LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Nate's Chow), The End Of Piecing It Together Shows, And New Videos!!

A new week doesn't mean we're letting our foot off the gas in terms of getting recent un-talked about stories finally talked about, and today's half Michigan/half Canada post includes recent concert festival fallout, the impending closure of a local concert promotion agency, and leading off in the EUP, a new live cover video and some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for our Yooper readers. Here's what you should know!

Rebranded local hard rock trio Nate's Chow have announced three upcoming concerts for next month, as per this AI-generated poster from their Facebook page last month! After the former Unfortunate Sun and Fake Chow successors returned to the stage at The Islander Bar in Hessel on August 7th, they will be back there for their second show of this era on Saturday, September 5th, so keep this Labour Day weekend gig in mind if you want to see Jody, Brett, and Jason back in the Les Cheneaux Islands area! One week later, the guys will headline the annual Stalwart Agricultural Fair in nearby Goetzville, which the then-Unfortunate Sun played at in 2024 (country rock cover band One Can Short were last year's closing band). Nate's Chow will cap off the festivities on Saturday, September 12th, and this feels in many ways like the EUP answer to this weekend's Laird Fair, so click here for full details on the rural and farm-friendly entertainment then!

Nate's Chow will be playing in the on-site pavilion at 8081 East M-48 in Goetzville, admission is a flat $5 for weekend passes (no single day options), and this is absolutely all ages. Finally for the new shows, the renamed group will play their first Sault Ste. Marie date of this era when they rock The Merchants Bar on Saturday, September 26th, so keep that gig in mind as well if you wanna see how the Skip-less group sound and you'd prefer to do so in the Soo! The Merch show should be at 9:00 PM, the Islander Bar and Stalwart Fair gigs are at 8:00 PM, and the bar shows are both 21+. Visit the above links for more on Nate's Chow's early fall slate of concerts!

Next up, here's a video of Munising classic/hard rock cover quintet The Sky Pilots' headlining concert at The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino on May 30th! The first public video that I've ever seen from one of their local gigs, this 40 seconds-long video features The Sky Pilots covering Guns N' Roses' "Sweet Child O Mine". While short, it's unique in that frontwoman Melissa Strand (formerly of local bands Swayze Train and Electric Motor Fish) filmed this while singing on stage, letting us see her vantage point of the crowd, the lounge, and her bandmates. Good cover from what we hear, and the video is definitely fun for what it is, so give it a watch!

Now let's head to Sault Ontario, starting with a story that is one of the oldest items in the backlog that I've put off for way too long, as local concert promotion agency Piecing It Together Shows is closing operations later this year. Owner Nicole Dyble revealed the news in a post on their Facebook page on July 12th, where Nicole (who is non-binary) revealed that they are moving to Toronto, and will be commuting between there and here for the rest of the year. As of July 12th, four further P.I.T.S. events were scheduled, including a house party concert headlined by Regina ambient noise group Allinesik the following week, but details on the other three events have yet to be announced. Piecing It Together Shows launched as Dryer Fire in 2018 in the wake of the closure of Nicole's former venue The Gore Street Cafe, and counting the laundromat and their run before changing the company name, Nicole put on over 300 community events, concerts or otherwise, over the past 11 years, while championing local charities and arts initiatives.

Nicole's concerts only occasionally tripped the SMS' genre lines, but they did a lot in the local arts community (music and visual alike) over the past decade, including via such large scale events as the Fishbowl Festival, the It's The Pits festival, and their various long-term residencies at pop-up venues. I still don't know if Nicole ever explained why they went with the peach pit motif for their branding after 2024 or not, but P.I.T.S. had a distinct identity that covered a lot of local ground. We'll let you know if those final three Piecing It Together Shows concerts involve hard rock or punk acts, but best of luck to Nicole in the move and their future plans!

Finally for today, let's look at some fallout from the second annual WestFest at Anna Marinelli Park on August 8th! SooToday's Darren Taylor was on hand for the West Village Revitilization Project's summer festival, covering it in this article with 16 photos of the day's events, the first four featuring opening alt-hard rock band Riverside Stasis.  Good and positive article that outlines some of the vendors and positive thoughts of the day! Mike Blair's 705Live Sound Co. was at the soundboard for WestFest II, and while he did not share a Facebook video from any performers on the company page, he did upload a video of closing local folk supergroup The Ontarians' set to his personal Facebook page that The Ontarians did share publically. WestFest's official recap video features brief clips of both The Ontarians and The Golden Scoundrels' sets, plus lots of looks at the attendees and vendors, but the audio is dubbed over with a Turnstile song.

