LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Soundcheck & Tym Morrison) & Most Of This Weekend's Concert Previews!!

Before we begin this weekend's concert previews, just a reminder that Sunday's Tantric-headlined concert with Tarnished, Heavy Lies The Crown, and others is in Gould City (90 minutes west of Sault Michigan) and thusly out of our coverage range. It'll be a huge show by non-Kewadin standards in the E.U.P., so keep it mind if you live out west or are up for a road trip! Now, let's start off our Labour Day weekend concert previews in Sault Ontario (Ripcordz aside, check back by tomorrow morning) with some SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!

Nostalgic Band frontman Tym Morrison's weekly summer series at The Mike Case Memorial Stage outside of The Trading Post will indeed continue for at least one more week when he returns there TOMORROW EVENING! Apologies for the short notice, we only heard about TOMORROW'S booking via SooToday's events calendar, as the Facebook event page for his summer 2023 run there did not list anything past August. This is par for the course when it comes to Tym's past Mike Case Stage runs, where he'd only advertise shows in actual summer months, yet still play there for a week or two into September despite not being on his Facebook promotions. Perhaps September bookings are late additions? Assuming that last week's show wasn't called off for rain (he never announced as much on Facebook), TOMORROW'S Trading Post gig will be his eighth of this series, perhaps the final if none more get added.

As best as I can tell, The Nostalgic Band are not playing anywhere this weekend. TOMORROW'S solo acoustic concert has a 7:00 PM start time, no age limit, and no cover charge, while 9&10 News is calling for partly cloudy weather of  21-22°. We'll let you know if Tym's back at The Trading Post next week or not, but visit the above links for more on TOMORROW'S show there, and here's Tym playing some classic and hard rock covers live!

Next up, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to Jay's Piston Broke Pub for traditional concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice, these shows were only announced via drummer Glen Thomas' personal Facebook page yesterday, and neither the band nor venue's Facebook pages have publically acknowledged them at press time. Regardless, Soundcheck are virtually running the place this week, as their usual jam night hosting duties take place tonight as usual (remember, we don't count jam nights as fully fledged "concerts" due to their unpredictability), while singer/guitarist Cameron Oliver was the Wing Wednesday headliner at Jay's yesterday via an acoustic country set. Despite the late notice, hopefully Soundcheck's fully fledged concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY help ring September in nicely!

As usual, these shows (Soundcheck's first non-jam night gigs there in almost a month) have 9:30 PM start times, 19+ age limits, and no announced cover charges. Visit the above links for more details on TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT's shows at the former Reggie's West, and here's Soundcheck live!

Now let's tackle a couple of shows that did have advance notice, starting with a road trip to St. Ignace, Michigan, where Traverse City classic metal trio Peril are advertised to play at American Legion Memorial Park as part of the town's Music By The Bay summer concert series TONIGHT! While advertised on Peril's concert calendar for this & last month as seen here, and listed on the concert series schedule linked here, take this concert with a grain of salt, as Peril haven't promoted it anew on their Facebook page despite plugging shows prior and since with new pictures and whatnot. Assuming that tonight's show is still on, it marks a very rare E.U.P. gig for Jeff and crew at a non-Kewadin venue, let alone an outdoor one on a Thursday, so if you want to check out their old school range of heavy covers, keep tonight's show in mind! 9&10 News is calling for sunny temperatures at 64-65°.

If things are still on for Peril tonight, then expect a 7:00 PM start time, no age limit, and no cover charge, much like Tym Morrison in Sault Ontario tomorrow. If Peril aren't playing tonight, you can next see them in the E.U.P. at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino in two weeks. See above for more details, and here's Peril live!

Finally for today's previews, let's head back to Sault Ontario, where local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations will return to The Water Tower Pub for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT! This will be Generations' first date since the block party on Queen Street East earlier this month, and will be their second gig with new guitarist Tony Kajnar, third if you could his guest appearance with them in July (also at The Water Tower Pub). With a couple of weeks to rehearse and get ready, hopefully Generations keep the classic and hard rock good times going as they head to this popular central venue tomorrow! Remember, The Water Tower Pub traditionally hosts separate acts on Fridays and Saturdays, though I have not heard at press time who is playing there on Saturday. Tomorrow's show has an 8:00 PM start time, no cover charge, and a 19+ age limit. See above for more details, and here's Generations live at the block party earlier this month!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for the Ripcordz preview and more on the site next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Peril And Rhythm & Brews), Plus The Last Of This Year's Rotaryfest Videos!!

Two topic post on this sunny Saturday, which is split in two via the last of the known videos from a major annual concert festival in Sault Ontario, and first, LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (one on SHORT NOTICE with related apology) for Sault Michigan and area. Here's what you should know!

