LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (BookcluB), Without Compromise Updates, And Much More!!

Before we begin this post, I wanted to offer our deepest condolences to the family & friends of veteran local musician Paul Leclair, who passed away yesterday of complications from cancer at the age of 74, as per numerous personal Facebook postings. While not a hard rock or metal musician, Paul will be familiar to many from his work as singer/guitarist in local bands like Midway, Moonshadow, and (most recently) Dorian Grey, who played classic rock at local venues for over a decade and were gigging as recently as last summer. For many years, Paul was the secretary-treasurer and vice president of the American Federation of Musicians, Local 276, and was a key asset in helping local musicians of many stripes to work through business, contract, and insurance dealings, as well as to get work visas put together to be able to perform/tour in the United States. He was occasionally referenced in SMS posts via his union work.

While I never had the honour of meeting Paul, we were briefly slated to judge a battle of the bands together alongside Soundcheck's Terry Eaton at the former Rednecks Saloon (Nicolet Tavern) way back in February 2015, but it was cancelled when the larger VM Radio Battle of the Bands was scheduled to begin less than two weeks later. He was a good and very knowledgeable person who helped so many local artists over the years through the union, and he will definitely be missed. R.I.P. Paul!

Today's post otherwise catches us up on some recent news, but first, here's a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, as local alternative/punk cover band BookcluB will rock The Machine Shop TOMORROW NIGHT when they open for online page-less local Tragically Hip cover band The Luxury as part of the Bon Soo Winter Carnival! Apologies for the short notice, we first learned of this show late last week via Bon Soo social media advertising. Modern day concerts outside of the opening ceremonies at Bon Soo rarely cross our radar, but this is an exception, and this special mid-week concert is reportedly being held "to show our appreciation" to Bon Soo supporters. This will be BookcluB's second publically advertised gig of 2026 (last seen at The Kiln last month), but you may have seen frontman Mikey Hawdon and bassist Dustin Jones playing outside of The Machine Shop as Dos Amigos this past weekend!

Alas, I only heard about this outdoor gig via a Facebook "story" (one of the posts that vanish from that strip on your news feed after being viewed once or twice), so here we are. I wish bands wouldn't rely on "Stories" (a couple have been posting new videos as "Stories" that are impossible for me to link to in posts), but I do apologize for missing that here. You can see the full BookcluB experience with their fan friendly and unique range of covers TOMORROW NIGHT! Note that the picture attached to the band's Facebook post plugging TOMORROW'S show includes guitarist Brandon Ruch, who moved out of town last fall, so I don't 100% know if they just used an old band photo or if he is actually returning to the Soo for this gig. As for The Luxury (featuring Tripod The Dog, Billy Bastards, Redefined, Sidekicks, and Late Shift alumni) they deliver a faithful and talented take on Hip classics from the 1980s and 1990s, so don't bypass them!

While tickets were reportedly briefly on sale early, TOMORROW'S indoor show will be FREE with a Bon Soo button ($12) or jacket tag ($8), and if you don't have one yet, they will be on sale at Mill Square if you come out. This is an all ages show at 8:00 PM. Should be a fun mix of covers (especially for Tragically Hip fans) TOMORROW at Bon Soo, so visit the above links for more details, and here's BookcluB live!

Finally for today, here's a band we haven't talked about in way too long on here, namely local rap metal project Without Compromise! I admittedly slacked in covering them for months on end, and I apologize for that, but it didn't help that project leader (and former Winkstinger guitarist) Jason Ladouceur quietly left Facebook last year. However, Jason is still working on Without Compromise, and has continued uploading music for the former Less Than Zero to its Bandlab page and YouTube channel! A lot of his newer music and art has been along the lines of the evolution of intelligence and consciousness, and he has seemed to embrace AI as tech, so keep that in mind. In listening to Jason's newest material, the music is getting more varied, with metal songs mixed in symphonic and electronic elements, and while his vocals are still a work in progress (and sometimes buried in production), he is applying them in different roles and methods of singing.

 

I won't pretend to understand the artistic ethos of Without Compromise in the past year, but there is definitely talent on display, and Jason can still shred when the song calls for it! He has seemed to play down the rap aspect (at least for his own vocals) in his newest songs, but note that his song "Todayz" seems to include an AI model of Eminem rapping. There's promising music to check out here, so dig through their Bandlab and YouTube content above to see what he's been up to, and here's one of Without Compromise's newer uploaded songs, "In The Darkness"!

 

 

That's all for now, but stay tuned for much more on the site in the coming days! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Sugar Island Music Festival) & New E.U.P. Concert Videos!!

Plans for today's SMS post got very upended by a big SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT that has tripped me up multiple times in the past, so that and some new concert videos are on the docket in this all-Michigan post. Here's what you should know on this Saturday morning!

Reports of this weekend's quiet hard rock concert lineup were slightly premature, as Sault Michigan hard rock quartet The Nameless will rock the annual Sugar Island Music Festival TODAY! I profusely apologize for the short notice, the band only confirmed their involvement on their Facebook page yesterday, but the lineup was quietly confirmed for some time on the festival's website. As you may recall, the Sugar Island Festival gathers numerous local musicians (mostly not regulars on the E.U.P. bar scene in these projects) to perform on the outdoor stage on the island just east of the Soo, but there is always at least one token rock band who fans will be familiar with, and The Nameless have been that band since 2023. While we're at it, I profusely apologize for not covering their set at last year's Sugar Island Fest, as per the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine backup of their website.

