Pop Evil & Triumph Concert Video Showcase!!

Tonight's post takes us to recent major concerts in to wrap up our coverage of videos shot at them, and in one case, we haven't even touched on the show yet! As you may recall, Muskegon, Michigan hard rock quintet Pop Evil made their Sault Ontario debut at The Machine Shop on April 12th, and while videos were not nearly as forthcoming as they were from their multiple Kewadin Casino concerts in the past 15 years, the ever-prolific Christopher Paci was in attendance that night and uploaded 10 videos to his YouTube channel! No word on if he filmed at the Three Days Grace concert, but if he was there, he hasn't uploaded anything yet. Fittingly for their eighth local concert appearance, Chris filmed eight videos of Pop Evil's headlining set, specifically their songs "Footsteps", "Waking Lions", "Legendary", "Torn To Pieces", "Skeletons", "Paranoid (Crash & Burn)", "Trenches", and as embedded below, "100 In A 55". 

While by no means a staple of the 104.3 setlist, Rock 101 listeners are well accustomed to Pop Evil by now, and there was a good crowd familiar with their ample radio hits last month! Chris about four rows deep (standing room only acknowledged) here, and Leigh and crew sound really good across these videos, especially on more melodic songs and choruses, so give these well shot videos a watch above & below!

The openers at The Machine Shop last month were Waterloo hard rock quartet Sierra Pilot, who once featured ex-Spades GT guitarist Jay Sarrazin in their lineup, in case the band name is familiar. Chris got two videos from their set, including them playing "Replicants" and, as embedded below, what I believe to be a new song of theirs (in a cursory search of their studio material, it doesn't match anything obvious). Sierra Pilot have a good sound going for them, with distinct vocals and a melodic ear while still delivering heavy riffs and and a command of the crowd, so don't bypass Chris' videos from their set either!

The back half of this post takes us to the Triumph/April Wine concert at GFL Memorial Gardens 10 days after Pop Evil, as there are two more videos of note about the show that aren't fan-shot live clips. One is of video from the headlining Mississauga hard rock band's reunion tour-kickoff set here, and it actually is a "Shorts" (ie. YouTube "Reels") video from the band's official YouTube channel! The 48 seconds-long highlight reel video is set to the studio version of "Rock & Roll Machine", and features clips of Rik, Gil, and crew playing on stage and even a bit of off-stage content, as tiled and edited in post-production to make use of the vertical dimensions as best as it can, even with animations rather than plain black letterboxing. As I say often for bands who post highlight reels rather than raw uncut concert videos, I would far prefer full videos, as these look to be high quality from some unique angles!

Regardless, it is neat to see the Soo (and the Gardens) represented in a major band's official online video content, and seeing as this is the 5th (4½th?) post featuring Triumph videos, you know it was a hit! Give Triumph's "Short" highlight video a watch for yourselves below!

Finally, while this does feature videos from the concert, this is primarily a video review of the Triumph concert! Veteran local rock drummer Glen Thomas (ex-Flat Stanley, Wishbone, Soundcheck, et al.) posted a 40+ minutes-long review of the concert to his YouTube channel, in what you could argue also fits in line with his "Glen Yaps" videos there. Glen approaches things differently than some as an experienced drummer with connections (a friend was one of the techs that night), and he goes into detail not just about the sets proper by both bands, but also the stage setup, comparisons to what he saw of the pre-tour kickoff concerts in Florida, the fan responses, how the bands came off and sounded in relation to the video screens, the overall sound setup and rigging that night, how the gaps between songs differed between the two bands, and how the experience was seeing the show with his wife and how things connected to seeing Triumph in the 1970s.

Live videos that Glen shot are overlaid at around 10:30 into the review, and other closer videos from other filmers were also included similarly. Glen did suggest that he might post his own raw videos from the concert (he was filming with a GoPro, even), but as of this writing, he has not done so. Regardless, I do agree with him about preferring full songs on video rather than partial clips! Speaking as an experienced live and studio drummer, Glen gives strong insights into the concert, and it's an entertaining watch to go into detail of things beyond just who played what song, so give everything a look below, and we'll let you know if belated videos surface!

That's all for tonight, but stay tuned for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile next! Thanks everyone! 

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Dopethrone), A New Local Band, And The Pop Evil Concert Preview!!

Today's post is stacked with big news and notes from the past week, including a very notable LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for extreme metal fans next month, our slightly delayed preview of a big headlining concert on Sunday night, and leading off, a very delayed addition to our Sault Ontario band links, so here's what you should know on this Friday night!

