LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Triumph & The Nameless) And More Weekend Concert Previews!!

Today's post is a little longer than expected due to a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT popping up, but with the rest of this weekend's known hard rock shows to cover, and a huge new show coming in a few months, I was too far in to try to edit things out. Here's what you should know!

Sault Michigan hard rock cover quartet The Nameless will return to The Merchants Bar for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, this show was actually first announced via their Facebook page back on November 28th, but that completely slipped me by at the time. At least they did announce it, unlike their Brimley VFW Veteran's Ride gig last month! The Nameless last rocked The Merch (or the Soo in general) back in August, and it will be good to see their lively and hard edged slate of covers back on stage! Their own promotion for TOMORROW'S concert implies that there could be an ugly sweater party theme, but they nor the venue (who almost never promote bands playing there on social media) have outright confirmed that, so it could just be seasonal hype. Everything goes down TOMORROW at 9:00 PM with a 21+ age limit and no cover charge. See above for more details, and for a preview,here's The Nameless live!

Next up, reunited Mississauga, Ontario hard rock icons Triumph and Halifax hard rock legends April Wine will kick off their Rock & Roll Machine Reloaded Tour at GFL Memorial Gardens on Wednesday, April 22nd! Triumph's return has been the talk of many rock fans this week, and they remain classic & active rock radio staples to this day with hits like "Lay It On The Line", "Hold On", and "Somebody's Out There", so it will be really neat to see them back in town to begin their 50th anniversary reunion tour! Triumph last played here at the old Gardens way back on April Fools Day in 1985, so what's a 41 year wait? A lot of the discourse about Triumph in 2026 has been about who exactly is playing in the band for this tour, including rumours that some original members will only be playing select dates, but according to the band's Facebook page, original members Rik Emmett, Mike Levine, and Gil Moore will all be touring North America next year.

Joining them on tour are Bon Jovi guitarist Theofilos "Phil X" Xenidis (who was a late-era Triumph member in the early 1990s), and two members of Slash's solo band The Conspirators (bassist Todd Kerns and drummer Brent Fitz). This could imply that the touring members could fill in for Rik, Mike, and Gil on certain songs, or we could get double the bass and drums, but I know Triumph fans kinda expect to see the original band, so hopefully we get our fill! As for April Wine, we've seen them multiple times between the Twin Saults, most recently at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino in 2013, but this will be their first Sault Ontario gig since headlining at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion in 1999. As fans may recall, frontman Myles Goodwyn retired from touring with April Wine in 2022 before passing away the following year, but he gave his blessing for long-time guitarist Brian Greenway to take over leading April Wine and continue touring.

As such, the lineup playing here in April will be the same as what fans saw in Sault Michigan in 2013, only with Marc Parent as their new lead singer and rhythm guitarist, but Marc has the chops to tackle classics like "Roller", "I Like To Rock", and "Sign Of The Gypsy Queen"! Tickets for this all ages and 8:00 PM concert went on sale today at 10:00 AM at this link and at GFL Memorial Gardens' in-person box office, but this is a pricey one, as the cheapest tickets run for $88.65. Many closer seats are reserved for VIP passes too, and there good perks therein, so check online for details. This should be a huge show, and it's neat that the reunion tour begins here, so visit the above links for more on Triumph & April Wine in the spring!

Now to close out this weekend's hard rock concert previews, and fittingly, what's left is all at Beck's Bar, starting with prolific local acoustic rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison, who will play their weekly Saturday matinee timeslot TOMORROW! No stranger to frequent bookings at one locale, this will be Tym's second show at Beck's this week, having played their most recent Sunday matinee gig as well, so if you missed that performance, here's your encore! This won't be Tym's last Beck's gig of the year however, as he will be back at the former Vibe Lounge for their last Sunday matinee timeslot of the year on the 28th, let alone his upcoming Misty's and Eagles Club stops, so fans have lots of chances ahead. You can enjoy his unplugged classic and hard rock covers tomorrow at 3:00 PM with a 19+ age limit and no cover charge, and we'll address the nightcap there in a second. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and for a preview, here's Tym live!

