Cory Marks Concert Videos & Northern Vibe Festival Lineup Updates!!

Before we begin this post, I wanted to apologize for missing a late concert cancellation on here, as classic/hard rock cover trio Dodge This dropped out of their planned Beck's Bar show on Saturday night. A reason for the cancellation wasn't announced, but Beck's Facebook page only confirmed the news at 10:00 PM that night, after the show was to have began. Hopefully all is well in Dodge This' camp, and that we see them again on stage soon!

Today's post otherwise takes us to updates on an upcoming concert festival, but first, here's some long overdue videos from North Bay country/hard rock musician Cory Marks' last two shows here! This first one is actually from his Machine Shop gig in September of last year, and I think this one slipped me by until now because it was uploaded as a "Shorts" video (a.k.a. YouTube "Reels"). While it is brief and vertical, at least you can embed it on external websites and play it in a background tab! This actually comes from the YouTube channel of Ben Bullett Mortlock, who was a session guitarist in Cory's live band, and it features 56 seconds of footage from that night, including arrival at the venue, and black & white soundcheck clips. All of this is set to the studio version of Cory's song "Whiskey For Sale". I say this a lot for highlight videos, but I hope the raw footage of this gets uploaded at some point!

Beyond my usual complaints about vertically framed videos, the quality of the video footage here is great (I couldn't tell you if the audio matches up), with lots of strong angles of the band, venue, and fans, so hopefully someone is sitting on the fuller (and maybe not vertical) raw materials? Kudos to Ben for this "Short" regardless, so give it a watch below!

Next up, let's transition to Cory's third local concert, a special acoustic event at the Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre in June as part of the Hope Air Day charity initiative for improving remote health care access in northern communities. This intimate event (which had free admission) was actually live-streamed by the Hope Air Facebook page, but alas, I wasn't able to cover it here as hoped due to our busy existing summer schedule. Facebook now has a 30 day time limit for hosting and viewing live-streamed videos, unless they're re-uploaded or converted to regular videos prior, which Hope Air did not do for the Cory Marks concert here, so it vanished from Facebook around July 6th. We're not completely stuck in terms of covering it now though, as attendee DJ Chris Mat uploaded two videos from that night to his YouTube channel! One is of local folk musician Matthew James, who replaced The Dust Covers on short notice for unannounced reasons as the opening act.

Cory's 1:41-long video features him covering Bryan Adams' "Cuts Like A Knife", another good sign towards his country/rock crossover appeal if you weren't familiar with his rock radio crossover singles already. I get the sense that Chris zoomed in a lot, but you see what you need to see for Cory's one man performance here, and he sounds good on this domestic rock classic, so give it a look below, and apologies again for not being able to cover the full live-streamed concert in time! Hope Air is a great charity, and I hope the local festivities helped their goals and promotion in the area! 

Lastly for today, here's some clarifications and updates re: the lineup for the Northern Vibe Festival in Ophir over the August 23rd weekend! Like last year, organizers are posting individual promotional images for the musical performers on their Facebook page on a sporadic basis, and one is a brand new addition to the lineup, namely debuting alt-rock/punk quartet Spun Out! Confirmed for the festival on July 11th, the band features former Caveman Morrison vocalist Dean Duguay and former Half Past/Winkstinger bassist Ryan Disano, alongside a guitarist named Joe and a drummer named Jamie. I am not 100% on their identities, not aided by the lack of an online page, let alone the horror movie effects on their first band photo, but it will be neat to hear how they sound! I don't know who, if anyone, Spun Out are replacing at Northern Vibe, but seven of the Forest Stage bands on the tentative April lineup have yet to get a Facebook promotional image at press time.

Regarding the advertised Tool tribute band, they are not a Parabol reunion, nor are they even local. They are Avessel, a joint Tool/A Perfect Circle tribute band from Sudbury, who will be making their local concert debut off Poplardale Road in three weeks. Avessel don't have a website or social media page beyond Instagram, but what I have heard points to a strong take on songs from Maynard James Keenan-fronted bands, so don't bypass them! Lastly for updates on advertised bands, the rap performance by Soundsxvad isn't a renaming of Fvksxvad, rather a one-night-only merger of MCs from that collective as well as Sound Syndrome. Apologies for any confusion from our initial coverage of this year's lineup, and thanks to members for clarifying on Facebook! Time will tell if there any other lineup adjustments, so stay tuned for more updates on the lineup and who exactly is playing on what day when things come out, and we will keep you posted!

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

Local Hard Rock Video Showcase!!

Let's dive into a video-heavy new post at the SMS, which includes live videos that I missed from two big concerts in the last couple of years, and some footage from recent local concerts, so here's what you should know!

We'll start with an apology for a show that I missed for our last round of weekend concert previews, as local acoustic classic/hard rock band Dodge This played at The Dive Gastro Pub on Saturday night. The venue first announced the booking on their Facebook page via their June concert calendar on the 7th, but that completely slipped me by over the past week, complicated by Dodge This not plugging this show at all on their own Facebook page.  I profusely apologize, things always get busier for the SMS in the summer, but hopefully their latest stop in the "Naughty Corner" was a hit, and don't miss them at The Water Tower Pub on Friday! However, we do have a new video to share of the guys covering The Gin Blossoms' "Hey Jealousy" with Jamie July on lead vocals, as shot at their Beck's Bar gig on May 3rd, though only uploaded it on June 6th to promote their return to Beck's the following night.

