LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Tym Morrison) & More Halloween Weekend Concert Previews!!

Here's the third and final Halloween weekend concert preview post on the SMS for 2026! Here, we're looking at three big Halloween party concerts in Sault Ontario tomorrow night, with a new video of one of the bands for good measure, but leading off, we have a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT attached to a preview of a Sunday matinee concert, so let's start there before winding back to the apex of spooky season!

Joining his previously announced matinee concert on SUNDAY at Beck's Bar, local classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison will also perform at Beck's one week later on November 8th! I forgot that Tym announced this Sunday's show well in advance on his batch Facebook event page for fall shows there, but the gig one week from Sunday is a new addition. Of course, this Sunday's matinee concert is first on tap, and hopefully there's a good sized crowd for both the euchre tournament and his unplugged rocking covers! I have no idea if Beck's will lean into any Halloween frills or branding a day late, but remember that Tym's strong religious faith may not jive with spooky goings on. Of note, Tym's show is the same day as the first elimination round for the venue's Vocals & Victory karaoke competition, with $2,500 awaiting the winner later this year. Good luck to the singers competing on Sunday night!

As usual for Beck's matinee concerts, Tym is up this Sunday and next at 3:00 PM, there is a 19+ age limit, and there are no announced cover charges. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Tym live!

Next up, we'll snap back to TOMORROW'S Halloween slate, and in the arguable main event, local classic/hard rock cover quintet Headrush will open for local/Toronto pop rock quartet The Killer Hooks at The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre for Fright Night At The Museum! Similarly to this summer's Cory Marks show, the hangar will be open for a big production concert, with The Killer Hooks (led by Gsis Murphy alum Tony Marcello) breaking out their video dance party-format concert for the occasion, so expect big video screens to accentuate their set, which does include the occasional hard rock cover. Headrush will fill the quota in their set, and it should be a fun night of live rock music with all of the spooky frills you could ask for! There will absolutely be a costume contest, with prizes for the best individual and group costumes. This show is sponsored by Northern Superior Brewing Co., hence the lack of a Tap Room show tomorrow.

Unlike most shows this weekend, this will be a ticketed event, and tickets cost $35 at this link, at the Bushplane Museum, or at Northern Superior. Unfortunately, this is a 19+ concert (but it will be licensed!), and doors open at 8:00 PM. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's a rare long-form video of The Killer Hooks playing hard rock covers, specifically of them tackling Queen classics at the former Canadian Nightclub in 2019! Had to wade through a lot of sub-30 second "Reels" to find this, but they sound good, and still do, so look for more tomorrow night!

Also on the Halloween slate, local classic/hard rock cover trio The Sidekicks will return to The Water Tower Pub to headline their Halloween party TOMORROW NIGHT! Playing their first Water Tower Pub show since the spring (and fresh off of a Beck's show last week), The Sidekicks will topline this special 1980s-themed Halloween party, and while I doubt the AI generated poster nailed Tracey, Steve, and Dan's costumes, break out your best from that decade to party along with The Sidekicks, who have a number of 1980s covers in their back pocket! The poster (whose logo doesn't seem to know how our Water Tower is shaped) claims that there will be "prizes", but doesn't outright confirm if there will be a costume contest and/or some other type of giveaway. This is a one-nighter as usual for The Water Tower Pub, who are hosting RPM tonight, while bassist Dan Beaupre is playing a short notice gig with Soundcheck TONIGHT at Beck's Bar.

Tomorrow's '80s party with The Sidekicks is at 8:00 PM with a 19+ age limit and no announced cover charge. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details on what should be a fun night of classic and hard rock covers from this year's closing band at Rotaryfest, and here they are live!

Finally, also taking place TOMORROW NIGHT is a double whammy of local tribute bands at Blaster Powerhouse, where Red Hot Chili Peppers tribute band Mellowship Slinky and Pearl Jam tribute band Even Flow will join forces! Both bands have had productive years (Even Flow actually debuted on Halloween weekend last year), and if you like 1990s-leaning rock, you should find something to like between the two bands, including lots of grunge classics from Even Flow, plus some heavier early RHCP tracks from "the Soo's slinkiest" Chili Peppers tribute band (is there a less slinky active one?). Of note, if you were hoping to see Mellowship Slinky frontman Brad Irwin this weekend, be at the former Soo Blaster tomorrow, as his active original band The Reeves dropped out of tonight's Art Hub At Spring concert. Aside from the tribute action, this is plugged as "one spooky Saturday night".

If there are frills beyond Halloween decor, no one has publically said anything, but there is no firm public mention of a costume contest tomorrow at Blaster. Even Flow will kick off the night at 9:00 PM, this is all ages and licensed, and tickets run for $20 at this link, through band members, or at the Queen Street East venue, with the door charge jumping to $25. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and for a preview, here's a new jam session video of Even Flow covering Pearl Jam's "Daughter"! This was shared from frontman Rob Speers' personal Facebook page to the band's Facebook page to promote tomorrow's show, and while it sounds good with Rob sounding like Eddie Vedder in the ways you hope, the tight camera angle completely blocks out bassist Mike Bird and drummer Derek Turner from view (apologies, PFC fans!). Also, this video is needlessly letterboxed into vertical "Reel" dimensions despite being in landscape.

Yes, they fill one of the black boxes with text captions about tomorrow's concert (at least it's not hard-coded on the video proper), but I'd far prefer if this was uploaded in full horizontal resolution so it's not so unnecessarily tiny no matter how you watch it. Regardless, it's a good preview, so give it a watch below!

That's all for our marathon Halloween concert preview slate, so go occupy a venue of some kind this weekend tonight or tomorrow night, and we'll be back next month! Thanks everyone!

Early Details On Rock Of Ages & New Headrush Concert Videos!!

