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!

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!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Musicians Unite Benefit & Dirty Musky!!)

We have a fair backlog of news items to clear out on the SMS as we begin March 2025, so let's start with an all-Sault Michigan post solely devoted to LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for later this month. Here's what you should know!

Local hard rock cover quartet Dirty Musky will rock The Merchants Bar on Saturday, March 15th! This one-nighter will be their second show of 2025 (after rocking Hessel during Snowsfest last month), and their first gig in the Soo since playing at The Merch right before Christmas. Like in their last two concerts, the festivities in two weeks have a theme, as March 15th falls a couple of days before St. Patrick's Day, so in lieu of a Monday nighter, expect bands to take advantage of the 15th for their Irish themed festivities and green beer! We await specifics on what The Merch/Dirty Musky have in mind though. You can see Dave, the Blackwoods, and Jamie take the stage that night at 9:00 PM with a 21+ age limit and no cover charge. Visit the above links for more details on what should be a fun night of hard rocking tunes, but we're not done with Dirty Musky yet, as they've got one more booking this month in the Soo..

One week later, on Saturday, March 22nd, a huge lineup of rock bands will join forces at Bird's Eye Outfitters for a special cause! As some of you may know, Project 906 guitarist Joe Jenkins' wife Mary Jo has been diagnosed with breast cancer, which she has been battling for the past year. To help offset the expenses that her treatments and travel downstate have incurred on her family while she's not working, local musicians are hosting the Musicians Unite benefit concert at Bird's Eye to raise funds for the Jenkins family at this difficult time. Having lost my mother (named Mary, incidentally) to ovarian cancer in 2020, I completely sympathize with Mary Jo and her family as this fight continues, and I hope that this concert goes a fair way to helping the Jenkins clan through this! Entry for this benefit concert will be via donation (I don't know if it's 21+ or not), and a silent auction will also take place.

A huge lineup of six bands will be headlined on the 22nd by Marquette hard rock cover quartet Spun in their first local date since 2022, though bassist Bob Libick will be familiar to local fans for his frequent appearances as a guest fill-in bassist with Exit 808 in the past year. Great to see Spun proper back in town later this month! They're on at 10:45 PM, while your co-headliners at 9:00 PM are Elmira hard rock quintet Driving Dawn in their local debut. While we haven't seen them on stage yet here, readers may recognize Driving Dawn from winning the Rock Recovery battle of the bands in Alpena last year, which featured the aforementioned Exit 808 as competitors, so it's nice to see past coverage get further local links! Exit 808 (who are promoting this event) are the highest slotted local band in their first gig since the I-500 weekend, and will take the stage at 7:30 PM. Kudos to Amy & Jackie for putting this on!

The poster heavily implies that rising young Dafter singer/guitarist Molly Escherich will be making "appearances" during Exit 808's set, so keep an eye out for Molly rocking out with a new set of "other guys"! The aforementioned Dirty Musky are blocked for 6:00 PM at Bird's Eye, while Project 906 proper will play their first Sault Ste. Marie gig of 2025 at 4:30 PM. Odd that they're so early in the night given the benefit's inspiration, but it'll surely be an emotional one for Joe in particular, and hopefully they have a strong set! Your openers at 3:00 PM are About:Blank, the new local punk/alternative trio that Yoopers will next be able to see at Three One Three on Ashmun on March 15th. Multi-band events like this are still not all that common in the E.U.P., but that is changing, and given the very important reason for this one, I hope that a huge crowd turns out to support Mary Jo and family and enjoy this lineup! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details!

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

An All-Sault Michigan Video Showcase!!

Today's post takes us to Sault Michigan for a bunch of new videos from four local hard rock/metal bands, and we'll actually start with ones that I can't embed on the SMS! On the last weekend of September, local hard rock/classic metal band Tarnished rocked The Rapids Lounge at the local Kewadin Casino for their first of two consecutive weekends there, and on Friday, September 27th, they were filmed for videos shared to their Facebook page! These were filmed by attendee Audrey Marshall, a regular at Sault Ontario concerts on the weekend cover circuit who does travel to Sault Michigan to see concerts there on occasion. As her videos were posted in the band's comment thread from September 24th, I can't embed or directly link them on external websites like this, but she posted three videos thusly. The clips feature Alex, Josh, and guest rhythm section Chris Leask & Ron Suchey covering Survivor's "Eye Of The Tiger", The Scorpions' "Rock You Like A Hurricane", and AC/DC's "T.N.T.".