Finally, who's playing at Beck's TOMORROW NIGHT? None other than southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225, who will be playing the rare double header at the Goulais Avenue nightclub this weekend, as they're headlining their SUNDAY matinee timeslot as well! As usual, the Sunday matinee acts at Beck's traditionally play acoustic, so that will be Bone Yard's final "uncorked" show of 2025, a fact to keep in mind when planning your live music attendance this weekend, especially if you like Greg, Alex, and Warren in this form factor! Of course, tomorrow's concert is the big one, with fully electric instruments, so if you've missed them at this venue since the Halloween weekend, then come on down for your local 225's hard rocking covers and their increasing slate of originals! As a reminder, Tym Morrison is not "opening" for Bone Yard tomorrow, he and the band each have four hour timeslots spaced two hours apart.

Tomorrow's concert is at 9:00 PM, Sunday's is at 3:00 PM, neither has a cover charge, and there's a 19+ age limit in effect. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's "the dirty three" live!

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

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

Let's look at another range of weekend concert previews on this Thursday morning, but with a lot to talk about, I'm holding our previews of this weekend's Tym Morrison and Bone Yard 225 shows at Beck's Bar for our next post due to the amount. Before I begin, I wanted to offer a couple of clarifications for this weekend's schedule. Regarding the now-defunct Exit 808's scheduled St. Ignace Kewadin Casino gigs on Friday and Saturday, Kewadin's entertainment page still lists "Double Jack" (their original name) as playing there this weekend. As best as I can tell, ex-band members haven't retained the booking in a new project (at least not in a publically acknowledged state), but if I hear something about a band there this weekend, I'll let you guys know! Meanwhile, Sault Ontario's Double Down (more on them in a bit) mentioned in their Facebook post on Monday that classic/hard rockers Headrush are playing this weekend at The Full Throttle Saloon?

The question mark is on their end, not mine, implying that they weren't 100% sure about if the shows were taking place. I don't know if Double Down heard about a tentative booking or not, but at press time, neither Headrush nor the former Primavera Hall have said anything publically about matching bookings this weekend. This is not to definitively say that Double Down are wrong, but we'll let you know if firm public announcements come out either way! Now, let's dive into verifiable hard rock concerts!

We'll start with Double Down themselves, as the local classic/hard rock cover quartet will rock Jay's Piston Broke Pub TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! These will be Double Down's final concerts of 2025, their first shows anywhere in three weeks, and their first at the former Roosevelt Hotel in almost a month. Should be a good way to rock out with this talented veteran quartet, who have lots of entertaining hard and classic rock covers in their vast setlist, so don't miss out in the west end! Regarding their bassist slot, recent promotional images include bassist Dan Beaupre (who has missed all of their fall gigs while recovering from an undisclosed ailment), but the band has not 100% said in writing if he will be playing this weekend or not. Granted, they never revealed who their guest bassist was at The Water Tower Pub last month either (it wasn't Lori). We'll let you know if something is said either way!

This weekend's shows are at 9:30 PM with 19+ age limits and no cover charge. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details on these shows, and for a preview, here's Double Down live!

Next up, we'll head to Sault Michigan, where Iron Mountain classic/hard rock cover quintet Oz will make their long awaited return to the E.U.P. TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT when they rock The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino! Like with Double Down, these are Oz's last shows anywhere in 2025, but they will be back in the Soo in two months if you can't make it this weekend. As it turns out, Oz had been on a bit of a break prior to this road trip, but they were working on new material over the fall, and fans will get the first chance to see what classic cuts are now in their setlist this weekend. Oz are a very talented band with lots of heavier covers from 1970s and 1980s rock legends, so don't miss out on this weekend's shows if you're in the region! Tomorrow and Saturday's shows are at 9:00 PM as usual for The Rapids Lounge, with no cover charges and 21+ age limits. Visit the Facebook event page for more details, and here's Oz live!

Finally for this preview post, we'll make the hour's trip south to Hessel, where local hard rock cover quartet Unfortunate Sun will take the stage for one night only on SATURDAY NIGHT at The Islander Bar! As of this writing, we're just over two weeks removed from Skip, Jody, Tony, and Jason's most recent Islander Bar show (said venue's "Drinksgiving" bash), but this is the second straight weekend where the guys have played a normal weekend gig in the E.U.P., following last weekend's Soo Kewadin stops. While not acknowledged in Unfortunate Sun's own promotion, Saturday's concert doubles as The Islander Bar's ugly sweater party, so if you have a particularly ugly Christmas sweater, this is the day to break it out, especially as a prize awaits the ugliest sweater of all! There will also be holiday cocktail specials if that's your thing. Of course, Unfortunate Sun promise "music that will melt your faces off like that poor bastard in Indiana Jones", so no pressure at all there!

