More Recent Kewadin Casino Concert Videos, Double Down Updates, And More!!

Today's post keeps us covering some big news and notes from the last little bit in the twin Saults, and that includes new videos, a big lineup change, and some more shorter updates. However, let's start with some more videos from high profile touring acts in our area, so here's what you should know!

Let's tackle some more recent major concert videos to start this post, and of course, this past weekend's other major headlining concert was the Tesla show at The Dreammakers Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino on February 28th! Taking place just in time for Kewadin to reopen the Soo branch after the ransomware attack-prompted closure, I haven't found too many YouTube uploaders from this concert, but prolific Sault Ontario concert filmer Christopher Paci's YouTube channel filmed eight videos of the Sacramento hair metal quintet's headlining set, so what all did he film? Videos include Tesla playing "Rock Me To The Top", "Modern Day Cowboy", "Changes", "What You Give", "Love Song", and their covers of Ph. D's "Little Suzi" & The Five Man Electrical Band's "Signs", but embedded below are two songs back to back, namely "Forever More" and "Heaven's Trail (No Way Out)".

Solid performances overall, and while some of Jeff's lower register singing sounds slightly off, they have a good sound on their classics! It is neat to see that Tesla still play songs from 2000s albums (like "Forever More"), rather than just leaning on songs from their commercial heyday, so fans who stuck with them well beyond will be rewarded. Chris had a strong close angle of the stage, if from a sharp vantage point, but it accentuates the sea of people in the center section well, and his camera's audio holds up, so check everything out for yourselves above & below!

Next up, Chris was also on hand for Staind frontman Aaron Lewis' solo concert at The Dreammakers Theater in December, but only posted videos from that event onto his YouTube channel on February 27th. This isn't a show that we covered because Aaron's solo output is 100% country music, but he does cover stripped down versions of a handful of Staind songs live, which I have noted when local videos have popped up before. Aaron played at the Soo Kewadin in 2014 and 2021 as well, not to mention Staind's own Kewadin dates in 2006 & 2009, so he has always been good to the E.U.P.! If you know anything about Aaron's country career, you'll know that his solo music is often patriotic and/or quite politically charged, so I'll hold comment on all of that, but click here to see what Chris filmed from his solo catalogue. In terms of Staind covers, he played "It's Been Awhile", "Here & Now", and as embedded below, "Outside".

Aaron and his backing guitarist (playing on his lap, Jeff Healy-style) pair well to give these Staind songs a more reserved, intimate atmosphere, and Chris' camera captures the audio nicely, though this does include a very clear take of the audience singing along with "It's Been Awhile" and "Outside" in particular, as well as Aaron's crowd banter, often during songs. Give his Kewadin videos a watch above and below!

Now let's head north to Sault Ontario for some big news from local classic/hard rock cover quartet Double Down, as they have enlisted Sidekicks bassist Dan Beaupre into their lineup, replacing Brad Stephen. The band announced his addition as "our new bass player" in this video from their concert at Jay's Piston Broke Pub on Friday night. A reason for Brad's departure was not announced, but he hadn't been visibly pictured in the band's social media postings since January. Hopefully nothing too serious happened, especially given his long run in bands with Ric dating back well before Double Down's 2023 inception, and that we see Brad out there again soon! Dan will be familiar to readers from work in bands like Hollow, let alone his work with Griphook and 100 Gran (both alongside Double Down singer/guitarist Joel Syrette), and he's a good guy and very talented bassist, so he will be an asset with Joel, Beej, and Ric going forward!

With The Sidekicks playing at The Water Tower Pub last night, Double Down enlisted Mid Life Crysis/ex-Havadder bassist Lori Reinholtz to fill in at Jay's for night #2. From the Friday concert, Double Down's Facebook page has two brief clips with Dan on bass, including the one linked above of them covering A Flock Of Seagulls' "I Ran (So Far Away)" with drummer Ric Datson on lead vocals, but embedded below is 30 seconds of them covering Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb" with Joel on vocals only and Dan's Sidekicks bandmate Steve Cardiff guesting on guitar. Very dark visually, but it's well done, and Steve nails the solo, so check out Double Down's new videos above & below!

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

 

• Local folk punk/extreme metal solo musician Chase Wigmore has been added as the final opener for the Selias-headlined concert at Soo Blaster on Saturday, as per quiet updates to the Facebook event page last week. Solid choice to ease into things while still providing Chase's requisite intensity! Note that the event page now says that tickets will be $15 in advance (identical to Selias' debut here last fall) or $20 at the door, but an Eventbrite page for advance tickets is not online that I can find, so if you want to save $5, get yours at Soo Blaster or through Heavy North Entertainment or the local openers.
• To promote both their Sault Ontario concert in January & their Shamrock Show set at Three One Three on Ashmun on Saturday, Sault Michigan punk trio The Sole Aggressors shared the presumed setlists for those gigs in photos on their Facebook page. You don't see this often from local bands, so it's a neat window into what to expect! Regarding the teased setlist for this week (nice dog!), it features all thirteen original songs from their Brimley concert in August, plus newer cuts named "Burning Down", "Humans Aren't Ordinary Monkeys", "Heil Artificiality", "Tale Of An American Hero", and "The Same Individiualist". See how everything sounds live this Saturday night at Three One Three!
• Back on Sault Ontario, the roof of the Tarentorus Sports Club's curling rink collapsed on Wednesday, as covered in this SooToday article. No injuries were reported, and while details on the building's future for events aren't clear yet, let alone the cause of the collapse, social media postings indicate that the club has plans in place. This is relevant to the SMS because the Avery Road venue hosted the Band Together To Rock Cancer fundraiser in September, so to hear of the building suffering severe damage like this less than six months later is really surprising. Hopefully the Tarentorus Sports Club can rebuild and/or move forward as best as they can!

