthy look back at three linked favourites of the cover bar circuit, but leading off, here's some fallout from the first major hard rock concert locally in four months!

As well advertised online, Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Tarnished and local music store Crooked Music helped end the metal/hard rock concert drought locally by hosting the Rock The Block event at the Ashmun Street music store on Saturday night, and we definitely have fall-out from the festivities! Tarnished's Facebook page kept fans up to speed on everything going down on Saturday, including videos of all four acts, which also showcase how the stage was setup in the store (very Coch's Corner-esque, if you need a Sault Ontario reference.) This won't be an ideal look at Crooked Music's current locale if you want to see it as a music store, but the venue staging looks good! The first video shot on Saturday is of  St. Ignace solo artist Austin Graham (a.k.a. Grayham Entertainment), who is seen covering "Goons (Baby I Need It All)" by the indie/alternative band Mona. A little shaky, but Austin definitely has talent, and I like that he picked a locally atypical song to cover! Hopefully he keeps at it!

And yes, note that Tarnished frontman Alex Traynor was behind the camera at this point in the show, and he was wearing a face mask (they were available for attendees upon entry.) The next video was of local singer/guitarist Kevin Blakeney covering Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth", and this very spare rendition is well done, though the very monotone, Tom Waits-esque vocals may not be to everyone's taste. As for the succeeding videos of Detroit hard rock quartet Letters From Abel and Tarnished themselves, despite likely doing heavier songs, I will refrain from sharing either on the SMS. This is not out of any intentional effort on their part, but both videos only output a high frequency tone that is mildly unpleasant if heard for too long, and I have no idea what happened on these, especially as the opening solo acts sounded fine. No, this is not the same issue that plagued the audio quality on Tarnished's live-streams, you could still hear those.

I don't know if it is possible to fix or re-upload those videos, but hopefully something with working audio surfaces in some form. As best as I can gather, Rock The Block was a hit despite the obvious social distancing concerns (and 50 person maximum capacity inside Crooked Music), and hopefully this will help guide the way for further concerts of this nature in the short term, assuming no one got sick! Visit the above links for more on the show, and look for Tarnished's debut EP to go on sale this Friday!

Lastly, here is a new-ish video from his allegedly 1,000th YouTube upload from April 2nd, SaultOnline correspondent Mike Caruso's YouTube channel, as while he hasn't had any concerts to film at lately, he has kept up posting new videos! We'll have more later this week, but this comprises of footage of three linked local bands, namely country rock cover quartet Bone Yard and their side projects, blues trio Mojo and acoustic country duo The Bearded Lounge! If you're gonna combine bands like this, these are the three to do so with, especially with their (Choose) Maxx Entertainment ties! The video starts with Bone Yard covering April Wine's version of Hot Chocolate's "You Could Have Been A Lady" at Reggie's West on Halloween last year, and while this was previously uploaded on Mike's channel, that version featured added Halloween graphics in post, so if you want a clean look at this performance, here you go!

Other songs on offer include The Bearded Lounge covering Roger Miller's "Me & Bobby McGee" and their slowed down version of Kiss' "Rock & Roll All Nite" at the Reggievelt in November, followed by Mojo covering Santana & Rob Thomas' "Smooth" at The Esquire Club in October. The rest of the video focuses on Bone Yard, including their cover Dire Straits' "Sultans of Swing" outside of Reggie's West during the Ride For ARCH festivities in August 2017, followed by their version of Billy Edd Wheeler's "Jackson" at The Rednecks Saloon in June 2014 (notably featuring Alex on lead vocals rather than Greg), and their version of J.J. Cale's "Call Me The Breeze" outside of the Memorial Tower on Queen Street East during the 2018 Queen Street Cruise (cars are a heavy focus of the video.) Bizarrely, the video ends with the exact same rendition of "You Could Have Been A Lady" from the beginning of the video, only this is the version with the Halloween post-production effects!

This is still a nice collection of performances, if very Bone Yard-heavy given the video's title and information, but Mike has filmed much more of all three bands that you can watch on his YouTube channel. Aside from the clean take of "You Could Have Been A Lady", all of these were previously uploaded on Mike's channel, but the songs are still effective, especially if you like Bone Yard's non-country cuts, so give this one a look below!



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

Rock The Block Concert Preview, Kewadin Casino Concert Updates, And A New Video!!

The slow stretch at the SMS continues today, but we do have some semblance of normalcy returning to our coverage today, as alongside a new live-streamed video and upcoming concert updates, we have a preview of an actual, real, honest-to-goodness local concert that is actually taking place on Saturday night! Here's what you should know!

