Victoria Day Long Weekend Concert Previews!!

The Victoria Day (a.k.a. May 2-4) long weekend is upon us, but in a bit of a surprise, this is a pretty quiet weekend for hard rock and punk concerts. Nothing on short notice (yet) either, but here's who to look for this weekend, including two shows with touring headline acts!

We'll start at The Distraction TONIGHT, where Nanaimo, British Columbia pop punk quartet Danger Box will set up shop in the basement for a headlining concert! The work/school-night scheduling won't be ideal for many, but fans of modern punk rock with hardcore and alternative influences will take to Danger Box's original attack, and hopefully their local debut goes down well with fans on East Street tonight! Fresh off of opening for The Dayglo Abortions last week, local crossover thrash quartet Hails (featuring concert promoter Mikhal Muto on guitar) will be the local support in their second gig of the year, and they should slot in well with their blast of original thrash and punk songs! Tonight's stop on Danger Box's Reality Tour across Canada has a 7:00 PM start time, it is absolutely all ages (the venue is not licensed), and admission is $20 or "pay what you can". Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Danger Box live!

Next up, let's head further downtown to Reggie's Place, where local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 will take the stage for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Last seen "uncorked" at The Water Tower Pub this past Saturday, this is the fourth weekend in the past seven that "The Dirty 3" have played at Reggie's, with a return also scheduled for the last weekend of May. Bone Yard have been definitely making themselves at home at Reggie's this spring, and hopefully sizeable crowds turn up to witness Greg, Alex, and Warren's latest "sermons" over the May 2-4 long weekend! If you can't make it this weekend, their next show will be at the Dragonfly Run pre-party at the Downtown Plaza one week from Saturday. This weekend's shows from your local 225 have 9:30 PM start times, 19+ age limits, and no cover charges. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Bone Yard live!

Also this weekend, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations will return to the stage for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT at Jay's Piston Broke Pub! This weekend's shows will end their month+ break, having last seen Generations at The Water Tower Pub at the beginning of April, and last at Jay's two months ago. If you've missed this skilled veteran outfit on a local stage, head west for their classic covers! As usual for Generations' stops at Jay's, the band (minus singer Valerie Powley) are hosting tonight's weekly jam night before their full band concerts go down, so if seeing the guys perform with/without guest musicians (or yourself?) is of note, head to the former Reggie's West tonight! We don't cover jam/open mic nights as "concerts" due to their unpredictability. Generations' long weekend shows have 19+ age limits, 9:30 PM start times, and no cover. See above for more details, and here are Generations live!

Finally for this surprisingly quiet long weekend on the hard rock/punk front, we'll end things at The Whisky Barrel, where Edmonton psychobilly/punk veterans The Raygun Cowboys will play their first local concert (on record?) THIS SUNDAY NIGHT! A longstanding presence among genre fans out west, The Raygun Cowboys' genre hybrid sound will appeal to many readers with their horn section, upbeat energy, rough-edged vocals, and punk attitude all colliding into a fun live experience that fans won't want to miss, let alone at an intimate venue like The Whisky Barrel on Gore Street, who only sparingly host touring bands. Many of you have Monday off anyway, so why not rock out with The Raygun Cowboys in three days' time? This concert is promoted by Piecing It Together Shows (the former Dryer Fire) and does not have a local opener. An 8:00 PM start time is in effect for this 19+ show.

Despite the touring headliner, this show has no cover charge, but P.I.T.S. encourage everyone to buy merchandise and/or drinks to help support The Raygun Cowboys on their current tour. Should be a blast for fans of punk, rockabilly, ska, and everything in between, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's The Raygun Cowboys live!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes in the coming days! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (The Raygun Cowboys, Derev, Danger Box, And Curtis McKenzie!!)

Today's post is 100% devoted to LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, including one that I should have gotten to last month, but there's some intriguing acts hitting Sault Ontario in the next few weeks, both local and touring, so here's what you should know on this Wednesday morning!

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!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews on the site next! Thanks everyone!