Double Down & Oz Concert Previews, New Videos, And More Recent Updates!!

As promised, we're wrapping up this weekend's known hard rock concert previews today, along with clearing up some loose ends re: preview videos that I couldn't use yesterday, and some more recent updates, so here's what you should know on this mild Friday night!

We'll start in Sault Michigan, where Iron Mountain classic/hard rock cover quintet Oz will play their first local dates of 2026 TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT at The Rapids Lounge at the local Kewadin Casino! Last seen in the Soo over two months ago, this veteran outfit have proved to be a reliable favourite sight in their mid-2020s trips east, and hopefully tonight and tomorrow's shows provide more hard rocking classic hits from Ryan, Kevin, Joe, Todd, and Dave once again! And you know they put on a good live show, as Oz noted on their Facebook page that they brought two trailers with their gear and equipment! Tonight and tomorrow's concerts, as usual at The Rapids Lounge, are 9:00 PM affairs with no announced cover charges and 21+ age limits. Visit the Facebook event page for more details, and here's Oz live!

Next up, we'll wrap up this weekend's hard rock concert previews at The Water Tower Pub, where local classic/hard rock cover quartet Double Down will take the stage TOMORROW NIGHT! This show will feature the long awaited return of bassist Dan Beaupre for the first time since last summer, after taking a six month break for health matters and foreign travel, so if you've missed this local rock mainstay, don't be absent tomorrow! Double Down were last seen with fill-in bassist Lori Reinholtz at Beck's Bar last month, and they kicked off 2026 at The Water Tower Pub on January 3rd. Remember, this venue does not host bands on consecutive nights, and Generations are playing there tonight (more on them in a second). Tomorrow's show is at 8:00 PM with a 19+ age limit and no cover. See above for more details, and for a preview, here's a new video of Double Down (and Lori) live at Beck's last month!

This clip sees the band covering Our Lady Peace's "Starseed" with guitarist Beej Syrette on lead vocals, and it was uploaded three days after their initial batch of videos from that night. Alas, like with the prior three, this is both incomplete (75 seconds) and vertical, but it's a soundly handled cover that O.L.P. fans should like! I think that there are songs that suit Beej's vocal range better though. Give it a watch for yourselves below!

Also today, this extends from our weekend concert previews, as two of the bands playing this weekend have posted new live videos to their Facebook pages that I am unable to embed here, so I held discussion about them from yesterday's post so it didn't get overlong. Two are from local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations' Facebook group, where new guitarist Joe Miller posted videos from their Full Throttle Saloon gig this past Saturday! One is a cover of Sheryl Crow's "If It Makes You Happy", and the other appears to be the guitar solo from ZZ Top's "Tush". I'd have embedded the former here if able, but I can't embed either video externally, and I don't know whether that's a changed setting in the group or if that was Joe's call. Regardless, both are vertical and incomplete, seemingly filmed from a cell phone set down on the side of the stage. What we hear sounds good, but they aren't optimal in a few regards.

The other unembeddable video is from hard rock quintet HeadF1rst's Facebook page, and it's a highlight video compiled with InShot featuring three tiled windows of them playing at Beck's Bar last month, overlaid with post-production lighting effects and the Beck's logo. I can't embed the video here because Facebook content matched the backing music (the band's studio track "Stay For The Show"). I'd really prefer seeing the raw unedited live video with the music as performed that night, but at least it's an attempt to do something artistic with vertical cell phone videos! Give all three videos a watch above, and don't miss Generations tonight at The Water Tower Pub or HeadF1rst TOMORROW NIGHT at Beck's!

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

 

• A tribute concert in memory of late Rebel Priest/Glass Statues guitarist Ben Kemp-Reynolds (named Blitz Fest) will be held at The Rickshaw Theatre in Vancouver on Saturday, April 4th! Friends and former bandmates of Benny's, including Rebel Priest and reunions of The Lust Boys and Roadrash, will be on hand to perform songs from his B.C. bands & his own favourite artists. West Of Hell singer Chris "The Heathen" Valagao (who fronted that band at the former Roosevelt Hotel in 2012) will be the host of Blitz Fest. Not a local event, but it's great to see friends and colleagues putting on a proper memorial concert for Ben, so see above for more details!
• In clarification for the performers on local death/thrash metal trio Pillory's new full length album "Old Soul", their Bandcamp page confirms that 2015-2017 bassist Jordan Leach did indeed perform the low end on the final product, not his replacement Blair St. John or current bassist Devon Lucier. What's unsaid there is whether these are archival recordings from his stint in the band a decade ago or if he tracked his parts remotely in the past year (he lives and works out of country now). Regardless, it is neat to see Jordan in a new context again in local music! The album was recorded at Mission Control Studios with producer Dustin Jones.
• The Soo's Got Talent is looking for a band to perform at this fall's seventh annual installment, where they would perform a guest set during the semifinals and be the house band during the finals, backing up the last performers on their chosen covers. Handsome Sandwich (in 2022) and Mike Haggith & The Big Finish Band (2023-2024) did the honours previously, before T.S.G.T. went without a live band last fall during its "Soo Voxx" format change. This is a paid role and will garner wide exposure for the chosen group. If you're interested in more details, message The Soo's Got Talent at this link!