Before we begin this post, just a heads up that former Rising Tide/Steeltown Playboys bassist Marshall Jaaskelainen's obituary was posted on SooToday on Friday, shortly before our scheduled auto-post written the previous night went up. Marshall is survived by his father Harry, two brothers and two sisters, a niece and nephew, and other extended family members. His funeral service will take place tomorrow at 5:00 PM at the Northwood Funeral Home, and the family would appreciate donations to The Summit. As for his celebration of life at Northern Superior Brewing Co.'s Tap Room last night, SooToday's Darren Taylor was in attendance for it, posting this article featuring a handful of photos of the event, and it looks like a packed house, which is wonderful to see! The article features remarks from Marshall's siblings Rachel (who organized the event), Heidi, and Byron, as well as his former bandmates Jay Case & Lindsay Pugh, and his friend Kate Mulligan.

Marshall's brother and long-time bandmate Sheldon (who has lived and worked out of town in recent years) was unable to attend, but hopefully we'll see him back home when able. It sounds like the celebration of life was a huge hit to pay homage to Marshall as a musician, friend, family member, and all around good person, and I do hope that tomorrow's services go similarly well for everyone who loved and miss him. R.I.P. Marshall!

Today's post otherwise looks at recent live videos from a local cover band, but first, here's an upcoming show that crosses our radar (if not a traditional "concert"), as The Musical Comedy Guild of Sault Ste. Marie is hosting a local stage production of the musical Rock Of Ages next year! To be held at the Sault Community Theatre Centre from April 28th-May 1st, this is being presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals, and will be directed by Andrew Stuetz, who is best recognized in our coverage as the annual MC for Rotaryfest Stage 1 but has a large background in local theatre. Audition info is still to come, but if you're not familiar, Rock Of Ages is a jukebox musical themed around 1980s hair metal, AOR, and arena rock songs, which ran on Broadway from 2009-2015 and received a film adaptation in 2012. This should be an interesting change of pace, so follow the Guild for continuing updates!

The back half of this post is devoted to local classic/hard rock cover sextet Headrush, who have a bunch of new videos to look at, mostly via their new YouTube channel! While launched in June, they only uploaded videos to it last month, all six coming from their Friday night set at Rotaryfest Stage 1 in July (a rare public concert set from them this summer, as they took the season off from bar gigs). Capturing about half of their set on the familiar pop-up stage at Clergue Park, Headrush were filmed covering Prism's "Spaceship Superstar",  AC/DC's "Whole Lotta Rosie" (featuring a woman apparently named Rosie dancing on stage!), Journey's "Stone In Love", Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Fortunate Sun", Foreigner's "Double Vision", and as embedded below, Boston's "Foreplay/Long Time". The uncredited filmer was right up in front of the stage and got some really nice quality footage on all fronts, including on the stage at a few points!

The guys were playing at dusk, so thing look that tiny bit more impressive for lighting and ambiance, and everyone sounds good, with John Anderson hitting some strong high notes (mercifully, that weekend's severe wildfire smoke warnings lessened enough to not throw a wrench into the Friday program). Give Headrush's new Rotaryfest videos a watch above & below!

Lastly, the other new video was actually shot by local concert regular and supporter Audrey Marshall for her personal Facebook page before being shared publically, but not by the band. As you may recall, Headrush played their first bar gigs of the fall at The Esquire Club this weekend, and Audrey filmed this video of their encore, where they welcomed former Mustang Heart keyboardist Vito Tassone to guest on a cover of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'"! Frank Mannarino switched to rhythm guitar as a result. The video only runs for 80 seconds, and it is reasonably tight to the stage, but what Audrey shot looks and sounds good, and it is neat to see Vito on stage with a full band again, so give this a watch below!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the SMS this week! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Headrush & About:Blank) And The End Of The Sault Star In Print!!

Before we get into today's news post, I wanted to offer our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Canadian hard rock icon Sass Jordan, who passed away on Friday at the age of 65. Sass had cancelled a number of concerts since last month due to a serious medical issue, and is survived by her husband, former Guess Who frontman Derek Sharp and their daughter, among other extended family. Born in England as Sarah Jordan and later raised in Montreal, Sass broke through on Canadian radio and on MuchMusic with her debut album "Tell Somebody" in 1988, and became a major hitmaker in the early-mid 1990s with songs like "Make You A Believer", "High Road Easy", and "Sun's Gonna Rise". She also made a new generation of fans in the 2000s as a judge on all six seasons of Canadian Idol on CTV. Sass had played multiple shows here in the 1990s, including at least once at The Eastgate Hotel.

Her final local concert appearance was when she opened for Kim Mitchell on night #2 of the Bell Border Jam at Runway Park in August 2008, which is her only local date that is well documented online. Sass Jordan's accessible bluesy take on hard rock helped her win a Juno Award for Most Promising Female Vocalist in 1989 and further nominations, and she will be missed by many fans and friends. Visit your preferred music and news websites for more information. R.I.P. Sass!

Today's post otherwise features big news from local news and two LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, and we'll actually start in Sault Michigan, where local hard rock/punk duo About:Blank will play a rare headlining concert on Saturday, October 17th at The Merchant's Bar! The band announced the show on their Facebook page on Friday, and it will mark their first public date since the Superior Whitefish Festival Battle of the Bands in Brimley in July. Parker & Kade did acknowledge playing at the Highland Clan Motorcycle Club's East Coast Fall Fling in the Soo yesterday, but in researching HCMC events, they are all at a private location that you have to inquire within about if not already a member. The club has brought in other local hard rock bands like Tarnished and The Nameless for recent events too, and photos can be seen on their Facebook group, but despite public acknowledgements, they were not fully public concerts.