Odd choice when only Riverside Stasis come anywhere remotely close in genre, and they weren't even in the video, but it's well edited (if vertical). Lastly, 104.3 The Fox posted a video from Ava Nori's set as an Instagram-exclusive video, confirming that she sang with acoustic accompaniment from Scoundrels guitarist Brandon Ruch, who commutes from Southern Ontario for their local gigs. The video shows them covering "Home" by the country singer Brent Morgan, with Ava & Brandon sharing vocals, and she has a distinctive voice that I hope gets more time on stage! Hopefully more WestFest media surfaces, but check everything out at the above links, and stay tuned for more news and notes this week! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (The Nameless & Silent 9!!)

While nowhere near as busy as what we saw locally in July, things are definitely busier locally for hard rock concerts this weekend, and we will have to stretch out our weekend concert previews to two posts as a result. As such, this weekend's Heavy Lies The Crown, Generations, and Tarnished shows will feature in tomorrow's post. Here's what you should know otherwise, starting with SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS! 

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Silent 9 have a busy weekend ahead, and it starts TOMORROW NIGHT when they return to The Tap Room at Northern Superior Brewing Co., followed by the featured headliners slot at the annual Laird Fair outside of town on SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice on both fronts, the band only announced both dates on their Facebook page on Monday, though they have been advertised for the Laird Fair in their own promotional materials before then. TOMORROW'S show is the second late notice one in as many weeks from an SMS-amenable band at the Tap Room, and is a bit of a surprise booking from Jess, Ryan, Paul, and Steve, as they normally take the summer off from standard nightclub shows, only playing festivals and private bookings then. In fact, while we're on the subject, they'll be back at the Tap Room on Saturday, September 27th as well!

That show was quietly confirmed on their website's concert calendar, and we'll wait on other public shows there for now due to the later scheduling but they will be more active publically this fall. As far as I can tell, there's no raison d'etre for TOMORROW'S brief pause of their summer break from bar shows, but the fun classic and hard rock covers will be in full swing at Northern Superior, especially at a venue better known for acoustic acts! TOMORROW'S and next month's shows are at 8:00 PM with 19+ age limits and no cover. As for the Laird Fair (a.k.a. the North Shore Agricultural Fair), Silent 9 are this year's headlining band, taking over for the now-defunct Soundcheck on SATURDAY NIGHT! The Friday band slot this year was replaced by karaoke. Loads of family friendly entertainment is in store in Laird (outside of Echo Bay), both for farming and agricultural events and for games and activities, so be sure to visit the fair's Facebook page for the complete schedule!

Silent 9 will set up shop on SATURDAY NIGHT under the covered (but not entirely indoors) stage at the fairground site at Lake George Road East once again, which bodes well for the rainy weather forecast, but do follow your preferred weather forecast for updates on Laird Fair events like this (9&10 News is calling for a high of 27° that night). The concert proper is a licensed 19+ event at 9:00 PM, and admission to the concert is included with fair passes, which run for $10 for the day and $20 for the full weekend. Visit the above links for more on Silent 9's busy short notice weekend, and for a preview, here they are live last year!

Next up, let's skip over to Michigan for another new confirmation, as local hard rock quartet The Nameless will debut at The Goetzville Tavern in nearby Goetzville on SATURDAY NIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice, this show was only announced by the band on their Facebook page on Sunday, though the venue has been plugging this show on their Facebook page since last month. Stalwart Agricultural Fair aside, this is the first standard concert that we've covered in Goetzville (outside of Pickford) since 2014, believe it or not. The Goetzville Tavern may be better known to local readers as Yooperman's Bar & Grill, and it re-opened under its new name and ownership in April at 18017 East M-48. Concerts have sporadically taken place there since last month, with The Nameless being the first heavier-leaning act there, so welcome them to a new locale an hour south of here in style on SATURDAY!

The Nameless take the stage on SATURDAY at 7:00 PM with a 21+ age limit and no announced cover charge. Note that The Goetzville Tavern technically closes at 10:00 PM nightly, but they will clearly extend their hours for concerts if need be, and The Nameless are advertised to play until 11:00 PM. The official Facebook event page strongly hints that the show will be outdoors under a tent, so given that, 9&10 News is calling for a 70% chance of rain on SATURDAY dipping to 40% at night, with temperatures expected in the mid-high 70s (a high of 27° Celsius). I have no idea if they have provisions to postpone the show or move it indoors due to rain, so follow The Goetzville Tavern and/or the band on social media for updates if you are all concerned. Otherwise, visit the above links for more details on the hard rock action in Goetzville on SATURDAY NIGHT, and here's The Nameless live!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for the rest of this weekend's hard rock concert previews next! Thanks everyone! 