The 22 seconds long and (sadly) vertical clip features lots of close angles of the guys, including percussionist Jeff July, Jamie's brother, who was quietly 100% confirmed on their Facebook page in September as being a member of the band, despite their profile photo still just crediting Jamie & Jason. From what we hear of the "Hey Jealousy" cover, it sounds good and how you'd expect it to unplugged, and the filmer got some nice panning shots of the interior of Beck's, so check it out for yourselves below!

Next up, here's some videos from North Bay country/hard rock musician Cory Marks' headlining concerts at The Machine Shop in 2023 and 2024! I found these belatedly when looking up his Hope Air fundraiser concert at the Bushplane Museum earlier this month, and I apologize for not finding these until just now. These were shot by attendee Brian S for his YouTube channel, which we previously touched on here when Brian filmed at Pop Evil and Theory of a Deadman's most recent local concerts. From Cory's local debut in July 2023, Brian got just one video, of Cory and his band playing his original song "Blame It On The Double", and if you're still questioning the heavier rock credentials for Cory, this video opening with a brief cover snippet of Pantera's "Cowboys From Hell" may help! Unfortunately, all of Brian's Cory Marks videos are vertical (granted, few of his uploads aren't), but he was close to the stage and you get a good view of everyone on stage!

The frame rate seems somewhat low, but from Brian's vantage point, you see what you need to see, and the fans are well crammed in on the floor for this one! Solid performance for fans of this modern wave of country rock, so check it out for yourselves below!

Brian upped his video count for Cory's return to The Machine Shop in September of last year (in his most recent uploads to his channel), though like in 2023, he did not film local openers Silent 9. Last fall, Brian shot Cory and his band playing "Blame It On The Double" again, as well as "Keep Doing What I Do", and as embedded below, "Outlaws & Outsiders", which appeared to end his set. Compared to 2024, Brian has a better (re: front row) angle of the stage, but there is more of a sense that he's pointing upwards as a result. Still, these are strong renditions for fans familiar with Cory's music, and he has a good audience rapport, so check these out above & below, and we'll have more from the Hope Air show soon!

Finally for today, here's some new videos of local hard rock quartet Half Past's debut at the aforementioned Beck's Bar in April! While their cover of Tool's "The Pot" was posted to their Facebook page at the time, that and more were also uploaded to bassist Arthur Lacasse's YouTube channel, which exclusively has videos from that night of the guys covering Alice In Chains' "Them Bones", and as embedded below, Thousand Foot Krutch's "Lifeline". Unexpected band choice in a few respects, but they handle that song and "Them Bones" well, and the video quality is as good as on the Tool cover, so fans will have nothing to worry about! Check out Half Past's newest live videos for yourselves above & below!

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

Local Metal/Hard Rock Video Showcase!!

After escaping another busy weekend concert preview run, we have a new news post for your Saturday morning, and it mostly covers new videos relating to local artists and concerts, with related information therein. With all of that laid out, here's what you should know!

I hope to cover last night's Cory Marks concert livestream on the SMS soon (I have to, given that they have a 30 day lifespan now!), but to promote the event, the North Bay country/hard rock musician actually got interviewed on CTV News Northern Ontario on Tuesday! If you missed that night's newscast on cable/satellite (or channel 2 OTA), CTV News' YouTube channel uploaded the segment, which was anchored by Tony Ryma, who was a former Sault Ste. Marie city councillor before moving to Sudbury to work on the former MCTV News there. The interview is more about Hope Air, the remote health care access charity that put on the local concert last night at the Bushplane Museum (on Hope Air Day, of course). Only the last question was directly about the concert, which Cory (who recorded the interview in Sturgeon Falls) revealed there was "a pop up acoustic set". Maybe that helps explain why this didn't get a lot of promotion as a concert?

While Hope Air Day is understandably prioritized over Cory's music (though I guess he played a Hope Air Day concert in Timmins last year too), promotion for both on local network television would have been huge, and hopefully eyeballs watching CTV News Northern Ontario on Tuesday made the point to come downtown for the free concert! Check out the full interview segment below, and stay tuned for more public content from Cory's acoustic show last night, livestream or otherwise!

Next up, remember how local/Barrie alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith was tapped to sing "O Canada" at a couple of Barrie Baycats baseball games last summer, only for rain delays to get in the road? As you may recall, Mike did successfully sing the national anthem on June 13th, but that game was rained out after a few pitches, before Mike eventually did the honours at a game that went ahead in full on August 1st, and I surprisingly never talked about that on here. You can watch that particular Intercounty Baseball League game (which saw Barrie beat the Welland Jackfish 5-4) at this link, and Mike is introduced 6:05 into the livestream. It was a fine rendition, Mike put his voice to quality use on a big stage (well, diamond), but there were some audio dropouts after he finished, so there's an awkward silence on the video that likely wasn't there at Athletic Kulture Stadium. Kudos to the Baycats for bringing Mike back after Mother Nature got in the way!