 

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

The First Of This Weekend's Hard Rock Concert Previews!!

Let's look at another range of weekend concert previews on this Thursday morning, but with a lot to talk about, I'm holding our previews of this weekend's Tym Morrison and Bone Yard 225 shows at Beck's Bar for our next post due to the amount. Before I begin, I wanted to offer a couple of clarifications for this weekend's schedule. Regarding the now-defunct Exit 808's scheduled St. Ignace Kewadin Casino gigs on Friday and Saturday, Kewadin's entertainment page still lists "Double Jack" (their original name) as playing there this weekend. As best as I can tell, ex-band members haven't retained the booking in a new project (at least not in a publically acknowledged state), but if I hear something about a band there this weekend, I'll let you guys know! Meanwhile, Sault Ontario's Double Down (more on them in a bit) mentioned in their Facebook post on Monday that classic/hard rockers Headrush are playing this weekend at The Full Throttle Saloon?

The question mark is on their end, not mine, implying that they weren't 100% sure about if the shows were taking place. I don't know if Double Down heard about a tentative booking or not, but at press time, neither Headrush nor the former Primavera Hall have said anything publically about matching bookings this weekend. This is not to definitively say that Double Down are wrong, but we'll let you know if firm public announcements come out either way! Now, let's dive into verifiable hard rock concerts!

We'll start with Double Down themselves, as the local classic/hard rock cover quartet will rock Jay's Piston Broke Pub TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! These will be Double Down's final concerts of 2025, their first shows anywhere in three weeks, and their first at the former Roosevelt Hotel in almost a month. Should be a good way to rock out with this talented veteran quartet, who have lots of entertaining hard and classic rock covers in their vast setlist, so don't miss out in the west end! Regarding their bassist slot, recent promotional images include bassist Dan Beaupre (who has missed all of their fall gigs while recovering from an undisclosed ailment), but the band has not 100% said in writing if he will be playing this weekend or not. Granted, they never revealed who their guest bassist was at The Water Tower Pub last month either (it wasn't Lori). We'll let you know if something is said either way!

This weekend's shows are at 9:30 PM with 19+ age limits and no cover charge. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details on these shows, and for a preview, here's Double Down live!

Next up, we'll head to Sault Michigan, where Iron Mountain classic/hard rock cover quintet Oz will make their long awaited return to the E.U.P. TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT when they rock The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino! Like with Double Down, these are Oz's last shows anywhere in 2025, but they will be back in the Soo in two months if you can't make it this weekend. As it turns out, Oz had been on a bit of a break prior to this road trip, but they were working on new material over the fall, and fans will get the first chance to see what classic cuts are now in their setlist this weekend. Oz are a very talented band with lots of heavier covers from 1970s and 1980s rock legends, so don't miss out on this weekend's shows if you're in the region! Tomorrow and Saturday's shows are at 9:00 PM as usual for The Rapids Lounge, with no cover charges and 21+ age limits. Visit the Facebook event page for more details, and here's Oz live!

Finally for this preview post, we'll make the hour's trip south to Hessel, where local hard rock cover quartet Unfortunate Sun will take the stage for one night only on SATURDAY NIGHT at The Islander Bar! As of this writing, we're just over two weeks removed from Skip, Jody, Tony, and Jason's most recent Islander Bar show (said venue's "Drinksgiving" bash), but this is the second straight weekend where the guys have played a normal weekend gig in the E.U.P., following last weekend's Soo Kewadin stops. While not acknowledged in Unfortunate Sun's own promotion, Saturday's concert doubles as The Islander Bar's ugly sweater party, so if you have a particularly ugly Christmas sweater, this is the day to break it out, especially as a prize awaits the ugliest sweater of all! There will also be holiday cocktail specials if that's your thing. Of course, Unfortunate Sun promise "music that will melt your faces off like that poor bastard in Indiana Jones", so no pressure at all there!

As usual for concerts at The Islander Bar, Saturday's festivities are at 8:00 PM with a 21+ age limit and no cover charge, and if you believe Unfortunate Sun's AI poster for the show, you may get a Facebook friend request if you bring them cake! Visit the above links for more on this concert, and for a preview, here's Unfortunate Sun live!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for our Beck's Bar previews on the site next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Oz, Scarkazm, And Exit 808), Plus More From Sault Michigan!!

Today on the SMS, we're focusing entirely on Sault Michigan and the Eastern Upper Peninsula via some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS and new videos & related updates from a band in question, so here's what you should know!