For full details on this year's lineup (including bands yesterday and tomorrow), click here, but note that performers on Sugar Island tend to lean more towards bluegrass and country from my understanding. After playing last year at 6:00 PM on the Friday, fans can see Joshua, the Mikes, and Jamie (fresh off of their third place run at the Superior Whitefish Festival battle of the bands) TODAY at 5:00 PM. Your top three acts again this year are 3½ Men at 9:00 PM, 3-Zip at 8:00 PM, and Aberdeen at 7:00 PM, while festival regulars 2 Cents take the stage at 6:00 PM after not playing on the Saturday last year. Gentleman George Snider also returns at 4:00 PM, while afternoon newcomers include The Blue Lines at 3:00 PM, The Russells at 2:00 PM, and Rich Klenle at 1:00 PM. February Sky will return as the opening band at 12:00 PM, and an open mic block will kick off TODAY'S program as usual at 11:00 AM.

Music aside, expect a beanbag tournament, childrens' activities, and camping on site, so be sure to check the above links for more on the family friendly entertainment, as well as instructions on how to get to the stage on Sugar Island (and remember that you have to take the ferry to get there from Sault Ste. Marie). This all ages festival has admission of $20 via buttons purchased at the Hilltop Bar and Westshore Convenience Store on the island proper, or at the gate (there are no single day passes). 9&10 News is calling for partly-mostly cloudy skies TODAY with weather ranging from 77-84° (25-29° Celsius) with a 20% chance of rain for the final two acts, so mind the current heat wave if you're coming out. Despite the relative lack of social media advertising (The Nameless never even plugged their 2024 set on Facebook), it's great to see a stacked lineup of local talent back for another year of music on Sugar Island!

Even with the genre focus away from live rock music, there's a lot of talent to take in TODAY and tomorrow, as there was yesterday, so don't bypass the Sugar Island Festival for a pleasant (if hot) outdoor diversion this weekend! Visit the above links for more details, apologies again for the short notice and missing last year's festival on the SMS, and for a preview, here's a new video of The Nameless live at The Islander Bar in Hessel last month! In this one, you can hear them covering the end of Lit's "My Own Worst Enemy" but the visual focus is on dancing attendees, with the band not even in frame. The audio is muffled, and Josh's vocals don't always match the song in intensity, but fun was had, so give it a watch below!

We'll take the ferry back to Sault Ste. Marie to end this post, and like yesterday, we'll do so with local hard rock/punk trio About:Blank via a long awaited public video of their opening set at the Musicians Unite benefit concert at Bird's Eye Outfitters in March! The guys only uploaded a clip of them at the Mary Jo Jenkins fundraiser event to their Facebook page on June 5th (over two months later) and it features Parker, Nathan, and Kade playing an original song named "Unheard". Like with their jam session video shared here yesterday, this horizontal video was uploaded in letterboxed vertical dimensions, making it needlessly tiny again, and like on "Why", we're only seeing the end of the song here, but there is promise to be had! The audio is muffled somewhat, but "Unheard" sounds solid with a little more of a punk edge to it, and Parker's intense screams suit the ending of it well! Check out About:Blank's new video below, and stay tuned for more from them!

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

Musicians Unite Fallout & Videos (Part 2!!)

In today's post, let's continue our fallout from the Musicians Unite fundraiser concert for Mary Jo Jenkins at Bird's Eye Outfitters on March 22nd! We'll pick things back up with local hard rock band Exit 808, whose guest musician-laden set last month was also captured for guest singer Molly Escherich's Facebook page via two different videos. One is a longer alternate take of the band (plus Molly, guest guitarist Joe Jenkins, and guest bassist Bob Libick) covering Evanescence's "Bring Me To Life", confirming here that co-lead singer Amy Beach did start the song before Molly took over lead vocals. While it is good to see the full rendition on video, let alone horizontally shot, I'm not embedding it here because it was still pillarboxed into vertical dimensions, making the video tiny, and I'll never quite get how that happens. The other video was uploaded in full landscape dimensions, and it's their rocked-up cover of Rihanna & Eminem's "Monster", so what is there to see?

Once again, Amy started the cover before ceding the floor to Molly, with co-singer Dillion Semasky obviously handling the Eminem parts. This atypical cover has become a regular in Exit 808's sets, and they do a good job with it, and while Molly does have some unsteadiness early, she puts her vocal range to good use here! The angled view to the stage's right gives a unique perspective of the proceedings compared to other videos that I have came across too, so check the new Exit 808 + Molly videos out above & below!

Next up, we'll stay with Molly for a second, as clips from her three between-bands acoustic sets were included in a Facebook video of her own! Unfortunately, it was uploaded as a "Reel", complete with a hard-coded caption at the bottom, so it is vertical, unplayable in background tabs, and unembeddable on the SMS. The "Reel" features a few clips from the day's events, including Molly covering Eddie Rabbitt's "Driving My Life Away" and Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down" (she does have range!), shredding with About:Blank guitarist/Other Guys bandmate Nathan Webber (I don't know if this was during the band's set or hers), and playing the bass during her final set, while clips of the two aforementioned Exit 808 videos were also included. My complaints about "Reels" aside, this is a well done teaser of what Molly has to offer musically, and given her age, she has a very bright future ahead, so click here to see the whole thing!

