LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (HeadF1rst & The Nameless) And New Year's Eve Concert Previews!!

In what will likely be our last normal post of 2025 (our annual "year-in-review" post is likely coming tomorrow), here's previews of tomorrow's known hard rock New Year's Eve concerts, including LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, one on SHORT NOTICE! Just a reminder first though that Tym Morrison's planned Eagles Club show tomorrow was cancelled. Also, you may have seen reference on social media to a New Year's bash featuring The Apocalypse Afterparty, A.D.S.P., The Spaceship Opening, and Gimiiwan Ikwe, but that is a private event without a publically given address. Inquire with performers if that piques your interest though! Now, let's lead off with our New Year's Eve previews in Michigan!

Local hard rock cover quartet The Nameless will end 2025 in style by making their debut at The Back Bay Grill & Games at Bay Mills Resort & Casino in Brimley TOMORROW NIGHT for their New Year's Eve party! Apologies for the short notice, the band only announced this gig via their Facebook page yesterday, and Bay Mills never acknowledged a New Year's concert on their website's calendar, though head there to see what other seasonal activities are happening there. Last seen on stage at The Merch on December 12th, TOMORROW's concert will be quite a way for Josh, the Mikes, and Jamie to make their first ever Brimley stop, and while no festive frills are hyped on the band's end, hopefully this will be the heaviest way for E.U.P. rock fans to ring in 2026 with! Owing to the New Year's timing, this show has an unusually late start time of 10:00 PM, a 21+ age limit, and no cover charge. See above for more details, and here's The Nameless live!

Next up, let's take a brief detour from New Year's concerts for a new show announcement for 2026, as Sault Ontario hard rock quintet HeadF1rst will play their... first show of the year at Beck's Bar on Saturday, January 10th! If this show is a surprise to you, I'm not surprised, as it was quietly tucked in their most recent Facebook page posting from this past Saturday, which was primarily to show off photos of them at the same venue back in June. You have to click "See more" to see the show announcement, and while they never did come back for "round 2" in this calendar year, the guys (and Claire) will return next weekend! This will be their first concert anywhere since rocking Shooters on December 6th. HeadF1rst's hard rocking brand of originals and covers will be on display next Saturday at 9:00 PM with a 19+ age limit and no cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, and Beck's should confirm things on their end on Monday!

Now let's head back to New Year's Eve concert previews, and while the mid-week timing of December 31st this year has stunted some concert booking potential, Thursday is a day off, and there are a couple more hard rock concerts in Sault Ontario to take in TOMORROW. Arguably the bigger of the two goes down in the east end, where local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 will end the year in style by headlining the New Year's party at The Moose Lodge tomorrow night! A very rare SMS-amenable booking at the Trunk Road hall, this will be Bone Yard's first show in almost two weeks, and they should be in fine form to send 2025 out on a high note! Along with music from "the dirty three", there will be a pasta dinner and cash bar included, along with other seasonal frills, so mind all that given that tickets cost $50 at The Moose Lodge or via e-mail at lodge535@shaw.ca.

The band's own cache of tickets is sold out, and of course, you can chance paying at the door if this all interests you. If you'd rather see your local 225 with no cover, they'll be back next month with multiple bar gigs that we will be elaborating on here shortly. Doors open at 6:00 PM with the pasta dinner beginning at 7:00 PM, and Bone Yard take the stage at 9:00 PM. If you want the full shebang for your New Year's festivities, then head down to The Moose Lodge tomorrow night to ring in 2026 in hard rocking style! Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here they are live!

Finally for TOMORROW NIGHT (and 2025), local hard rock cover quartet Half Past will end the year when they headline the New Year's Eve party at the aforementioned Beck's Bar! Playing their first concert since rocking the same venue in early October, this will cap off what was an eventful first full year back for Half Past after their decade+ breakup, and hopefully their brand of modern-leaning "hard rock (that) you'll actually feel" proves to be the right soundtrack for many to ring in 2026 with! In terms of seasonal frills, Beck's is promising drink specials tomorrow, and while I'm not one to go into massive details on the food offerings and menus at bars here, this is the first Beck's concert that we have covered since they struck a deal for the Matt’s Grill BBQ & Catering food truck to park on the premises daily from 5:00 PM-1:00 AM. Keep that in mind if getting a meal or some unofficial hors d'oeuvres for the New Year is of note! Here is the menu if you are curious. 

Unlike at The Moose Lodge, the New Year's Eve party at Beck's has no cover charge or tickets, but this remains a 19+ event with the band beginning at 9:00 PM, and note that the former Vibe Lounge will remain open until 3:00 AM, one hour later than normal. Hopefully there's a strong turnout at Beck's for their first New Year's bash, let alone Half Past's modern hard rock proficiency, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and for a preview, here's Half Past live at Beck's! 

That's all for now, but if all goes according to plan, stay tuned for our 2025 "year-in-review" post on the SMS next, with normal weekend concert previews to follow! Thanks everyone!

Two More Saturday Night Concert Previews, Plus More Recent Updates!!

I hope everyone is having a happy and safe Halloween, however you choose to celebrate! Tonight's post takes us to two more weekend concert previews in Michigan's Eastern Upper Peninsula tomorrow night, with lots of recent Sault Ontario updates to take note of, but let's lead off in the E.U.P. with the last of this weekend's heavier concert crop!