 

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

Band Together To Rock Cancer Video Showcase!!

On September 20th, four local cover rock bands joined forces at The Tarentorus Sports Club at 56 Avery Road for Band Together To Rock Cancer, a fundraiser concert to help support Mustang Heart guitarist Lorenzo Fabbri through his ongoing cancer battle. Based on what I've seen and heard from the event, it sounds like it was a huge hit, but don't take my word for it, as we have videos from that night to show today! Attendee Audrey Marshall (a frequent sight at local cover rock concerts) was present, and she filmed three songs from each band for this batch post that was publically shared by both Mustang Heart and Generations on their respective Facebook pages after the fact. Audrey also got a handful of pictures throughout the event, and we'll start with the band of the hour, classic rock cover veterans Mustang Heart in their first show of the year! Lorenzo himself was unable to attend physically, but they made sure that he could still be there!

A monitor was set up to the right of the stage so he could watch the show/talk to attendees over a video call, moved as needed to change what he could see. Very nice idea to involve the man of the hour! In his place, former Mustang Heart guitarist Adam King returned to fill in as a special guest, while Lorenzo's Stages bandmate Sam Spadafora guested on keyboard, meaning that he and Vito Tassone both played keyboard at the same time during this set. Shades of modern day Guns N' Roses doing that, but it's great to see Sam showing his support! Audrey filmed Mustang Heart covering three songs on the 20th, including Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble's "Pride & Joy", John Mellencamp's "Hurts So Good", and as embedded below, Grand Funk Railroad's "Some Kind Of Wonderful". It is good to see Mustang Heart back on stage, if under these circumstances, but they sound good on these familiar covers, with hard rock fans benefitting via the Grand Funk one!

Crank Sound Distribution was on hand to make all four band sound as good as possible, and everyone performs well in the three filmed videos on what had to be an emotional night, with a lively crowd response and good energy, so check out all three Mustang Heart videos above & below!

Next up, Adam's old band Double Down took the stage beforehand, with Audrey filming the classic/hard rock cover quartet covering three songs featuring three different singers! Embedded below is their cover of Bachman-Turner Overdrive's "Let It Ride" with guitarist Joel Syrette on vocals, but she also got videos of their covers of The Cars' "Just What I Needed" (with guitarist Beej Syrette singing) and The Temptations' "Shakey Ground" (with bassist Brad Stephen on vocals). Nice little cross-section of Double Down's vocal capabilities here, let alone a very surprising cover choice for Brad's song, and fans of their hard rocking shows should enjoy these clips, so check them out above & below as well!

Audrey also filmed three songs by fellow local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations, but with guitarist Tony Kajnar unable to attend for unannounced reasons, they called in Muckrakers frontman Mike McDonald (one of their 2023 fill-in guitarists before Tony joined full time) to return for the evening. Their videos filmed at The Tarentorus Club include covers of The Tragically Hip's "Blow At High Dough" (with bassist Pierre Anthony on vocals), Alannah Myles' "Black Velvet" filmed in two chunks (here and here), and as embedded below, The Beatles' "I Saw Her Standing There". Solid and casual yet well played across the board, so give Generations and Mike's videos a watch above & below!

Finally, classic rock cover quartet RPM were also in attendance for Band Together To Rock Cancer, with Audrey filming them covering The Romantics' "What I Like About You", Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Lookin' Out My Back Door", and as embedded below, Bryan Adams' "Cuts Like A Knife". Some of the vocals aren't a complete tonal match for the songs in question, but they're a talented group for classic rock fans, and it's great to see them showing their support for Lorenzo here, so check out their videos too!

That's all for now, but I'm very glad to see that the concert was a success, and of course, our continued best thoughts and wishes are with Lorenzo and his family and friends as he continues his battle! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Devil's Sons, The Space Wizards, And Double Down), Plus More Recent Notes!!

Let's address some more LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS in this Sunday afternoon post, along with some shorter recent updates, so here's what you should know in chronological order!

