LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Banned & Tantrym Tyme) And Most Of This Weekend's Sault Michigan Concert Previews!!

The last concert weekend of the summer holidays is upon us, so today's post will largely focus on previews of most of the shows! To avoid it getting lost in the shuffle, we'll preview Tym Morrison & 415E's previously announced shows tomorrow, but I promise they're coming! All Sault Michigan-area previews for today, and we'll start with some SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, so here's what you need to know!

Kinross hard rockers Banned have added to a very busy stretch of shows this weekend with two shows at Golanka's Bar (a.k.a. The Bird) in Sault Michigan TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! I apologize for the short notice, Banned announced these shows on Sunday, but I held them until now to avoid a redundant double post in a short span. Fresh off a set in Gould City this past weekend, these add to their existing Chippewa County Fair sets on Thursday (which we'll get to in a minute) and Friday afternoon's solo set at the fair in Kinross, which Banned even admitted might be a record for them on their Facebook page. Ever the prolific band for their scheduling, I have no doubt that they'll be on fire at the fair and The Bird this weekend, so keep all 4 dates in mind! As best as I can tell, the Bird shows will be Banned's first at that venue since March of last year, while their Friday matinee at the Chippewa County Fair will be their first non-battle performance at this yearly event. Banned will be on at 4:00 PM on Friday in Kinross, with the Bird shows going down at around 9:00 PM.

No cover charges are announced, but click here for fair ticket details, and while the fair is obviously all ages, you must be 21 to attend their Soo shows this weekend. Check the above links for more details! Nice to see Banned keeping busy (perhaps on an accelerated scale this weekend though), so don't miss their varied hard rock sound at The Bird or the fair on Friday and Saturday! For a preview, here's the newest live video courtesy of the band's official YouTube channel two weeks ago! Filmed at their battle of the bands performance at the Charlevoix Venetian Festival last month, this is their first video upload in 4 months, and it features band members Alex Traynor, Jim Pentland, and Don Traynor, with Alex's former TraynWreck bandmate Sam Lalruatpuia filling in on guitar for Denny Smith. I'll assume Denny just sat out this song/gig (as he's pictured in more recent live photos), but I'm starting to wonder if singer Tara Starr left Banned? If I hear confirmation, I'll let you guys know!

The video is of Banned playing a new original song named "Deadbeat Dog", and while the lighting is very dark despite the daytime setting, it does fit with past original songs of theirs, with the chorus showing solid aggression that the laid back choruses lack! Nice to hear some new material from Banned, so give their new video a look below, and don't miss them at The Bird this weekend or at the fair tomorrow night!



Also in short notice concert announcements, young local metal cover quartet Tantrym Tyme will play at The Malamute Saloon at 3047 West Mile 80 in Kinross THIS SATURDAY for a second straight week! I apologize for the short notice again, but the guys only announced this show on their Facebook page yesterday via the poster on your left. I'm not sure if this is part of a new regular run there or not, but last weekend's show must have been a hit for Tantrym Tyme to get the call for a second show at The Malamute Saloon! The poster sells this talented young band well, and hopefully there's a good turnout on Saturday on the outdoor patio (which I assume is where they played last weekend also.) The show starts at 9:00 PM on Saturday, you must be 21 to attend, and there's no announced cover charge. Check the above links for more details! Hopefully Saturday's show goes well for Tantrym Tyme, who continue to make waves as they get more experienced, so don't miss out, and for a preview, here's Tantrym Tyme covering Poison's "Talk Dirty To Me" last year!



Speaking of shows involving Tantrym Tyme, TONIGHT marks the return of the Rock Till You Drop battle of the bands, where three local bands will gather to compete for the top prize at the annual Kinross fair! Like in past years, winners are determined in a busker style, with money donations placed into a bucket after the bands' sets, with the winning band being the one who raised the most cash. Donations will be given to Team Jessica to help support local student Jessica Jorgensen's battle with leukemia, which is an awesome cause (as Pop Evil attendees will attest to), so don't be stingy with your donations, as it all will help! This year's three competing acts include two returning bands from last year, including the aforementioned Banned and Tantrym Tyme (who won in 2011 as Abstract), while new local hard rock quintet RamWagon will replace 2012 participants Missy & Chelsea as the final band for tomorrow's battle. Rock Till You Drop goes down at 7:30 PM tomorrow, it is definitely all ages, and click here for more details, including how to get tickets for the fair in general!

I believe Missy & Chelsea won last year (don't quote me on that though), though this year's lineup is still high quality and should be ready to entertain fairgoers tonight! Will Tantrym Tyme win their second Rock Till You Drop in 3 years? Can Banned claim top spot amidst their busy concert weekend? Or can RamWagon make a big first impression in their Kinross debut? Find out TONIGHT, I'll have fallout if it comes in, and check out the bands above! (I'd preview a RamWagon video here to keep things fair, but I don't think they have any embeddable ones yet.)

That's all for today, but stay tuned for our Tym Morrison & 415E concert previews (and more) TOMORROW! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Rock Till You Drop) And Weekend Concert Previews!!

Before we get to the concert previews, just a note that if you're curious about the share buttons and new options in the top left corner of the page, that's an addition by Blogger and not something I chose. I guess it's handy if you use Google+ or another social networking site and wanna share the SMS on there, so make use of it if you wanna! That said, today's post is devoted to concert previews from TONIGHT through Saturday, including one big Sault Ontario show (and it's latest lineup news), two weekend sets in St. Ignace, and leading off, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for TONIGHT relating to a major Sault Michigan-area event, so here's what you need to know!