Local metal quintet With Gunfire have finally launched a Facebook page, so we can finally add them to our active band links! Why it took this long, I don't know, especially as their first gig was in July 2024, but better late than never! Originally known as The Sault Side Squad (a parody of The Suicide Squad) before adopting their current name in December, With Gunfire's lineup is (as far as I am still aware) comprised of The B.A.G.'s Spencer MacGillivray on vocals, A Dire Setback/Big Finish Band guitarist Chris Nielsen, former Jack Spades/Sativa Rose guitarist Anthony Orazietti, A.S.D.P./ex-Stoned To Deaf bassist William Wardlaw, and former Soldiers Of Misfortune/Elements drummer Jonas Gasperas, who played with Anthony in Winkstinger. The original Sault Side Squad singer was ex-As It Stands frontman and rapper Justin "Nadj" Pregent, who quietly left this band by September 2025.

Brand new content is slim on With Gunfire's Facebook page, but two new "Shorts" videos were shared from Jonas' YouTube channel, including this slideshow with silent live footage set to their studio original "M.F.C." (ignore the AI-generated image claiming a title of "A Hate Supreme"), but embedded below is a performance at the Fist Magnet/Spigots reunion concert at Soo Blaster in December that they opened and debuted their new name at. Some of the vertical videos here were uploaded as plain videos, so I don't know why this is a "Short", but the song here is promisingly thrashy despite some fans being in the road of the camera. Give it a watch below, and stay tuned for more new content from Jonas' channel!

Next up, here's that LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, as Montreal "slutch metal" trio Dopethrone will return to Sault Ste. Marie for a headlining concert at Jay's Piston Broke Pub on Monday, May 25th! Readers may recall seeing this long running doom metal outfit at the former New American Pub on Victoria Day in 2019, and while the same holiday is a week prior this year, it is great to see Dopethrone back after just over 7 years away, and they should keep things down and dirty (yet still brutal) at the former Roosevelt Hotel! Also joining Dopethrone on tour is Vancouver gothic/doom metal quintet Tribunal, a majority-female and cello-infused band that should turn heads with their brutal and atmospheric sound in their local debut, so don't bypass them! While most of this tour is a co-headlining jaunt with Portland black metal project Mizmor, they are not advertised for the Soo date.

The local openers are extremely notable on their own, even without the touring bands, starting with the surprise reunion of local/St. Catharines grindcore trio Shit Liver, whose last concert of their original run was the Dopethrone show at The New A! Concert advertising specifies that they are only playing a 15 minute set, so I'm reading this as a one-off reunion and not the start of anything major (remember, the now-short haired Josh Penno is largely focusing on The Golden Scoundrels nowadays), but this is a fitting way to see Shit Liver (at least) one more time! The other opening band is named Eden Plague, who are the renamed and relaunched local death metal band The Bear Hunters! A reason was not publically announced for the name change, but a fresh start after a year+ hiatus is as good a reason as any. Guitarist Mitch Sirie previously used the Eden Plague name for a short-lived black metal project in 2010 & 2011, distinct from his other solo work.

Of course, Mitch is no stranger to being in bands who had late period name changes (i.e. Stillbroke/Borderline Divine and The Suicide Kings/Beaumont Avenue). No word on if there will be any other changes to the band in sound or lineup, let alone if their 2023 "final album" plans are still around, but we'll let you know when we hear more from The Bear Hunters Eden Plague! A rare promotional effort by the aforementioned Josh Penno, this Memorial Day concert is a 19+ affair at 7:30 PM, and $20 advance tickets are on sale at Jay's and The Rad Zone (the door charge jumps to $25). A nice throwback death/doom metal show will be well worth seeing next month, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details!

Finally for today's post, here's our preview of this weekend's main event, as Muskegon, Michigan hard rock quintet Pop Evil will return to our area for a headlining concert at The Machine Shop in Sault Ontario on SUNDAY NIGHT! Buzz for this show hasn't been as high as I had assumed, but this is notable because Pop Evil have a lot of Billboard rock chart success in the US, get frequent airplay on Rock 101, and have played in Sault Michigan seven times in the past decade & a half, most recently at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino just over three years ago. With hit songs like "Footsteps", "Skeletons", and "Waking Lions" in their back pocket, it will be interesting to see Pop Evil on the Canadian side of the border, and hopefully there's a strong turnout for their catchy original rock! Your openers on Sunday are Waterloo hard rock quartet Sierra Pilot (a former band of ex-Spades GT guitarist Jay Sarrazin).

Expect a diverse but explosive set of rocking originals from them in their local debut in three nights' time! This stop on Pop Evil's What Remains Tour is an all ages event at 8:00 PM, and tickets run for $45.20 (plus processing fees) at this link, at the door, or at the in-person box office at Station Mall. If you're curious, the ticket price is comparable to Pop Evil's 2023 show in Sault Michigan after you convert this ticket cost from CAD to USD. Hopefully this show (the third hard rock headlining event at The Machine Shop in less than two months) is a success, so visit the above links for more details, and here's Pop Evil live at Kewadin Casino the last time out!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Pop Evil), A New Christmas Album, And Mike Haggith Updates!!

We're back after a quiet weekend with a stacked post on this Monday night, including a big LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, a brand new album release, and a new concert video & related updates, so here's what you should know!