As usual for concerts at The Islander Bar, Saturday's festivities are at 8:00 PM with a 21+ age limit and no cover charge, and if you believe Unfortunate Sun's AI poster for the show, you may get a Facebook friend request if you bring them cake! Visit the above links for more on this concert, and for a preview, here's Unfortunate Sun live!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for our Beck's Bar previews on the site next! Thanks everyone!

Defunct Local Band Profile Series: The Guitar Gangsters & Choking On Appendages

It's now time for our final Defunct Local Band Profiles of 2025, and this month, we're doubling up, as the first randomly selected band doesn't have a lot to say from their brief run, so I added another random act in a similar state to fill things out. One is quite a stacked group who weren't destined for a long run, and the other is a promising solo project with a minimal online presence, so here's what you should know on both!

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The Guitar Gangsters

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Genre: Hard Rock/Metal

Lineup:

Erik "Buzz" Boissineau (Garden of Bedlam), vocals
Tiffany Stocco (The Knuckle City Dusters, Stegadeth), guitar
Jesse Cook (Handsome Sandwich, Jack Spades, Winkstinger), guitar
Mike Bird (Papa Fogals Chair, Sulfur), bass
Derek Turner (Even Flow, Garden of Bedlam, The Wyld Stallyns), drums

Info/Analysis: A late 2019 supergroup paying tribute to Danish hard rock band Volbeat, The Guitar Gangsters notably united multiple former members of Garden of Bedlam, Jack Spades, and Papa Fogals Chair, with this being the first time that Buzz & Derek played together in a local band since Garden of Bedlam's last gig in 2015. The Gangsters played live just twice, at J.D. Pearce's final annual Halloween party at The Rockstar Bar on November 1st (see them below covering "Heaven Nor Hell"), and at The Asylum in Sudbury on November 29th alongside Tiffany's then-Distillers tribute band Coral Fang. Their prospects were likely always short term given that Buzz and Tiff weren't living in town then (let alone the incoming pandemic), but this stacked lineup delivered Volbeat classics really well at their sole local gig!

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Choking On Appendages

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Genre: Hardcore Punk/Death Metal

Lineup:

Mikhal Muto (Hails, Agnosticism), all instruments

Info/Analysis: Separate from his acoustic folk punk output as Agnosticism, prolific young punk/rock musician and concert promoter Mikhal Muto released the EP "Macabre" from his heavier solo project Choking On Appendages in May of last year via Bandcamp. This and a YouTube posting of the album remain C.O.A.'s only public acts, possibly due to Mikhal's other commitments with multiple bands, though note that he has vanished from Facebook in recent months. Easily the heaviest project that he's worked on since emerging as a local musician (complete with some growled vocals), Choking On Appendages delivered a lot of brutal promise in their four song EP, even with way too short song lengths, and hopefully Mikhal revisits this project in the future!

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I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles! Next month in this series, we'll kick off 2026 back in Sault Michigan for our next randomly selected profile, and it's another recent one, namely 2023-2025 hard rock cover band Exit 808! Look for that on or around January 10th, and for weekend concert previews next! Thanks everyone!

Spades GT Updates From The Past Month!!

Let's dive into another single-band post on this snowy Tuesday afternoon, courtesy of local/Barrie crossover thrash quintet Spades GT's activity from last month, so what's new to report from the G.T.A.? We'll actually flash back to October to start for some all-too-rare concert videos of theirs that are A. raw live footage, B. the full songs, and C. horizontally shot! These were filmed at their set opening for The Exploited at The Rockpile in Toronto on October 19th, and are courtesy of attendee Jake Disman, who has filmed them at multiple gigs over the years, most recently at the Steve Edwin McLeod tribute concert at the same venue in March. Only uploaded to his YouTube channel last month, these were curiously uploaded intermixed with other concert videos from different events over the course of a week. Jake uploaded eight songs from this night in four 2 song chunks (all but their closer "Hands"), so what can you see here?

