Before we begin this post, we have a concert cancellation to note, as Saturday night's Love N' Revenge show at The Rockstar Bar is now off (as is their entire Canadian tour) due to "unforeseen circumstances", as per their Facebook page and relevant local sources. Very disappointing, especially for fans of their last show here, but hopefully they can come back north down the road! Now, here's this weekend's hard rock concert previews, plus a new live concert video from earlier this month!
We'll start with new local Sault Michigan hard rock band Tarnished's likely continuation of their "every Thursday" run of acoustic concerts at Biggby Coffee TODAY! Before we get too far, I just wanted to give the disclaimer that, as of this writing, neither Tarnished nor Biggby Coffee have newly plugged a Thursday matinee for this week (or last week, for that matter), though given what "every Thursday" tends to mean, I won't jump to immediate conclusions unless the band or venue says otherwise. If Alex & Josh are back there this morning, look for more unplugged hard rock hits from this talented twosome, and remember that they would be playing for tips and coffee as usual! Assuming all's well, this is an ALL AGES & FREE show taking place at 10:30 AM, and I am not sure if they'll be at Ashmun Alive this evening too. See above for more details, and here's Tarnished live!
Next up, let's head back to Sault Ontario, where local hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison has a busy weekend ahead with at least five publically advertised shows over the next four days! First, Tym will play the second and third gigs of his new Roadhouse Bar & Grill concert slate TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT, with the former being the only non-Friday gig at this east end venue in this run there. If you've missed Tym on Thursdays at Gliss, this show may help fill the void for a night, though if you can't see him there this weekend, he isn't scheduled to return until November. Elsewhere, Tym will maintain his long-term arrangement at Gliss Restaurant with matinee gigs TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT, so regular fans will be happy to see him back on Spring Street once again this weekend, while his summer season run at La Terrazza Franzisi in Richards Landing continues on SUNDAY for you St. Joseph Island concertgoers up for music by the wharf!
Tonight and tomorrow's Roadhouse shows are 10:00 PM events with 19+ age limits, the Gliss shows are at 6:00 PM, and his lengthy La Terrazza Franzisi show begins at 1:00 PM on Sunday. The latter events have no cover or stated age limits, but mind the locales. Tym's prolific setlist should prove to give lots of entertainment to fans at all three locations this weekend, so visit the Facebook event pages linked here, here, and here for more details, and for a preview, here's Tym live a few years back!
Lastly for known public hard rock concerts this weekend in the Soo area, let's head to The Esquire Club, where local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Last seen at this popular west end venue over a month ago, this will be Soundcheck's first concert weekend since Ride For ARCH, and while the guys haven't newly promoted these shows online this week, they have been listed on this concert calendar since February. Any chance to see Travis, Terry, Paul, and Glen on stage will give fans lots of hard and classic rock hits to take in, so keep this weekend's bookings in mind for Soundcheck's fan favourite attack! As usual, these are 19+ events with 10:00 PM-ish start times and no cover charges. See above for more details, and here's Soundcheck live!
In lieu of the Love N' Revenge concert preview, here's a new video of Sault Michigan hard/blues rock quartet Project 906, courtesy of this past weekend's Rudyard Musicians Festival! Thus was filmed by attendee Ellen Grigsby and shared by the band from her original personal upload on Facebook, and believe it or not, this is of an original song named "The Comeback." Owing more to their blues influences, this is a slow but well performed track with a solid guitar solo, and while I don't know if they have more original songs in their repertoire, it is encouraging to see this on film! Nicely filmed too, so give it a look below!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates on the site in the coming days! Thanks everyone!
Today's post is 100% devoted to Facebook videos from this past weekend's Fringe North/Up The Arts Festival concerts at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion, as live-streamed from The Arts Council of Algoma's Facebook page! There is more than this to share regarding hard rock performances, but let's focus on artists that played on Friday, which included new local jam rock quartet Unorganized Township (seen here covering Stick Figure's "World on Fire") and former Honest Job fronman Mister Tahti (who was filmed covering Donovan's "Season of the Witch" with guest Jeff Hinich.) Both are solid videos for acoustic fans, and while neither cover is heavy, they're both well performed! The first video we'll embed here is of local blues rock trio The Dell Brothers (née The Paul DellaVedova Band) covering Free's "All Right Now", a standard cover of theirs if you've seen them live. The Brothers handle this 1970s hard rock cover as well as ever, and the vocals are particularly strong!
