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!

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

You know the spring is almost upon us when concert schedules are picking up, and not only are there enough hard rock-leaning concerts to warrant splitting this weekend's concert previews into two posts, there's major headlining shows on both sides of the border this weekend! As such, we'll look at Sunday's Our Lady Peace show, Saturday's HeadFirst concert, and this weekend's Bone Yard 225 shows (and more) on the site tomorrow. so they are coming soon! Now, here's what you should know to start the weekend, including a pair of SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Double Down will rock The Water Tower Pub for one night only on SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, this show was quietly announced on the band's Facebook page on February 12th, which completely slipped us by at the time (the venue has yet to confirm their March concert schedule online). SATURDAY'S concert will be Double Down's first since their late January weekend at Jay's Piston Broke Pub, and their first stop at The Water Tower Pub since January 10th, so it's been a relative while to see the Syrettes, Brad, and Ric rock out on a local stage. Hopefully their Cancon-laden night of hard rocking covers goes over swimmingly at this central nightclub on SATURDAY, and that the storm warnings are long over prior! This is a one-nighter due to tomorrow's previously announced Generations show, which will be previewed at post's end.

Double Down take the stage on SATURDAY NIGHT at 8:00 PM, this is a 19+ event, and there are no announced over charges. After taking all of February 2025 off, hopefully the guys are ready to rock once again, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and for a preview, here's a brief new video of Double Down live at Jay's in January, and I mean brief! This 9 seconds-long (and vertical) clips sees the guys covering Prince & The Revolution's "Purple Rain" with Joel & Beej making the most of the floor during one of the Brad Stephen-sung choruses. Fun little clip while it lasts, though I would like to hear the full song! Still, check it out below!

Next up, let's head across to Sault Michigan and the E.U.P., as local blues/hard rock quartet Project 906 will return to The Strongs Tavern in nearby Eckerman on SATURDAY NIGHT as well! Again, apologies for the short notice, but it definitely is short notice here, as both the band and venue only announced this gig via their respective Facebook pages this afternoon. Like with Double Down above, SATURDAY'S show will be Project 906's first since late January, when they rocked The Strongs Tavern on January 26th. Exactly five weeks later, fans can welcome Billy, Dustin, Joe, and Jason (and Brian?) back for another night of hard rocking cover action, so consider the hour's drive west on SATURDAY if you're up for it! Yes, I am well aware of the fundraiser concert that 906 are taking part in next month, we will have more on that on the site this weekend, so stay tuned for full details shortly!

Project 906's second show of 2025 goes down on SATURDAY takes place at 8:00 PM with a 21+ age limit and no announced cover charge. Visit the above links for more details on this late notice concert, and for a preview, here's Project 906 live and in concert last year!

We'll stay in Michigan for a big previously announced concert, as Sacramento glam metal/hard rock quintet Tesla will make their long awaited return to the Soo TOMORROW NIGHT at The Dreammaker's Theater at the local Kewadin Casino! Just to get this out of the way now, Kewadin Casinos have begun re-opening following the ransomware attack two+ weeks ago, with the Soo branch re-opening yesterday (St. Ignace's re-opens tomorrow, the rest will next week, source here), and they have confirmed that the Tesla show is still 100% on, so they re-opened just in time! This will be Tesla's (at least) fifth local concert appearance, but first since 2013, so if you've missed Tesla's rock radio hits like "Love Song", "The Way It Is", and "Mama's Fool" in the past 12 years, you'll wanna make your way to the Soo Kewadin for all of the action! This opener-less & all ages show is presented by Rock 101.

All center section seats are sold out for tomorrow's concert, but there are limited seats still on sale in the left & right sections in rows H-J ($85) and K-Q ($75) and in the standing room only area ($65), so click here, visit the in-person box office, or call 1-800-KEWADIN to get hooked up unless you want to chance availability at the door. If you're a loyal Hair Scare listener, you won't want to miss Tesla's local return tomorrow night, and they still sound good, so visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Tesla live at The Dreammakers Theater back in 2010!

Finally for this preview post, we'll return back to Sault Ontario, where local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations will cap off February 2025 when they rock the aforementioned Water Tower Pub TOMORROW NIGHT! Remember, The Water Tower Pub traditionally hosts different nightly bands, and doesn't book bands on consecutive nights as a rule, with Double Down playing there on SATURDAY NIGHT as noted at the top. Fans last saw Generations at Jay's two weeks ago, but tomorrow's show will be their first on Great Northern Road since early last month. This one-nighter should be a fine way to enjoy Generations' old school and hard rocking covers, weather permitting, so keep things in mind if you want something to do tomorrow night! Valerie, the Tonys, and Pierre hit the stage at 8:00 PM with a 19+ age limit and no cover. See above for more details, and here's Generations live!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for our Our Lady Peace, Bone Yard 225, and HeadFirst previews (and more) next!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Tesla & Bookclub) And Recent Sault Ontario Concert Videos!!

Today's post came together in part due to a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT that slipped my notice earlier this week, but a big show in the E.U.P. and some new videos of local cover hard rock acts are rounding things out, so here's what you should know!

Local alt-hard rock cover sextet Bookclub will return to the stage when they headline the fourth annual Illuminate The Season fundraiser for the Algoma Regional Community Hospice TONIGHT at The Machine Shop! Apologies for the short notice, Bookclub only announced their involvement in TONIGHT'S event via their Facebook page this past Sunday, and ARCH's website does not reference bands as taking part at all. Illuminate The Season is a multi-day event featuring auctions for Christmas decor and gifts from local merchants, plus Santa Claus' workshop, ice skating with Santa himself,  refreshments, and other family friendly activites at the Mill Square venue, and it is great to see so many groups and supporters coming together to celebrate Christmas early while supporting ARCH! Bookclub's concert TONIGHT marks their first publically advertised performance since their summer concert series gig at The Roberta Bondar Pavillion gig three months ago.