Incidentally, the Baycats won the IBL championship last fall, so belated congratulations from afar on their playoff success! They also beat Welland in the finals, and the two teams also faced off on Thursday for another game where Mike was the anthem singer! Dressed even fancier this time, Mike's performance is just as good as his two stints last season, but in this game (full livestream here), the audio doesn't drop out after he's done singing, so we can hear the P.A. announcer's copy about Mike at the end. While the Jackfish got their revenge by beating Barrie 4-3, hopefully a good time was had by all in attendance! Mike uploaded just the anthem from Thursday's game to his Facebook page, so give it a watch below!

Also today, here's our first public videos of local hard rock quartet Sylo's current lineup! The band debuted new second guitarist Owen Middleton when they opened for Derev at Soo Blaster on May 23rd (itself their first show since Eli left for university last fall), and they posted two brief videos from their set to their Instagram page in the following days. Unfortunately, both are vertical (not even square), but you have to be used to Instagram video limitations on that platform. The band has promised that "full length footage (is) coming up soon", implying that longer videos are coming to a platform that will host them, but I haven't seen it anywhere obvious yet. One of the videos focuses on Owen playing during their cover of Black Sabbath's "War Pigs" with drummer Jakob Fice-Lesage "switching up in the middle of the set", as noted via on-screen text. I don't think that the text was needed, but viral content creation, I know. 

The purpose is to make light of Jakob's change in fills, and Owen got a good laugh, but hopefully we see fuller video of this cover soon! Embedded below is Sylo playing their original song "War Times", and while I wish this was the full song and not shot vertically (you see very little of Owen and Jakob here), it's a strong performance of Sylo's earliest and best known original song! Good stuff, but hopefully we do see the long-form videos that Sylo teased. Give these two Instagram clips a watch above & below!

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Finally for today, newer local industrial metal solo project The Realignment Project posted four more lyric videos from their sophomore EP "The Frustration Sessions" onto their YouTube channel last month! One is for "Static" (which Matt had teased in a Facebook "Reel" in April), but "Minor Outburst", "Fireside", and "Stupid" also got the lyric video treatment. There is not (currently?) a lyric video for the closing song "Medicated (A Spade Is A Spade)", but remember that two songs from their debut EP "Afterthought" didn't get lyric videos either. I'll hold comment on the songs until our review of "The Frustration Sessions" in August, but give these new industrial rock songs a listen (with lyrics) above & below!

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

Cross Dog & Half Past Concert Previews, Plus More Updates!!

In today's SMS post, we are finishing off this weekend's hard rock concert previews with two big downtown shows tomorrow night, along with updates from a prominent local band & a new live video with some familiar faces, so here's what you should know!

We'll pick up our weekend concert previews TOMORROW NIGHT, when Peterborough hardcore punk trio Cross Dog will return to the Soo for a special headlining concert in the basement of Discover The Canvas Studio at 317 Wellington Street West! Featuring ex-Fuller/Lion Ride/et al. bassist Mark Rand and his wife Tracy Ashenden on vocals, this will be Cross Dog's first local concert since their appearances at 2018 & 2019's Oh!No festivals in Leeburn, and their first public concert in Sault Ste. Marie proper since opening for The Dayglo Abortions at the former Roosevelt Hotel in 2013. Now, another homecoming for Mark should be a big deal, but be advised that as of 6:17 PM, their tour bus broke down outside of Sudbury, and they were waiting on a mechanic scheduled to fix it tomorrow morning. Hopefully things are repaired in short order so that tomorrow's local date goes off without a hitch, but we'll let you know if something changes!

Local openers will include online page-less indie punk quartet Honest Work (last seen when they debuted at Fuller's reunion concert in December) and new local hardcore quintet The Sault Side Squad (in their third public concert), so come early for these newer supergroups! Doors open for tomorrow's public festivities at 7:30 PM with admission of $15 through local openers and $20 at the door, and there is no stated age limit. It will be great to see Cross Dog's furious and no-guitar originals back in town tomorrow, let alone in the basement of a tattoo parlor, so visit the above links for more details, and here's Cross Dog live!

Lastly for known hard rock concerts this weekend, let's head to Soo Blaster, where local hard rock quartet Half Past will have their biggest headlining date since their comeback TOMORROW NIGHT! Metalheads may have last seen Half Past among the openers for Selias at the same venue two weeks ago, but this will see Half Past at the top of the bill, with their proficient modern hard rock covers sure to fill the big Soo Blaster stage tomorrow! They'll even be selling their own band t-shirts tomorrow, which is a neat sign for fans! Bullet Train frontman Cory Murchison (billed as "Cory Daniel" like when he opened for Fort Creek two years ago) will open with an acoustic set, so if you like the former Sense of Truth and Skeyes of Seven singer/guitarist's extensive local career, he should have a solid block of unplugged tunes to kick things off!

This ALL AGES concert takes place tomorrow night at 8:00 PM, and admission is $10 in advance at this link, at the venue, or through performers directly, though you will have to pay $12 at the door if you didn't get yours beforehand. Fans of modern hard rock won't want to miss out on all of the action at Soo Blaster tomorrow night, especially given the scope for Half Past, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here they are live!

