LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Generations) & The First Half Of This Weekend's Concert Previews!!

(Updated at 11:43 PM) Another busy weekend of concerts is upon us, so we're breaking this weekend's hard rock concert previews into two posts once again! As such, look for Saturday's Josey Scott's Saliva concert and Sunday's Northern Echoes event in tomorrow's post, plus anything that may or may not be announced on late notice. Now, here's what you should know, starting with SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations will return to Reggie's Place for shows TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, this shows were only announced on the band's Facebook group on Monday. Last seen this past weekend at the former Reggie's West, TOMORROW'S show will be Generations' first at the original downtown Reggie's in just over a month, and will see the return of drummer Tony Santoro after he sat out their most recent concert due to outside commitments. A planned Saturday nighter was called off due to "unforeseen circumstances" (Tex & The Ride will be playing instead), but hopefully Valerie and the Jus' Chillin successors deliver a solid night of hard and classic rock covers as usual TOMORROW! This show is at 9:00 PM with no announced cover charge and a 19+ age limit. See above for more details, and for a preview, here's a new video from their Jay's concerts this past Saturday!

Uploaded by Tony onto their Facebook group on Monday (despite him not being at the gig), this cover of The Tragically Hip's "Blow At High Dough" features bassist Pierre Anthony on lead vocals, and guest drummer Chris Johns is behind the kit here, if largely out of view behind Valerie. Solid rendition of this Hip staple, though the visuals are a little grainy, not helped by the vertical camera angle, if zoomed in well when needed. Check it out below, and look for more from Generations at Reggie's TOMORROW!

Next up, we'll head to Sault Michigan and the E.U.P. for a pair of previously announced Friday nighters, starting with local hard rock quartet Tarnished's return to Snows Bar & Grill in Cedarville TOMORROW NIGHT! The only new Tarnished dates in their June concert calendar announcement from their Facebook page that are taking place within a one hour drive of the Soo, this will be Tarnished's first concert in our coverage range since Memorial Day weekend and their first in Cedarville since last fall. No visible frills or promotions here, just a strong night of hard rock and classic metal covers & originals from Alex, Nathan, Isaac, and Josh, so consider heading down to Snows for all of the action tomorrow! This concert has an 8:00 PM start time, 21+ age limit, and no cover charge. Visit the above links for more details on tomorrow's festivities, and here's Tarnished live!

Inching our way north, let's stop in Sault Ste. Marie for local blues/hard rock quartet Project 906's return to The Merchants Bar TOMORROW NIGHT! Surprisingly, this will be Project 906's first Soo date all year, with their last Merch stop coming back in October, so fans in the city will definitely be overdue to hear their hard rock favourites close to home! This will also be their second live concert with new drummer Jason VanLuven (more on his debut with 906 in a second). The Merch still rarely promotes the musicians that play there on their Facebook page, but hopefully the guys deliver a strong night of fan favourite tunes once again! This show has a 9:00 PM start time, 21+ age limit, and no cover. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's our first video of Project 906 with Jason behind the kit, namely their outdoor gig at Well Diggers in Kinross last week, courtesy of their Facebook page!

While a chilly night for June standards, the weather otherwise seemed to hold out for 906's concert this past Friday, with an attendee filming them covering Creed's "What If". I think I've seen videos of this cover three times now, so keep that in mind whether you're a fan of this song/Creed or not, but the band & stage were well framed (horizontally, even), and everyone performs strongly! This includes Jason, but given all of the bands he's been in locally, you had to expect that. Give Project 906's Kinross video a watch below, and don't miss them at The Merch tomorrow!

Finally for today's previews, we'll head back to Sault Ontario, where local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard will return to their normal indoor confines for shows at Shooters Downstairs Lounge TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Fresh off of the Queen Street Cruise (more on that in a second), these will mark Bone Yard's return to the Dennis Street nightclub after a month+ away. Fans of this veteran trio should definitely be interested in this weekend's concerts, but if you can't make it out for their hard rocking classic covers, they will be back for a one-nighter in a couple of weeks! Tomorrow & Saturday's shows have no cover charges, 19+ age limits, and 9:00 PM start times. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and for a preview, here's four videos from their Queen Street Cruise sets this past weekend at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion! One is this brief clip of Alex D'Ettore playing a guitar solo on Saturday...