Four months after the local concert calendar ground to a halt due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a hard rock concert will take place on SATURDAY NIGHT at Crooked Music at 540 Ashmun Street in Sault Michigan, where local hard rock quartet Tarnished will headline the Rock The Block concert event! Long planned and rumoured, this concert will take place inside of the downtown music store despite ongoing coronavirus measures, but as the state government is allowing for indoor gatherings of up to 50 people in Northern Michigan (source here), this presumably gives an all-clear for a concert with a small attendance if the proper steps are taken. As such, organizers are strongly recommending that attendees wear face masks and practice social distancing. As for the music, this will be Tarnished's first full-band electric concert of 2020, and their first non-acoustic gig since Gary Croad replaced Tommy Korcal on drums. How much of their upcoming debut CD will fans hear on Saturday night?

Detroit hard rock quartet Letters From Abel (featuring ex-Midnight Logic drummer Kade Desarmo) will make a surprise trip north as the co-headliners in their local concert debut, and their alternative throwback sound should leave a good impression on gathered fans! The other scheduled performers are local solo artists, including Rudyard Musicians Festival regular Kevin Blakeney (replacing Illinois blues project Concreteslim), who does have some heavier covers in his back pocket, while the opening act will be St. Ignace solo artist Austin Graham, performing under the handle Grayham Entertainment. Very intriguing lineup, and it will be interesting to hear how this concert goes! Assuming it's not cancelled, postponed, or moved on short notice, Rock The Block goes down Saturday at 6:00 PM, this looks to be an all ages event, and tickets run for $10 at the door and at this link, though remember that attendance will presumably be limited due to the 50 person restriction on indoor gatherings at this time.

While it is great to see a true hard rock concert taking place locally again, I hope this goes well as both a music event and as an example of what fun events can take place if social distancing measures are enforced. So far, the Eastern U.P. has been fortunate to not have many COVID-19 cases (just 30 in Chippewa & Mackinac County combined) and zero deaths as of this writing, but you can't assume it's completely gone. Fingers crossed all goes well Saturday night, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and for a preview, here's Tarnished live!



Next up, we'll go from bad news to good in the Sault Michigan area, as Kewadin Casinos have announced that all remaining 2020 concerts (presumably referring to major ones at The Dreammakers Theater in the Soo and the St. Ignace Event Center) have been postponed into next year due to the pandemic. SMS-wise, this means that the rescheduled Black Label Society concert in Sault Ste. Marie will no longer take place on August 8th, as unlikely as that was looking. Tickets bought for any postponed Kewadin concert this year will be valid for the rescheduled dates, which will reportedly start being announced next month. Refunds are available on request by contacting kewadinboxoffice@saulttribe.net or presumably in-person at one of the casinos, though refunds will only be given until August 12th and the 2 weeks following the announcement of rescheduled dates, in case the new date doesn't work for your schedule.

Full refunds will be issued if a show is cancelled outright, and click here for more details on the above information. The above information does not appear to reflect the schedules at The Rapids and/or Northern Pines Lounges, which will allegedly resume hosting live entertainment next month, and those events largely don't need tickets anyway. Kudos to Kewadin for keeping everyone informed, and hopefully 2021's calendar goes off without a hitch, but stay tuned for rescheduling info when it rolls in!

We'll close today's post in Sault Ontario, where local hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison hosted his 28th live-streamed concert on his YouTube channel yesterday! External embedding of this episode was turned off again for unannounced reasons. This video doesn't actually have much in the way of full covers, as Tym spends the majority of the video tuning his guitar, playing a lengthy soft instrumental, and working out the kinks of his new pedalboard, even acknowledging 20 minutes in that "not much is working right now". He does briefly attempt a cover of The Tragically Hip's "New Orleans Is Sinking" early, but you do get to see him do a full version of Collective Soul's "Shine" before he called the show off due to issues with his pedalboard and backing drum tracks. While not directly related to the abbreviated runtime, the video was getting laggy at points, leading to the dreaded slideshow effect at points of the live-stream.

Perhaps it's not a bad thing that this particular live-stream's embedding priviliges were removed, given the technical issues, but "Shine" and the instrumental were well done! You could hear more distortion on the percussion though, and Tym will know way better than I if his setup is having issues.  Time will tell if he does another live-stream tomorrow after skipping last Thursday, but give the whole show a watch above, and stay tuned for more from Tym's camp when it rolls in! That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site soon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Tarnished), Project 906 Updates, And Much More!!

