The Rest Of This Weekend's Hard Rock/Punk Concert Previews, Including Surfers News Coverage!!

Alright, let's finally close up this weekend's concert previews by looking at two big headlining shows in Sault Ontario and one busy weekend in the E.U.P.! Remember, for previews of this weekend's Pop Evil/Buckcherry, Tym Morrison, and Tarnished concerts, plus the already-occurred Wyld Stallyns show, visit the posts below this one. Now, here's what you need to know!

We'll start this last round of previews in Sault Michigan, where local classic/hard rock cover quintet Highway 63 will return for shows at the local Kewadin Casino's Rapids Lounge TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! These shows are advertised on the venue's website linked above, though note that Highway 63 have not posted on their Facebook page since June. Given that Kewadin is plugging them, we will treat these as on unless otherwise stated. That said, these shows are well timed like in June, as after playing the same weekend as the Slaughter concert in St. Ignace, the Monkey's Uncle/Mama's Boys successors will be rocking out after Saturday night's Pop Evil/Buckcherry concert (previewed on the SMS yesterday), so if you want some more live music action after the show, let alone indoors, head to The Rapids Lounge tomorrow night! Of course, that and tonight's concert are 9:00 PM affairs with 21+ age limits and no cover charge. See above for more, and here's Highway 63 live!



Next up, let's head north to Sault Ontario, where local concert promoters Live705 will promote their first event in over a year TOMORROW NIGHT, and it's a spiritual successor to their well received Rivers of Nihil show from last July, no less! Like that concert, this will take place at The Rockstar Bar, and it will also be headlined by a technical death metal band from Reading, Pennsylvania, but in this case, it's Reading, Pennsylvania metal band will be there on this night, namely Black Crown Initiate. A fast rising name in their own right, Black Crown Initiate's brutal and proficient brand of extreme death metal should win over many fans in their local concert debut tomorrow, so don't miss them if you can help it! Two touring bands will be joining them here, including Nashville death meta quartet Inferi (who did open for Rivers of Nihil locally last year) and Chicago death metal quintet Warforged in their own Soo debut. Inferi are a known commodity now, but Warforged should melt faces with their own distinct original attack too!

The local openers are death/thrash metal trio Pillory (replacing the now-drummerless Denver death metal band Vale of Pnath) in their own first local concert since Rivers of Nihil last year, and just their second since late 2017. I don't know why they've been so quiet as of late, but hopefully Robert, Bret, and Blair(?) set the tone well once again! Tickets for this 10:00 PM, 19+ concert are $15 in advance at this link or $20 at the door. If you love technical and progressive death metal, there's only one option for Saturday night, so kudos to Live705 for bringing this package here, visit the Facebook event page for more details, and here's Black Crown Initiate live!



Last but not least, local punk quartet The Inner City Surfers will hold a one-off reunion TOMORROW NIGHT at LopLops Lounge to honour the 20th anniversary of their inception! As well advertised in local news media, this will be The Surfers' first public concert appearance since playing a couple of holiday shows in the Soo back in December 2012 (not 2009), and if you believe the buzz on social media, this show has definitely been anticipated by a lot of fans from their heyday! Dustin, Dave, Brad, and Mikey will all be back with a set full of their classic originals, but will the new songs being recorded at Tidal Records turn up tomorrow as well? The opening band will be the debuting Love & Rehab, featurng Alexis Mantello on drums, but I have no other public information on their identities or sound. Intentional secrecy, or does the lack of a Facebook event page not help? We'll let you know when/if anything comes out regarding Love & Rehab otherwise. As for those local news articles, what new to reveal and discuss from those?

SooToday's James Hopkin covered the show in this article on July 22nd, where frontman Dustin Jones talked about why they're reuniting finally, what to expect tomorrow, his musical and personal life events in recent years, future event possibilities if tomorrow's show goes well, and the aforementioned singles. Nice and informative, and you get a great sense of how The Surfers are still very much brothers, and bad blood didn't cause their 6+ year break from the stage! The Sault Star's Brian Kelly plugged the show/reunion in two different articles in the past week, including this one from July 25th featuring brief interview remarks from Dustin, and this more substantial article from just today. The article treads some of the same ground as SooToday's, but goes into more detail about why there's not a second show/larger venue, as well as revealing the names of their three new songs ("Excess Express", "Open Ambition", and a cover of Stompin' Tom Connors' "Algoma Central 69".)

Expect single releases in the fall, but could an album be in the works if these go well? Given that The Surfers are back for more than just this show, they are back in our active band links, FYI. Aside from continually referencing 2009 as the year of their last show (it was 2012!), James articles are absolutely worth a read above or in those days' newspaper! The Sault Star and social media postings indicate that this show is SOLD OUT, but in case tickets open up, they were $20, with a likely 9:00 PM start time and 19+ age limit. It's awesome to see The Inner City Surfers back with their high energy punk attack for one night, so see above for more, and here they are live!



That's all for now, but stay tuned for this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post and much more on the site this weekend! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Bobaflex & Black Crown Initiate), The River Jacks Concert Preview, And More!!