... as shared from attendee Marcy Catherine's personal Facebook page, but the rest are direct live-streams for the band's Facebook page. They include a Saturday cover of Alice Cooper's "Be My Lover", plus Friday evening covers of The Rolling Stones' "Miss You", and as embedded below, their extended jam of Golden Earring's "Radar Love". Alas, all of these were shot vertically, which really isn't to most of their benefit (look at how much of the videos have an empty floor/stage), but Bone Yard sound strong as you'd expect, and hopefully they retained a good crowd during the Cruise weekend! Give these videos a watch above and below!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for the Josey Scott's Saliva and Northern Echoes previews (and more) next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Project 906 & Soundcheck) And Weekend Concert Previews!!

Another weekend is upon us, so let's dive into most of this weekend's hard rock concert previews for the Sault Ste. Marie area! To spread things out, our preview of Saturday night's Soo Soundcheck multi-band concert at the Sault Community Theatre Centre will be a part of tomorrow's post. Now, here's what you should know to begin with, including some SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to The Esquire Club for a special concert on SATURDAY NIGHT where they will kinda sorta bring Obsession back! Apologies for the short notice, this show was only publically advertised via a shared post on the venue's Facebook page earlier today. As you may know, current Soundcheck bassist Jim Michaud was the only constant member of Obsession from 2005 until their dissolution earlier this year, and to honour that band's run, three of their four frontwomen will guest with Soundcheck on SATURDAY to do some of their old covers to commemorate Jim for his hard work! The singers in question are original vocalist Kim Liguori, current Sinners frontwoman Lorrie Lynn Bolduc, and Generations singer Valerie Powley (final Obsession singer Jessica Amadio is not advertised for this event, though her tenure was comparatively brief).

This sounds similar to Obsession's cancelled farewell show at The Esquire Club in February, based on what I was told in personal conversations, only with Cameron, Terry, and Glen replacing Jess, Gabe, and Steve. Ideal venue, talented musicians across the board, and the potential for joint songs with multiple singers, perhaps? SATURDAY's concert has a 9:00 PM start time, 19+ age limit, and no cover charge, and while no one has firmly said if Soundcheck are playing there tomorrow as well, we'll keep you posted if able. Hopefully this show gives Obsession the sendoff they deserve, even if via kind of a franken-band scenario, so see above for more details, and here's Obsession live!

Next up, here's one more new show to the SMS, namely the concert from Sault Michigan blues/hard rock quartet Project 906 that I held for this weekend's previews to avoid redundantly covering it twice in the span of four days! Fresh off of their three month break (to give bassist Dustin Paras and his wife some time with their newborn baby), they will return to the stage THIS SATURDAY NIGHT when they rock Snows Bar & Grill in Cedarville! Again, apologies for the short notice, it was only announced on the band's Facebook page on Sunday when they announced their upcoming concert dates. Last seen at Snows in February, this won't be a return as you're expecting in two ways, as Fake Chow drummer Jason VanLuven has indeed replaced Odin Osgwin behind the kit... just not on SATURDAY. This is because Fake Chow are playing at The Islander Bar in Hessel concurrently with the Project 906 show in Cedarville.

Former Paradise Excuse drummer Brian Duford (yes, Jason was once their drummer too) will be filling in on SATURDAY, and hopefully he fits in well before Jason makes his 906 debut in Kinross next week! Project 906's hard rocking covers and select originals will be on tap on SATURDAY at 8:00 PM with a 21+ age limit and no cover charge. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Project 906 live!

Now let's head back to Sault Ontario for concerts that more than a week's advance notice, starting with new local classic/hard rock cover quartet Double Down's first concerts at Jay's Piston Broke Pub TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! After debuting at Reggie's with doubleheader weekends in each of the last two months, this union of Bone Yard, Mojo, Griphook, and Mustang Heart alumni will make their way west to the former Reggie's West for what should be a solid weekend of hard rocking covers from four talented local music veterans! Good to see them play at a new venue too (well, new for this particular band). Expect 9:30 PM start times, no cover charges, and 21+ age limits for Double Down at Jay's tomorrow and Saturday, so visit the above links for more details, and here's Double Down live at Reggie's!

Finally for today's previews, let's head back downtown to the aforementioned Reggie's Place, where new local classic metal/hard rock trio Nostalgia will play their second and third concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! This union of Caveman Morrison, Browbeat, and Nikkfitt alumni debuted at Reggie's on May 26th, and while they lack an online page and public media at the moment, clearly their first show went well for them to get called back two weeks later, and for a double header! If you've missed seeing Tym Morrison in a plugged-in, full-band setting, let alone with 2/3rds of Caveman Morrison's 2012 lineup, then don't miss out on all of the action at Reggie's this weekend! No word yet on further gigs beyond this weekend, from Nostalgia or Tym's acoustic solo act, but we'll keep you posted. Tomorrow & Saturday's concerts are 19+ affairs with 9:30 PM start times and no cover charges. See above for more details!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for our Soo Soundcheck preview and more on the site next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Overdrive Orchestra, Peril And Tarnished), And An Inactive Band Note!!