It will be good to see About:Blank back on a fully public stage in just under two weeks as part of a busy month for them (more on their other show this month soon), and note that they will have new merchandise on sale here. Yes, new merch at The Merch! This concert has an oddly short 2 hour run time starting at 10:00 PM, a 21+ age limit, and no cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, and we should have more from them next week!

Next up, we'll head back to Sault Ontario for another entry in what will be a packed Halloween weekend for concertgoers, as local classic/hard rock cover quintet Headrush will open for local/Toronto pop rock cover veterans The Killer Hooks at The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre on Saturday, October 31st! Entitled "Fright Night At The Museum", this special event will mark the first hometown appearance from The Killer Hooks (led by former Gsis Murphy frontman Tony Marcello) since headlining a video dance party at Blaster Powerhouse in April. This show too will see them break out their video dance party format, which will be a fun multimedia experience to go along with a talented live band, and they do have occasional hard rock covers! Headrush will be two weeks removed from their next gigs at The Esquire Club, and their heavier 1980s-leaning covers should set the right tone on Halloween night as their fall schedule begins taking shape!

Presumably on a similar scale to this summer's Cory Marks show in the hangar, expect "goolish (sic) times" and "killer music" along with a costume contest, with prizes going to the best individual and group costumes. Sadly, this will be a 19+ event, doors open at 8:00 PM, Crank Sound Distribution will reportedly be on hand, and tickets cost $35 (up $10 from The Killer Hooks' April show here, but that didn't have Halloween frills). Tickets are on sale at this link, at the Bushplane Museum, or at sponsors Northern Superior Brewing Co.'s on-site Tap Room. This will be another strong contender to your Halloween schedule, so visit the Facebook event page for more details!

Finally for today, this doesn't bear directly on our coverage, but it was announced last week at The Sault Star and its sister newspapers in Northern Ontario will end print operations at the end of October. In this CBC article, it's noted The Sault Star's parent company Postmedia is transitioning to a digital-only distribution format for their news outlets here and in Sudbury, North Bay, Timmins, Elliot Lake, and Espanola, while the Cochrane Times-Post will end operations outright. No local jobs will be lost, as the paper was being printed in North Bay, where its printing press is closing and will see those cuts. Affected markets will still get a once-a-week newspaper, namely Northern News This Week, which will feature curated articles from Northeastern Ontario communities, but I have read conflicting reports on if it will be free like the former Sault This Week or only to paid subscribers. Stay tuned to the newly redesigned Sault Star website for updates.

The closest print newspaper after this will be The Sault Evening News in Sault Michigan, while St. Joseph Island still prints the weekly (if small) Island Clippings. The slow decline of The Sault Star to an ever-thinner three days-a-week publication was a hint that this was coming, alas, but The Sault Star lives on as a digital news outlet up against SooToday, and in our coverage of relevant Sault Star articles, I never assumed that they were print-only anyway. As long as we have effective local journalism for years to come, but it will be strange to not have the paper of old when we want it. Visit the above links for more details, and stay tuned for this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post on the SMS next! Thanks everyone!

The Queen: It's A Kinda Magic Preview, Recent Concert Fallout, And More Updates!!

Before we begin this post, just a heads up that the Led By Zeppelin concert at The Sault Community Theatre Centre has been rescheduled for Saturday, January 30th, exactly 20 weeks after the original September 12th date was cancelled the day of the show (the band has since confirmed on their Facebook group that guitarist Kelsey Irwin was admitted to Sault Area Hospital that day with a kidney infection). All tickets for the September 12th event will be honoured in January if not refunded, and click here to buy tickets anew. Glad to hear that Kelsey is on the mend, and hopefully there's a solid turnout in four months! Now, here's a concert preview, recent concert details, and some more assorted notes!

We'll start today with a mid-week concert preview, as Australia's own touring tribute favourites Queen: It's A Kinda Magic will return to the aforementioned Sault Community Theatre Centre TOMORROW NIGHT! While the most recent Queen tribute concert here was the England-based Majesty at The Machine Shop in March, tomorrow's headliners are the best known locally, as Queen: It's A Kinda Magic have previously played at the former Kiwanis Theatre three times, including in May of last year. Post-pandemic, QIAKM have been a reliable draw at White Pines with their proficient take on the Queen back catalogue with presentation to match, and despite the mid-week timing, hopefully they deliver another kinda magic tomorrow! This show takes place at 7:30 PM, and tickets are on sale at this link, at the Station Mall box office, and presumably at the door for $75 (adults).

Kids 13 and under will cost $45 each. Warren and crew always draw good numbers here, but there are still tickets available from the 11th row and back (center section) and the second row and back (left and right sections), with no gallery seating once again. If you love Queen's diverse and often heavy range of classic singles, don't miss out on tomorrow's action, so visit the above links for more details, and here's Queen: It's A Kinda Magic live!

Next up, let's clarify some missing aspects of the third and final Downtown Street Party on Queen Street East from September 17th between Dennis and Gore Street! Organizers never specified exactly who was playing on which of the two stages and where, but based on photos from the City of Sault Ste. Marie's Facebook page and personal videos, I can confirm that the de facto "Dennis Street Stage" was in front of the THRIVE Child Development Center at 126 Queen, across from CINTAS. That's where country singer/guitarists Brian Tremblay & Jeffrey Wright played, as well as headlining jazz cover band The Hustle Brothers, who must have been moved there late, as frontman Jay Case had signalled in a personal Facebook comment that they'd be on the Gore Street Stage instead. Speaking of the "Gore Street Stage", that was located in front of Second Hand World, and featured Mike Haggith & The Big Finish Band with "Just" Tom Peer opening, like last month.