No word on where Mikey, Brandon, Dustin, Allan, Erin, and Josh have been since the summer, but hopefully their varied and fan-friendly, horn-laced covers draw a solid reception from attendees TONIGHT! While day #3 of Illuminate The Season began at 10:00 AM, Bookclub's concert sets proper begin TONIGHT at 7:00 PM to cap off the program (if there's musicians playing tomorrow, I haven't seen public reference to them, but its the last day running from 10:00-4:00). This is absolutely an ALL AGES event and there is no cover charge, but ARCH donations would absolutely be appreciated. See above for more details, and here's Bookclub live!

Next up, here's a big new concert announcement for 2025, as Sacramento glam metal/hard rock quintet Tesla will return to The Dreammakers Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino for a headlining date on Friday, February 28th! While Tesla are no strangers to playing here (they've been to the Soo at least four times), they have not performed up here since July 2013, so it'll be almost 12 years since Hair Scare fans heard them & their classic hits like "Love Song", "What You Give", and their "Signs" cover on local soil, let alone potential songs from their last two albums! This will also be their first local gig since Steve Brown replaced Troy Luccketa on drums. Tesla still sound good live today, and hopefully they draw a solid crowd later this winter! No word on a possible opening band at press time, but 2013's show here was opened by inactive Detroit hard rock band Fifth Way (featuring former local guitarist Zak Stelmaszek).

Presented by Rock 101, tickets go on sale on Friday at this link, at 1-800-KEWADIN, or at the in-person box office, with tickets running for $65-$85 USD depending on location of seats. This is definitely higher than Tesla's 2013 concert here, but again, that was almost twelve years ago. Hair/glam metal is a reliable seller up here, so Tesla should get a strong turnout in three months, but visit the above links for more on the first major hard rock show in the Twin Saults for 2025!

Also today, let's return north by looking at some brand new videos of Sault Ontario acoustic classic/hard rock cover act Dodge This' late notice gig at The Water Tower Pub on Friday! Jeff July was there to provide hand drum percussion on Friday, with four videos from the night being shared to the band's Facebook page on Monday in a batch post. The videos include mostly-solo renditions of Kings of Leon's "Sex On Fire" and Zach Bryan's "Something In The Orange" by Jamie July and two full band performances, including Collective Soul's "December", and as embedded below, Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band's "Night Moves". While not a heavier song, that's the only one with Jason Taillefer on lead vocals, and he injects some good heavier vocals and passion into this ballad that Phatstick fans will appreciate! Good work all around, especially for fans of Jamie-led material, so check out Dodge This above & below!

Finally for today, here's a new promotional clip for newer local classic/hard rock cover quintet Headrush's shows at The Esquire Club this weekend, tonight included! Bassist John Amendola shared it to the band's Facebook page last night (less than two hours before showtime for night #1, granted), and it features 46 seconds of very brief clips of them in concert at public and private events. Notably, the video does include some snippets that have not publically been uploaded in a longer form, let alone a horizontal one. While I can't identify all of them given the audio quality of the original cameras and the brevity of the clips, a late and new-to-me snippet is from Cheap Trick's "I Want You To Want Me", focusing on guitarist Wes Greco during the solo. Actually, the video ends with Wes-focused clips, so if you know his skill level and like solos, wait til the end. Good teaser while it lasts, so check it out below, and don't miss Headrush tonight in the west end!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site next week! Thsnk

Three New Kewadin Casino Concert Video Postings, And More!!

After an admittedly slow weekend, we're back with what should be an active week on the SMS, starting with this all-video post! One video is from this side of the border, but we'll start with a trifecta of videos from YouTube user Dwayne Lehn's channel, all belated uploads from early-2010s concerts at The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino. You may recall Dwayne from filming a pair of videos from Shinedown's concert at Kewadin in 2013, but for one reason or another, these three videos didn't make it online until yesterday. Better late than never, so kudos to Dwayne for finally putting these up! First is a video of British Columbia hard rock/post-grunge quartet Theory of a Deadman playing their song "Lowlife" at the casino in November 2012 (it's definitely not from their 2015 show here), and this might be the best video I've seen from one of their local concerts!

Dwayne was front row center or very close to there, with frontman Tyler Connolly in prime view, and the band handle this hit song of theirs nicely! If you're a fan of Theory of a Deadman, this is well worth your time, whether you were at this concert or not, so give this video a look below!



Next up, Dwayne posted this video of former Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach covering his old band's classic "18 & Life" during his headlining show at the Soo Kewadin in January 2013! Unlike the Theory of a Deadman clip, this is filmed side-stage, and while Sebastian and band sound good, the audio has staticy bass. Give this belated but entertaining ballad a look below!



Finally for Dwayne's "new" Dreammaker's Theater video postings, we're going even older with a video of Sacramento hair metal legends Tesla playing their ballad "Love Song" in Sault Michigan in June 2010! While Tesla did play here in 2013 (closer to when Dwayne filmed his other local concert videos), this is absolutely from the 2010 show, their third of four here. Again, this is a side-stage video, which does no favours to the dark mood lighting, but Tesla sound fine here, and Jeff Keith even makes his way to Dwayne's end of the theater for a spell! Check out his Tesla video below, and see more above!



Finally for today, here's a new video of the one-off Bin Hawdon & The Taliband reunion set from last month's Guy Thiffault tribute concert at The Rockstar Bar! Filmed by attendee Amber Sharp with a GoPro camera, this was uploaded to frontman Mikey Hawdon's new YouTube channel (which apparently succeeded his old mykawdon channel) on Friday. A cover of Diesel Boy's "Titty Twister" (that's it's name, don't shoot the messenger), this is a solid video with a nice angle from Mikey's side of the stage, complete with some fans singing along, but the audio is somewhat muffled. Give this new Bin Hawdon & The Taliband video a look below, and hopefully it's not another 8 years for their next concert!



