Weekend concert previews are upon us, but given how much I wrote about today's first band (new to our links, if not the live music scene), I have opted to move our preview of Saturday night's HeadF1rst concert at Beck's to a separate news post tomorrow. Here's what you should know to start the weekend off right, including SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!
It's time to finally and belatedly roll local classic/hard rock cover quartet Separate Wayz
into our full coverage! The delay was because I couldn't 100% verify if
their sound and cover selection crossed our genre radar (the band
posted zero live videos online in 2025), but a recent lineup change and how it links to their sister band The Guilty Party led me to make the move. It was announced last week that Separate Wayz drummer Steven Flint (formerly of The Suicide Kings and Soundcheck)
had decided to leave the band, possibly temporarily, due to
scheduling concerns that make it difficult to guarantee his availability
for bookings. There is a chance that he will be back when he "makes his
final call", though the band didn't specify what his external
commitments revolve around. As such, Guilty Party drummer Brent Royer
was announced "as the drummer of Separate Wayz".
With Brent taking on the drum position in this band, it means that Separate Wayz and The Guilty Party
have identical lineups, aside from Separate Wayz' lead singer Nicole
Thibodeau (Brent is the main singer with The Guilty Party). Nicole was
discovered by then-Soundcheck bandmates Terry Eaton and Jim Michaud as a
favourite guest singer during their Thursday jam nights, and was
recruited to front their new band after Soundcheck disbanded on New
Year's Day last year. Presumably named for the Journey song with a
swapped letter, Separate Wayz debuted at The Water Tower Pub in
February, and they later performed at Jay's Piston Broke Pub and The Esquire Club, at Toystock in November, on the road in Wawa and Chapleau,
and at a private event or two. In those LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, their
first shows of the year (and with Brent) go down TOMORROW & SATURDAY
NIGHT at The Esquire Club!
Apologies for the short notice, these shows were only announced by the band late last week. While they credited this as "our debut at Esquire" on their Facebook page last week, the original lineup did play there back in April (source here). Given how the guys are used to playing with Brent in The Guilty Party (let alone Nicole guesting with that band at Reggie's last week), there shouldn't be any rust or growing pains as they return to the west end TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! With Steven stepping back, this may
lead to an increase in bookings for Separate Wayz if his availability
was the main reason why they weren't playing live often, but regardless, the synergy is noted. TOMORROW & SATURDAY'S shows are 9:30 PM affairs with no cover charge and 19+ age limits. Visit the Facebook event page for more details, and for a preview, here's the first ever public social media video of Separate Wayz! Well, technically, it's from a Guilty Party gig.!
Posted on the event page for this weekend, it features Nicole, Terry, Jim, and Brent covering Heart's "Barracuda" at Reggie's during one of The Guilty Party's shows there this past weekend. While sadly shot vertically (at least pan and zoom to hide the floor a bit!) and the very turquoise/magenta lighting doesn't suit the band, they sound good here, and if you haven't heard Nicole live yet, she was a really good voice that works well on this Heart classic! Give things a watch below, and don't miss Brent's official debuts with Separate Wayz TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT!
Finally for this preview post, let's stay in the west end, as veteran local classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison will bring his acoustic solo project back to Misty's Fifties for another matinee concert on SATURDAY NIGHT! This will be the second public concert of 2026 from the former Caveman Morrison frontman and Hollow guitarist, following his Misty's show this past Saturday, and while he's taking next Saturday off from the Second Line West nightclub, he will be back there in two weeks. Whether you're game to see Tym right away or not, you have lots of chances ahead this year to enjoy his old school blend of classic and hard rock covers in an intimate setting! As usual for his ample stops at Misty's Fifties, Saturday's gig is a 4:00 PM matinee with a presumed 19+ age limit and no cover charge. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details on this & upcoming Misty's shows, and here's Tym live!
That's all for now, but stay tuned for our HeadF1rst preview and more next! Thanks everyone!
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