Local hard rock quartet Rhythm & Brews are playing at The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino TONIGHT, after previously playing there last night! I profusely apologize for the short notice and for missing yesterday's show in our weekend concert previews to date, as while the band has not plugged them on their Facebook page, they were listed via Kewadin's entertainment page for the St. Ignace branch as part of their August dates there. Between how busy the SMS has been this summer and the band's lack of promotion, this weekend fell through the cracks, so I apologize again, and hopefully last night's show was a hit! Notably, this weekend's shows mark Rhythm & Brews' first dates since the passing of guitarist Chris Hubbard's father (and ex-Splitshot/415E bandmate) Tony two weeks ago, and our continued thoughts are with Chris & his family at this difficult time. Hopefully rocking out on stage with friends all around helps a bit!

Rhythm & Brews were last seen three weeks ago at The Rapids Lounge in the Soo, shows that entirely slipped us by for coverage on the SMS, but alas, this band isn't known for plugging all of their shows on Facebook, let alone posting videos from their gigs (you have to be there, I guess!) They last knowingly played in St. Ignace back in March. TONIGHT (and yesterday's) shows are/were 21+ affairs with 9:00 PM start times and no cover charges, and hopefully TONIGHT'S show goes as well as last night's surely did. Apologies again, hopefully we'll be right on top of the next ones!

Next up, Traverse City, Michigan classic metal trio Peril have announced their next two Kewadin Casino concert weekends in the Eastern Upper Peninsula, as per this concert calendar for their August and September gigs that was shared onto their Facebook page last month! Their sister bands Scarkazm and Project 6 (no relation) are also addressed here, but Scarkazm are not scheduled to return to our area until November, and Project 6 rarely play concerts north of the Mackinac Bridge. Peril's next E.U.P. stops will come in two weeks when they rock the aforementioned Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino on Friday, August 18th & Saturday, August 19th, before heading north to The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino on Friday, September 15th & Saturday, September 16th. Fans of Jeff and crew's classic metal and hard rock covers won't want to miss out on these dates!

Kewadin's entertainment pages linked above only address August shows at press time, so stay tuned later in the month for the likely official confirmation of Peril's Soo shows next month (and more). Like with Rhythm & Brews TONIGHT (and last night, apologies again), these are 9:00 PM affairs with 21+ age limits and no cover charges. Visit the above links for more details on these and other upcoming Peril shows in Northern Michigan!

Now, let's finally close out our Rotaryfest fallout today, as I've stretched things into another month, so better wrap it up while July is still somewhat in the rear view mirror! Firstly, I slightly jumped the gun when noting last time that Sault Ontario classic/hard rock cover quintet That's Chester's complete festival-closing reunion set on Stage 1 on the Saturday was uploaded in video form to their Facebook page. Drummer Ric Datson said that they played 16 songs, and that is the amount uploaded as of the end of July, seemingly ending with a three song encore of two April Wine covers followed by ZZ Top's "La Grange". However, as they were getting ready to leave, fan response actually led to a real encore, for which they did Trooper's "Raise A Little Hell". I don't know this if this was the uncounted song or not... perhaps he skipped "La Grange" as it was unrehearsed?

In any event, this cover is well handled by this veteran five-some! While ostensibly a one-off reunion (That's Chester have only played live thrice since Eugene Orlando died in 2015, all at Rotaryfest), nothing I have seen or heard has implied that this was a farewell set, so hopefully this isn't the absolute last time that we see them on stage. Check out their Trooper cover below, and watch their entire Rotaryfest 2023 set across multiple cameras on their Facebook page linked above!

The last known public videos from Rotaryfest 2023 (as of this writing) come from the Friday Night Blues program on Stage 2 by the Art Gallery of Algoma from July 14th. The Sault Blues Society live-streamed 2+ minute-long videos of all five acts for their Facebook page that day, where you can see Rusty McCarthy play his original song "Detroit City", The Steeltown Playboys covering Son House's "Walkin' Blues", reunited prog/blues rock trio The Hyperion Effect playing a song named (I think) "Mustang Woman", Bill Priddle's indie rock cover band All The Tired Horses covering Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers' "Candy", and Smokehouse playing an apparent original song, possibly named "Walk In The Light". All are well shot from a good angle on the grass, and while it'd have been nice to see more fans up front (let alone seeing/hearing each song in full), the clear video and audio quality across the board is nice!

Hyperion Effect frontman Keith Conway also uploaded a video from their set to his solo Facebook page, which features his ending guitar solo from their cover of Gary Clark Jr.'s "When My Train Pulls In", but the video is quite blurry. Nothing hard rock or metal to take in from what was knowingly filmed on the Second Stage on the Friday, but there's a lot of talent and familiar faces from that day, so definitely check them out if you are so inclined at the above links, and look for more news and notes on the site next week! Thanks everyone!

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

The final weekend of concerts for a busy July 2023 is drawing near, so let's kick off our hard rock previews today! Due to the still high amount of hard rock-leaning shows this weekend, we'll hold Saturday return of Lopstock and Generations' show that same night for tomorrow's preview post, while focusing on bands playing tomorrow in some fashion here. With that said, here's what you should know to kick off the weekend!