Also today, here's some updates on the aforementioned Fort Creek, so what is the southern hard rock band up to nowadays! After unveiling a new band logo in May (which you can now buy official t-shirts with it on), they spent much of the summer working behind the scenes, only posting optimistic teasers about future activity. On September 1st, they revealed on their Facebook page that they were "wrapping up final vocals on our first release", namely an acoustic version of a song named "One For The Road". No updates followed until October 1st, when Fort Creek announced the addition of former Role Models/PROV3RB5 drummer Phil Greco to their lineup, replacing the already departed Anthony Fabiano. The guys talked up his skill set and professionalism, and he is a solid drummer that would be an asset to a long-term band, so it'll be interesting to hear how he factors in! We may not hear him immediately on the acoustic version of "One For The Road", granted, but we'll let you know when their new songs surface.

Fort Creek also posted the new band photo above of Phil alongside Justin, Shane, and Bill standing outside of a truck, but it remains to be seen how they'll handle their bassist vacancy (Robin "Bones" Lee left along with Tony last year). It's been a long and often quiet year for Fort Creek, but hopefully these recent updates are a positive sign, so visit the above links for more from their camp!

We'll close with a new video from (former?) Wyld Stallyns frontman Rob Speers' solo acoustic concert at The Dive Gastro Pub this past Saturday! For the record, it was indoors, so clearly the "Patio Play" conceit is done for the season. Uploaded to The Dive's Facebook page, this is our first public video look at Rob's solo concerts since he began them in earnest, and while this isn't a hard rock or metal cover, I did want to mention it today because Rob's playing with most of Handsome Sandwich here! For this cover, he was joined by singer Taylor Emlaw, guitarist Jesse Cook (Rob's old Elements and Wyld Stallyns bandmate), and bassist Rafael Medina, while the guest hand drummer appears to be local classic rock/country singer/guitarist Jeremy Logan Newman. Handsome Speerwich (how's that for a hybrid name?) are seen in this 24 seconds long clip covering Marcy Playground's "Sex & Candy".

Never a song I loved, but this group cover exudes with good vibes in what we see, and it's fun seeing everyone jamming like this! Check it out below, and look for more acoustic concerts at The Dive to come this fall!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Half Past), A New Local Band, The Damn Truth Preview, And More!!

Today's post is full of big news and notes, including a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, a mid-week concert preview, and a high profile new cover video, but let's lead off with a kinda sorta new local metal band, so here's what you should know on them on this Monday night!

We have a new-ish band to add to our Sault Ontario band links, and they are local "progressive tech death" metal quartet Bardo! I say "new-ish" because they're kind of a renaming and a replacement band all at once. Initial advertising for the Selias-headlined concert at Soo Blaster on September 28th had promoter Tyler St. Amour's mid-2010s death metal band Them returning after a seven year hiatus on this night, but it has since been confirmed on Facebook that they'll instead be going by the name Bardo, and a separate Facebook page was launched to reflect the new-ish band. Given everything, I'm treating Them and Bardo as separate bands (with Them back in our inactive links), especially given the gap since 2017 and that Bardo are not a duo and are playing more technical material, so there has been a clear evolution! No word on what Bardo means, for the record. Tyler aside (who is on vocals and bass), who else is in this group?

The lineup is not given in writing on social media yet, but it looks like two of Tyler's old March Into Regression bandmates are in this group, namely his brother Travis St. Amour (best known from Bring The Fallen) on drums and Christopher Neveau on guitar, but I have yet to identify who the second guitarist is. We'll let you know when things are confirmed publically! Two videos have been shared to Bardo's Facebook page so far, and while both have them short-handed (only one guitarist in the newer clip, and Tyler isn't playing bass in either), but these point to a brutal and more refined sound than Them were known for, and they should turn heads at Soo Blaster! Check out their first original "Blood Moon" below!

Next up, here's that LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, as local hard rock quartet Half Past will return to Soo Blaster on Saturday, October 12th for a big headlining date! The reunited foursome will actually debut there at the aformenetioned Selias-headlined concert, but they will be the topline attraction next month, in their first headlining gig since rocking Shooters early last month. As far as I can tell, there's no frills or raison d'etre for this show beyond playing some hard rocking tunes live, so don't miss out on Jordan, Alain, Arthur, and Jonny's encore at Soo Blaster two weeks after the Selias concert! Half Past will have an opening act next month as well, namely Bullet Train frontman Cory Murchison, who will break out his acoustic guitar for the occasion. Promotional materials credit him as "Cory Daniel", which is the handle used when he opened for Fort Creek in 2022, despite playing shows since where his last name was used in advertising.

Fans of Half Past's original 2008-2012 run will recall that Cory was active then fronting Sense Of Truth (and he played with Jonny in Skeyes Of Seven afterwards), so they're well acquainted, and it should be a fun atmosphere! Given the large upscale venue, this is a ticketed event, so admission will be $10 in advance at this link (physical tickets are available through the performers and at Soo Blaster), and the door price will jump to $12. This will be an ALL AGES event, and Cory kicks off the night at 8:00 PM. Hard rock fans will get their fill on this night, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details on all of the action next month!