The vertical camera angle isn't optimal, and while the audio quality is a big drawback here, fans who've seen bands under the big tent know that acoustics can be an issue there, so that may be to blame more than the camera. Give The Dell Brothers' video a look below!
Next up, here's The Arts Council's video of local punk/metal quintet Jack Spades, who played their original song "Crossroads" in this clip from their co-headlining set. A much warmer set for them compared to their last Pavilion gig at Bon Soo's Marquee back in 2014, this is a strong performance of this live staple, and the horizontal camera angle is nice to see, but fuzzy visuals don't help matters. Give their video a look as well!
The Friday headliners were local funk/hard rock quartet The Elements (featuring Jack Spades guitarist Rob Speers on vocals), who are seen here covering Van Halen's "Hot For Teacher." Probably the best video quality yet of the heavier performances, this cover is more aggressive and gritty than the original, but it suits The Elements' style well, and James is definitely in prime concert mode in particular! Muffled audio does recur here, though. Check this clip out below, and see more from Friday above!
Finally, let's look at one band from Saturday's lineup, namely Elements side project The Wyld Stallyns, who expanded their acoustic trio setup to a full quintet by enlisting Rob & Jesse's Elements bandmates James White and Jonas Gasperas for the occasion! You could call this an Elements acoustic show with Christina on guest vocals, but of course, it's the other way around. This cover of Heart's "Magic Man" is a nice showcase for her singing, and the guys handle the music effectively alongside, so give this video a look below!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates in the coming days, including more videos from Up The Arts on Saturday! Thanks everyone!
After a quiet weekend with personal matters, we are back with a big news post on this Monday evening, so what's below to check out? The results of last month's poll, a mid-week concert preview, and leading off, here's a huge LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for later this fall!
California punk legends The Offspringand Ajax, Ontario punk quintet Sum 41 will join forces for a huge concert at GFL Memorial Gardens on Tuesday, November 19th! This will be the first ever local date for The Offspring, who will be very familiar to punk fans and rock radio loyalists from hit songs like "Self Esteem", "Gone Away", "Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)", and many others, and with a new album on the way, it'll be awesome to have Dexter and company at the Gardens this fall with plenty of classic songs to go around! As for Sum 41, it has been 15 years since we last saw them on a local stage, following their Roberta Bondar Pavilion headlining concert in September 2004, and with familiar songs like "Fat Lip", "Still Waiting", and "Screaming Bloody Murder", their return to the Soo should be welcomed by punk and metal fans alike this fall! Note that this will be their first local stop with Gob's Tom Thacker on rhythm guitar (though we've seen Gob here twice since), as well as with Frank Zummo on drums in place of Steve Jocz.
English alternative rock trio Dinosaur Pile-Up will open in their own Soo debut, and while not really a punk band, their aggressive grunge-tinged sound should set the tone well in November! An Invictus Entertainment Group production brought to you by Rock 101, this ALL AGES concert has tickets running for $98 for most seats, aside from upper back bowl seating which runs for $76, with VIP packages to be announced, and they go on sale THIS FRIDAY at 10:00 AM. The ticket prices are a little steep, but I sincerely hope this stacked show does well, so visit the official Facebook event page and this press release for more details!
Next up, here's our preview of another special Tuesday night concert, as Edmonton art punk quartet Doreen will make their local concert debut TOMORROW NIGHT when they rock Dryer Fire's temporary location on Bruce Street! An ecletic and diverse extension of the punk rock sound, Doreen's indie/garage-influenced sound should fit in just fine at this venue, so don't miss this exciting group tomorrow to see what they bring to the table! Local experimental musician Chase Wigmore will bring his unplugged alt-folk attack to Dryer Fire as the opening act, and fans will surely know that his intense, unique, folk/punk originals will be a sight to behold tomorrow, so don't be late for this one either! As usual for Dryer Fire, this is an ALL AGES concert at 7:00 PM, and there will be a $10 cover charge. The weekday scheduling is unfortunate, but the music speaks for itself, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and in lieu of a live video of Doreen (I shockingly can't find one), here's the title track of their new album!
Finally for today, here's the final results from our poll that launched on the site on July 18th, where we posed this question to you guys: What was your favourite local metal, hard rock, or punk concert in the first half of 2019? Only 12 votes were cast, which isn't a great number, but at least they were spread out among a bunch of notable shows that were included, and no one voted "Other"! Here are the final results!