Another July 4th is here, so of course, Happy Independence Day to our American readers! Coincidentally, The Sault Metal Scene launched 13 years ago today on our original Facebook group, and of course, I would like to thank all of our readers and local musicians for all of their support and content over the past year, especially so over the past four months! At this point last year, I never would have guessed that a global pandemic would pump the brakes on the local concert calendar and make us swap over to a new normal, but as you saw with our 91 day posting streak from March-June, I was able to get new content out there to keep everyone informed as best as I could. The summer concert season has been decimated due to social distancing measures, though with Spun allegedly coming to St. Ignace next month, and the LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (yes) ahead, you can see that the Sault Michigan area is trying to bring some semblance of a live concert schedule back.

I'm hoping the worst of the coronavirus pandemic has came and went, especially given how the Algoma District and Chippewa County case counts have been small so far, but with fears of a second wave ever present, I hope everyone is being cautious and safe, and hopefully we'll have a full concert schedule for the summer of 2021. Thanks again to everyone for their support over the past 13 years, and now, let's dive into some big Sault Michigan news!

Barring another COVID-19 lockdown, Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Tarnished will play their first public concert since the spring on Saturday, July 18th when they headline the "Rock the Block" event at Crooked Music at 540 Ashmun Street! Yes, this will reportedly be inside the music store, despite the obvious space limitations brought about by social distancing, Tarnished confirmed as much on their Facebook page on June 19th. That said, they are encouraging social distancing and face masks, so if you do attend, please use common sense to keep everyone safe, and maybe more shows could happen in the near term. This will be Tarnished's first live show with new drummer Gary Croad, and their first show as a plugged-in quartet since October, so if you've missed Tarnished's full band setup in 2020, this will be worth your time! Three opening acts were sought in the above Facebook post on June 19th, and they are now confirmed, including Detroit hard rock quartet Letters From Abel in their local debut!

Having a downstate band open for a local band may seem atypical, but Letters From Abel are relatively new from what I have read, and they do have a Sault tie, as their drummer is Midnight Logic alum Kade Desarmo. You can see them cover Nirvana at this link, and they are a promising young group! The other acts are solo musicians, including singer/guitarist Kevin Blakeney, who you may recognize from the last three Rudyard Musicians Festivals, and who does have grunge and alternative songs in his repertoire. The other performer is St. Ignace solo artist Austin Graham, who performs under the name Grayham Entertainment. I don't know what he plays, but you can find out tomorrow when he performs at The Club at Breakers in St. Ignace. Note that Tarnished's online ticket page advertises Illinois blues project Concreteslim as playing on July 18th, but it looks like Kevin replaced them for unannounced reasons.

An all ages event with a 6:00 PM matinee start time, Rock The Block will have $10 admission at the door or via online tickets purchased above. Of course, the ongoing coronavirus pandemic is not magically going away in the next two weeks, and while I hope this show goes off without a hitch and with all of the proper safety measures, the situation is volatile, as evidenced by the recent rise in COVID-19 cases in the state. If this concert is cancelled, postponed, or relocated, we will let you know, but fingers crossed everything works out for everyone involved! See the above links for more details!

Finally, let's look at ex-Tarnished drummer Tommy Korcal's current local hard rock band Project 906, who have been staying busy during the pandemic working on original songs for a planned debut EP! On June 21st, the guys revealed on their Facebook page that they hope to record it later this year or in early 2021. Fans may have seen them play originals live on occasion, but now you can hear copies recorded from their jam room (I'd guess), starting with a fully public re-upload of "It's So Easy". Other original song names include "The Comeback" (watch them perform it live here), "Walk On", and "8th and Nowhere", but embedded below is their newest song posted on Thursday, entitled "The Lonely Few". I'll hold comment on the songs for now, in deference to the album review that will follow the EP's release, but it's great to see Project 906 staying busy and productive while they can't play live! Get more updates above and below!



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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Bon Jovi Forever & Tarnished), Plus Peril Concert Previews!!

As promised, we are capping off this surprisingly busy hard rock concert weekend preview cycle in today's post by tackling a familiar band's St. Ignace gigs, but we also have LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for this and next month, an apology for a missed show, and a new live concert clip to showcase as well. Here's what you should know!