In media that I am able to see from the street party, there was no third act at the corner of Queen & Tancred ("and more!" or otherwise). If you know where to look, you'll see some good quality video and photos of the musicians and the varied family entertainment, though as best as I can tell, all of the videos are on personal accounts, not public pages. Big Finish Band guitarist Chris Nielsen had a fun time from what I saw though! See above for more on what is public from this month's street party!

Now, let's look at some of the fallout from the Dale Corcoran tribute concert at The Rockstar Bar on September 19th! We didn't cover the event as a formal concert here because there was no official band lineup (things were implied to be jam/freeform heavy), but bandmates of his from groups ranging from the heavier 1980s bands Riggy Zomba and Vandyl to the country-leaning Southern Guns & Hillbilly Heartbreakers performed in Dale's memory. Crank Sound Distribution was on hand for this well attended event, which was loaded with familiar faces to local music fans of the era. A number of personal postings have media from the night, but embedded below is a video shot by Headrush bassist John Amendola for his band's Facebook group of musicians that night covering Deep Purple's "Perfect Strangers". It's rare hearing 1980s Deep Purple on a local stage, so kudos to all involved for not going with an obvious pick!

Clearly, John didn't know who everyone was on stage for this song, which goes along with the loose jam night feelings, but there was a lot of praise for the singer, who nailed this song!  Good stuff, and I'm sure Dale would have been proud of all of his friends and old bandmates coming together like this, so give the Deep Purple cover a watch below!

Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items from the last while, and as usual for these short form topics, these are in alphabetical order by artist or company name: 

• Despite announcing that they'd be hosting five final shows back in July, local concert promoters Piecing It Together Shows' reported last concert took place this past Thursday at Broers Jansen, headlined by Indiana alt-country musician Jess Jones. While the finality isn't mentioned on their Facebook page, the former Dryer Fire confirmed it in a Facebook "Story". If the other three teased farewell concerts were indeed cancelled, it is unfortunate, but best of luck to Nicole in the move and whatever comes their way next!
• Toronto hardcore punk legends Random Killing have dropped out of this Saturday's Punk Rock Fiesta concert at the aforementioned Rockstar Bar. On the Facebook event page yesterday, the band revealed that guitarist John Hajdu is recovering from severe pneumonia, and they failed in attempts to secure a short-notice fill-in guitarist for this weekend. Promoter/PROD guitarist Christian Foisy confirmed that Random Killing will return for the planned second Punk Rock Fiesta next year, and Random Killing merchandise will still be on sale on Saturday. Our best thoughts go out to John as he recovers, and hopefully we see Drool and crew back in 2027!
• In the newest video on their Instagram page (which I am unable to embed here), Sault Michigan/Grand Rapids classical metal band Theatre of Night teased that there are "good things to come for the holiday season...", while showing off keyboardist Craig Harrison's tracking computer setup with an instrumental solo in the background. The caption didn't need to be hard-coded on top of the video, but what are Theatre of Night teasing? They have a new Michigan-based singer and bassist, so a Christmas tour seems likely, but could new studio material be coming as well? Stay tuned!

 

That's all for now, but stay tuned for this month's YouTube Channel Profile next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Who Made Who, Queen: It's A Kind Magic, Bon Jovi Forever, And Led By Zeppelin!!)

Today's news post is devoted to LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for the Sault Community Theatre Centre for later this month, and I do apologize for only finding out about these in one cluster just recently. I've gotta stay more on top of S.C.T.C. concerts, and they've been pretty busy for booking notable touring shows and bands this year, even if the last attempted one (Dr. Feelgood) fell victim to "unforeseen circumstances". In an SMS-amenable context, what is first up there this fall?

Hamilton-based Led Zeppelin tribute band Led By Zeppelin will make their local concert debut at the former Kiwanis Theatre on Saturday, September 12th! If this gives you deja vu, it's likely because we just saw a different Led Zeppelin tribute (London's Zed) headlining Rotaryfest Stage 1 yesterday, so the turnaround to have another Zeppelin tribute from Southern Ontario exactly eight weeks later seems really odd. I find it's unfair to compare tribute bands of the same source act due to inevitably subjective opinions, but what I can tell you is Led By Zeppelin deliver the goods musically! Not so much visually, there's no real attempt to dress like Led Zeppelin, but as Motorhead fans saw with M1 earlier this month, you don't have to mimic the original artists' hair and clothing to deliver a good show. Hopefully Led By Zeppelin get a strong turnout in September, especially if the Zed fans last night want a kinda-sorta encore!

This concert has an 8:00 PM start time and no age limit, but unlike Zed at Rotaryfest, this will be a paid and ticketed event (unless you are under 6 years old). As such, adult tickets cost $61.02, seniors 65+ and students 16-25 will cost $49.72, and kids 6-15 will cost $27.12. Those may seem high, but given the large and fancy theatre playing host, hopefully tickets move well, and there's plenty of good seats still available. Buy yours at this link or at the in-person box office at Station Mall, and stay tuned for more on what should be a solid concert for late 1960s and 1970s hard rock fans!

Next up, if you want another tribute to a legendary British classic hard rock act of the 1970s, you only need wait until Wednesday, September 30th, when Australia-based Queen tribute band Queen: It's A Kinda Magic return to the White Pines Collegiate-based theatre! Fans of Freddie, Brian, John, and Roger have been absolutely spoiled post-pandemic, as not only has this particular tribute band rocked the S.C.T.C. three times on their global tour runs (most recently in May of last year), but they're not even the most recent Queen tribute to play here, as the Great Britain-based Majesty just headlined at The Machine Shop in March. Again, I'm not comparing the two, but It's A Kinda Magic have gotten really solid crowds and high praise in their past local stops for how well they pay tribute to Queen musically and visually, so hopefully this show brings the goods all around again!

