Steel City CollectorCon Pre-Party/HeadF1rst Album Release Concert Review!!

After way too long, here's a new concert review on the SMS, as I was in attendance for last night's HeadF1rst-headlined Steel City CollectorCon pre-party at Soo Blaster! Beyond the bands, this was a special event to hype up today's comic/collector's convention at the Quattro hotel, and there were vendors on hand selling clothing, crafts, and even tattoos(!) before and during the sets! Headf1rst and Mike Haggith were selling band merchandise as well (no table for Handsome Sandwich that I noticed), but all three bands' newest CDs were offered in the raffle draw. I can't speak for what was said and took place during the VIP-exclusive function after HeadF1rst's set, but hopefully we'll learn more on that front soon! Good turnout of concertgoers as well! Your openers were local/Barrie alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith and his backing group The Big Finish Band in their first concert since The Soo's Got Talent finals at the same venue last fall, but they had a slight change.

Rhythm guitarist Elly McWatters recently suffered a rotator cuff injury and was wearing a sling last night, so Mike played guitar instead (aside from the closing song), while Elly still took part on backing vocals and playing the tambourine. Hopefully she gets well soon! Mike & crew blasted through a 45 minute set of recent originals from Mike's solo back catalogue like "The Best You Never Had", "Hot & Cold", and "The Nature Of The Times", plus a couple of newer cuts like "I Really Hope This Gets To You", and everyone fired on all cylinders with an energetic blast of rock led by Mike's deep, melodic vocals and strong lead guitar work from Chris Nielsen, while Matt Froni laid some booming bass lines throughout, and drummer Brandan Glew was up to his usual standards behind the kit. Good stuff all around, and hopefully we see Mike & The Big Finish Band (with Elly healed up) again soon!

The middle band last night was alternative hard rock band Handsome Sandwich in their first own first show of the year, but they played as a four piece, with rhythm guitarist Brandon Ruch absent. I am not 100% sure if he was just not available last night or if he left the band, but note that their current cover photo on their Facebook page (updated in October) is from a show with his predecessor Mitch Sirie. Brandon had joined Handsome Sandwich in January of last year, and seemed to fit in well, but if he has left, hopefully things are amicable, and remember that he is still in new local country band The Golden Scoundrels with drummer Johnny Belanger!

Regardless of what's going on with their second guitarist position, Handsome Sandwich delivered a fun set of new and old originals to wrap up their seven+ month break! Alongside songs from their debut CD "Deconstructed" like "Monkey", "Conquest", and "Bitter", we also got to hear cuts from their upcoming EP (possibly named "Collage"?), including "Partyfuel", "Change A Bit", and "All Done Now". Taylor Emlaw's distinctive, cutting vocals led the way, with a stage presence this time that reminded me a bit of Joe Cocker (this isn't a complaint), and both Johnny and bassist Rafael Medina held up their end of the bargain on the rhythm and low end! The lack of a rhythm guitarist was noticeable compared to their five-piece shows since Rafael joined, as the guitar riffs and melodies were quieter with just Jesse Cook playing, but if you like Handsome Sandwich's unique yet relatable original songs, you'll have enjoyed things! 

Your headliners last night were the newly renamed Headf1rst (with a 1, not an I) in their album release party, so this was your first chance to buy their new studio album "Road Trippin'"! We'll have more on the album proper on the site soon, and yes, it will be this month's CD review on the SMS. All nine songs from the album made their setlist last night (albeit not in track listing order), as well as two holdovers from their 2024 debut EP "Head Trauma" and a surprise cover of The Killers' "When You Were Young". If you haven't seen HeadF1rst live, their hard hitting and classic-influenced brand of hard rock was a crowd pleaser, with Red Jettison's well suited vocals and very active stage presence keeping things lively, making up a lot of the slack during their set! Raine Rancourt's lead guitar work was excellent, shredding it up with the best of them, and while Claire and Liam could be a little stiff up there, they performed well!.

A fun, promise-filled, and adaptable group, HeadF1rst kept the good vibes rolling all night and gave their album the best launch possible, so definitely check them out at their next dates, local or otherwise! This was a fun collection of local talent, and while not emphasized at all in marketing, it is nice to see that all three bands have mixed gender lineups (Elly's injury acknowledged). More women in local rock bands is certainly welcomed! You can check out my photos and videos from last night's concert at this link or at our Facebook page, and as for videos, here's Mike Haggith & The Big Finish Band playing "Back Away Slowly", Handsome Sandwich playing "Without You", and HeadF1rst playing "Tour Bus Fantasy"!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

HeadF1rst & Project 906 Concert Previews, Plus A Lengthy Livestream!!

Tonight's post rounds out this weekend's known hard rock concert previews, and in one case, we have a very long preview video to share with lots of news and notes within, so here's what else you should know for your Saturday!

Sault Michigan blues/hard rock quintet Project 906 will return to The Islander Bar in nearby Hessel for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT! Announced on the band's Facebook page early last month, this will be 906's first Hessel stop of 2025, last rocking The Islander Bar in August of last year. This will also be their first show since 100% confirming that hand drummer Brian Duford is an official band member rather than a recurring guest (and he apparently has antlers now!), so keep the double percussion in mind if you haven't seen Project 906 much before. You can enjoy Project 906's slate of fan-friendly hard rocking covers at The Islander Bar tomorrow at the early-ish start time of 7:00 PM with a 21+ age limit and no announced cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Project 906 live!