While photos from their set were posted to their Facebook page, local hard rock quartet Dirty Musky did not post any of their own videos. The only public one that I have seen is in a comment reply on Project 906's Facebook page from this post on March 24th, which captures Dave, the Blackwoods, and Jamie covering The Barenaked Ladies' "The Old Apartment". Nice to see a Sault Michigan band covering The Ladies, and the 30 seconds-long clip is lively and melodic while it lasts! I can't embed videos posted directly in Facebook comments here. As for Project 906 proper, they were very central to Musicians Unite, given that guitarist Joe Jenkins is Mary Jo's husband, so their family were definitely feeling the good vibes and well wishes at Bird's Eye! Unfortunately, singer Billy Bernier was on vacation during the show's timeframe, so 906 called in the aforementioned Amy Beach and Dillion Semasky to fill in on vocals for their set, 

Project 906's Facebook page posted a (sadly vertical) video of them covering Candlebox's "Far Behind" with Dillion on vocals, and yes, frequent guest hand drummer Brian Duford was also performing here. The minute-long clip was shot at a good angle despite the orientation, and Dillion really nails the vocals! Project 906 fans will have nothing to worry about on this cover despite Billy's absence, and you get a good view of everyone rocking out while it lasts, so check out this cover for yourselves below!

Finally, the other known public Project 906 video comes from Amy's Facebook upload of official photographer John Bullman's media from Musicians Unite, this time capturing the band, Brian, and Dillion again covering "Far Behind". What are the odds that both John and the band's own filmer would capture the same song? While still vertical, John's video is arguably better thanks to a higher quality camera, a slightly longer run-time, and a closer angle of the stage, especially to Dillion's benefit. Compare and contrast both of Project 906's Candlebox covers above & below!

We'll have more videos and fallout from Musicians Unite, particularly from About:Blank's set, in an upcoming post, so stay tuned for that and more on the site soon! Thanks everyone!

Musicians Unite Fallout & Videos (Part 1!!)

This has fallen through the cracks for way too long now, so let's talk about fallout from the Musicians Unite benefit concert at Bird's Eye Outfitters on March 22nd! Held in honour of Project 906 guitarist Joe Jenkins' wife Mary Jo in order to raise money for her and her family during her ongoing battle with breast cancer, you can read more about all that happened last month in this personal Facebook post by co-promoter & Exit 808 singer Amy Beach (which has been shared publically by some of the bands). Over $5,000 was raised for the Jenkins family on this night, and Bird's Eye was packed all day, so it's awesome to see the support from Sault Michiganders and the E.U.P. at this trying time! I initially had planned to cross the border for it, but the whole tariff/trade war thing came up and I didn't want to risk any hiked up duty payments at customs for whatever I happened to buy. Amy's post also includes 50 photos from the concert, so what is there to see?

While John Bullman was the official photographer, these attached photos are Amy's, and include shots of attendees and performers alike, and there's a lot of quality shots from her camera from bell to bell! In terms of videos, let's start with headlining Marquette hard rock cover band Spun (featuring frequent Exit 808 guest bassist Bob Libick), who live-streamed two vertical videos from their set to their Facebook page. Now, I want to preface this by noting that Facebook will now be removing live-streamed videos from accounts after 30 days in an effort to declutter storage and improve program efficiency (source here). Pages/users will then have a 90 day window to either re-post it as a normal video or "Reel", or save it to their hard drive before it is permanently deleted (one six month postponement will also be allowed). This was announced before Musicians Unite, so I don't know if Spun intended for these to be short-term content or not, but watch them while you can!

I get where Facebook is coming from, as the amount of uploaded videos never ends, but that's a lot of videos that are doomed, so hopefully not all of them are unceremoniously deleted! In any event, Spun's videos (which should be live until around April 21st barring a permanent re-upload) feature a rocked-up cover of Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues" and, as embedded below, Guns N' Roses' "Sweet Child O Mine" featuring Amy on guest vocals. Sadly, both videos are vertical, and the filmer was behind attendees in both clips, but both covers are solid, and Amy's voice holds up well for this GNR classic, so check both videos out (while you can?) above and below!

Co-headlining Elmira hard rock band Driving Dawn didn't post videos of their own from Musicians United, but attendee Miranda Bigger got some really good pictures of their set that you can see on the band's Facebook page and/or this link. Acoustic filler sets aside, the aforementioned Exit 808 closed things as far as local bands went, and in terms of their lineup, they were joined at Bird's Eye by the aforementioned Joe Jenkins and Bob Libick as guests on guitar and bass. while Amy's 10 year old niece Stella even joined them on bass for at least one song! Regardless of whether he's officially on guitar or bass now, Amy's son Blaze Beairl was not in attendance, and while I didn't see an official statement as to why, he was on the road with Heavy Lies The Crown that weekend, drumming with them at Cabin Fever Fest 2 in Oscoda the previous day. We'll have more on H.L.T.C.'s March activity soon!

A handful of videos from the show were shared in this batch post of John Bullman's photos that was posted to Exit 808's Facebook page, and one video is of their set, where they were joined by another guest musician, namely Molly Escherich, who fronted The Other Guys to victory at last year's LSSU Battle of the Bands, and was one of three between-set guest acoustic musicians on this night. The 50 seconds-long clip sees Exit 808, Molly, Joe, and Bob covering Evanescence's "Bring Me To Life", with Amy sitting out to allow Molly to handle lead vocals (co-singer Dillon Semasky did the Paul McCoy parts). I have no idea why this video is so skinny (even if you like vertical videos), but everyone performs well on this hard rock staple! Molly does come across a little nervous, but her vocals suit the cover nicely, and remember, she is 13 years old. Good stuff all around, so check out Exit 808 & crew below!