Notably, Alex is on guitar on all three songs, which may not seem odd, but he didn't play guitar at all during their last gig as of this writing (their second place run at the LSSU battle of the bands last month), so keep that in mind. Only the Survivor cover exceeds a minute in length, but the videos are well shot with good audio quality, and fans of Tarnished's old school covers will take to the clips, so check them out on Tarnished's Facebook page linked above, and kudos to Audrey for crossing the border to see bands across! I'd love to see more fans do that!

Next up, here's a rarity: a public video of local hard rock quintet The Nameless in concert! Filmed at their Halloween concert at Bird's Eye Outfitters on October 26th but only uploaded to their Facebook page on Tuesday, the video sees the guys covering The White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army", which is an interesting choice for a five-piece band given that the original song only had two musicians. Filmed with a stationary camera, the video quality is fuzzy, but the song is well handled for a band of this size, and it is good to see some members dressed for the occasion! Backing vocalist Anna Lawless is there, she's just obscured for most of the runtime. I'd have centered and zoomed the video a bit, but it's a good look at a band that doesn't have many videos to share publically, and with unique visuals at the outdoor store to boot, so check out The Nameless' new video below!

Keeping with the seasonal vibes, local hard rock quartet Unfortunate Sun were filmed covering Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Fortunate Son" (ironically) at Huck's Pub & Grill in Rudyard on October 26th for that venue's Halloween party! This was filmed by Small Town Society frontwoman Holly Sibbald and shared from her personal Facebook page to the band's Facebook page. The band did partially dress up for the occasion, with Skip and Jody going as Ozzy Osbourne and Zakk Wylde for the night, which is awesome to see! Not a bad rendition with a solid turnout, so give Unfortunate Sun's new video a watch below!

Finally, let's leave the concert stage for a brief teaser video from local progressive metal solo project X's & Y's' Facebook page last month! This completely slipped me by when covering their debut CD "The Obsidian Dream" on here, but on October 6th, this video was uploaded featuring what appears to be a snippet of a music video for their song "A Flow Of Touch", which features project leader Jason Mills tapping the guitar in the forest while dressed in outdoorsy attire. Is it wrong to be reminded of Escanaba In Da Moonlight here? The full video has yet to be uploaded that I have seen, but what we see sounds good in the 22 seconds of video featured, so check it out below, and stay tuned for more from X's & Y's!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile on the site next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (The Nameless & Tym Morrison) & Halloween Weekend Concert Previews!!

The Halloween concert season is almost upon us! As October 31st falls on a Thursday this year, local nightclubs and promoters have a few realistic options for their Halloween concerts, whether they want to host theirs the weekend prior, a day or two later at the start of November, or to have theirs on Halloween proper, work/school night be damned. Many are opting to have theirs early on the last weekend of the month, and we'll look at many of the hard rock/punk shows this weekend in this post! Due to the amount, we'll hold this weekend's Skoff, Generations, and Unfortunate Sun shows for our next preview post. Now, let's lead off with some SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS on Saturday! 

Local classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison will bring his acoustic solo project back to The Dive Gastro Pub THIS SATURDAY for a matinee concert! Apologies for the short notice, the venue only announced it via this Facebook video promoting events and specials at the bar this week. SATURDAY's show will be Tym's first at the former Low & Slow since last month, and just his second public date since the abrupt end of his weekly run at Misty's Fifties earlier this month. Hopefully Tym's skilled brand of classic and hard rock covers find a strong audience on SATURDAY! This is a 5:00 PM matinee scheduled to run until 8:00 PM, and it is presumably a 19+ event with no cover charge. As for possible Halloween theming, I have seen no public reference to anything spooky or costume related on SATURDAY, but do remember that The Dive does regularly host acoustic artists on "Think It Over Thursdays".