The videos include their usual set openers "They Live" and "Rise", plus "Sewer City Radio" and "Demons", "Cenobites" and "Wrecked" (featuring The Fast Life's Andrew Moorehouse on guest vocals), and as embedded below, their third and fourth songs "Red" and "United". Jake had a good high vantage point to capture the full band in action, if with occasionally too-deep stage lighting, and it looks like everyone had a blast with the ripping originals during Spades' set! We'll have more from this show in an upcoming post, but give Jake's really solid videos from October a watch above and below!

When we last left off with J.D., Daniel, Matthew, Sean, and Tyler, they were gearing up for their return to The Bovine Sex Club (that is still its real name!) in Toronto on November 7th, where they and guitarist Daniel Horton's other punk band The Fast Life opened for their their buddies in G.F.U.. The three bands had joined forces for a Barrie gig in October, among multiple other bookings, but this was reportedly Spades' last Toronto show of the year. The recap video (vertical as ever) went live on their Facebook page four days later, and it is externally embeddable without an audio content match! The first minute of the 4+ minute video sees drummer Tyler Reiner plugging the concert, their next gig in Delhi, and their eventful past year in general.The first half is all outside of the venue mingling, where we get a good look at Fang's dapper kilt, and it's encouraging to see that Sean hasn't been kicked out of Spades GT yet!

Once we move inside The Bovine, clips are shown from most bands (no Loaded Dice though), with Spades pictured playing "Wrecked" at the 2:55 mark, albeit for less than 10 seconds total and from a distant spot with fans' blocking much of the view. After seeing a G.F.U. clip, we hear more of their frontman Jeremy "Jayboe" Cibirka's platform for his Toronto mayoral campaign, before performers from that night gather at video's end, with Daniel saying that they "crushed it". I'll take his word on that, but check out the entertaining recap video for yourselves below!

One week after that gig, the former Jack Spades made their first ever trip to Delhi (pronounced "dell-high"), which is outside of Simcoe and a half hour southwest of Brantford. The November 14th concert at Capitol 33 saw them open for Toronto metal legends Anvil (featuring Tyler's dad Robb Reiner on drums), in the first time that Spades have opened for Anvil since February of last year. While the band was highly complimentary of the concert and venue on Facebook afterwards, and promised to return to Delhi next year, they did not post a recap video from this concert, at least not yet. A couple days later, Spades GT announced their second 2026 show, which will see them head to Guelph for a concert at Jimmy Jazz on January 16th alongside Stand Against Fear and Prior Convictions. If those names are familiar, it's because ex-Spades GT bassist James Roy Daley is an alumnus of those bands too, so how's that for degrees of separation between them?

Promotion says that this is Spades GT's Guelph debut, which didn't seem right, but in researching, they had a Guelph cancellation in July when Brazil's Kaos Attack dropped out of an Ontario tour run, and they had been promoting a planned set at Jimmy Jazz in March 2023 alongside Stand Against Fear (here's proof), but they quietly dropped out and were replaced by Knifehammer in the preceding weeks. Good to see the guys trying a Guelph concert again, and hopefully this one sticks! They hope to play more cities and markets for the first time in 2026, so keep that in mind, especially if you're in Southern Ontario. On November 18th, Spades announced their final show of 2025, a headlining date in their Barrie homebase on December 13th (yes, this Saturday) at C.W. Coop's on a doom metal-laden bill that will also feature Hamilton notables Pale Horse Ritual. The band also claims that this will be their "last one (in Barrie) for a while".

How long is "a while"? That's to be determined, but this isn't the first time they've hyped a year-ending Barrie show thusly, and they're teasing a big year ahead with "lots of new things coming your way", so we'll have to see what's next from the guys after Saturday's Barrie concert! We'll let you know when more comes out re: that show, the potential Delhi recap video, and their 2026 plans in due course, so raise 'em up, cause a scene, and visit the above links for more from Spades GT! Thanks everyone!

Heavy Lies The Crown Updates From October-November 2025!!

I'm in Michigan seeing family for a Christmas vacation this week, so why not focus on an Easter Upper Peninsula band for today's post, namely St. Ignace deathcore band Heavy Lies The Crown! When we last left off with them, the guys were hyping their return to The Vernors Room at The Crofoot Ballroom downstate in Pontiac, where they were slated to open for Born Of Osiris once again on November 7th. Five second teaser videos on their Facebook page in the following days confirmed frontman Brandon West's earlier mention that his old high school classmate Tyler "Dirty6" Chambers was flying in from Colorado to be a guest DJ for this set, marking the first time they had a live mixer on stage with them since drummer Blaze Beairl's debut with H.L.T.C., which was also when they opened for Born Of Osiris last year. On October 27th, Brandon and guitarist Jaxon Massaway starred in this video where they attempted to promote the concert.