We'll start with a pair of linked Friday-only gigs TOMORROW NIGHT, including prolific local hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison's fourth straight weekly acoustic gig at The Mike Case Memorial Stage outside of The Trading Post! The Nostalgic Band frontman has been entertaining patrons at the 1332 Great Northern Road outdoor stage all month on Fridays, and this should be no different, as he breaks out some acoustic classic and hard rock hits before zipping to the west end for the shows we're covering next. Hopefully this is a good warm-up for Tym, whether you're joining him at Jay's or not! While we're on the subject, those LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS entail adding his previously announced Mike Case Stage shows in August to our calendar, so look for him there on August 4th, 11th, 18th, and 25th! While he has played early September shows there in the past, he hasn't announced dates for then (yet?)

Tomorrow's and next month's dates in Tym Morrison's weekly summer series at The Trading Post have a 7:00 PM start time, no cover charge, and no age limit. Weather-wise, 9&10 News is calling for partly cloudy conditions at around 22° tomorrow, and while there are thunderstorms in the forecast, they should wrap up late tomorrow morning. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Tym live!

Next up, once his solo show wraps up by 9:00 PM, Tym will drive down to Jay's Piston Broke Pub to join his new Nostalgic Band for a one-nighter TOMORROW NIGHT! This will be the second straight week where Tym and The Nostalgic Band double up on the same day, also the second straight week where The Nostalgic Band are playing Friday only (I am unsure who is playing there on Saturday, if anyone). Oddly, tomorrow's show had lots of advance notice, unlike their short notice gig last week, so if you've been prepping to see Tym, Dutch, and Chet's hard rocking brand of classic rock and metal covers, head to the former Rosie/Reggie's West for all of the action tomorrow! Tomorrow's festivities have a 19+ age limit, 9:30 PM start time, and no cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's The Nostalgic Band live at the downtown Reggie's!

Now let's head to Sault Michigan and area, as both regional Kewadin Casinos are hosting touring bands at their on-site lounges this weekend! Starting in the Soo, fans can see Traverse City classic metal/hard rock cover trio Peril back at The Rapids Lounge TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Certainly no strangers to playing under the Kewadin umbrella, this will be Peril's first concert weekend in the Soo in just over two months, and we will have more from them/Scarkazm in an upcoming post addressing August and September hard rock shows at the casino. Hopefully Jeff, Adam, and Brooks lay down lots of rock favourites for fans in the E.U.P. this weekend as usual! This weekend's shows are 9:00 PM affairs as ever with 21+ age limits and no cover charges. Visit the above links for more on Peril's return to Sault Michigan this weekend, and here they are live!

Finally for this preview post, let's head an hour south to the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino, where Grand Rapids/Nashville psychedelic hard rock quartet Overdrive Orchestra will rock The Northern Pines Lounge TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Fans may recall seeing this band rock both the Rapids and Northern Pines Lounges in the spring of last year, and it is neat seeing Overdrive Orchestra return over a year later, especially as a rare example of a touring band playing here that isn't from the U.P., Northern Michigan, or Sault Ste. Marie. Their distinct brand of keyboard-laden prog rock with lots of hard rock flourish should get another strong reception from fans in Mackinac County this weekend, so don't miss out on Overdrive Orchestra's return! Like with Peril in the Soo, these are 21+ gigs with 9:00 PM start times and no cover. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Overdrive Orchestra's Facebook trailer video for this weekend!

That's all for now, but look for our Lopstock and Generations previews (and more) next! Thanks everyone!

Defunct Local Band Profile Series: Ted Olson

It's now time for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile, continuing our monthly look at a local metal, hard rock, or punk act who is no longer publically active, in order to spotlight their run and activity for current readers! Today's randomly selected project is from a very familiar face to readers who follow the small original metal scene in the E.U.P., so here's what you should know about his solo work!

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Ted Olson

Hometown: St. Ignace, Michigan

Genre: Metalcore/Progressive Metal

Lineup:

Ted Olson (Heavy Lies The Crown), all instruments

Audio/Video: Not counting his output with Heavy Lies The Crown, guitarist Ted Olson has released no albums of his solo material, but you can hear studio quality and jam session original recordings from his solo project's active run across his Facebook page (2018-January 2020) and YouTube channel (anything later). Aside from a playthrough video of H.L.T.C.'s "Choke" and a "thank you" video for YouTube viewers, everything relates to Ted's original compositions (complete, teasers, or otherwise), typically played on his favourite headless guitars made by Strandberg or Kiesel. Here's Ted playing his 2021 original song "Odin"!

Info/Analysis: A few months prior to the public launch of his band Heavy Lies The Crown, Ted created a Facebook page for his solo pursuits in mid-2018, later clarifying in January 2020 that content there would be "mostly crappy idea videos". A YouTube channel followed that September, for which his H.L.T.C. bandmate Brandon West helped out in filming some videos with a higher production value. A healthy stream of solo performance videos and original compositions followed through mid-2021, including the song "Devoured" with guest singer Darien Deilami (of the Oklahoma metal band Xeropthalmia), but Ted has not updated his solo accounts since November of that year. Of course, he has focused on Heavy Lies The Crown ever since,but fans of that band will be right at home with Ted's technical and brutal solo work, which often touches on more of a progressive/djent influence than H.LT.C. does!