Here's a Sault Michigan-centric post to take in on this Wednesday night, and it includes a band moved to our inactive band links at the end, but let's kick things off with some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for the summer season. Here's what you should know!

Local hard rock/metal quartet Tarnished will return to the local stage (as in, within an hour's drive of the Soo) when they return to Snows Bar & Grill in nearby Cedarville on Friday, June 23rd! Last seen in our coverage range at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino over Memorial Day weekend, this will be Tarnished's first Cedarville gig since playing at Snows in September of last year. It is one of four gigs announced for this month in the U.P. on their Facebook page yesterday, though the others (in Manistique, Curtis, and Gould City) are more than an hour's drive from here. Still, all are venues that Tarnished have played multiple times in the past few years, so if you live a little further west and these are local to you, keep them in mind! The Snows show on the 23rd is a 21+ affair with no cover charge and an 8:00 PM start time. Visit the above links for more details!

Next up, Grand Rapids/Nashville psychedelic hard rock quartet Overdrive Orchestra will return to The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino for concerts on Friday, July 28th & Saturday, July 29th! A rare band not from the Soo, U.P., or Northern Lower to play at regional Kewadin lounges, you may recall seeing this rising band rock both regional Kewadin branches in March and April 2022, and it's good to see them come back this direction! Overdrive Orchestra's momentum has grown in the past year+ with new material and even more fans, and hopefully some new and returning attendees come out to make July's shows worth the road trip! No word on a Rapids Lounge return at press time, but these are one of just two sets of new heavier dates listed for July 2nd-31st on Kewadin's entertainment pages for both lounges, with the others following in a second.

Overdrive Orchestra's genre-transcendent brand of hard rock can be enjoyed on July 28th & 29th at 9:00 PM, shows that have no announced cover charge and 21+ age limits. Visit the above links for more details on Overdrive Orchestra!

The other newly confirmed shows at one of the two regional Kewadin lounges will actually also be on Friday, July 28th & Saturday, July 29th, as Traverse City classic metal trio Peril will return to The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin branch that weekend! Fans in St. Ignace can see them at The Northern Pines Lounge next weekend, but the end-of-July shows will mark their first at the Sault Ste. Marie branch since early last month. The summer season is clearly good for attracting Jeff & crew for gigs north of the Mackinac Bridge, and hopefully next month's Soo shows go well for fans of their old school hard rock and metal covers as usual! Peril's sister band Scarkazm also confirmed the shows via this Facebook image listing dates from both bands and their acoustic side act Project 6, but there's nothing here that local fans didn't know unless you're inclined to take a road trip to see any of them.

As usual for Peril's Kewadin concert dates, these have 21+ age limits, 9:00 PM start times, and no cover charges. Visit the above links for more on Peril's Soo return next month, don't miss them in St. Ignace next week, and stay tuned for more from them and Scarkazm when we hear it!

Finally, I have moved local hard rock quartet 415E to our inactive band links. As best as I can gather in checking available sources, they have not played a publically advertised live concert since a Halloween party on Sugar Island in 2021, and my referencing them as returning to the stage in our 2022 year-end post appears to have been erroneous. Originally active from 2012-2017, the former Hubbard-Menard Band relaunched in January 2019 with a new rhythm section in tow, and while social media updates remained minimal, they were still seen frequently at regional Kewadin Casino branches, while also making a couple of trips to Sugar Island for gigs at The Hilltop Bar. The current existence of Rhythm & Brews (who also feature guitarist Chris Hubbard and bassist Brett Blackwood) should be noted, but the two bands did publically coexist in mid-late 2021 before 415E updates dried up, and Chris was the only common link at first.

Alas, public media of 415E was always slight (few photos and no band-uploaded videos), which must have been their method of encouraging fans to actually go out and see them live, though the similar sounding Rhythm & Brews have at least had more of a visual presence. Despite their lack of media, this union of Nixxon Dixxon, Splitshot, Bucksaw, and Clownsack alumni were a safe bet for fan friendly hard rock covers and the usual Van Halen classic here and there, but don't miss Chris & Brett in Rhythm & Brews and Jason with Fake Chow and Project 906, and hopefully we see Dave behind the mic again soon! That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews on the site next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Project 906) & More Updates From Them!!

