The First Half Of This Weekend's Hard Rock/Punk Concert Previews!!

Another busy concert weekend is upon us, necessitating two posts to cover it all. As such, look for our previews of this weekend's Bone Yard 225, Double Down, Tarnished, and Nameless concerts in tomorrow's second preview post, so don't worry, they are coming! Now, here's what you should know, starting with a big punk show TONIGHT!

Leading off this busy weekend is the long awaited return of Pomona, California hardcore punk legends Total Chaos, who will headline TONIGHT at The Stellar Door under The Distraction! The second basement show at the former East Street barbershop, this space won rave reviews when The Ripcordz played there this summer, and hopefully the good vibes of a good old fashioned punk basement show continue for Total Chaos in their first local concert appearance since they rocked the former Oddfellows Hall fourteen years ago. Hardcore punk fans won't want to miss their established and newer original fury, so don't miss out tonight! Opening here are Ottawa "post street punk" band BALM Squad in their local debut, and they'll be a strong lead-off band with their hard hitting original sound, so don't bypass them tonight either! Surprisingly, this show does not have any advertised local opening acts.

Note that local/Barrie crossover thrash band Spades GT opened for BALM Squad in Toronto in July, and will open for The Exploited at two GTA shows this weekend, so the local connection goes further than you think! If you hadn't bought the limited $25 advance tickets by now, door admission is via a "$20 or pay what you can" setup, the Mikhal Muto-promoted concert starts at 9:00 PM. and this is definitely an ALL AGES venue (no alcohol, please respect the space). Despite being on a work/school night, this should be a great night of hardcore punk action, so don't miss out at The Stellar Door under The Distraction tonight, and here's Total Chaos live!

Next up, let's dive into musicians on the weekend cover circuit, starting with prolific local classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison, who will wrap up his summer 2024 arrangement at The Mike Case Memorial Stage outside of The Trading Post TOMORROW NIGHT before returning for another matinee  on SATURDAY at Misty's Fifties! As The Mike Case Stage only hosts live musicians seasonally, their live music schedule ends in early-mid September, hence why this is Tym's last Friday evening gig there of the year. If you like seeing Tym playing outdoors way down Great Northern Road, this is your last chance until (likely) mid-2025, so keep tomorrow's show in mind! If you prefer seeing him indoors and earlier in the day, his Misty's Fifties run continues until at least the end of the month, and we'll let you know if it gets extended at all. You can enjoy his unplugged classic & hard rock covers tomorrow at 7:00 PM and Saturday at 4:00 PM.

The Misty's show is likely 19+, and neither has a cover charge. For his outdoor swan song for 2024, tomorrow's Trading Post concert, we're looking at sunny-to-clear skies with temperatures at around 23°, so it should be a fine evening to wrap up the season's schedule with! Visit the official Facebook event pages linked here and here for more details, and for a preview, here's Tym live!

Also this weekend, former Haggith/Eclipse frontman Curtis McKenzie will hit the road just outside of town to play at the Rowdy Ranchers Horse Show at the Laird Fairgrounds TOMORROW & SATURDAY! This annual event is hosted by the local Rowdy Ranchers Round-Up horse club, and will see lots of family enterainment, vendors, and horse/pony shows and exhibits, so if you ride or just love horses, you might want to head out to Laird for all of the action this weekend! Visit the above links for more on the non-musical specifics. Curt will be the matinee musical entertainment during the day throughout the weekend, though he nor organizers have stated when exactly he's playing each night. On Saturday, there will be a nighttime headline band (pop rock cover quartet Lime), but given the formatting of this event, I hesitate to say that Curtis is "opening" for Lime. Regardless, the Rowdy Ranchers Round-Up is FREE & ALL AGES with gates opening at 8:00 AM.

Note that, according to Curt's Facebook page, he had been booked to play at The Dive Gastro Pub tonight but the show was cancelled, as the former Low & Slow had mistakenly double booked tonight's "Think It Over Thursday" gig (the actual performers there tonight are Aaron Lucas & Jeff July). Curtis hadn't announced a September 12th show in advance anyway, but hopefully we see him back at The Dive soon! As for the Rowdy Ranchers Horse Show, this may seem more like a country music-amenable event, but hopefully Curtis' hard rocking covers keep the good vibes going in Laird this weekend! See above for more details, and here's Curt live!

Finally for this weekend, we'll head back into city limits for local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations' return to Jay's Piston Broke Pub TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Last seen at the former Reggie's West early last month, these shows will be joined by Generations hosting Jay's weekly Thursday jam night tonight, so if such events interest you as a spectator or prospective performer, keep that in mind! It is worth noting that Generations frontwoman Valerie Powley does not take part in their jam nights, a'la Cameron Oliver missing Soundcheck's, but she will be back to sing all night this weekend, and the guys have teased having new Bob Seger and The Outfield covers to debut in their sets. Tomorrow and Saturday's traditional concerts (and jam night tonight) are 19+ affairs with no announced cover shows, and the normal concerts have 9:30 PM start times. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Generations live!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for the second half of our weekend concert previews next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Total Chaos, Handsome Sandwich, And Cory Murchison!!)