While typically short, Ted's solo songs like "Pulse" & "Aurora" show him at a strong skill level with heavy riffs with some well balanced melodies that fans of Sault Ontario bands like Convergence and PROV3RB5 will be into, so do check out Ted's solo work to hear what he brought to the table sans Brandon & crew, but look for more from Heavy Lies The Crown soon!

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I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profile! Our next randomly selected local band will take us north to Sault Ontario for a band that we only belatedly rolled into our links in January, namely 2014-2020 blues/hard rock cover trio Mojo! Look for that on or around August 10th, and for more news and notes on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

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

As promised, let's wrap up this weekend's hard rock/punk concert previews by covering previously announced shows not covered in yesterday's post. Here's what you should know to round out a busy weekend!

We'll pick things back up by heading first to Michigan's Eastern Upper Peninsula, starting with the debut of local blues/hard rock quartet Project 906 at The Well Diggers Watering Hole & Feed Lot in nearby Kinross TONIGHT! This will be both the first show we've covered at this relatively newer venue, which you may remember as the Malamute Saloon once upon a time, as well as Project 906's first since Fake Chow/Camaros drummer Jason VanLuven replaced Odin Osogwin behind the kit (Jason missed last week's gig in Cedarville due to being double booked with Fake Chow that same night). This show seems to be getting more of a to-do than your usual bar band setup, with 906 breaking in a new outdoor stage at Well Diggers (located at 3047 West M-80), and attendees can also expect food & drink specials, plus a charity 50/50 raffle. Hopefully things go well for Project 906 in Kinross tonight, especially in a new locale for them!

Tonight's concert has no announced cover charge, a 21+ age limit, and an 8:00 PM start time. Expect clear weather with a temperature no lower than 10°, according to 9&10 News. This should be a fun way to welcome Jason to Project 906, and their brand of crowd friendly hard and classic rock covers should get fans in Kinross going well, so visit the above links for more details, and here's Project 906 in concert last year!

Next up, we'll head further south to St. Ignace, where Traverse City classic metal trio Peril will return to their Kewadin Casino for gigs at The Northern Pines Lounge TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! While they have been seen in Sault Ste. Marie since, these will be Peril's first St. Ignace concerts since rocking that branch over the New Year's weekend. Peril don't play live as often as their sister band Scarkazm, but this is their second stop in a run of three E.U.P. weekends in three months, so hopefully fans of their old school hard rock and metal favourites come out in full force this weekend! As usual for Peril's Kewadin trips, expect 9:00 PM start times, no cover charges, and 21+ age limits at The Northern Pines Lounge tonight and tomorrow, and if you can't make it, you can see them at The Rapids Lounge in the Soo at the end of next month. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Peril live!

Now let's head north to Sault Ontario, where local southern hard rock cover trio Bone Yard will return as musical entertainment for this year's Queen Street Cruise TONIGHT & TOMORROW! Of course, this is the annual event inspired by the old tradition of cruising Queen, where everyone drives down Queen Street East and shows off their vehicles, and that throwback takes place tonight followed by a car show tomorrow, though unlike past years, it will be held at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion and along Foster Drive rather than outside of GFL Memorial Gardens (planned construction work was cited initially but this SooToday press release suggests that expanded space was why they moved). Regardless, visit there and the Facebook page for all non-musical details, like vendors, draws, how to join the cruise, and more! Bone Yard have played the Queen Street Cruise annually since 2016, so look for more solid tunes from them downtown this weekend!

Bone Yard will break out their old school southern and hard rock covers under the big tent at 6:30 PM tonight, while Saturday's gig will be a 12:30 PM matinee during the Show n' Shine car show. Yes, they are under the tent, but weather-wise, 9&10 News is calling for clear sunny conditions tonight in the 12-16° range, while it'll be partly cloudy with a high of 23° during the matinee tomorrow. These are all ages events with no cover charge for general attendees. Visit the above links for full details, and here's Bone Yard live in concert earlier this year!

Finally on this busy weekend for hard rock and punk concerts, we'll get a little of both at Soo Blaster TOMORROW NIGHT when local punk trio Vanity First and rap/party metal duo The Apocalypse Afterparty join forces! Both bands have opened for major bands at Soo Blaster in recent months (Gutter Creek and Leash for Vanity First and various touring rappers for The A.A.), but this is an all-local showcase. Hopefully Vanity First's up-tempo modern punk originals and diverse covers go over well as they continue their upward momentum, and it's great to see The Apocalypse Afterparty on an rare all-local gig, so look for lots of eclectic minimalist rap rock from Paul & Amanda too! Sponsored by Session Cannabis, this 19+ event has doors opening at 7:00 PM and advance tickets run for $17.31 ($15 plus processing fees) at this link (oddly not given on Facebook at all, just Linktree), with the door price jumping to $20.