Like with Led By Zeppelin that same month, this is an all ages ticketed event, albeit with a slightly earlier start time of 7:30 PM. The show will have adult ticket prices of $75 with kids under 13 at $45 (no senior or student rates here), and if you're curious, prices here are slightly up from Q.I.A.K.M.'s show here last year. Based on the online ticket sale link (click here), there are still lots of good seats available still, though the show is moving tickets a little faster than Led By Zeppelin. Buy yours online and at the in person box office, and while this isn't the cheapest show going (and mid-week), there's a reason why this Queen tribute comes here so much!

Also this fall at The Sault Community Theatre Centre is the return of Oshawa-based Bon Jovi tribute band Bon Jovi Forever, who will headline there on Saturday, October 10th! This Thanksgiving long weekend concert will be (at least) this particular band's third stop here, following a Rockstar Bar show in 2016 and their S.C.T.C. debut in September of last year. As I recall, B.J.F. drew well last fall, and you can see proof of how that show went via videos linked here. Baz and crew sound the part and deliver enough visually for fans of both early hair metal Bon Jovi and their later, more general rock material, and he definitely sounds better than Jon himself does nowadays, so hopefully things go well in their return to White Pines in three months! The 8:00 PM start time, all ages status, and ticket prices here are actually identical to the Led By Zeppelin show in every way, so see above for the ticket price breakdown.

Of note, tickets aren't moving nearly as fast yet for this concert, but Bon Jovi Forever drew well last year, so this should tick up, and it just means that you have time to get a really good seat! Click here or visit the in-person box office to get yours, and visit the above links for more details!

Lastly for new Sault Community Theatre Centre concerts of a hard rock persuasion, Toronto-based AC/DC tribute band Who Made Who will return to the Soo on Saturday, October 24th in a joint concert with Creedence Clearwater Revival tribute band Green River Revival! This is being touted as "the ultimate rock concert", which is quite a claim, and while the two bands aren't even contemporaries for era, the two will cover a lot of ground for classic rock fans. Both bands share management, hence why it makes sense for them to share a bill if tour paths cross, and they've both played here numerous times, including as the featured touring headliner of Rotaryfest (Green River Revival in 2019, Who Made Who last year). Repeat local stops for both is a good sign, so fans know that Who Made Who will deliver their requisite high voltage rock n' roll again, while Green River Revival's faithful take on CCR and John Fogerty hits will go well for southern rock fans in the Soo in October!

This concert has a listed 7:30 PM start time, and will be all ages like the rest. The show was literally first announced last week, so this has the most available tickets of the four, and prices are a flat $55.37 for all, which is the cheapest of the four shows, surprisingly so given Who Made Who & Green River Revival's combined name recognition. Expectations appear to be high for ticket sales too, as this is the only one of the four with available balcony section seating, so get yours A.S.A.P. at this link and/or at the in-person box office while selection is good! Looks like a lot of good 1970s and 1980s hard rock tribute action is in store for the Soo this fall, so visit the above links for more on all four concerts! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Project 906), Cory Marks Concert Videos, And An Inactive Band Note!!

One more SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT has fell into my lap, so to fill out a surprise Saturday evening post, we have new videos from a big recent concert and a solo project newly moved to our inactive links, so here's what you should know on all fronts!

Sault Michigan hard/blues rock cover quintet Project 906 will return to the stage TONIGHT at The Strongs Tavern in nearby Eckerman! Apologies for the short notice, the band first announced this one-night-only gig on their Facebook page on Sunday, but it slipped past me before our last two weekend concert preview posts went live. After taking a three month break from the stage (characterized by the band as "some much needed time off"), this will be 906's first show since rocking Hulbert Happy Hour in early March, with the band last playing at The Strongs Tavern at the end of February. Of course, this belatedly kicks off their annual "#summerof906", so more shows should be announced in due course, but since we last heard from Project 906 at The Strongs, they completed renovations in the spring, so hopefully things look as good as the rock will sound TONIGHT! Billy, Joe, Dustin, Jason, and Brian will take the stage TONIGHT at 8:00 PM with a 21+ age limit and no cover charge, as usual.

If you've missed the guys in recent months, and/or are up for the hour's drive west, don't miss out on their summer season kickoff! Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview of TONIGHT'S opening #summerof906 event, here's Project 906 live!

Next up, let's head north to Sault Ontario for some new videos from the Cory Marks concert at The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre on June 11th! Last week, Cory uploaded a highlight video from the event to his Facebook page, where he highly praised the concert, which included a sold-out meet & greet session, and some fans driving 8+ hours to see it. Cory called the the Bushplane Museum's hangar "a dream concert setting for me", and if you weren't there, the hangar doors were open with the stage was set up inside, allowing for outside light to get inside and for some nice views while the North Bay country/hard rock musician rocked out. The highlight video (set to the studio version of his song "Are You With Me?") features clips of Cory at the meet-and-greet, including of him playing acoustic for VIP fans, before we see footage of the proper concert.

Good thing that we knew ahead of time where this was, as the video only has fleeting glimpses of bushplanes, which is a testament in a way to how well everyone got the hangar looking like a concert venue for more than just local bands! I would prefer hearing raw audio from the concert, but miraculously, Facebook didn't content match the studio track, so I can embed it below!

If you do want to see raw audio from the concert proper, good news, as Mike Blair's 705Live Sound Co. were on hand to take care of sound for Cory and crew, and a video of them playing "Blame It On The Double" was posted to 705Live's Facebook page! Mike doesn't do the "pan the camera up from the soundboard" thing this time, FYI. Alas, the video only runs for 46 seconds, but it does let us get more of a view of where exactly in the Bushplane Museum that the concert was set up at (and where the VIP pre-show area was). Of note, Cory actually grabs someone's cell phone from the crowd to film things mid-song, which would be neat for that fan! What Mike shot looks and sounds good, so if you like Cory's southern fried hard rock, you can relive a snippet of this high production concert for yourself below, and we'll let you know if Cory returns to the Soo for a fifth straight year in 2027!

