LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (The Wyld Stallyns & Soundcheck) And Weekend Concert Previews!!

(UPDATED AT 5:57 PM) One final update for today's weekend concert preview post, as an announced pair of concert cancellations was reversed, and you can read details on the still-on shows at post's end. The write-up on Tym Morrison's matinee show on Saturday will return to tomorrow's post alongside the Bone Yard 225 preview and more items, so don't worry, it will return! Now, here's what you should know to lead off most of this weekend's hard rock concert previews, starting with SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, and I apologize for the frequent edits!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to Reggie's Place for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the shows were only announced on the venue's Facebook page on Tuesday, and at press time, the band has not confirmed the bookings publically. Fresh off of rocking Jay's this past weekend and via hosting that venue's weekly jam night tonight, TOMORROW & SATURDAY'S shows will be Soundcheck's first at Reggie's since the St. Patrick's Day weekend. Hopefully their classic and hard rock cover blend (including select country renditions) go over well as usual at Reggie's this weekend despite the late notice! TOMORROW & SATURDAY's concerts take place at 9:30 PM with 19+ age limits and no cover charges. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Soundcheck live!

Next up, local funk/hard rock cover sextet The Wyld Stallyns will play their second announced show of 2024 when they return to Shooters Downstairs Lounge THIS SATURDAY NIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice, this show was only announced via the venue's Facebook page last night, and like Soundcheck, the band proper has not publically confirmed it. SATURDAY'S concert is effectively a re-booking of their planned Shooters gig on April 6th, which new drummer Brandan Glew advertised on his personal Facebook page in March, but it was never publically confirmed by the band or venue, and was quietly cancelled with no replacement band. It's great to see the new Stallyns lineup back at it, and if you missed them three weeks ago, you'll get your fill of fun rock covers! No word on why Shooters used that photo for the Stallyns though. Either they made a mistake, or Brandan, Josh, and Blair got huge makeovers!

Shooters are experimenting with hosting a matinee band on SATURDAY as well (a'la Reggie's) with blues rock veterans Smokehouse playing at 4:00 PM, but this is a case of two separate concerts on the same day, not Smokehouse "opening" for The Wyld Stallyns, whose first set begins 90 minutes after Smokehouse are projected to end their last one. The Stallyns will be on at 9:30 PM on SATURDAY with no cover charge and a 19+ age limit. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's The Wyld Stallyns live in concert a couple of years ago!

Moving to shows that had advance notice, we'll next head to The Distraction, where Montreal stoner/hard rock band The Hazytones will return to Sault Ste. Marie for a concert TONIGHT! Two-time local headliners at the former New American Pub in 2016 & 2017, The Hazytones have slowly gotten heavier in the seven years since we last saw them in town, and hopefully their songs from their new album "Wild Fever" and older originals go over well with local fans in their long awaited return! Local support will include alternative hard rock quintet Handsome Sandwich in their Distraction debut, their first local date since Brandon Ruch replaced Mitch Sirie on guitar, and their first concert of any kind since their Ottawa & Cornwall shows in January. It'll be interesting to see how the new lineup does, especially with their new EP still in the works, so don't miss out on the Sandwich's set!

Rising young hard rock quartet Sylo have quietly dropped out of this show for unannounced reasons and were not replaced, as per the hand drawn alternate poster on the venue's Facebook page from this morning. Hopefully nothing too serious happened, and that we see Sylo back at it soon! This all ages concert has doors opening at 7:30 PM tonight and admission is via a special $15 fee (or "pay what you can" as usual for The Distraction). Should be a good time for hard rock fans, and with a psychedelic tinge thanks to The Hazytones, so visit the Facebook event page for more details, and here's the headliners live!

Finally for today's concert preview post, local hard rock quintet HeadFirst are indeed playing at Jay's Piston Broke Pub TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! The band has originally announced the cancellation of these shows via their Facebook page due to an unspecified health issue (specifically afflicting drummer Anthony Boudreau), but due to "a lot of outcry", they scrambled to find a replacement drummer for the two dates, and they have one! The band has heavily implied that the guest drummer is Celeste Bond, the model for the silhouette in their official logo on the left (they confirmed her identity in an Instagram "Reel" months ago). Celeste isn't known to me from local music, but she has multi-instrumental talent and was a multicultural project officer for last year's Fringe North Festival, so hopefully she fills in well tomorrow and Saturday! This weekend's shows mark HeadFirst's... first Jay's shows since the end of March.

Drummer aside, these are standard concerts for HeadFirst, with 9:30 PM start times, 19+ age limits, and no cover charges for their classic-leaning slate of hard rock covers and select originals. Visit the above links for more details, I apologize for the rapid edits on my part for this post, and here's HeadFirst live!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for our Tym Morrison and Bone Yard 225 previews (and more) next! Thanks everyone!