After a nearly three month hiatus, Sault Michigan blues/hard rock quartet Project 906 resurfaced on their Facebook page yesterday with a bunch of new concert dates for mid-late 2023! Last seen in Hessel in March, the guys revealed that their break was basically due to paternity leave for bassist Dustin Paras, who welcomed a newborn baby with his wife (congratulations!), though they did make a lineup change during the gap, as veteran local rock drummer Jason VanLuven has joined the band, replacing Odin Osogwin. A reason for Odin's departure wasn't announced beyond them saying that he "decided to part ways with the band", but they thanked him for his contributions. You may recognize Jason as the drummer for bands like Bucksaw, Paradise Excuse, Chump Change, 415E, and more recently, Fake Chow and Buddy Repperton & The Camaros, so fans have nothing to worry about in terms of Jason's skill level!

Otherwise best known as Oddfellow's drummer, Odin had replaced Gary Croad in Project 906 in November 2021, and he seemed like a good fit with the band, but hopefully things are 100% amicable, and that we see him back in another group down the road! To avoid a redundant re-post in a few days, I'll hold Project 906's return gig this Saturday for our next batch of weekend concert previews, but note that it won't even be their debut with Jason due to Fake Chow playing in Hessel that night. His debut with 906 will come on Friday, June 16th when the guys will make their Kinross debut at...The Well Diggers Watering Hole & Feed Lot? Located at 3047 West M-80 (20 minutes southwest of the Soo), Well Diggers opened back in 2018 and has sporadically hosted live musicians, but Project 906 will be playing on their brand new outdoor stage next week, weather permitting.

This concert will be an 8:00 PM affair with no stated cover charge and a 21+ age limit. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details! Next, the guys will return to Sault Ste. Marie for the first time this year when they rock The Merchants Bar (a.k.a. The Merch) on Friday, June 23rd! The Merch rarely promotes musicians who play there on their Facebook page, but hopefully 906 rock the house down later this month! Five months after cancelling a planned show there due to an in-band illness, Project 906 will finally get a rain date at Jack's Grub & Pub in Brimley on Saturday, July 1st (a.k.a. Canada Day), in their first show there this year. Hopefully this date sticks unlike over the I-500 weekend! On Saturday, July 8th, the guys will return to one of their favourite venues, namely The Strongs Tavern in nearby Eckerman. Last seen there back in January, this should be another fine opportunity to check out 906's hard rocking covers!

In their only return booking within these newly confirmed dates, Project 906 will return to Snows Bar & Grill in Cedarville (site of this weekend's show to-be-previewed) on Saturday, July 15th, and that's the last of the solid once-a-week bookings confirmed yesterday. The other three are more spaced out (at least currently), starting with a return to The Islander Bar in Hessel (site of their last show with Odin back in March) on Friday, August 11th. Their first announced date of the fall season will come on Saturday, September 16th when they rock The Back Bay Grill & Games at Bay Mills Resort & Casino in Brimley, their first stop at "your perfect up north retreat" since February. Obviously, these are all 21+ gigs with no announced cover charge, and Back Bay aside, all have likely 8:00 PM start times. If February's show is anything to go by, then they'll likely start the Bay Mills concert in September at 9:00 PM. 

The final new date will see Project 906 rock Huck's Pub & Grill (formerly Joe's Bar) in Rudyard on Saturday, October 28th in that venue's Halloween party! 906 were last seen at Huck's in December, but did not play at their Halloween party last fall, so hopefully their own spooky rock and roll provides the right soundtrack! This one should also be a 9:00 PM gig with a 21+ age limit and no cover. It's great to see Project 906 back with a busy slate of concerts, so don't miss out across the E.U.P. over the coming months, and stay tuned for more on the site soon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Project 906 & Soundcheck), Weekend Concert Previews, And A Band Breakup!!

Before we begin this weekend's concert previews, just a heads up that local classic/hard rock cover quartet Obsession are not playing at The Esquire Club this weekend, despite announcing last month that the planned gigs there tomorrow and Saturday night were to be their last before breaking up. A reason for the cancellation of the dates has not been announced, but their website has been replaced by plain text by bassist/founder Jim Michaud noting that "the Obsession band has retired effective immediately" without addressing this weekend's concerts, and there was no follow-up as to their status on Facebook after his press release a month ago. Jim has since joined Soundcheck and will debut with them this weekend (more on those dates below), but whether they are a factor in the cancellation or not, I can't say with certainty. Obsession had announced their impending dissolution after an 18 year run last month when guitarist Gabe Tessaro opted to retire from live bands.