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

Anvil Concert Photos & Interviews, Plus New Concert Video Postings!!

In case you're wondering, yes I do know of a handful of late notice concert announcements, we'll be touching on them tomorrow in conjunction with this weekend's concert previews, so look out for them then! In today's post, we have new video postings from each side of the border, and first, some fallout from a recent big show, so let's kick things off!

SooToday & Local2 were on hand for Saturday night's Anvil concert at The Canadian Nightclub, with two separate articles & videos documenting the event making it to Local2 in the last few days! Remember, the video host that Local2 uses does not allow external embedding, so you'll have to visit the links below to see them. The first video served mainly as a sample of the full later upload, with the second video full of 10 minutes of content, starting with footage of frontman Steve "Lips" Kudlow playing "March of the Crabs" in the crowd to start their set, before transitioning to a pre-show interview with Lips (interspersed with some concert clips) where he talks about if Anvil are still chasing the dream, whether they regret anything from their career, the struggles with selling metal in Canada, how they feel about being an influence to newer bands, trying not to sell out, advice to younger bands, and more. It's a solid interview, and Lips speaks very well about the topics asked, so be sure to check it out above!

Also, don't sleep on the first video, as while it does preview the full interview with Lips, it also includes an interview segment with promoter/Jack Spades frontman J.D. Pearce where he talks about his role in promoting Anvil's recent Northern Ontario run and it's importance for connecting Northern Ontario communities, as well as the other bands on the bill and Jack Spades' own quick rise, so be sure to check that out as well above! Finally, Donna's photos from the show finally went up on SooToday this morning, so what should you know on that front? All in black and white again, she posted 35 photos of the night's bands, including 10 of Anvil, 9 of Caym, 6 of Jack Spades, and 5 each of The Suicide Kings & Project 421, and like usual, Donna got some great shots of the bands in action! Note that I haven't seen any concert videos online aside from the Local2 footage above, but we'll have them here if any turn up, so keep an eye out!

We'll close today with new embeddable videos, starting with an 11 year old Kewadin Casino concert video! This comes from Sacramento hair metal legends Tesla's headlining show (perhaps their first in the area?) at The Dreammaker's Theater in Sault Michigan on April 6th, 2002, and though it was posted via Wawa author Duane Roy's YouTube channel yesterday, he told me it was filmed by the late Mike Lemma, who Yooper readers will be familiar with! Notably featuring the band's classic lineup (including now departed guitarist Tommy Skeoch), the half hour video starts with Tesla's cover of The Rolling Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil", before transitioning to their originals "Action Talks", "Gettin' Better", "The Way It Is", and "Song & Emotion", so click each link to check out each individual song! The video itself isn't much to look at, with a far angle to the right of the stage that often dips below people's heads (maybe the camera was being hidden?), but the audio is solid enough, and if you love Tesla or hair metal, or missed this show, be sure to give this video a look below and above!



Lastly for today, here's a new video from a recent private Blood Shed Productions concert! Uploaded to the label's YouTube channel on Sunday, this featured goregrind duo Rotopsy and other label-affiliated acts at label co-founder and Brutaly Fatal frontman Austin McCrae's house. There's assorted media from this private event on personal Facebook accounts, but there is one video on YouTube, and it's of Rotopsy playing their original song "Non-Profit Vomit Shop" (which is, as of yet, unreleased on CD) at the show. Decent recording quality with a good close angle (despite flipping on it's side for a stretch), but if you've heard past Rotopsy originals, there won't be a lot new from this track compared to others, so keep that in mind. Check it out below, and stay tuned TOMORROW for info on the next Blood Shed-affiliated show, which takes place sooner than you might be thinking!



That's all for today, but stay tuned tomorrow for weekend concert previews, including some big short notice announcements! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Lucky 13), Tesla Concert Videos, And More!!

Keeping the news coming as the month winds down, today's post features some assorted recent news items and the first videos from the most recent major Kewadin Casino metal show, but first, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next month on the Canadian side of the border!

Sault Ontario alternative/hard rock quartet Lucky 13 will return to the stage for a one-night-only gig at The Rockstar Bar on August 9th (one week from Friday!) Believe it or not, this will be their first announced show in over three months, which is quite a while compared to similar recent bands, but at least this show has more prominent advance word than their May concert at The Nic! Featuring Route 69 bandmates Ed Vowels (ex-Aftersight) and Jeremey Salatuk (ex-Wishbone) alongside former Turner Up bassist Jeff Gray and Gully Yodelers drummer Roger Sartini, their 1990s-leaning alternative rock covers have served them well since their live debut last fall, and hopefully fans and The Rockstar Bar faithful will welcome them back and rock out next Friday! This show should be a 19+ affair with a 10:00 PM start time, and bring at least $5 for a cover charge. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! It's great to see Lucky 13 back on stage, so stay tuned for more if it comes in, and our preview of this show next week!

Next up, we finally have some videos from Saturday night's fouth Tesla concert at The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino to share on here! From what I have heard, the show went well, but if you weren't there, now you can be the judge! We'll start with these videos from YouTube user Chuck G. (a.k.a. Goblue610) in his first local concert videos on his channel, as he filmed three of Tesla's softer tracks at the show, including "Love Song", their cover of The Five Man Electrical Band's "Signs", and (as embedded below) "What You Give"! Uploaded to Chuck's YouTube channel yesterday, all are in widescreen definitions from a fairly centered camera angle, and while they definitely sound older and a bit slower from their peak, they can still pull off these old classics, and Jeff Keith still has a solid voice! Good crowd turnout too, but see what you think at the above links, and here's Tesla playing "What You Give" in the Soo on Saturday night!