Traverse City metal trio Scarkazm will return to both the Sault Ste. Marie and St. Ignace Kewadin Casino branches for one more weekend each in 2025, as they'll rock The Rapids Lounge in the Soo over Thanksgiving weekend (Friday, November 28th & Saturday, November 29th) before closing out their E.U.P. calendar for the year on December 19th & 20th at The Northern Pines Lounge in St. Ignace! Both weekends were confirmed on both Kewadin locations' entertainment pages linked above, which have been updated to reflect concerts through the end of the year. Always good to see Adam, Dave, and Jeff bring their hard hitting original and cover attack to our neck of the woods, and hopefully these concerts go well across the board! While we're on the subject, Scarkazm themselves have confirmed shows through April via their Facebook page's event pages, so will they be back here in 2026?

Yes! The Peril sister band will be back at The Rapids Lounge in the Soo on January 30th & 31st, and then again on March 20th & 21st, before rocking The Northern Pines Lounge in St. Ignace once again on April 24th & 25th, so keep all of these upcoming dates in mind for your Scarkazm fix over the next six months! As usual for Scarkazm's Kewadin bookings, all ten dates have 9:00 PM start times, 21+ age limits, and no cover charges. Visit the above links for more details on Scarkazm's next E.U.P. trips!

Next up, Iron Mountain classic/hard rock cover quintet Oz will return to The Rapids Lounge at the Soo Kewadin on Friday, December 12th & Saturday, December 13th, but they too will also be back in the E.U.P. in 2026! Like with Scarkazm, Kewadin isn't going into next year yet, but Oz confirmed on their Facebook page that they will be back at the same venue on February 20th & 21st and then again on September 18th & 19th! Really far out booking there, bands that we cover don't usually announce dates 11 months prior like this, but they also confirmed a December weekend in Baraga in the same post. Local fans last saw Oz at The Rapids Lounge in April, so it will be neat to see their talented blend of classic and hard rock covers back in town for one more weekend before the year is up! Like with Scarkazm above, all of Oz's Kewadin dates ahead are 21+ affairs with no cover charges and 9:00 PM start times. See above for more details on these shows!

Also taking place on December 12th & 13th (albeit at The Northern Pines Lounge in St. Ignace) is the return there of local hard rock band Exit 808! Kewadin's entertainment page credits the band playing there as Double Jack, but that is (of course) their old name that they changed from in early 2024 due to the existence of a separate band named Double Jack downstate. So these shows has been scheduled with the casino for at least 21 months without someone catching the old name? Exit 808 have yet to confirm these dates on their own Facebook page, but these will be their first shows in St. Ignace since the beginning of August. Hopefully these winter-time concerts go well across the board with their dual vocalist-led array of hard rock covers! Like with Oz and Scarkazm above, these are 21+ events once again at 9:00 PM with no cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, but we're not done with Exit 808 for this post yet!

As you may recall, Exit 808 most recently headlined at The Back Bay Grill & Games at Bay Mills Resort & Casino for their belated Halloween party on Saturday, November 1st, a concert that had multiple guest musicians, one being a mystery bassist named Brad. When acknowledging who performed on Saturday, they said "we were joined by 13-year-old Molly Escherich and new bass player, Brad Pringle, along with our typical 6". Note the lack of a pronoun, so is he a new bassist or their new bassist? Brad has played bass (and saxophone!) in bands downstate, and in both of the new videos from "Fright Night On The Bay" on the band's Facebook page, he is on bass with no sign of Blaze Beairl. The "typical 6" would include Blaze, so he must have been there, and he has played at Back Bay gigs in the past despite being underage, but he is not visibly performing any instrument in the two videos. We'll let you know if things get clarified on Brad and Blaze's statuses either way!

Both videos feature Molly on guest vocals and Brad on bass, but teased guest guitarist Joe Jenkins is not in either clip. The videos include a cover of Volbeat's newer single "By A Monster's Hand" with Dillon and Molly splitting vocals (no Amy), but as it's shorter and bafflingly uploaded in vertical "Reel" dimensions with heavy pillarboxing despite being a horizontal landscape video, it's not embedded here. Instead, here's the longer and fully framed (but still vertical) video of Exit 808 covering Journey's "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)" with Amy and Molly sharing vocals. This alone is unusual as Molly usually subs in for Amy, but they sound good together! Both covers are solidly done, so give them a watch above & below!

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

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

Another busy concert weekend is upon us for hard rock fans in the Twin Saults and area! As such, our previews of this Saturday's HeadFirst, Silent 9, and Tarnished shows will be in tomorrow's post. Also, if you were curious about the publically advertised folk/bluegrass concert being opened by folk punk solo project Agnosticism on Saturday, that's taking place in Golden Scoundrels/ex-Shit Liver frontman Josh Penno's kitchen, and the address is only being given on request (as the event page says, "ask a punk"). We don't fully cover shows without a public address, but keep it in mind for your Saturday plans! Now, here's what you should know to start the weekend off, including a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!