As for The Esquire Club, they have quietly confirmed that local country singer Brendan Hodgson will be playing tomorrow & Saturday night instead, as per their Facebook page. I assume it's safe to say now that, had Obsession played their farewell gigs this weekend, that they would have welcomed back multiple past band members in guest slots, which would have been neat, but it wasn't meant to be. Obsession were talented staples of the weekend cover circuit locally and they will be missed, so best of luck to Jess, Gabe, Jim, Steve, and their former members in the future! Now, here's what you should know for still-on hard rock shows over the next two days, starting with SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to Jay's Piston Broke Pub for traditional concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the venue only announced SATURDAY's show on their Facebook page on Sunday, and while the band has not publically confirmed these dates on their Facebook page at press time, drummer Glen Thomas confirmed that they're playing TOMORROW as well on his personal Facebook page. Thursday jam nights excepted (yes, they're back for that tonight also), these will be Soundcheck's first standard concerts at the former Reggie's West in just over a month, and the partial promotion on Jay's end is because SATURDAY NIGHT's concert is themed as a "classic 80's party", so expect a decade-heavy set of covers from Soundcheck on night #2! If you want to hear more of an array of eras, come TOMORROW NIGHT instead, but Soundcheck's talents are a given regardless!

As alluded to above, these shows will mark new bassist Jim Michaud's first formal gigs as a full Soundcheck member, following the cancellation of Obsession's planned farewell gigs this weekend, so be sure to welcome him with open arms, and/or come to Jay's for a similar musical fix in the west end if you were banking on seeing Obsession this weekend! TOMORROW & SATURDAY's shows are 9:00 PM events with no cover charges and 19+ age limits. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Soundcheck live!

Next up, we'll head south to the Eastern Upper Peninsula, as Sault Michigan blues/hard rock quartet Project 906 will return to Cedarville TOMORROW NIGHT for a one-nighter at Snows Bar & Grill! Again, apologies for the short notice, the band only announced this show via their Facebook event page on Wednesday, but the venue first announced it on January 31st. In an SMS context, readers will best know Snows as the host venue for a handful of Tarnished shows last year, and Project 906 played elsewhere in Cedarville last fall, but TOMORROW'S show will be part of this year's Les Cheneaux Islands Snowsfest Pub Shuffle taking place at nightclubs in Cedarville and Hessel this weekend! If you're in the area, click here to read the full program, but it doesn't detail who's playing where. Like last year, Snows is bringing in the hard rock for this year's Pub Shuffle (Tarnished performed there in 2022), and I believe this is Project 906's debut at Snows, so keep TOMORROW'S festivities in mind!

A one nighter due to or resulting in The Mark Bowen Band playing there on Saturday, expect voting for various superlatives among competing pubs in the shuffle this weekend, along with the expected solid tunes from Project 906 TOMORROW! The concert itself is a 21+ affair with no cover charge and an 8:00 PM start time, and I don't believe a Snowsfest button is required for entry given the locale (for Sault Ontario readers, this is Bon Soo-esque), but Snows has been selling them. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Project 906 live in their most recent gig!

We'll close back in Sault Ontario with shows that were previously announced by the band in question, as local southern hard rock cover trio Bone Yard will return to Shooters Downstairs Lounge for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! After taking last weekend off, this weekend's gigs will be their third and fourth of 2023, and their first shows at the Dennis Street nightclub in over three months. Not only will Bone Yard's brand of southern fried classic & hard rock covers be coming in hot as usual, but the guys have confirmed that more official t-shirts will be on sale tomorrow & Saturday night, including limited XXL sizes, so bring cash for those if you are so inclined! Tomorrow and Saturday's concerts are otherwise standard for Bone Yard at Shooters, including 9:00 PM start times, no cover charges, and 19+ age limits. Visit the official Facebook event pages linked here & here for more details, and here's Bone Yard live!

That's all for today, but look for our Tym Morrison preview and this month's Defunct Local Band Profile shortly! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Tarnished, Project 906, And Tym Morrison), And Weekend Concert Previews!!

Weekend concert preview time, so here's what you should know on this Thursday morning, including SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS! Yes, I am well aware of Handsome Sandwich's late notice gig on Saturday, check back tomorrow!

