LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Soo Fighters), New Videos, And Much More!!

On this twentieth anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks, make sure you never forget the horrible and extremely events that occured in the United States 20 years ago today, and the thousands of innocent lives lost as a result. Today's SMS post features some assorted recent news and notes, new videos, an apology for a missed concert, and leading off, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next month, so here's what you should know!

Local Foo Fighters tribute band The Soo Fighters will play their second show of the year (and with their new lineup) on Saturday, October 30th when they open for their new sister band Lockdown at The Rockstar Bar in a Halloween-themed concert! It's hard to say how the pandemic will look by the end of next month, but seeing a seasonal concert like this is very welcomed, even if it isn't the return of J.D. Pearce's annual Halloween party, which was last held in 2019 for obvious reasons (remember, he also moved out of town for work last year). Lockdown just debuted last month at The Northern Vibe Festival in Ophir, and while their initial video uploads on their Facebook group didn't point to a heavier base, they are definitely a talented group, and they feature 3/4ths of The Soo Fighters Mark 3, so seeing both bands here makes a lot of sense! Remember, The Soos debuted at J.D.'s Halloween party in the first place.

A costume contest and the usual (pandemic-adjusted?) Halloween frills will be in place for this concert, which will likely be a 10:00 PM affair with no cover charge and a 19+ age limit. Remember, please respect and honour any and all social distancing guidelines at The Rockstar Bar, wear a normal face mask beyond anything for a costume, and be aware that this show takes place after vaccine passports are mandatory for non-essential events, though we should be able to use the QR code version by then. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details!

Next up, I wanted to apologize for a recently missed concert, as Sault Michigan hard rock band Tarnished played an acoustic two man set at the Sault Ste. Marie Farmers' Market yesterday during the United Way of the Eastern Upper Peninsula's Foodies United fundraiser! Unfortunately, their involvement in this event was not publically acknowledged by the band, Farmers' Market, or United Way on Facebook... aside from Tarnished's Facebook "story", which is where I belatedly discovered that they played at the fundraiser. Alas, stories (the temporary content from friends and pages at the top of modern Facebook news feeds) do not have to be permanent posts, and unless they did so more than once, Tarnished only plugged their set on social media via their Facebook story yesterday. I'll be honest, I find Facebook stories to be a pointless artificial limitation, and unless double posted normally, they're impossible to use as a source for SMS purposes.

You can only look at a story once or twice before it vanishes forever (it will leave after 24 hours regardless), so unless you take a very fast screenshot or screen recording, you may not ever have proof that it was posted. Tarnished haven't posted anything on Facebook in over a month (at least, not that will self destruct), and it's great to see that they're still gigging, but I profusely apologize for both not promoting this show in advance & my lack of a concrete source for their set yesterday. I wish someone had said something permanent earlier, but Foodies United looked like a fun way for Michigan Saulities to get some local grub and support The United Way!

Also, here's some new video uploads on Fort Creek bassist Robin "Bones" Lee's YouTube channel from last month, and in these cases, they are not unlisted there! Both are titled "FC Opening", which appear to signal that these are pre-recorded opening tracks played before Fort Creek begin a concert/set (I can't 100% confirm that, as I have yet to see them live). "FC Opening 2 take 2" is a dramatic orchestral recording featuring a motivational message by podcaster/retired Navy SEAL Jocko Wi!link, while embedded below is "FC Opening 3", featuring warning sirens, a snippet of anti-Satanic rock music sermon by Pastor John Hagee, and emergency alert messages that end in an abrupt (if blue) way. These sound like they'd set the mood for a Fort Creek show well enough, if in different ways, so give both a listen above & below!

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

• Staind frontman Aaron Lewis and his solo band The Stateliners will return to The Dreammakers Theatre at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino on Thursday, October 28th, marking his second Sault Michigan date during his solo career as a country musician, following a November 2014 show at the same venue. Aaron recently made the top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 with "Am I The Only One", and he does cover Staind ballads live in his country shows (videos from the 2014 concert are on YouTube). Again, this is a country concert, but Staind fans may be curious to see Aaron live in the Soo again, so click here for ticket details! 
• I have moved Sault Ontario alternative hard rock band Foothill Road back to our inactive band links. The mid-1990s fan favourites surprisingly reunited in August of last year to record a solid new song named "Heard It", but no new social media pages followed, so if the guys did more in the past year+, it's not public knowledge. Hopefully this wasn't it, but we'll let you know if Ken, Mark, Steve, Rick, and Ron resurface in some form!
• Also, I have moved local hard rock quintet Skeyes of Seven back to our inactive band links. The guys returned in July 2020 after an almost 3 year hiatus to record a new song named "Detonate" for Corus Radio's $20,000 Summer Song Contest, but no public updates have followed since, possibly due to the pandemic. Sadly, the video was made private by Corus Radio after the contest ended, but hopefully they at least re-post "Detonate" somewhere, it was a good track! Hopefully we'll see Cory, Ron, Kyle, Al, and John on stage again when the time is right!