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Unfortunate Sun & The Nameless) And More From Sault Michigan!!

Today's SMS post is devoted to Sault Michigan bands and E.U.P. concerts, including a bunch of LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for this fall, so here's what you should know across the river!

Local hard rock quintet The Nameless will reportedly return to Huck's Pub & Grill in nearby Rudyard for one night only on Saturday, September 14th! The band has not publically confirmed this date yet, but it was announced via the venue's concert calendar on their Facebook page (always nice to see venues plug shows like this!), and I believe it will be their debut at the former Joe's Bar & Grill. That said, there is a more pressing matter in their camp, as a GoFundMe campaign has been launched to help frontman Joshua LaCoursiere and his family. Earlier this month, Josh was stung by a bee and had a severe allergic reaction that caused major swelling and blood clots in his shoulder & hand, and he has needed at least two surgeries in Petoskey to address what happened. As such, he missed The Nameless' set at the Serious Business-promoted multi-band concert in Brimley this past weekend (if they dropped out, I hadn't heard 100%).

As Josh can't work right now, the aim is to raise $15,000 for him and his family at this time of need, and if you can help the LaCoursieres, definitely consider doing so at this link! Of course, our best thoughts are with Joshua, his kids, and his family and friends as he recovers, and hopefully we see him back on stage when fully able! I have no idea if this will affect the Huck's gig next month, but we will keep you posted if it is cancelled or postponed. For now, it's at 8:00 PM on the 14th with a 21+ age limit and no announced cover charge. Stay tuned for more from The Nameless when it rolls in, and I hope Josh gets better soon!

Next up, eagle eyed readers may have noticed gigs from newer local hard rock cover bands Dirty Musky and Unfortunate Sun at Huck's later this fall, and while we already knew about the former's show on October 5th (we'll pick things back up on Dirty Musky in a bit), the Unfortunate Sun gigs are new to us! Yes, the Fake Chow successors will make their way to Huck's in Rudyard for Saturday nighters on October 26th & November 16th, and no word on if the shows will be outdoors like their debut gig was last month, but it will obviously be the fall then. Also, keep in mind that the October 26th show could be Halloween themed, but given that October 31st is a Thursday this year, some venues may opt to have their events late so they're closer to the actual day. We'll know more in a couple of months! Along with these two shows, Unfortunate Sun announced three more upcoming dates on their Facebook page, so where are they playing next?

Their second public date as Unfortunate Sun will be on Saturday, September 7th when they perform at... The Stalwart Agricultural Fair in Goetzville? This is a new one for the SMS, but the 118th annual Stalwart Fair is a farming/agricultural fair just southeast of Pickford at the corner of Sand Ridge Road and 28 Mile, and the fair's Facebook page has confirmed that Unfortunate Sun will be headlining under the on-site pavilion there (I don't know if this will be fully outdoors or not). No other bands that day, with most of the Saturday events focusing on livestock judging and horse pulls, but visit the official website for full non-musical details! An 8:00 PM start time is planned for this concert, which has no advertised age limit, and there is a $5 admission fee. The other two shows appear to be standard one-nighters at local nightclubs, with Unfortunate Sun debuting in the Soo on Saturday, September 28th at The Merchants Bar, and...

...on Wednesday, November 27th at The Islander Bar in Hessel? Other than being the day before the American Thanksgiving, I do not know the significance of scheduling a mid-week show like this, assuming that the date is accurate, but we'll keep you posted if there's clarification! Both shows should have 9:00 PM-ish start times, 21+ age limits, and no cover charges. Visit the above links for more on Unfortunate Sun's upcoming concert slate, and hopefully we hear much more from them soon!

Finally, let's look the aforementioned Dirty Musky, who don't have brand new shows to announce (yet), but we do have new live videos of theirs to check out! Uploaded to their Facebook page last week, these are their first official videos that run for longer than 20 seconds, let alone feature the band directly performing on camera. Granted, each runs for 31 and 41 seconds respectively, but beggars can't be choosers! Unfortunately, both were shot vertically, and they had a circular peephole filter put on them, but at least these are embeddable on external websites. Both videos capture parts of Dirty Musky covering Tool's "Sober" (here's part 2) at The Islander Bar in Hessel earlier this month, and it's a solid enough cover for what we hear! It's just nice to see new videos of a Dave Menard-fronted band, as Splitshot and 415E did not post much in the way of official live videos.