The Killer Dwarfs & Re:Born at Soo Blaster on April 27th (4 votes, 33¼%) Dopethrone & AlgomA at The New American Pub on May 20th (3 votes, 25%) Joni Radford Memorial at The Algonquin Hotel on March 2nd (2 votes, 17%) Anvil, Striker, and Jack Spades at Soo Blaster on June 9th (1 vote, 8¼%) The Tea Party at The Machine Shop on March 27th (1 vote, 8¼%) Parabol & The Elements at The Rockstar Bar on March 23rd (1 vote, 8¼%) White Cowbell Oklahoma at LopLops Lounge on January 26th (0 votes) Rotopsy & Awokest at The New American Pub on February 26th (0 votes) OZbourne at The Canadian Nightclub on March 23rd (0 votes) Destroyer at The Canadian Nightclub on March 30th (0 votes) West of Hell & Expain at The New American Pub on April 17th (0 votes) Dave Evans & Hells Bells at The Rockstar Bar on May 4th (0 votes) K-Man & The 45s at The New American Pub on June 6th (0 votes) Go Skate Day at Queen Elizabeth Park on June 21st (0 votes) Monster Truck at Soo Blaster on June 28th (0 votes) Other (0 votes)
What do you guys think? Well, in terms of the shows with no votes, I am most surprised that White Cowbell Oklahoma, Dave Evans, K-Man & The 45s, and Monster Truck didn't get any attention, as all had high profile touring headliners with either proven local success or high existing clout elsewhere, but alas, it is all in who votes! By contrast, Anvil and The Tea Party both had local supporters in the past month among out voters, as if Parabol & The Elements' tribute show double-header in March, which is very encouraging! The Joni Radford memorial concert made the top 3, which is wonderful to see after so many of her friends and colleagues came together for this two-floor bash in March, but I am a little surprised it didn't get a few more votes. Dopethrone's well received doom metal concert in May placed second, as no doubt helped by AlgomA & Shit Liver's long awaited returns, but the mildly surprising winner was The Killer Dwarfs' headlining show at Soo Blaster!
A huge hit for hair metal diehards of all stripes, hopefully we're not waiting 20 years for The Dwarfs to come back to our area! Thanks to everyone for voting, and look for the six shows with votes (plus "Other") to return for our all-of-2019 poll on your favourite concerts early next year! That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!
Let's wrap up this weekend's concert previews with a look at the remaining announced hard rock show of the weekend, complete with a late lineup change and opener addition! Along with that, we also have lots of new concert videos and first, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for later this fall!
Hamilton comedy/folk punk musician B.A. Johnston will return to Sault Ste. Marie on Saturday, November 9th when he opens for Montreal
power pop band Dany Laj & The Looks at The New American Pub! Local fans may recognize B.A.'s irreverent mix of outsider folk and punk rock from his well received headlining sets at the same venue in April as well as at Cafe Natura back in 2015, and with his creative and somewhat polarizing original set, you know there'll be a lot to take in at The New A this fall! Of course, he's opening for Dany Laj & The Looks in that band's fifth local concert appearance since 2015, though this will be their first Soo gig in almost two years. With their upbeat and proficient power pop originals, Dany and company should be more than welcomed back to the Soo themselves, so don't bypass them! Potential local openers have not been announced at press time. This show is a presentation of Girl Friday Productions, who also booked B.A. here in April.
An 8:00 PM start time is in effect for this 19+ concert, which will have admission via $12 tickets that will be available at The New A and at an online source to be announced, and they apparently go on sale on Thursday. This should be a fun show for power pop and punk fans, including two local favourites delivering in their own diverse ways, so visit the official Facebook event page for more updates as they roll in!
Next up, here's our last concert preview for the weekend, as Baltimore, Maryland psychedelic hard rock duo Darsombra will play their second local concert TOMORROW NIGHT when they hit LopLops Lounge! This show was moved on short notice from the aformentioned New A to LopLops, as per promoters Six, Two, Oh. on the official Facebook event page yesterday, though a reason was not announced for the relocation. Fans may recall their eclectic stage show at the same venue two years ago, where their instrumental form of "trans-apocalyptic galaxy rock" made a bunch of new fans, and with their ambitious audio-visual presentation and extended jams, this is a show that has to be seen to be believed! Openers will include ex-Lion Ride bassist Brent Ellis' masked alt-folk solo project Slumshine, in a set that will also serve to launch his debut solo album "SLMSHN" on a physical run of cassette tapes (Six, Two, Oh.'s debut indie album release), so keep this angle in mind as well!
