LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Tarnished & Separate Wayz) And Most Of This Weekend's Hard Rock Concert Previews!!

It's the (relative) calm before the storm that is Rotaryfest weekend next week, as this weekend's slate of hard rock concert previews is much quieter by comparison! Still too many shows for one post, so Saturday's previously announced Quite Frankly concert will be in tomorrow's post. Here's what you should know to kick off this weekend, including LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, some on SHORT NOTICE, and an apology for a missed concert last week!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Separate Wayz (and/or their sister band Soundcheck) will return to Jay's Piston Broke Pub for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, Separate Wayz first announced these shows via their Facebook page yesterday. Now, Jay's Facebook page has an AI generated poster crediting the shows to Soundcheck, a contradictory plug that I have surprisingly never seen since Soundcheck relaunched with a 75% identical lineup. I'm inclined to believe Separate Wayz' own promotion, but at the same time, could Soundcheck singer/guitarist Travis Sharpe be on hand too for another "epic crossover" weekend, or even just a smaller guest spot? Be at Jay's TOMORROW and/or SATURDAY NIGHT to find out! If truly Separate Wayz-led gigs, these will be their first since rocking Reggie's last month, and their first standalone bookings at Jay's this year.

Hopefully there's a solid crowd TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Both shows are at 9:30 PM with no cover and 19+ age limits, and if this is of note, Jay's now serves Slush Puppies! Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's just the second public video from Separate Wayz' Facebook page (at least it's not a "Story"!). This 13 seconds-long clip appears to come from their Reggie's show on June 13th, and features Travis on guitar despite those gigs not being advertised as "epic crossover" dates. He, Nicole, Terry, Jim, and Johnny were filmed here covering Alanis Morissette's "Hand In My Pocket", and what we hear sounds good, but look for much longer full performances from Separate Wayz (and Soundcheck?) this weekend!

Next up, let's head across the border to St. Ignace, Michigan, where Sault Ste. Marie classic/hard rock cover quartet Tarnished will return to Kingston Kitchen on SATURDAY NIGHT, with two more Saturday nighters booked there on August 15th and September 19th! Again, apologies for the short notice on SATURDAY's concert, it was only announced on the venue's Facebook page on Monday. As you may recall, Tarnished debuted at the 250 South State Street Jamaican restaurant last year during the Richard Crane Memorial Truck Show weekend in St. Ignace, and while unsaid in Kingston Kitchen's promotion, that appears to be the raison d'etre for the September 2026 booking. THIS SATURDAY'S and next month's shows appear to be just standard concerts, and clearly Tarnished's Kingston Kitchen debut went well last year for them to come back thrice this year! Remember, there's more going on in St. Ignace than just the casino, as Tarnished have proved umpteen times lately.

In two more new confirmations, Tarnished will end the summer with shows at The Back Bay Grill & Games Lakeside Lounge at Bay Mills Resort & Casino in Brimley on Friday, August 28th & Saturday, August 29th, so if you want some hard rock action a little closer to the Soo at our other regional casino, keep these shows in mind! They were announced via this batch Facebook event page for all Lakeside Lounge concerts for the next two months. All five dates (THIS SATURDAY at Kingston Kitchen included) are at 8:00 PM with 21+ age limits and no cover charges. Visit the above links for more details across the board, and for a preview, here's Tarnished live!

Now back to Sault Ontario briefly for a show that had lots of advance notice, as local acoustic classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison will play his third show in the past week TONIGHT at The Dive Gastro Pub! Fresh off of his second Mike Case Memorial Stage show of the year yesterday (I believe the rain held off too), this is the third and last show (so far) for Tym at The Dive, as per his batch Facebook event page for shows there. While The Dive has hosted Thursday acts on their outdoor patio on occasion (including Old Roads last week), their AI generated poster confirms that tonight's "Think It Over Thursday" concert will be indoors in "The Naughty Corner". While we're on the subject, I wanted to apologize for missing a show of Tym's last week, as he debuted at Ije's Place in nearby Desbarats this past Friday, in a solo concert that he never publically corroborated on social media, just on his personal account.

While Desbarats (40 minutes southeast of the Soo) only typically comes up on the SMS when referencing CASS, it is good to see a venue there hosting live music on occasion, though I do wish Tym would have said something about that gig, as I'd have happily plugged it had I known about it. Apologies again regardless! Tonight's Dive show (despite Tym's event page listing it as a matinee) takes place at 9:00 PM with a 19+ age limit and no cover. See above for more details, and for a preview, here's Tym live!