I stress, "attempted", as they kept breaking into laughter when trying to set it up, especially from Brandon's amusing term that he came up with (and quickly regretted) for their fans. Amusing watch, so click here to give it a look! Jaxon was able to get a proper promotional video from his vehicle that same day, where he noted the stacked lineup and ticket availability from band members, but did not mention Dirty6. The next day, Brandon uploaded a brief vertical video where he reminded fans to check out their newest singles "Shame" and "Happy Fun Fun", and he addressed why their runtime is short, saying "it replicates... the whole entire songs (and) it's the same duration as we are & the length of what we are". Read into that however you like, but the video seemed to cut off mid sentence too. Embedded below is a new 6+ minute update video from Brandon, where he notes two more concerts coming up on November 12th & 14th that Dirty6 might also have guested on.

You may also see guest singers jump up on stage on an impromptu basis too, and Brandon reminded everyone that the band has four drummers in its ranks to allow for instrument swapping! I think Christian is the only one who can't drum. The November 12th show saw them return to The Sanctuary in Hamtramck (where they opened for Living Dissection in October), this time opening for Vermont metalcore band Saving Vice. Two days later, they headed back to The Music Factory in Battle Creek for the first time since March, but he didn't elaborate on that concert in this video. After reminding the whole "impromptu guests can join us to sing" angle, he also brings up that their album recording sessions are ongoing, even if they're just been releasing one-off singles as of late. Good to see fall plans continuing to fall into place at that point, so give Brandon's update video a watch below!

In an update video shot from his vehicle on November 2nd, Brandon was waiting to pick up guitarist Jaxon Massaway for rehearsals for the Born Of Osiris concert (he showed up early because of Daylight Savings Time), and he noted what the official lineup will be for this concert, though note that he did not mention guitarist/drummer Kaycee Mason as taking part in this show. No word on if his status with the band has changed, but he was in the "Happy Fun Fun" video from October. The Born Of Osiris show was a success, as you can see in this video shot by an H.L.T.C. band member (I love The Vernors Room's layout!), and photos of the guys hanging out with Born Of Osiris were posted to Facebook in the aftermath. Embedded below is a (horizontal!) update video that Brandon shot while en route to the Hamtramck show outside of Detroit on the 12th, where he noted that the Battle Creek show on the 14th also saw them open for Saving Vice.

A pop-up gig at the practice space of Detroit metal band Influence was also slotted in between the two. Bassist Christian Cook was unavailable to make the Battle Creek trip on the 14th, so Rob Vandewiele of the Detroit metal band Nothing After This filled in for that show on short notice. Kudos to Rob for helping out! Dirty6 was not referenced either, for the record. The rest of the video was just hype for the show and to buy tickets/merchandise. We'll have more from Heavy Lies The Crown's trifecta of downstate November concerts soon, but give this update video a watch below, and stay tuned for more news and notes on the SMS this week! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Majesty & The Trews), Tym Morrison Concert Previews, And Convergence Updates!!

Here's a Saturday morning post to check out before/instead of shovelling yet again, and it features this weekend's last hard rock concert previews, a teaser for an upcoming album, and leading off, two big LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS at the same venue next year, so here's what you should know!

Juno Award-nominated Nova Scotia alt-hard rock quintet The Trews will return to Sault Ste. Marie for a headlining concert at The Machine Shop on Wednesday, February 25th! Well known on domestic rock radio from hit singles like "Not Ready To Go", "So She's Leaving", and (more recently) "Breakdown", this will be The Trews' first local gig since headlining last year's Go North Music Festival on St. Joseph Island. Within city limits, fans last saw them open for Marianas Trench at GFL Memorial Gardens in 2022, but this will be their first proper headlining concert in Sault Ste. Marie since 2009. Crucially, since last year's outdoor gig in Richards Landing, Country 104.3 became 104.3 The Fox, giving The Trews more local radio play than ever, so if you can swing the mid-week concert scheduling, you won't want to miss out as the tour supporting their new album "Bloody Light" continues!