Fran's head is often obscured by the one speaker at this angle as well, but this is still the best look that we've had at Dirty Musky on video, so give these chunks of their "Sober" cover a watch above and below, and don't miss them at Huck's in Rudyard in October, and hopefully elsewhere prior!

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

More Weekend Concert Previews, Including A Concert Cancellation!!

Hey guys, before we kick off this second weekend concert preview post, we have a big cancellation to announce, as the planned Whiskey Shits concert at The Algonquin Pub on Saturday night has been cancelled, as per promoter J.D. Pearce on his personal Facebook page and the deletion of it's Facebook event page. Reportedly, The Whiskey Shits' van broke down, hence the cancellation, and while J.D. recommended to the venue that local openers The Red & Black and Haggith (replacing Sykotyk Rampage) still play there on Saturday, that is not official as of this writing. If we hear anything, we'll let you guys know, but for now, let's touch on more weekend concert previews for this weekend, so here's what you should know!

With the Whiskey Shits' cancellation, we'll add this weekend's Banned concerts in Michigan's Easter Upper Peninsula to this post (Exiled are coming tomorrow), as the Kinross classic/hard rock trio have a busy weekend lined up, with three shows coming up in three days! First, the Traynors and Wayne will make their first ever stop in Goetzville (an hour southeast of Sault Michigan) when they play a special Thursday night show at The Raber Bay Bar & Restaurant TONIGHT, followed by a more typical weekend set of shows at The Runway Bar in Hessel (a half hour west of Goetzville) TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT, so if you're in those areas or up for a drive south, don't miss Banned's shows this weekend for some entertaining covers and originals! All three shows have 9:00 PM start times, 21+ age limits, and no announced cover charges

For more details, check the above links! It's nice to see Banned staying busy, and though I'm unsure of any special occasion to link with the Raber Bay Bar show TONIGHT, hopefully it goes well for this well traveled trio! For a preview of all three shows, here's the guys covering C.C.R.!

Next up, we'll head north to The Rockstar Bar, where Toronto-based AC/DC tribute band Who Made Who will return to Sault Ontario for another headlining night of high voltage rock 'n roll TOMORROW NIGHT! Last seen here at this venue in March, Who Made Who are definitely one of the most frequently seen tribute bands in our area, and with their faithful sounding and looking AC/DC experience, fans of theirs shouldn't miss Who Made Who in the Soo! I wonder if they've added AC/DC's new single "Play Ball" to their set? Tickets for tomorrow night will be $10 in advance at The Algonquin Hotel's front desk or $14 at the door, everything starts at around 10:00 PM, and you must be 19 to attend. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! If past Who Made Who shows here are any indication, fans should be in for a great night of AC/DC classics tomorrow night, so join what should be a packed house then, and here's Who Made Who's promo video from last year!



Also scheduled for tomorrow night is the return of local classic/hard rock quartet Griphook to the stage, as they'll be rocking The Rednecks Saloon TOMORROW NIGHT! Believe it or not, this one-nighter will be Griphook's first local concert set since Rotaryfest in July, and their first usual bar concert since rocking the former Nicolet Tavern in April, so if you've missed the guys this year, now's a good chance to see this union of 100 Gran, Hollow, Bigsuit, and Gsis Murphy alumni back on stage! For the record, I don't know why they're not playing tomorrow night, but I haven't heard an announcement regarding a different act that night either. You can take in their varied & often heavy covers at The Rednecks Saloon tomorrow night at 10:00 PM, there is no announced cover charge, and you must be 19 to enter. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page, don't miss Griphook's first show of the fall/winter, and here's the guys covering Bad Company at Rotaryfest!



Lastly for announced hard rock shows in Sault Ontario TOMORROW NIGHT is Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison's return to The Harp Bar & Grill for another one-night-only gig! After spending two of the last three weekends (including last week) away from the former Madison's Pub, Tym's ongoing weekly concert arrangement there returns to it's usual weekly schedule tomorrow night as he hosts (and plays at) their weekly jam night tomorrow night, though if you miss his usual double bookings there, he'll be playing next Friday and Saturday! For the better part of 11 months, Tym has been delivering reliably entertaining acoustic hard rock covers to The Harp, and tomorrow night will be no different from this prolific local veteran! There's no announced cover charge tomorrow night, everything starts at around 10:00 PM, and you must be 19 to attend. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page, and here's Tym live at Mill Square!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for the Exiled concert previews and more TOMORROW! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (The Strange Coyotes, Griphook, And Banned), And More!!