We'll touch on media and fallout from the earlier three local bands and the acoustic performers in an upcoming post, but I'm glad to finally get coverage rolling from Musicians Unite, and our continued best wishes are with Mary Jo and the Jenkins family as he continues her cancer battle! That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews next! Thanks everyone!

The Musicians Unite Benefit Concert Preview!!

A huge assortment of local and Northern Michigan rock talent will join forces at Bird's Eye Outfitters TOMORROW NIGHT for Musicians Unite, a special benefit concert! As you may know, Project 906 guitarist Joe Jenkins' wife Mary Jo has been in a fight with breast cancer for the past year+, and this event is to raise money for her and her family to offset the cost of treatments and medically-related travel downstate. Along with tomorrow's concert action, there will be official t-shirts available for purchase, a bake sale, and a silent auction on site at Bird's Eye, so visit the official Facebook event page for complete non-musical details on what's going on and how you can help May Jo and family at this difficult time! Your headliners tomorrow are Marquette hard rock cover quartet Spun in their first local concert appearance since 2022, though bassist Bob Libick has guested locally with Exit 808 multiple times since.

It's cool to have Spun proper back on a local stage tomorrow at 10:45 PM, and hopefully they rock the house tomorrow, especially given that they're letting the opening bands use their sound system! Elmira hard rock quintet Driving Dawn will co-headline at 9:00 PM in their first ever E.U.P. concert appearance, though Exit 808 fans may know them too, as they won last year's Rock Recovery battle of the bands in Alpena. Driving Dawn's skilled modern rock sound should be welcomed by Yoopers tomorrow night as well! The aforementioned Exit 808 are the highest slotted local band at 7:30 PM, and members Amy Beach & Jackie Moon are the promoters of Musicians Unite as well. Should be a big set for them, and given how open they are to have guest and fill-in musicians, could some surprises turn up? One is definitely hinted, as young Dafter singer/guitarist Molly Escherich is listed as making "appearances" mid-set.

Whether just the band, with Molly, or with other guests, Exit 808 should leave a good impression with their double vocalist-led hard rock! Fellow local hard rock quartet Dirty Musky will take the stage at 6:00 PM with their own set of unique hard and alternative covers, and they should make some noise early in the evening, as will hard/blues rockers Project 906, who are (of course) one of the central bands tomorrow given who Mary Jo is married to. Unfortunately, the band will be playing sans singer Billy Bernier due to a previously scheduled vacation, but Exit 808 singers Amy Beach and Dillion Semasky will be guesting behind the mic with 906, returning the favour after both Joe & Dustin have sat in with Exit 808 in recent months, so look for this special set tomorrow as well! The opening local band is new alt-punk trio About: Blank (featuring Tarnished and Midnight Logic alumni), who will kick off the day's musical program at 3:00 PM.

As for the previously teased acoustic performers between the full band sets, organizers confirmed earlier today that three solo musicians will do the honours across the five breaks between bands. The aforementioned Molly Escherich (who was teased to guest with Exit 808) is slated to play unplugged music at 10:15 PM, 7:00 PM, and 4:00 PM, while veteran local folk singer/guitarist Kevin Blakeney is blocked for a mini-set at 8:30 PM, and About:Blank frontman Parker Talentino will go solo for a bit of his own at 5:30 PM. Admission is by donation tomorrow night, and while I have not seen a firmly stated age limit at Bird's Eye (which is licensed), Molly's presence alone is noted. Official event t-shirts will also be on sale. While I won't be in attendance (I was hoping to go before the tariff/trade war complicated imminent Sault Michigan trips), this is a huge concert for EUP live music fans, so don't miss it!

Alas, I can relate all too well to what the Jenkins family is going through right now, as I lost my mother (named Mary, incidentally) to ovarian cancer in October 2020. From what I have seen and read, Mary Jo's strength, courage, and devotion to her family (including her three kids) is extremely commendable, and kudos to Joe, his bandmates, and everyone else involved with Musicians Unite for putting on what will be a packed night of live music and good vibes! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details on tomorrow's benefit concert, and for a preview, here's Spun live!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for some new concert announcements on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Pillory) And Musicians Unite/Exit 808 Updates!!

Today's news post is divided cleanly between the Twin Saults as we cover two big upcoming concerts, one a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next month and one a major benefit concert that was already on the site, so here's what you should know on this Wednesday evening!

If this weekend's Selias concert at Soo Blaster doesn't fill your metal quota, the next one on (Good) Friday, April 18th should help, as four local acts that have not played live yet this year will take the stage for this show named "The Pit"! Your headliners are reunited death/thrash metal trio Pillory in their first public concert date in eight months, and it will be good to see Robert, Blair, and Bret in a rare headlining appearance next month with their brutal original set! Metal/hard rock trio The BAG will co-headline in their first gig since Halloween, and their intensity and familiar original/cover blend should draw a solid response of their own on this Easter long weekend event! Local progressive/djent metal trio Convergence (featuring Late & Loud, Palm Trees, and Fuller alumni) will make their first ever local concert appearance on this night, and while I'm not sure if it's directly related, they have been planning their first ever tour run!

