Before we begin this post, I wanted to apologize for a missed concert(s?) in this weekend's concert previews, as Sault Michigan classic/hard rock cover quartet Tarnished played at The Rapids Lounge at the local Kewadin Casino last night. The band only announced the show yesterday morning, noting that "it's last minute for us too", and while unstated there, they were late replacements for St. John's country veterans The Louie Longoria Band following the passing of Louie's brother, as per their Facebook page. I do not know if Tarnished played at the casino on Friday also, but kudos to the guys for filling in late, and hopefully the show(s?) went well! And of course, our condolences go out to the Longoria family at this time.
Today's news post otherwise features some new videos and assorted recent updates, but let's lead off with two LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for later this month in Sault Ontario, and we'll start with new local hard rock quartet 5 Dollar Bribe, who will play their second public concert on Friday, May 15th at Jay's Piston Broke Pub! Another trip to the west end for this promising young group, who received a strong reception for their matinee debut at Beck's Bar last month, but unlike that concert, this Victoria Day long weekend show will be in Jay's usual 9:30 PM timeslot, so how will 5.D.B. go over at the former Roosevelt Hotel? Find out next weekend, but give their ample videos from the Beck's show a watch on their Facebook page to see what Jayce, Tyler, Randy, and Chase bring to the table! This is a 19+ show (5 Dollar Bribe members aside), I do not yet know who is playing on Saturday the 16th, and there is no cover. Visit the above links for more details on their sophomore gig!
Next up, Victoria, B.C. noise rock duo Pet Retina and drummer Max Patterson's solo project i.o will make their return to Sault Ste. Marie on Wednesday, May 27th to play at Piecing It Together Shows' pop-up venue in their last concert of the 2025-2026 season! As the former Dryer Fire have done a few times in the past, P.I.T.S. have rented a vacant space to serve as a short-term host venue since September, this time at 331 Wellington Street West (beside Angela Le Fashion and across from Bruni's Fine Foods). A nine month residency is pretty good, but in that span, Nicole and crew haven't really dipped into hard rock or punk territory aside from open mic hosts, so this will be a party to cap off their Steelton stint! Pet Retina & i.o last came here in May of last year to open for Shae Tull's album release party, and this will be Pet Retina's third local stop, and i.o's fourth. Should be some explosive sets of minimalist noise ahead, so keep this one in mind!
Local support will come by way of local comedy rock band The Floor Between Us (more on them soon) and new local experimental group A.D.H.D. (who I still know nothing about). This all ages concert goes down in just over three weeks at 8:00 PM with advance tickets going for $15, but as of this writing, the online ticket link is not live. Visit the official Facebook event page for updates in that regard, but the door charge will jump to $20. The event page also notes that no one (will be) turned away for lack of funds. Should be a fun and diverse capper to P.I.T.S.' pop-up run on Wellington Street West, despite the mid-week scheduling, so see above for more details!
Also today, here's the latest from local progressive metal quartet Convergence's YouTube channel, where they have been surprisingly active in the past month posting there like it is Facebook, even though you basically have to be subscribed to them to not have to seek the posts out yourself. Of note, they launched a poll last week asking for fan input on a new original song name, giving the options "Cooked/Chopped", "Ultraluminari", "I Hate My Day Job", and "Erode". Assuming these aren't joke titles, this confirms that their long-gestating self-titled album will have new originals and not just re-recordings and holdovers from their instrumental era, but if you want to pick your favourite name, do so above! Along with "new content, new music, and some heavy surprises on the way", three new vertical "Shorts" videos were posted there as well as on the band's Facebook page, so what can you see therein?
One is a vertical clip taken from Stephen's vocal tracking from their behind-the-scenes video from last month, so if you want the full upload in widescreen and without a "This chorus hits different" caption hard-coded on the video, watch that instead. Another just reuses the same promotional Soo Blaster video used in other "Shorts" seen on social media, this time following a jumpscare (with a warning, at least). Embedded below is the only new "Short", which gives us an alleged glimpse at what the band members hear in their in-ear monitors when recording their music. Amusing while it lasts, so give it a watch below, and stay tuned for more from Convergence soon!
Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist name:
- Some Facebook users may have seen a "Story" video shared from The Speak Easy's Facebook page showing newer local ska punk band A.S.D.P. playing at Friday night's Write-Ups concert there, but alas, as a "Story", I could only watch it once before it vanished forever, despite being the first public A.S.D.P. video that I have ever seen online. You'll have to take my word for it that the vertical video showed a second guitarist (wearing a Vanity First t-shirt) playing with Adam Smith Death Parade, but I didn't immediately recognize him, nor do I know if he was a new permanent member or just a guest. We'll let you know if something is confirmed!
- In a quiet announcement on his Facebook page on April 23rd, local hard rock solo musician Mike McCleary announced that the first single from his new album will be released to major streaming services on June 5th! The song is named "Carousel", and while I can't go back and check due to Mike delisting most of his back catalogue, this appears to be a re-recording of a song of the same name that he included on his 2018 EP "Hourglass" and its full-album expansion "Weight Of The World" (which I reviewed at the time). Stay tuned for the (re-?) release next month!
- At this year's Northern Ontario Music & Film Awards, Dustin Goodall has received his third nomination for Outstanding Engineer for his work producing local death metal trio Pillory's new album "Old Soul"! Dustin was previously nominated in this category in 2024 for producing both The Northwest's last EP and Handsome Sandwich's first album. He does great work at Unsalted Audio, so congratulations to Dustin and the other nominees! The winners will be announced on June 20th, and fellow local musicians Crystal Shawanda and Kalle Mattson have been nominated in other categories,
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site this week! Thanks everyone!
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