Sault Michigan hard rock quintet The Nameless will return to the stage on SATURDAY NIGHT at The Merchants Bar! Apologies for the short notice, this gig was only publically announced via the band's Facebook page earlier today, but the band noted that they had "just over a week for prep". We hadn't heard from The Nameless since they headlined The Merch's New Year's Eve party, so it will be good to see their lively and crowd-pleasing brand of rock covers back at it after a four month break! However, SATURDAY's concert will be sans drummer Justin Lawless for publically unannounced reasons, but The Nameless have recruited Dirty Musky drummer Jamie Costner to fill in for the night. Jamie elaborated on her personal Facebook page (said post was publically shared by the band) that she had to learn 35 songs in 12 days, and that "it’s important to do something terrifying once in a while" (she really isn't wrong there.)

Kudos to Jamie for stepping on just over a week's/12 days' notice, and hopefully she and The Nameless knock it out of the park at The Merch on SATURDAY (and that all is well with Justin!). This one-night-only concert has a 9:00 PM start time, no announced cover charge, and a 21+ age limit. Visit the above links for more details, and here's The Nameless live!

Next up, let's take a brief detour to Sault Ontario by heading to Reggie's Place, where local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 will take the stage TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! The guys opted to take the past month+ off from the live stage in order to focus on writing/recording original material and for "getting prepared for an extremely busy spring, summer, and fall", so these will be their first "sermons" since playing at Reggie's on March 1st, aside from a Thessalon road trip last week. Good to see Greg, Alex, and Warren back at it, and hopefully this weekend's shows are hits for fans of their old school hard and southern rock covers (and originals!). Your local 225 take the stage at 9:30 PM tomorrow and Saturday with 19+ age limits and no cover charges. See above for more details, and here's Bone Yard live!

Back in Sault Michigan, let's next look at the return of Iron Mountain, Michigan classic/hard rock cover quintet Oz, who will rock The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! These are effectively the rescheduling of the planned Valentine's Day weekend shows that Oz were to have played at the Soo Kewadin, only to get called off after a ransomware attack forced all Kewadin Casino locations to close for over two weeks. Oz quickly announced their April return though, so fans of heavier-leaning classic rock will find a lot to like this weekend from this skilled and experienced Western U.P. outfit! Given the February cancellation, these are Oz's first local dates since December of last year. As usual for Kewadin concerts, expect 9:00 PM start times, no cover charges, and 21+ age limits this weekend. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Oz live!

Finally for this preview post, we'll head to Brimley, where local hard/blues rock quartet Project 906 will make their way back to The Back Bay Grill & Games at Bay Mills Resort & Casino for one night only on SATURDAY NIGHT! This has been a long time coming for 906, having last rocked The Back Bay Grill in 2023, so if you've missed them at Bay Mills in the past 18 months, come on down to "your perfect up north retreat" in two days' time! Local fans last saw Project 906 (sans a vacationing Billy Bernier) at the Musicians Unite fundraiser for guitarist Joe Jenkins' wife Mary Jo in the Soo on March 22nd, which we will have more fallout from on the SMS in the coming days, but their most recent gig with Billy on vocals was in Strongs on March 1st. Should be a good time for fans of hard rock cover favourites, so don't miss out on all of the action in Brimley on Saturday night!

Note that frequent guest hand drummer Brian Duford hinted that he will be there too in the comments for Project 906's most recent Facebook page plug of this show. Saturday's concert is at 9:00 PM with a 21+ age limit and no announced cover charge. Visit the above links for more details on this concert, and for a preview, here's 906 live!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Generations), Weekend Concert Previews, And More!!

Before we begin this weekend's hard rock concert previews, just a heads up that this weekend's Oz-headlined concerts at The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino have been cancelled. If you didn't hear, all five Kewadin branches have been closed since Monday due to a ransomware attack affecting the computers and phone systems at all locations, and the closure extends to their on-site bars and lounges. Read more on the incident at this link or other local news services. As such, Oz are cancelled this weekend, as is Mark Bowen at The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin, and we'll let you know if things get delayed beyond the expected one week timeframe (note that Tarnished are scheduled to rock the Sault Kewadin next week). However, Oz have already booked makeup dates, as the Iron Mountain classic/hard rock quintet will return to On April 11th & 12th!

I won't treat these as brand new shows, merely rescheduled ones, but it is good to see that this skilled veteran group will be coming back to The Rapids Lounge in the spring, and hopefully with nicer weather for the commute! Keep tabs with Kewadin Casinos for more on the ransomware attack and their re-opening plans, but for now, let's dive into this weekend's known hard rock concert previews in Sault Ontario, including an extra LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for later this month, so here's what you should know!