The former Kraken Mara are currently running a GoFundMe campaign to help fund a tour and its related costs, and they aim to raise $2,400, a goal that they're 77% of the way to completing as of this writing. Between this, "The Pit", and the delayed "Gemini" release, this should be a big year for Convergence, so click above for more details on the crowdfunding efforts! No word on if their live set will be instrumental or if they'll incorporate vocals (Brendan has provided vocals on some of their material). The opening act on Good Friday is a debuting artist (band?) named Maynard Hayes. At press time, I have no idea who Maynard Hayes is/are, but we'll let you know more details when they go public! Unlike the Selias concert, this one does have advance ticket sales on Soo Blaster's website, where they cost $10 in advance, and the price jumps to $15 at the door. There is no announced age limit, and doors are advertised to open at 7:00 PM.

It's always good to see pure metal concerts in the Soo, and let alone a roster of bands that we haven't seen much of on stage in recent months (if at all), and this will be a fine and brutal way to kick off the next long weekend, so visit the above links for more details on all of the action at/in The Pit!

Next up, here's some updates to next Saturday's Musicians Unite fundraiser concert at Bird's Eye Outfitters in Sault Michigan! There have been additions to the lineup, as there will now be "acoustic acts in between" the six scheduled bands, as per performers Exit 808's Facebook page on March 5th. There are five half hour gaps between the bands' timeslots, for the record. I haven't seen firm printed reference to which acoustic acts will be on hand, but Kevin Blakeney had expressed interest on social media as to playing in between bands here, so it seems likely that he'll be one of them. Always good to see more local talent hop on board to help support Mary Jo Jenkins and her family during her breast cancer fight! Speaking of which, her husband Joe's hard/blues rock band Project 906 will be playing shorthanded on March 22nd, as singer Billy Bernier will be on a previously scheduled vacation.

It will be odd to see Project 906 playing live without Billy, especially given this show's purpose, but I'm sure he'll be there in spirit! To fill in on vocals, Exit 808 singers Amy Beach and Dillion Semasky will split duties on the mic next Saturday, kinda sorta returning the favour after Joe filled in with Exit 808 live last year. Kudos to them for helping out, and fans of theirs will know the vocal abilities that they bring to the table! Lastly, let's touch on Exit 808's last updates about the band proper, courtesy of their Facebook page on March 9th, where they revealed that Amy's son Blaze Beairl has been practicing to handle a full four-set concert with them on bass. The implication is that he is fully replacing Myke Young on bass in the band, at least for the time being, and while a public reason for Myke's departure has not been announced, note that he hasn't been credited in the band's social media posts since November. 

Blaze has been a steady and familiar utility player for Exit 808 in recent months, playing (along with bass) rhythm guitar for partial sets after Will Robbins left, as well as lead guitar for a set when Alex Zimmerman was delayed by weather, with Spun's Bob Libick often travelling east from Marquette for bass fill-ins as well. Hopefully things go smoothly for Exit 808 on Saturday in Brimley and next weekend at Bird's Eye, so stay tuned for more on both events, and hopefully we see Myke back on stage in due course! That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews on the site next, Exit 808 included! Thanks everyone!

Fuller & 20 Musicians Of Christmas Concert Previews, Plus New Northwest Videos!!

With this year's New Year's Eve weekend being busy as ever, especially post-pandemic, we have to break our weekend concert previews into three posts! We'll start today with two upcoming shows at LopLops Lounge, then we'll look at Friday-Saturday nighters elsewhere, before capping things off with New Year's Eve shows proper, so there's a glimpse into the upcoming post timeline, and we also have a YouTube Channel Profile, this month's CD review, and our year-end recap post ahead, so expect some busy times at the SMS to end the year! Let's lead off with those LopLops previews, with some new live videos from there to cap things off with!

For punk and emo fans of the early-mid 2000s, the New Years weekend begins in style TOMORROW NIGHT when Fuller reunite at LopLops for their first public gig in at least seventeen years! On this night, Fuller will be represented by founding singer/guitarist Jamie Vincent (last seen with No Funeral) and late-era bassist Mark Rand (now of Barrie's Cross Dog), with Pointless/All The Tired Horses drummer David Peredun taking over for the absent (and also blonde) Nathan Sauve. It will be great to see Fuller back for the holidays, and hopefully the promise of their jam session teaser videos spill over into tomorrow's set! Local punk supergroup The Gambit (née The Sick Sons) will return to the stage for their second gig as a quintet and under their current name when they take the stage tomorrow, in their first live set in exactly one year. Good to see them back after way too long, and they should have a fun set in store for old school punk fans tomorrow!

The opening band tomorrow is the debuting Honest Work (not to be confused with the defunct Honest Job), who feature the surviving members of Nebraska Arms alongside Rising Tide alum Sheldon Jaaskelainen on guitar. It's not clear who's singing here (Wayne?) or if they will sound similar to Nebraska Arms, but it'd help if they launched an online page! Regardless, they'll be a talented lead-off to tomorrow's SOLD OUT and 19+ concert, which begins at 8:00 PM, though tickets were $20 when still available. This should be a great time for punk and emo fans, especially those around in the 2000s scene, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Fuller live back in the day!