We'll start with a show TOMORROW NIGHT that has no credited post-Halloween ties, as local promoters Serious Business are bringing an intriguing package of local and touring musicians to... Pizza Hut? Yes, the bands will be setting up shop in the basement of the 2255 Ashmun Street restaurant, and while this is highly atypical for local concert locales, why not give it a shot if they're willing to host it? Novi noise punk quartet Permanently Pissed and Detroit grunge/alternative band Werewolf Jones will both be making their local concert debuts tomorrow, and with the former's garage rock-influenced noise attack and the latter's punk inflected hybrid originals, fans should get some quality sounds that we don't get often enough in the E.U.P. tomorrow! Local support will include new local hard rock trio Crush (fresh off of Alex & Josh's Halloween gig with Tarnished in St. Ignace tonight) and three-time LSSU Battle of the Bands competitor Kevin Blakeney.

Tomorrow's concert goes down at 6:00 PM with an 18+ age limit, and admission will be $15 at the door. It's always good to see Serious Business host a multi-band event like this, let alone one with touring bands, and hopefully fans pack the space for this concert (and maybe to buy some pizza?) Visit the above links for more on tomorrow's festivities, and for a preview, here's Permanently Pissed live!

Next up, I almost forgot to preview one more concert TOMORROW NIGHT, but I caught it in time, as local hard rock quintet Exit 808 will return to The Back Bay Grill & Games at Bay Mills Resort & Casino in Brimley for their Halloween party! It's a day late because The Back Bay Grill doesn't host bands on Fridays, not even for October 31st. Yes, there will be a costume contest, and organizers have even revealed that prizes of $300, $200, and $100 will be awarded for the top three, so don't put away your costumes just yet! "Fright Night By The Bay" will be Exit 808's first concert in over two months and their first in Brimley since the spring, while it will see them joined by fast-rising Dafter singer/guitarist Molly Escherich (straight outta Interlochen) as a guest singer, as per her Facebook page. The band has oddly not confirmed her involvement themselves, but hopefully Molly shines in her return home for the weekend!

Tomorrow's post-Halloween festivities begin at 9:00 PM with a 21+ age limit (Molly and Blaze aside) and no cover charge. With two (no, three) singers in force for this concert, hopefully Exit 808's lively brand of hard rock covers get a strong reponse at Bay Mills tomorrow as we wind the Halloween season to a close! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and for a preview, here's Exit 808 live!

Finally for today, here's six assorted shorter news items from the last while (all from Sault Ontario bands and concerts), and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist or event name:

 

• This might be nothing, but a scheduled live-stream for the multi-genre Broke & Hungry fundraiser concert at Beck's Bar on December 19th has quietly been posted onto host/MC Twitchy T. Tantrum's YouTube channel. Live-streams of local concerts don't happen enough, let alone charitable ones for the Soup Kitchen, so we'll have to keep tabs on this as we approach the holidays! Just to clarify, listed performer King Mizo is an alternate handle for Toronto rapper Unknown Mizery, who has been advertised right along.
• Sudbury-based Rush tribute band Rust have changed their name to Epic Rush, as per their Facebook page on October 20th. This came just four days after they headlined at Soo Blaster, and while I'm told that they were still were selling Rust-branded merchandise at the local gig, the name change can't have been a kneejerk reaction given the turnaround to update social media and whatnot. Regardless, posts referencing the local show are calling them by the new name, so I figured I should acknowledge it here. Hopefully things went well, and that we see Epic Rush (and/or Just Leppard) back in Sault Ste. Marie in the new year!
• Reunited local classic/hard rock cover band Quite Frankly did not perform at Kosmos Pizza in Bruce Mines this past Friday, as per their Facebook page on Tuesday last week. The band cited "an unexpected medical circumstance" as the reason for their withdrawal from the Down syndrome awareness fundraiser event, but did not go into specifics beyond that. Hopefully whoever got sick/hurt gets well soon, and that we see Quite Frankly at a public concert again soon! Kosmos Pizza still plugged "live music" afterwards, but never confirmed who replaced them.
• Local punk trio Redundant have quietly dropped out of next month's Toystock, as per the newly updated schedule on the Christmas Cheer benefit concert's Facebook page and website. A reason for Redundant's withdrawal wasn't publically announced, but they haven't posted on their Facebook page since 2023, not even to plug their Toystock set last year (let alone their bassist change). Hopefully all's well in their camp! They have been replaced by a mystery band named Sunday & The Broken Hearts, who I know as little about as I do The Reeves (the other mystery band at Toystock this year), so stay tuned when more comes out on one/both groups!
• If you're wondering why I didn't feature local classic/hard rock cover quartet Silent 9's Facebook video from Wolf Fest last month on here, it's because it's actually not of Silent 9. While the thumbnail features frontwoman Jess Amadio, this actually comes from a guest turn she took with headining local pop rock cover band The Killer Hooks, where she joined in on their cover of Rose & Bruno Mars' "Apt.". While sadly vertical and incomplete, it's a fun and lively cover of this modern pop hit, and hopefully things went well at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion for Wolf Fest!
• A book is being written about defunct local black/doom metal band Woods of Ypres and their late frontman David Gold! To be named Deepest Roots: The Woods of Ypres Story, it's being authored by J. James of the California-based Arcane Archivist Zine, and he has kept fans updated as to the biography's progress on the Woods of Ypres Fanclub Facebook group. Apparently, he has conducted 20 long format interviews adding up to around 100 minutes of material for the book so far, but things are still at an early stage. This is highly intriguing, so stay tuned for updates as the book comes together!

 

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

HeadF1rst & Project 906 Concert Previews, Plus A Lengthy Livestream!!

Tonight's post rounds out this weekend's known hard rock concert previews, and in one case, we have a very long preview video to share with lots of news and notes within, so here's what else you should know for your Saturday!