The ticket price for two local bands may seem steep, but Soo Blaster is a huge venue and both bands are talented groups on the rise that have released debut EPs, so hopefully they attract a strong turnout tomorrow! Visit the above links for more details, and here's Vanity First live!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site this weekend! 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 (Peril, Rhythm & Brews, And Double Down), And New Videos!!

Here's a new news post on this Wednesday morning, and it is mostly devoted to LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS on both sides of the border, plus some new videos from one recent concert and to promote one ahead. Now, let's see what you should know, starting with the new concerts!

New local classic/hard rock cover quartet Double Down will play their first concerts outside of Reggie's Place when they debut at Jay's Piston Broke Pub on Friday, June 9th & Saturday, June 10th! Following well received Reggie's weekends in April and earlier this month, fans in the west end can enjoy Joel, Adam, Brad, and Ric's brand of classic and hard rock covers at the former Reggie's West in a few weeks, and hopefully there's a sizeable turnout both nights! Expect 9:30 PM start times, no cover charges, and 19+ age limits. While we're on the subject, two new videos of Double Down has surfaced on their Facebook page, so what should you know there? Filmed by attendee Audrey Marshall, these are tucked into a post otherwise full of pictures from their May 12th gig at Reggie's that she posted to their page, and as such, they appear to be unembeddable on external sites.

One video has the guys covering Neil Young's "Cinnamon Girl" with frontman Joel Syrette on vocals, and the other sees them covering J.J. Cale's "Going Down" with bassist Brad Stephen on vocals, much as fans will have seen him and Ric do with Bone Yard. Both covers are well handled from a good (if not centered) angle of the stage, and kudos to Audrey for filming these horizontally, so check them out for yourselves above, and look for more like this when Double Down debut at Jay's next month!

Next up, Kewadin Casino has announced their June concert slate (+ Saturday, July 1st) at their regional branches' on-site lounges, courtesy of their respective entertainment pages, and there are a handful of new hard rock gigs hitting them both! Just to clarify this ahead, the band playing at The Rapids Lounge in Sault Michigan next month named Highway 41 is a country band out of Houghton, and they are not related to defunct local classic/hard rock band Highway 63 beyond the similar name. The sooner of the shows come on Friday, June 16th & Saturday, June 17th, when Traverse City classic metal trio Peril return to The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin branch, in their first local dates since rocking the Sault Kewadin earlier this month, and their first in St. Ignace since New Year's weekend. Always good to see Jeff and crew back north of the Mackinac Bridge, and hopefully next month's shows rock hard again!

As usual for Peril's trips to the E.U.P., expect these concerts to have 21+ age limits, 9:00 PM start times, and no cover charge. Peril have always been good to local audiences, so don't miss all of the action next month, and we'll let you know if either of Jeff's primary bands turn up again soon!

The other new hard rock shows coming to Kewadin Casino in this batch of concerts will be on Friday, June 30th and Saturday, July 1st, as local hard rock quartet Rhythm & Brews will return to The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin to wrap up one month and ring in another! While these will be Rhythm & Brews' first publically announced gigs since rocking the St. Ignace Kewadin in early March, we regrettably did miss a gig of theirs on Saturday, April 29th, as they played at The Merchant's Bar (a.k.a. The Merch) that night. Alas, the band never plugged this show on their Facebook page, and The Merch's Facebook page rarely promotes bands scheduled to play there, so I only heard about it three+ weeks late via band members' personal Facebook pages (even if, the announcement was only made that day). Regardless, I profusely apologize, but hopefully the concert was a hit for the band, fans, and Merch regulars!

I fear that I may have missed other non-Kewadin gigs from them, but alas, Rhythm & Brews' Facebook page isn't updated all that often. At least we know about their Soo Kewadin gigs next month, which should deliver the hard rock goods! You can check out this Nixxon Dixxon, Highway 63, and Clownsack union on Canada Day weekend at 9:00 PM with 21+ age limits and no cover charges. See above for more details!

We'll close today by kinda sorta staying in Sault Michigan... kinda. On Monday, Sault Ontario southern hard rock band Fort Creek shared a post to plug the Josey Scott's Saliva concert that they are opening at The Machine Shop on Saturday, June 24th, which featured two items. One is the new official poster seen here and elsewhere prior, but the other item is a video shot by a band member (I presume) of a radio playing The Sault's Rock Station, Rock 101. At this juncture, long-time DJ Allison "Alli J" Miller was on the air, and she is heard here plugging the concert, with the video capturing mentions of the local openers, hence why Fort Creek would film it (alas, WSUE isn't known for playing original local rock bands in general rotation, so take any plug that you can get!) That said, Alli did forget the GT in Spades GT, and she erroneously noted that tickets were on sale at The Machine Shop (they are only available online).