For a second straight day, we have a short notice second post on the site, as like yesterday, there's a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for tonight that is linked to a public show from yesterday and is getting a fair amount of Facebook advertising! Also read on for full public LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for next weekend and some more assorted notes, so here's what you need to know, and check out lots of VM Radio updates (and the new Tuned episode) in the post below this one! (Updated at 9:24 PM)

Remember how Blood Shed Productions & Heavy North Entertainment hosted a publically advertised house party concert last night on Weldon Avenue? Well, that show was reportedly cut short due to a Foggy's-esque noise complaint and police visit, which cancelled plans for a Strange Coyotes headlining set and forced Rotopsy to only play one song. With that in mind, promoters are giving a short notice second try at this show TONIGHT at a different location, though still centrally located! Once scheduled to be held at an Oakbine Avenue location, the show was moved back to it's original 110 Pentagon Boulevard location for unannounced reasons on very short notice. Hopefully things go smoother for everyone tonight, despite the location jumbling! All performers except Telephone & Address and Mikey Thomas are back for tonight, which will definitely see The Strange Coyotes headlining in their first announced show since confirming their reunion, with Rotopsy, Crucify The Whore, Brutaly Fatal, and a "surprise special guest appearance" also teased.

The Facebook event page has current details for this show, which is ALL AGES, will start at 8:00 PM tonight, and will have no announced cover. Don't miss out if you love the Blood Shed, and hopefully they don't have similar issues tonight! For a preview, here's The Strange Coyotes live in January!

Next up, Kinross, Michigan hard/classic rock trio Banned have announced a surprise show for this Thursday, as they'll make their first ever advertised appearance at The Raber Bay Bar 'N Restaurant in nearby Goetzville! Our source is Banned's Facebook page yesterday, which added the show to their existing fall calendar. We've never plugged a show in Goetzville before, so in case you didn't know, Goetzville is a small Chippewa County community that's roughly an hour southeast of the Soo and 24 minutes east of Cedarville, and was among the areas of the E.U.P. added when we expanded our coverage range on the site two years ago. Given the Thursday setting, I'm unsure on if there's a special occasion to cause the booking, but it adds to a busy weekend for them, as Banned will be at The Runway Bar in Hessel (a half hour west of Goetzville) over the next two nights. A 9:00 PM start time is in effect on Thursday, you must be 21 to attend, and there's no announced cover charge. See above for more info, and stay tuned for updates on their Raber Bay Bar show!

Also in new show announcements, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Griphook will apparently return to the stage this Friday at The Rednecks Saloon! Though the band has yet to confirm this show online, the marquee board outside of the former Nicolet Tavern has advertised it for at least the last few days, and that has proven to be a reliable source for accurate show dates in the past. If this booking is still on, this will be Griphook's first concert set of the fall, and their first outside of Rotaryfest since playing at Rednecks in April, so if you've been missing Joel, Brian, Dan, and Tony in recent months, you'll want to mark this Friday's show down for a night of entertaining and often heavy covers! No word on why they're not playing on Saturday though, but the marquee at the saloon didn't list that day's entertainment. There's no announced cover charge on Friday, you must be 19 to attend, and there's a likely 10:00 PM start time in effect. For more details, visit the above links, and if we hear any changes, we'll let you know!

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

• A new instrumental song by the aforementioned Crucify The Whore was uploaded to their new Bandcamp page earlier this week, which fans will want to check out, but due to a name that some readers may find offensive, we won't post it here. Give it a listen if you want, and note that their other demos can also be streamed there!
• I've removed The Guitar Studio from our "Other Sault Michigan Links" section due to the expiry of their website and only substantial online page. Featuring prolific local guitarist Joey Beairl among it's staff, The Guitar Studio was notable for providing both music lessons and a summer rock camp that spawned real youth rock bands such as Tantrym Tyme, but online updates have been slow in recent years. If a new link turns up, we'll re-add them to our listings!
• Our congratulations go out to Sailor's Tongue frontman Kyle McKey, who will be inducted into the Great Northern Opry of the Northern Ontario Country Music Association tonight during their annual awards ceremony! Kyle joins fellow hard rock alum Ric Datson (That's Chester) among the dozens of regional country notables in the opry. If you've followed all of Kyle's music work in the area, you'll know this is very deserving, so congratulations once again, and click here for more info!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates in the next few days! Thanks everyone!