Sault Michigan blues/hard rock quintet Project 906 will return to The Islander Bar in nearby Hessel for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT! Announced on the band's Facebook page early last month, this will be 906's first Hessel stop of 2025, last rocking The Islander Bar in August of last year. This will also be their first show since 100% confirming that hand drummer Brian Duford is an official band member rather than a recurring guest (and he apparently has antlers now!), so keep the double percussion in mind if you haven't seen Project 906 much before. You can enjoy Project 906's slate of fan-friendly hard rocking covers at The Islander Bar tomorrow at the early-ish start time of 7:00 PM with a 21+ age limit and no announced cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Project 906 live!

Next up, the main event of the weekend for hard rock fans in Sault Ontario goes down TOMORROW NIGHT at Soo Blaster, when local hard rock quintet HeadF1rst (now with a 1 in their name rather than an I) will headline the Steel City CollectorCon pre-party and launch their sophomore album "Road Trippin'"! This stacked event will be an effective teaser for Sunday's bi-annual collectors/comic convention hosted by Vintage Games N' Junque/Steel City Events at the Quattro hotel, and to that end, select vendors will be selling their wares before/during the concert proper, while there will also be an 8-ball pool tournament if you are so inclined. This will be the release party for HeadFirst's new CD and their first show anywhere in three weeks, and discs will be on sale, including a raffle for a chance to win free copies of both "Road Trippin'" and the newest studio albums from tomorrow's opening bands!

The CollectorCon pre-party will feature two opening acts, including local alternative hard rock quintet Handsome Sandwich in their first concert of 2025, last seen on stage over seven months ago. Their own sophomore album is still not released, but look for songs from it in their high energy set tomorrow! As well, local/Barrie alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith and his Big Finish Band will open the proceedings in their first gig of the year, last seen at Soo Blaster during The Soo's Got Talent's finals last fall. Always good to see Mike back home, and hopefully everyone delivers his original music as solidly as ever to lead off! While the all ages festivities begin at 7:30 PM tomorrow, bands start at 9:00 PM, so the lead-up may be for the benefit of the vendors. Admission is $20, but $35 V.I.P. passes exist that include door prize tickets and access to a question/answer panel (I don't know specifics on that). The pool tournament separately costs $20 to enter.

Tickets are available at Vintage Games N' Junque in advance, and online at this link, but you can pay at the door. This should be a fun event whether you're invested in HeadF1rst's new album or the CollectorCon (or both), so definitely visit the official Facebook event page for more details, but for a preview, I would have embedded this hour+ long livestream from Vintage Games N' Junque's Facebook page on Tuesday! I can't because Facebook content matched songs played in the stream, so click here to watch. This was the "listening party" hyped in advance by the band, and due to Facebook's rule changes on livestreamed videos, this will be deleted on or around May 29th unless re-posted as a normal video, so watch it while you can! This is hosted by VGNJ owner Mike Turcotte (who stars in many of the store's videos) in their physical gaming-centric back room, with his wife Beth present off camera, and features all of HeadF1rst taking part on camera alongside Handsome Sandwich drummer Johnny Belanger.

After some light discussion about members' early guitar work, HeadF1rst revealed that they have joined Mike Haggith's indie label MorningStar Records, and "Road Trippin'" will be released via the imprint with professional packaging, which is great to hear! Extra details are next given on admission and V.I.P. perks, as well as who some of the vendors are. After some reflection on Headf1rst members' prior time in White Pines Collegiate's student band The Pine Tones, the guys noted which merchandise that they'll be selling tomorrow, with frontman Red Jettison taking time to hype local musicians in general, including a Spotify playlist called Soo Rock that he created to help group some of them together. The praise for the Soo, including from Mike (who's not from here originally) is very welcomed! Some discussion of Johnny's long-running local death metal band The Bear Hunters comes up at the 15 minute mark too, so what is said there?

HeadF1rst drummer Anthony Boudreau heavily praised seeing The Bear Hunters live at the former Oddfellows Hall, and Johnny admitted that The Bear Hunters had an offer to play the Sentiment Dissolve concert at Jay's on May 19th, but he said that the band "I think, is done". I wouldn't take that as a firm statement about the band's finality, as guitarist Mitch Sirie was spearheading new Bear Hunters content in recent months and there were hints about more coming, but I think fans understand that they're on the back end of their run regardless. This rolls in with discussion about the local scene in general and the support of each other's projects and different styles, which is great to see! At the 26 minute mark, HeadFirst frontman Red Jettison announces that they're planning a "Road Trippin' Tour" run which will see them play at Goulais Community Days (details forthcoming) as well as Bruce Mines, Sudbury, and more locations to be announced.

Bruce Mines would fit in our coverage range, for the record, we just don't hear of much there in terms of heavier shows. We'll keep you posted on the tour details when they come out, but if you came to the live-stream for the teased listening party of songs from "Road Trippin'", you'll want to jump in at the 29 minute mark. The new album's first single "Slay The Dragon" is played first, and when the interview resumes in the 34 minute range, Mike praises the song heavily, and after some related discussion about production and guest credits, a minute-long sample of a second song from the album is played 37 minutes in (check the album out or come to Soo Blaster to hear it in full!) Afterwards, Johnny gives context as to what Handsome Sandwich will play tomorrow, including at least four cuts from their still-unreleased sophomore album, which may be named "Collage". Two more HeadF1rst album singles are teased next.

