LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Toystock & HeadFirst), Plus A New Local Hard Rock Band!!

Things fell behind a bit due to out Halloween coverage and feature posts, so let's swing for the fences with a big post on this Wednesday evening, featuring LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for this month concerning a major returning charity concert and the prior live debut of one of the bands playing that, but who are they? Read on to find out!

We have a new local hard rock band to add to our links, and they are HeadFirst! Launched via their Facebook page in July, they are a younger group featuring a mix of new and familiar faces, including singer/guitarist Red Jettison, former Raincourt guitarist Raine Rancourt, guitarist Liam Dinsmore, bassist Claire Jeffrey, and former Them/Kaepora Gaebora drummer Anthony Boudreau. According to Facebook, they are "inspired by the golden age of '60s, '70s, and '80s rock and roll", and they do seem to be leaning into that based on their attire at the private event in August that they played their first concert set at, However, in those LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, their true public debuts will come at Reggie's Place on Friday, November 10th & Saturday, November 11th, so head downtown to see what HeadFirst have to offer next week! These shows have 9:00 PM start times, 19+ age limits, and no cover charges.

They have one more show announced for later this month, which we will touch on in a second. Our first video look at HeadFirst sees them covering Green Day's "When I Come Around" (not what I expected given their stated inspirations), which was bizarrely uploaded in a vertical aspect ratio despite being filmed horizontally, hence the huge pillarboxing. That aside, the multi-camera footage captures an enthusiastic performance, with Red showing early promise as a showman, and while I do want to see more challenging stuff with solos, this is a good teaser of what's to come from them! Check out more from HeadFirst above and below, and at the Facebook event page for next week's concerts!

Next up, HeadFirst's third announced public gig will be as part of the tenth annual Toystock charity concert on Sunday, November 26th! Returning to The Grand Gardens at 1324 Great Northern Road for a seventh straight installment (and second since their two year pandemic hiatus), this is the annual benefit event promoted by Bone Yard frontman Greg Simpson featuring ten bands donating their time to play across ten hours, family activities and kids entertainment, visits from Santa Claus, and admission via donations of toys, non-perishable food, or cash to Christmas Cheer. Always a wonderful cause to help kickstart the holiday season, and it's great to see Toystock hit the 10 year milestone! This year's ten bands in ten hours will be toplined once again at 9:00 PM by the aforementioned Bone Yard in their record ninth Toystock set (the only year they missed was 2013, in which Greg performed with Stiffler's Mom instead).

Pop rock cover band Bourbon Blue will return to Toystock for a second straight year as the co-headliners at 8:00 PM, immediately preceded at 7:00 PM by a mystery band named Headrush (yes, two bands named Head____ are playing Toystock this year). No idea whatsoever on who Headrush are and what they play, we will keep you posted when we hear more! Classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will play their fifth straight Toystock (the most for anyone other than Bone Yard) at 6:00 PM, with drummer Glen Thomas expected to do his drumkit giveaway after their set once again, so a young attendee will get quite a gift! Fresh off of their RSVP-only Halloween gig at The Art Hub, new local rock quartet Skinbox will make their Toystock debut at 5:00 PM, with the aforementioned HeadFirst playing at 4:00 PM. The band at 3:00 PM will surprisingly be a reunion of local punk trio Redundant!

Last seen at the Buckcherry concert at Soo Blaster in late 2021, this will be Redundant's second Toystock appearance after playing there in 2016. Some sort of revival plans had been teased since September, so this isn't entirely unexpected, but it will be great to see Justin, Andrew, and Rick back on stage after two years away, and they are back in our active band links! Another mystery band is scheduled at 2:00 PM named Kickstart, and like with Headrush, I don't know a thing about them (shades of Ravencore, now Far From Fine, in our initial coverage last year). We'll let you know when we hear anything on one/both bands! A student band from Long & McQuade will return for a second straight year at 1:00 PM, continuing Toystock's tradition of having a music student group on the bill since year #2 in 2013. Algo Rhythms/Wailing Aztecs alum Kelly McGillivray will open Toystock X with a set at 12:00 PM in her solo debut at this event.

Toystock X is an ALL AGES event with kids more than welcome to enjoy the music and activities on offer, and remember that admission is free with a toy or canned good donation to Christmas Cheer, though you may donate cash if you wish. Kudos to Greg for keeping Toystock going for 10 installments across 12 years, and hopefully everyone helps out needy families with lots of donations for the cause at month's end, while enjoying a varied array of live music! Visit the official Toystock website and the above links for more details on what to expect on the 26th, and stay tuned for weekend concert previews on the site next! Thanks everuone!