Next up, the holiday season program at LopLops ends on FRIDAY NIGHT when many familiar faces take part in the return of the 12 20 Musicians of Christmas! Since we first covered this special concert event on the site two weeks ago, when it was already inflated from the traditional 12 artists to 16, organizers have added four more local musicians to inflate this event to its biggest state yet! As you may recall, The 12 Musicians of Christmas was a holiday season-tradition at LopLops from 2005-2018, where musicians were (at least at the time) given three song sets where they were joined by assorted other participants for some tantalizing one-off supergroups throughout the night. How that format will look with an extra eight people involved is to be determined, but with this performer roster, you won't want to miss out! Unlike in the earlier installments, there are a number of punk and hard rock alumni performing, so who can you expect?

Fans of Dustin Jones & The Rising Tide will be curious to check this out, as Dustin, Mikey Hawdon, Liam Seymour, Chris Johns, and new addition Marshall Jaaskelainen (good to see him back in town!) will all be taking part. No word on if we'll get a mini-Tide reunion or not, but don't bypass their involvement! Readers will also recognize Treble Charger/Pointless guitarist Bill Priddle, Wyld Stallyns saxophonist Josh Norling, and ex-Generations guitarist Brandon Ruch among the roster of performers on Friday. The other twelve Musicians of Christmas are Frank Deresti, Al Wood, Lindsay Pugh, Cliff Alloy, Shannon Moan, Juliana Regan, Hannah Lindsay, Andree-Ann Dechesne, Chris Belsito, and new additions Gabrielle Dumas, Craig West, and Vince Feletti. That is a stacked lineup of local talent covering a wide range of styles, so it'll be very interesting to see who plays what and with whom!

This special concert begins at 7:00 PM on Friday, it has a 19+ age limit, and admission is $50 at the door or in advance (+ processing fees & taxes) at this link. Yes, it's a pricey event, but that is on par with past installments, and look at the value you're getting. While the 20 Musicians of Christmas are gathering four days after the fact, it'll be a big night for fans of local music to see this much talent together for the holidays, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details! Given the nature of the event, I'll forgo a preview video, as everyone is advertised on an equal playing field and it'd be tough to find one video to sum up 20 people!

We'll close today by staying at LopLops, where Honest Work's Wayne Watkins performed on Friday with his primary current indie/punk band The Northwest! Attendee Christopher Paci filmed three videos of their set from their 10th anniversary concert for his excellent YouTube channel, and for the record, I do not believe that Far From Fine (who were advertised as opening in some personal Facebook plugs) played on Friday night after all. A reason for their apparent withdrawal wasn't publically announced, but be advised that the band never confirmed their involvement on social media (granted, The Northwest didn't even promote the show publically on Facebook). Hopefully we see Far From Fine in the new year! Chris filmed The Northwest covering The Who's "Baba O'Riley" and playing their own originals "Unsober October" and, as embedded below, "Walls".

In a nice touch, Chris shot each Northwest video from a slightly different angle, and while I chose "Walls" to embed because of its length, it was also shot from the most central locale of the three. It's also one of The Northwest's punkier originals, and the guys sound good and lively across all three videos, though be advised of very purple lighting for most of the combined runtime. Give these a watch above & below!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for non-LopLops concert previews next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Soundcheck & The 16 Musicians Of Christmas) And A Full Concert Video!!

Before we begin this post, I wanted to apologize for a missed concert in this past weekend's concert previews, as Sault Michigan hard rock/classic metal band Tarnished played at The Merchants Bar this past Saturday night. The band only announced the show on their Facebook page at 3:04 PM that day, and true to their usual form, The Merch's Facebook page did not advertise this show in advance whatsoever. I profusely apologize for missing this show in our previews, but hopefully Alex, Parker, and Josh melted those faces as promised on Saturday, and I would have covered the gig on the site had it even had one day's notice!

Now, let's dive into some new videos and LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, and leading off with the latter, do you recall how LopLops Lounge in Sault Ontario used to host a "12 Musicians of Christmas" event every December from 2005-2018? Well, it's back, and has grown to 16 Musicians of Christmas for its return on Friday, December 29th! This event's past installments didn't immediately strike me as SMS-amenable, owing to LopLops' usual music range leaning to folk/indie artists, but this year's will have some familiar faces for punk fans, as Bookclub/ex-Inner City Surfers bandmates Dustin Jones & Mikey Hawdon are among this year's roster!  Dustin's ex-Rising Tide bandmates Liam Seymour & Chris Johns will also be taking part, as will Treble Charger/Pointless guitarist Bill Priddle, Wyld Stallyns saxophonist Josh Norling, and ex-Generations guitarist Brandon Ruch. Those seven artists alone is a stacked lineup!

The other nine Musicians of Christmas are Frank Deresti, Al Wood, Lindsay Pugh, Cliff Alloy, Shannon Moan, Juliana Regan, Hannah Lindsay, Andree-Ann Dechesne, and Chris Belsito, and the skill between them is also quite high! If past installments of The 12 Musicians of Christmas are anything to go by, musicians will get a three song mini-set of their very own where they will be backed up by select other performers scheduled for the evening, so expect lots of intriguing collaborations throughout. Despite being scheduled for after Christmas, this should be another fun holiday season attraction, so keep it in mind for later this month! This show has a 7:00 PM start time, 19+ age limit, and a high ticket price of $50 plus taxes/processing fees (a high entry fee is on par with past installments of this special event). and you can buy yours at this link or presumably at the door. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details on this special event!