The other Tesla concert videos that I've found are courtesy of Wawa author (and local rock concert regular) Duane Roy, in what are actually his first local concert videos in 9 months, and first from a local metal show since 2011! Uploaded to his YouTube channel on Sunday, his videos are of Tesla playing "Love Song" (albeit abbreviated) and, as embedded below, "Paradise", so how did these turn out? The quality isn't as consistent (especially the distorted audio on louder stretches), but he appears to be in the front row, and he has a good angle of the band, so it works on that level! It is a shame that the "Love Song" video isn't full though, and that videos of Tesla's heavier songs haven't turned up yet. Check out Tesla's local rendition of "Paradise" below!



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

• Veteran local drummer Glen Thomas announced on his Freq's Music Planet message board two weeks ago that his progressive rock band Flat Stanley are recording a cover of Don Felder's "Heavy Metal (Takin' A Ride)" from the soundtrack of the movie "Heavy Metal", just for fun and as a free download. Nice to see more local bands joining Haggith in honouring that movie, and we'll let you know when the final version pops up!
• Local stoner/death metal band Giwakwa have NOT broken up following their last set with Josh Stephney & Nolan Rainville on Friday! In a comment reply on their Facebook page the day before, a member (likely guitarist Chris Page) said that they'd be taking some time to write and record some more songs, and they'd be "ripping up the scene again before you know it", though any potential singer/bassist searches weren't announced. Fingers crossed this turns out to be true, as with Josh & Nolan out, they have big shoes to fill!
• Chronic Demonic singer Ririe Lavoie (a.k.a. Sabrina Strange) is looking to launch a side project band to cover and play songs similar to bands like Nightwish, Tool, and Otep live. She'd love to get some female members enlisted if possible, but there's no absolute gender restrictions. If you're interested in signing on, message her on Facebook at this location or via her Musicians Wanted Facebook group post on Sunday!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes in the coming days, plus weekend concert previews Thursday morning! Thanks everyone!

Tesla Concert Preview, New Sault Michigan Video Finds, And Local Venue Renovations!!

One more post before I head off to Oddzfest 2013 Metal Mash-Up (though I may have an auto-post of some kind tonight), so what lies ahead for right now? Today, we have a preview of the next major headlining metal show at the Soo Kewadin, some new videos to share on here from across the river, and some recent concert venue changes (including one in Sault Ontario), so read on below for what you need to know!

TOMORROW NIGHT, Sacramento hair/classic metal legends Tesla will return to The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino for their fourth local concert appearance! The band best known for hits like "Love Song", "What You Give", and their cover of "Signs" were last seen here over three years ago when they rocked the Soo Kewadin in June 2010, and it will be great to see them back (with the exact same lineup, no less) to charge the local stage once again with their up-tempo classic metal and hard rock sound which helped them sell over 5 million albums! Like their 2010 date, Tesla's opening band tomorrow will be Detroit hard rock quintet Fifth Way (featuring Rudyard native & LSSU graduate Zak Stelmaszek on guitar), in both their first local appearance in 10 months and their first local date since their revolving door of bassists saw Victor Wooten replaced by Anthony Palsgrove. Hopefully their hard hitting modern rock sounds serve them well in their local return, and it's definitely familiar ground for them!

As of this writing, a handful of tickets are still available in the ninth row & back for $35 each, so if you don't have yours yet, get them A.S.A.P. at this link, 1-800-KEWADIN, or at the box office in person! This is an ALL AGES show, and while a 7:00 PM start time is advertised, online posts indicated that Fifth Way would be playing at 6:30 PM. For more details, visit the above links and this commercial! Tesla still have it, and this show should prove to be another success for their Saultite fans, so don't miss this show, stay tuned for fallout, and for a preview, here's Tesla covering a ZZ Top classic in the Soo in 2007!



Next up, there's a couple more Shinedown concert videos to share from Sunday night's local concert! These come from YouTube user Dan Reck (a.k.a. Reckage35), and though he didn't post a video of "Bully" like most others, he filmed the Jacksonville hard rockers' cover of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Simple Man" (complete with pre-song cover teases) and, as embedded below, their original "I'll Follow You"! Another video on a slanted angle from our right of the stage (did no one film anything on the left side?), Dan got some solid audio from these two softer tracks, but there's no zooming, and part of the stage is blocked from what I assume is a speaker. Nice quality otherwise, so check out Shinedown playing "I'll Follow You" at Kewadin Casino below, and stay tuned in case more Shinedown videos turn up!

Also in new Sault Michigan video discoveries, I recently came across a video from local metal band Tantrym Tyme that we've never shared on here! Dating back to when they were still known as Abstract, this was uploaded by YouTube user METALLICA2MEGADETH on December 22nd, 2011, though it's definitely older than that. The lineup, clothes, and location match up with earlier videos of the guys playing a September 2011 gig in Mackinac Crossings on Mackinac Island, in what was one of their last concerts with guitarist/bassist Kyle Burton before his departure that month. The video features Abstract covering Velvet Revolver's "Slither", and like many 2010-2011 videos that I've seen, their skills are impressive for their younger ages, but they've definitely improved in all areas since. Jacob Hotlen's vocals in particular seemed wonky on the choruses, but his solo's pretty good, and it's a nice glimpse at Abstract's early run! Check out their "Slither" cover below, and don't miss Tantrym Tyme this weekend outside of Harmony Health Foods for Downtown Days!