Muskegon, Michigan hard rock quintet Pop Evil will return to our area on Sunday, April 12th, but this time, they'll be making their debut in Sault Ontario at The Machine Shop! Yes, it is 100% the local Machine Shop, not the one in Flint. Fans have seen these Rock 101 mainstays seven times in Sault Michigan over the years (all but one at their Kewadin Casino), including their most recent date here in March 2023, but if you Canadian readers were previously unable or unwilling to cross the border, then you'll want to circle this date on your calendar! Like last time, Pop Evil are touring in support of their new album, so expect to hear cuts from "What Remains", plus existing hits like "Skeletons", "Trenches", and "Breathe Again" in the spring! This will also be their first local stop since Blake Allison replaced Hayley Cramer on drums. No word on potential openers yet, but this show will not feature Sabaton, who Pop Evil are opening for on much of their early 2026 tour run.

Tickets for this all ages and 8:00 PM concert run for $40 + additional processing fees at this link at presumably at the door. We've been getting a good run of big new rock concert announcements in Sault Ontario for early 2026 so far, and this will absolutely help in that, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details!

Next up, here's a new-ish album release from Sault Michigan classical metal band Theatre of Night! On Friday, they released "Christmas Night 3" to their Reverbnation page for $7.99, and it's not on other paid or subscription streaming services beyond their YouTube channel. If you're not familiar, the original "Christmas Night" came out as an instrumental album in 2011, before they re-recorded and expanded it with then-singer Rachel Mender in 2022 as "Dreams Of Winter" (I assume they're considering that to be "Christmas Night 2"). For this third go-around with a seasonal album, Theatre of Night are collaborating again with German soprano singer Gaby Koss, who was once an official (if remote) band member in the early-mid 2010s, and worked with Craig, Steve, and crew again last year for a free  "Celtic Christmas metal EP", but there were teasers at the time that Gaby would be working on more material with them.

The five songs from last year's batch are included on "Christmas Night 3" along with five new additions, and note that of the 10 songs, "The First Noel", "O Come Emmanuel", "Let All Mortal Flesh", and "Good King Wenceslas" are all brand new to Theatre Of Night's paid studio output and did not feature on the two prior albums. How do these sound, and how do the other six compare to prior versions? I think we'll find out this month, as I'm going to bump our album review queue all up a month so this can be reviewed in a timely fashion! Otherwise, it'll be blocked for mid-2026 at the earliest, nowhere near Christmas (No Arrow will 100% come next month). Stream "Christmas Night 3" for yourselves below!

Finally, let's head back to Sault Ontario for the long awaited full concert video from Mike Haggith & The Big Finish Band's outdoor-ish headlining show at the Downtown Plaza in September! Of course, this concert was released as a live album named "Under A Moonlit Sky" late last month, but Mike promised right along that the the full video would be posted to his YouTube channel, and that went live on Thursday. 705Live Sound Co. were on hand to provide sound for the concert and this album, while videography was credited to Big Finish Band backing vocalist Elly McWatters (who must have set up one of the stationary cameras), guitarist Chris Nielsen's A Dire Setback bandmate Matt Quinn, and Celeste Maurer. There's at least three stationary cameras on hand here (one pointing directly at the stage, one at a corner angle, and a drumcam for Brandan Glew's sake), while Matt and/or Celeste was roaming to capture various close-up angles. 

For what it's worth, the last two songs are solely featured via the main stationary camera with no switches to other views. Of note, the stage was tarped on three of four sides with a forest/sky motif, but the material wasn't opaque, so natural lighting is reflected in the skyline, and as the show took place during sunset and dusk, things do darken naturally. It is a neat visual! The concert proper is longer than the album, so more of the between-song banter and gaps are left in, but in tagging each individual song in the YouTube description, Mike opted not to credit the guitar adlib or the separated introductions (aside from "The Power of Community") for the video proper. As you may be aware, Mike pledged proceeds from streams of "Under A Moonlit Sky" to Christmas Cheer this month, and that includes 10¢ from every view of the concert video.

Mike was interviewed by SooToday's Darren Taylor for this article about the live album and charity drive, where Mike talks about getting the idea to support his old hometown (remember, he lives in Barrie now), where he focuses his attention for gigs when he comes back north, and the change of plans from the battle of the bands to the full concert on September 25th, apparently on just two days notice! Solidly informative article, even if The Big Finish Band name wasn't given, so read it above! I'll hold my thoughts on the concert proper for our review of "Under A Moonlit Sky" next year, but it's very well shot and edited with some neat views of the plaza stage, so give it a watch below and support Christmas Cheer in the process!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more on the SMS this week! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Rhythm & Brews), A New Local Band, And New Videos!!

As we continue to catch up on news and notes from last month, today's post includes new video discoveries from both sides of the border, LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for later this month, and leading off, a new addition to our Sault Ontario band links, so here's what you should know!

