On this Thursday morning, let's tackle the first of another weekend's concert previews! Today's focuses on shows in Sault Ontario this weekend, including some SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, while we'll cover Sault Michigan shows in our next preview post. Now, here's what you need to know!
Montreal punk trio The Nailheads will return to Sault Ontario for a headlining concert TONIGHT at The New American Pub! Apologies for the short notice, the show was only announced via it's official Facebook event page on Tuesday, where they admitted themselves that it was super short-notice (the band listed this show on their official tour poster in July, but we received no local promoter confirmation until this week.) Last seen headlining in the Soo last October at The New A, this stop on The Nailheads' Too Cool For School Canada Tour will be their third in our neck of the woods, and their brand of old school punk rock should be welcomed TONIGHT, especially if you loved them in 2011 or last fall! Given the late local notice, promoters Six, Two, Oh. don't have a local opener secured, but will instead host an open mic before The Nailheads' set, so keep that angle in mind whether you're a fan or prospective performer. This 19+ show has a 9:00 PM start time (the headliners are pencilled in for 11:00 PM) and no announced cover charge, but bring $5 or so just in case. Check the above links for more details, and here are The Nailheads live!
Next up, local classic/hard rock cover quartet The 3 Day Millionaires will return to the stage for one night only THIS SATURDAY NIGHT at The Rockstar Bar! Again, apologies for the short notice, the band only confirmed the date via their Facebook event page on Tuesday. After taking the better part of a month off, this union of Havadder, Boxcar Junction, and Wishbone alumni should be in fine form to unleash their varied but often heavy blend of favourite songs onto fans at The Algonquin Hotel's upstairs bar on SATURDAY, so keep this show in mind for your weekend plans! Note that this is a one-nighter due to tomorrow's previously announced show by recent LopLops headliners Sulfur City.
THIS SATURDAY'S 3 Day Millionaires show has no announced cover charge, a 19+ age limit, and a 10:30 PM start time, so visit the above links for more details, and here are The 3 Day Millionaires live at The Rockstar Bar!
Moving to previously announced concerts, local acoustic hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison will continue his long-term weekly concert arrangement at Gliss Steak & Seafood with more solo matinee gigs TONIGHT, TOMORROW, and SATURDAY! As the longtime Caveman Morrison frontman progresses his Gliss run week by week, his relaxing unplugged covers should keep fans entertained once again this weekend, especially given his hard rock pedigree, so don't miss out on Tym's extensive covers over the next three evenings at The Quality Inn's house restaurant! As usual for his Gliss concerts, these are all 6:00 PM affairs with no announced cover charges or age limits, but remember that this is a sit-down restaurant. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page, and for a preview, here's Tym Morrison live a few years back!
Finally for today's preview post, the guys at Six, Two, Oh. have one more show this week at The New American Pub (albeit with plenty of advance notice), as Toronto "ska-core" trio Big Brother will make their local concert debut there THIS SATURDAY NIGHT! The first of two "Ska Saturday" shows there from the promoters, this will be a great opportunity to check out Big Brother's hard hitting yet fun blend of hardcore punk and ska, so don't miss out during this stop on the band's swing of northern dates this weekend, and consider getting their new split cassette tape in the process! Local openers have also been recently confirmed via the official Facebook event page, and in a thematic reprisal of the Debutaunt show from earlier this month, Six, Two, Oh. have enlisted a Blood Shed Productions goregrind act and a stand-up comedian to open on Saturday night, they being solo goregrind project Crucify the Whore (replacing new local hardcore punk band The Eighties) and comedian Ray Lemieux.
While this is again a wildly varying lineup, there is a little something for everyone! This 19+ show will start at 9:00 PM, and has a $5 cover charge. See above for more details, and here's Big Brother live!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for last month's poll results and our newest poll, plus more weekend concert previews, next! Thanks everyone!
After a relatively quiet weekend on the site, here's a new news post for your Monday morning! Today, we have some recent videos relating to a music festival last month and some new covers from a familiar veteran, with some assorted notes to cap things off, so here's what you should know!