We'll close this post by looking at more touring rock band action in Michigan's Eastern Upper Peninsula, but unlike the three bands debuting at Kewadin Casinos in the coming weeks, the band playing TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT at The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin is quite familiar, namely Traverse City classic metal trio Peril! While not newly promoted on the band's Facebook page, this weekend's shows are confirmed on their summer calendar seen here, and mark their first EUP shows since rocking the St. Ignace branch two weeks ago. Jeff and crew (whether in Peril or their sister band Scarkazm) are not advertised to return to either Kewadin branch, so unless you go see them at the Music In The Park series in St. Ignace, these are your last chances to rock out with either band north of the Mackinac Bridge this summer, so hopefully they have lots of fun covers in store!

As usual for Peril's shows at Kewadin lounges, tomorrow and Saturday night's concerts are at 9:00 PM with 21+ age limits and no cover charges. Visit the above links for more details on Jeff, Howard, and Brooks' concerts in the Soo this weekend, and here they are live!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for the Quite Frankly preview and more on the SMS next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Tarnished, Double Down, And Curtis McKenzie!!)

A busy weekend is upon us in the Sault Ontario the E.U.P., so much so that we'll need a second post to cover all of the hard rock action ahead! As such, our previews of this weekend's Bon Jovi Forever, Bone Yard 225, and Nameless shows will be in tomorrow's post. Here's what you should know to start via an all-SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT post!

Former Project 421/Eclipse frontman Curtis McKenzie will rock The Dive Gastro Pub for another "Think It Over Thursday" acoustic concert TONIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, Curt only announced the booking last night via his Facebook page, and The Dive have not corroborated the announcement on theirs whatsoever (they haven't posted a monthly calendar in a few months either). Surprisingly, this will be Curtis' first stop at the former Low & Slow in almost three months, having exclusively played at Beck's Bar in the interim, so if you've missed him at this cozy downtown bar & restaurant, keep his alternative, hard rock, and grunge cover action in mind TONIGHT! Curt will be back in "The Naughty Corner" at 9:00 PM with a 19+ age limit and no cover charge, as usual for The Dive. Visit the above links for more details on TONIGHT's latest unplugged concert of his, and here's Curtis live!

Next up, we'll head to the Eastern Upper Peninsula, as Sault Michigan classic/hard rock cover quartet Tarnished will continue spreading their St. Ignace wings by rocking The Driftwood Sports Bar again TOMORROW NIGHT before debuting at Kingston Kitchen on SATURDAY NIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice, the band first announced these shows on their Facebook page yesterday, but the Kingston Kitchen show was first announced on their Facebook page last month. The raison d'etre for Tarnished to rock two St. Ignace venues in one weekend is the annual Richard Crane Memorial Truck Show, which takes place all weekend at the Mackinac County Airport, so see above for full details on the events relating to the show, parade, and everything else. The airport is just a four minute drive from The Driftwood (which Tarnished first played at back in March), and it is neat to see Alex, Josh, Chris, and Ron back there on a busy weekend in St. Ignace TOMORROW!

Technically all on the same street, The Driftwood Sports Bar (590 North State Street) is just three minutes away from Kingston Kitchen (250 South State Street), which happens to be the brand new sister location of a popular Jamaican/American fusion eatery on Mackinac Island, and they have been hosting live music on occasion since the summer, though this is the first weekend that they've hosted advertised rock bands. Kudos to Tarnished for helping diversify where rock bands can play in St. Ignace, as they've now had shows at four different spots there this year. It's not just Kewadin Casino there, after all! Whether due to or the result of these extra bookings, the off nights at both venues will have music to check out too for truck show weekend. Friday at Kingston Kitchen, fans can check out Cheboygan classic rock cover quartet The Lonely Pines, while a DJ party takes place at The Driftwood on Saturday, so keep these in mind as well if you'll be in the area.

TOMORROW'S Driftwood show is at 9:30 PM with a 21+ age limit, the Kingston Kitchen show on SATURDAY is at 7:00 PM with no stated age limit, and neither has an announced cover charge. Hopefully Tarnished make the most of the extra people in St. Ignace for the truck show with lots of hard rocking classic tunes, so visit the above links for more on their busy short notice weekend, and here they are live!

Finally for this all-late notice weekend concert preview post, we'll head back to Sault Ontario, where local classic/hard rock cover quartet Double Down will formally end their summer break TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT at Jay's Piston Broke Pub! Apologies again for the short notice, these shows were first announced via their Facebook event page last month, but by the time we could get to them for coverage here, we were only a week away. After eleven weeks away from live concerts (not even for a festival), the guys will set up shop at the former Roosevelt Hotel all weekend long in their first of four monthly bookings there to end 2025, and they have teased having lots of new songs in their setlist TOMORROW & SATURDAY, so come down to Jay's to see what Double Down have in store for their return! However, note that the band will be not feature bassist Dan Beaupre for either of these gigs.