Joining their previously announced shows at Jay's Piston Broke Pub TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations will return to The Water Tower Pub for the first time this year on Friday, February 28th! This show was announced via the venue's February concert calendar, and will obviously be the last show of the month at the Great Northern Road nightclub (no word yet on which different act is playing there on Saturday, March 1st). If you want to cap off a snowy month with this talented veteran foursome and their hard rocking slate of covers, you know where to be, but if you want to see Valerie, the Tonys, and Pierre beforehand, they'll be rocking Jay's tonight and tomorrow for the long weekend! Of course, tonight's show is on Valentine's Day, which the band is hyping up in their own promotion for this weekend's gigs.

Note that the band (minus Valerie) are hosting the weekly jam night at Jay's tonight as well, but we traditionally don't cover jam nights as "concerts" due to their unpredictability by design. This weekend's two shows are at 9:30 PM, their Water Tower Pub show in two weeks is at 8:00 PM, and all three have 19+ age limits and no cover charges. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Generations live!

Next up, here's some more Valentine's/Family Day long weekend concert previews, starting with southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225's return to Reggie's Place TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! While oddly not promoted this week on the band's own Facebook page, Reggie's have promoted them thusly on theirs, and also hyped up the Valentine's angle for tonight. These will be your local 225's first shows at Reggie's in two weeks, and first anywhere since their "uncorked" gig this past Saturday at the aforementioned Water Tower Pub. If you want to rock out with "the dirty 3", you'll wanna head downtown for all of the action tonight and/or tomorrow, perhaps also involving merchandise and the infamous "Bone Yard shot"? This weekend's shows have 19+ age limits, no cover charges, and 9:30 PM start times. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Bone Yard 225 live!

Finally this weekend, local hard rock quintet HeadFirst will return to The Esquire Club for the first time this year TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! Last seen at Shooters two weeks ago, these will be HeadFirst's... first shows at The Esquire Club in two months. While they are still "working on some new projects", the guys have been stepping out onto the stage a bit to start 2025, and it's good to see their fan favourite blend of hard & classic rock covers (plus some originals) back in the west end this weekend! Yes, HeadFirst are playing up the Valentine's Day scheduling too for tonight, and they also will have brand new band merchandise for sale this weekend, including t-shirts, stickers, and posters, not to mention their existing debut EP "Head Trauma", so click here for details on their range of items. This weekend's shows both have no cover, 19+ age limits, and 9:30 PM start times. See above for more details, and here's HeadFirst live!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site this weekend! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Oz, The Rock Show, And Generations), And More Updates!!

Before we begin this post, I wanted to belatedly acknowledge that Sault Michigan classical metal band Theatre of Night did not play at The Soo Theater on November 30th as was advertised by the venue this fall (like in this event schedule poster). A reason for the cancellation was not publically announced, but the show was never confirmed by Theatre of Night on social media. The band is alive and well, and have been recording and teasing things on their Facebook page that I hope to talk about on the site soon, but it is disappointing to see Craig, Steve, and crew seemingly not playing a Christmas tour this year. Stay tuned for more from them!

Today's post otherwise features LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for the coming months, and some assorted recent updates, so let's lead off with the return of Bay City classic/hard rock tribute band The Rock Show to the E.U.P.! One year after they toplined the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino's New Year's Eve party at The Northern Pines Lounge, The Rock Show will take things an hour north to The Rapids Lounge in the Soo for that Kewadin branch's New Year's party on Tuesday, December 31st! This year's trip north is basically an inverse of last year's, as The Rock Show will also be rocking out in their alternate guise as a Journey tribute band at the St. Ignace branch on Monday the 30th, but like last year's Journey gig in the Soo, this is a private event (at press time, the St. Ignace Kewadin doesn't have an advertised band booked on the 31st this year). The Rock Show have a strong handle on classic and hard rock hits, so don't miss their regional return!

All of the action goes down two weeks from tonight at The Rapids Lounge, there is a 9:00 PM start time with no announced cover charge, and I am unsure what kind of seasonal frills that Kewadin will have for the occasion, but there should be something. Ring in 2025 the rock way with The Rock Show, and visit the above links for more details!

Next up, let's head to Sault Ontario, where local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations will play their first show of 2025 on Saturday, January 4th at The Water Tower Pub! Drummer Tony Santoro announced the gig on their Facebook group on Sunday, and while the venue has not corroborated the booking on social media at press time, a January schedule should be posted at the Great Northern Road location in a couple weeks (hopefully it makes it online, not all of them do). This will be Generations' first show since rocking Reggie's this past Saturday, and their first Water Tower Pub date since headlining their Halloween party. With no gigs planned closer to Christmas or New Year's, be sure to welcome Generations back for a new year in a few weeks' time! Remember, The Water Tower Pub hosts different nightly acts, so no word on who is playing on Friday the 3rd yet. As usual here, expect an 8:00 PM start time, 19+ age limit, and no cover charge. See above for more details!

