LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Inner City Surfers) & Mike McCleary Updates!!

Two topic post on the SMS on this Sunday morning, but we're leading off with a huge LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for later this fall, and punk fans of the 2000s and beyond will absolutely want to mark this one on their calendars, so here's what you should know!

If you're a fan of veteran local punk musician Mikey Hawdon, then you may want to head to Soo Blaster on Friday, November 3rd, as multiple past/present bands of his will take the stage on this night! This concert is being put on as "a pre-wedding rock n' roll party" in the lead up to his upcoming marriage to his fiance Ali Rainone, and despite the seemingly personal trappings, it is 100% a concert that the public can buy tickets for, not a stag & doe intended for friends/family only. Your headliners on this night are local punk quartet The Inner City Surfers in a one-off reunion, marking their Soo Blaster debut, their first gig in over four years, and just their second concert set in the past decade. The Facebook event page somewhat worryingly says that this may be The Surfers' "last show for quite some time" (remember, Brad lives out of town), but whether this proves true or not, it'll be awesome to welcome these local punk legends back after way too long!

Their set is scheduled to take place at 12:00 AM, so strap yourselves in! Co-headlining this event are Toronto-based AC/DC tribute band AMY/DC, who Mikey himself is a guitarist in, and remains a band member despite his move back home (they just don't play live as often). AMY/DC proper have never played here, but you will recognize frontwoman Amy Zuccheto (a.k.a. Amy Gabba; more on her in a bit) from multiple local concerts in the 2010s, and from this Mikey & His Uke cover of "Shoot To Thrill". Should be fun to see AMY/DC in town, and a female-fronted AC/DC tribute band is definitely unique for the Soo! Before their 10:45 PM set, Mikey's current online page-less alternative/hard rock cover quartet Bookclub will take the stage for a set at 9:45 PM, and it will be interesting to hear how their generally more mainstream setlist goes over with the punk-leaning crowd on November 3rd!

The openers will be a one-off reunion of Mikey & Amy's old Toronto-based Ramones/Joan Jett tribute band The Merves, who were active from 2010-2015, playing local dates five times in that span. Note that this is not the same band as Mikey & Amy's later Ramones/Joan Jett tribute The Gabba Heys, who played here in 2018 (the two bands had different rhythm sections and social media pages). Regardless of name, it's been a minute since Mikey channeled his inner Joey Ramone on a local stage, so be there nice and early for this tribute action! Note that The Merves also featured Mikey's old Fairmounts bandmates, so if you miss that band, keep that angle in mind too. This 19+ concert has a 9:00 PM start time on November 3rd, and tickets will run for $25 in advance or $30 at the door. Advance tickets will be on sale at The Rad Zone, Case's Music, Long & McQuade, and Soo Blaster.

This will be an absolutely massive night for local punk fans, and the Surfers reunion alone would be reason enough for many to come to Soo Blaster, let alone Mikey playing four sets with different bands in one night! Given the Surfers' reputation from their 2000s heyday, who knows what will happen when Dustin, Dave, Brad, and Mikey take the stage, so do not miss this show when it comes around! Visit the above links for more details!

We'll close today with a different local guitarist named Mike, namely hard rock solo musician Mike McCleary, so what's new from his camp? On Thursday, he revealed on his Facebook page that he has decided to indefinitely focus on instrumental music rather than material with him on lead vocals, after realizing that "that's where my true passion is", and he has more freedom & creativity when he focuses on music over lyrics. Mike knows better than any of us what is most comfortable for him, I just hope that his pre-2023 back catalog isn't delisted forever, as he has (had?) good songs with vocals! Mike did also suggest that he'd be willing to do backup vocals in a live band when/if he joins one, though note that he hasn't been in a proper band yet due to anxiety about playing live (he stated this on Facebook in July). In terms of new media of him playing guitar, we do have a new video to check out, so what is there to see here?

Nothing, it's just a black screen, but the 52 seconds-long clip is from an instrumental song he's working on that is inspired by horror movies that he was watching. What we hear is promisingly heavy and has a good melodic base to it, plus some room to show off a bit of soloing, so fans of Mike's heavier material will enjoy the teaser below!

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