The one at the 43 minute mark is named "Story Of Me", and hasn't been played live yet as of this recording. 49 minutes in, Johnny gives "the quick version" of how the Handsome Sandwich name came about, and we then hear HeadF1rst guitarist Raine Rancourt's solo from the last song on "Road Trippin'", as well as a snippet from a drinking/crowd involvement song 55 minutes in.  A few lighter questions from live-stream viewers pop up next, including the reveal that they want to release two more singles from the album, with another teaser clip next featuring very deep vocals. 61 minutes in, Johnny samples the studio version of "All Done Now" from Handsome Sandwich's upcoming album, and that is followed by everyone listening to Mike Haggith's existing song "The Nature Of The Times" (I'll assume that he has no new studio material ready, though frequent fliers may disagree!)

The last real scoop in the live-stream is the band's direct explanation into adding a 1 into their name, primarily to differentiate themselves from other bands named Headfirst elsewhere, and to get their own listing on streaming services. This post has went on long enough, so I'll detail Headf1rst's official website and their MorningStar Records signing in a separate post soon, but this is an entertaining and casual live-stream that fills in a lot of blanks and introduces some new questions that we should know a lot of answers to tomorrow night at Soo Blaster! Watch the livestream above, here's HeadF1rst live, don't miss CollectorCon, and stay tuned for this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Exit 808) & More Weekend Concert Previews!!

In today's post, we're wrapping up this weekend's Sault Ontario hard rock concert previews, but leading off, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for you Sault Michigan/E.U.P. readers!

Sault Michigan hard rock band Exit 808 will make their debut at the Back Bay Grill & Games at Bay Mills Resort & Casino in Brimley on Saturday, November 23rd! Concerts at Bay Mills' on-site bar/restaurant are not common, especially compared to what goes down at Kewadin Casinos, with this show being the first publically advertised Back Bay Grill show that I've heard about since Project 906 played there in September of last year. This will be Exit 808's first show since their Halloween concert at The Merch this past weekend, and will definitely see the return of co-vocalist Dillion Semasky after he had to miss the Merch gig. Just to clarify the lineup from that Halloween show, their Facebook page confirmed that bassist Myke Young was on hand despite not being tagged in pre-concert promotions, though former fill-in bassist Blaze Beairl did play on some songs. (Ex-?)guitarist Will Robbins was not present.

Exit 808 also welcomed Project 906 guitarist Joe Jenkins and Bob Libick from the Marquette hard rock band Spun as guest musicians at The Merch alongside No Expectations singer Drew Collister (who sat in for Dillion all night). While there's no videos (yet?), a bunch of photos of the spooky season festivities can be seen on their Facebook page! The costume-less action in Brimley later this month will have a 21+ age limit, 9:00 PM start time, and no announced cover charge. Visit the above links for more details on Exit 808's Bay Mills debut in just over two weeks!

Next up, here's out preview of the semifinals of the fifth annual The Soo's Got Talent go down TONIGHT at Soo Blaster in Sault Ontario! With six judges picks & an implied audience save awaiting the twelve remaining contestants, things will get even better as the competition whittles down, and with all semifinalists performing twice, hopefully attendees will get a good sample of who will be worthy of the final round in two weeks! This year, all twelve semifinalists are singers of some description, though five have been seen in videos or photos from prior rounds playing guitar at least some of the time, those being Celeste Burton, Jennifer Joseph, 2023 semifinalist Arin Karki, Nicolette Rebello, and 2018 finalist/Lime frontwoman Madii Schomogyi. The seven singing-only competitors are Haley Alopaeus, 2023 third place finisher Demoy MacSamuels, Rebekah Moran, ex-Re:Born frontman Robert Nevitt, 2022 competitor Ricky Roy, 2023 semifinalist Kristina Sagrak, and golden buzzer recipient Chloe Tessier.

While videos from the second round have not (yet?) been shared publically by T.S.G.T., three semifinalists (Arin, Haley, and Robert) were filmed performing at least one hard rock cover through round #1, so will they be a genre respite for fans, or could we get some SMS-amenable surprises? Speaking of which, local/Barrie alternative/hard rock musician Mike Haggith and his Big Finish Band (now featuring 2023 runner-up Elly McWatters on guitar) will be the halftime performers tomorrow, repeating their role as the house band for the final two rounds last year, so prepare for a fun set of Mike's original music in between the semifinalists' first and second songs! The semifinals begin tonight at 6:30 PM with admission at the door of $15 (adults) and $10 (kids). Remember that proceeds of this year's The Soo's Got Talent are going to the Second Chances Animal Rescue, as every year supports a different local charity. Visit the above links for full details on tomorrow's Soo's Got Talent semifinals, and here's Mike & crew live at Soo Blaster last year!

Finally, let's preview one more pair of hard rock concerts in the Soo this weekend, as local classic/hard rock cover quartet Double Down will return to The Esquire Club for concerts TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! Last seen at the Second Line West nightclub in September, this weekend's shows kick off a busy month for the Syrettes, Brad, and Ric, as they'll be playing somewhere over three of the next four weekends. Hopefully there's a strong turnout at The Esquire Club this weekend for Double Down's fan friendly and often heavy array of covers! If you can't make it, they'll be at Jay's next weekend. Tonight and tomorrow night's concerts have 19+ age limits, no cover charges, and 9:00 PM start times. Visit the above links for more details on Double Down's Esquire Club concerts tomorrow and Saturday night, and for a preview, here's a video of the guys live in concert earlier this year!

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

Weekend Concert Previews & Heavy Lies The Crown Updates!!