Also this weekend, let's head back to Michigan, where Iron Mountain classic/hard rock cover quintet Oz will return to the aforementioned Rapids Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino on Friday, February 14th and Saturday, February 15th! The band announced these dates via their own Facebook event page, as Kewadin's entertainment page has not been updated to reflect shows beyond February 1st at press time. Oz played two weekends at the Soo Kewadin in 2024, most recently just over a week ago, so it's good to see this talented cover band back in our neck of the woods for another pair of hard rocking nights of classic rock favourites! Like normal at The Rapids Lounge, these show should have 9:00 PM start times, 21+ age limits, and no announced cover charges. Visit the above links for more details on Oz' eastern road trip on Valentine's Day weekend, and stay tuned for possible updates if they roll in!

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:

 

• I have moved Sault Ontario rapper/punk artist Tristan "Bold Noize" Goslow to our inactive band links due to a year's inactivity, last updating the profile & cover photo on his Facebook page in October of last year. As you may recall, Bold Noize debuted a new punk sound at Lopstock 2023, as heard on his "God Save Me" album that August, but all but two songs from it were quietly pulled from streaming services afterwards, hence why I never reviewed it here. No word on if he'll resume his punk work at all, but hopefully we haven't heard the last from Bold Noize!
• I have switched the link for local grindcore solo project Crucify The Whore from their now-deleted Facebook page to their Bandcamp page. As far as I know, C.T.W. is alive and well, but the graphic content of their song titles and album artwork may have gotten their "jgtdry" page yanked by Facebook, which has happened before. Assuming that Tyler doesn't start a new one, you can get project updates via their label Blood Shed Productions' Facebook page, and they released music on Bandcamp as recently as July!
• I have also moved local hard rock/experimental solo musician Mike Cliffe back to our inactive band links due to a year's inactivity. Mike is still very active as host of the Audiofumes podcast, and promotes some upcoming concerts from local musicians thusly, but I haven't seen anything clearly new from him as a musician in well over a year. Hopefully Mike releases some new music or videos of his own music again down the road, but listen to Audiofumes for eclectic underground music from around the world!

 

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

More Weekend Concert Previews & A New Mike Haggith Live-Stream!!

Later than I would have liked to get this post up, but here's the second half of this weekend's hard rock concert previews, along with a new video from a recent concert event, so here's what you should know on this Friday night!

We'll start at The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino, where Iron Mountain classic/hard rock cover quintet Oz will return for two more local dates TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! This will be this talented veteran act's first regional stop since rocking the Soo Kewadin back in March, so if you've missed Oz's proficient and melodic brand of heavier-leaning classic rock covers in recent months, brave the snow by heading to the casino this weekend! Obviously, safe travels to Oz and their crew on the trip east as well, especially from a Canadian who isn't 100% sure of the U.P. highway conditions.  As usual for concerts at Kewadin Casino's on-site lounges, tonight and tomorrow's shows have 21+ age limits, no announced cover charges, and 9:00 PM start times. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details on Oz's local shows this weekend, and for a preview, here they are live!

Next up, let's head to Sault Ontario to wrap up this weekend's hard rock concert previews, and we're ending by resolving a bit of confusion about who's playing at Shooters Downstairs Lounge TOMORROW NIGHT! Remember, they host DJ nights on Fridays now. Back on October 15th, local hard rock quintet HeadFirst... first announced that they were booked at Shooters tomorrow night via this concert calendar on their Facebook page, but nothing followed about the gig over the next month & a half, partially due to their own busy activity behind the scenes. Then on November 13th, local classic/hard rock quartet Generations announced on their Facebook group that they were booked at Shooters tomorrow, something which I admittedly should have caught the date conflict of at the time, but I did make note of it on the site in our post on Wednesday. It did seem like Generations had replaced HeadFirst, but that's not the case!

As best as I can gather, HeadFirst initially booked December 7th at Shooters, but somewhere along the line, wires got crossed, and Generations were also booked on December 7th. Despite their quiet social media activity in recent months, HeadFirst never dropped out of tomorrow's gig. Rather than cancel/postpone one of the two bands, Shooters is opting for the rare double header tomorrow night, with HeadFirst getting the night timeslot as planned, while Generations will instead open the day's music slate with a 6:00 PM matinee of sorts (early nightfall at this time of year acknowledged). Remember, on times like this where two bands have full four-set gigs back to back, I wouldn't say Generations are "opening" for HeadFirst, as both are playing their usual time for a show on the weekend covers circuit. Notably, tomorrow will mark Generations' first show since October, so be early to welcome them back!

Both of tomorrow's back-to-back rock concerts at Shooters have 19+ age limits and no cover charges, with HeadFirst going on at 10:00 PM. Eight hours of rock cover action from both the talented veteran presence of Generations and the rising newer attack of HeadFirst (complete with a few originals of their own), so whether you want to see one or both groups, don't miss out on the double header on Dennis Street tomorrow! Visit the above links for more details on these shows, and for a preview, here's both HeadFirst and Generations live!