Finally for today, two popular local concert venues have apparently undergone some recent changes, so we might as well mention them! One is The Rapids Lounge at the aforementioned Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino, as their Facebook page last night announced that the local bar/concert spot held it's "grand re-opening" on Wednesday, complete with this ribbon cutting photo. Reportedly, the changes include a newly renovated sports lounge, more TVs, added seating, a new sound system, and Michigan sports memorabilia, though possible changes to the concert area weren't mentioned. Hopefully everything is indeed better at The Rapids Lounge, and go see some live bands there soon! The other renovations are (surprisingly) for The Canadian Nightclub in Sault Ontario, as they're soon ready to unveil what DJ Jay Perron is calling a "rebirth" of the Pim Street bar/venue on August 1st, coinciding with their usual Thursday night dance parties. Jay hyped "fresh new surprises & a fresh new vibe" on The Canadian's Facebook group yesterday, but didn't elaborate further there.

By my count, this is the third time in 4 years The Canadian Nightclub has had renovations (following earlier renovations in 2009 and in the aftermath of July 2011's flooding), and it remains to be seen how different The Canadian will look and feel come the Airbourne concert on August 19th. Hopefully these last for the long haul, and I hope the "rebirth" in question is a success for all involved! And yes, I assume this is partly why we didn't hear much on July concerts there. Stay tuned for updates as they roll in!

That's all for now, but I will see you guys at Oddzfest 2013 Metal Mash-Up TONIGHT! West of Hell's return, Bring The Fallen's farewell, 6 more bands, and FREE ADMISSION if you wear a local band t-shirt, so DON'T MISS THIS SHOW! Oddfellows Hall, 6:00 PM! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Tantrym Tyme), A New Album Release, And More From Sault Michigan!!

As promised, today's post is completely focused around the Sault Michigan scene, so what's in store for this Independence Day weekend? Today, we have news on a band who DIDN'T break up (and their recent updates), a new band on two upcoming Kewadin Casino concerts, and a brand new album release, but first, here's LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS relating to an upcoming community event, so here's what you need to know!

Young local metal quartet Tantrym Tyme have announced two new concerts that I can 100% verify and source! Often, their shows either get late or no notice, and take place on an outdoor stage at various regional locations, but we do have some info on their next dates, starting with sets outside of Harmony Health Foods on July 26th & 27th as part of Sault Michigan's annual Downtown Days! Also known as the Sidewalk Sales, this is a yearly community event featuring outdoor sales from local merchants, kids games, and live music (you may remember that Free Refill frequented the Downtown Days during their run), so shoppers and Saultites in general should find something to like! Tantrym Tyme's location for the shows isn't random either, as drummer Ethan Twardy's parents own Harmony Health Foods (at 217 Ashmun Street, just seconds from The Corner Pub), and the band have played, been sponsored by, and sold merchandise there in the past. No times for their sets have been announced, but given the outdoor setting, there's obviously no cover charge or age limit. Check the above links for more info!

One more show was announced too on their Facebook page last month, but I'm waiting for more info before plugging it on here (especially concerning other bands.) Tantrym Tyme on rising fast in prominence and talent, so don't miss their next (announced) shows during Downtown Days in three weeks, and stay tuned for possible updates!

Next up, a new local album was just released on June 30th, so it's time to give it some overdue press, as Dafter solo hard rock musician Ken "SweetKenny" Sutton's sixth original studio album "Perception" is now on sale! Independently released through and recorded at the Waterfall Recording Studios earlier this year, this is a much longer album than it's predecessor "Doo Hickey", featuring 10 songs. In terms of personnel, it looks like Ken handled all instruments (I don't believe collaborator Scott Schroen is featured this time), while one song ("Pages the Break of Dawn") was sang and co-written by Plastic drummer Paul "Dorothy" Burns (formerly of Bent Rollercoaster & Hammerspace). Ken describes the album as "a fun rock n' roll album with a summer feel to it", and the album's page on his website describes some of the songs' themes. "Perception" is now available to buy for $9.99 in mp3 format (or $12.97 on CD) at this location, while all 10 tracks are streamable at this link as well, but buy it to support SweetKenny's work! With that all said, when is a review of it coming to the SMS?

Not until the fall, as it's still too soon from our review of "Doo Hickey" in March, but I'm currently leaning towards the fall for it (as the summer's booked up, and I don't know finite dates for Mike Haggith's next solo album to be exact otherwise.) SweetKenny's newest CD will get a fall review though, so don't worry! I'll hold full thoughts on the album until we review it, but pick it up above, as Ken's a very talented veteran guitarist who deserves the support!

Also in recent news, Detroit hard rock quintet Fifth Way will apparently return to Sault Michigan for two opening dates at The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino later this month, as they've been announced as openers for Shinedown & Devour The Day on July 21st AND Tesla on July 27th! My source is guitarist/Rudyard native Zak Stelmaszek on Fifth Way's Facebook page on Thursday, though note neither the promoters or venue have officially confirmed their addition. The Shinedown gig will be Fifth Way's first local appearance since opening for Evans Blue at The Dreammaker's Theater in September, while it will also see yet another bassist change, as this will be their first local date since Anthony Palsgrove replaced Victor Wooten in the band last fall (by my math, that's 5 bassists in a 4 year span!) As for the Tesla show, that's familiar ground for Fifth Way, as they opened for Tesla at their last local concert in June 2010, so hopefully their modern hard rock blend will be welcomed back after 10 months away from the Soo in time for these huge concerts! Stay tuned for more if it comes in!