 

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Tym Morrison & Tarnished), Concert Previews, And New Videos!!

With an unusual number of Wednesday and Thursday shows this week, I am starting our weekend concert previews early to tackle the bands playing the concerts in question in a timely fashion, including LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (some on SHORT NOTICE) therein. As such, look for our Michale Graves, Scarkazm, Soundcheck, and Wyld Stallyns previews next, with Soo's Got Talent coverage to get it's own separate post either tomorrow night or Friday morning. Now, here's what you should know!

New Sault Michigan hard rock band Tarnished will return to the Sault Ste. Marie Farmers Market at the corner of Portage and Ashmun Street TONIGHT, with returns planned for next Wednesday and on October 9th as well! Apologies for the short notice for TONIGHT'S show, the band only announced their involvement via this Facebook event page on Sunday. Last seen at this weekly downtown market three weeks ago, TONIGHT'S concert should be another fine opportunity for Tarnished (in two man unplugged mode) to entertain market patrons and fans alike, so don't miss out then or in the next two Wednesdays! Note that the Farmers Market proper closes for the season at the end of October, as far as I know, so there's a maximum of three more there that they could play for 2019. These are all 6:00 PM matinee concerts with no cover charges or age limits, so visit the above links for more on these sets and everything at the Farmers Market proper!

Of course, this isn't all for Alex & Josh this weekend, as Tarnished will also continue their "every Thursday" run of matinee concerts at Biggby Coffee TOMORROW, and this time, they did advertise it in advance via a Facebook event page, which is helpful for fans! What's new to us is confirmation of a return to the Ashmun Street coffeeshop on Thursday, October 3rd, though they did not list dates beyond on the event page. Is this the series finale, or will more Thursday shows there be announced in due course? We'll let you know! You can see Alex & Josh rock out for tips and coffee tomorrow (and next Thursday) at 10:30 AM with no cover charges or age limits, and see above for more details! Finally for this weekend, Tarnished (again in acoustic form) will rock out THIS SATURDAY at this year's Fall Festival in Sault Ste. Marie on the Crooked Music Sound Stage outside of the store! This will be Tarnished's debut at the former Oktoberfest, and be sure to click here for all of the non-musical & family friendly event details on Saturday.

Tarnished will be playing at 1:00 PM alongside acoustic rock duo The Tavern Stool Townies at 4:00 PM, and alternative/folk solo musicians Kathleen Connelly and Magnet Moslov at 3:00 & 2:00 PM respectively, while Academy of Performing Arts student dancers will open at 12:00 PM. If you're ip for some Sidewalk Sales-esque outdoor live music with your Fall Fest entertainment, head to Crooked Music for all of the action! Again, this is FREE & ALL AGES. Click here and see above for more details, and for a preview of Tarnished's busy concert weekend, here's one more new video of them live, in this case at their post-race set at Kinross Speedpark earlier this month! This was filmed by attendee Malissa Prevost and shared to the band's Facebook page, and marks a rare live video of Tarnished plugged in with drummer Tommy Korcal, who doesn't play their more frequent acoustic gigs. The 27 second video features Tarnished covering Billy Idol's "Rebel Yell", so how does it sound?

Not bad, the guys have a good handle on this 1980s rock classic, but everyone is a little stiff, and between the vertical camera angle and the multicoloured stage lighting, this isn't an optimal look at Tarnished's full electric form. Still great to see some more footage out there, so give it a look below, and don't miss their varied gigs in the Soo over the coming days!

Finally for today's bonus preview post, let's address another frequently seen local hard rock cover act who tends to play non-traditional venues, namely Sault Ontario singer/guitarist Tym Morrison, who has his own triple header of shows this weekend, including a return to the wine barn at Thomson Farms Cider & Winery TOMORROW NIGHT, before continuing his ongoing long-term matinee arrangement at Gliss Restaurant THIS FRIDAY & SATURDAY! While we're on the subject, let's roll his October gigs at both venues into our concert calendar today, as Tym will maintain his run at Gliss with more unplugged shows at the Spring Street restaurant on October 4th-5th, 11th-12th, 18th-19th, and 25th-26th, so keep all of these in mind for dinner-time hard & classic rock cover action! Meanwhile, his seasonal weekly run at Thomson Farms will wrap up with Thursday matinees on October 3rd, 10th, and 17th, with no more gigs advertised there before they close for the season after Halloween (we'll let you know if more are added.)