Before we begin today's post, I wanted to note that I'm not including local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard's advertised Reggie's Place shows for this weekend in today's concert previews, as I have doubts that they're taking place. The band announced them via this concert calendar image last month, but in their newest Facebook page posting, they noted that "our next show" will be at the Water Tower Pub on March 4th. Maybe they just forgot, but Reggie's Facebook page has not been promoting Bone Yard as playing this weekend, and they normally would have by now. If they are indeed not playing this weekend, a reason for the cancellations was not announced, but hopefully Bone Yard bounce back next Friday!

Now to this weekend's 100% on hard rock concert previews (all previously announced), plus some new videos to match, and we'll start with local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck, who are advertised to return to The Esquire Club for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Last seen at the Second Line West nightclub last month, these will be Soundcheck's first shows there since Jim Michaud was confirmed as their new bassist, returning him to his old band Obsession's favourite stomping grounds in the process. Hopefully Soundcheck's old school rock covers and select heavier cuts go over well once again tomorrow and Saturday! Full disclosure, Soundcheck have not plugged these shows on their Facebook page at press time, but alas, that's nothing new for them. The gigs are listed in The Esquire Club's concert calendar for 2023's first quarter, if outdated now given the latter two Obsession listings.

This weekend's Soundcheck shows have 9:30 PM start times, 19+ age limits, and no cover charges as usual, so visit the above links for more on these dates, and for a preview, here's Soundcheck live!

Next up in a relatively quiet end of February for heavier bands, we'll head to The Back Bay Grill & Games at Bay Mills Resort & Casino in Brimley, Michigan, where Sault Ste. Marie blues/hard rock quartet Project 906 will return for one night only THIS SATURDAY NIGHT! While the guys played elsewhere in Brimley this past weekend, Saturday's show will be Project 906's first at Bay Mills' on-site bar/restaurant since 2018, which is an unusually long layoff, pandemic acknowledged. Hopefully 906 have another hard rocking night of covers in store for fans in two nights' time! Full disclosure, Bay Mills does not have a dedicated page for The Back Bay Grill & Games, and don't tend to promote bands that play there on social media, but if 906 say they're playing, then they must be! This is a 9:00 PM and 21+ event with no announced cover charge. Visit the Facebook event page for more details, and here's Project 906 live a few months back!

Staying in the E.U.P. now, let's take a look at some big updates from St. Ignace metalcore quintet Heavy Lies The Crown, who actually posted their teased first single from their upcoming album onto their YouTube channel on Monday, the night that I wrote about their countdown to its release! Must have misread the timing of it, as it looked like it would go live on Tuesday. The first single in question is named "God's Butter", which is embedded below, and is set to a new picture of the band (their first proper posed photo since last year's lineup overhaul), complete with lightning effects added in post-production. Another single, entitled "Cigar With The Devil", is scheduled to premiere on YouTube on Tuesday at 9:00 PM, so click here to hear it next week! I'll hold comment on the song until our review of the album (or demo, it's been called both), but in regards to this being "a new direction", it's primarily in heaviness and technicality.

Brandon does not sing clean on this track, so keep that in mind whether or not you like clean vocals in your extreme metal (also, no word on if "God's Butter" is intended to directly follow or compliment "Knucklebutter" from their prior releases). There are a few more videos to check out from Heavy Lies The Crown's Facebook page as of late, one being this trailer for their Kalamazoo concert on Saturday, where drummer Jaxon Massaway plugged it for Facebook fans, while also getting feedback on his on-camera delivery from his bandmates and trying again. Interesting approach, but he came off well! Another video served as more of a comedy upload, featuring a baby doll "dancing" to a sample of "God's Butter", jokingly being posted as a preview of the formal music video. Short but amusing while it lasts! The last new Facebook video features guitarist Ted Olson promoting the single release and asking for feedback.

Not much to it but Ted does sound sincere and authentic in the clip! Good to see that Heavy Lies The Crown are still off and running for their album plans, with much more to come from their camp, so visit the above links for more details, stay tuned for "Cigar With The Devil" on Tuesday night, and give "God's Butter" a listen for yourself below!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Tarnished, Project 906, Rhythm & Brews, And Tym Morrison!!)

Our weekend concert previews are wrapped up in today's post thanks to SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, but there are new shows to take note of with a week's+ notice as well, and a new video from one of the bands in question, so here's what you should know!

Sault Michigan blues/hard rock quartet Project 906 will make their first ever appearance at The Cozy Inn in nearby Brimley TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the band only announced this show via its Facebook event page yesterday. Not to be confused with The Cozy Corners Tavern in Barbeau (I've made that mistake before), The Cozy Inn is located at 10015 West Lakeshore Drive in Brimley (20 minutes southwest of the Soo), and curiously, they don't seem to have much of an official staff-administrated presence on social media or via a website. Hopefully TOMORROW'S show is a hit and encourages more Brimley trips for Project 906, let alone other bands, assuming that this isn't overly common at The Cozy yet! Meanwhile, 906 have announced one more new show, thankfully with more than two days' notice, as they'll return to Brimley on Saturday, February 25th elsewhere!

That gig next Saturday will see Project 906 return to The Back Bay Grill & Games at Bay Mills Resort & Casino on the 25th, marking their first show at Bay Mills' on-site restaurant/concert venue since September 2018! A four+ year wait is surprising, but hopefully Billy, Joe, and Dustin (now with Odin on drums) get welcomed back with open arms next weekend! Both TOMORROW'S and next Saturday's Brimley concerts have 9:00 PM start times, 21+ age limits, and no announced cover charges, but note that neither venue has an active social media page to plug concerts or their variances with. Visit the Back Bay Grill show's Facebook event page & the above links for more details, and here's Project 906 live!

