LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Viscera), The Bimbo Concert Preview, And New Mammoth Concert Videos!!

Today's news post is 100% devoted to Sault Michigan and the Eastern Upper Peninsula, including the last of this weekend's heavier concert previews, a related LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, and some new live concert videos, so here's what you should know on this Friday afternoon!

Local hardcore punk trio Viscera will return to Pizza Hut at 225 Ashmun Street for another basement concert on Saturday, May 16th! Taking place on the Victoria Day long weekend (for passport-holding Sault Ontarian reference), this will be their second show in a two week span at the chain restaurant, but unlike tomorrow's Bimbo concert, this is more of a mixed genre event, as they'll be local support for two non-rock, including local/Detroit electronic solo project Priority Waste (check them out on Soundcloud) and Grand Rapids drone rock/shoegaze trio Scanners, both in what I believe is their local concert debut. Definitely a jump in sounds from these three acts, and Scanners' slow and repetitive music may be a particularly acquired taste for some, but even if you include Sault Ontario, how often do you get shows like this? This concert is definitely promoted by Serious Business, who aren't listed by name on the Bimbo poster, but I believe that is their doing also.

This 18+ concert takes place two weeks from tomorrow at 7:00 PM, and admission will be $15 at the door (no word on if there will be advance ticket sales). Should be an interesting night of varying styles of alternative music, so see above for more details, but what about Viscera's next concert?

Well, here's our preview of that very show, as they'll rock Pizza Hut TOMORROW NIGHT when they open for Marquette art punk duo Bimbo and Detroit electronica solo artist Nicholas "R. Solomon" Sapounas for another basement concert! This one leans more towards hard rock/punk territory, with Bimbo's siblings delivering a noise rock-inflected punk attack that delivers a full sound despite their minimalist trappings, and they should make a good impression tomorrow! R. Solomon previously headlined at Pickles in Brimley in 2024, and will be familiar recently for mixing local punk trio The Sole Aggressors' album, and he has some entertaining music for electronica and techno fans! Tomorrow's show will be Viscera's first with new bassist Chris Lovins, so welcome him in style for their hard hitting cuts from their debut EP "From Feast To Famine"! Local punk/hard rock duo About:Blank will open the proceedings, as they did for Viscera last time.

No big updates from their camp as of late, but a Facebook "Story" from their most recent at Three One Three On Ashmun in March was shared on Facebook in the past week featuring Parker and Kade (no new third member yet) playing an aggressive song, but alas, "Stories" vanish after one or two viewings and it wasn't posted on its own as a separate permanent video. Bimbo, R. Solomon, and locals hit the stage tomorrow at 7:00 PM with a $15 cover charge (same as in two weeks), and I'd assume that the 18+ age limit is the same tomorrow as well. After last fall's Permanently Pissed concert proved that Pizza Hut can sustain a local concert, hopefully this one is a hit! See above for more details, and here's Bimbo live!

Now let's move to some new videos from last month's Mammoth concert at The Dreammakers Theater at the local Kewadin Casino, and this is a good time to finally get to them before we get back into GFL Memorial Gardens concert videos on the Ontario side of the border! YouTube user Thomas (a.k.a. topdollar187) uploaded 13 videos from the show to his YouTube channel, and while most of his concert videos are from downstate, we did feature his videos from the Cheap Trick concert in St. Ignace here. Of his 13 videos, all but one are of the headliners, where you can see Wolfgang and crew playing "The End", "Don't Back Down",  "I Really Wanna", "Take A Bow", "Something New", "The Distance", "Resolve", "Happy", "Stone", "Epiphany", "The Spell", and as embedded below, their set openers "One Of A Kind" and "Another Celebration At The End Of The World" in one combined 10+ minute video.

Thomas wasn't in the closest rows, but he was in the center section and well placed to capture Mammoth, the video screen, and the silhouette effect of closer fans' heads, so it's a good view of what has to be most of the (if not the entire) set! Audio is a little muffled at points, but everyone sounds good, and Wolf can sure shred when the songs call for it, so give these Mammoth videos a watch for yourselves above & below!