A public reason for his absence wasn't given, and while I did hear what happened, I'll refrain from giving details other than to say that there's no issues in the band. Hopefully Dan comes back soon! Former Soldiers of Misfortune/Cowboys & Indians bassist Alex White will step in this weekend, which will definitely be interesting to see! Double Down and Alex take the stage TOMORROW & SATURDAY at 9:30 PM with 19+ age limits and no cover charges. See above for more details, and here they are live!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more weekend concert previews on the site next! Thanks everyone!

YouTube Channel Profile Series: CrazyCarLover1990's Channel

It's now time for this month's YouTube Channel Profile, as we again feature a randomly selected YouTube channel whose uploads are at least half devoted to local metal, hard rock, or punk artists/concerts, in order to encourage views and subscriptions! This month's choice takes us to the early touring days of a high profile local punk band, so here's what you should know!

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CrazyCarLover1990's Channel (http://www.youtube.com/@CrazyCarLover1990)

Owner: YouTube user CrazyCarLover1990, exact identity unclear, but they likely live in the Ottawa region

Channel Timeline: Launched on October 19th, 2009; Videos uploaded from October 2010 through January 2013

Channel Summary: Thirteen of this channel's 23 videos come from four different concerts played by inactive local Celtic punk quartet Dustin Jones & The Rising Tide in southeastern Ontario back in 2010 and 2011. Other content on the channel include five videos from a Cesar Millan live show in 2010, a singer/guitarist named Alex at a possibly unrelated event, and the channel's four newest videos, which are not musically focused and do not have a common thread beyond who uploaded them.

Why You Should Watch: Fans of early Rising Tide material and concerts will definitely be curious to check out these videos, especially as Dustin & crew were still relatively new in their run at this point, and while they didn't reinvent the wheel too much as the 2010s progressed, these are a fun look at their early run, even if all concert videos here were shot vertically! The Cesar Millan videos may interest Dog Whisperer fans, Alex is a good singer, and the other videos on offer will have individual appeal at best, most notably this racing lap video. Note that multiple newer Tide videos from here and afar can be found elsewhere on YouTube and Facebook, and that this channel hasn't been visibly updated in over a decade.

 Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:

 

Dustin jones: The first five videos here come from The Rising Tide's show at D'Arcy McGee's in Ottawa circa early-mid 2010, when they featured Dustin Jones (vocals/guitar) alongside fiddle player Sheldon Jaaskelainen and his brother, stand-up bassist Marshall Jaaskelainen, with ex-Redefined/future My Son The Hurricane drummer Danno O'Shea behind the kit (note that the debut EP that they were touring in support of did not have drums at all). CrazyCarLover filmed them playing "Molly Malloy", "Summer Honey", and "Tick Tick Tock", plus Sheldon's solo vocal/guitar rendition of the Old Crow Medicine Show's "Wagon Wheel". Featured here is their eponymous "Rising Tide", as preceded by their traditional intro of the allegro movement from Mozart's "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, K. 525". Vertical dimensions aside (with the camera sometimes flipped sideways), everyone performs well on these early numbers, and Ottawa fans took to their Celtic punk hybrid well!

Dustin Jones and the Rising Tide - Sheldon singing rock me: The Rising Tide's second D'Arcy McGee's show filmed here was in September 2010, which featured songs from their then-upcoming 2011 CD "Whiskey Will Be Our Sun". In upload order, CrazyCarLover filmed them playing "Half My Life", & "Until We Drop", and covering Weezer's "Say It Ain't So" & Tom Waits' "Cold Water", but this time, we'll embed their Sheldon-led cover of "Wagon Wheel" (erroneously labelled as "Rock Me") as it is this channel's most popular video, with over 1,500 views as of this writing. Not the most punk cover choice out there, but Sheldon has a good handle on this modern country staple, and everyone seemed to know it! The final video from D'Arcy McGee's on this channel saw The Tide playing their Sheldon-led original song "Brass Knuckles" at the venue's New Year's party that December.

Dustin Jones And The Rising Tide: CrazyCarLover definitely also loved The Rising Tide, as they filmed Dustin & crew one more time at the Tir Nan Og Irish Pub in Kingston (2 hours south of Ottawa) circa June 2011. Now featuring Dustin's Inner City Surfers/Bookclub bandmate Mikey Hawdon on drums, the guys are seen here covering Hank Williams III's "Smoke & Wine" with Sheldon on lead vocals, a video that was uploaded twice with slightly varying titles for some reason. A rollicking hellbilly cover that puts everyone on their toes, this is a nice change of pace from The Tide's usual M.O., if not zoomed in especially close. Hopefully we hear more from The Rising Tide down the road when the time is right!

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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! As decreed by random selection, we'll actually be returning to the well of "auto-generated YouTube Music channels for Mikhal Muto bands" next, as we'll be looking at Vanity First's YouTube Music channel next month, two months after profiling Agnosticism's similar channel. Look for that on or around March 26th, and for this weekend's concert previews starting later today! Thanks everyone!