Local blues/hard rock quartet Project 906 will hit the road for nearby Cedarville TOMORROW when they perform at the Great Lakes Boat Building School's year-ending BeerFest & Boatyard Bash! Apologies for the short notice, the band only confirmed this date on their Facebook page on Monday, but the school's Facebook page had plugged 906's involvement in the event earlier in the month. Arguably the last show of the #summerof906, TOMORROW'S BeerFest & Boat Yard Bash is an annual event for the post-secondary institution towards marine industry careers, and festivities will also include lots of regional craft beer, food, a wine pull, games, and more, so definitely visit the above links for full non-musical details! While academically set, this is a publically attendable event, if 21+ given the BeerFest aspect, but tickets run for $50 in advance or $60 at the door (remember, this isn't just a concert).

The event takes place from 5:00-8:00 PM TOMORROW outside of the Great Lakes Boat Building School at 485 South Meridian Street, and 9&10 News is calling for 24-27° weather, but be advised that they are calling for thunderstorms during the bash. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and for a preview, here's a new video from Project 906's Facebook page of them covering The Guess Who's "No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature" at (I believe) The Islander Bar in Hessel this past weekend! The camera placement directly behind drummer Odin Osogwin is not ideal, but it's a quality performance, and Odin's drumming is very solid, so give it a look below! The video suddenly goes colour at 1:40, FYI.

Next up, let's leap north to Sault Ontario, as local acoustic classic/hard rock musician Tym Morrison will play a rare nighttime concert at Reggie's Place TOMORROW NIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice, Tym only announced this gig via its official Facebook event page yesterday. Tym playing Sunday matinees at the downtown Reggie's is certainly nothing new, but seeing him at an established nightclub in a typical cover band timeslot is not something you see often in the pandemic era, so hopefully he pulls in a solid crowd with his his hard rocking and vast setlist TOMORROW! While we're on the subject, it turns out that Tym did not play at The Mike Case Memorial Stage yesterday evening, as he was actually performing at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion during Save Our Young Adults' International Overdose Awareness Day festivities, which also featured a walk to the Pavilion, speakers, and family entertainment.

I profusely apologize for missing that, but alas, Tym never plugged his involvement in the S.O.Y.A. event on his official Facebook group, instead just on his personal account, and I don't believe S.O.Y.A. specified the musical performers either (plus, Tym's weekly run at The Trading Post seemed like a given through at least August knowing his history of weekly scheduled arrangements). Hopefully his performance was well received at this powerful event, and we'll let you know if he returns to The Trading Post at all this month! As for TOMORROW'S Reggie's concert, expect a 19+ age limit, no cover charge, and a 9:30 PM start time. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Tym live!

Back to the E.U.P. now, as Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Tarnished will return to Snows Bar & Grill in Cedarville TOMORROW NIGHT, but in a late announcement, they'll also play at The Islander Bar in nearby Hessel for the first time on SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies again for the short notice on the Hessel gig, the band only confirmed the concert on their Facebook page on Tuesday, but The Islander Bar's Facebook page had previously plugged it. Tarnished are definitely no strangers to Cedarville in 2022 (tomorrow's show will be their third at Snows in as many months), but The Islander Bar has more been on our radar as of late from gigs from the aforementioned Project 906. Hopefully Tarnished make a big impression of their own there with their talented and heavy originals & covers on SATURDAY! If you're curious, the Friday/Saturday performers at The Islander Bar & Snows respectively are Robert Malaski and The Habitual Offenders.

Tomorrow's Cedarville gig has an early start time of 6:00 PM, but SATURDAY'S Hessel show has a more typical 8:00 PM start time. Both concerts are 21+ affairs with no announced cover charge, and it is worth noting that Snows are teasing that Tarnished are playing outside of the venue tomorrow as they're showing the Michigan State Spartans football game on ESPN inside. Again, 9&10 News is calling for thunderstorms tomorrow evening, so for Tarnished & Project 906's case, hopefully Cedarville dodges most of the forecast! Visit the official Facebook event pages linked here & here for more details, and here's Tarnished live!

Finally for today's previews, here's a show that had plenty of advance notice, as multi-national southern metal supergroup Gutter Creek will make their local concert debut TONIGHT at Soo Blaster! This show has hit many local metalheads' radar primarily as the homecoming of Sault Ste. Marie native Matt Hanchuck, who is better known for the Thunder Bay thrash metal band Wreck-Defy, who Gutter Creek are a side project of. Wreck-Defy have never made the trip east for a show here, but Gutter Creek are a more than worthy consolation prize, especially as ex-Testament bassist Greg Christian is in both bands! Howver, Wreck-Defy have more of a southern rock influenced groove metal sound, but that should appeal to many who wish that more touring original metal bands played here post-pandemic, so definitely give Gutter Creek's debut album a listen! According to a "story" on Facebook, young local punk trio Vanity First will open tonight's concert!