Also, note that the 648 Queen Street East nightclub will be hosting a Devil's Night party with black lights and DJs on Wednesday, which will have horror-themed drink specials and a costume contest, so it's entirely possible that that is their main Halloween event. Keep tabs with The Dive on social media for any clarification on their Halloween plans. As for Tym Morrison on SATURDAY, click here and above for more details on his show this weekend, and for a preview of it, here is Tym live!

Next up, let's head to Michigan for two short notice Halloween parties in the E.U.P., starting with local hard rock quintet The Nameless, who will headline Bird's Eye Outfitters' Halloween festivities on SATURDAY NIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice, this show was announced on October 16th via the band's Facebook event page but we couldn't rush it into a post at the time. The first time that I can recall The Nameless playing at the outdoors store/concert venue on the site of the former Golanka's Bar (a.k.a. The Bird), this will be their first show since rocking Huck's in Rudyard last month, and their first public date in the Soo in over three months. Along with their hard rocking cover slate, SATURDAY's spooky festivities will include a costume contest, drink specials, and "a night of frightful fun", so if you want to rock out for the season, get your best costume and head down to Bird's Eye on SATURDAY!

There's no stated age limit on this free event on SATURDAY, though confusingly, there are three different start times given for the event. This poster advertising Bird's Eye's Halloween events this week suggests that it will begin at both 6:00 and 7:00 PM, while the poster above indicates an 8:00 PM start time (in all cases, things are slated to end at 10:00 PM). Visit the above links for more on The Nameless' Halloween party on SATURDAY, and click here to watch their sole (and unembeddable) public video!

Also this weekend, we'll head back to Sault Ontario for two bands doubling up for shows this weekend, starting with veteran southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225, who will headline at Reggie's Place TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT, with the latter being the Queen Street East staple's Halloween party! Fresh off of a successful return to The Coulson Entertainment Center in Sudbury this past weekend, these will be Greg, Alex, and Warren's first shows in the Soo since they rocked Reggie's three weeks ago. While tomorrow's show will be standard fare, Saturday the 26th will be the full Halloween party, with a costume contest taking place with prizes for the best single and couple costumes! "Cool booze" is also to be expected, though seasonal drink specials were not outright confirmed. Hopefully Reggie's is decked out for Halloween and has a great turnout on Saturday night!

It is also worth noting that, while not scheduled to play anywhere on the 31st, Bone Yard 225 do plan on releasing their second studio original song "Gypsy Spell" to major streaming services that day, as per updates on their Facebook page. Exciting news for fans, so visit their official website to hear a brief teaser clip of the song! Tomorrow & Saturday's Reggie's dates have 9:30 PM start times, no cover charges, and 19+ age limits, and remember that if you want to partake in the costume contest and the main Halloween events, come on Saturday, not Friday! Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Bone Yard live!

Finally for this preview post, we'll head to The Esquire Club, where local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will take the stage TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT, but will this weekend include the Second Line West nightclub's Halloween party? Yes, and so will next weekend's! Answering calls by regulars to have their Halloween festivities the weekend before and the weekend after, they confirmed on their Facebook page on Monday that they will have two Saturday night Halloween parties, with Soundcheck headlining the first one and Silent 9 doing the honours on November 2nd, so whether you want to double your spooky season fun or have a preferred date/band, you have options! No word on possible seasonal drink specials, but there will be a costume contest on Saturday, and one hopes that The Esquire Club will be decked out for the occasion, so don't miss out this weekend!

Of course, Soundcheck's classic and hard rock covers (with a dash of country to boot) are this weekend's main attraction, including the normal concert tomorrow, so if you wanna check out Terry, Cameron, Jim, and Glen's fan friendly cover slate, they're next up at The Esquire Club with Halloween partying to come on night #2! Expect 9:30 PM start times, no cover charge, and 19+ age limits on both nights. See above for more details, and for a preview, here's Soundcheck live!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for the continuation of our (pre-)Halloween weekend concert previews next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (HeadFirst & The Nameless) And The First Of This Weekend's Concert Previews!!

An unusually busy concert weekend is upon us, so just to clarify the schedule, I have to break up this weekend's hard rock/punk concert previews into three posts! Today's will focus on SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS and gigs taking place earlier tomorrow than others, so if you're looking for the It's The Pits festival, the teddy bear picnic at Thomson Farms with Bookclub, Inconsistent Me, Bone Yard 225, Double Down, Soundcheck, or anything else that I may have missed, check back in the coming days! Now, here's what you should know to start!