We have a new local metal band to add to our links, namely Hollow Sky! This is the new project from former Uncanny Valley bassist Adam Fahrer, who also played in country musician Brendan Hodgson's backing band. Primarily credited now on guitar, Adam is joined by singer Liam Tallon, who you may recognize from competing in the Soo Youth Songwriting Contest in 2017 and later via recording hard rock material at Tidal Records in 2018, project unclear, but you can sample what he was doing at this link. Hollow Sky publically launched via their Facebook page on December 2nd, and haven't posted there since December 4th, but they did release their first studio original that day, named "The Spiral". They said that the song can be streamed on "all platforms", those being Spotify, Apple Music, and Deezer (all handily linked via DistroKid), plus YouTube, Amazon Music, and Boomplay.

At least far as this song goes, Hollow Sky are very promising with a modern metalcore sound including strong clean vocals and some djent influence in the guitar riffs, and the production quality is pretty good too! Again, we haven't heard anything from their camp in over a month, but give Hollow Sky's first song a listen below, and look for more from them this year!

Next up, here's some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for later this month, as Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Rhythm & Brews will return to The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino on Friday, January 27th & Saturday, January 28th! These come courtesy of Kewadin's entertainment page, and mark the only hard rock-leaning shows at the St. Ignace Kewadin this month. These shows will be Rhythm & Brews' first in three months, last seen rocking the Soo Kewadin branch over the Halloween weekend, though given their infrequent usage of their Facebook page, something definitely could have been missed since then. Hopefully Brandon, the Chris', and Ron deliver another entertaining weekend of fan favourite rock covers for fans in a few weeks! Expect 9:00 PM start times, 21+ age limits, and no cover charges. Visit the above links for more details!

Let's make our way back north now, starting with a stop in Sault Michigan for a much belated video from the Pop Evil concert at The Dreammakers Theatre at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino in March of last year! This was actually uploaded to the Muskegon hard rock band's Facebook page right after the show took place, as filmed by videographer Matt Akana from what appears to be the end of their set. The video was uniquely shot on stage with the camera generally pointing towards the audience, with Matt weaving his way through the band while frontman Leigh Kakaty thanks the crowd (admittedly, what he says is hard to hear). Sadly, this was shot vertically, and a film grain was added to it in post-production that doesn't seem entirely necessary, but this is a neat look at a side of major local concerts that you don't always see, and the crowd was definitely receptive, so give this Pop Evil video from their Sault Ste. Marie date last year a watch below!

We'll end things back in Sault Ontario for a video promoting last year's tenth annual Toystock! In advance of the annual Christmas Cheer charity concert at The Grand Gardens on November 26th, Toystock got some deserved hype from CTV News Northern Ontario during their evening newscast, with anchor and former Sault Ste. Marie city councillor Tony Ryma interviewing promoter/Bone Yard frontman Greg Simpson on air! If you missed this on the former MCTV at the time, never fear, as Greg posted the 2+ minute segment to Toystock's Facebook page, and it is embedded below. In the interview, Tony asks Greg about how Toystock came together, the format for this year, how much help families do need in the Soo at this time of year, and about the family friendly aspects of the event. During the interview, we even see some video footage from a prior installment, rather Toystock VIII in 2019, which CTV was there for!

At the time, Jairus Patterson had led this news piece to cover parts of the event, but we only briefly saw a bit of Kaitlyn Parr's set in it. Four years later, the new interview features her set again, but now joined by Brendan Hodgson, Soundcheck, their frontman Cameron Oliver, and the Case's Music instructors' band. That constitutes five of the first six acts in 2019, with only The Jeff & Jeff Show not included in the 2023 interview footage, so kudos for the local CTV crew for staying as long as they did! It'd be nice to see the raw footage, but good on CTV for digging these up to back up some very nice promotion for this year's Toystock, and check it out below!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Tym Morrison), New Concert Videos, And More!!

Before we begin this post, I wanted to apologize for a missed concert in this weekend's very quiet hard rock concert previews, as local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck returned to The Esquire Club for a show last night. The band only announced this concert via their Facebook page at 3:08 PM yesterday (less than 7 hours before showtime), and The Esquire Club's Facebook page never confirmed the show period. If Soundcheck played there on Friday night, no one announced it that I have found. Be advised that bassist Jim Michaud's old band Obsession had planned to play at Shooters this weekend before they broke up in February, so last night's Esquire Club booking was not inherited from that band. If you're following the former Obsession's announced 2023 concert calendar, then the next of those dates that Jim could theoretically take over with Soundcheck would be April 21st & 22nd at The Esquire Club.

In any event, last night's apparent Soundcheck one-nighter was held once the venue got the snow from yesterday's storm dealt with (they were closed until 6:00 PM), and it coincided with singer/guitarist Terry Eaton's birthday. Happy belated birthday, of course! I profusely apologize for missing this show on the SMS, but the late notice combined with a quiet concert weekend and the storm didn't have me thinking anything would pop up, let alone with time to make up a post. Hopefully it was a blast in spite of Mother Nature, and stay tuned for previews of Soundcheck's next late notice shows this weekend later in the week!