I've never been good for keeping track of contests and giveaways for concert tickets on 101.3 FM, but Alli did note that there will be giveaways for tickets on-air tomorrow, so if you want a free ticket to this big show next month, keep that in mind! If you don't win a freebie (or don't listen to Rock 101), tickets are running for $43.50 at this link, and the price will go up $10 if you buy the week of the show/at the gate. Given that Rock 101 and promoters Superior Entertainment are based out of Sault Michigan, you can see how this write-up straddles the border in a few ways, so give Fort Creek's video of the radio plug a watch/listen below!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Vanity First) & Heavy Lies The Crown Updates!!

I hope all of our Canadian readers are having a good Victoria Day! Ironically, most of this post reflects the E.U.P. (whose Memorial Day holiday isn't for another week), but we are leading off with a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT on this side of the border, so here's what you should know!

Local punk trio Vanity First and rap/party metal duo The Apocalypse Afterparty will join forces for a concert at Soo Blaster on Saturday, June 17th! While neither are strangers to playing at Soo Blaster as support bands (the former for Gutter Creek and Leash, the latter at multiple rap concerts), the idea of an all-local show with just the two of them is unique in and of itself, especially on such a big stage, so it will be interesting to see how this concert goes! Vanity are fresh off of their solo gigs at Shooters this weekend, while The A.A. were last seen opening for Madchild at Soo Blaster last month. Both bands' energetic covers and diverse originals should pull a strong audience, so don't miss out on the 17th! Sponsored by Sessions Cannabis, this concert has a 19+ age limit, door opening at 7:00 PM, and admission prices at $15 in advance or $20 at the door. Advance tickets will be on sale on Eventbrite, though the link is not out yet. See the above links for continuing details on this concert!

Next up, let's continue getting caught up on the latest updates from St. Ignace, Michigan metalcore band Heavy Lies The Crown's Facebook page from the past 3+ weeks, starting with their April 30th reveal that their recent music video is for a song named "Jell-O", and while complete & uploaded to their YouTube channel, it was still private at that time. Singer Brandon West posted this video later that day to reveal that the video proper would go public two days later, and also thank fans for their support and tease their new run of official band hoodies. On May 1st, Brandon teased in this video that H.L.T.C. were working on a fast new song, tentatively named "Sound Check" (no relation) that would also get its own music video, so stay tuned in that regard! After one more teaser clip from Brandon about the "Jell-O" premiere that night, the video went live, so what should you know about it?

Directed by Robin Chargo, it features the band playing in white hazmat suits in a sealed room drenched in blood (perhaps Jell-O that didn't set in the fridge?!). The blood got all over the band too, especially Brandon, who is the only band member not wearing a face mask (a logistical necessity given that he is screaming the lyrics). I'll hold comment on the song proper, pending our eventual review of the album in progress, but the video is well suited to the track, and it was well shot, so give it a watch below!

Conspicuous by his absence from the video is rhythm guitarist Christian Thanasiu, and that's because he quietly left Heavy Lies The Crown earlier this year, as revealed in a post on May 2nd before "Jell-O" went live. A reason for Christian's departure was not announced, but the band left the door open on playing with him again in the future, and it definitely sounds like he left on amicable terms. The music video was shot in March, and based on the band's usage of photos with their most recent full lineup, he must have left between late February and early March (videos from their recent concerts haven't been plentiful to be any more specific). Christian replaced Nathan Switzer on rhythm guitar early last year during the band's lineup overhaul, and his beard, toque, & Flying V guitar were always a welcome sight on stage. Hopefully things are going well for him no matter what, and that we see Christian back out there soon!

Remember that H.L.T.C.'s bassist is also named Christian (Bailey/Cook), so that confusion will now be alleviated, for what that's worth. No word on when/if they'll find a new second guitarist, but we will keep you posted if anything comes out in that regard! Continuing with their May Facebook updates, Brandon posted this video on May 5th of him attempting to sing in a glam metal style, and while a little strained, I have heard far worse! On May 7th, Brandon uploaded this video from his garage to tease their upcoming "Sound Check" music video, which will apparently feature some type of toy guns (pixellated to likely avoid any content issues about guns, but the colouring implies that they are toys). On May 11th, Brandon was back with another video, this time to hype up their next concert, which went down on Saturday at the 2 Wheel Tavern in Wolverine, outside of Cheboygan. For H.L.T.C.'s standards, that's as close to "local" as I've seen from them, so hopefully some Yoopers came out!

The show (held on an outdoor stage) saw Heavy Lies The Crown open for three bands, including headlining Indiana thrash metal band Wraith, but H.L.T.C. were not filmed for the venue's Facebook page like other bands were. Brandon did note that all but one song in their set on Saturday was new, so keep that in mind. They'll also return to Alpena (not as far on the grand scheme of things for them) on July 22nd when they open for Katharsys Theory at the Michigan Brown Trout Festival, so see those links for more details if you're up for a road trip in two months! We are now officially caught up on Heavy Lies The Crown, so see above and their music video teaser clip below for more from them!