After taking May 31st off for my birthday (I always do, past posts on that day were scheduled auto-posts), we're kicking off June 2024 with a post devoted to LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS and related updates for shows in the next few months, so here's what you should know!

A Friday night concert series has been announced at Soo Blaster for the summer season, so what should you know there? As advertised on SooToday and their online/social media accounts, the Queen Street East venue/nightclub will be hosting acoustic-leaning musicians, usually solo artists or duos, every Friday through the end of August, though be advised that the schedule does list some shows as taking place on a Saturday rather than Friday. I'm unsure if "every Friday" is a generalization for promoting the schedule, or if Soo Blaster erroneously listed some of these shows a day later. There are many familiar faces playing at Soo Blaster this summer, including former Phatstick frontman Jason Taillefer (I'm not sure if his solo shows lean to what his old bands played), but two are 100% in our coverage range, including Bullet Train/ex-Sense Of Truth frontman Cory Murchison on June 28th!

While we have yet to see Bullet Train live, Cory's live music work in recent years had largely been via acoustic shows (including in Short & Sweet and as "Cory Daniel"), so look for some entertaining hard rock covers from him in four weeks! This and all other shows in Soo Blaster's Friday concert series this summer has an 8:00 PM start time, likely 19+ age limit, and no announced cover charge. Visit the above links for more details!

The other show that would definitely cross our radar comes on Saturday, August 10th (as far as Soo Blaster's schedule says, we'll let you know if they did indeed mean Friday the 9th). On that night (whichever night it is), Soo Blaster will deviate from their string of solo artists and duos by hosting local alt-hard rock quintet Handsome Sandwich and their new sister folk/bluegrass band The Golden Scoundrels! While we will see Handsome Sandwich beforehand at the Go North Music Festival (and perhaps elsewhere), this is their first announced show in city limits since opening for The Hazytones in April, so fans of their tasty originals will want to keep this August date in mind! Of course, The Golden Scoundrels (who play their first show tonight at The Whiskey Barrel) feature Handsome Sandwich bandmates Brandon Ruch & Johnny Belanger alongside ex-Shit Liver frontman Josh Penno and fiddler Todd Webb.

If you liked Josh's old St. Catharines band Dirtfight, you should take to The Scoundrels, and it'll be interesting to see how the genre contrast goes over with the two bands in August, both at Soo Blaster and at The Northern Vibe Festival at month's end! Yes, The Golden Scoundrels parted ways with ex-Gnaeus bassist Matt Fronzi (who Brandon replaced) earlier in the spring, and the band took down any media featuring Matt after he left. Hopefully things are amicable and it's just to signify how they'll really be launching! Back to Handsome Sandwich for one more new note, as they'll be hitting the road for another tour run this fall, including a set at this year's Gussapalooza Music Festival in Cookstown (outside of Innisfil in Simcoe County) over the September 13th weekend! They'll be one of 40 acts playing that weekend, with Sudbury grunge/hard rock quartet The Fortunate Losers as the advertised headliners.

Local fans may recall seeing The Fortunate Losers here opening for Monster Truck in 2019. Hopefully things go well for Handsome Sandwich at Gussapalooza this fall, as well as at a teased Ottawa date on September 12th! The show at Soo Blaster on August 10th (9th?) is advertised to have an 8:00 PM start time, 19+ age limit, and no cover charge. See above for more details on Handsome Sandwich's summer and fall plans so far!

Finally for today, here's one more new show announcement, and it's a big one, as Pomona, California hardcore punk legends Total Chaos will make their long awaited return to Sault Ontario on Thursday, September 12th at The Distraction's downstairs space The Stellar Door! This will be Total Chaos' first local concert since headlining at the former Oddfellows Hall way back in 2010, and the show comes one day before they share the stage with Spades GT in Toronto to open for The Exploited there. It's hard to compare Total Chaos today to how they sounded here fourteen years ago, but it'll be awesome to see Rob Chaos and crew back in town for what should be a hard hitting night of hardcore punk classics! Ottawa "post street punk" band BALM Squad will open in their local debut, and they should be a fine compliment with their intense original songs and stage presence, so don't miss out on the action this fall!

Suprisingly, there are no local openers advertised (at least not yet), but we'll let you know when/if any are added. Like The Ripcordz' show here on August 10th, Total Chaos will set up shop downstairs from The Distraction at The Stellar Door, the bigger but still intimate basement floor that is now being opened for select gigs. This is an all ages show starting at 9:00 PM, and limited advance tickets are on sale via Distraction co-promoter/prolific local punk musician Mikhal Muto for $25. At the door, it will have a "pay what you can" model, with $20 being suggested. This should be a great night for hardcore punk fans, so see above for more details, and stay tuned for this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post next! Thanks everyone!