Next up, remember how local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck were slated to play at the Delta Hotel's New Year's Eve party on Sunday, December 31st? Well, that has been cancelled for publically unannounced reasons, but fans need not worry, as they have been re-booked for Reggie's Place's New Year's Eve party instead! No word on other holiday frills for attendees who might want to stop by to ring in 2024, but while this will no doubt be less extravagant than what the Delta had planned, it will also be much cheaper at Reggie's than the Delta's $100 ticket price ($100 cheaper, in fact!), so general attendees who just want to rock out with Soundcheck can do so at Reggie's at month's/year's end! This new concert on the 31st has no cover charge, a 19+ age limit, and a presumed 9:00 PM start time. Visit the above links for more details, and look for more from Soundcheck soon!

We'll close today with our long overdue look at new Sault Michigan hardcore punk quartet The Sole Aggressors' live debut at Bird's Eye Outfitters on August 12th, as per their YouTube channel! Filmed on a stationary camera in front of the stage, this notably features their full lineup, as singer Henry Boucher was not present for their first place set at last month's LSSU Battle of the Bands. The 46 minute set features The Sole Aggressors opening with covers of Black Flag's "Drinking & Driving", "Jealous Again", and "Depression", before covering The Misfits' "Where Eagles Dare". They next played an original song named "Reject", and after covering The Ramones' "Blitzkrieg Bop", they tackled three more originals, namely "No Part", "Streets", and "Kill Thy Neighbour". The Sole Aggressors next covered Black Flag's "Six Pack", followed by another original named "Fool". Three final covers came next, including...

...The Dead Milkmen's "Punk Rock Girl", Minor Threat's "I Don't Wanna Hear It", and an encore of "Six Pack", before closing with an original named "State Of The World". Well recorded video that captures this talented young band well, and while Henry's vocals are not overly loud or rangy yet, the attitude and presence is there, and again, it's great seeing a punk band of any kind in Sault Michigan! Give their full concert video a watch below!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Soundcheck), More Local Artists On You Rock!, And Other Updates!!

In this final weekend with vaccine passports in the province, the hard rock concert calendar is very slim, but some SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS have hit my news desk in time to give them some coverage before it is too late! Rounding things out, we do have some assorted notes from a popular Facebook group, and some local content on a popular indie music showcase series, so here's what you should know!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to Reggie's West for traditional concerts TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the band only confirmed these dates via their official Facebook page yesterday, but this is relatively common for their gig announcements, alas. TONIGHT & TOMORROW'S shows do follow their regular Thursday night role as open mic night hosts at the Reggievelt, but traditionally, we don't cover open mic nights as "concerts" on the SMS due to their unpredictable nature and variable performance length of the hosts. Open mic nights aside, this is Soundcheck's second normal concert weekend of 2022 and their first at Reggie's West in almost three months (largely thanks to the re-imposed pandemic restrictions), but with those lifted, hopefully a sizeable crowd turns out to safely rock out with their diverse but often heavy covers!

You can see Soundcheck TONIGHT & TOMORROW at 9:00 PM with no cover charge and a 19+ age limit, but be advised that this is the last concert weekend where vaccine passports are mandatory to enter nightclubs in Ontario, so do not forget yours if you come out! Starting March 1st, they're no longer required, but regardless, please use common sense regarding any posted public health measures to keep everyone safe. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Soundcheck live!

Next up, here's some more local representation in a recent episode of Thomas Christ's independent music showcase webseries You Rock!, starting with episode #20 from January 19th! The mid-point of that episode is very locally friendly, as Thomas checks out three songs from local acts in a six song, hour+ long span (the episode runs for just over 3 hours). First up is inactive grunge trio No Arrow's song "Sikkha" (1:17:20), preceded by context about how the track came to be, and I won't get into the specifics here, especially with how they deal with band disagreements. Thomas complimented the song's raw grunge/metal hybrid feeling and how it really evokes a live performance, and it's great to see that No Arrow are still finding a strong audience so many years removed from their dissolution! Local indie rockers Man Feelings also get good praise at the 1:57:00 mark for their song "When You Win (You Win Ugly)".

That episode's local contingent ends with regularly featured You Rock! contributor Mike Haggith, specifically here via his old power pop/hard rock trio The Din's song "Missing" (2:04:05) from their last album "Suburban Dream". Thomas called this song "fantastic" and complimented it's straightforward indie vibe, live readiness, and Mike's overall professionalism. Solid thoughts as always, so give all of the local and international talent a listen above! Embedded below is episode #21 from January 26th, which features songs from both Mike Haggith and No Arrow, so what should you know there? Mike's up first at 1:54:55 when Thomas played his song "MorningStar" from 2020's "If Ever Comes The Day", and he praised the track as an "epic song", hyping up its orchestral elements and rocking vibe, especially so given that this was allegedly Mike's first song made solely on GarageBand for iOS!

As for No Arrow, their song "Genocyde Revealing Part 2" is played at 2:27:00, with frontman Dann Pichette giving some interesting thoughts on the song's origins and the band (if that explains anything!) Thomas said that the song sounded great, that it reminded him of a Nirvana b-side, and he liked the chaotic ending as well. Always solid insights from Thomas Christ (a strong musician in his own right beyond this series), and the breadth of talent from afar is always welcome in this series, so give everything a watch above & below! We'll look at more from You Rock! next week!

Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items, all related to posts on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group from the last few weeks! As usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist name:

 

• Former Haggith/Eclipse singer Curtis McKenzie is looking for a drummer that would be interested in jamming with his current project, who cover bands like Nirvana, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Stone Temple Pilots, and Soundgarden. A bassist is already enlisted, and Curt made it sound like he was on guitar. It'd be great to see Curtis back out there with a full band, but message him here or via his group post from two weeks ago for more details!
• In his latest Musicians Wanted post, former Bear Hunters/Skull After Betrayl guitarist Mike Vincent posted about wanting to jam in a band again, naming "rock and roll, classic rock, hard rock, and maybe some country" as preferred genres. Mike can also play drums if needed. Maybe not a return to his best known metal work is in the cards, but if you want to jam with Mike, message him at this link or via his group post on Monday!
• Mustang Sally alum Nicholas Gingras is looking for a bassist (ideally aged 17-22) who would be interested in joining his current band The Floor Between Us, who play original "experimental comedy rock", and hope to play songs that, while "straightforward harmonically", can also have simple chord progressions churned out "on the fly". The brief musical samples on their Instagram page don't tell us a ton about their sound, but just in case they could get heavy, message Nicholas at this link or via his group post on Sunday for more info!

 

That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's YouTube Channel Profile this weekend! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Tarnished), New Videos, And More Recent Updates!!

I wasn't expecting to already have a new news post on the SMS (it hasn't even been 24 hours since yesterday's), but we have one more SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT and related missed concert apology to touch on, but not from a band you may be expecting. To round things out, we have some new videos from both sides of the border and some assorted updates, so here's what you should know!

Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Tarnished returned to The Rapids Lounge at the Soo's Kewadin Casino branch last night, and will return for one more go-around TONIGHT! I profusely apologize for the short notice on TONIGHT'S show and for missing yesterday's outright, the band only announced these gigs on their Facebook page yesterday afternoon, calling this "a last minute change to this weekend", implying that they replaced another band on late notice. For what it's worth, Kewadin's entertainment page does list Tarnished as playing this weekend, but I have no way of knowing how quickly they updated the listing, let alone which band dropped out. This weekend's shows were/are Tarnished's first since their '80s night at Bird's Eye Outfitters last week, but Rapids Lounge patrons will have just seen Alex, Nathan, Isaac, and Josh there two weeks ago for shows plugged well in advance.

The late notice isn't convenient for many fans, but if you're available in the E.U.P. TONIGHT, and want to hear some hard rocking tunes from this talented foursome, go see them, and again, I apologize for missing last night's show on here, I'd have put these in yesterday's post had I seen their announcement in time! Yesterday's & TONIGHT's shows had/have 9:00 PM start times, no cover charges, and 21+ age limits, but please follow and honour Kewadin's public health recommendations and guidelines to ensure everyone's safety. See above for more details, and here's Tarnished live!

Next up, here's a new music video from Sault Michigan classical metal band Theatre of Night, who are apparently working on a second Christmas album! Of course, you'll likely recall their 2010 instrumental album "Christmas Night", but much of Theatre of Night's output since the mid-2010s has involved female vocalists (either as band members or guests), and it looks like they're finally working on a proper album of metal Christmas carols entitled "Dreams of Christmas" with (most of) the band that played their 2018 & 2019 Christmas tours! Both the video and this promotional image from Reverbnation do not feature bassist Scott Andringa, implying that he has left Theatre of Night, and while a reason for his apparent exit has not been publically announced, they also didn't acknowledge Chris & Stacie's departures either when they left the band a few years back, so this may be all we get.

Scott's a talented bassist, hopefully we hear of him in new bands again soon! As for the video, it features Craig, Steve, Rachel, and Erik performing "What Child Is This?" in pitch black aside from close-ups of them in dark shadows, which is a striking visual! This carol led off their live show in their three Christmas tours, so will it be track #1 on "Dreams of Christmas", perhaps with their concert setlist being redone verbatim in studio? Stay tuned for more from Theatre of Night's camp, and here's their new music video, as uploaded to their YouTube channel on Monday!

Let's head north to Sault Ontario to wrap up this post, starting with a new audio demo from new local punk quartet Vanity's YouTube channel on Tuesday! The song in question ("Black Flies") is by no means a new song for them, having posted an early demo of it four months ago, followed by a live recording from an apparent jam session, but this definitely more of a refined copy. Solid pop punk track that sounds finished or close to it, and Andrew's melodic vocals fit like a glove, but the instruments are a little muffled in this take. Nice to see Vanity keeping at it, and hopefully there's lots more promising stuff to come from them, but give "Black Flies" a listen below!

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

 

• Four years after his prior search on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group, local bassist Ben Eder is looking to join or start a band, preferably one playing hard rock, alternative, or grunge, and he is open to playing covers or originals. He can also play guitar, and while he didn't mention his drumming ability this time, he has since added vocals to his own repertoire. If you're interested in getting more details, message Ben at this link or via his group post from Monday!
• Former Caveman Morrison singer Dean Duguay has similarly posted on the Musicians Wanted group looking to join a new local band, preferably one who plays 1970-1990s rock music, and he has a list of songs he's open to trying out upon request. Media isn't plentiful, but I recall Dean had a solid voice, so message him at this link or via his group post from last month to get more details!
• Prolific local/Manitoba alternative/hard rock musician Mike Haggith's next live-stream concert has a date, so tune into his Facebook page on Thursday, December 16th at 7:30 PM to check it out in it's original run! Mike announced the date on Thursday, though the theme is to be announced, as is a "featured artist" (does he mean a guest or a cover selection?) Keep watch on Facebook in case Mike says anything in advance!

 

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