Finally, Thomas also filmed openers 10 Years playing their song "Now Is The Time (Ravenous)", and no, he did not film (or at least upload) any videos from James & The Cold Gun's set. Not one of their bigger singles, but still a catchy hard rocker here that fans of the Knoxville-based quintet will easily take to, and it has similarly good quality for camera angle and vantage point, so check it out below as well!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes soon, plus this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post next! Thanks everyone!

Mammoth Concert Video Showcase (Plus Pillory!!)

In the sequel to last week's post of Christopher Paci's videos from the Demon King/Celestial Scourge concert, we're picking things back up tonight with videos from the other major hard rock concert that he saw last month, with the last video from the Demon King concert at the end to round things out! As you may recall, Los Angeles hard rock/metal band Mammoth made their local debut on March 28th at The Dreammakers Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino, and Chris shot fourteen videos of all three bands for his YouTube channel, including eight from the former MammothWVH's headlining set. Chris filmed Wolfgang and crew playing their originals "The End", "Don't Back Down", "Take A Bow", "Distance", "Epiphany", "The Spell", "Another Celebration At The End Of The World", and as embedded below, their set-opener "One Of A Kind".

Chris was in the fourth or fifth row on this night, and he had a good vantage point of the stage, with Wolf's melodic singing & guitar skills and the band's cohesive sound coming through well across the board! Mammoth have built up a strong array of original radio hits in their three albums so far, so give these videos a watch for yourselves above & below!

Next up, Knoxville, Tennessee alt-metal quintet 10 Years co-headlined in their third appearance at the Soo Kewadin, where Chris filmed them playing their songs "Novacaine", "Fix Me", "Russian Roulette", and as embedded below, their signature song "Wasteland". Don't be alarmed by the yellow still image on the video, that was just a momentary flash in the lighting. 10 Years sound good across these videos, with tight performances and well held-up vocals, and they deserved more than being borderline one-hit-wonders on US rock radio! Give Chris' videos from their set a watch above & below!

Lastly from the Mammoth concert, Chris filmed two videos of Welsh alternative/punk quartet James & The Cold Gun's opening set, namely of their songs "Chewing Glass" and, as embedded below, their set-opener "Seven". Spunky and pointed performances here from this rising UK outfit, and hopefully they made lots of new fans in the Soo last month, so check out their videos above and below as well!

Interestingly, the amount of songs per band is halving as we go, and we're ending here with a single video of Sault Ontario death/thrash metal trio Pillory, who opened the aforementioned Demon King concert at Soo Blaster four days prior, and Chris filmed them playing their song "Curse Of Eternal Sickness" that night. Nice technical performance filmed from a close spot on the floor (if with a few closer attendees in between), and I do want to compliment frontman Robert Sartini's vocals in particular, as his death growling is really clear and well enunciated in this recording! That can be a challenge to come through in live videos. Give it a watch below!

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

Saturday Night Concert Previews (Including Mammoth) Plus New Videos!!

As promised, here's the second half of our final batch of weekend concert previews for March 2026, all concerning shows with advance notice tomorrow night, but we also have a couple of new videos to look at, so here's what you should know on this frigid Friday morning!

We'll start with this weekend's main event, as Los Angeles hard rock/metal band Mammoth will make their local debut TOMORROW NIGHT at The Dreammakers Theatre at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino! The former MammothWVH have been breaking through on rock radio beyond frontman (and former Van Halen/Tremonti bassist) Wolfgang Van Halen's lineage, netting #1 hit singles like "Distance", "The Spell", and "Don't Back Down" throughout the 2020s so far, and with Wolf's multi-instrumental talent and a strong live band, they should deliver a fun night of original rock tomorrow! Joining Mammoth on their The End Tour is Knoxville, Tennessee alternative metal band 10 Years in their third appearance at the Soo Kewadin, following sets opening for Sevendust in 2010 and Seether in 2018. Prepare for familiar hit songs like "Wasteland", "Novacaine", and "Beautiful" tomorrow night as they continue this unintended 8 year pattern between local gigs! 