Sault Michigan hard rock quintet The Nameless will make their Bird's Eye Outfitters debut TONIGHT during the outdoors store/venue's summer kickoff party! Apologies for the short notice, The Nameless' involvement was first confirmed via the official Facebook event page last week but it didn't cross our radar until the last few days. Presumably scheduled for TONIGHT to coincide with the summer solstice (literally making this a summer kickoff party), this is curiously themed after summer camp, so attendees at "Camp Bird's Eye" TONIGHT will get to tell ghost stories, have s'mores, and make bracelets, while also trying food/drink specials, including craft cocktails/mocktails and wine. Should be a fun evening, so definitely consider a run to the site of the former Golanka's Bar/Bird nightclub TONIGHT for all of the action! Given the alcoholic beverages on tap, I would expect this to be a 21+ event, but it should be an early night.

There is no cover charge at 107 East Portage Avenue for TONIGHT's event, and everything starts at 6:00 PM. Scheduling this on a work night won't be ideal for many, but hopefully it's a blast whether you're in it for the music, the refreshments, the summer camp vibes, supporting Bird's Eye Outfitters, or a combination thereof! Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, click here to watch The Nameless' sole public concert video! It remains unembeddable here due to content matched background audio.

Next up, let's head to Sault Ontario, where local hard rock quintet HeadFirst will return to Jay's Piston Broke Pub for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice, these shows were only announced via the band's Facebook page on Tuesday. HeadFirst have a busy weekend ahead, as not only are they rocking Jay's both nights, TOMORROW will see them play two concerts, as they are also playing at Go Skateboarding Day TOMORROW beforehand! We are previewing that next, so scroll down a little bit for that event. Last seen at Jay's at the end of April, hopefully HeadFirst's hard rocking cover slate and quickly developing originals get another solid audience TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! These are 19+ events with no cover charge and 9:00 PM start times. Visit the above links for more on the west end action this weekend, and here's HeadFirst live!

Moving to shows that did have advance notice, we'll next head to Queen Elizabeth Park outside of The John Rhodes Center, where Tidal Records will host their ninth annual Go Skateboarding Day event TOMORROW, with bands present for year #8! June 21st is on a Friday for the first time since the local Go Skate Day began, which should be huge for encouraging turnout for local skateboarders and extreme sports practitioners to bring their gear to the skatepark to enjoy themselves! Three bands will rock the top of the big ramp this year, including punk/crossover thrash trio Hails in their second straight Go Skate Day set and first of two shows this weekend (stay tuned for our It's The Pits Festival preview tomorrow), alongside guitarist Mikhal Muto's party metal/double bass trio The Apocalypse Afterparty, and the aforementioned HeadFirst, both making their first Go Skateboarding Day appearances tomorrow evening.

Beyond the music, expect refreshments, vendors, and skate games to encourage (especially) young skaters to come out to enjoy all of the festivities! Go Skate Day is absolutely ALL AGES, everything starts tomorrow at 6:00 PM, and there is no cover charge whether you're in it for the skating or music. 9&10 News is currently calling for 22° temperatures and cloudy weather with a 30% chance of rain tomorrow evening, so if you are at all concerned about possible rain during the event, keep tabs on your preferred local forecast as we inch closer to showtime. Visit the above links for more on Go Skateboarding Day in Sault Ste. Marie tomorrow, and for a preview of all of the action, here's Ha!ls live!

Finally for concert preview post #1, local classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison will continue his currently weekly arrangements at The Mike Case Memorial Stage outside of The Trading Post TOMORROW NIGHT and at Misty's Fifties on SATURDAY! This is quite a crammed weekend for hard rock fans, but if Tym's unplugged stage show full of classic covers is your cup of tea, you will have two options to see him this weekend, in the fourth week of his current double duty at the Great Northern Road outdoor stage and the Second Line West nightclub, so keep both shows in mind! If you can't make it to either, Tym will be back at both venues (almost) weekly through at least September. Tomorrow's Trading Post show is at 7:00 PM for all ages, and like at Go Skate Day, 9&10 News is calling for cloudy 22° weather with a 30% chance of rain, so if you have any worries about Tym getting rained out, watch for updates as we get closer to showtime.

