Nanaimo, British Columbia pop punk quartet Danger Box will headline at The Distraction on East Street on Thursday, May 15th! Announced on less than two weeks notice on Friday, this show will be highly worth checking out for punk fans, with Danger Box's raw but melodic (and occasionally hardcore-tinged) original sound definitely up the alley of many genre fans, so don't bypass this show next week! Support will come by way of local crossover thrash/skate punk quartet Hails (featuring this show's promoter Mikhal Muto), who will be one week removed from opening for The Dayglo Abortions at Soo Blaster, preview forthcoming. This will be Ha!ls' second show of 2025, so pack the venue to rock out with them! This show is once again being held in the basement space, not the former barbershop upstairs, and at this point, I'm going to assume that this has been a permanent change dating back to last summer.
Also, they haven't used the Stellar Door name for the basement venue in months, so that's clearly now officially The Distraction, no name distinction needed. We'll let you know if concert bookings clearly happen upstairs again though! A 7:00 PM start time is in effect for this ALL AGES concert (the venue is not licensed), and admission is $20 or "pay what you can". Visit the official Facebook event page for more details on this high energy show next week!
Next up, Edmonton psychobilly/punk quintet The Raygun Cowboys will make their local concert debut (as far as I'm aware) on Sunday, May 18th when they invade The Whisky Barrel! Apologies for the delay in this making the site since being announced in mid-April, this show fell through the cracks. A familiar veteran presence in the Alberta music scene with their brassed-up brand of punk and rockabilly, The Raygun Cowboys deliver a fun and loud sound with their genre hybrid attack, distinctly gritty vocals, and upbeat, crowd-friendly energy, and it will be fun to see them in town! There are no advertised local openers whatsoever. A still relatively rare concert from a touring act at The Whisky Barrel on Gore Street, this show is a presentation of Piecing It Together Shows (the former Dryer Fire). It's a 19+ event with an 8:00 PM start time, and has NO COVER CHARGE. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details!
Also, Toronto progressive metal quintet Derev will play Sault Ste. Marie for the first time on Friday, May 23rd at Soo Blaster! Announced in this SooToday press release on Sunday, this show has oddly only seen minimal promotion on social media so far, but it will be the third post-relaunch concert promoted by Heavy North Entertainment, and their first modern show not headlined by Selias. Derev will be a relatively unique local headliner as touring acts go, combining melodic progressive rock, metal, and Middle Eastern influences (two band members met in Kuwait before forming the band in Toronto), and with their intricate & technical music and solid baritone vocals, Derev will be bound to turn local heads in 2+ weeks! As of Saturday, Heavy North Entertainment were still looking for local support bands for this concert, so message them at this link if your band wants in!
Tickets for this all ages show were supposed to go on sale on Eventbrite in the last full week of April, as per H.N.E.'s Facebook page, but I have not found any public link to that end. We'll let you know when more comes out about this show's opening band(s), start time, and/or admission fee, but hopefully things are on track, especially as the concert isn't that far away. Visit the above links for more details on Derev's local concert on the 23rd!
Lastly for today's new concert announcements, former Eclipse/Project 421 singer/guitarist Curtis McKenzie will bring his solo acoustic show back to the stage for two shows later this month, including a Saturday matinee at Beck's Bar (the former Vibe Lounge/White Eagles Club on Goulais Avenue) on May 24th before rocking The Dive Gastro Pub once again for a "Think It Over Thursday" gig on May 29th! These shows will end a nearly 2 months-long public break for Curt, who last played an acknowledged concert in early April at The Dive, so it will be good to see this prolific local hard rock/grunge musician back at it with more entertaining cover sets at month's end! Both gigs are 19+ affairs with no cover charges, and while his Dive show is at the usual 9:30 PM start time, the Beck's show on May 24th is in the 3:00 PM matinee timeslot (I do not yet know what band is playing there that night). Visit Curt's Facebook page for more details!
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