Finally, I have a local metal act to move to our inactive band links, namely local goregrind solo project Crucify The Whore. We have heard no public updates from C.T.W. since 2024, with their final album "Bummer" being released on Bandcamp that July, and more recent updates from their owned-and-operated indie label Blood Shed Productions dried up by the spring of 2025. Active since 2012 and led by singer/guitarist Tyler "Ringsnaps" Gibson, C.T.W. became one of the more unique underground sights among extreme metal fans of the early-mid 2010s, releasing lots of studio material online and at concerts, including many of the final Oddfellows Hall concerts, plus various private & house party events. Updates from C.T.W. (let alone Blood Shed) really tailed off after the pandemic, even for a one-man project, which wasn't helped by their Facebook pages being taken down, if not by Tyler's own hand.

C.T.W. were really a critic-proof act, as a one-man goregrind band with such explicit imagery, pig squealing vocals, extremely short song lengths, a drum machine, and an ardent "I play what I want to play" ethos made it difficult to look at them in comparison with most contemporary bands. I still believe that all of the early-mid 2010s Blood Shed 1-2 man bands had the collective talent to make a great five-piece death metal band, but Tyler did what he wanted and kept this project going for a strong length of time, with fun crowd reactions and a solid skill set as a guitarist & producer. Hopefully we hear more from him and the label down the road! That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes next week! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Separate Wayz, Stones At The Alter, And Greg Simpson), Plus The Cory Marks Concert Preview!!

Let's dive into what is an interesting weekend for hard rock fans in terms of live music! Due to the amount of shows, we'll hold our previews of of the previously announced Bone Yard 225 and Epic Rush concerts this weekend for our next post. Here's what you should know, starting with SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for this weekend!

Bone Yard 225 frontman Greg Simpson will bring his "Ranting Rockstar" acoustic solo concert back to The Dive Gastro Pub for a "Think It Over Thursday" concert TONIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, this show was only announced via the venue's Facebook page on Tuesday. While there may have been an assumption that Greg's solo debut at The Dive was a stopgap measure for him to keep playing while Bone Yard were still on their spring break, the band proper is back, so perhaps we will see Greg back sans Alex & Warren for more "uncorked" gigs beyond TONIGHT! Regardless, if you like your local 225 (or the former Bearded Lounge), you'll be right at home with Greg's unplugged southern and hard rock covers, though if you want the full band back, they'll be at Beck's tomorrow (preview forthcoming). TONIGHT's show will definitely be in "The Naughty Corner", as Greg's show last month was.

Expect a 9:00 PM start time, 19+ age limit, and no cover charge at the former Low & Slow TONIGHT, so visit the above links for more details on Greg's third solo show of 2026, and here he is live at The Dive!

Next up, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Separate Wayz will hit up Reggie's Place for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice, these shows were only announced via the band's Facebook page on Monday (note that the venue has not corroborated this booking on their own Facebook page at press time). While fans last saw their sister band Soundcheck two weeks ago at Jay's and a month ago at Reggie's, these will be the first Separate Wayz-branded concerts with Nicole present since April, when they played a standalone gig at Jay's and an "epic crossover" weekend at The Esquire Club with Soundcheck. Surprisingly, I can't find record of Separate Wayz playing at Reggie's since their debut last year, so if you're an existing fan or are curious to see how Soundcheck sound with a female singer, keep TOMORROW & SATURDAY'S shows in mind! No word on when we'll see Soundcheck back on stage, but we'll let you know.

As usual for weekend cover action at Reggie's, TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT's concerts are at 9:30 PM with no cover charges and 19+ age limits. See the above links for more details on Separate Wayz' Reggie's debuts, and for a preview, here they are live!

Also newly announced for this weekend is the headlining debut of new local hard rock quartet Stones At The Alter, who will play a special outdoor concert on SATURDAY NIGHT outside of the aforementioned Dive Gastro Pub! Apologies again for the short notice, this show was only announced by the venue's Facebook page on Sunday, though note that the band's Facebook group has not seen any updates in over a month. The Doo & The Boyos side project will set up shop outside of the former Low & Slow on SATURDAY to take advantage of that day's Sault Ste. Marie Festival of Beer, the annual LopLops Lounge-promoted event that returns to The Downtown Plaza, which is just down the road. Note that I don't know if Beerfest will have their own music lineup at the Plaza (they did last year), but we'll let you know if something comes out late. Hopefully S@TA can fit their full setup on The Dive's patio!

Note that Curtis McKenzie had advertised playing at The Dive on Saturday himself (in an announcement that slipped us by last month), but he blamed a "double booking accident (by) the venue" for the mixup. We'll let you know when he'll be back there soon! This rare plugged-in "Patio Play" gig will be an 8:00 PM nightcap at The Dive with a 19+ age limit and no cover. 9&10 News is calling for a high of 20° on Saturday with a low of 9°, and while we're too soon to see an hourly forecast, be advised that the chance of rain on Saturday in general is about 50/50 at present. Visit the above links for more details, and we'll let you know when Stones At The Alter videos surface!

Finally for this preview post, it's TONIGHT'S main event, as North Bay country/hard rock musician Cory Marks will return to The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre for a headlining concert! While promotion calls this the "first concert ever" at the Bushplane Museum (Cory himself says as much in this promotional video), that isn't true, as multiple locals-only shows have happened there, not to mention Cory's acoustic concert last year for Hope Air Day. However, for a high scale, high production concert, this is uncharted territory for the 50 Pim Street venue, and tickets are selling well for Cory's genre hybrid sound, which we last saw in a full band, electric splendour at The Machine Shop in 2023 & 2024. He has had charting singles on US rock radio, and some very high profile guest spots, so if you like hard rock and/or country, there will be something for you! In a late confirmation, former Northwest bandmates Greg Callaghan & Mike Yakasovich will open tonight in an acoustic set.