Now, today's post otherwise features a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT with ample notice for later this month, plus some new concert videos, and let's start with that new show, as local classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison will return to Tazzi's Cafe & Restaurant at 478 Queen Street East for one night only on Friday, April 21st! This will be Tym's third show at the restaurant just down the road from Reggie's Place following his St. Patrick's Day weekend gigs there last month, and clearly those went well for Tazzi's to bring him back for another go-around! Tazzi's has primarily focused on acoustic-leaning solo acts on Friday nights since beginning their live music experiment, and hopefully Tym's unplugged classic and hard rock covers go over well as usual there!

Like last month, this show has a 19+ age limit, no cover, and an 8:00 PM start time. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and stay tuned for more from Tym when it rolls in!

We'll close today with new videos from a pair of major hard rock concerts in each of the Twin Saults, as posted to YouTube last month! YouTube user Brian S has recently been uploading videos from three different concerts that he attended to his channel, including the Skillet/Theory of a Deadman/Saint Asonia show in Mount Pleasant, Michigan last month, but his newest two are from the Pop Evil-headlined show at The Dreammakers Theatre at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino on March 17th! The videos are all of the headlining Muskegon hard rock band, and they feature their hits "Deal With The Devil", "Torn To Pieces", and as embedded below, "Footsteps". Alas, all but "Torn To Pieces" were shot vertically, but Brian had a decent angle of the stage, and while not close to it, he zoomed in and made use of his camera's solid visual quality to capture these songs nicely with good lighting!

Audio quality is pretty solid on these too, if a little muffled, but if you're a fan of Pop Evil's modern hard rock singles, you will like how Leigh and crew translate these songs to a live set so seamlessly! Give these a look above and below, and we'll let you know if more Pop Evil videos surface!

Finally, while Brian's Theory of a Deadman videos are primarily from the aforementioned Mount Pleasant show last month, he was in attendance for the Burnaby, B.C. hard rock/post grunge band's headlining date at the Sault Community Theatre Centre in Sault Ontario in February 2020, belatedly uploading this video of their older ballad "All or Nothing", complete with Tyler starting on piano before moving to just vocals and interacting with front row attendees. I'm not a huge Theory (of a Deadman) fan, but Brian got an even better video for angle, position, and quality here, and this performance was definitely well recieved in one of the final major hard rock shows here pre-lockdown, so check it out for yourselves below!

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

Pop Evil Concert Videos, Plus More From Sault Michigan!!

Before we begin today's all E.U.P. post, I wanted to apologize for a missed concert in this weekend's previews, as local hard rock/metal band Tarnished played a solo headlining gig at The Savoy Nightclub last night. Of course, they were among the openers there for Scotty Austin/Redburn on Thursday night, but the band announced that they were playing "round 2" there on their Facebook page two hours before showtime, and the venue's Facebook page never posted that Tarnished were pulling double duty. Maybe the idea of Tarnished playing last night came together quickly after how things went on Thursday, but I do profusely apologize for missing this show on here, I'd have covered it had I gotten more notice!

That said, The Savoy's Facebook page does have a couple of relevant videos to the big show on Thursday, one being this brief promotional clip from February where Scotty Austin himself plugged the local date. He even mentioned playing in the Soo previously and that Redburn have been up here before (they opened for Saving Abel here in 2015), and little details like that make a video like this seem less cookie cutter and more personal, so kudos! The other video comes from the show proper, as a Savoy staffer(?) filmed who I believe to be opening local hard rock band The Nameless, specifically the (vocal-devoid) last 20 seconds of their third-to-last song. The video quality isn't great, with the filmer panning around quickly to show the packed house more than the band, not to mention the vertical camera angle, so we never see enough of the band with any clarity. If you told me I was wrong and that this was Tarnished, I wouldn't be shocked!

In any event, I don't know off hand what song this is based on the instrumental snippet on offer (The Nameless were covers-centric upon their debut last year, and if this was Tarnished, it doesn't match any of their or Alex's studio originals). For what little we hear, it sounds good, and the solid audience at this early stage is encouraging, so give it a look below, and we'll let you know if more videos turn up!

The rest of today's post is devoted to the Pop Evil-headlined concert at The Dreammakers Theatre at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino on March 17th, as the ever-prolific Christopher Paci's YouTube channel has us covered with videos of all three bands from last week! As far as I have seen so far, Chris is the only person to upload videos from this show on YouTube, at least publically. Yes, I am aware that he filmed videos at the Leash show in Sault Ontario earlier this month, check back for those next week. As for the Pop Evil concert, Chris uploaded 12 videos from that night, including seven of the Muskegon hard rock mainstays' headlining set, those being "Breathe Again", "Torn To Pieces", "Footsteps", "Skeletons", "Dead Reckoning", "Paranoid (Crash & Burn)", and as embedded below, "Eye Of The Storm". The audio quality on his camera/this sound setup is fairly raw, but Chris had a strong central angle of the stage!