We'll start with some new videos referencing last month's all-original Stage 2 at Rotaryfest, with a pair of sources spotlighting the Second Stage and it's importance to the music community! One is the newest episode of SooToday's music webseries Tuned With Donna Hopper, which was posted online yesterday, so what should you know from it? In the episode, Donna interviewed Stage 2 manager Chelsie Parayko at the festival about what to expect at the stage, what it does to help original artists, and future ambitions for the Clergue Park stage, with performance footage from The Din and The Wild Iris' opening sets bookending the interview. In terms of scoops, Chelsie did note that Stage 2 is currently a one day event due to funding concerns, but she hopes to expand it to a longer timeframe in the future, and perhaps to two days (like it was in 2006 & from 2009-2013.) It's not a terribly long episode, but it's good to see more positive press from Stage 2, complete with a nice look at the stage and Tidal Records' merchandise table!
As SooToday's video host doesn't allow external embedding, we can't feature it here, but we can embed this, Rotaryfest's "Talkin' With..." video featuring the aforementioned Din, as posted to the festival's Facebook page just over a month ago! Apologies for the obvious delay, this and The Wild Iris' similar video passed us by until the past week. Joining the earlier "Talkin' With..." videos from Nilah Moss' Vimeo channel (no word on why these 4 clips were never together on the same page), it features the alternative/hard rock trio jamming in studio, describing their live sound and stage show, and noting the perks and benefits of playing on the Second Stage (presumably in part to help the stage's crowdfunding campaign), while also plugging THIS FRIDAY'S CD release show and showcasing their recording setup. It's a shame that Nilah couldn't interview Liam Seymour, Machines Dream, and Id Iota from Stage 2 in a similar fashion, but these videos all gave Stage 2 some positive press, and likewise for the bands that played!
The Din's video is entertaining, and has a bit of the humour you often see in their Facebook videos (more on them this week), with a nice look at how they get their recordings and music down before it makes it's way to our players! Give these new videos a look above and below, and stay tuned for much more from The Din as the week progresses!
Also today, here's some updates from Sault Michigan classic/hard rock musician and Highway 63 frontman Henry Switzer, who happens to have a YouTube channel! Though the Monkey's Uncle/Mama's Boys alum doesn't post live band videos there, he has shared a number of solo covers in the past year that he recorded (though most do include images from Highway 63, these are advertised as solo recordings.) His videos include covers of songs by Foreigner, Steve Perry, Styx, and Journey, plus his entry into The Stone Temple Pilots' vocalist search (him doing "Vasoline"), but embedded below is his cover of Heart's "Alone", which appears to be dedicated to his wife. Not a bad rendition, if a little bit of an adjustment to hear given that most notable versions are sung by women, but you can sense the emotion and intent for the cover! Give it a listen below, see more from Henry's channel above, and don't miss Highway 63 at The Rapids Lounge THIS FRIDAY & SATURDAY!
Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist or promoter name:
Recently dormant concert promoters Allstar Promotions revealed on their Facebook page this weekend that they "should have a show to announce in the near future", which would be their first since last July's Theory of a Deadman concert at The Dreammaker's Theater. It's been way too quiet lately for major non-tribute bands at Kewadin Casino, so hopefully we get more word soon! Note that this capped off a status where they addressed some confusion about whether they were the promoters of Saturday's cancelled FireHouse show (they weren't), but we won't go into detail otherwise out of respect to all parties.
If you saw brief mentions on Facebook last week about Sault Ontario funk/hard rock quartet The Elements dropping out of the Big Brother show
at The New American Pub on August 20th due to a member's work conflict, then not
to worry, as they were quietly re-added to the lineup! It's not clear if
the work conflict was a mistake on one end, addressed in some form, or
will result in a guest performer, but we'll let you know if anything is
stated publically!
With local post-punk quartet Gnaeus' successful release of their debut CD "Meditations" on Friday, the album can now be purchased digitally via iTunes and the Google Play Store, so you can get it for $8.91 (or 99¢ a song) on both services! Keep both in mind, but if you want a hard copy, head to your favourite local music stores, M&M Meats(!), and/or The Tech on Friday!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates this week! Thanks everyone!
On this Friday morning, we have some teaser information on an upcoming album release, previews of this weekend's remaining hard rock shows (that are previously announced!), and LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for later this summer, so read on below for what you should know!