Finally for today, I have an apology to make, as in April, I incorrectly reported that local hardcore band The Eleventh Hour (formerly Angelic Genocide) had likely broken up due to the deletion of their Facebook page. Usually, that's a good indicator, but instead, they quietly launched a new Facebook page last fall and didn't delete the old one right away, hence the confusion. Their current lineup credits singer Sean Roush, guitarist Josh North, and drummer Joe North as still being in the band, alongside new addition Zach Howe on clean vocals (replacing Cathy Burgos), while guitarist Cody Reed left the band as well last year, and a Google cache of their Facebook page indicates that former bassist Alex Boyer had briefly rejoined before leaving again. The band was temporarily named Changing You For Better Days earlier this year before reverting to The Eleventh Hour, and while news has been slow (partly due to Zach living in the Traverse City area), they have rough plans to release an EP called "Eyes of the Wretched", with lyrics to an original song named "I Have A Voice" posted on Facebook as well.

The new Eleventh Hour page features one original sample via a Facebook video (as a result, I can't embed it here), but it's a rough instrumental that suffers from staticy audio. It's heavy enough though, and I'm curious to hear newer material of theirs with better quality and vocals! It's great to see The Eleventh Hour are still together and plugging away, and hopefully they can get over the hump that many recent extreme metal bands have been stopped by in Sault Michigan, and make a big name for themselves! Check the above links for more, my deepest apologies for the mix-up, and they're now back in our active band links!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for some Sault Ontario news and updates tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

A New Local Solo Project, Crimson Crusade's EP, And New Videos!!

Tonight's news post is essentially a local metal video showcase, but it's full of big news beyond just that, so what's in store? Well, we have a commercial for a major upcoming concert, video footage from a recent show at a newer local concert venue, and all that you should know on the newest Sault Ontario metal CD release, but first, we have a new local band to introduce, so here's what you need to know (and check out our review of last night's Skeletonwitch show in the post below this one!)

Haggith frontman Curtis McKenzie has returned to solo work with a new side project named Sound X! You may remember that Curtis fronted various similar bands like Restricted Illusions & 20 Pack of Marshmallows (many with Haggith guitarist Daniel Horton involved) since the late 2000s, but this is a completely new project that Curtis has been posting about on his solo Facebook page since May 22nd (it'd previously focused mostly on his Haggith work.) He's already announced plans to release a Sound X album this fall named "Three Year Relapse" featuring a mix of older originals and newer songs (including the former Haggith band song "That Cold Winter Breeze"), and this project will feature Curtis on all instruments except drums (Daniel Horton's covering that), while Haggith drummer Mike Haggith will produce and mix the material at Paperclip Productions. To that end, Curtis has posted the first Sound X song named "Disengage" onto his new YouTube channel, so how does it sound?

It sounds good so far, nice catchy alternative hard rock sound, but I worry that it might sound too similar to Haggith originals, and I'd like to see Curtis shake things up a bit to separate the two projects musically. I like where it's going though, so check out Sound X's first public song below, and as I've added them to our active Sault Ontario band links! (There's no official Sound X page yet, but Curtis' solo page fills that need in the interim.)



Next up, here's what you should know about local death metal quartet Crimson Crusade's debut EP! Released after their set at the Skeletonwitch show at The Canadian on Monday night, "Upon The Eve Of War" does still feature 5 songs (all of which are streamable online as well), and the songs are "Vanquish The Tyrant", "Left For Dead", "Crimson Crusade", "Pillage", and the last to be unveiled online, "Consumed", with a total runtime of about 20 minutes. Featuring their current lineup (including singer/guitarist Devon Lucier, guitarist Robert Sartini, bassist Riley Marshall, and drummer Robert Crossley), this was recorded in the winter at The Smoke & Oak Room Studio with producer Dave Pihlaja, and it's packaged in a slim jewel case with cover artwork as pictured, and liner notes secured in the case (though they're surprisingly minimal in content.) I won't comment on the songs in full yet though, as I plan on reviewing this in either July or August (Haggith's "Deuce" is this month, and I'm not sure whether to do this or the Woods of Ypres tribute album next month), but it will get a formal review, I promise!

I presume Crimson Crusade will have copies of "Upon The Eve Of War" on sale at future concerts for $5, but for now, stream the tracks at the band's Reverbnation page and Devon's YouTube channel, and as we haven't plugged it formally on here before today, here's the EP's last song (on the disc and in uploading order) "Consumed", so give it and the rest of the songs a listen!



Also in the realm of new videos, Local2's Mike Caruso was on hand for last Saturday's Faces of the Soup Kitchen event at the Machine Shop building at Mill Square (the former St. Mary's Paper site), and he uploaded a video of the musical performers from the event onto Local2's YouTube channel (and as part of this article), which amounts to our first footage of live acts at the Machine Shop. The video features local cover rock band Obsession covering Vanity Fair's "Hitchin' A Ride", M.D. Dunn playing what I think is an original track, Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison covering Little Texas' "What Might Have Been", Frank Bock playing his rendition of "Dream A Little Dream Of Me", and Griphook frontman Jim O'Leary and friends (including Obsession's Valerie Powley) covering Nazareth's "Sunshine", so click each link to go directly to those songs! Note that Tym didn't play solo entirely on Saturday, as you can see Caveman Morrison drummer Johnny Belanger behind the kit in the video, so there was some full band performances as well.

Though not the heaviest show, it was for a great cause to both benefit the Soup Kitchen and introduce locals to what's going on at Mill Square now, and you can catch up on more of the day's events, vendors, and sights at this location! The Machine Shop looks nice and seems to have good acoustics, and I hope we see more live bands there in the future! As for the performers, all put in good sets, and it's nice hearing a Nazareth cover especially from Jim and company, so give them a listen below! (For metal/hard rock seekers, Tym's on about 6 minutes in, and Jim and friends play about 11 minutes in.)