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

News And Updates From Mikey & His Uke, Spades GT, And Heavy Lies The Crown!!

We're back with a packed news post on this Tuesday night, including lots of recent updates from an E.U.P. metal band, big updates from a former-ish Sault Ontario group, and leading off, a new cover video featuring familiar faces from here and afar, so here's what you should know!

The newest cover song from Mikey & His Uke dropped on the project's YouTube channel on Thursday, so what should you know here? In a rare metal turn, Bookclub frontman Mikey Hawdon tackled Nine Inch Nails' "Wish" this month with another far-flung all-star band, with Mikey on rhythm guitar, backing vocals, additional percussion, and (initially as always) ukelele. Joining him are skateboarding legend Tony Hawk (in his fourth Mikey & His Uke appearance) on vocals, ex-Dillinger Escape Plan guitarist Ben Weinman, The Bronx bassist Brad Magers, ex-Every Time I Die drummer Ryan "Legs" Leger, and Stormylovechild/ex-Pink keyboardist Kat Lucas, and while not seen on camera, Mikey's Bookclub/Inner City Surfers bandmate Dustin Jones supplies backing vocals. The video footage was heavily edited in post production to have black and white and colour footage phasing out in increasingly trippy fashion, even adding in film grain.

I'm not a massive Nine Inch Nails fan, but this cover is well handled on all fronts, and props to Tony for singing while skateboarding in his footage! Watch for quite a cameo too. For the record, "Wish" was not on any Tony Hawk's Pro Skater soundtracks, but "Getting Smaller" was on Tony Hawk's Project 8. Mikey isn't playing somewhere recognizable in his footage, rather in another industrial area, this time with an unidentified person welding behind him. It'd be fitting if that was Dustin, but I know nothing. Strong work from everyone in front of & behind the camera, so give it a look below, and watch for Mikey's newborn daughter in the post-video thank yous (congratulations to Mikey on the new arrival!)

Next up, here's the latest from local/Barrie crossover thrash quintet Spades GT's Facebook page, so what's new from them in the past week? On May 9th and 10th, they posted two separate "Reels" (viewable here & here) of them at what I believe is the Anti-Queens show in Barrie last month, and it is a crying shame that these are just "Reels" given the high quality footage of the song in question from multiple camera angles! I wish these were full songs, let alone in a non-vertical and embeddable format! On Thursday, the band confirmed that guitarist Daniel Horton's Fast Life bandmate Andrew Moorehouse's involvement on their forthcoming album "Sewer City Radio" will be via a guest verse, though they did not reveal which song he'll be on. The full lineup for the Beer Bash 6 event that they're playing on in Toronto next month has also been revealed, though the former Jack Spades remain the only familiar band for local concertgoers among the announced groups.

Along with plugs for their airplay on CGCM Rock Radio and The Fast Life's recent battle of the bands victory in Barrie, they released the second advance single from "Sewer City Radio" as promised on Friday, this time going with "Final Girl", which you can now hear on Spotify and their YouTube Music channel in advance of the planned June 2nd release date. Unlike "Hands", this didn't debut live with Jack Spades in the Soo, at least as far as I can recall from their late 2010s gigs, so that will be notable for many listeners alone! I'll hold comment pending our likely fall review of the whole album, but give it a listen for yourself below, and stay tuned for more from Spades GT when we hear it!

Let's close today with recent news from St. Ignace, Michigan metalcore quintet Heavy Lies The Crown, as I'm about a month behind on their general updates from their Facebook page! Apologies for the delay, but at least I got to their two lengthy interviews on Sunday! On April 15th, frontman Brandon West posted this brief video to plug that their new order official band sweatshirts was in, and to contact the band on how to get yours. On April 24th, they were confirmed for another big downstate concert, this time Michigan Metal Fest in Battle Creek on August 19th, where they will be among dozens of bands opening for the likes of Born Of Osiris, Upon A Burning Body, and Psychostick. Stacked bill on paper, and hopefully there's a massive turnout at the Leila Arboretum in three months! On April 27th, the guys shared the video embedded below from guitarist Ted Olson's personal Facebook page, so what's new to see there?

The 19 minute live-stream sees Ted playing five H.L.T.C. originals in full ("God's Butter", "Cigar With The Devil", "Celebrate The Night", "Voices", and "Knucklebutter"), and it lets fans get an up close look at how he plays each track, though the visuals are better than the audio. He is playing along to the studio tracks, but the quality has some of those halts and pops that can doom webcam audio, so be warned. Strong performances regardless, so give Ted's live-stream a look below!

The following day, Brandon posted this quick video to thank everyone for checking the band out after Heavy Lies The Crown were announced for Michigan Metal Fest, and they followed that by plugging their TikTok page that has actually been active since February! I can't embed TikTok videos on the SMS, but in terms of exclusive content there, they started with two short videos of drummer Jaxon Massaway playing at a jam session (one has Brandon on vocals & film grain, the other has neither). This clip shows them setting up for their new music video, with the aftermath of the shoot seen by clicking here (it is initially locked for content but the blood is fake!). Jaxon (now wearing their Iggy mask) is seen drumming in this video with extra lighting. while a camera stationed beside him captured the band playing "Celebrate The Night" at a jam session on March 8th, albeit with very grainy visuals and sub-optimal angles of the band.