Before we begin this post, I wanted to offer our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Kayge Fowler, who passed away last night after a brave and courageous battle with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (or DIPG) over the past year. He was just 6 years old. As well documented on the Prayers For Kayge Facebook group and local news media, Kayge fought valiantly against this terrible and aggressive form of brain cancer, and numerous people (locally or elsewhere) helped donate and contribute to the Kayge Fighters Against DIPG Foundation through many campaigns and special events, including last week's Music 4 Kayge fundraiser concert at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion, which featured acts like Dustin Jones & The Rising Tide and Stiffler's Mom successors The Tilrays. While we had covered his dad Paul's brief work with the local band Keep It Lit in the past, I didn't know the Fowler family, but I can't imagine what they're going through right now.

From what I've learned about Kayge in the past year, he truly was a superhero, and fought this horrible disease with a bravery and compassion that we all should take the example of. I send my best thoughts and wishes out to Paul and Mandy, Kayge's siblings, and their extended family at this difficult time, and at least he's no longer in any pain. R.I.P. Kayge!

Now, today's post features a special Monday night concert preview, but first, here's a pair of LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for you metalheads over the coming months! We'll start at The Rockstar Bar, and if you liked last July's Rivers of Nihil-headlined concert there, you might want to circle Saturday, August 3rd, as another Reading, Pennsylvania metal band will be there on this night, namely Black Crown Initiate! A technical death metal trio in their own right, Black Crown Initiate's melodic yet aggressive brand of material should whet any extreme metal appetite when they make their local concert debut later this summer, so be sure to check them out to see what they bring to the table! In fact, if you love melodic and technical death metal, this show will be a sonic feast, with B.C.I. also joined for this show and tour by Denver quartet Vale of Pnath, Nashville quartet Inferi (who played at last year's Rivers of Nihil concert), and Chicago quintet Warforged.

It's hard to differentiate the four bands briefly, but each has their own explosive original attack and lots of brutality on hand, so don't miss out on these four bands, and it's great to see Inferi back in the Soo, especially after almost stealing the show in July! At press time, there has been no local openers confirmed.Promoted by Live705 in (surprisingly) their first show since Rivers of Nihil, tickets for this 19+ concert will be $15 in advance or $20 at the door, with details on advance presale tickets forthcoming, while a 10:00 PM start time is advertised. This should be a great time for melodic death metal fans, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details!

Next up, West Virginia nu metal/hard rock quintet Bobaflex will make their own local concert debut on Tuesday, September 10th when they headline at Soo Blaster! A familiar sight to nu metal diehards over the past 2 decades (or for anyone who owns the Gigantour compilation live album), fans may recognize Bobaflex from such rock radio charting singles as "Bad Man" & "I'm Glad You're Dead". This hard touring, diverse, and aggressive band should deliver a solid set for local fans, and I'm curious to see how well they draw this fall! Like the Black Crown Initiate show, this lineup also features four out of town bands, including one we've seen before. The other local newcomers include Minnesota female-fronted hard rock trio City of the Weak (whose catchy modern hard rock sound should strike a solid chord), as well as Baltimore hard rock quartet Silvertung, who've also found some chart notice in the States with their aggressive yet accessible original material.

Sudbury grunge/hard rock quartet The Fortunate Losers will also be on the bill, just over two months after opening for Monster Truck at the same venue, and they should get a strong response in their Sault Ste. Marie return! A local opening band is to be announced. Presented by Thunder Bay's Loffredo & Associates (who are also bringing The Cancer Bats to Soo Blaster two nights later), tickets are $20 at the venue and at this link, plus a $5 service fee. I believe this is a 19+ show, and a 7:30 PM start time is advertised. Kudos to Frank for another big show at Soo Blaster, and visit the official Facebook event page for more details on this intriguing lineup!

Finally, here's our preview of a special concert THIS MONDAY NIGHT, as Calgary punk quintet The River Jacks will return to the Soo for a third time when they rock The New American Pub! Fans may recognize The River Jacks from their Algonquin Pub headlining show here in 2015, before debuting at The New A two years ago when they opened for The Old Wives. With their well-written lyrics, strong punk attack, familiar brand of punk rock (perhaps with accordion?!), The River Jacks should deliver another fun set of original material on Monday, so genre fans won't want to miss out! In a surprise confirmation last week, both of the local openers were replaced, as DJ Seith and local acoustic folk solo project Slumshine are in, while Jack Spades and Shit Liver drummer Matt Baic are out, as per the Facebook event page. Reasons for the opener switches were not publically announced, but hopefully nothing bad happened, and remember that Matt as a solo artist wasn't a familiar concept for our coverage as it was.

Having openers of such a wildly different genre is a little surprising, but Slumshine's Brent Ellis has the punk chops from his various old bands, and DJ Seith has been known to throw some heavier tunes into his mixes from time to time! Presented by Six, Two, Oh. for a second straight River Jacks show, this 19+ concert has a $5 cover charge and an early 8:00 PM start time, presumably a help given the school night scheduling. This should be a fun concert with a now-nicely varied range of sounds, so keep it in mind for your Monday plans, see above for more details, and here's The River Jacks live!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post next! Thanks everyone!