Finally, let's close this post with the latest live-stream from local/Barrie alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith's YouTube channel! For his apparent final full-band show of 2024, he and his old Din bandmate Brandan Glew returned to Toystock, this time via Mike headlining solo with support from The Big Finish Band, so what all did they play at The Grand Gardens last month? In order, the ten song set included "Brand New Day", "Back Away Slowly", "I Really Hope This Gets To You", "No Love", "Hot & Cold", "If Ever Comes The Day", "An Act Of Strength", a cover of The Din's "Missing", "The Nature Of The Times", and "All The Best". If you're curious, this set included four of the six songs played during their intermission set at The Soo's Got Talent finals two days prior (as seen in this live-stream), excepting "Carousel" and "Twist Of Fate". Once again, Mike is just singing and not playing anything, with no major instrument role changes mid-set.

Decent quality with good and bright lighting inside The Grand Gardens, and everyone is on form to realize Mike's original music for a festive audience and for a wonderful cause! I'd have centered the camera moreso than what they did, given that Chris is often cut off on the left where Matt is playing beside lots of empty space in the video. Good stuff to end Mike's 2024 concert calendar, so check out their full Toystock live-stream below!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Oz & The Nameless), Plus More From Sault Michigan & The E.U.P.!!

Today's SMS post takes us entirely to Michigan to look at recent news & notes from across the river, including LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (one on SHORT NOTICE), a concert preview sooner than Canadian readers may expect, and some new live videos. Here's what you should know!

Local hard rock quintet The Nameless will return to The Merchants Bar TOMORROW NIGHT for a pre-Thanksgiving party! Apologies for the short notice, this show was only announced via its Facebook event page this past Thursday. Yes, a rare Wednesday nighter, but it's because Thursday is Thanksgiving in the United States, so everyone will be off for the holiday, and you do hear about the occasional pre-holiday concert to take advantage of it. Another previously announced show TOMORROW is being previewed later in this post! The Nameless were last seen at Bird's Eye Outfitters' Halloween concert last month, while this will be their first gig at The Merch since July. Hopefully The Nameless keep West Spruce Street hopping TOMORROW before everyone settles in for family, food, and football on Thursday proper! TOMORROW'S 21+ concert is at 9:00 PM with no cover. See above for more details, and here's The Nameless live!

Next up, we have a pair of new shows with advance notice to look at before going back to pre-Thanksgiving previews, as Iron Mountain classic/hard rock cover quintet Oz will return to The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino on Friday, December 6th & Saturday, December 7th! Yoopers may recall seeing Oz make their Soo Kewadin debuts back in March, and while it's been a long nine month wait for them to make the pilgrimage this far east again, hopefully their proficient, backing track-free slate of classic and hard rock covers find a strong audience both nights next weekend! As usual for bands playing at Kewadin Casinos' regional lounges, expect next weekend's concerts to have 9:00 PM start times, 21+ age limits, and no cover charges. Oz deliver the goods for 1970s-1980s rock fans, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details on their shows here next month, and we'll preview these next week!

Now to that other pre-Thanksgiving concert preview, as local hard rock quartet Unfortunate Sun will make their debut at The Islander Bar in nearby Hessel TOMORROW NIGHT! Announced well in advance via this concert calendar last month, Unfortunate Sun are new to this nightclub, but of course, their predecessors Fake Chow played at The Islander Bar multiple times, most recently in October of last year. Like with The Nameless in the Soo, the guys are taking advantage of TOMORROW not being a work/school night in Michigan, with Unfortunate Sun calling this a "Drinksgiving Bash". Whatever you do, have fun responsibly at The Islander while rocking out with Unfortunate Sun's melodic and hard rocking slate of covers! Skip, Jody, Tony, and Jason take the stage TOMORROW at 9:00 PM with a 21+ age limit and no cover charge. See above for more details, and for a preview, here's Unfortunate Sun live earlier this summer!

Finally for this all-E.U.P. post, we'll close with new live videos of local hard rock band Exit 808's debut at the Back Bay Grill & Games at Bay Mills Resort & Casino in Brimley this past Saturday night! Three videos from the gig were posted to the band's Facebook page earlier this week, and they feature Exit 808 (plus guest guitarist Bob Libick) covering The Kinks' "You Really Got Me" and Evanescence's "Bring Me To Life", both with Amy Beach on lead vocals with Dillion Semasky backing her up. Notably, Dillion's daughter was in attendance at Bay Mills, marking the first time that she's seen her dad in concert, and she actually joined the band on stage during the Evanescence cover, which had to be a fun moment for the Semasky family! Speaking of which, Amy's son Blaze Beairl was back as a guest(?) bassist, as best seen in the Kinks and Evanescence videos (no word on if regular bassist Myke Young was there or not). 