Clearly, his run of shows at the wine barn are doing well, so don't miss out tomorrow and next month, and enjoy the mill and winery while you're there! The Thomson Farms shows are at 5:00 PM, Gliss gigs are at 6:00 PM, and none have cover charges or age limits. Visit the official Facebook event pages linked here & here for more details, and for a preview, here's a new video livestreamed from Thomson Farms' Facebook page last week of Tym covering Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama"! Solid, if short cover that fans will definitely appreciate, but Tym's higher register singing may need some adjusting for some viewers. Give it a look below!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for regularly scheduled weekend concert previews on the site tomorrow!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Tarnished), Halloween Party #15 Details, And Pop Evil/Buckcherry Videos!!

Before we dive into this weekend's concert previews, a surprise mid-week SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT has led me to get an early start in this regard, along with preliminary details on an annual concert staple, plus lots of videos from a recent major concert. Here's what you should know!

New Sault Michigan hard rock band Tarnished will play a special outdoor concert TODAY at the Sault Ste. Marie Farmers' Market at 111 East Portage Avenue! Apologies for the short notice, this show was only announced via the band's Facebook page on Monday. Adding to the Banned successors' slate of unconventional acoustic gigs around the E.U.P. and abroad, the prospect of live music at the Farmers' Market isn't all that strange if you regularly attend this event at the corner of Portage and Ashmun, as live unplugged music has been a standard sight on these Wednesdays and Saturdays this summer. Hopefully Alex and Josh deliver another fun set of hard rocking covers TODAY at 4:00 PM! This is absolutely an all ages event with no cover charge, though visit the above links for more details on the Farmers' Market proper. While we're in the concert preview business, let's tackle Tarnished's Biggby Coffee matinee TOMORROW MORNING as well!

As promoted via this Facebook event page, Tarnished's "every Thursday" run at the Ashmun Street coffee shop marches on, so look for more hard rocking tunes for tips and coffee there tomorrow! As usual for this run of shows, this is a special 10:30 AM show with no age limits or cover charges. Visit the above links for more details, here's Tarnished live, and stay tuned for our preview of The Sugar Island Music Festival (and Ashmun Alive?!)

Next up, J.D. Pearce's fifteenth annual Halloween party concert will take place in Sault Ontario on Friday, November 1st, and while there's a lot to say, there are a lot of unknowns as well! Unusually taking place after Halloween this year (presumably as the October 24th weekend was considered to be too early), the event has returned to a one night format for unannounced reasons, after running for two nights in each of the last two years. We're not calling this as a full concert on the site yet, as a venue has not been publicized, but the party has been hosted on one/both floors of The Algonquin Hotel in all but one year since 2012, though note that last year's was briefly advertised to take place at Soo Blaster in it's early promotion. For a fifth straight year, the Halloween Party will feature a lineup devoted to locally-formed tribute bands, specifically tackling the music of Rob (and White) Zombie, The Foo Fighters, and Volbeat. Identities have not been revealed yet, but past history may give some hints.

Remember that Cherry Crush members formed the short-term side project The Soo Fighters for this event in 2017, Stegadeth members used to cover Volbeat frequently in the fittingly named T-Rex Manning side project Pools of Booze, and J.D. (of Jack Spades fame) traditionally fronts at least one band each year. Could these be close to the mark, or will we be thrown a curveball? Expect a costume contest at this 19+ event just after Halloween, which will have $10 tickets that go on sale soon, and a 9:00 PM start time is likely. It's great to see the party back for year #15, so visit the official Facebook event page for continuing updates as they roll in!

Finally, here's a bunch of videos from the Pop Evil/Buckcherry concert outside of the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino this past weekend, courtesy of Christopher Paci's great YouTube channel once again! Chris got 17 videos this past Saturday, though he did not film openers Joyous Wolf, who were indeed moved over to this concert following the Drowning Pool postponement. Starting with the headlining Muskegon hard rock quintet, Chris shot a whopping eleven videos of Pop Evil on the outdoor stage, including renditions of "Boss's Daughter", "Deal With The Devil", "Torn To Pieces", "Be Legendary",  "Monster You Made", "When We Were Young", "A Crime To Remember", "Footsteps", "Waking Lions", "Trenches", and as embedded below, "100 in a 55." Solid quality on these videos, and Pop Evil sound as good as ever from their past local stops, though nightfall means that the outside setting isn't as obvious. Give these a look above & below!



To close, Chris did shoot six videos of Anaheim hard rock quintet Buckcherry on this night, though the sun hadn't set yet, so you get a good look at the stage setup here! His videos include surprise covers of Nine Inch Nails' "Head Like A Hole" and Kenny Loggins' "Footloose", plus the originals "Bent", "Lit Up", "Sorry", and as embedded below, the set-closing "Crazy Bitch", as extended thanks to solos, jamming, and crediting the band members. I'm not a huge Buckcherry fan, but they sound good compared to the studio versions, and fans will enjoy these renditions as seen above & below!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!