You can tell that Pop Evil are very much on their game here with good energy, and if soundboard audio existed, I can tell that it'd be fairly similar to the studio tracks, so fans of Pop Evil's ample rock radio hits should be right at home with these videos above & below!

Phoenix metalcore band The Word Alive were filmed thrice for Chris' channel, including their original songs "Trapped", "Why Am I Like This", and as embedded below, "Nocturnal Future". The same audio quality harshness aside, The Word Alive are well captured here with a nice melodic flavour on their modern aggression, and the stage lighting for their set is accentuated nicely, so check it out below!

Finally, Seattle metalcore band Avoid got two videos from Chris, namely "Song About James" and, as embedded below, their opening two songs "Gator Fest" and "Cowabunga". Avoid's electronic-tinged attack helped get this show off on the right foot with some explosively energetic songs to boot, and I can see how them opening was the best call, so check out their videos above & below, and stay tuned for Chris' Leash videos next week!

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

The First Of This Year's St. Patrick's Day Concert Previews!!

Irish eyes are definitely smiling upon the calendar this year, as with St. Patrick's Day falling on a Friday this year, it means the concert calendar is quite stacked, so be sure to check out your favourite nightclubs' and venues' online pages & schedules to see if bands are playing, let alone if they will have St. Patrick's Day themes. However, the weather gods are not smiling upon the Sault Ste. Marie area, with a winter storm watch currently in effect from late tonight through Saturday morning, with up to 3-8 inches of snow expected, so if you are at all concerned that a band or St. Patrick's Day party will be impaired by the impending storm, keep tabs on their online accounts for further details, as things can easily change.

Due to the amount of scheduled hard rock/punk concerts this weekend, I'll save the Bone Yard, Scarkazm, and Tym Morrison shows for tomorrow morning's post, and maybe anything that falls into our lap beforehand. Now, let's start with three Friday-only shows, including the big one this weekend, as Muskegon, Michigan hard rock mainstays Pop Evil will make their long awaited return to the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino TOMORROW NIGHT when they headline at The Dreammakers Theatre! This will be Pop Evil's seventh local concert, sixth at the Soo Kewadin, first since their outdoor gig with Buckcherry back in August 2019, and their first here with touring bassist Joey Walser in place of Matt DiRito. Of course, Pop Evil have loads of familiar rock radio hits, including "Breathe Again", "Eye Of The Storm", and "Survivor" since their last local date alone, so fans should be in good hands tomorrow!

Support bands include Phoenix metalcore band The Word Alive and Seattle metalcore quintet Avoid, and while both are more aggressive than Pop Evil by rule, their fast rising takes on the subgenre shouldn't be avoided tomorrow night! A presentation of Allstar Promotions, this 8:00 PM & all ages concert is actually a big deal on a wider scale for Pop Evil's sake, as it is both the full kickoff show for this tour, as well as the day that their new album "Skeletons" is released, so get your copy while it is hot off the presses! Tickets run for $29.50 USD (up from $25 at their last Dreammakers Theatre show in 2018), and limited seats in the left and right sections are still available, albeit in the back three rows only. If you want any seat that you can get, or want standing room only admission, click here, call 1-800-KEWADIN, or visit the in-person box office. For the record, this concert has no overt St. Patrick's Day ties in the promotion.

Pop Evil have been very good to Sault Ste. Marie in the past decade+, and with their upbeat, high energy brand of modern hard rock still going high on the Billboard Mainstream Rock charts, they should be in fine form with a huge crowd to match tomorrow night! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and for a preview, here's Pop Evil live here!

Next up, local blues/hard rock quartet Project 906 will return to The Islander Bar in nearby Hessel TOMORROW NIGHT! Their first trip to The Islander Bar (almost an hour south of the Soo) since Halloween weekend, tomorrow's festivities will definitely be St. Patrick's Day-themed, including a traditional corned beef/boiled cabbage dinner if you are so inclined beforehand, plus multiple Irish-themed drink specials. Project 906 themselves will bring the rock as usual, and they should deliver entertaining hard rock covers and select originals for Mackinac County fans tomorrow! This is a one-nighter due to or resulting in Gary Hatch's show there on Saturday, and be advised that The Islander Bar will actually close for nearly a month starting on Sunday (the venue didn't say why, but renovations seem likely)

Tomorrow's concert has a 8:00 PM start time, no cover charge, and a 21+ age limit. Between this show and Scarkazm in the Soo (more tomorrow), hard rock fans in the eastern U.P. will have some solid options for St. Patrick's Day, so don't miss out, and for a preview of Project 906's Hessel gig tomorrow, here they are live a few months back!