The other opening band, who we just learned about, are local drone/noise rock trio Pointless (led by Treble Charger's Bill Priddle), who opened for Darsombra in 2017 as well. This 19+ show has a 9:00 PM start time with an $8 cover charge, while Brent will also be selling some of his own original artwork tomorrow as well. This should be a fun and very diverse night of music with a little something for everyone to enjoy, and with Darsombra's impressive and hard to describe set, you won't want to miss out at The New A tomorrow! See above for more details, and here's Darsombra live!
...Van Morrison's "Wild Night", Poison's "Talk Dirty To Me" (plus a fan-shot alternate video), and REO Speedwagon's "Take It On The Run". These covers largely feature Travis Sharpe on lead vocals, with the exception of the Cheap Trick, Offspring, Dwight Yoakam, David Wilcox, and REO Speedwagon covers, plus "Blow At High Dough", which all have Terry Eaton taking the lead. Also, be warned of an over-exuberant fan with an "adult" item dancing on stage during "Fast As You". Embedded below is Soundcheck's regular 10+ minute cover medley, which features renditions of David Wilcox's "Riverboat Fantasy", Journey's "Don't Stop Believing", Metallica's "Enter Sandman", Boston's "Foreplay/Long Time", Bon Jovi's "Livin' On A Prayer", Van Halen's "Jamie's Cryin'", and a reprise of "Riverboat Fantasy". As usual, Travis handles the lead vocals for the Journey, Boston, and Bon Jovi covers, with Terry doing the rest. Of course, huge thanks to Glen for getting all of these videos filmed, he certainly didn't have to!
Capturing a whopping 83 minutes or so from the Wawa drag races, I can't quickly confirm if this was their whole concert, but you sure get two regular sets' worth, and Soundcheck generally sound solid throughout this diverse range of covers! Fans will definitely want to give these a look, and don't miss Soundcheck TONIGHT & TOMORROW at The Reggievelt!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site next week! Thanks everyone!
As promised, here's the continuation of this busy concert preview stretch, and yes, our Darsombra preview is coming next! For now though, let's tackle other Sault Ontario gigs this weekend, including some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, some on SHORT NOTICE!
As part of this year's Up The Arts Multi-Arts Festival (in conjunction with the Fringe North International Theater Festival), The Arts Council of Algoma are hosting three FREE & ALL AGES concerts this weekend at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion, and two have hard rock and/or punk acts! Apologies for the short notice on both of these events, they did get reasonable advance notice on sources other than their website (thankfully), but I've had a lot on my plate both on the site and away from it as of late. TOMORROW'S first show will be toplined by local funk/hard rock quartet The Elements (who did play as part of this festival last year) at 11:00 PM, while frontman Rob Speers' other electric band Jack Spades will bring their punk/metal hybrid assault to the stage at 10:00 PM. If you miss seeing more aggressive bands under the big tent downtown, you won't want to miss out on TOMORROW NIGHT'S action!
Other bands include blues rock veterans The Dell Brothers (née The Paul DellaVedova Band) at 8:00 PM, former Honest Job frontman Mister Tahti at 7:00 PM, and new local acoustic jam rock band Unorganized Township at 6:00 PM, while "Max" and Grup the Clown will open the event at 5:00 PM, adding a Fringe North touch to this one. There's a little something for everyone on this night, and the intensity builds towards the heavy closing bands, so don't miss the FREE & ALL AGES action TOMORROW, visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's The Elements live!
The second day of free music at the Pavilion is on SATURDAY, where The Elements' unplugged side project The Wyld Stallyns will also return from last year's Fringe North/Up The Arts festivities! Playing a rare show away from The Whiskey Barrel, their fan-friendly acoustic covers should find another solid audience, and you can see them kick off SATURDAY'S lineup at 4:30 PM! Max & Grup aside (who will technically close that night at 11:00 PM), your headliner is Juno Award-winning local country musician Crystal Shawanda, and given that this show is FREE, genre fans shouldn't want to miss her return home! Her headlining set is at 9:00 PM, while classic rock cover veterans Mustang Heart will open at 6:00 PM after The Stallyns wrap up. Once again, SATURDAY'S entertainment is for FREE and is available to ALL AGES, and visit the official Facebook event page for more details!