Also joining the tour from Wales are alt-punk band James & The Cold Gun, and while a looser and more indie-influenced band than what's ahead, they'll set the tone well tomorrow! An Allstar Promotions event presented by Rock 101, this all ages show kicks off tomorrow at 8:00 PM, and tickets remain on sale at this link, at 1-800-KEWADIN, or at the in-person box office. All center section seats are sold out, but sixth-tenth row seats in the left & right sections are still available for $54.50 USD, plus seats further back for $44.50. Consider coming out if you can to support major touring bands like this in Sault Michigan! See above for more details, and here's Mammoth live!

Next up, we'll head north to Sault Ontario and go west.... waaaay west, as reunited local classic/hard rock cover quartet Quite Frankly will make their debut at De Marco's Boots & Saddles Roadhouse at 2667 Second Line West on SATURDAY NIGHT! The first ever hard rock-leaning concert that we've covered at this locale (a 5 minute drive from the airport), this will be Quite Frankly's first gig since rocking The Water Tower Pub two months ago. It'll be interesting to see how this show goes over, both for its remote locale and for a kinda new band hitting the stage at Boots & Saddles, so don't miss out if you're up for a little bit of a drive or will already be that far west! This will be an 8:00 PM event with a presumed 19+ age limit and no cover charge. For a preview, here's a brand new video of Quite Frankly at The Water Tower Pub, courtesy of their Facebook page, so what can you see here?

This compilation video sees Linsaey, Frank, Harley, and Joe covering an assortment of songs from the likes of Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Journey, Shania Twain, Semisonic (shouldn't that have been last?), Carrie Underwood, Steppenwolf (with Frank on lead vocals), and Tom Petty, though each cover is only seen for an average of 21 seconds apiece. The first four covers were (sadly) shot vertically, and while the latter three are horizontal, all three were edited together in vertical dimensions with pillarboxing, and I'd have at least made these into two videos with different orientations if they were set on highlights rather than full songs. Quite Frankly sound good though, if with too deep lighting, so give this a watch below!

Lastly for known and advertised hard rock concerts in the Twin Saults this weekend, local classic/hard rock cover quintet Headrush will return to the stage TOMORROW NIGHT at The Full Throttle Saloon! Last seen at the same venue at the end of January, this show will end a nearly two month break for this talented veteran group, partly due to bassist John Amendola going on vacation in Aruba, highlights of which can be seen on their Facebook group. He even got to play some music while there! Now that he's back, the 1980s-leaning rockers should have lots of fun and crowd-friendly covers in store for Steelton fans, so keep this show in mind if you're a classic and hard rock fan, and/or missed Headrush lately! This concert goes down tomorrow night at 9:00 PM with a 19+ age limit and no announced cover charge. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and for a preview, here's Headrush live!

Finally, here's a new 27+ minutes long rehearsal video of local death/thrash metal trio Pillory, courtesy of drummer Bret Shuttleworth's YouTube channel! This video was uploaded after the band opened for Demon King at Soo Blaster on Tuesday, but unlike at many of their shows last year, they admitted on their Facebook page that "we were unable to capture any of the set last night" for unannounced reasons. Possibly to make up for that, this jam video was posted to YouTube, as shot by attendee Lucas McNally. It makes no attempt to contain or label full songs, with fade-outs between clips, but the video captures raw and loose performances from Robert, Devon, and Bret, and you will hear song fragments from "Old Soul". No idea why the Pillory logo had to be faintly overlaid on the video in post-production, and Lucas' view is sometimes obscured by a wall on the far right, but this is a solid glimpse behind the scenes that you can watch below! 

That's all for now, but stay tuned for this month's YouTube Channel Profile next! Thanks everyone!