A video from the same rehearsal of them playing "Every Step Of The Way" was also posted, and while darker without an attempt to brighten the video in post, it looks much better as a result. Lastly for TikTok exclusives is this video of the band jamming with Brandon & Jaxon trading vocal/drum duties, and that's a switch that would work live with the right song! Lots of good content above and ahead from Heavy Lies The Crown, so follow them for much more on their 2023 plans, and stay tuned for more news and notes on the site as the week continues! Thanks everyone!

Two Recent Interviews With Heavy Lies The Crown!!

Remember how St. Ignace, Michigan metalcore band Heavy Lies The Crown had been interviewed for a podcast in March, only to get lost in our backlog despite me mentioning it in posts? Yeah, well they actually have another one from early 2023 that I didn't know about, so let's take some time today to finally address them! The new-to-me interview (I don't even think H.L.T.C. posted about it) is even earlier still, premiering as a Facebook live-stream on January 26th, and it was conducted via Zoom by Dustin Noell of Ghost Media Entertainment, a promotional agency based out of Missouri, with co-hosting duties by his young daughter Zelda, believe it or not. Heavy Lies The Crown are represented here by singer Brandon West and guitarist Ted Olson, and I do recommend that you crank the volume on your device while watching the interview, as Brandon & Ted are very quiet compared to Dustin & Zelda in the live-stream.

In the 59 minutes-long interview, Brandon & Ted talk about how their current lineup came together (including complications at some venues given drummer Jaxon Massaway not even being 19 yet), playing music for the passion vs. the money, their evolution from jamming to actually being a real band, their upcoming album and planned heavier material as of January, working with David Dominguez on mixing some older material, plans to play more shows in 2023, their favourite songs to play live, the inspirations of various songs of theirs, how they came up with the Heavy Lies The Crown name, their favourite (and most disturbing) movies, the band that they'd most like to play with, issues playing live when most of their shows are 5 hours away, their upcoming concerts & label aspirations, and much more. Zelda asks a few questions too, and Brandon's daughter even makes a cameo.

Fun interview with a casual atmosphere that benefits from Brandon & Ted knowing Dustin already (he clearly has Michigan ties and even notes plans to move back there for work reasons), and the addition of Dustin's daughter Zelda for the whole interview helps keep things light and approachable! How many metal band interviews feature bits about stuffed animals and Arby's, after all? Not many scoops to note beyond plans that may have already began rolling out (I am behind on recent Heavy Lies The Crown news), but give their Ghost Media Entertainment interview a watch below!

As for the interview from March 13th that I did know about, that one was actually an audio interview done for a podcast, namely Dark Side Of The Scene, which is hosted out of Indiana by To My Dismay frontman Brandon Wright and his co-host Ed Corella. This podcast (whose episodes are cross-posted to their YouTube channel) is themed around touring musicians and the ups & downs that they go through with bandmates, promoters, and venues, and given that H.L.T.C. travel downstate for the vast majority of their concerts, they should have stories to tell! In their 92 minute episode (the fourth ever for Dark Side Of The Scene), they talk to the whole band except Ted, now including guitarist Christian Thanasiu, bassist Christian Cook, and drummer Jaxon Massaway. The interview begins about 4 minutes in with plugs for their recent studio work and how things have been going for recording the material.

Diving into the themes of the podcast moreso, Heavy Lies The Crown next discussed how there's nowhere for them to play in the Eastern Upper Peninsula (they have gotten offers to play in Sault Ontario but various issues keep them from coming across), and how they have to commute downstate for almost all of their gigs. They also discuss how there isn't a massive scene for metal bands in St. Ignace and/or the E.U.P., but they do praise local musicians in general and how kind people are up here. The band do talk up the opportunities that they've had in the Lower Peninsula, but they are candid (if always polite) about their negative experiences from tour runs and the shows that they've played, which will be especially interesting if you were at these concerts. H.L.T.C. next discuss their lineup, how close apart they live, and exactly what led to Nathan, Danny, and Cale leaving last year, before going into experiences recording in studio.

After some more casual discussion about life in the E.U.P. and whatnot, they address the Heavy Lies The Crown name and how it is also being used by an existing death metal band from Indiana (I'm surprised that the two have coexisted for this long), before addressing their then-current merchandise, the genre that they consider themselves to be, and more assorted topics before playing "God's Butter" on air. Another solid interview, if often very respectful without taking any overtly direct shots at the bad experiences that they've had on the road, let alone their being an outlier in the E.U.P. in terms of contemporary original extreme metal bands. Check their Dark Side Of The Scene interview below!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more from Heavy Lies The Crown and other local bands on the site this week! Thanks everyone!