For reference, Sunday's Up The Arts music lineup is an earlier affair leaning to acoustic performers and Fringe North performers, Max & Grup again included, so click here for details on that front. As for SATURDAY, this should be a fun show for country fans in particular, especially if you missed Crystal at the Go North Festival, and The Wyld Stallyns will set the tone well, while Mustang Heart are known to have a few heavier covers too! See above for more info, and here's The Stallyns live last year!
Next up, prolific local acoustic hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison has another stacked concert weekend ahead, as while we'll see him back at Gliss Restaurant TOMORROW & SATURDAY and at La Terrazza Franzisi in Richards Landing on SUNDAY, he will also return to The Roadhouse Bar & Grill on Trunk Road for a few shows this month and beyond, including TOMORROW NIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice, Tym only confirmed the Roadhouse shows via their Facebook event page on Monday. Adding to his already stacked concert calendar (which recently included a few private events, according to Tym's personal Facebook page), he has lined up 10 more nighttime gigs at this popular east end tavern for this month, November, and next February & March, but of course, we approach Tym's extensive and often long-term gigs a month at a time. As such, TOMORROW'S show is an immediate must if you miss seeing him at night in more of a typical venue!
The other August gigs are next Thursday & Friday, August 22nd and 23rd, with the former being his only Thursday nighter in an otherwise Friday-centric slate there. All of these three Roadhouse shows (his first there since June) are 10:00 PM & 19+ affairs with no cover charge, while his usual Gliss and seasonal La Terrazza Franzisi gigs are 6:00 & 1:00 PM matinees respectively with no cover or age limit to speak of, but remember, these are restaurants first and foremost. Visit the Facebook event pages linked here, here, and above for more details, and for a preview, here's Tym live!
Finally for today's previews (Darsombra aside), let's head to Reggie's West, where local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return for three shows TOMORROW NIGHT & SATURDAY! Yes, I said three, as while they will be playing their usual solo concerts at 10:00 PM both nights, they will be doubling up on Saturday via their second straight appearance at the annual Ride For ARCH motorcycle rally's pre-show festivities outside of the venue! Of course, this charity event for the Algoma Residential Community Hospice is an exceedingly worthy cause, and it's great so see so many riders and supporters bringing this event back to The Reggievelt on Saturday, so be sure to visit the official Facebook event page for full details on how to enter the rally or attend the Korah Road street party! The regular nighttime shows are 19+ affairs with no cover, but the Ride For ARCH is ALL AGES.
Soundcheck's 5:30 PM slot will precede country cover quartet Bone Yard headlining at 9:30 PM, plus classic rockers Flathead Ford at 8:00 PM & the aforementioned Dell Brothers at 6:30 PM, while acoustic country duo The Bearded Lounge and folk/classic rock band The Algo Rhythms will open at 3:30 & 2:00 PM each. Lots of veteran cover talent for the cause, and everyone should deliver a great set on Saturday, with lots more Soundcheck where that came from beforehand & afterward! See above for more details on these gigs, and here's Soundcheck live!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for our Darsombra preview and much more on the site next! Thanks everyone!
Let's kick off a busy weekend for concerts to preview at the SMS, and we'll start with an all-Sault Michigan/E.U.P. installment today! As best as I can gather, we'll tackle the Fringe North/Up The Arts shows with punk/hard rock acts later today, plus Tym Morrison and Soundcheck, with Darsombra to follow on Friday in a regular news post, though this is all subject to change. Now, here's what you should know to start things off, including a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT & related apology!
Local hard rock quartet Project 906 will return to the fourth annual Rudyard Musicians Festival
at Rudyard Township Park (18725 South Mackinac Trail) THIS SATURDAY
NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the lineup was quietly unveiled
back in June, but 906 haven't actively plugged the festival online at all.
Marking their fourth straight appearance at this annual fundraiser
festival, with proceeds again going to Rudyard Area Schools' music &
band programs, this year's Musicians Fest will see a smoked pork
dinner, local concessions, and on-site camping as usual, so see the
above links for full non-musical details! While not part of 906's open
date search from earlier this year, fans can look forward to a later
co-headlining set in year #4, with their set taking place at 10:00 PM.
Surprisingly, Rudyard cover rock band Steelhead are not playing
this year despite their promotional ties to the event, with Second
Offense taking on the headlining slot at 11:00 PM in their third
Musicians Fest set.
