LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Bone Yard 225 & Soundcheck!!)

A pair of SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS fell into my lap this morning, so here's a rushed post to get those accounted for, along with a bunch of upcoming concerts from a familiar returning presence!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to Jay's Piston Broke Pub for concerts TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the venue only announced these shows via the AI poster on their Facebook page overnight, and the band has not corroborated any bookings on their own Facebook page since their Esquire Club shows four weeks ago. Fans were last able to "get wobbly" with Soundcheck at Beck's Bar this past Friday, at a show where Beck's filmed them covering Billy Squier's "Everybody Wants You" (with Travis singing) for a Facebook "Story" video, hence why I can't link to/embed it here. Jay's fans last saw Soundcheck late last month, and it should be another welcoming audience for their hard driving slate of covers! The marketing on Jay's end only credits Soundcheck, so this does not appear to be an "epic crossover" weekend with Separate Wayz.

Along with the requisite "good times, cold drinks, (and) great people!", these are 9:30 PM concerts with a 19+ age limit and no cover charges, and as usual at the Korah Road nightclub, the kitchen will be open late. Visit the above links for more on Terry, Travis, Jim, and Johnny's late notice return to Jay's TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT, and here they are live!

Next up, local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 are back from their recent break, and they have announced a huge slate of concerts for the summer! "The Dirty Three" had been publically idle since their acoustic St. Patrick's Day show at Smitty's, and hadn't played a plugged-in show since February, due in part to personal concerns (R.I.P. Ally), but their website's calendar has loads of new dates in store for June-August, so when can you see the guys next? Bone Yard will return to action next week on Friday, June 5th at The Water Tower Pub, and they will bookend their summer slate at the same venue on Saturday, August 29th! As usual for this central venue, these are "uncorked" (re: acoustic) shows, and both are 19+ events at 8:00 PM with no cover. In their first proper plugged-in electric concert together in four months, Greg, Alex, and Warren will rock Beck's Bar for one night only on Friday, June 12th!

They'll also make their way to the Goulais Avenue nightclub for Saturday nighters on June 27th and August 1st, and "uncorked" matinees play into both of the weekends with Bone Yard shows on Saturdays, but in different ways. On the 27th, they'll actually play the acoustic matinee timeslot before the full band show that same night, with the marathon double-booking coinciding with the Biker Rights Organization's annual Shoot & Scoot event, as Beck's hosts the barbecue at the end of the motorcycle rally. Click here for more details on the Shoot & Scoot proper, but it is neat that this rally finally crosses our radar! The August 1st show (which falls on the Civic Holiday long weekend) will be complimented by an "uncorked" Sunday matinee on August 2nd, so that'll be good timing for your local 225! The two acoustic shows are at 3:00 PM, the nightcaps are at 9:00 PM, and expect 19+ age limits and no cover.

On Friday, June 19th & Saturday, June 20th, Bone Yard 225 will return as the annual house band for the Queen Street Cruise! The band's own schedule lists the venue as The Roberta Bondar Pavilion (homebase for the cruise once again), but the official schedule says that they will be playing "on the boardwalk" both days. As best as I can recall from past coverage, the Friday evening show at 6:30 PM is indeed under the tent during the cruise proper, but they set up shop on the proper boardwalk near Montana's for a 12:30 PM outdoor matinee concert on the Saturday during the car show. If we hear clarification, we'll let you know, but click here for full details on how to participate in the cruise! Admission is free for general attendees, and it is an all ages event. July 2026 appears to be devoted to out-of-town and private events, including gigs in Chapleau and Kirkland Lake and a stag & doe, but we'll let you know if the listed Bruce Mines date on July 4th ends up being a public event.

The last new public and local date for Bone Yard (so far) will see them return to Algoma Tree Services' annual charity barbecue & community meet and greet on Saturday, August 8th! This will be the third straight year that your local 225 have headlined this event (no word on if Angry Joe & The Growlers are opening again), and will presumably see them rock out at the Goulais River-based business' outdoor festivities at 7:00 PM (no announced cover, all ages). Time will tell if we hear of Bone Yard at other local venues or festivals this summer, but it's great to see Greg, Alex, and Warren back in the saddle, so visit the above links for more details, and stay tuned for more news and notes this weekend! Thanks everyone

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Bone Yard 225) & The First Of This Weekend's Concert Previews!!

A very busy concert weekend is upon us to cap off May and help truly usher in the summer concert season! We'll have to break things up into three posts due to the amount, so this post will focus on artists playing tonight or tomorrow in some fashion. Headrush's weekend gigs and three late notice Saturday nighters will be next, and three more Saturday night gigs will cap things off in a third post, so stay tuned for all of that in the next couple of days. Here's what you should know to lead things off!

Local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 will return to Reggie's Place for headlining concerts of their own TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT, but they have also confirmed brand new dates through early July on their website's concert calendar! Their next show after this weekend will be an "uncorked" date at The Water Tower Pub on Saturday, June 7th, so if you like "the dirty three" in an acoustic setting, you won't want to miss that centrally-located event! Their next plugged in nightclub shows will be returns to Reggie's for full weekends on June 13th-14th and 27th-28th, meaning that they'll have played at Reggie's for seven out of thirteen weekends, so keep these familiar upcoming dates in mind! In between those bookings, your local 225 will return as musical entertainment at the Queen Street Cruise for an eighth straight year on June 20th & 21st! As they have since 2023, their Cruise sets will be at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion.

Specifics for attendees are incoming for the Cruise, but click here for what is currently out and how to register & take part in the Show-N-Shine car show and the traditional cruise down Queen Street East. The last new dates at press time will see Bone Yard 225 rock Beck's Bar for two nights on July 5th-6th! This won't technically be their debut there though, as the then-country cover quartet headlined at the former Vibe Lounge in June 2010, so it's good to see Greg and company back after fifteen years! As Beck's hosts DJ nights on Fridays, this is a slightly unusual double-header, as the Saturday, July 5th gig will be standard electric fare, whereas the Sunday, July 6th date will be an unplugged "uncorked" matinee, which would add a third local venue to their acoustic options if they return in that format. Unusual to see a split sound double header at the same venue like this, but hopefully Beck's takes to both sides of Bone Yard next month!

All of the above dates are 19+ except the all ages Queen Street Cruise, and none have an announced cover charge, though the Cruise will obviously cost if you're registering a vehicle. Start times are 9:30 PM at Reggie's, 8:00 PM at The Water Tower Pub, 6:30 PM & 12:30 PM for each respective day at the Cruise, and 9:00 PM and 3:00 PM for both days at Beck's. Good to confirm new dates for Greg, Alex, and Warren's busy summer slate, but of course, their southern fried rock covers and originals are firmly planted at Reggie's tomorrow and Saturday night, so go see them there first! