LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Bone Yard 225, Generations, Soundcheck, And Tarnished!!)

Before we begin today's post (mostly including SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS), I wanted to briefly acknowledge that today marks the 17th anniversary of the launch of The Sault Metal Scene! Thank you to everyone for your support and readership since 2007, and here's to many more! Now, here's what you should know to lead off this weekend's hard rock concert previews on this Independence Day! Our Project 906, Silent 9, and Tym Morrison previews will be in our next post.

Sault Michigan hard rock/classic metal band Tarnished will return to this year's Fourth Of July parade TONIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, this performance was only announced this past Thursday via a "Reel" on their Facebook page. As you may recall, the then-four piece band rocked out on a float live during the parade the last two years, but neither time was this promoted in advance on social media by the band, so we missed both for coverage on the site. We didn't even cover last year's after the fact, which I profusely apologize for, but you can see them in photo #38 of Sara Eisinger's coverage for SooToday's Sault Michigan-centric sister site SooLeader at this link. We won't miss this year, so what should you know this time out? The parade begins TONIGHT at 7:00 PM and will take place between Davitt Street (behind U-Haul) and Magazine Street, moving north along West 14th Street, Ashmun Street, and West Portage Avenue.

Full details on how to attend/register for the parade can be seen at this link, but it is absolutely FREE & ALL AGES. Tarnished (who I assume will be in trio mode) have at least hinted that they'll be playing their new original song "Lightswitch" TONIGHT, perhaps multiple times given the nature of being on a float to a rapidly changing audience. 9&10 News is calling for partly cloudy weather of 59-66° Fahrenheit (18-19° Celsius) TONIGHT, so it should be a comfortable time to see the parade! We'll have much more from Tarnished in an upcoming post, but visit the above links for more details on TONIGHT'S Fourth Of July parade, and here's Tarnished live!

Next up, Sault Ontario southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 will return to Reggie's Place for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice, this show was only confirmed by Reggie's Facebook page on Tuesday. Uncharacteristically, Bone Yard have not publically confirmed the booking online whatsoever, so I get the impression that this truly is on short notice. This is a one nighter, due to or resulting in online page-less cover rock trio All Over The Map debuting at Reggie's on Saturday night, but according to their website's concert calendar, Greg, Alex, and Warren are playing at a private party on Saturday. It's not common for Reggie's to book the same band on consecutive weekends, but hopefully Bone Yard 225 keep things rocking TOMORROW after their Canada Day weekend action, especially riding the momentum of the release of "FAFO"!

As normal at Reggie's, your local 225 take the stage at 9:30 PM, there's no announced cover charge (any merchandise or "Bone Yard shot" purchases notwithstanding), and you must be 19 or older to attend. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Bone Yard live!

Also new this weekend, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to Jay's Piston Broke Pub for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies again for the short notice, these shows were only confirmed via the venue's Facebook page yesterday, and while the band hasn't publically corroborated the bookings yet, members did acknowledge them on personal Facebook pages. These will be Soundcheck's first shows since Sunday, when they did indeed play at the Cruisin' The Dub car show at the newer A&W on Great Northern Road, despite very minimal public advertising from them or organizers. I profusely apologize for missing that for full coverage, but I did address it here, erring on the side of caution given that I couldn't find public mentions of it in advance. Hopefully the car show went well, and that the next one has better advance publicity on social media!

Intriguingly, Soundcheck will precede TOMORROW & SATURDAY's shows with a one-off return as tonight's jam night hosts, just two weeks removed from their finale as the regular Thursday jam night band. This seems to be more a case of scheduling working out than a reversal of plans, but if you want to jam with Terry, Jim, and Glen one more time anew, keep that in mind! This weekend's shows have 19+ age limits, no cover charges, and 9:30 PM start times. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Soundcheck live last year!

Finally for today's all-late notice preview post, fellow local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations will return to Shooters Downstairs Lounge for one night only THIS SATURDAY NIGHT! Once again, apologies for the short notice, singer Valerie Powley only announced this show on their Facebook group on Sunday, where she also confirmed that they will return to the aforementioned Jay's Piston Broke Pub (or "Jay's Broken Piston") on Friday, July 12th and Saturday, July 13th, just two weeks removed from their last shows there! No word yet on if they'll be jam night hosts that week or not. In the lead-up to Rotaryfest, Generations are playing a string of consecutive weekends, which is great for fans, and hopefully SATURDAY's Shooters show provides some solid entertainment for fans and patrons alike! Remember, Shooters hosts DJs on Fridays this year, hence why this is a one nighter.

SATURDAY'S and next weekend's shows all have a 9:30 PM start time, 19+ age limit, and no cover charge. See above for more details, and for a preview, Valerie shared six videos from their Saturday nighters at Jay's on June 29th on their Facebook group! An attendee filmed them covering Pat Benatar's "Hit Me With Your Best Shot", Melissa Etheridge's "I'm The Only One", two songs with bassist Pierre Anthony on vocals (The Tragically Hip's "Blow At High Dough" and Dire Straits' "Money For Nothing"), one song with guitarist Tony Kajnar on vocals (Tom Petty's "You Wreck Me"), and as embedded below, Alannah Myles' "Love Is". The filmer of these videos got a lot of different views of Generations in action this past Saturday, including with the Melissa Etheridge and Alannah Myles covers featuring active dance floors and the Tom Petty video being filmed beside the stage.

Unfortunately, all six videos are vertical, and this includes the Pat Benatar and Tragically Hip covers, even though those were shot horizontally, meaning they were uploaded sideways.  If you can get past the vertical framing (and how it can accentuate the crowd levels on the floor), everyone sounds good on these covers, and it's good to see an array of songs featuring most of the band singing lead! I know that drummer Tony Santoro has lead vocal parts too, so I'd have completed the quadruple here, but give all six a watch above and below, and don't miss Generations at Shooters on SATURDAY NIGHT!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for the rest of this weekend's concert previews next! Thanks everyone!