Classic rock band The Whole Shabang
will play for the third straight year in the 9:00 PM slot, while, as
usual, remaining acts are largely in the country/bluegrass vein. Fans
can look for The North Country Band at 8:00 PM, Rob & Bob (Malaski)
at 7:00 PM, Brian Harrison at 6:00 PM, The Flock at 5:00 PM, Denny Verrett at 4:00 PM, Rusted Spurs
at 3:00 PM, Jimmy Williams at 2:00 PM, Joyride at 1:00 PM, and Kevin
Blakeney opening at 12:00 PM. Aside from The Flock and Joyride, I
believe every act this year has played a credited set in a past
Musicians Fest, so if you like past lineups, you are in good hands!
We'll let you know if anyone beyond Project 906 has hard rock songs up
their sleeves. As usual, Musicians Fest IV is a $5 event at the door
(kids 10 and under are FREE), and it's great to see another stacked
roster of local musicians join forces in Rudyard on SATURDAY for a great
cause! For a preview, here's a new
video of Project 906!
This comes from their short notice set at this year's Sidewalk Sales on August 2nd, where they played outside of Crooked Music's
brand new location, just across the road from their original Ashmun
Street building. I profusely apologize for missing this show for
coverage on the site, but 906 only put the show's event page up with six minutes to spare, and Crooked Music's Facebook page
never credited the band by name in advance. We'd have covered it had we
gotten a semblance of prior notice! You can tell that this was a big
event given the Sidewalk Sales ties and Crooked Music's grand re-opening
festivities that weekend, and congratulations to Zac and Christy and
all the staff on the big move, short as it is! As for the
video, this is of Project 906 covering Bachman-Turner Overdrive's
"Takin' Care of Business" and The Marshall Tucker Band's "Can't You
See", as live-streamed for the store's Facebook page.
Clearly
in a 1970s kick at this point in the day, Project 906 handle these
covers well and with good passion, though a zoom would have helped, and
it's a shame that there wasn't more of a crowd turnout when Crooked
Music's camera was rolling, especially with all the chairs laid out.
Solid video overall, so give it a look below, don't miss Project
906 THIS SATURDAY NIGHT at the Rudyard Musicians Festival, and visit the above links for more details!
Finally, let's address the continuation of new local hard rock band Tarnished's run of early morning matinee gigs "every Thursday" at Biggby Coffee,
as they'll be back for another go-around TODAY! After their Sugar
Island Music Festival set this past weekend with the full band and
electric instruments, this will see Alex & Josh back in their
acoustic, drummer-less form at the Ashmun Street coffee shop, so if you
want to see them break out more hard rocking covers for tips and coffee,
and you're up for a morning concert, you know where to be! This 10:30
AM matinee has no age limits or cover charges as usual, and just for
reference, Tarnished are not playing an Ashmun Alive! set today, as according to their Facebook page,
they are hitting the road for Alex's current homebase of Mount Pleasant
for a show there tonight. Of course, we wish Alex & Josh the
best down south, so see above for more details, and here's Tarnished
live last month!
That's all for now, but stay tuned for Sault Ontario weekend concert previews starting later today! Thanks everyone!
Let's keep the news train rolling on this Monday evening, so what will you find here? A couple of videos, bands being moved out of and into our inactive band links, and leading off, big updates concerning the openers of a major concert next month, so here's what you should know!
Inactive local horror punk quintet Frightlight and local alt-punk trio A Dire Setback will provide support at the Michale Graves concert at The Canadian Nightclub on September 28th, as per updates on the Facebook event page
last month! A surprise announcement to say the least, this will one of A
Dire Setback's biggest trio-era platforms ever, but of course, this
will be Frightlight's first show since the Halloween weekend last year,
and just their second since 2014, though this is being advertised a one
night only reunion once again, so they remain in our inactive band
links. Of course, Frightlight were well known for their covers of and
inspiration from Graves-era Misfits, so they are a beyond fitting choice
to open! Notably, this will also see the return of rhythm guitarist
Kevin "St. Mayhem" Powe after he missed their reunion set last year, and
as a teaser, Frightlight posted this short video onto their Facebook page on July 31st of Kevin (sans makeup) covering "Rust Angel".
Of course, "Rust Angel" began life as a surf rock-inspired Fitswitch song
before their successors adopted it in a heavier form factor, so fans of
both bands will like this! The over-exposed lighting and tight camera
angle don't add to the visual quality, but it's great to see Kevin
playing this song again, and you can see him do so with his Frightlight
brethren once more at The Canadian Nightclub next month, so give it a look below!