Next up, we'll head north to Sault Ontario, where local classic/hard rock solo musician Tym Morrison will return to Reggie's Place for another matinee gig THIS SUNDAY! Again, apologies for the short notice, as like Project 906, Tym only announced this concert via its Facebook event page yesterday. Last seen at the YNCU Curling Centre last week, Tym only just played an acoustic matinee at Reggie's two weeks ago, so this is a relatively quick turnaround for him in this context. It's good to see Tym playing somewhat regularly again after some quieter months, and while a SUNDAY matinee won't be everyone's cup of tea on scheduling alone, hopefully a decent crowd turns out for his classic covers! It all goes down SUNDAY at 3:00 PM with no cover charge and a 19+ age limit, as usual given the locale. For more details, visit the above links, and for a preview, here's Tym in concert last year!

We'll close today back in Michigan for some more new dates, thankfully with reasonable advance notice, as the next month's worth of shows at Kewadin Casino's on-site lounges at the Sault Ste. Marie and St. Ignace branches have been announced via their respective entertainment pages! A couple of the brand new ones (as in, not Scarkazm in the Soo next month, as the band announced those first) are from local hard rock bands, and the first will see Sault Ste. Marie's own Tarnished return to their hometown Kewadin's on-site Rapids Lounge on Friday, March 3rd & Saturday, March 4th! Assuming nothing is announced in the interim, these will be Tarnished's first local dates since rocking the same venue two weeks ago, with the guys touring to Ohio for a show... tonight, actually. Next month's shows should be a great opportunity for Tarnished to melt some faces on a familiar local stage, so keep them in mind in three weeks' time for some original & cover action!

As usual for Kewadin lounge gigs, expect 21+ age limits, no cover charge, and 9:00 PM start times. Visit the above links for more details, and before we get too far, Tarnished shared this Facebook video two weeks ago featuring bassist Isaac "Iggy" Royer getting ready for "a gig tomorrow" (if Tarnished played somewhere on February 3rd, it's news to me) by setting up his pedalboard, but everything seems to go wrong. Does he get everything sorted out, and will we hear him play anything? Cute video (albeit with some adult language) that gives us our best look yet at Isaac's personality and sense of humour, so give it a watch below

Finally for today, the other brand new hard rock show announcements from Kewadin Casino will see local supergroup Rhythm & Brews return to The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace branch for dates on Friday, March 10th & Saturday, March 11th! Unless I missed something only announced on personal Facebook accounts or at the casino proper (remember, Rhythm & Brews are not known for plugging every show on social media publically), this will be their first concert weekend of 2023, and these are their first shows at The Northern Pines Lounge since July of last year. It's always good to see Brandon, Chris, Brett, and Ron take the stage, even without videos to show what they're definitely capable of, but hopefully a sizeable turnout is there in St. Ignace for all of the action next month! Once again, these are 21+ gigs with no cover charges and 9:00 PM start times. See above for more details on these and other upcoming Kewadin shows!

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

Project 906 Concert Preview, A New Live Album, And Much More!!

In what I project will be our last post of the month on the SMS, we have some assorted shorter topics from recent weeks, a new cover video, and a new album release to take note of, but first, here's one more concert preview for the Canada Day long weekend, ironically in Michigan!

We'll start today by wrapping up our publically known and advertised hard rock concert previews in Brimley, Michigan, where Sault Ste. Marie blues/hard rock quartet Project 906 will return for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT at the Back Bay Grill & Games at Bay Mills Resort & Casino! Quietly postponed two weeks from the venue's originally advertised date, this will be their first stop at "your perfect up north retreat" since August of last year, and it's the first of three scheduled stops that they're making at the waterfront bar and restaurant through September. Fans of 906's hard rocking covers should have a fun time in Brimley tomorrow, so don't miss out on all of the action then! This 21+ concert has a 10:00 PM start time and no announced cover charge. See the above links for more details, and for a preview, we have a new live video of Project 906 to share! This was filmed at their Strongs Tavern set last week during the Brenda Holmes benefit fun run afterparty, as filmed by attendee Tina Knox, so what should you know on it?

Shared to the band's Facebook page on Monday, this is of Project 906 covering Mountain's "Mississippi Queen" alongside a young attendee named Riley on his own guitar. Nice of the guys to invite the kid on stage, and while Joe Jenkins' placement isn't optimal for view of the band, he's clearly engaging with Riley and playing along with him, which is nice to see! The cover's solid, and Billy Bernier's vocals are particularly strong, so give this cover a look below, and don't miss Project 906 in Brimley tomorrow night!

Next up, we have a surprise album release to take note of on here, namely a new live album from Sault Ontario solo artist and former Din frontman Mike Haggith! Entitled "From The Nickel Stage", this was recorded at Mike's solo acoustic headlining set at the Nickel Days festival in Thompson, Manitoba this past Sunday, and was quickly released on a "name your price" model on his Bandcamp page on Monday. The album is comprised of 7 songs, 6 being newer originals (including the title track for his next planned studio album "Bridges"), as well as a cover of The Din's original song "Missing". Whether this set had additional outside covers or not isn't clear, but this does all fit into a half hour set with room to spare. This is Mike's first album as a solo artist since the release of "The Warinside" three years ago, and his first live album in four years, so this has been a long time coming for his revived solo project! With all of this stated, is a review imminent?