YouTube Channel Profile Series: JoeNiemi17's Channel & Alex Hemy

Here is our last monthly feature post of the summer months, namely our latest YouTube Channel Profiles! This series looks at 1-3 YouTube channels featuring content at least half devoted to local metal, hard rock, or punk bands or concerts, in order to spotlight them for modern day readers and hopefully encourage views and subscriptions. This month's randomly selected channel only had two distinct kinds of videos (4 total that are relevant to the SMS), so I randomly picked a channel with only one surviving video to round things out with, and as such, each channel deals with a local solo musician from each side of the Twin Saults! Here's what you should know!
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JoeNiemi17's Channel (http://www.youtube.com/joeniemi17)
 
Owner: Former Analog Deficiency & Hoist The Sails bassist Joe Niemi

Channel Timeline: Launched on July 14th, 2010; Videos uploaded in October of that year

Channel Summary: Joe's channel features five videos, including two of him in solo bass performances and two videos a major Kewadin Casino concert. His last upload is of a pipe flooding at his then-school, which is his most viewed video, but has no music content.
 
Why You Should Watch: Give this channel a watch to see some of Joe's guitar skill from a decade ago, plus live footage of 10 Years' local set! The last video will primarily concern fans of fail videos or students who remembered the pipe incident. Note that this channel has not visibly been used since 2011, in case that changes your mind on subscribing.

 Our Recommended Videos To Check Out: 

Analog riff: Joe's main usage of his channel came late in his progressive metal band Analog Deficiency's 2009-2010 life span, and accordingly, one of his two performance videos is of a riff for a planned original song, as filmed to test his new iPod. It sounds promising, and Joe was a solid bassist, though both Analog Deficency and their successors Hoist The Sails struggled to break out of the Sault Michigan market, which hasn't been easy for extreme metal acts in the past decade. Joe's other performance clip is of him covering Lamb of God's "Laid To Rest" (and pretty well, I might add!)

Waste land - 10 years: This channel's two concert videos are from the Sevendust-headlined show at The Dreammakers Theatre at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino on October 18th, 2010, but Joe did not film them or openers Since October & Anew Revolution. Rather, he filmed co-headlining Knoxville, Tennessee hard rock band 10 Years playing a minute of "Shoot It Out", and in his most popular music upload, their biggest hit "Wasteland". The quality and angle aren't bad for these ironically 10 year old videos, and the vertical resolution isn't too bad given where he was in the crowd! See more videos of 10 Years from their 2018 show here with Seether at this link.

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Alex Hemy (http://www.youtube.com/alexsguitarcovers)
 
Owner: Former Ashes To Dust guitarist Alex Hemy

Channel Timeline: Launched on May 20th, 2012; Only surviving video uploaded in April 2020

Channel Summary: Alex created this channel to feature his solo guitar covers, which initially were in a hard rock/classic metal realm before increasingly getting softer, albeit better produced with backing tracks, and even featuring vocals on occasion. Unfortunately, Alex has deleted or privatized all of his old videos, which is a shame, as he is a very talented musician! His only video left is his new cover of "Driving Rain" by Slash featuring Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators (with the original song as backing), and it's well handled and heavier than we were seeing from him in the videos previous to this one! I'd have used the alternate camera angle well before the 3:37 mark though. Hopefully new (or old) covers of Alex's surface down the line!


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 I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profiles! Next month in this series, our random selection has given us a channel that can stand alone, namely defunct local classic metal band Project 421's official channel! Look for that on or around September 26th, and for a new news post tomorrow! Thanks everyone! 

Seether Concert Video Showcase!!