As for the Misty's show is a 4:00 PM matinee and 19+, and neither show has a cover charge. Hopefully Tym draws a good attendance for both of this weekend's shows, and if they were paid events, you'd definitely be getting your money's worth with his talents! Visit the official Facebook event pages linked here and here for more details, and here's Tym live!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for our second weekend concert preview post either tonight or tomorrow morning, which will cover the Double Down and Soundcheck concerts, the It's The Pits Festival, and maybe more, so stay tuned then! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Sunspot & Peril) Plus New Sault Michigan Videos!!

An all Sault Michigan post lies ahead on this Saturday evening, including some new videos from two prominent local acts, but leading off, here's some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for next month!

New hard rock dates at The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino branch for next month have been confirmed via Kewadin's entertainment page, so what should you know there? Not counting the Tarnished and Fyrbird shows next month (the bands revealed those first), the first of the brand new dates will see Traverse City classic metal trio Peril return to the Soo for gigs on Friday, August 12th & Saturday, August 13th! After playing at Kewadin branches in the E.U.P. in both May and June, it's great to see Jeff, Adam, and Brooks' hard rocking and fan friendly selection of classic covers back in the Soo next month, and hopefully there's another great turnout for Peril on both nights! As usual for their Kewadin lounge gigs, expect 9:00 PM start times, no cover charges, and 21+ age limits. Visit the above links for more details, and stay tuned for more updates on Peril's trips north of the Mack when they roll in!

The other new Rapids Lounge hard rock concerts are courtesy of Madison, Wisconsin hard rock trio Sunspot, who will return to Sault Ste. Marie on Friday, August 26th & Saturday, August 27th! As you may recall, Sunspot headed east to Michigan last year to perform during the Michigan Paranormal Convention (or MiParacon) which is held at the Sault Kewadin branch at the end of August annually (save 2020), and you can click here for full details on the convention. I'm not a massive paranormal follower, but if you are, this looks to be another huge weekend! Sunspot are actually releasing a new album next week, and it promises to have more of their requisite "weird Wisconsin rock anthems" that apply some deep and otherworldly topics to a fun power pop-laden hard rock sound with electronic and string influences. Had band to pin down, but definitely give them a listen for yourselves!

Like with Peril above, Sunspot's Kewadin shows next month are 21+ affairs with 9:00 PM start times and no cover charge (attendance at The Rapids Lounge is not conditional on buying MiParacon tickets, public attendees can come as normal). Obviously a huge weekend for alien, ghost, and Bigfoot fans in the E.U.P. ahead, and Sunspot should deliver some fitting tunes for attendees and general fans alike, so visit the above links for more details!

We'll close today with some new videos, starting with a live concert upload on blues/hard rock quartet Project 906's Facebook page on Sunday! Filmed at their Bird's Eye Outfitters show last week, this features 906 (who are just shy of 906 Facebook followers, incidentally) covering Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Simple Man", though based on how Billy's singing, they're definitely more doing the Shinedown cover than the original. Not badly done at all, though the vocals can be a little forced on the verses. The venue lighting seems too fancy given that it's not dark in the store, but it's a solid quality behind and in front of the camera, so check it out below!

Finally for today, here's a couple of new solo performance videos from local classical metal band Theatre of Night's YouTube channel earlier this week! Both uploaded in black & white, they are erroneously labelled as "shorts" despite not being in the TikTok competitor format. One features guitarist Steve Giles delivering "some 80's style shred goodness" for one minute via multiple stationary camera angles, and it gives a nice pure showcase of his talents that won't come amiss to old Dust N' Bones fans! Embedded below is the longer upload, which features keyboardist Craig Harrison playing an original composition named "Live Without Your Love" that he calls "a songwriting idea in short, raw form". It's a dramatic yet surprisingly lively piano piece that fans of Theatre of Night's more orchestral side will appreciate, though it's definitely unfinished. Check out both of their new videos above & below, and stay tuned for more from Theatre of Night!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile and much more in the coming days! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Soundcheck), Tarnished Concert Preview, And New Videos!!

