LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Tarnished) & More St. Patrick's Day Weekend Concert Previews!!

As promised, here's the second half of this weekend's hard rock concert previews, a busier weekend than normal for this time of year given that St. Patrick's Day falls on a Friday! Again, if you are at all concerned about the incoming winter storm watch as it pertains to tonight's concerts (covered on the SMS or otherwise), inquire with the venues or bands in question. Now, let's look at three shows each on both sides of the border, starting with a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!

Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Tarnished will return to The Merchants Bar for their St. Patrick's Day bash TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the band only announced this show at 8:00 PM tonight via the short video embedded below from their Facebook page, where guitarist Nathan Webber hyped up the booking. Remember, The Merch's Facebook page does not typically promote scheduled bands, which remains true for this week, only hyping up drink specials, t-shirts, and tie-ins with "Merch Madness" (get it, like "March Madness"?). TOMORROW'S concert will be Tarnished's first since playing at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino branch earlier this month, and their first at the 108 West Spruce Street nightclub since another late notice gig there in December. If you want something a little heavier for your St. Patrick's Day revelry, a trip to The Merch TOMORROW NIGHT should do the trick, so don't miss out, despite the late notice!

This has a 9:00 PM start time, 21+ age limit, and no cover charge, and if you can't schedule this one into your plans given the competition over the holiday or from the late notice, remember that Tarnished are among the openers at the Scotty Austin show at The Savoy next week. Get more details on TOMORROW'S show at The Merch above & below!

Next up, let's leapfrog north to Sault Ontario for a one-nighter that did get advance notice, as local classic/hard rock solo musician Tym Morrison will make his debut at Tazzi's Cafe & Restaurant TOMORROW NIGHT! The latest unfamiliar/more intimate venue for Tym to try out in a seemingly neverending list for his acoustic solo act, Tazzi's is located just up the road from Reggie's Place at 478 Queen Street East, and while by no means new to the downtown core, they have been getting into booking (primarily) unplugged musicians on Friday nights in the past year. Tym's old school blend of classic and hard rock covers adapt well to new/unfamiliar locales, and hopefully he finds a solid audience tomorrow at Tazzi's! St. Patrick's Day-wise, the holiday is promoted in the branding, but they did not hint at any promotions or frills therein. Tomorrow's show has an 8:00 PM start time, no cover, and a 19+ age limit.

By rule, this will be the mellowest pound-for-pound hard rock show of St. Patrick's Day in the Twin Saults, but depending on your taste and mood, it may be just what the doctor ordered, so don't bypass Tym's Tazzi's debut tomorrow, and regardless, he should be back at Reggie's nearby in due course. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Tym live in concert late last year!

We'll head back to Michigan next for the earlier starting hard rock band playing both TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT, as Traverse City metal trio Scarkazm will return to The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino this weekend! While oddly not getting a promotional push on the band's end in recent days, these shows have had lots of advance notice and are still advertised for this weekend, including via Facebook event pages linked here & here. Scarkazm were last seen at The Rapids Lounge in early December, and fans of Adam, Dave, and Jeff's hard hitting originals and covers should be raring for more from this veteran trio this weekend! Of course, they have tough competition from Pop Evil elsewhere in the casino tomorrow, but does the St. Patrick's Day allure make up for that? I'd expect some sort of holiday frills, as the casino itself is promoting them, but I haven't heard anything Rapids Lounge-specific.

As usual for Scarkazm's E.U.P. trips (their February triple header aside), tomorrow & Saturday's concerts have 9:00 PM start times, 21+ age limits, and no cover charges. Fans of old school metal would be right at home with Scarkazm tomorrow night, so if you can't/don't want to get to Pop Evil, you have an alternative option on the premises, possibly with green beer to boot! Visit the above links for more details, and here's Scarkazm live!

Finally for known hard rock concerts this weekend is the return of Sault Ontario southern hard rock trio Bone Yard to Jay's Piston Broke Pub for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! After three weeks of cancelled gigs due in part to health reasons and the guys recording in studio, these will be Bone Yard's first shows in almost a month, but they picked a great weekend to come back given St. Patrick's Day! For at least tomorrow's show, expect green beer (of course), unspecified freebies, and the return of Bone Yard's own alcoholic shot and official band t-shirts, though note that some of the advertising is ambiguous as to whether Saturday's show will be similarly seasonal or not. It's great to see the guys (presumably) back to full strength, and hopefully the luck of the Irish is smiling on Bone Yard's southern fried hard and classic rock covers this weekend!

As far as I know, these shows remain 19+ affairs with no cover charge, and you can expect 9:30 PM start times. Visit the above links for much more on Bone Yard's St. Patrick's Day weekend return, and here they are live!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site this weekend! Thanks everyone!