For a second straight year, the Chippewa County Fair in Kinross, Michigan will be hosting a battle of the bands TONIGHT! I apologize for the short notice, but I was waiting for additional info on it. Entitled "Rock Till You Drop", three area bands will converge at the grandstand at the annual Sault Michigan-area summer fair to compete in this unique battle for a great cause. Though admission is FREE, the winner is actually picked in a busker style, with donations given to each band in a bucket after their set, with the band collecting the most donations winning, and all proceeds from this voting method going to the Eastern Upper Peninsula Home Health & Hospice, which is a nice gesture! I'd prefer charging admission for the charity and have an actual judging panel, but this involves attendees better! Three bands will compete, though regrettably, I can only confirm two (despite my best research attempts to figure out the third), but if I figure out who the third band is/was, I'll be sure to let you guys know! One of the bands however is trying to defend their title, as young local hard rock quartet Tantrym Tyme are among the competitors! They won the Rock Till You Drop battle at last year's Chippewa County Fair under their old name Abstract (defeating local Christian rock band Seeking Reverence and defunct hard rockers Splitshot), but can their current lineup reclaim first place?

The other band I can confirm (both via their respective Facebook pages) is Kinross hard rock quintet Banned, who have faced the current Tantrym Tyme in battles in the past (albeit ones without much online press.) Can the Traynors & company deliver a first place performance in the name of the E.U.P. Hospice tonight, will Tantrym Tyme win first again, or will the third band win it all? Attendees will find out TONIGHT at 7:30 PM for the battle, which is ALL AGES & FREE! For all details (minus the mystery third band), visit the above links! This should be a fun event for fairgoers, and at least compared to other Sault Michigan area battles of the bands, there's at least multiple online sources to document it for SMS notice! Even last year's has info, even if I only heard about it late. Out of fairness, I won't post a preview video given the competitive nature of this show, but hopefully lots of money is raised, and no matter who wins, may the best band win Rock Till You Drop! (Oh, and Banned's "job" in Moran last weekend was indeed on Saturday, like most of their shows.)

Now to the previously known local metal/hard rock concerts in the Sault area (i.e. ones I can 100% confirm online), starting with the long awaited return of Skull Fist to The Canadian Nightclub TOMORROW NIGHT! After two well received headlining performances at The Canadian in the previous two years (the first of which gave us the SMS' most popular YouTube video ever), the Toronto speed metal quartet will be back to melt faces and create some huge moshpits in this first show of their Tear Down The West Canadian tour, and if you saw them in 2010 and last year, you'll know just how energetic and exciting Skull Fist are live! Though three opening bands were originally lined up, only two will be playing tonight following the dropouts of Frightlight, Redundant, and The Valentine's Day Massacre for varying reasons, but one band that remained through it all will be the returning classic metal quartet Late & Loud, who will make their first concert appearance since winning the Sault Humane Society Battle of the Bands over 4 months ago! Though I've heard talk of there being a form of finality to tomorrow's performance, I won't go too in depth until the band makes any official announcements, so for now, get ready for another high impact set of old school metal originals after their summer away from the stage!

With the band dropouts, promoter Tiffany Stocco has enlisted members of her local punk band T-Rex Manning to play short notice tomorrow as the opening band under the name "Pools of T-Rex", even though I believe their lineup will be no different to that of Pools of Booze who played at two concerts earlier this year. That said, Pools of Booze/T-Rex's sound is heavier than T-Rex Manning's is generally, so things should work out for metal fans! Admission will be $5 tomorrow night, with bands starting at 10:00 PM, and despite recent all ages concert examples, this show will be 19+ for unrevealed reasons. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! This should be a great concert full of high impact metal, and two long awaited returns to the stage, so hopefully a good sized crowd turns out despite the lineup changes and the impending long weekend! For a preview, here's Skull Fist's music video for their song "Head of the Pack!"



Now back to the Sault Michigan area for the two weekend bar concert sets that are going down this weekend, starting with the return of Cheboygan hard rock trio Driven to Timmy Lee's Pub in St. Ignace! Though an infrequent sight in Sault Michigan itself, Driven hit St. Ignace a fair amount, and tomorrow & Saturday's shows at "The U.P.'s Official Welcome Center" will mark their first shows there that we've caught for SMS coverage since we expanded our range (though we missed a pair at Timmy Lee's in July.) Online media is hard to come by of Driven (hence the lack of a preview video), but they know and cover lots of hard rock, so if you're up for the hour's drive south to St. Ignace, you should be entertained by Driven's cover onslaught! There's no announced cover charge for either tomorrow or Saturday's show, you must be 21 to attend, and a 9:00 PM or later start time is likely. Check the above links for more details! Driven should entertain at Timmy Lee's this weekend, so consider a drive down to 748 West U.S. Highway 2 for all of the excitement tomorrow night or Saturday night!

And finally for the known weekend schedule, local hard rockers Monkey's Uncle will keep the heaviness going in St. Ignace tomorrow night & Saturday night thanks to their own shows there at the Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino! Shows at non-Kewadin venues from this veteran local hard rock band are very hard to source, but Monkey's Uncle are favourites at both of the area Kewadin Branches with active music schedules, and their covers and originals should deliver some great times and fun in St. Ignace this weekend! As usual for their Kewadin shows, a start time of 9:00 PM or later is likely, with 21+ age limits and no announced cover charges. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Monkey's Uncle should impress and give some great hard rock sounds all weekend at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino, so if you're up for some live music, a trip to St. Ignace for either Driven or Monkey's Uncle this weekend wouldn't be bad bets! For a preview, here's Monkey's Uncle covering Finger Eleven's "Paralyzer" a few years back!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's CD review tomorrow, as we're looking at defunct Cedarville hard rock quartet Oddfellow's only album "Go"! Thanks everyone!