Embedded below is a new addition to Exit 808's setlist, namely Stone Sour's "Absolute Zero", which has Dillion on lead vocals with Amy backing. Regrettably, all three videos were uploaded sideways despite being shot horizontally, and I have no idea why they didn't flip the videos 90° before posting them. Solid work all around, and the talented lineup gave these covers a good energy, with well balanced vocals given the two singer setup, though the lighting in the Back Bay Grill is very red. Check out Exit 808's new videos above & below, but try to tilt your device or head first!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and feature posts on the site soon! Thanks everyone!

A New Punk Album, New Videos, And Band Link Updates!!

Before we dive into St. Patrick's Day weekend concert previews, here's a new news post on this Wednesday evening, including new videos, updates to our band links, and leading off, a new album release. With all of that said, here's what you should know!

We have a surprise new album release to note on here, as local folk punk/emo solo project Agnosticism quietly released a new EP named "A Letter Of Resignation" to major streaming services on February 23rd! Given that this project (led by Vanity First, Hails, and Apocalypse Afterparty alum Mikhal Muto) is only active on social media via Instagram, it could be easy to assume that the album was plugged there and nowhere else, but nope, it wasn't even mentioned there. Mikhal actually told me about the release in a Facebook message, even acknowledging that he hadn't said much about it, so now everyone knows! The five song EP can be streamed on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, and even Boomplay (an Africa-centered streaming service that is getting more attention from local artists in recent months). Yes, this album is on sale on iTunes for $4.95, so it is eligible for a review on the SMS!

This and next month are sewn up with reviews of the newest Heavy Lies The Crown and Convergence albums, but our May 2024 album review will be of Agnosticism for the first time, so what will I have to say about Mikhal's unplugged folk punk originals? We'll know then, but give the opening song "New Year's Revolution" a listen below, and buy/stream this and other Agnosticism albums at the above links!

Next up, here's a new video from one of Iron Mountain, Michigan classic/hard rock cover band Oz's shows at The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino earlier this month! Uploaded to the band's Facebook page last week, the video features Oz covering "Somebody's Out There" by Triumph, in what has to be a rare example of a band covering a Canadian song in Sault Michigan. Strong cover filmed from a good angle to capture the whole stage, and I can easily see Oz handling Rush singles if this Triumph cover tells me anything! Give it a look below, and hopefully Oz come back to the E.U.P. soon!

Also today, let's hop back to Sault Ontario for new videos from local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations! These were filmed by attendee Christopher Bardawill (who has filmed them before) at their show at Jay's Piston Broke Pub on Saturday. The videos were first posted to Christopher's personal Facebook page and then shared to the band's Facebook group. Interestingly, both songs that he filmed are ones where Valerie Powley is not on lead vocals, instead providing backup and playing tambourine. One is a cover of The Eagles' "Already Gone" with guitarist Tony Kajnar on vocals, but embedded below is their cover of Steppenwolf's "Magic Carpet Ride" with bassist Pierre Anthony on vocals. That cover is a little shorter, but I embedded it here because it's a harder rocker and he didn't film it while sitting at a table for the duration, so you get some a much closer side stage vantage point of the band in action here!

I'm no Eagles fan, but that cover and "Magic Carpet Ride" are performed well and make good use of their vocal harmonies, especially on the former! Alas, both videos were shot vertically, which really didn't help the "Already Gone" video's case, but kudos to Christopher for filming on Saturday! Give their newest live videos a watch above & below!

Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items, all bands newly moved to our inactive band links due to being publically inactive for a year or more. As always, these are in alphabetical order by band name:

 

• The first of the bands moved to our inactive links is local acoustic southern hard rock duo The Bearded Lounge, who last posted band updates or played live on March 4th, 2023 at The Water Tower Pub. Launched in 2017, this side project of Bone Yard appears to have been put on the shelf so that Greg and Alex could include Bone Yard bassist Warren Reville in their unplugged (sorry, "uncorked") gigs, now under the Bone Yard banner, which have continued in the past year. Look for upcoming acoustic Bone Yard shows at The Water Tower Pub and Gateway Casino!
• Also now in our inactive links is local/Edmonton noise punk duo No Funeral, who have not issued any public updates since releasing their self-titled album on Bandcamp on March 5th of last year. Featuring former AlgomA drummer Jamie Vincent and his old Flint bandmate Connor O'Brien, No Funeral played one live date at Outspoken Brewing in October 2022, recorded an album while Connor was in town, and that was about it until the album came out. No Funeral were an entertainingly chaotic project, and hopefully they surface again if the stars align!
• Finally, I have moved local/Toronto progressive metal trio PROV3RB5 to our inactive band links. Given the studio-heavy nature of the band (especially as Bryan lives out of town), it's entirely possible that PROV3RB5 have been working behind the scenes for the past year+, but the band has not issued a social media update since guitarist Benjamin Roswell posted a playthrough video on their Facebook page in January of last year. PROV3RB5 are too talented to go away, if I may say so, and hopefully Ben, Bryan, and Phil resurface when the time is right!
  

 

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