Sault Michigan hard rock band Tarnished have announced a few new local dates for this fall, starting with a set as part of this year's Fall Festival (formerly Oktoberfest) on Saturday, September 28th! As seen on the poster on the right, Tarnished will be playing in acoustic duo form that afternoon at 1:00 PM, as part of the Crooked Music Sound Stage, presumably outside of their Ashmun Street storefront. Of course, there's a lot more going on at the Fall Fest besides music, with family entertainment, games, contests, and activities downtown in just over two weeks' time, so click here for full non-musical details. All of the entertainment is in the daytime, with acoustic rock duo The Tavern Stool Townies (featuring I.S.O.M. alum Bob Helsten) headlining at 4:00 PM. Alt-rock musician Kathleen Connelly and folk solo artist Magnet Moslov (not Moslav) will play at 3:00 & 2:00 PM each, while student dancers from the Academy of Performing Arts will open at 12:00 PM.

This event is absolutely ALL AGES, and there's no cover to see the music. Sounds like a fun time with lots of solid entertainment from various fields, so don't miss out later this month downtown! Meanwhile, Tarnished's own Facebook event pages for upcoming solo dates largely reflect road-trip dates to Gould City and Mount Pleasant, with the November 21st Kewadin Casino date here (picked up after Banned dissolved) is still on as advertised. However, Tarnished did play at Biggby Coffee this morning, a show that they only plugged this morning at 10:07 AM, just twenty-three minutes before showtime. As such, it does appear that their "every Thursday" run is absolutely still a thing, but why not advertise these dates sooner, or at least put up a Facebook event page to list them all? In any event, I apologize for missing this week's, but to make it up to them, we now have their Biggby Coffee matinees listed for Thursday, September 19th and 26th, with October to be addressed later.

As usual for this arrangement, Tarnished's upcoming dates here for tips and coffee will be 10:30 AM matinees with no cover charges or age limits. See above for more details, and before we move on, here's a new video of Tarnished at Biggby Coffee last week covering 3 Doors Down's "Kryptonite." A bit of a slower, more laid back interpretation (even beyond the unplugged setting), Alex and Josh are on form here, and the vertical camera angle takes nothing away in this case, but I wouldn't have filmed where a table could cut off the lower section. Give it a look below!

Next up, let's take a detour north to Sault Ontario, where Oshawa-based Bon Jovi tribute band Bon Jovi Forever will return to the Soo on Saturday, October 5th at The Canadian Nightclub! We're no strangers to Bon Jovi tribute acts up here, with bands like Keep The Faith and Bon Journey providing their own takes in the past decade, but Bon Jovi Forever themselves are the most recent, last playing here at The Rockstar Bar in May 2016. If you love Bon Jovi's early hair metal hits and newer contemporary material, this band will deliver the visual and auditory goods, as seen in their videos and concert reviews, so Hair Scare loyalists won't wanna miss their return next month! Notably, this is the kickoff to The Canadian's run of "Rocktober" tribute concerts next month, with Journey and Tragically Hip tributes also playing there in the following weeks, and a C.C.R. tribute in November also.

No local opener is advertised, we'll let you know if one is announced. A 9:30 PM start time is advertised for this 19+ event, which has $15 advance tickets available at The Canadian Motor Hotel's front desk, with the door price jumping to $20. If you love Bon Jovi, this show is well worth your time next month, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details!

Finally, let's cap off this abnormally busy stretch of weekend concert previews by heading back to Michigan, where Traverse City classic metal trio Peril are scheduled to return to The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! This will be the Northern Michigan veterans' first local concert weekend since rocking St. Ignace in late July, and this should be a prime chance for E.U.P. fans to see Jeff, Adam, and Brooks rocking out at a familiar locale once again! It's worth noting that these shows coincide with the annual Richard Crane Memorial Truck Show in St. Ignace, so might things be busier this weekend as a result? Find out tonight and/or tomorrow! As usual for their Kewadin bookings, these shows are 9:00 PM affairs with 21+ age limits and no cover charges. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Peril live!



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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Re:Born), Plus More Assorted News & Notes!!

Let's tackle some more overdue news and notes in tonight's post, mostly reflecting a lot of updates from a prominent heavier local band, but we have some assorted notes to round things out. Here's what you should know!