I have not seen any reference to opening bands for this concert yet. Tickets went on sale yesterday for $40 at this link, and can also be bought at the box office at Station Mall and at the Gelato Mill on site at Mill Square. This is definitely an all ages show, and an 8:00 PM start time is listed. This should be a strong concert with lots of familiar rock numbers from this talented group, so visit the official Facebook event page and the above links for more on The Trews' Machine Shop concert in a couple months!

Next up, here's another new Machine Shop concert announcement for the new year, as Majesty: A Tribute To Queen will headline there on Thursday, March 12th! Now, the idea of a Queen tribute band is far from new here, as fans who saw Australia's Queen: It's A Kinda Magic will know well, following that group's multiple headlining appearances at The Sault Community Theatre Centre in the last few years. Majesty will also be on an intercontinental trek (they're from Great Britain), and if you watch videos of them in action, they definitely have the Queen sound and look down, so it will be interesting to see a high quality Queen tribute at a more intimate local venue! Another all ages and 8:00 PM affair, ticket also start at $40 like for The Trews at the same on-sale locations (buy them online here), but unlike that show, there will be some general admission seating for Majesty, and those tickets will run for $45. Visit the above links for more on Majesty's local debut!

Now, let's wrap up this weekend's hard rock concert previews via another busy weekend for prolific local classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison, who will play yet another matinee concert at Misty's Fifties LATER TODAY before doing the matinee honours at Beck's Bar TOMORROW! While the consecutive matinees is notable enough, these actually mean that Tym has played three shows in four days, as alas, I completely missed that he played at The Dive Gastro Pub on (Think It Over) Thursday. While The Dive didn't confirm the booking until four hours prior to showtime (I miss their monthly calendars), Tym had quietly announced the show on November 6th via this Facebook event page. Given how Tym promotes his concerts, it's easy to miss individual Facebook event pages when he plays the same venues so often, but I profusely apologize for Thursday's gig falling through the cracks. 

Hopefully he rocked "the naughty corner" well as usual, and note that he played the same three venues on the same days of the week back in early May as well! After his downtown trip, fans can see him back at Misty's on Second Line West today at 4:00 PM before doing the matinee honours tomorrow at Beck's on Goulais Avenue at 3:00 PM. Neither show has an announced cover charge, and both are 19+. Click here or visit the above links for more details on today & tomorrow's shows, and here he is live!

Finally for this post, here's the latest from local progressive metal quartet Convergence, who have revealed that the first single from "our debut album" will be released on Christmas Day! Now, long-time fans will know that Convergence released two EPs when they were still a two man instrumental project (2023's "One" and last year's "Dead & Dreaming"), but since adding singer and 2025 Soo's Got Talent runner-up Stephen Gagnon-Ruscio to the band late last year, they've basically started over publically, wiping both EPs from streaming services, though songs from both are expected to be on the new album, now with vocals and David Peredun drumming. No word on if the album will still be called "In Bloom" (already renamed from "Gemini") or not, but the first single will be "The Ebb", which was first heard on the "One" EP. To preview its re-release, Convergence shared this lyric video snippet on their Facebook page on December 3rd.

Why it has to be vertical, I don't know, but its existence implies that a full lyric video could be in the cards in a few weeks. Both because I hope to review the album next year and that this is a 30 second teaser, I'll hold comment on the "Ebb" clip, but it's good to hear some true public news on Convergence's next studio album for the first time in months! They last alluded to their studio work on social media in the spring, and they were teasing that as being towards building an EPK at that point. Give the teaser video a watch below, and stay tuned for more from Convergence in the coming weeks, including "The Ebb" on the 25th!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (HeadF1rst & Bone Yard 225) And Weekend Concert Previews!!

December is now in full swing, so why not beat the winter blues and the heavy snow this week by occupying a venue? There's enough hard rock concerts in the Soo area to warrant extending our previews to a second post, so this weekend's Tym Morrison shows will be previewed next. Here's what you should know to start this weekend off right, including a pair of SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!

Local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 will return to The Water Tower Pub for another "uncorked" concert on SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, this show was only announced via the band's Facebook page yesterday, and it is newly listed on their website's concert calendar too, along a handful of extra shows to end 2025 with! Also newly confirmed there are returns to Beck's Bar on Saturday, December 13th (a regular nighttime concert) and once more on Sunday, December 14th (an acoustic matinee, and thusly their last "uncorked" gig of the year), before they debut at... The Full Throttle Saloon on Friday, December 19th? If you're unfamiliar, the Full Throttle Saloon is the rebranded Primavera Hall at 256 Wellington Street West (not far from the Eagles Club), and just had their grand opening last week.