As promised, today's post is totally dedicated to videos from last week's Seether-headlined concert at The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino, as we finally have enough videos for a dedicate post surrounding it! Buzz online from the concert has been positive, and you can view meetl-and-greet photos on Allstar Promotions' Facebook page, but if you want to see for yourself, Christopher Paci's back at it with 17 more videos from last week's concert! Massive kudos to him once again, be sure to check out his excellent YouTube channel for dozens of major local concert videos he was kind enough to share! We'll start with videos of South African hard rock favourites Seether, who he filmed playing their songs "Fake It", "Betray & Degrade", "Broken", "Fine Again", "Country Song", "Words as Weapons", "Let You Down", "Stoke The Fire", and as embedded below, their closer "Remedy". Mostly filmed from a reasonably close (if sharp) angle, you get a good look at Seether in action on these clips!

The videos have typically solid sound, but it's easier to hear frontman Shaun Morgan on softer songs, and I''m surprised he's off to the left rather than being more central on stage. Fans were very receptive on the bigger hits, and rightfully so, as you can see above and below!



Christopher also got five videos of opening Tennessee hard rock quintet 10 Years last week, including their songs "Novacaine", "Through the Iris", "Burnout", "Shoot It Out", and as embedded below, their biggest hit and closing song "Wasteland". These videos get more of a central (if more crowded) angle, and 10 Years mostly sound good, but Jesse Hasek's vocals sound really strained at times. Nice to see 10 Years back in Sault Ste. Marie, so give their videos a look above and below as well!



Chris' other three videos are of Nashville hard rock quartet The Dead Deads' opening set, filming them playing their songs "Super Tiny", "Ghosts", and as embedded below, their closing (and new) song "Starry Sky". Not a bad sound from this talented hard rock band, it's easy to see how they got a good reception to kick off the night, so give Chris' clips of them a look too!



Finally, this video actually comes from The Dead Deads' official YouTube channel, with a band associate filming frontwoman Leticia "Meta Dead" Wolf and Seether's Shaun Morgan (plus their touring guitarist Corey Lowery) covering Damien Rice's "Volcano" last week. Filmed in eerie-looking black and white, this isn't a song that I'm familiar with, but it's well performed, and Shaun & Leticia match up nicely. If only Meta Dead filled in the Amy Lee role on "Broken"! Give this clip a look below!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for last month's poll results on the site next! Thanks everyone!

Rudyard Musicians Festival Preview, The Studio Return Of C.T.W., And A 10 Years Video!!

As promised, our last currently announced hard rock concert preview is here, and while that makes up the first half of this post, we also have a recent Sault Michigan concert preview, and the long awaited studio return for a Sault Ontario extreme metal project, so here's what you should know!

One more summer music festival goes down in Michigan's E.U.P. TOMORROW, when the third annual Rudyard Musicians Festival takes place at Rudyard Township Park (18725 South Mackinac Trail!) Year #3 of the Musicians Fest will once again see all proceeds go towards supporting Rudyard Area Schools' music and band programs, so you can be assured that money is going to a good place tomorrow! Aside from the music, there will be a smoked pig roast dinner tomorrow at 6:00 PM, as well as day-long concession, while camping will be available at the park from today through Sunday, and there will be an open jam session at the stage tonight, so if that's up your alley, keep that in mind! Visit the official Facebook page for full non-musical details! This year's lineup is largely dipping into the performer well of past years, with only two debuting bands and only three not returning from last year (The Karstens, The Neighborhood Dogs, and Denny Verrett), so if you loved the 2016 and/or 2017 lineups, you're in good shape for a return trip in 2018!

Only one hard rock band is on this year's bill, namely local favourites Project 906, who are on at an early 3:00 PM timeslot preceding their set tomorrow night in Paradise (just outside of our coverage range) for that town's annual Blueberry Festival. Local classic rock quintet (and festival organizers) Steelhead will headline at 11:00 PM, with fellow classic rockers The Whole Shabang preceding them at 10:00 PM, while most remaining bands are country or bluegrass centric, as has been common for the Musicians Fest. Other acts tomorrow include Robert & Bob Malaski at 8:00 PM, The North Country Band at 7:00 PM, and The Wednesday Night Headliners (featuring Brian Harrison) at 6:00 PM, while new local country trio Rusted Spurs and St. Ignace country/folk artist Patrick Springsteen are harbouring the 5:00 & 4:00 PM timeslots. Preceding Project 906's set are Kevin Blakeney at 2:00 PM, pop singer Hayley Malaska at 1:00 PM, and Jimmy Williams at 12:00 PM