Lastly for this preview post, we'll head north to Sault Ontario, where debuting local skate punk trio Hails and folk punk/extreme metal solo musician Chase Wigmore will join forces for a special concert/art exhibition TOMORROW at The Art Hub at Spring! Named the "Full Circle Rock & Roll Spectacular", this event is being held at the former Big Brothers Association property at 504 Queen Street East, and it is being held as part of the Fishbowl Festival and, within that, Hails frontman Brenton Ellis' own art exhibition named Full Circle, which celebrates "connectivity & continuity". Remember, if you've seen any of Brent's recent concerts or him at events where sale of his artwork occurred, you'll know his painting talents and this should be a good showcase for his visual art endeavours! Hails feature Brent alongside Vanity First's Mikhal Muto & Keeghan McAllister (yes, Vanity First is still active) and shouldn't be far off musically.

As for Chase, this will be a rare pandemic-era live concert set from him, but will this lean more to his recent metal studio work or his past unplugged folk punk live sets? Come out tomorrow to find out! This all ages event has a 7:30 PM start time, and admission is $10 or "pay what you can", and if you are so inclined, tickets are available at this link. If there are St. Patrick's Day themes tomorrow, then they go unsaid in Facebook promotion. Should be a fun evening for punk fans and art aficionados alike, so visit the above links for more details, and here's one of Chase's recent acoustic videos!

That's all for now, but we'll wrap up the St. Patrick's Day weekend hard rock concert previews on the site next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Pop Evil) & Weekend Concert Previews!!

Let's dive into this weekend's hard rock concert previews today, and while this is somewhat of a quiet weekend for heavier gigs (possible late notice shows acknowledged), we're leading off with a huge LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for the spring, so here's what you should know!

Muskegon hard rock band Pop Evil will return to The Dreammakers Theatre at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino for their seventh local concert appearance and first post-pandemic on Friday, March 17th! Last seen when they & Buckcherry headlined a special outdoor gig at the local Kewadin branch in August 2019 (and, for shows at The Dreammakers Theatre, in February 2018), it will be great to welcome these modern hard rock mainstays back to the E.U.P., especially as they're still performing quite well on rock radio! Since we last saw them, "Breathe Again", "Survivor", and "Eye of the Storm" have reached #1 or #2 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock charts, so look for another high octane set of melodic and hard hitting original favourites in three months! This will also be Pop Evil's first local show since bassist Matt DiRito left the band, with Joey Walser currently handling bass as a touring performer.

Opening bands will include two metalcore quintets, namely Phoenix's The Word Alive and Seattle's Avoid, and with the former's techno-influenced sound and the latter's rawer, more abrasive attack, both should set the tone nicely! Brought to you by Allstar Promotions once again, tickets run for $29.50 USD (up from $25 in 2018), and they go on sale tomorrow at 10:00 AM at this link, at 1-800-KEWADIN, or at the in-person box office, and if you use the password ALLSTAR2023 online, you can get yours today until 10:00 PM. This stop on Pop Evil's Skeletons Tour is an all ages & 8:00 PM event, and it should be another huge one for hard rock fans, so definitely visit the above links for more details on Pop Evil's return!

Now let's dive into this weekend's hard rock concert previews, and we'll start while staying in Sault Michigan, as Traverse City metal trio Scarkazm will return to The Rapids Lounge at the very same Kewadin Casino branch for their last E.U.P. dates of 2022 TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Their sister band Peril will wrap up the year in St. Ignace on New Year's weekend, but this is the 2022 last call for Scarkazm in our area. If you want to enjoy Dave, Adam, and Jeff's hard rocking and classic tinged originals & covers, you know where to be tomorrow and/or Saturday! As usual for Scarkazm's Kewadin gigs, expect this weekend's shows to be 9:00 PM affairs with 21+ age limits and no cover charges. Visit the official Facebook event pages linked here & here for more details, and here's Scarkazm live!

Now let's head north to Sault Ontario to round out the weekend concert previews (barring any late notice gigs), starting with local southern hard rock cover trio Bone Yard's return to Jay's Piston Broke Pub for shows TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! These are the final dates in Bone Yard's six weekend run of steady local gigs, and will mark Greg, Alex, and Warren's first shows at 306 Korah Road since Reggie's West changed names & owners in October, so if you want to see how Bone Yard do in a somewhat new locale, head to the former Rosie this weekend! In fact, these shows will be Bone Yard's last of 2022 before they "go into hiding for a few weeks", if you believe the Facebook event page, so there's extra reason to get out and enjoy their southern fried classic & hard rock covers! As usual, these are 9:30 PM affairs with no cover charge and 19+ age limits. See above for more details, and here's Bone Yard live!

Finally, fellow local southern hard rock band Fort Creek will return to Soo Blaster on SATURDAY NIGHT when they headline a special one-night-only holiday concert that they're calling their "Christmas blowout"! Much like their May 7th date at the same Queen Street East venue, this will be a bigger event in scope than just your usual weekend nightclub gig, including a Christmas Cheer element to the proceedings that may make up for Fort Creek not playing at Toystock last month, including food donations accepted at the door for this show's expected merchandise giveaway contest, and Santa Claus himself will reportedly show up too! Beyond that, 705Live Sound Co. will be on hand to make things sound great, and their established hard rock and metal covers, plus burgeoning originals, should be enough of a draw on their own! No opening acts are advertised for this 8:00 PM event, which is for ages 19+ as you'd expect.