Local post-punk quartet Gnaeus and hard rock quartet Long Shot will join forces for a concert at LopLops Lounge on Friday, July 22nd! Fresh off of their Rotaryfest Stage 2 set next weekend, Gnaeus should be in good form as they draw ever closer to the release of their debut CD "Meditations" (more on that at post's end), so look for the guys to deliver a fun set at LopLops in two weeks' time! Similarly, Long Shot have been busy in the studio towards their own debut EP, so much so that this will actually be their first public concert of the year, and if I'm not mistaken, their LopLops debut. The Dawes, Nathan, and Jeremy are a very promising unit, and should leave a good impression on the 22nd! No finite word though on if one band, both, or neither will have their CDs out by then, though as of this writing, neither are publically tying the show to an official release. Admission will be $5 for this 19+ concert, which has an advertised 9:00 PM start time.
For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! It's great to see Long Shot back on stage again, let alone with their friends and former battle of the bands rivals in Gnaeus (you may recall that ex-drummer Brendan Garlick filled in for Jeremy at a Long Shot show last year too.) Keep this show in mind for later this month, and stay tuned for more on Gnaeus' debut CD!
Next up, Toronto "ska-core" trio Big Brother will make their local concert debut for what's being called "Ska Saturdae" at The New American Pub on Saturday, August 20th! This fun yet hard hitting outfit have been making waves with their fusion of hardcore punk and ska, and should appeal to multiple fans at The New A next month, so don't bypass Big Brother's energetic attack! At least one local opener is to be announced, and while personal Facebook postings by promoters have hinted at a specific band with one more to be locked down, nothing has been publically stated yet. We'll keep you posted! Promoted by Six, Two, Oh. (in a rare Saturday nighter for their New A bookings), there will be a $7 cover in effect, as well as a 19+ age limit and a 9:00 PM start time. This should be a solid time for ska and hardcore fans, so visit the official Facebook event page for full current details!
Also, here's our last of this weekend's concert previews (at least, for shows that have been
announced as of this writing), as Sault Michigan classic/hard rock cover
quartet Highway 63 will return to The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! Notably the first concerts plugged by the Monkey's Uncle successors on their Facebook page since February (though they have played steadily in the area in the interim), this weekend's shows should be full of hard and classic rock favourites, so be sure not to miss Highway 63 at the Soo Kewadin tonight and/or tomorrow! And remember, we'll see them back at St. Ignace's Kewadin in month's end. As usual, there's a 9:00 PM start time, no announced cover charge, and a 21+ age limit for each night. Check the above links for more details, and here's Highway 63 live!
Finally, let's close with a new preview video from the aforementioned Gnaeus, who posted this on their Facebook page on Wednesday to tease fans as to the cover and booklet of their debut CD "Meditations"! Featuring a rotating version from a computer program of the apparently 4 page booklet (the inside has band pictures), the big reveal here is that the album cover is notthe image used in the Rotaryfest program, despite that being square and featuring the album's title. No word on if that was ever seriously intended to be the cover art, but the video confirms that the original front cover (unveiled when the CD was still called "Loomings") has survived despite the name change, though with two changes: the name, obviously, and rendering Gnaeus' name in all lowercase rather than all capitals. I did a mock-up of what the cover will look like, as you can see here, and while it's not exact, it's nice to get some more finite word about it!
The back of the booklet appears to show that "Meditations" has nine songs, though the angle and size of the album preview on their computer doesn't allow me to 100% verify the track listing. I believe I can make out "The Edge" and "An Exercise In Self Awareness", but they're the only ones I can name with relative certainty. With that said, it's a nice teaser, and proof that the album is indeed coming, so give it a look below!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes shortly! Thanks everyone!
Montreal punk trio The Nailheads will return to Sault Ontario for a headlining concert TONIGHT at The New American Pub! Apologies for the short notice, the show was only announced via it's official Facebook event page on Tuesday, where they admitted themselves that it was super short-notice (the band listed this show on their official tour poster in July, but we received no local promoter confirmation until this week.) Last seen headlining in the Soo last October at The New A, this stop on The Nailheads' Too Cool For School Canada Tour will be their third in our neck of the woods, and their brand of old school punk rock should be welcomed TONIGHT, especially if you loved them in 2011 or last fall! Given the late local notice, promoters Six, Two, Oh. don't have a local opener secured, but will instead host an open mic before The Nailheads' set, so keep that angle in mind whether you're a fan or prospective performer. This 19+ show has a 9:00 PM start time (the headliners are pencilled in for 11:00 PM) and no announced cover charge, but bring $5 or so just in case. Check the above links for more details, and here are The Nailheads live!