While their acoustic exploits largely haven't crossed our radar, Greg does cover some punk in his solo dates, so hopefully the set things off on the right foot! This concert takes place in the hangar proper tonight at 7:30 PM (running until 10:00), it is all ages, and limited general admission tickets cost $40 at the door. Online sales have ended, and VIP passes (which get fans an early acoustic set from Cory at 6:30 PM among other perks) have completely sold out. Food trucks will be on site tonight too, as they are every Thursday this summer. Click here and visit the above links for more on what should be a big night for the Bushplane Museum and fans of Cory's, and here he is live!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for our Bone Yard 225 and Epic Rush previews (and more) next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Cory Marks), A New Addition To Our Band Links, And More Updates!!

Let's catch up on some Sault Ontario odds and ends on this Tuesday night, including a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, promotion for another upcoming show, and some other updates, but leading off, here's a long overdue addition to our band links & full coverage!

We have a new-ish band to add to our Sault Ontario band links, and they are the no-longer-online-pageless The Spaceship Opening! Despite debuting on stage in September 2024, they only launched a social media presence (their new Facebook page) over the weekend. Described in promotion for past gigs as "east end rock & roll" and "space rock", The Spaceship Opening are a two-man-band featuring former Redundant/Fitswitch bassist Andrew MacDonald alongside A.S.D.P. drummer Ralph Barber, and in videos publically shared so far, neither sings at all. Over the past 18 months, you may recall seeing The Spaceship Opening sharing the stage with touring acts like The Space Wizards and Greg Rekus & The Inside Job, while they also opened for Mike Haggith's "Under A Moonlit Sky" show last fall, and most recently played at the "Not A Leap Year Party" concert in "Mellow D's Basement" on Saturday, alongside other public and private events.

Two videos are on their Facebook page, one being this short and black-and-white clip from an unspecified venue, while embedded below is four minutes of them playing at the still-closed Distraction last year, and while this one is in colour, it was shot vertically. Unless you've seen them live already, their early descriptors didn't give their sound away, and they have way more of an AlgomA-esque sludge/doom essence than I would have assumed. If you were expecting The Spaceship Opening to be similar to Andrew's past local bands, you may be surprised! Distorted and low (if not all that spacey), I can see why they've attracted fans with their minimalist rock compositions so far, so check things out from them above and below!

Next up, here's that LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, as North Bay country/hard rock musician Cory Marks will return to The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Center on Thursday, June 11th! The fourth time in as many years that Cory has performed a local date, this appears to be a full band show with a proper promotional push, unlike his most recent local gig (also at the Bushplane Museum), when he headlined the Hope Air Day charity event this past June with a solo acoustic performance that we didn't hear about until it was short notice. The Bushplane Museum is hyping this up by saying that "for the first time ever, we’re turning the hangar into a full-blown concert venue", and while multiple shows have taken place there in the past, they've tended to be all-local or supplemental to other events. Hopefully this show is a huge hit for Cory and the venue alike, so that more similarly scaled concerts can be considered!

No word on possible openers, but Silent 9 opened at Cory's Machine Shop shows in 2023 and 2024, and Matthew James opened last year's unplugged Hope Air Day concert. Doors open for this "hangar party" at 5:00 PM, there is no announced age limit, and tickets run for $40 (up fro $35 from Cory's last full-band show here) at this link, and $100 VIP passes are also available. Cory's hard rock and country crossover sound continues to garner fans and chart success, and fingers crossed that his fourth local concert is a smash this summer! Visit the above links for more details!

Also today, here's the first Facebook update from local progressive metal band Convergence in almost three months! Well, that's discounting "Stories", you may have seen one where "Johnny Cash" endorsed them, but they did not opt to separately upload that "Story" as its own video. The video below from Sunday features guitarist Jake Valois hyping their first show of the year, when they will be among the openers for Nashville death metal band Demon King and other touring groups at Soo Blaster on March 24th (three weeks from today!). Amusingly, Jake puts footage of the mobile video game Subway Surfers in an inset picture-in-picture window to try and discourage people from scrolling away, assuming you're watching the video on a vertical cell phone orientation, which may explain the captions. As the show is all ages, Jake suggests that the whole family come out to "Soo Blasters", even your grandma!

Tickets are on sale through the band for $15, and if you message him to get yours, he will make sure he gets it to you, so how simple is that? It's good to see some new shareable content from Convergence, and with their planned new album still in the works, hopefully 2026 proves to be a stacked year for them! Check out the new video below, and stay tuned for more from them!

Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist or venue name:

 

• We don't cover open mic/jam nights as "concerts" here due to their in-built unpredictability, and even if the host crosses our radar, there's no guarantee that they'll perform if it's busy. That said, I did at least want to mention that local party metal trio The Apocalypse Afterparty are actually hosting Piecing It Together Shows' weekly jam night tonight at their seasonal pop-up locale at 331-A Wellington Street West, as per their Facebook page. The former Dryer Fire haven't booked formal concerts with SMS-amenable acts over their winter season, but hopefully Paul, Amanda, and Mikhal have a good turnout for tonight's open mic night!
• Winnipeg folk punk musician Greg Rekus (who fronted The Inside Job here twice in the past two years) has been added as a surprise opener for The BAG's album release party at Soo Blaster on April 18th, as per Underground Events SSM's Facebook page last week. This may seem odd for a metal concert with a local headliner, but promoter Mikhal Muto is an ardent folk punk fan, so I assume this was just good timing to get Greg a local booking when he'd be coming through on a spring tour run. Plus, this show already has a diverse lineup, as Mikhal's new ska punk band A.S.D.P. are also opening. Hopefully Greg sets things off on the right foot next month!
• In their own poster for new local Pearl Jam tribute band Even Flow's concert there on March 27th, Soo Blaster alternately list the venue name for the show as "SooBlaster / Blaster Power" and "Blaster Power House". I don't know if this is portending anything about a name change for the building/stage, but the Queen Street East entertainment complex has recently opened bowling lanes, laser tag, and arcade upgrades. Of course, the concert stage there had been branded as the Soo Lounge since opening in 2019, but if anything is clarified further, we'll let you know!