I'd say no, as precedent goes to studio albums, and with "Bridges" announced for later this year (if not with recording sessions underway), I'm inclined to wait for that album and not risk delaying it by reviewing a live album with versions of these songs that aren't the final studio copies. Plus, who knows if The Din's ongoing July 21st, 2018 teaser has anything to do with said album, as no one's showing their cards regarding the date yet. Still, give "From The Nickel Stage" a listen above to hear Mike's Manitoba-based new material, and consider buying it as well!

Also today, here's a new solo cover video from Highway 63 frontman Henry Switzer, courtesy of the still-on-hiatus band's Facebook page on June 17th, but it's not of a song you might be expecting. The cover in question is "I Can Only Imagine" by the Christian rock band MercyMe, which Henry spoke above on how the song was inspiring to him and that hoped to "touch people's hearts" with this performance. This may seem out of left field, but Henry's singing is solid, and remember that Sault Michigan has more of a history with Christian rock than Sault Ontario, with notable bands like Seeking Reverence, Outshined, and OmegaRock in recent years. Give it a look below!



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

• Nashville hard rock quartet The Dead Deads have been added as the second openers for the Seether/10 Years concert at The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino on August 11th, as per promoters Allstar Promotions' Facebook page on June 18th. This 3/4ths female group have an energetic and creative sound with influences from grunge to science fiction, and they're definitely worth coming early for! Tickets are still available for $46, so act now before it's too late!
• Though curiously not advertised on Rotaryfest's website, their individual performer Facebook event pages indicate that Sault Ontario funk/hard rock quartet The Elements have been added as the opening band for Stage 2 on Saturday, July 21st at 1:30 PM! This makes them the only heavier band playing on the last day, which we already outlined in our post on the Rotaryfest schedules, so I won't restate our original write-up here. Hopefully The Elements have a blast in their Second Stage debut next month!
• If you've seen references to a concert from Jesse Cook at The Sault (Kiwanis) Community Theater Center on March 31st, 2019, be advised that this is not the prolific local metal and punk guitarist going solo. Rather, this Jesse Cook is a Juno Award winning flamenco/jazz guitarist from Toronto, and genre fans would be well served to give this show a look! Of course, you can see the Soo's Jesse Cook with Winkstinger, Handsome Sandwich, The Wyld Stallyns, and the aforementioned Elements at local stages near you later this year, but wouldn't it be something if he opened?

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Infathom & Project 906), Plus Our I Mother Earth/Finger Eleven Concert Preview!!

I hope everyone's staying safe and warm during this snowy Monday! Today's news post is half devoted to a big mid-week concert preview and new updates therein, but we'll lead off with some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for the Eastern U.P. in the coming months, one with a related missed show apology, so here's what you should know!

Munising, Michigan hard rock quartet Infathom will return to the Eastern U.P. for a show at The Back Bay Grill & Games at Bay Mills Resort & Casino in Brimley on Saturday, May 26th! This will mark Infathom's first concert appearance in our area since opening for Theory of a Deadman in December, but it will be their Back Bay Grill debut, as well as their first headlining concert and Brimley stop since headlining at Pickles Bar & Grill on November 4th, a show that we regrettably missed to cover on the site at the time. Profuse apologies for that, we'd have gladly covered it had it not fallen through the cracks last fall! For what it's worth, that show coincided with frontman Dillion Semasky's 25th birthday party, so hopefully it was a blast for him and everyone in attendance! Infathom have been playing out east a little more frequently in the last couple of years, so don't bypass their heavy rock attack at Bay Mills' waterfront nightclub late next month!

This one night only concert has a 10:00 PM start time, a 21+ age limit, and no announced cover charge. It's great to have Infathom back in our neck of the woods next month, so if you're up for some explosive covers and originals from this rising quartet, head down to Brimley on May 26th! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and apologies again for missing their Pickles show in November!

Next up, local hard/blues rock quartet Project 906 are themselves scheduled to return to The Back Bay Grill and Games later this year, as Bay Mills' concert calendar lists them as playing Saturday night gigs on June 16th, August 11th, and December 8th! Arguably the most familiar band in our main coverage to play at this venue, fans will have last seen Billy, Joe, and Dustin there in August of last year, with June's show there being their first Back Bay stop with their current lineup. We haven't heard much from Project 906 since the Musicians Competition at the Superior Cafe late last month, and they haven't confirmed these new Brimley shows publically yet, but hopefully they deliver with a solid night of hard rocking favourites at these three upcoming one-nighters! Like with the Infathom show next month, expect these to be 21+ gigs with no cover and 10:00 PM start times. Visit the above links for current and continuing details!

Also today, here's our preview of a huge concert hitting The Machine Shop in Sault Ontario THIS WEDNESDAY NIGHT, as I Mother Earth and Finger Eleven will unite for a high impact night of Ontario-bred, Juno Award-winning hard rock! Fans should recognize I Mother Earth for hit songs like "One More Astronaut" and "Summertime in the Void" in their mid-late 1990s heyday, and with Edwin back in the fold, their multi-platinum brand of hard rock hits should be welcomed back to the local stage for the first time since the Club Princess days! It hasn't been as long to see Finger Eleven on the local stage, with that band last seen here headlining at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion back in 2004 (only 14 years ago), but now with hits like "Paralyzer" and "Pieces Fit" joining classics like "First Time" and "Above" in their repertoire, fans old and new should find something to like in their own long awaited return to the Soo! Note that both bands will participate in a question & answer session and acoustic pre-show set as well on Wednesday for an additional fee, which is an intriguing bonus!