Also, here's a special Tuesday night concert preview, as Montreal classic/hard rock quartet The Damn Truth will headline at the aformentioned Soo Blaster in their local debut TOMORROW NIGHT! This retro-styled band have been getting some good local press attention this week, getting a brief write-up by Brian Kelly for The Sault Star (at this link) and some high praise on The Borderline's website, so you know that this female-fronted group will deliver a solid night of 1960s-inspired melodic rock originals, and no less than Bob Rock produced their new material, so you know they're on the up & up! A varied local opening roster includes local alt-punk trio A Dire Setback (in their second show of 2024 and first in Sault Ste. Marie city limits in over a year) and alternative rock trio The Haze (née Skinbox) in their first show since they added an unspecified new band member, so find out who is joining Steve, Jordan, and Brad in The Haze tomorrow!

Another show promoted locally by Mikhal Muto, tomorrow's concert has advance tickets running for $20 at this link and presumably at the venue, with the door price jumping to $25. Like the Half Past show next month, the music starts at 8:00 PM, though it was not stated if there will be a 19+ age limit here or not. The Damn Truth should turn heads tomorrow, especially with Lee-La's distinctive Janis Joplin-esque vocals, so don't miss out if you can swing this work/school night event! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's The Damn Truth live!

Finally for today, here's song #13 in local punk supergroup project Mikey & His Uke's 30th anniversary series of remotely filmed covers of Green Day's breakthrough album "Dookie"! Posted to their YouTube channel last week, this video came just two weeks after the previous cover of "Emenius Sleepius", in the quickest turnaround in covers for this series since song #7 ("Basket Case") went up in March, which is good to see! In the penultimate credited song on offer, Mikey & crew tackled the thirteenth track on "Dookie", namely the short deep cut "In The End". As always, Bookclub frontman Mikey Hawdon is on guitar and (initially) ukelele, with Goldfinger alum Darren Pfieffer back as the house drummer for the "Dookie" covers, complete with another hockey jersey. Vocals here are provided by Authority Zero frontman Jason Devore, while Buck-O-Nine bassist Andy Plafoot returns for his seventh turn on the low end in the "Dookie" series

Aside from Jason putting on a mask during his footage, there's no major frills to note from the filming locations and activity, but it's well edited as you'd expect, and the performance is strong, with Jason's vocals fitting well with the experienced musical hands on offer! Unless they tackle the bonus unadvertised song "All By Myself", the "Dookie" cover series will wrap up with "F.O.D.", which could arrive at any point up to October 21st based on past release timeframes (the current average would be September 27th). Check out "In The End" for yourselves below!

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

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

For the first run of weekend concert previews of the fall season, we have too many shows for one post again, so while things will quiet down, not necessarily right away! Due to the amount, our previews of Saturday's Bone Yard 225 and Unfortunate Sun shows will be in tomorrow's news post, along with potential late notice confirmations. Now, here's what you should know to kick off this weekend in Sault Ontario!

We'll start with this weekend's main event in scope, as North Bay country/hard rock musician Cory Marks will return to The Machine Shop for his second local headlining date TOMORROW NIGHT! Fans may recall seeing Cory at the same venue in July of last year, impressing attendees with his cross-genre blend of original hits like "Outlaws & Outsiders" and "Blame It On The Double", and with more big guest-laden originals to come on his upcoming album "Sorry For Nothing", hopefully country and hard rock fans find a lot to like from this rising talent once again tomorrow! This show is truly running it back in every respect from last July, including the local openers, as classic/hard rock cover quartet Silent 9 will return to kick things off! Last year, they actually made their public concert debut opening for Cory, and with a year+ of shows under their belts, hopefully things are bigger and better for their Machine Shop encore!

Yes, Silent 9 are double booked tomorrow, and we will preview their Esquire Club gigs this weekend at post's end. This all ages concert has an 8:00 PM start time, and tickets will again run for $35 at this link and presumably at the door. Hopefully Cory's return is bigger and better than last year's despite the wide similarities from July 2023 to now, and his wide appeal in sounds should translate to a good audience! Visit the above links for more on tomorrow's concert, and here's Cory live last year!

Next up, let's look at some of the other heavier-leaning weekend cover concerts ahead, starting with local classic/hard rock solo musician Tym Morrison, whose weekly arrangements at The Mike Case Memorial Stage outside of The Trading Post TOMORROW NIGHT and on SATURDAY at Misty's Fifties march on for another installment each! In the former case, this will be the penultimate show of 2024 for Tym at the outdoor stage at The Trading Post, as it operates seasonally, so if you like seeing him way down Great Northern Road, you're running out of chances for 2024! If you'd rather see him indoors or earlier in the day, his weekly run of Saturday matinees at Misty's continues through at least the end of the month, so keep his west end return in mind for this weekend as well! You can enjoy his unplugged hard rock hits with no cover at either venue, with The Mike Case Stage show being all ages at 7:00 PM.

Saturday's Misty's Fifties show is a 4:00 PM matinee with a likely 19+ age limit. Weather-wise, we are looking at a cool night by the standards of Tym's gigs at The Mike Case Memorial Stage, with 9&10 News calling for just 9° temperatures during showtime. There is also a 30% chance of rain in the 8:00 PM hour (Tym's concerts here generally run for two hours), so if you are all concerned about the temperatures or possible rain throwing a wrench into the proceedings, keep tabs with Tym on social media for updates. Visit the official Facebook event pages linked here and here for more information, and for a preview of these shows, here's Tym live!

