Toystock IV Concert Preview, Eugene Orlando Services, And New That's Chester Videos!!

For our post on this Saturday morning, we're largely tackling a major returning seasonal concert for a preview, but we also have some new videos from a recent event that feature a recently passed fixture in the local music scene, who leads things with information on his final services. Here's what you should know!

The obituary for late That's Chester guitarist Eugene Orlando has been posted on SooToday at this link, which confirms that his funeral services will be held on Tuesday at 1:30 PM at St. Gregory's Church (71 Estelle Street, near St. Theresa Catholic School) with Father Alex Saurianthadathil presiding. Visitation will be held at The O'Sullivan Funeral Home at 215 St. James Street on Monday at 5:00 PM and Tuesday at 11:00 AM, and interment will follow the services at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery. Eugene was just 56 years old, and he is survived by his wife Estelle, his three daughters, his grandson, his father, and other extended family members. His family would appreciate donations to the Sault Area Hospital Foundation in his memory, and you can offer online condolences at this link. This is all still very sad for friends, bandmates, and fans of Eugene's, but I do hope everyone remembers the good times he had and brought during next week's functions. Stay tuned at post's end for more from his last live concerts, and R.I.P. Eugene!

Next up, here's our preview of the fourth annual Toystock fundraiser concert, which goes down TOMORROW with 10 bands in 10 hours once again rocking out for a great cause! Moving from The Canadian Nightclub to The Grand Gardens at 1324 Great Northern Road this year for size concerns & to encourage more families to attend, this annual seasonal concert will still provide loads of quality ALL AGES entertainment from the accumulated bands, with all proceeds going to Christmas Cheer, a great cause as always! Despite the move, expect the Stuff-A-Bus to be on site like before, as well as food & drinks, prize giveaways (including a GoPro camera as the door prize), and yes, appearances from Santa & Mrs. Claus too, so keep all of this in mind if you're planning to attend! Like in past years, Toystock is largely focused around cover bands and scattered younger talent, but only three of this year's bands are back from prior installments, so things will be suitably different for year 4, but who can you expect to see during tomorrow's festivities?

In apparent order from online materials, the headlining band will be country cover quartet Bone Yard (in their record-tying third Toystock set) at 9:00 PM, and they'll be immediately preceded by post-punk quartet Gnaeus, who should have lots of songs from their forthcoming CD "Loomings" in store! A one-off punk cover band named The Rude-Offs (featuring Destroilet's Christian Foisy, Adam Larocque, and Matt Waples, Treble Charger's Greig Nori, Bone Yard's Greg Simpson, and special guests) will take the stage at 7:00 PM for a set of punked-up Christmas carols, which should be an intriguing attraction to say the least, so make sure you stay for their set! The debuting local rock trio Under The Influence (featuring Turner Up/Wishbone alum Brent Royer alongside guitarist Mike Muto & bassist Ryan Bell) will hit the stage at 6:00 PM, but what do they play, and how do they sound? Be the first to find out!

A pair of classic/hard rock cover quartets will take the stage in the preceding blocks, they being Havadder (replacing Nikkfitt) at 5:00 PM and Mourning Wood (in their second straight Toystock set) at 4:00 PM. Blues rockers Mojo will rock the house at 3:00 PM, as preceded by all-female classic rockers Domina (who are also returning from last year) at 2:00 PM, veteran country trio The Algo Rhythms at 1:00 PM, and students from the Bocturoc Academy of Music kicking things off at 12:00 PM. Very solid lineup, so come early for all of the talent on display! It should be noted that Toystock comes just days after the sudden passing of Eugene Orlando, who was a bandmate of Bone Yard's Greg Simpson and Ric Datson in That's Chester, and was a friend and colleague of many of the night's performers. Nothing has been announced regarding a possible tribute as of this writing, but if we hear anything, we'll let you know!

Promoted by Maxx Entertainment as usual, this all day and ALL AGES concert event has admission via a donation of a toy, non-perishable food, or (if you can't donate either) money, and visit the official Facebook event page for more details! Once again, Toystock IV sounds like a great event for a great cause, especially at this time of year, so be sure to consider attending for this all-day lineup of local talent tomorrow (and remember, it's now at The Grand Gardens, out near The Trading Post!) I do wonder why Lucky 13 aren't on the lineup though, this is the first Toystock that they've missed... hopefully all's well with them! See above for more details, and here's Gnaeus live earlier this year!


 

We'll close today with some newly posted videos from local classic/hard rock cover quintet That's Chester's performances during the live production of The Who's Tommy at The Machine Shop earlier this month, as per drummer Ric Datson's YouTube channel in the last few days. These hold more resonance now given that they were the final live concert performances from guitarist Eugene Orlando, so take note of them on that basis as well, and at least this was quite a high note to go out on! These three newest videos include That's Chester covering The Who's "Captain Walker" & "It's A Boy",, "Underture" (both with cast members providing vocals), and as embedded below, "Amazing Journey", with Greg Simpson singing as the narrator. All preceded once again by lengthy credits, these show That's Chester in fine form as both a band and as the backing musicians for the play at hand, and "Amazing Journey" is a fitting selection to show Eugene's skill at both the guitar and keyboard! 

Vocals are muffled again on these videos, but the multi-camera angles and professionalism come through well, and while it's too soon to speculate on That's Chester's future, Eugene's diverse talents are very much on full display! Our condolences again go out to his family, friends, and bandmates at this difficult time, but give these new Tommy videos a look above & below!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for much more news and updates in due course! Thanks everyone!