Finally for today, here's something a little different: A commercial for Tesla's fourth concert at The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino on July 27th! 30 seconds in length, it features plugs for the show and where to buy tickets, along with live clips of them playing some of their hit songs (including "Signs" and "Love Song"), and though it's well put together, the voice over narration could be more excitable for a show of this size. Posted onto Kewadin's YouTube channel on Friday, I don't know if this is running on TV, but give this commercial a look below, and get your tickets before they're gone!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews and more in the next few days! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Tesla & Night Ranger), Woods Of Ypres Tribute CD News, And J.P. Fecteau Benefit Fallout!!

In our first of two likely posts today (I hope to have this month's YouTube Channel Profile up tonight), we have a lot of big stuff to get to in this post, including fallout from a recent benefit event, and the release of a major tribute album with a clear local inspiration, but first, we have some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS concerning two huge shows coming to Sault Michigan later this year! Without any further adieu, here's what you need to know!

Two new major concerts at The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino have been announced, starting with the return of Sacramento, California hair metal legends Tesla to the Soo on Saturday, July 27th! Best known for hit songs like "Signs", "Love Song", and "Mama's Fool", this entertaining quintet were last seen in the area over 3 years ago when they and Fifth Way rocked The Dreammaker's Theater in June 2010, and it'll be great to see their multi-platinum selling original material back on stage for a fourth stop at Kewadin Casino! Note that the exact same lineup from their last local stop will be back for this show, but I'm seeing no reference to an opening band at present. Tickets for this all ages show (which starts at 7:00 PM) are NOW ON SALE for $38.50 and $35, and there's lots of good seats still available (though they're going fast), so buy yours at this location, at 1-800-KEWADIN, or in person at the Kewadin box office! It's great to see Tesla back in town once again, and their classic hard rock and hair metal sounds are sure to attract another large crowd, so don't miss this show come July!

The other newly announced Dreammaker's Theater concert will see San Francisco hard rock notables Night Ranger hit the Sault Kewadin on Sunday, September 22nd for what I think may be their first ever local concert appearance! As announced on SooToday yesterday, you may remember Night Ranger most for their hit singles "Sister Christian", "Sentimental Street", and "Don't Tell Me You Love Me", and their classic ballads and energetic hard rock hits should be welcomed in the fall! Opening for Night Ranger at this show is former Bad English frontman John Waite in a solo set, and you may remember John best for his 1984 hit single "Missing You". While best known for softer pop rock solo material, he has hard rock and AOR experience from his bands, and he should impress in September! Tickets for this concert don't go on sale until May 31st (a week from Friday), but they will cost $48.50 & $38.50 via the same methods as the Tesla show, with no age limits and a 7:00 PM start time likely. Classic rock and metal fans should be excited for this show as well, so don't miss the on-sale date next week, and hopefully Night Ranger rock the Soo this fall!

Finally in Kewadin Casino hard rock concert notes, Pop Evil tickets are now on sale via the Kewadin ticketing page & links above for just $20! Remember, proceeds from this August 14th concert go to Team Jessica to help local student Jessica Jorgensen's battle with leukemia, and this show has a 7:00 PM start time (though openers haven't been announced yet.) There's tons of good seats available, so get yours A.S.A.P., and stay tuned for updates on these and other upcoming heavier Dreammaker's Theater shows!

Next up, the Woods of Ypres/David Gold tribute album "Heart of Gold: A Tribute to Woods of Ypres" is now officially on sale to the public! Following online pre-orders and a lengthy development process, the 19-track album can be downloaded in mp3 format for just $10 at this location, so pick it up A.S.A.P. to hear all of these great tributes to the band & David's memory! Each track can be streamed there before buying as well, but the full download version also features the full liner notes, which I have heard good things about! Details on public sales of CD copies have yet to be announced beyond the pre-orders, but it will be a 2 disc set due to the length of the songs and amount of featured artists. Even though there's no local artists on this compilation, there's a bunch of emotional and devoted covers that pay tribute to Woods of Ypres in their own ways here, and all were penned by David Gold, so I will confirm that this will be a CD review on the SMS this summer!

I have "Heart of Gold" pencilled in for July, as I have Haggith's new album "Deuce" planned for June, and I'll tentatively bump our review of Mike Haggith's "The Present Din" to August to spread our reviews of his projects' new CDs. I can't wait to hear the Woods tribute album in full, so stay tuned for updates on it and the public CD release when I hear it, and buy "Heart of Gold" today!!

Finally for today, here's a bit of fallout from last week's Jean-Paul Fecteau benefit concert at The Canadian Nightclub! The day after the May 14th event, Jean-Paul's former J.A.B. bandmate Glen Thomas (now of Flat Stanley) posted a recap of the event onto his message board Freq's Music Planet, where he revealed some of the performers and songs played that night. Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison reportedly played a solo acoustic set, and the other performers appeared to all jam various covers, including a spell where Glen joined Asylum Country guitarist/event organizer Terry Eaton and ex-Bud Shamble bassist Rob Gilmar for some songs, including covers of ZZ Top's "Tush" and AC/DC's "Highway To Hell", as caught in the video below! Uploaded to Glen's YouTube channel the night of the show, the video quality isn't that great, and it's often dark and fuzzy, but the audio's nice, and Terry has a really solid voice for these songs! Talented musicians all around, it's nice to see them jamming, though it's disappointing that a proposed reunion of surviving J.A.B. members didn't materialize.

Other performers included the rest of Asylum Country and Turner Up/Havadder alum Jason Roy (according to the Facebook event page), and it sounds like the event was a major success! And yes, there were prize draws and food available for attendees. Hopefully the benefit gave Jean-Paul's family and young daughter a boost (financially and emotionally), and I hope that somehow, somewhere, J.P. was there last week enjoying all the music! Check out Terry, Rob, and Glen's covers from the benefit below, and if I hear anything more from that night, I'll let you guys know!!



That's all for now, but stay tuned for this month's YouTube Channel Profile (focused on Frightlight's channel) either tonight or tomorrow morning! Thanks everyone!