In an extended Facebook page posting on Tuesday, local power rock quartet Re:Born announced a number of upcoming concerts in conjunction with some big band news, so what can be said therein? Firstly, their next concert will take place on Saturday, June 29th (one week from today) when they headline at The Rockstar Bar, but there's an ulterior motive here. The somewhat short notice gig will serve as a send-off for guitarist Blair Burch's son Cory, who is moving out of province next month, ending his lengthy tenure as a roadie, filmer, doorman, and overall supporter of Re:Born, Project 421, and their respective concerts. Cory's not a musician (that I'm aware of), but he's a good guy and very encouraging and helpful at concerts, even if his dad's not playing, and this is a nice way to throw one more big bash before he heads west, so hopefully there's a good turnout next week! Re:Born will not be the only band on the 29th, as at least two mystery local bands will be hitting the stage as well, now that they've been shaken from the tree.

No public word on their identities as of yet (we'll let you know if something is said), but the Facebook event page does strongly hint that jamming and a looser, more casual atmosphere will be present, especially as they're calling this "a party that happens to have a stage." Given the occasion, this concert has no cover, but a 10:00 PM start time and 19+ age limit remain in effect. Hopefully this bash can help give Cory the best possible send-off, so visit the above links for more on this show in particular!

Next up, here's another new Rockstar Bar show for Re:Born this summer, as they'll be back at this venue on Saturday, July 20th in honour of drummer Brandan Glew's birthday! This looks to be more of a traditional concert than next week's party, but hopefully there's a great turnout again to help give Brandan a great night for the occasion! This show notably takes place on the last night of Rotaryfest, so if you find that day's music lineup at Clergue Park to be lacking for hard rock and punk acts, this show may help remedy that. In fact, two bands that played Stage 2 last year (alt-punk trio A Dire Setback & funk/hard rock quartet The Elements) will play support on the 20th, so cast your gaze to The Algonquin Hotel to see them next month instead! Notably, this is A Dire Setback's first announced concert set of 2019, following the completion of their CD recording sessions, and it's great to see them back at last, though for full disclosure, A.D.S. themselves have not confirmed this date publically at press time.

A $5 cover charge is in effect for this concert, presumably also having a 10:00 PM start time and 19+ age limit, though it doesn't have a Facebook event page (yet?) This should be another fun concert as we get deeper into the summer season, so visit the above links for full details on this event!

One more show was announced in the above post (an apparent set as part of the Loud & Proud concert at The Bushplane Museum on July 21st during this year's Pridefest), but given that organizers have not publically announced details at press time, I will defer a write-up here until more comes out beyond Re:Born's involvement. The other breaking news from Re:Born's Facebook page earlier this week is that they have officially parted ways with guitarist Frank McGillivray. Back in November, the band announced that Frank would be taking a hiatus from the band until April due to work commitments out of town, but he ended up more or less moving there permanently, hence the belated confirmation of his departure. After being a member of Project 421 throughout their run, Frank & Blair launched Re:Born last year, with Frank playing at their first three concerts, though aside from early jam videos with new singer Elly McWatters, he never played a public show with the current lineup before he headed north.

If there are plans to replace Frank in Re:Born, they weren't stated on Facebook, but remember that they've been playing as a four-piece all year without the need for a fill-in guitarist. It's a shame to see Frank leave, as he is a kind person and a very strong musician, and he was always good to discuss politics and philosophy outside of a band setting. Of course, we wish him the best, and hopefully we'll see him on stage again down the line!

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

• After two years in the old Grooves Music building at 540 Ashmun Street, Sault Michigan music store Crooked Music is packing it's bags... for 539 Ashmun Street, taking up residence in a spot beside Austin Oak Tobacco & Cigar starting in August. Whether the move across the road is due to increased space, better rent, or another factor isn't clear, but the "Abbey Road" parody image on their Facebook page is clever! Hopefully this move is the best move for all parties, and luckily, customers won't have to go far for the new Crooked Music locale in a couple of months!
• Remember how Kewadin Casino was going to have a battle of the bands in Sault Ste. Marie last week to find an opener for the Great White concert in Manistique on July 27th, with entry open to any U.P. bands local to their five casinos? Well, the battle was cancelled outright on June 12th, citing a "lack of participation" as the reason. No word on how they'll pick an opener now, but Manistique is outside of our coverage range anyway. Very disappointing, but maybe a battle this ambitious was too complicated for it's own good?
• Sault Ontario acoustic hard rock duo Tattoos & Scars are looking for a second guitar player to join the group, who they describe as "a southern rock/rock band." We haven't heard a whole lot from Tattoos & Scars (or Halfway Loaded) as of late, but maybe finding a new guitarist to join Justin & Shane will help speed things along? There is some interest, but if you'd like more information, message Tattoos & Scars above or via their Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from Wednesday!

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