Proving the larger scope of this one, "minimal" advance tickets are still available for $10 (higher than in May) at Soo Blaster, Sessions Cannabis at 216 Second Line West, through band members, and in a later confirmation, Stone's Office Supply at 529 Queen Street East. This will be the biggest event yet for Fort Creek's new lineup, so hopefully Bill and his new bandmates leave a great first impression with fans on Saturday! Visit the above links for more details, and here's Fort Creek live!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Tarnished), Halloween Party #15 Details, And Pop Evil/Buckcherry Videos!!

Before we dive into this weekend's concert previews, a surprise mid-week SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT has led me to get an early start in this regard, along with preliminary details on an annual concert staple, plus lots of videos from a recent major concert. Here's what you should know!

New Sault Michigan hard rock band Tarnished will play a special outdoor concert TODAY at the Sault Ste. Marie Farmers' Market at 111 East Portage Avenue! Apologies for the short notice, this show was only announced via the band's Facebook page on Monday. Adding to the Banned successors' slate of unconventional acoustic gigs around the E.U.P. and abroad, the prospect of live music at the Farmers' Market isn't all that strange if you regularly attend this event at the corner of Portage and Ashmun, as live unplugged music has been a standard sight on these Wednesdays and Saturdays this summer. Hopefully Alex and Josh deliver another fun set of hard rocking covers TODAY at 4:00 PM! This is absolutely an all ages event with no cover charge, though visit the above links for more details on the Farmers' Market proper. While we're in the concert preview business, let's tackle Tarnished's Biggby Coffee matinee TOMORROW MORNING as well!

As promoted via this Facebook event page, Tarnished's "every Thursday" run at the Ashmun Street coffee shop marches on, so look for more hard rocking tunes for tips and coffee there tomorrow! As usual for this run of shows, this is a special 10:30 AM show with no age limits or cover charges. Visit the above links for more details, here's Tarnished live, and stay tuned for our preview of The Sugar Island Music Festival (and Ashmun Alive?!)

Next up, J.D. Pearce's fifteenth annual Halloween party concert will take place in Sault Ontario on Friday, November 1st, and while there's a lot to say, there are a lot of unknowns as well! Unusually taking place after Halloween this year (presumably as the October 24th weekend was considered to be too early), the event has returned to a one night format for unannounced reasons, after running for two nights in each of the last two years. We're not calling this as a full concert on the site yet, as a venue has not been publicized, but the party has been hosted on one/both floors of The Algonquin Hotel in all but one year since 2012, though note that last year's was briefly advertised to take place at Soo Blaster in it's early promotion. For a fifth straight year, the Halloween Party will feature a lineup devoted to locally-formed tribute bands, specifically tackling the music of Rob (and White) Zombie, The Foo Fighters, and Volbeat. Identities have not been revealed yet, but past history may give some hints.

Remember that Cherry Crush members formed the short-term side project The Soo Fighters for this event in 2017, Stegadeth members used to cover Volbeat frequently in the fittingly named T-Rex Manning side project Pools of Booze, and J.D. (of Jack Spades fame) traditionally fronts at least one band each year. Could these be close to the mark, or will we be thrown a curveball? Expect a costume contest at this 19+ event just after Halloween, which will have $10 tickets that go on sale soon, and a 9:00 PM start time is likely. It's great to see the party back for year #15, so visit the official Facebook event page for continuing updates as they roll in!

Finally, here's a bunch of videos from the Pop Evil/Buckcherry concert outside of the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino this past weekend, courtesy of Christopher Paci's great YouTube channel once again! Chris got 17 videos this past Saturday, though he did not film openers Joyous Wolf, who were indeed moved over to this concert following the Drowning Pool postponement. Starting with the headlining Muskegon hard rock quintet, Chris shot a whopping eleven videos of Pop Evil on the outdoor stage, including renditions of "Boss's Daughter", "Deal With The Devil", "Torn To Pieces", "Be Legendary",  "Monster You Made", "When We Were Young", "A Crime To Remember", "Footsteps", "Waking Lions", "Trenches", and as embedded below, "100 in a 55." Solid quality on these videos, and Pop Evil sound as good as ever from their past local stops, though nightfall means that the outside setting isn't as obvious. Give these a look above & below!



To close, Chris did shoot six videos of Anaheim hard rock quintet Buckcherry on this night, though the sun hadn't set yet, so you get a good look at the stage setup here! His videos include surprise covers of Nine Inch Nails' "Head Like A Hole" and Kenny Loggins' "Footloose", plus the originals "Bent", "Lit Up", "Sorry", and as embedded below, the set-closing "Crazy Bitch", as extended thanks to solos, jamming, and crediting the band members. I'm not a huge Buckcherry fan, but they sound good compared to the studio versions, and fans will enjoy these renditions as seen above & below!



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