LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (The Nameless Friends, The Apocalypse Afterparty, And Soundcheck), And Much More!!

Before we begin today's post, I wanted to apologize for missing "Wing Wednesday" acoustic concerts at Jay's Piston Broke Pub by Bone Yard frontman Greg Simpson (August 9th & 23rd) and Nostalgic Band frontman Tym Morrison (this past Wednesday) for coverage on the site. These shows often only get late notice coverage from the venue, so they have been easy to miss on my part, especially given the atypical mid-week scheduling. I'll try to keep a better eye out for them, but hopefully all three were hits! Now, here's some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (one on SHORT NOTICE) and a surprise metal solo project's return!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to Jay's Piston Broke Pub for a concert TONIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, this show was only announced late last night, and it truly did come together on short notice, as Jay's were openly looking for a late replacement musical act following The Nostalgic Band dropping out of their planned booking this weekend. Of course, Soundcheck just played their usual Thursday jam night last night, so they are very well known around these parts, but this show will have a twist. As you can see in the marquee image from the venue, Soundch(ec)k will have a guest, and while there hasn't been a public confirmation as to his identity, drummer Glen Thomas confirmed on his personal Facebook page that singer Darrel Ford will be filling in for Cameron Oliver, who is involved with a wedding this weekend and will be unavailable as a result.

While not in a Soundcheck video, you can see Darrel covering Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train" at a Bone Yard-hosted jam night at this link, and he should do a good job as a fill-in, possibly adding a heavier edge for the night! Due to the aforementioned wedding (which singer/guitarist Terry Eaton is actually DJing tomorrow night), Soundcheck are only playing TONIGHT, so keep posted with Jay's if you're curious as to who the Saturday band may end up being. TONIGHT's concert has a 9:00 PM start time, 19+ age limit, and no cover charge. See above for more details, and here's Soundcheck live at a recent jam night!

Next up, London progressive/hard rock band The Nameless Friends will make their way to the Soo on Thursday, October 12th at Reggie's Place! An uncommon (but not unheard of) venue for touring bands, Reggie's will be getting quite an original band in three weeks, with band members only identified as "Number One", "Number Two", and so on, charged songs about left-wing social issues, and a unique keyboard-infused sound that calls to mind 1970s prog rock with a heavier modern sensibility and lots of influences. They're a band that's hard to pin down, and should turn many heads when they play here in support of their new album "Blasphemy" next month! Note that The Nameless Friends reportedly played at Reggie's back in July 2017 (source here) but I have no memory of that event. An eclectic local support roster includes alt-punk trio A Dire Setback (in their Reggie's debut) and pop rock cover quartet Lime.

No one is a pure compliment in musical styles here, and neither local band has publically confirmed their involvement in this show (the venue and headliners did those honours), but hopefully everything runs smoothly across the board for what should be a fun night! This 19+ concert has an earlier 7:00 PM start time and will have $15 admission at the door. Visit the above links for more details on this event!

Today's other new concert takes us to Soo Blaster on Saturday, November 18th for an all-local event headlined in a rare appearance by local party metal duo The Apocalypse Afterparty! In some ways, this is basically a pared down, 100% public sequel to a private house party event that they put on last month, but you don't see Paul & Amanda play public gigs at actual public venues too often (especially not as headliners), so expect fireworks from their own charged rap metal attack in two months! They will reportedly feature Vanity First/Hails guitarist Mikhal Muto as a second bassist for this show, as per his personal Facebook page, but I can't confirm if he has joined the band or if he's just a guest. Newer local metal trio The BAG and prolific local folk punk/extreme metal solo musician Chase Wigmore will open the proceedings, so metal and hard rock fans will definitely get pulled in many directions from these acts!

The public poster (from Chase's Facebook page) is cropped to square dimensions, but Mikhal's personal Facebook page has the full poster, confirming that admission will be $10 in advance (via an Eventbrite link to be launched) or $15 at the door, and this 7:00 PM show will be all ages. All-local, all-original events like this are rarer than they really should be, so keep this Saturday nighter in November in mind to see an eclectic range of local metal talent, and see above for more details!

Finally today, here's a pleasant surprise from Sault Michigan (well, a few hours away): Galactic Alignment are back! In case you need a refresher, this was the 2009-2014 progressive metal solo project from local guitarist Mike Libertoski, who local fans may recognize from bands like The Slackjawed Rats, Swayze Train, and The London Gentlemen in the late 2000s and early 2010s. He has since moved downstate and currently performs in the southeast Michigan deathcore band Living Dissection, and it is cool seeing him playing original metal in a band of this scale nowadays, even if he had had to move 5+ hours away to do it. Aside from sharing this video that was posted to his YouTube channel in 2021, we hadn't heard from Galactic Alignment on their Facebook page since October 2013, so it was very surprising to see a post there on September 14th, where Mike revealed that he's re-recording Galactic Alignment's original 2009 demos!

Mike is planning to release them in some form or fashion by year's end, and you can hear the first fruit of this labour via his new Facebook video of the Galactic Alignment original "Shredded Into Pieces" (well, the first 85 seconds of it). If you want to hear more of their old original output, visit their Reverbnation page to see what Mike may be redoing. It's no hyperbole when I say that Mike is one of the most talented guitarists that Sault Michigan has ever produced, so I fully welcome him bringing back Galactic Alignment, and this teaser clip will leave fans wanting more! Check it out for yourself below, and stay tuned for updates!

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