Next up, the main event of the weekend for hard rock fans in Sault Ontario goes down TOMORROW NIGHT at Soo Blaster, when local hard rock quintet HeadF1rst (now with a 1 in their name rather than an I) will headline the Steel City CollectorCon pre-party and launch their sophomore album "Road Trippin'"! This stacked event will be an effective teaser for Sunday's bi-annual collectors/comic convention hosted by Vintage Games N' Junque/Steel City Events at the Quattro hotel, and to that end, select vendors will be selling their wares before/during the concert proper, while there will also be an 8-ball pool tournament if you are so inclined. This will be the release party for HeadFirst's new CD and their first show anywhere in three weeks, and discs will be on sale, including a raffle for a chance to win free copies of both "Road Trippin'" and the newest studio albums from tomorrow's opening bands!

The CollectorCon pre-party will feature two opening acts, including local alternative hard rock quintet Handsome Sandwich in their first concert of 2025, last seen on stage over seven months ago. Their own sophomore album is still not released, but look for songs from it in their high energy set tomorrow! As well, local/Barrie alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith and his Big Finish Band will open the proceedings in their first gig of the year, last seen at Soo Blaster during The Soo's Got Talent's finals last fall. Always good to see Mike back home, and hopefully everyone delivers his original music as solidly as ever to lead off! While the all ages festivities begin at 7:30 PM tomorrow, bands start at 9:00 PM, so the lead-up may be for the benefit of the vendors. Admission is $20, but $35 V.I.P. passes exist that include door prize tickets and access to a question/answer panel (I don't know specifics on that). The pool tournament separately costs $20 to enter.

Tickets are available at Vintage Games N' Junque in advance, and online at this link, but you can pay at the door. This should be a fun event whether you're invested in HeadF1rst's new album or the CollectorCon (or both), so definitely visit the official Facebook event page for more details, but for a preview, I would have embedded this hour+ long livestream from Vintage Games N' Junque's Facebook page on Tuesday! I can't because Facebook content matched songs played in the stream, so click here to watch. This was the "listening party" hyped in advance by the band, and due to Facebook's rule changes on livestreamed videos, this will be deleted on or around May 29th unless re-posted as a normal video, so watch it while you can! This is hosted by VGNJ owner Mike Turcotte (who stars in many of the store's videos) in their physical gaming-centric back room, with his wife Beth present off camera, and features all of HeadF1rst taking part on camera alongside Handsome Sandwich drummer Johnny Belanger.

After some light discussion about members' early guitar work, HeadF1rst revealed that they have joined Mike Haggith's indie label MorningStar Records, and "Road Trippin'" will be released via the imprint with professional packaging, which is great to hear! Extra details are next given on admission and V.I.P. perks, as well as who some of the vendors are. After some reflection on Headf1rst members' prior time in White Pines Collegiate's student band The Pine Tones, the guys noted which merchandise that they'll be selling tomorrow, with frontman Red Jettison taking time to hype local musicians in general, including a Spotify playlist called Soo Rock that he created to help group some of them together. The praise for the Soo, including from Mike (who's not from here originally) is very welcomed! Some discussion of Johnny's long-running local death metal band The Bear Hunters comes up at the 15 minute mark too, so what is said there?

HeadF1rst drummer Anthony Boudreau heavily praised seeing The Bear Hunters live at the former Oddfellows Hall, and Johnny admitted that The Bear Hunters had an offer to play the Sentiment Dissolve concert at Jay's on May 19th, but he said that the band "I think, is done". I wouldn't take that as a firm statement about the band's finality, as guitarist Mitch Sirie was spearheading new Bear Hunters content in recent months and there were hints about more coming, but I think fans understand that they're on the back end of their run regardless. This rolls in with discussion about the local scene in general and the support of each other's projects and different styles, which is great to see! At the 26 minute mark, HeadFirst frontman Red Jettison announces that they're planning a "Road Trippin' Tour" run which will see them play at Goulais Community Days (details forthcoming) as well as Bruce Mines, Sudbury, and more locations to be announced.

Bruce Mines would fit in our coverage range, for the record, we just don't hear of much there in terms of heavier shows. We'll keep you posted on the tour details when they come out, but if you came to the live-stream for the teased listening party of songs from "Road Trippin'", you'll want to jump in at the 29 minute mark. The new album's first single "Slay The Dragon" is played first, and when the interview resumes in the 34 minute range, Mike praises the song heavily, and after some related discussion about production and guest credits, a minute-long sample of a second song from the album is played 37 minutes in (check the album out or come to Soo Blaster to hear it in full!) Afterwards, Johnny gives context as to what Handsome Sandwich will play tomorrow, including at least four cuts from their still-unreleased sophomore album, which may be named "Collage". Two more HeadF1rst album singles are teased next.

The one at the 43 minute mark is named "Story Of Me", and hasn't been played live yet as of this recording. 49 minutes in, Johnny gives "the quick version" of how the Handsome Sandwich name came about, and we then hear HeadF1rst guitarist Raine Rancourt's solo from the last song on "Road Trippin'", as well as a snippet from a drinking/crowd involvement song 55 minutes in.  A few lighter questions from live-stream viewers pop up next, including the reveal that they want to release two more singles from the album, with another teaser clip next featuring very deep vocals. 61 minutes in, Johnny samples the studio version of "All Done Now" from Handsome Sandwich's upcoming album, and that is followed by everyone listening to Mike Haggith's existing song "The Nature Of The Times" (I'll assume that he has no new studio material ready, though frequent fliers may disagree!)

The last real scoop in the live-stream is the band's direct explanation into adding a 1 into their name, primarily to differentiate themselves from other bands named Headfirst elsewhere, and to get their own listing on streaming services. This post has went on long enough, so I'll detail Headf1rst's official website and their MorningStar Records signing in a separate post soon, but this is an entertaining and casual live-stream that fills in a lot of blanks and introduces some new questions that we should know a lot of answers to tomorrow night at Soo Blaster! Watch the livestream above, here's HeadF1rst live, don't miss CollectorCon, and stay tuned for this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post next! Thanks everyone!