 

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the SMS in due course! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Dr. Feelgood & Quite Frankly), The Trews Concert Preview, And More!!

Hopefully everyone is inside while this snow comes down! For this news post, we have our preview of a big concert tomorrow night, updates from local terrestrial radio, and some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for the coming months, so here's what you should know!

Reunited local classic/hard rock cover quartet Quite Frankly have announced four upcoming concerts at four differtent venues for the spring! While they are taking this month off, Linsaey, Frank, Harley, and Joe will pick things back up on March 28th at De Marco's Boots & Saddles Roadhouse, marking the first time we've ever covered a show there. Located at 2667 Second Line West (deep in the west end, 5 minutes north of the airport), you may recall Silent 9 playing a private gig there last month, but it historically hasn't been a haven for hard rock-leaning bands, so hopefully Quite Frankly leave a good impression next month! After taking the Easter weekend off, they will return to The Water Tower Pub on Saturday, April 11th, while they will rock Gateway Casino for the first time two weeks later on April 25th! Lastly, they'll return to Beck's Bar on Friday, May 1st, as the former Vibe Lounge continues occasionally booking bands on Fridays rather than DJs.

None of these venues are known to book bands on consecutive nights, just to clarify. All are 19+ events with no announced cover charges, and all are 8:00 PM affairs except the Beck's show (at 9:00 PM). It's great to see Quite Frankly finally start ramping up their live bookings, and hopefully these shows go over well for the band and attendees alike! Visit the band's Facebook page for more details on these concerts!

Next up, Niagara Falls-based Motley Crue tribute band Dr. Feelgood will make their local concert debut on Saturday, June 20th when they rock The Sault Community Theatre Centre! Newly announced yesterday via the White Pines-based theatre's Facebook page, hair metal fans will definitely want to circle this date on their calendars, as Dr. Feelgood do a strong job of bringing Motley Crue's classic singles to life on the big stage, which they have done across Canada for over two decades. Seeing as it'll be 20 years since the real band's local concert took place later this year, this is a fitting way to enjoy the next best thing! An 8:00 PM start time is advertised for this all ages concert, and tickets will run for $61.02 (adults), $49.72 (seniors aged 65+ and students aged 13-21), or $22.60 (kids aged 6-13) , with children under 6 being free. Buy yours online at this link or at the in-person box office at Station Mall, and visit the above links for more details!

Also, here's a special mid-week concert preview, as Juno-nominated Nova Scotia alternative/hard rock quintet The Trews will return to the Soo TOMORROW NIGHT as headliners at The Machine Shop! Last seen in our area at the 2024 Go North Music Festival on St. Joseph Island, this will be their first gig in city limits since opening for Marianas Trench here in 2022 and their first headlining show here since 2009 (and if you don't count that acoustic tour, 2008). Of course, since we last saw The Trews up here, 104.3 The Fox debuted on the FM dial, meaning that their hit singles like "Poor Ol' Broken Hearted Me", "Tired Of Waiting", and cuts from their new album "Bloody Light" get a lot more local airplay than they did, so there should be a solid turnout tomorrow despite the Wednesday scheduling! While not well advertised in the lead-up, this tour does have an opening act, namely southern/roots rock quintet Eddy & The Dirty Boys in their local debut.

While a relatively new band, Eddy & The Dirty Boys are actually a side project from three members of Kingston rock band The Glorious Sons, their genre-blurring sound has been making waves in recent months, and they should set the tone well tomorrow! This all ages concert goes down tomorrow at 8:00 PM, and general admission tickets remain on sale at this link, at the Station Mall box office, or at the Gelato Mill (located nearby at Mill Square) for $40, while $60 VIP passes are also available that will get you access to an acoustic pre-show from both bands, a meet & greet, and more perks. This should be a huge concert, so visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's The Trews live at GFL Memorial Gardens in 2022!

Finally for today, some potentially major news from local radio came out last week via this Inside Radio article, as later covered by Carol Martin of SooToday's Sault Michigan sister website SooLeader. Apparently, local radio company Sovereign Communications is at risk of losing its seven active broadcast licenses (Rock 101 among them) in the next 60 days, and thusly having the stations go off air on FM and AM, if they don't make overdue fees, interest, and penalty payments to the Federal Communications Commission, currently adding up to over $37,000 USD. SooLeader also reported that Sovereign owes over $10,000 in rent for its city-owned broadcast tower in Sault Ste. Marie. A repayment agreement with city council has been agreed to, but the article doesn't outline the status of the money owed to the FCC, though according to Inside Radio, they could appeal to try to waive or defer the owed fees.

I won't speak on matters that I'm not privy to, but it'd be a massive blow, even if temporary, to lose Sovereign stations on the FM and AM dials. After all, Sovereign has collectively owned Rock 101, 99.5 Yes FM, Oldies 93, Country 105, 1230 WSOO, News Talk 1400, and WNBY 1450 in this market since 2010, and the only other truly local station in Sault Michigan that isn't repeated from elsewhere is classic hits station 95.1 The Bridge. Rock 101's Scott Cook struck an optimistic tone in the SooToday comment section, so hopefully Sovereign sorts everything out soon! That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site soon! Thanks everyone!