Next up, here's another notable band return for this fall, as inactive local Foo Fighters tribute band The Soo Fighters
announced on their Facebook page last week that they have reunited with
a new lineup! As such, they will return to the stage on November 1st, very likely
at J.D. Pearce's previously announced Halloween Party that night, which they played at two years ago in their second and final concert to date. It does make sense that they would be the Foo Fighters tribute for this year, so if you liked them in 2017, here's your next chance! In a time where Parabol, Coral Fang, and Poison Girl can all exist as local tribute bands, why not one more? However, only singer/guitarist Jules Cote (with Dave Grohl wig in tow) will be back for their return, as he will now be joined by ex-2 Minute Warning guitarist Wes Greco, Jules' Chunks of Manh bandmate Max Ambeault on bass, and Elements/Winkstinger drummer Jonas Gasperas, all replacing Jeremey Salatuk and John & Jonny Amendola.
A reason for the lineup departures has not been announced, but remember that this lineup was from two years ago, and Jules & the Amendolas haven't played together with their primary pop rock cover band Cherry Crush since August of last year, so we would be considering them to be inactive for SMS purposes. The new lineup seems promising, but how will they sound at this year's Halloween party? Stay tuned for updates, and unless this proves to be a one-off, The Soo Fighters are back in our active band links!
Also today, I wanted to acknowledge a solo musician being moved to our inactive band links, namely Mike Cliffe. A constant presence in our band links as long as we've had them, Mike is a skilled veteran guitarist whose progressive and often heavy originals are always worth listening to, but as you may know, his music was increasingly entwined with his work as the host and curator of the local music podcast Audiofumes. The 24 archive episodes showcase an eclectic collection of music from the Soo and far flung locations that would be more than at home on public or freeform radio, and collaborations between Mike and artists heard on Audiofumes were once very common. While I have never found a statement confirming it's status. no new episodes have been posted since April of last year, nothing has been posted on the Audiofumes or Sound Bacon pages reflecting Mike's music or new episodes since last summer, and the Audiofumes Facebook group is now largely used as a posting board for songs and some local concerts.
Mike's a very nice guy and an extremely creative musician, so whether or not the podcast ever resurfaces, I hope he dives back into his own music again when the time is right, and you can hear lots of his surviving music on his Reverbnation page. As one of the few Sault Ontario-originated rock radio/podcasting outlets, Audiofumes deserved more listeners, and with the diverse, unconventional array of music in each installment, there was always something to hear and nothing you expect! We'll let you know if Mike and/or Audiofumes return to activity in some form in the future!
We'll close today with a new teaser video for local Tool tribute band Parabol's headlining concert at Soo Blaster on October 12th, as shared to their Facebook page on Thursday! Featuring an assortment of new-ish images and band logos alongside some opening post-production effects, the video is set to a bunch of assorted audio clips of the guys playing live, and while it'd be nice to hear the full songs, you do get a sense of how faithful their sound is to the real thing! Give it a look below, and click here for more concert details!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates on the site this week! Thanks everyone!
Next up, let's head back to Sault Ontario, where local hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison has a busy weekend ahead with at least five publically advertised shows over the next four days! First, Tym will play the second and third gigs of his new Roadhouse Bar & Grill concert slate TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT, with the former being the only non-Friday gig at this east end venue in this run there. If you've missed Tym on Thursdays at Gliss, this show may help fill the void for a night, though if you can't see him there this weekend, he isn't scheduled to return until November. Elsewhere, Tym will maintain his long-term arrangement at Gliss Restaurant with matinee gigs TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT, so regular fans will be happy to see him back on Spring Street once again this weekend, while his summer season run at La Terrazza Franzisi in Richards Landing continues on SUNDAY for you St. Joseph Island concertgoers up for music by the wharf!
Lastly for known public hard rock concerts this weekend in the Soo area, let's head to The Esquire Club, where local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Last seen at this popular west end venue over a month ago, this will be Soundcheck's first concert weekend since Ride For ARCH, and while the guys haven't newly promoted these shows online this week, they have been listed on this concert calendar since February. Any chance to see Travis, Terry, Paul, and Glen on stage will give fans lots of hard and classic rock hits to take in, so keep this weekend's bookings in mind for Soundcheck's fan favourite attack! As usual, these are 19+ events with 10:00 PM-ish start times and no cover charges. See above for more details, and here's Soundcheck live!