Also this weekend, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Double Down will go west for shows at Jay's Piston Broke Pub TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Fresh off of their private(?) Ojbway Park booking this past weekend, these will be Double Down's first stops at the former Roosevelt Hotel/Reggie's West since adding Beej Syrette on guitar & vocals. As best as I can tell, this should be a standard weekend for Beej, his cousin Joel, Brad, and Ric's brand of classic and hard rock covers, so don't miss out on all of the action on Korah Road this weekend! If you can't make it out, Double Down will literally double down with two concert weekends this month at The Esquire Club, including next week. Tomorrow and Saturday's Jay's shows are 19+ affairs with no announced cover charges and likely start times of 9:30 PM. Visit the band's Facebook page for more details, and for a preview, here they are live in concert last year!

We'll close this preview post by coming full circle with the aforementioned Silent 9, who will kick off the fall season for both themselves and The Esquire Club TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! As noted above, the classic/hard rock cover quartet debuted at Cory Marks' show here in July 2023 and will resume that role as his local openers tomorrow night! Unlike last year, they are double booked, and will mosey on down to the west end after their Machine Shop set to play their first traditional nightclub concerts of the fall, after taking the summer off aside from festivals and private events. Hopefully the rush of opening for Cory on the big stage sets the tone well for Jess, Ryan, Paul, and Steve's normal headlining dates on Second Line West this weekend! Their Esquire Club shows are at 9:30 PM with no cover charge and 19+ age limits, and it doesn't look like they'll have a delayed start time at The Esquire Club tomorrow night (the Cory Marks show starts at 8:00.)

Whether you saw Silent 9 during their festival/private summer or are well acquainted with their weekend bar circuit gigs, their blend of hard rocking and fan friendly covers will be a welcome sight tomorrow and on Saturday, so keep both the Cory Marks show and their own headlining dates in mind (and they now have official band shirts on sale!). Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Silent 9 live!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for our Bone Yard 225 and Unfortunate Son previews (and more) next! Thanks everyone!

Pillory & Hails Updates, Plus Much More News & Notes!!

Happy September, everyone! Yes, it's just a month, but as things start to quiet down with the fall season truly beginning, I hope to catch up on lots of backlogged news items in the near term, and that starts with some assorted recent notes related to current live bands, so here's what you should know on this sunny Sunday afternoon!

We'll start with new videos from reunited local death/thrash metal trio Pillory, courtesy of drummer Bret Shuttleworth's YouTube channel! Three weeks ago, Bret uploaded seventeen videos from their return set at the all-local metal show at Robbie Adamson's old church in Leeburn in July, though the catch here is that they are all "Shorts" (a.k.a. YouTube "Reels"). Thusly, they are all vertical and none exceed a minute in length, though at least you can embed them on external websites! Most of these "Shorts" are clearly from the high balcony vantage point seen in the previously uploaded full-set video on Bret's channel, but from different filmers. Only six were filmed at floor level, and one is embedded below, but Bret didn't give any unique titles or descriptions or any of these "Shorts", so I can't tell you individual song names for every clip. Still, Pillory are definitely back in full force for fans of their mid-late 2010s death metal era!

It is worth noting that attendee Cole Speers shot a 2 minute video of them opening for The Fixer at Soo Blaster last month, as seen in a comment reply on a post on Pillory's Facebook page on August 24th plugging that event. As it was uploaded from a personal account to a comment thread, I can't embed it here, but the (unlabelled) song is suitably brutal, and shot horizontally(!), so it's a shame that it's not easier to access! Check out one of the longer(-ish) Pillory "Shorts" below, and stay tuned for more updates from Robert, Blair, and Bret soon!

Next up, here's the latest from local skate punk/crossover thrash quartet Ha!ls, so what's new from their camp? As you may recall, they took a road trip to Southern Ontario for two concerts this past weekend, with a "Reel" being posted on their Facebook page on Thursday from their set at the Humber River Arts & Music Festival in Toronto! The short, vertical, and unembeddable video sees Hails (sans guitarist Carmen Muto, who didn't make the trip) playing their non-EP original "Crustal Displacement". though the clip focuses on Carmen's brother Mikhal's guitar solo. Was it raining, judging by the camera lens reflection? What we see in the video is promising (if way too short), so give it a look above! The Vanity First sister band will be hitting the road again for a multi-band event in Bay City, Michigan later this month (details here), but in a new confirmation, they'll also play downstate in Ypsilanti at a similar concert on November 28th!

Ypsilanti is 5 hours south of here (outside of Detroit), but it is neat to see Brent, the Mutos, and Keeghan continuing to get opportunities to play across the border, and if you want to know how they're jumping through the necessary hoops, give them a shout! In the meantime, we have a new video from Hails' Facebook page to share here, and while it is short & vertical, it is not a "Reel", so I can embed it here! The video sees Ha!ls playing their original "Ghosts" at the aforementioned Leeburn concert in July, specifically focusing on Carmen's guitar solo, as filmed from the high balcony seen in much of Pillory's footage. Impressively performed & very heavy, and well framed for a vertical clip, so check it out below!

Now, let's look at a rarity: a commercial hyping an upcoming touring band's gig here! This comes to promote Sudbury-based Rush tribute band Rust's local debut at Soo Blaster on Saturday, November 2nd, and was shared to the Facebook event page while also making the rounds as a paid/sponsored post on relevant user news feeds. It features lots of footage of Rust (featuring members of past local touring tribute headliners Just Leppard) playing "YYZ" in concert, along with text to promote their concert at "the Soo Blaster". It's always good to see specific promotion for local concerts like this straight from the touring band, so give it a watch below, and tickets are still available at this link and at the venue!