I was not expecting to rush a new news post on the site today, but I completely blanked on previewing a concert taking place TONIGHT, let alone cover a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for this weekend! Blame general quietness as of late & holiday prep, I do apologize for these being so delayed (and partially too late). To round things out, we have some new videos related to local musicians, so here's what you should know!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to Reggie's Place TONIGHT, after previously playing there last night! I profusely apologize for the short notice and for missing yesterday's concert entirely, both were only announced via their Facebook event page on Monday, though given their recent track record for advertising their own concerts on Facebook, that's an eternity by comparison! I should have caught these well before now, I apologize again, and I hope last night's concert was a hit (same for Thursday's open mic night at Reggie's West!). Yesterday's and TONIGHT'S concerts were/are Soundcheck's first normal concerts since their Reggievelt shows two weeks ago, and if you believe their most recent Facebook post, their last shows of 2021, so if you want one more chance to see Cameron, Terry, Paul, and Glen live this year, head downtown TONIGHT!

Both shows had/have 9:00 PM start times, no cover charges, and 19+ age limits, but please respect and honour any & all social distancing and public health measures at Reggie's, and vaccine passports must be shown to enter the bar. Don't miss out on Soundcheck TONIGHT, I am again sorry for missing yesterday's show, and here's Soundcheck live earlier this month!

Next up, let's head across the river to Sault Michigan, where local hard rock quartet Tarnished will make their Bird's Eye Outfitters debut TONIGHT as the featured band for their 1980s hair metal theme night! Again, apologies for being so late to preview this concert, but at least I did cover it when first announced, so we're not entirely in the woods here.... but given that Bird's Eye Outfitters is an outdoor store, you'd be well equipped if you were! This will be Tarnished's first Soo date in a couple of weeks, but elsewhere in the E.U.P., you may have seen live at Huck's in Rudyard last week. If you know anything about Tarnished's range of covers, you'll know that 1980s hair and glam metal is a staple of their setlists, and they're quite a fitting band for an '80s hair theme night, especially given their current hairstyles (Nathan excepted), so don't miss out tonight if you're free and in the area!

Yes, attendees are encouraged to dress in '80s hair band-inspired outfits, and while no one has advertised a contest for them, there will be drink specials. An early 7:00 PM start time (again, I'm sorry) is in effect for tonight's festivities, which have no announced cover charges and a likely 21+ age limit, but again, please respect any public health measures at Bird's Eye to keep yourself and everyone else safe. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Tarnished live!

Now let's look at a couple of new videos with no attached concerts to let slip through the cracks, starting with a new full-album upload of local classical metal band Theatre of Night's 2010 debut album "Christmas Night"! Uploaded to the band's YouTube channel on November 10th, this may have been intentionally timed for the 10th anniversary of this album's expanded reissue from November 2011, given that all 12 of the songs return here, but that's just speculation. So much of Theatre of Night's Christmas output in recent years has been centered around live performances and re-recordings with female vocalists that I'm kind of surprised they're bringing the original-ish "Christmas Night" back like this, but it was a very solid album that will get you in the holiday spirit! This album features long-time bandmates Craig Harrison and Steve Giles alongside Steve's brother Greg as their then-drummer.

For this YouTube copy, the track listing has seen very belated edits, "Woods IV"-style. "Carol of the Bells" was moved all the way to track #2, while a number of song names were altered, though aside from "The Nutcracker" becoming "Dance of the Sugarplums", all are just shortened, in what (to me) looks like consequences of the video dimensions & chosen font. If you want a TSO-style metal take on Christmas classics, give Theatre of Night's debut album a listen below, and stay tuned for more from their camp!

Finally for today, let's head north to Sault Ontario, where new local punk band Vanity uploaded a short new video to their YouTube channel on Wednesday of them playing a snippet of Avenged Sevenfold's "Unholy Confessions". This is just a short guitar harmony video with no Keegan/Ljubov present at all, and you can only really hear the lead guitar, but is sounds good while it lasts, and it's nice to see Vanity spreading their wings further into metal! Give it a watch below!

That's all for today, but stay tuned (in all likelihood) for this month's CD review on the site next! Thanks everyone!