Alas, "stories" are impossible to cite as sources as they're designed to vanish once viewed unless separately posted on purpose, and the official Facebook event page does not list any openers, but I saw Vanity First plug their involvement thusly last night. Not a sonic match, but if accurate, their punk energy should set the tone well enough! Relocated from The Rockstar Bar (who have not hosted live bands since May, sadly), this 19+ concert has a 9:00 PM start time. Tickets cost $10 in advance at Soo Blaster or $15 at the door. Should be a great show for metal fans, so visit the above links for more details, and here's Gutter Creek live!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for lour Handsome Sandwich preview and more next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Tarnished) & Lots Of Recent Updates From Them!!

The news backlog continues to slowly get dealt with, and today, we have a single topic post, courtesy of new updates, LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, and missed concert apologies all concerning a specific E.U.P. band!

Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Tarnished announced a pile of new concert dates on their Facebook page, both local and away! The guys have been surprisingly quiet for the last few weeks aside from plugging far-flung dates Gould City and Curtis, but they actually did play a local concert-ish on Monday, as they performed on a float during Sault Ste. Marie's Fourth of July parade! The band did not promote this in advance on their Facebook page, so my profuse apologies for not being able to cover it here (I would have if they had said something!). They did post pictures on Facebook, and Sara Eisinger of local news website SooLeader (a new sister site of SooToday in Sault Ontario) did get this picture of Tarnished rocking out during the parade as part of their coverage of the parade & fireworks on Monday. SooToday actually cross-posted that article, so maybe the Tarnished picture will pique some Canadian interest?

As for the new shows proper, the first one listed is allegedly THIS SUNDAY at Northern Light Cannabis, a new dispensary in Dafter, but the band's own schedule says this show is "TBA", so it doesn't sound like it's 100% set in stone as of that post's publication. If we hear anything about it either way, we'll let you know, but I'll hold it from our concert calendar until it's fully confirmed. Their first publically advertised concert in over a month will be on Saturday, July 16th when they return to Snows Bar & Grill in nearby Cedarville, with further returns slated for Saturday August 6th and Friday, September 2nd! Good to see the guys back at a recently familiar venue, so don't miss out if you're in the area! Expect these three shows to have 8:00 PM start times, no cover charges, and 21+ age limits. Their next show after that is on the road in Curtis (80 minutes west of here) on the 23rd.

Local fans can also see Tarnished back at Huck's Pub & Grill in nearby Rudyard on Saturday, July 30th, marking their first show back at the former Joe's Bar since Thursday, June 30th when Tarnished played at Huck's Thursday bike night series. Again, I profusely apologize for missing that date, Tarnished never plugged that show in advance on Facebook, so unless you follow Huck's on Facebook, you'll have missed online advertising for it outright. Hopefully it was a hit with fans and bikers alike! Their show on July 30th (thankfully with advance notice) will presumably be a 9:00 PM affair, and again, this is a 21+ event with no announced cover charge. Tarnished's next two advertised dates are out of town, in Toledo, Ohio on August 5th and then at the Grand Marais Music & Crafts Festival (almost two hours west of the Soo) on August 13th, but their last six new dates will all be at The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Kewadin Casino branch!

Last seen at The Rapids Lounge in March (unless there was another late notice/never announced online booking there), Tarnished are slated to return for Friday & Saturday night slates on August 19th & 20th, October 14th & 15th, and November 18th & 19th, and note that while Tarnished's own schedule does not list August 20th, Kewadin Casino's entertainment page does (yes, the other new hard rock shows there will be covered soon!). These six shows all have 9:00 PM start times, no cover charges, and 21+ age limits once again. Sounds like a busy summer ahead for Alex, Nathan, Isaac, and Josh, so definitely visit the above links for more on their upcoming dates, locally or otherwise! Before we wrap this post, I did want to briefly acknowledge Tarnished's newest TikTok video postings, and no, they didn't plug the Fourth of July parade or the Huck's show last month on there. Activity on TikTok has slowed, but five videos are new to us, so what can you see?

The new videos include frontman Alex Traynor being the victim of an early April Fool's prank from drummer Josh Fair, Alex getting back at Josh with "The Cranberry Challenge", Alex trying to give bassist Isaac Royer some canned cranberries whether he wants them or not, guitarist Nathan Webber having fun during gear loading for a recent gig, and the guys playing at a Burger King play place (yes, they were allowed in) before a recent concert! I'm unsure if this was filmed at the local Burger King before their Rapids Lounge shows in March or elsewhere, or if there's another Soo date that they didn't plug, but it looks like the guys had fun! I remember enjoying the play places at the McDonalds and Hardee's on the Business Spur as a kid! Definitely give Tarnished's new (and old) TikTok videos a look above, they are amusing, but I can't get the embed code for TikTok videos to work on the SMS (it's not Tarnished's fault).