Finally, Traverse City's New Jazz Trio will open tomorrow's musical entertainment at 11:00 AM. Musicians Fest III has a $5 admission fee (though kids 10 and under are FREE), and this should be another stacked day of family entertainment and live music for fans in Rudyard and the surrounding area, and for a great cause supporting youth musical development in the township, so don't miss out tomorrow! Visit the above links for more details, and here's Project 906 live in Rudyard in 2016!



Next up, here's some overdue updates from local grindcore solo project Crucify the Whore, so what's been cooked up at Blood Shed Productions as of late? After assorted teasers on C.T.W.'s Facebook page in recent months, the Tyler Gibson-led solo project revealed late last month that he has been working on a split with longtime Blood Shed collaborator and prolific alt-folk musician Chase Wigmore! This will mark Tyler's first formally recorded studio output as C.T.W. in over two years, though Chase has kept busy in the interim via his own solo project and his techno-influenced band The Black Lodge Masters. Three songs of Chase's intended half of the split (entitled "A Couple of Degenerate Bastards") can be heard on his YouTube channel, and they are in the Black Lodge Masters mold, so if you like dark experimental techno, these should be worth a listen! Only one song of Tyler's is public yet, so what should you know on it?

Entitled "Allow Me To Re-Introduce & Drug Induce Myself" (partially alluding to Crucify the Whore's lengthy break from recordings and live concerts), this a short instrumental preceded by a sampled intro, and while there's no (discernable?) vocals, it has enough brutality to get Blood Shed holdouts excited for what's to come! Give this song a listen below, via the first Blod Shed Productions YouTube channel upload in over a year, and stay tuned for more from C.T.W. as it rolls in!



Finally for today, let's get the Seether concert videos rolling finally on the SMS! Last Saturday's Dreammaker's Theater show in Sault Michigan was a hit based on personal accounts, but videos were slow to hit YouTube or public video sources initially. Well, we have enough for a dedicated showcase post coming tomorrow, but there's one extra to note, courtesy of user Jeff Hagan, who filmed plenty of videos at last year's Alter Bridge concert. As uploaded on Monday, his only(?) video is actually of opening Tennessee hard rock band 10 Years closing their set with a cover Pantera's "I'm Broken", or at least, the last 30 seconds of it. I have no way of knowing whether they did the whole song, or if this was just an instrumental bonus tacked onto the end of "Wasteland", but it sounds good while it lasts on this vertical cell phone camera clip! Give it a look below, and stay tuned for much more from this Kewadin Casino concert tomorrow!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for that Seether concert video showcase on the site next! Thanks everyone!

Seether, Sugar Island Music Festival, And Project 906 Concert Previews!!

As promised, here's the second half of this weekend's concert previews, all concerning Sault Michigan-area events today and tomorrow! Nothing short notice to touch on that I know of, so here's what you should know!

We'll start today's concert preview post in Sault Ste. Marie, where local hard rock/blues quartet Project 906 will return to The Superior Cafe for a headlining concert TONIGHT! This will be more familiar territory for this fan favourite quartet, who have not played the Superior Cafe/Bird's Eye Outfitters complex since the spring. Venue advertising notes that Traverse City's Right Brain Brewery will be holding a "tap takeover" at the venue tonight, so if you're up for some regional beer, keep that angle in mind also! Project 906's set proper is at 8:00 PM, I'd assume this is 21+ given the above theme, and there is no announced cover charge. Visit the above links for more details on TONIGHT's hard rock action, and for a preview, here's Project 906 live! (Note that the band will also be playing a special set at a Tahquamenon Motorcycle Club motorcross event in Newberry on September 8th, but that's outside of our coverage range.)