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

 

• In the first public update on his last(?) studio album "The Chaotic Rite" in months, local folk punk/extreme metal singer/guitarist Chase Wigmore revealed on his Facebook page last week that the album was 95% done when it "got trapped on my desktop's hard drive", and without an available backup, he is still trying to recover the files. Also, his three newest original songs "The Speciest", "From Beyond The Clouds", and "A Song For The Apocalypse" were never planned for "The Chaotic Rite", but may be packaged in a separate digital EP. Hopefully Chase can save the files, especially after the years of work that he's put into the album!
• In an e-mailed press release from Fort Creek guitarist Bill Brouillard last month, he confirmed to me that the southern hard rock band have abandoned their previously released/teased original songs like "Hammer Down" from their long-gestating debut album "as a show of good faith" to former members Robin "Bones" Lee and Anthony Fabiano (now of Bullet Train), who quietly left Fort Creek a year ago. Justin, Shane, and Bill have effectively started from scratch to rebuild their studio and write new original material, so it'll be interesting to see how things progress for Fort Creek in studio and for their presumed eventual live return!
  
• Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Silent 9 will run it back this Friday when they will indeed serve as local openers for North Bay country/hard rock musician Cory Marks' second local headlining date at The Machine Shop! Silent 9 debuted on the public stage at Cory's show here in July 2023, and it's good to see that fans will get an encore, so stay tuned for our preview of that concert later this week, and click here to get your tickets! Yes, Silent 9 are double booked on Friday, and will head west to The Esquire Club for their return to the weekend nightclub circuit after their set.

 

That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Peril) & More Weekend Concert Previews!!

As promised, we have more weekend concert previews on this very busy Canada Day long weekend today, but of course, check out this morning's post featuring late notice show confirmations for this weekend in the post below. All of today's previews are of shows that had advance notice, but we will start with a band with LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS to confirm for next month, so here's what you should know!

Traverse City, Michigan classic metal cover trio Peril will return to The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT, and while we're at it, they'll also return to this Kewadin branch on Friday, July 12th & Saturday, July 13th! The dates next month are newly confirmed on Kewadin's entertainment page, and we will touch on any July dates not yet announced by hard rock bands there in an upcoming post. Two months removed from their last E.U.P. dates at The Rapids Lounge in the Soo, Peril will take over St. Ignace's branch via these four summer dates, so fans of their hard hitting covers won't wanna miss out! This weekend's and next month's shows are at 9:00 PM with no cover and 21+ age limits, as is standard for concerts at Kewadin's lounges. See above for more details on all four concerts, and for a preview, here's Peril live!

Next up, let's head north to Sault Ontario, where Bullet Train/ex-Sense Of Truth frontman Cory Murchison will play a rare solo acoustic concert TOMORROW NIGHT at Soo Blaster! The latest in Soo Blaster's summer concert series of (generally) solo musicians on (generally) Friday nights, this isn't Cory's first time as an unplugged headliner, but I don't believe we've seen him in a public concert setting since his current band Bullet Train launched. That band hasn't played live yet at all, so could Cory break out some of their original songs along with his usual modern hard rock covers? Come out tomorrow to find out! As usual for Soo Blaster's summer concert series, this show has a 19+ age limit, no announced cover charge, and an 8:00 PM start time. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and for a preview, here's a recent acoustic cover video from Cory's YouTube channel!

Next up, local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 will return to Reggie's Place for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! No sign of a jam night from them tonight, but fans of Greg, Alex, and Warren's hard rocking and fan favourite covers (and select originals) will be right at home at Reggie's this weekend, and yes, stickers and their infamous "Bone Yard shot" will be available also! It's worth noting that their brand new studio original song, presumably named "F.A.F.O." (short for "fuck around (and) find out") is expected to be released online on Sunday on major streaming services (note the ones on the image), so keep tabs on their Facebook page to find out where to hear it then! Tomorrow and Saturday's concerts are 9:30 PM affairs with 19+ age limits and no cover charges. Visit the above links for more details on this weekend's shows, and here's your local 225 live!

Finally for this weekend, we'll head back to the E.U.P. for Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Exit 808's return to a truly local stage THIS SATURDAY NIGHT at The Merchants Bar! Compared to when local fans last saw the former Double Jack there in January, a lot has changed (as fans in Alpena, Republic, and Ewen saw first hand). Name change aside, this will be Exit 808's first show within an hour of the Soo since the additions of co-lead vocalist Dillion Semasky and rhythm guitarist Will Robbins, and since the departures of guitarist Nathan Webber and bassist Isaac Royer, so if you didn't hit the road for their last so many gigs, you can see what the new-look band brings to the table on Saturday! Regarding their still-open bassist position, recent fill-in Blaze Beairl will sit out on Saturday, with Exit 808 calling in Bob Libick from Marquette hard rock band Spun to guest with them, much as he did on their "N.I.B." studio cover earlier this year.