Also, a late opener confirmation was made on the Facebook event page this afternoon, as Peterborough folk rock musician J.J. Thompson (frontman of the band J.J. & The Pillars) has joined I.M.E. and Finger Eleven for their Ontario dates. Bit of a sonic departure, but J.J. is a solid musician and should prove to be an effective bridge between the acoustic pre-set and the main event! This (unfortunately) 19+ concert has an oddly specific start time of 8:50 PM, while the acoustic set/Q&A session will start at 7:00 PM. Not counting online service fees, tickets are $40 for general admission and $60 for both the show and the unplugged/Q&A package, and you can buy them at this link and at the in-person box offices at The Machine Shop and Station Mall. This show's already got huge buzz around it, especially given both bands' long waits to come back & their extensive array of familiar songs, so don't miss out on Wednesday! For a preview, here's the two bands together in a concert encore last year (might we get something similar?)



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

Sault Michigan-Area Weekend Concert Previews, Plus Last Month's Poll Results!

Today's post is half devoted to Sault Michigan-area weekend concert previews, and half devoted to closing last month's poll on your favourite concerts of early 2017, and I profusely apologize for the delay, as the poll was supposed to have been closed last week. Blonde moment coupled with recent quiet stretches for posts on the site, but given the low voter turnout, it doesn't look as if there was any delay, I guess! First though, here's this weekend's remaining announced hard rock show previews!

We'll start at The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino, where Traverse City metal trio Scarkazm are scheduled to return for solo headlining concerts TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! Marking their final E.U.P. appearances of the summer, these shows will be Adam, Dave, and Jeff's first in our area since rocking both the Soo and St. Ignace Kewadin branches last month. Scarkazm always deliver a solid weekend of hard rocking covers and originals when they travel north for Kewadin gigs, and these should be no different, so keep these shows in mind when planning some concert action in Sault Michigan over the coming nights! As usual for Scarkazm's local gigs, these are 9:00 PM events with no announced cover charge, and you must be 21 or older to attend. For more details, visit the official Facebook event pages linked here & here, and for a preview, here's Scarkazm live!



Next up, here's our last of this weekend's hard rock concert previews (barring a very late notice announcement), as Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Project 906 will return to The Back Bay Grill & Games at Bay Mills Resort & Casino in nearby Brimley for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT! Last seen headlining year #2 of the Rudyard Musicians Festival last week, this will surprisingly be Project 906's first show at the Back Bay Grill this year, but it should prove to be another solid evening of familiar and fan favourite covers, so consider a trip to "your perfect up north retreat" tomorrow for 906's live show! Note that this will be their last show of the summer months, with Bay Mills Bands Together on September 2nd next on their docket. A 10:00 PM start time is in effect for this 21+ show, which has no announced cover charge. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and for a preview, here's Project 906 live!



Finally for today, here's our one week-belated results for last month's poll on this question: What was your favourite local metal, hard rock, or punk concert in the first half of 2017? Honestly, if you didn't know I forgot to close the poll last week, the 8 vote total still wouldn't be all that impressive (alas), but there is a clear winner, so thanks to everyone who did vote, and here are the final results from the past month + 1 week!

CKY & The Wild at The Canadian Nightclub on June 8th (4 votes, 50%)
The Din at Go Skateboarding Day on June 21st (1 vote, 12.5%)
Northwest & Greg Callaghan at LopLops Lounge on May 27th (1 vote, 12.5%)
Rock 4 Autism at The Canadian Nightclub on May 6th (1 vote, 12.5%)
Gianni Gagoots at LopLops Lounge on February 18th (1 vote, 12.5%)

 Live705's January Jam at The Canadian on January 21st (0 votes)
Gnaeus at Searchmont Skateapalooza on February 4th (0 votes)
Garbageface & Pseudo at The New A on February 21st (0 votes)
K-Man & The 45s at The New American Pub on March 5th (0 votes)
The Din & Andrew Pucci at The Gore Street Cafe on March 10th (0 votes)
Live705's March Mash-Up at The Canadian on March 11th (0 votes)
AlgomA & Pillory at The New American Pub on March 30th (0 votes)
Who Made Who at The Rockstar Bar on April 7th (0 votes)
Live705's Easter Bash at The Rockstar Bar on April 15th (0 votes)
The Hazytones & Eclipse at The New A on April 23rd (0 votes)
Soo Art Rocks! at The Canadian Nightclub on May 12th (0 votes)
Ruptured Birth at The Oddfellows Hall on June 4th (0 votes)
Handsome Sandwich at The Rockstar Bar on June 10th (0 votes)
Electric Church & Speaker at The Canadian on June 18th (0 votes)
Beaver Slap & AlgomA at The Rockstar Bar on June 24th (0 votes)
Other (0 votes)

What do you think? Well, given the low vote turnout (despite the bonus week, apologies again), only 5 shows got any attention in the poll, leaving 15 shows without any votes, including such surprising snubs as K-Man & The 45s and anything from promoters Live705. It's all in who votes, I suppose, Honestly, the shows that did get a vote were half surprising, with the free Go Skateboarding Day festivities, Northwest's return show, the Rock 4 Autism fundraiser, and Gianni Gagoots' debut all tied for second place, shows that I didn't have tabbed to finish that high, so congratulations on that level! That said, the clear winner with 50% of the total was the CKY concert at The Canadian on June 8th, and that was a personal prediction that came true, as that show was packed with fans and entertaining from start to finish, and it was a thrill to finally CKY live, even without Deron! Thanks to everyone for voting, and these five voted shows will return for our poll on your favourite concerts from the entirety of 2017 next year!

Our monthly polls will now go on ice again until next year due to low turnout, but they will return for our "favourite _____ of 2017" polls in January regardless, so look for them then, and stay tuned for more news and notes on the site this weekend! Thanks everyone!