Tesla, Woods of Ypres, And Phatstick News, And An Upcoming SMS Mini-Series!

Lots of assorted news for today, including fall out from a few locally-relevant concerts, a tiny smidgen of a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, and a new SMS profile mini-series announcement that you guys should read. But first, here's some stuff from a recent major concert!

The first videos have popped up online from Saturday's Tesla concert at Kewadin Casino! Duane Roy, author of "Castle Stories" and a frequent sight at major local hard rock concerts, has uploaded five videos from the concert onto his YouTube channel, and I gotta say, I like the quality! He got very close to the band and got some good looking and sounding video footage! Before I show the videos he got, I have to mention the really nice photos he took too, now available on his Flickr account! He got tons of photos of both Tesla and openers Fifth Way, including a pair of pics of Tesla band members reading "Castle Stories" (including Jeff Keith and Frank Hammond on your right.) Now that's cool! Click here for dozens of photos from the show, the first 7 pages are almost entirely Tesla-concert related, all of great quality! Now, back to the videos, 5 in total! No full songs, but Duane shot clips of Tesla performing "The Way It Is", "Hang Tough", "Cumin' Atcha Live", "Love Song", and "Signs", which I'm embedding here because it's both their best known song and the longest of the videos! Nothing from Fifth Way's set, but these Tesla videos work nicely! Check them all out at the above links, and "Signs" right here! Great stuff, and if more stuff from the Tesla show pops up, I'll have it here!



Next up, we have brand new videos from Woods of Ypres' current North American tour to show you guys from some new YouTube uploads! Woods drummer Evan Madden has uploaded two brand new concert videos from their shows in Calgary and Edmonton onto his YouTube channel, both of which are filmed from the "drum cam angle", so Evan's the main focus of each clip! We've seen similar videos on his channel last year from their 2009 Canadian tour dates. Oddly, the new clips are of the same song performed on different nights, "The Sun Was In My Eyes (Part I)", which is a really good song, but kinda disappointing to get the same song twice over. Still, both are great quality and worth checking out! Click here for the Calgary performance, which is shorter and the audio's a bit more muffled, but the footage is clearer! Embedded below is the Edmonton performance, which has better audio and is longer, and though it's definitely darker, we get a better angle of the band and crowd. Check it out!



Thirdly today is a tiny bit of a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, though I'm not plugging it first because I already did...kinda. What do I mean? Well, remember when I alerted you guys to Phatstick's return to Foggy Notions on Saturday? Yeah, it turns out they're playing on Friday too! A Foggy Notions Facebook status update and the discovery of an event page for a Friday concert confirmed this. It's great to see them playing two shows this weekend, this more than makes up for the May show that got cancelled! Nothing appears drastically different for the Friday show compared to the Saturday one, both have a 10:00 PM start time, both are 19+, and I imagine the cover for both (likely around $3) will be the same. So if you wanna see Phatstick this weekend and had a conflict on Saturday, now you have an alternative! I'm still debating which day I'll be there for, but I guarantee I'll be at Foggy's for one of this weekend's Phatstick shows! After years of waiting to be old enough to see them, and then waiting for them to come back at all, now's my chance! I'll keep you all posted!

And finally, in case you haven't heard, you guys should know about this because a few local metal bands use this site. Popular independent music site GarageBand.com is shutting it's doors on July 15th. The people behind GarageBand.com are switching their entire focus to their other music site, iLike, as well as to work better with MySpace, which I would say is the most popular independent music portal on the Internet. I mention this here because there are a handful of local metal bands who have pages on GarageBand, most notably Gates of Winter, though there are other local metal acts who have used GarageBand to get their music out to the world, and on July 15th, their pages will vanish from the internet unless they forward their accounts to iLike, which given most of their current statuses, doesn't seem likely. GarageBand was a great site for music promotion, and unlike many sites, the fact that you could vote on and review bands and songs was a feature that was really handy, so this is very disappointing.

Well, you know what? I'm not going to sit back and let these local metal band pages just go up in flames, cause we're going to lose a lot of stuff that way. Making note of that, I'd like to announce that starting on Wednesday, The Sault Metal Scene will run a mini-series of GarageBand profiles, focusing on the six local metal/hard rock acts with a GarageBand profile that has enough info or material to warrant SMS attention. Aside from updated links & grammar corrections, I will make these profiles as close to the the original GarageBand profiles as possible, though I may add some extra info you guys might like in brackets. This includes each and every posted song from the six bands, with links, some of which will be from brand new YouTube uploads I'm making to archive these songs which would be otherwise lost. The only things I'm not copying over are lyrics from one band for space reasons (the singer's clear anyway) and the complete rankings/awards of two bands, because that'd be a lot of info that I don't think would be paid much attention to. I'll just cover the absolute top awards for each to get across how big they were on GarageBand!

The profiles start on WEDNESDAY with the inactive local metal band named Recognition, and will continue every three days through July 15th (GarageBand's last day.) I also wanna recommend that you guys download and copy the songs and bands from GarageBand that you like and want to save while you can. There's tons of great non-metal bands from here on the site, and many more from around the world that don't deserve to have their work dumped like this. Click here to visit GarageBand today and check this stuff out and save what you like before it's too late!

That's all for today, stay tuned for more news likely tomorrow! I have some more news stories laying around that I should get to, including a band looking to play here, some Rock 101 updates, and lots more assorted stories. Tuesday WILL be my next profiles of out of town bands with local members, I am 100% certain it will be on Tuesday, and my first GarageBand profile in this mini-series WILL be on Wednesday, followed by weekend concert previews and more news on Thursday. Stay tuned for all that, this is going to be a very busy stretch on the SMS, hope you're along for the ride!