LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Soundcheck) & Most Of This Weekend's Hard Rock Concert Previews!!

Before we kick off this weekend's hard rock concert previews, just a heads up that local classic/hard rock cover quartet Obsession's planned Esquire Club matinee show on Saturday, June 11th has been cancelled, as per their Facebook page. This is their second straight concert cancellation following their planned May 28th gig at the same venue, and while that one was scuttled due to "health reasons", they emphasized this time that "we are all OK" and it was "due to unforeseen circumstances". Obsession will reportedly return to the stage at Rotaryfest Stage 1 next month, but we await a formal announcement by organizers on this year's lineup. Stay tuned, and hopefully all is indeed well in the band's camp!

Now, let's dive into most of this weekend's hard rock concert previews, with the exception of the Glambition festival on Saturday, which will topline tomorrow's post due to it's size & nature. Today's shows are all pure concerts, starting with SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, as local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to Reggie's Place on Queen Street East for shows TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, these dates were only announced via two separate Facebook event pages (one for each night) launched through their own Facebook page yesterday. These will be Soundcheck's first gigs at the downtown Reggie's in just over a month, and come fresh off of their usual Thursday open mic/jam night that they host at Reggie's West. Hopefully Terry, Cameron(?), Paul or Rob, and Glen have a great weekend!

TOMORROW & SATURDAY'S concerts are 19+ affairs with no cover charge as normal for Reggie's, but in what may be a reversion to pre-pandemic scenatios, the start times for both nights are listed as 9:30 PM rather than 8:00 PM. Good sign towards further normalcy, or a typo? Visit the above links for more on Soundcheck's Reggie's Place shows TOMORROW & SATURDAY, and here's Soundcheck's rock attack live!

Next up, here's some shows this weekend that had lots more than a few days' notice, starting with the return of Traverse City, Michigan classic metal trio Peril to The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! An unusually fast turnaround for these veteran touring favourites in the E.U.P., as fans in Sault Michigan will have just seen Jeff, Adam, and Brooks three weeks ago, but St. Ignace-area fans last saw Peril this past fall. Peril's talented and experienced brand of hard rock, classic rock, and metal covers should go over well as usual tomorrow & Saturday in St. Ignace, so don't miss out on all of the action if you're able to go! As usual for Kewadin lounge gigs, expect 9:00 PM start times, no cover charges, and 21+ age limits. If you can't make it, Peril and their sister band Scarkazm are not advertised for Kewadin dates through July, so keep an eye out for late 2022 dates. See above for more, and here's Peril live!

Also this weekend, let's head back to Sault Ontario, where local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard will return to Shooters Downstairs Lounge on Dennis Street for a second straight week THIS SATURDAY NIGHT! After surprisingly playing both Friday and Saturday there last week, Bone Yard are back to the usual Saturday-only booking at Shooters this weekend, either due to or resulting in their Warren-less acoustic side project The Bearded Lounge (more on them soon) playing at The Water Tower Pub tomorrow night, and click here for details on that. The new Bone Yard lineup has been impressing since their debut in March, and hopefully the guys deliver more southern fried hard & classic rock favourites on Saturday once again! Expect an 8:00 PM start time, no cover charge, and a 19+ age limit as usual. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's some new live concert videos of Bone Yard playing at Shooters last week!

On May 27th, they live-streamed (sadly vertical) videos of covers of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Simple Man" and (as embedded below), Van Halen's "Eruption" & their version of The Kinks' "You Really Got Me", while an attendee named Becky shot them covering snippets of The Georgia Satellites' "Keep Your Hands To Yourself" & Kim Mitchell's "Lager & Ale" the next night in this (also vertical) clip.  Solid performances, if not optimally  angled, and Bone Yard have a good grip on these covers, especially thanks to Alex's very sound lead guitar work, so check these out above & below, and don't miss Bone Yard proper on Saturday night!

Finally for today's previews, local Tool tribute band Parabol will play their first public concert since October 2019 when they headline at Soo Blaster THIS SATURDAY NIGHT! In the 2+ years since this supergroup of Redefined, Odd Man Out, Half Past, and Late Shift alumni last performed, we've sat through a pandemic and the deletion and relaunch of their Facebook page, but hopefully their very faithful brand of Tool's progressive metal staples will be welcomed back with open arms on Saturday night! Soo Blaster may seem over-sized, but their last show before now was held there, and unlike then, Parabol will have an opening act. The band in question is new local acoustic rock duo Short & Sweet, featuring former Skeyes of Seven bandmates Cory Murchison (a.k.a. recent Fort Creek opener Cory Daniel) and Kyle Sweet. No online page or public media samples yet, but Cory & Kyle are well established and should set the tone nicely!

Note that Parabol's Al Fletcher is also a Skeyes of Seven alum, and Steve Myers played with Cory in Sense of Truth, so could we see any sort of symmetry during either band's set? Originally set to be a 19+ event, this concert is reportedly now ALL AGES due to popular demand, which does bode well for Parabol's return! Admission is $15 at the door (alas, this is up from the October 2019 concert), and a 9:00 PM start time is in effect. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Parabol's ultra faithful live Tool experience in video format!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for our Glambition preview and more next, with this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post following this weekend! Thanks everyone!