I think we're reasonably caught up on Tarnished's updates now, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews on the site tomorrow, with more news to follow! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Soundcheck, Tym Morrison, And Tarnished), Plus A New Video!!

With the concert restrictions easing up in Ontario, it's great to see that we have multiple acts playing live in Sault Ontario this weekend, including one band who actually returned last week (my apologies!) As such, this post is loaded with SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, including for one E.U.P. gig, but we do have a new video to wrap things up with. Here's what you should know on this Thursday night!

Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Tarnished will play their first concert of 2022 when they hit nearby Cedarville for the first time TOMORROW NIGHT at Snows Bar & Grill! Apologies for the short notice, the band only announced this concert on their Facebook page on Monday. Last seen in Rudyard in December, Tarnished's concert TOMORROW will take place as part of the annual pub shuffle (or pub crawl) during the annual Les Cheneaux Islands Snowsfest, which is the annual winter festival in Cedarville and Hessel. The official program is on the area's chamber of commerce's Facebook page, confirming that Snows (a new location for our coverage) is one of five Cedarville/Hessel bars taking part in the pub crawl, so if you're interested in taking part in the festivities, definitely inquire within while you still have time! Tarnished will basically be the wrap party for the pub crawl at Snows.

FYI, Cedarville classic rock band Shipheads on Shore will end the night at The Islander Bar in Hessel, so two participating venues will have live music. As for Tarnished, they'll be on at 8:00 PM TOMORROW at Snows (1187 South Park Avenue, 38 minutes south of Sault Ste. Marie), this is a 21+ event, and as far as I know, there's no admission fee for the concert alone. Of course, please follow any stated public health measures at Snows Bar & Grill, let alone other bars in the pub crawl. See above for more details, and here's Tarnished live!

Next up, let's head to Sault Ontario, where local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to Reggie's Place on Queen Street East TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT, after previously playing there last weekend as well! Again, apologies for the short notice (and for missing last week's gigs), they only announced TOMORROW & SATURDAY'S via their Facebook event page yesterday, and while last week's were announced on the Tuesday prior, they entirely slipped me by. Remember, Soundcheck often only announce their concerts on less than a week's notice, and have done so on the Friday of before. It's atypical of Soundcheck to play the same venue in consecutive weekends, but seeing as they couldn't play anywhere during the return of pandemic restrictions in December, I'm sure they were itching to get back on stage as soon as they could, and Reggie's likely felt similarly!

You can take in Terry, Cameron, Paul, and Glen's brand of old school rock favourites and select country cuts TOMORROW and/or SATURDAY at 9:00 PM with a 19+ age limit and no cover charge, but please be mindful of the current capacity restrictions at Reggie's, follow any posted public health & social distancing guidelines, and do not forget your vaccine passport. Visit the above links for more details, I apologize again for missing last week's shows, and here's Soundcheck live!

Lastly for announced hard rock concerts in the area this weekend, local classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison will play his first publically advertised concert of 2022 THIS SUNDAY when he plays a matinee concert at the aforementioned Reggie's Place! Apologies once again for the short notice, Tym only announced this show via its official Facebook event page on Tuesday, and remember that he also often first announces shows on social media the week that they occur. Similarly grounded from the stage since December, this will be Tym's first show since his Mane St. Cafe gigs late last year, and his first SUNDAY matinee at the downtown Reggie's since November, following an early December cancellation there. I know Tym was eager to get back on stage, and hopefully there's a receptive crowd for his extensive setlist and vocal/guitar skill on SUNDAY as he so often got last year!

As usual for Tym's weekend matinees at Reggie's, this concert has a 3:00 PM start time, no cover, and presumed 19+ age limit, but please follow and respect any social distancing and public health measures in place at Reggie's to ensure that everyone has a safe time. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Tym live!

Finally for today, here's a new song from young local punk quartet Vanity's YouTube channel, namely a demo recording of an original song named "Hard Feelings"! If you follow the band on Facebook, you may have seen teasers this week for a self-titled physical CD of theirs (limited to 50 copies), though aside from the print run number and track listing, they didn't glean anything specific about how the release will go, how much CDs will cost, if it will see a digital release, or if the songs on the disc are the same six demo versions on YouTube rather than more complete studio recordings. We'll definitely keep you guys posted, but give "Hard Feelings" a listen below!

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