Kudos to Bob for making the drive east to help Exit 808 out, and fans of Spun's past local dates will like that angle! Note that Exit 808 have also confirmed new dates in Republic and Mackinaw City (singer Amy Beach's hometown) for August, and while neither are local, head to their Facebook page for details on both. Saturday's concert at The Merch has a 9:00 PM start time, no cover, and a 21+ age limit. For a preview, here's a brand new video from their set this past Saturday at Rally In The Valley in Ewen (4½ hours west of here), so what is there to see here? Shot by Hunter Josephson of the Ishpeming metal band No Expectations, the video sees Exit 808 covering Seether's "Gasoline" with Dillion on lead vocals and Amy on backing vocals. Blaze made the trip with his mom's band, but is not playing bass in the clip. As best as I can tell, that's Bob from Spun (who also played at Rally In The Valley), but I am not 100% sure given the angle.

At least it's a high quality clip and shot horizontally! Blaze did play on some songs with Exit 808 and even guested on drums with Spun, which had to have been a thrill, and you can see more of their adventures at this outdoor festival at this link. Give this solidly handled cover (if only 2 minutes of it) a watch below, and don't miss Exit 808 at The Merch on Saturday!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for our Poutine Feast previews to cap off this busy long weekend stretch tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Cory Marks, Rust, Half Past, And The Nameless!!)

Today's post is 100% devoted to LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, one on SHORT NOTICE, and we're going into the fall for some of these dates, so here's what you should know in chronological order!

Sault Michigan hard rock quartet The Nameless will return to The Merchants Bar for one night only TONIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the band did announce the show on Tuesday, May 28th via its Facebook event page, but it completely slipped me by last week when I could have covered it in a timelier fashion. Last seen live with shows in Cedarville and at The Merch in February (unless they had an unadvertised gig in the interim), TONIGHT's show should prove to be a solid night of hard rocking covers from this talented (if not regularly seen) local band, so keep it in mind if you want some heavier tunes in the E.U.P. this weekend! Everything goes down at 108 West Spruce Street TONIGHT at 9:00 PM, there is no announced cover charge, and you must be 21 or older to attend. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, click here to watch their (unembeddable) full debut concert stream!

Next up, here's some more new concerts taking place later this year (all in Sault Ontario), starting with reunited local hard rock quartet Half Past's return to the stage, when they make their Reggie's Place debuts on Friday, July 5th & Saturday, July 6th! If you'd told me that Fingerbone/Half Past (during their original 2008-2011 run) had booked gigs at the then-country only Reggie's, I'd have been very surprised, but a lot has changed in the decade+ since! The shows next month will be Half Past's second and third since their 2021 reunion, finally returning at Shooters in February for a one-nighter that also saw the debut of Skeyes Of Seven/Cherry Crush alum Johnny Amendola behind the drumkit. After a five month wait, hopefully this talented veteran hard rock group delivers a strong selection of tunes to fans at Reggie's next month! These are 19+ events with no cover charge and 9:30 PM start times. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details!

Now to the fall for a pair of big show announcements, starting with North Bay country/hard rock musician Cory Marks' return to Sault Ste. Marie on Friday, September 6th when he headlines at The Machine Shop once again! Cory made his local debut at the same venue this past July, with his show in September coming exactly 60 weeks later. With a planned full length album in the works and continued momentum on both country and rock radio from hit songs like "Outlaws & Outsiders" and some high profile guest appearances by and tour dates opening for hard rock and metal stars, Cory should draw another solid crowd of cross-genre fans this fall, so don't bypass this show in three months! A local opener is to be announced, but for reference, the then-debuting Silent 9 did the honours in July (they are booked at The Esquire Club that night, so it likely wouldn't be them again.)

Tickets for this all ages & 8:00 PM concert run for $35 (identical to last year) at this link and likely at the door. With country/hard rock crossover musicians like Jelly Roll and Hardy picking up a lot of attention in recent years, Cory's coming along at the right time, and it is very neat to see a Northern Ontario musician getting such mainstream attention, so hopefully his Soo encore this fall is another success! Read the SooToday press release for more information on Cory's show this fall!

Finally for this post, we'll head to Soo Blaster on Saturday, November 2nd, when Sudbury's Rust: A Tribute To Rush will make their local concert debut! If you recall the Rush tribute band that played at Reggie's in July 2022, that was Crush: The Ultimate Rush Experience out of Toronto, so if you made it to that show, you can compare and contrast tributes to the Toronto progressive hard rock legends. In the case of Rust, this band features Alex & Erik Kuthy on vocals and drums, who you may recall from the Def Leppard tribute band Just Leppard, who played here multiple times from 2019-2022. Rust debuted in 2022, and while they don't have a ton of official public videos, this fan-shot video from two weeks ago points to a faithful sounding and looking tribute that Rush fans should enjoy, and while there's a bit of a sonic leap from Def Leppard, I do greatly prefer Rush, so I appreciate that side of things!

This 19+ concert has an advertised 8:30 PM start time, and tickets run for $25 (this is lower than when we last saw Just Leppard here, but their last two attempted local dates had two touring bands). You can buy tickets online at this link and presumably at the door. Rush fans should definitely circle this date on their calendar, and while pricier than the Crush show in 2022, the bigger venue and Saturday night scheduling should help Rust's case, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details on the action this fall, and stay tuned for lots more news and notes on the site next week! Thanks everyone!