Let's finish up this weekend's hard rock concert previews on this rainy Friday, but leading off, we do have LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, one on SHORT NOTICE, so here's what you should know!
Local alt-punk bands The Northwest and BookcluB will join forces TOMORROW at the Downtown Plaza for the Elbows Up celebration! Apologies for the short notice, I only heard anything about local music involvement yesterday via Facebook plugs, but the event proper has been advertised in local news media for a few weeks now. TOMORROW's event is one of many "Elbows Up" events designed to promote Canadian sovereignty and national pride in the wake of the current political climate/trade war with the United States. The event is intended to be family friendly, non-political, and positive, and as such, expect t-shirt sales (red & white clothing is encouraged), celebrations and gatherings, and local indigenous dancers and drum groups in the afternoon. Timeslots aren't given, but the bands (including the reunited funk/jam rock band Big Wheel & The Spokes) were described on Facebook as playing the "after party", so don't expect them early.
Good to see The Northwest and BookcluB back out there after their relatively quiet starts to 2025! MCed by Spokes frontman Jay Case, TOMORROW'S Elbows Up celebration is a free and all ages event, and coincides with a similar Bridging Our Friendship event in Sault Michigan near the International Bridge tomorrow to show support to Sault Ontario amidst the trade war and strained relations (this is also simultaneously happening in Detroit and Port Huron). I hope both events are peaceful shows of support for both Canada and our relationship with Sault Michigan, as none of what's going on now is either Soo's fault! Weather-wise, we're looking at 7-9° weather TOMORROW afternoon with clouds disappearing by the evening, and no chance of rain. Visit the above links and SooToday for more details, and here's BookcluB live!
Next up, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations will return to the stage with concerts at Jay's Piston Broke Pub on Friday, May 16th and Saturday, May 17th! Yes, these shows fall on the Victoria Day ("May 2-4") long weekend, and will be joined by the band (sans singer Valerie Powley) hosting the Thursday jam night on the 15th as well. Remember that we don't cover jam/open mic nights as "concerts" due to their unpredictability. These will be Generations' first concerts after taking this month off from the stage, so it will be good to see the Jus' Chillin successors back at it with their fan favourite classic and hard rock covers next month! These remain 9:30 PM gigs with 19+ age limits and no cover charges. Beyond that, drummer Tony Santoro also announced on their Facebook group that Generations have been tapped as this year's headliners for The Roberta Bondar Pavilion's Canada Day festivities on Tuesday, July 1st, which could be their biggest show of the year!
Details are forthcoming on the day's complete itinerary, but last year, the stage under the big tent hosted live entertainment (not all musicians) from 2:00 PM onward, with The Way Backs doing the closing honours last year. Click here to see what 2024's schedule looked like. The Canada Day show will be FREE & ALL AGES, with Generations playing at around 8:00 PM, give or take when fireworks occur. Huge news for Valerie, the Tonys, and Pierre, and hopefully they deliver a solid evening of covers (ideally with lots of Cancon) for the occasion! Visit the above links for more details on Generations' impending dates, and we'll let you know if we hear more!
Finally for this post, let's wrap up this weekend's concert previews with a big mixed-genre show on SUNDAY NIGHT at Soo Blaster, as local party metal trio The Apocalypse Afterparty will again serve as outliers on an otherwise rap bill, once again opening for Guelph rapper Robbie G! This will be the fifth time that the Stanghettas & Mikhal have set up shop as the lone rock outpost at a Soo Blaster hip-hop event, previously doing so at shows headlined by Tech N9ne, Madchild, Afroman, and the aforementioned Robbie G, who last graced the Soo Blaster stage at the end of 2023. Clearly, these rap shows are giving The A.A. some strong positive notices, so hopefully there's more of the same for their guitar devoid & double bassed attack! DJ Bizick will be at the controls on Sunday, while other rappers performing on Sunday include No Filter Records representatives, Bold Noize, 1Don, Strangers, Q-Bone, and new confirmation KG Tha Sungod, who was confirmed on Eventbrite.
I'm not a hip-hop scholar, but there's a lot of talent among Sunday's roster, and it is great to see Bold Noise performing again, so don't miss out on all of this rap action then, with a dash of rock! Tickets are $20 in advance at Soo Blaster for general admission (it is all ages), while there are higher priced V.I.P. packages if you wanted merchandise, a chance to meet Robbie G, and perhaps more. Click here for full details on online tickets and V.I.P. passes, though there will be taxes and processing fees that way. Visit the Facebook event page for more details, and here's The Apocalypse Afterparty live!
That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site this weekend! Thanks everyone!
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