Next up, let's head east to Sugar Island for the 18th annual Sugar Island Music Festival, where Kinross classic/hard rock trio Banned will return as night #1 and #2 headliners TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! These sets will keep the Traynors-led band's 8 year streak of Sugar Island Fest appearances going strong, and with prime night-closing timeslots to boot, so make sure to stay late to see Banned in action! Of course, the festival will see local crafts, food and drinks, a dance floor, kids entertainment, a bean bag toss tournament, and more fun & merriment all weekend long, so visit the official website for full non-musical details! Traditionally a folk, country, and acoustic-centric festival full of online page-less acts, you can get full scheduling details above as well, but tonight's bill will see Banned preceded by The Schutz Boys, Hillsdale jam band All Arms, 2 Cents, Jack Grim & Clownsack alum Fran Blackwood, Davey MacLeod, and Dave Morrison "and friends".

Dave Morrison aside, all of Friday's bands are returning on Saturday, alongside 3½ Men, Joel Choate, Gentleman George Snider and friends, Chicago folk duo February Sky (with special guests Moose River), Flex, and an open mic block, but the big surprise here is Birch Run, Michigan progressive death metal band Abstract Aura, who will make their apparent local concert debut tomorrow at 8:00 PM! Abstract Aura may seem like an out of left field inclusion this year, but guitarist Travis McInerney appears to have connections in the E.U.P., given that he played the open mic block in 2012 (source here.) They're a brutal technical outfit from what I've heard, and while it'd be interesting to hear how Abstract Aura do in Sugar Island, take this with a slight grain of salt, as they announced a break last week due to their recent drummer vacancy. Sunday's hard rock-free lineup runs from 11:00 AM-5:00 PM, and largely features returning acts from prior days.

Banned are on at 9:30 PM tonight and tomorrow, with the music beginning at 5:00 PM & 11:00 AM respectively.  As usual, admission is via purchase of a $10 souvenir button that will get you in all 3 days, but kids under 12 (with an adult) remain FREE. Camping rates are $15 for the weekend, and there are no 1-2 day festival passes. Buttons are available at Ed's Bayview Store, The Hilltop Bar & Grill, or the Westshore Convenience Store in Sugar Island, and at Crooked Music in Sault Ste. Marie, or presumably at the door. This sounds like another great and varied Sugar Island Festival, so see the above links for more details, and here's Banned live!

Finally for today, here's the main event of the weekend, as South African hard rock trio Seether will return to our area TOMORROW NIGHT when they headline at The Dreammaker's Theater at Kewadin Casino in Sault Ste. Marie! Fans will recall seeing this platinum selling mainstay on Rock 101 and the Billboard rock charts when they opened for Three Days Grace in Sault Ontario 10 years ago. Since then, Seether have gotten even bigger with hit songs like "Tonight", "Words as Weapons", and "Let You Down", so their grunge influenced hard rock onslaught should be more than welcomed by the sizable crowd tomorrow! Knoxville, Tennessee hard rock quartet 10 Years will also return to our area tomorrow night, 8 years after they opened for Sevendust at the same venue. This band recently had their biggest rock radio hit since "Wasteland" 12 years ago with "Novocaine", and their modern and hard hitting sound will be a nice compliment! Nashville hard rock quartet The Dead Deads (replacing LTNT) will open in their local concert debut tomorrow as well.

This 3/4ths female group have an energetic and creative sound with punk and sci-fi influences, and they should deliver a solid set to kick things off! General floor seating is still available via $46 tickets, which you can buy at this link, at 1-800-KEWADIN, or at the in-person box office. This is an ALL AGES event (brought to you by Allstar Promotions), with an advertised 7:00 PM start time. This should be a huge concert for modern hard rock fans, with numerous familiar songs to be had, so visit the above links for complete details, and here's Seether live here in 2008!



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