Montreal psychedelic hard rock trio The Space Wizards will make their local debut on Wednesday, September 4th when they headline at Soo Blaster! Described as "another short notice show" by promoter Mikhal Muto when plugging it on the Sault Live Music Gig Announcements Facebook group yesterday (even though I only term "short/late notice" here as within the week prior), The Space Wizards are a relatively newer band who have been making increasing waves on tour with their fittingly spacey brand of classic-inspired hard rock, and hopefully they draw a solid crowd in two+ weeks despite the work/school night scheduling! Two local bands will open here, including hard rock quintet HeadFirst (fresh off of their Hilton Beach gig last night) and a mystery group named The Spaceship Opening. I have absolutely no information on them, but if we hear anything tangible in advance of the 4th, we will let you know!

Online ticket sales have not yet begun for this show (when they do, you'll find them here), but advance tickets will run for $15, and you may be able to get them at the venue or perhaps through Mikhal/the local openers. The door charge will jump to $20 for this 19+ concert, which begins at 9:00 PM. Add another intriguing concert with a touring headliner onto the increasingly busy slate for Mikhal's burgeoning slate of promoted concerts, so visit the above links for more details on this event!

Next up, local classic/hard rock cover quartets Double Down and Generations will be among the performers at The Tarentorus Sports Club at 56 Avery Road on Friday, September 20th for a special benefit concert! Entitled "Band Together To Rock Cancer", this event is in support of Mustang Heart guitarist Lorenzo Fabbri, who has been battling cancer throughout this year. I believe this is partially why the classic rock veterans haven't played live in 2024, even missing Rotaryfest, On this night, four bands familiar to the weekend nightclub cover circuit will join forces for the cause, with Double Down and Generations being joined by classic rock veterans RPM, while Mustang Heart will play their first show of the year as headliners, with Lorenzo's Stages bandmate Sam Spadafora and former Double Down guitarist Adam King joining them as special guests for the night

Taking place deep in the west end at the curling rink/multi-purpose hall off of Allens Side Road, tickets are $20 to attend and $15 if you can't come in person but want to support Lorenzo and family in his fight (either way, there will be a door prize). A cash bar and refreshments will also be on hand. Having lost my mother to cancer, I absolutely sympathize with what Lorenzo is going through right now, and hopefully there's a great turnout for this stacked lineup of talented veteran cover rock bands next month in his honour! Visit Mustang Heart's Facebook page for more details, and apologies again to Marci for how things were initially worded.

Also newly announced is another Mikhal Muto-promoted joint, as on Monday, September 30th, Edmonton punk/hard rock quintet The Devil's Sons will make their local debut when they headline at... The Whisky Barrel? Yes, the 113 Gore Street nightclub is going to try hosting a non-acoustic touring band next month, and Mikhal did acknowledge the venue's generosity in having this show there when plugging it on his personal Facebook page, so we'll have to see how things go! It's been too long since there was a venue on Gore that hosted bands this heavy, though in The Devil's Sons' case, they have an interesting hybrid sound that calls to mind a heavier Dropkick Murphys, so if you're up for some rollicking punk n' roll, don't bypass this show next month! While the show is not publically advertised on social media yet that I've seen, The Devil's Sons did confirm it in this poster on their Facebook page for their upcoming tour.

Local metal trio The BAG (don't miss them at Soo Blaster tonight!) will open in their Whisky Barrel debut, and hopefully their hard hitting originals and covers get things off on the right foot! This 19+ show will reportedly have FREE admission and an 8:00 PM start time, though we do await full public advertising for this show locally beyond personal Facebook accounts. It'll be interesting to see how this concert goes, so visit the above links for more on what to expect at The Whisky Barrel next month!

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

 

• Sault Michigan hard/blues rock quartet Project 906 did indeed welcome back guest hand drummer Brian Duford for their three most recent gigs in Pickford, Cedarville, and Hessel, as per photos shared on their Facebook page after each concert. As best as I can tell, Brian has not quietly joined 906 full time, as he's not in this band photo promoting their Islander Bar show from August 10th, but the band's "#summerof906" is now over unless they have new bookings that weren't in the batch of concerts announced back in May. We'll let you know when we hear more!
• In their newest Facebook post ("Stories" aside), Sault Ontario classic/hard rock cover quartet Silent 9 posted a "Reel" last week of them covering Kenny Loggins' "Footloose" at a private Bass Lake event. As a "Reel", I can't embed it here, but it looks like there was a strong turnout under the tent to dance the night away! The band just played at Winnie's Hometown Festival in White River last night (you may have seen a Facebook "Story" or two from there), and they'll make their public return to the local nightclub circuit in three weeks, so look for more from them in the fall!
  
• I have moved local acoustic hard rock band Tattoos & Scars back to our inactive band links. Featuring Fort Creek bandmates Justin Grayson, Shane Biron, and Bill Brouillard, they had announced their return from a 4+ year hiatus on their Facebook page on August 8th of last year, but nothing has publically followed since. Fort Creek have been busy behind the scenes since they lost their rhythm section last fall, so it's entirely possible that Tattoos & Scars are just on the shelf until they get their sister band back up and running at early 2020s levels, but follow them on social media to see what Fort Creek are currently up to!
   

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