The Primavera Hall came up as a concert host very sporadically in the 2010s, but the saloon has been ramping up concert and events bookings in recent weeks, and they do still have the buffet! It will be interesting to see how Bone Yard go over in Steelton in a couple weeks, but before then, their first unplugged gig at The Water Tower Pub since October goes down on SATURDAY! That show is at 8:00 PM, the Beck's shows are at 9:00 & 3:00 PM respectively, the Full Throttle show is at 9:30 PM, all have 19+ age limits, and none have an announced cover charge. Visit the above links for more details on your local 225's last bar gigs of 2025, and here they are live!

Next up, local hard rock quintet HeadF1rst will return to Shooters Downstairs Lounge for one night only on SATURDAY NIGHT themselves! Again, apologies for the short notice, this concert was first announced via the venue's December events calendar on Facebook on Tuesday, in which HeadF1rst's show is the only concert booked all month. As you may have noticed, Shooters have severely dialed back on hosting bands in 2025, with HeadF1rst really being the only band of note to play there since the spring, last rocking out there after game 7 of the World Series last month. No word on why HeadF1rst seem to be the only band that Shooters has anymore, but it'll be good to see their mix of hard rocking originals and old school-leaning covers on stage again on SATURDAY! Like Bone Yard 225, they were last seen at Toystock this past weekend. Note that Shooters' calendar posting hint at various holiday surprises given that we're in the Christmas season.

If any will arise to coincide with SATURDAY's concert, I don't know, but they do go all out for promotions when it comes to karaoke and dance party nights and what have you! Red, Rainey, Liam, Claire, and Anthony take the stage on SATURDAY at 9:30 PM with a 19+ age limit and no announced cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, and here's HeadF1rst live!

Also this weekend, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Silent 9 have a previously announced concert TOMORROW NIGHT, which will see them headline  the Searchmont Ski Runners' holiday mixer at The Rockstar Bar! While the band considers this a "private event" on their website's calendar, the Ski Runners are publically advertising the mixer on social media. This isn't the first time that the Ski Runners have booked Silent 9 for a fundraiser at The Rockstar Bar that technically wasn't private, as they headlined their fall social in October 2023. Hopefully there's a great turnout to help their youth skiing program, and with the weather we've gotten this week, the skiing conditions shouldn't suffer this year! Note that The Rockstar Bar hinted at re-opening to regular nightclub service soon on Facebook in the past week, meaning that we could see bands playing there again there in 2026 beyond one-off corporate bookings like this.

Given the fundraising aims, this is a ticketed concert that will run you $35 (on sale at this link and presumably at the door), but advance ticket sales get you entries for a draw for Searchmont passes. This is a 19+ event, and a 7:30 PM start time is advertised. Visit the above links for more on the S.S.R.'s holiday mixer, and here's Silent 9 live!

We'll close today's preview post by heading south to Sault Michigan, where local hard rock quartet Unfortunate Sun will take over The Rapids Lounge at the local Kewadin Casino TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Last seen for their second annual "Drinksgiving bash" in Hessel (and in the Soo on Halloween night at The Merch), this will be the Fake Chow successors' first concert weekend at The Rapids Lounge since back in May. If you like a wide array of heavier-leaning rock covers, you won't want to miss out on Skip, Jody, Tony, and Jason's cover slates tomorrow and on Saturday, so don't miss out on all of the action this weekend! Whether you're placing bets on them kicking ass or not (I don't endorse gambling on the SMS), this weekend's concerts go down at 9:00 PM each night with no announced cover charges, and you must be 21 or older to attend. Note that the poster implies that "The Tony Rogers Band" is opening for Unfortunate Sun this weekend, a rarity for their gigs alone.

That would imply that their bassist (formerly of Clownsack, Shift, et al.) has launched an eponymous side project. I have not seen this corroborated anywhere else, let alone what Tony's band would be playing, but keep that in mind! Visit the above links for more on Unforunate Sun's Rapids Lounge stops this weekend, and here they are live!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for our Tym Morrison previews and more on the SMS tomorrow! Thanks everyone!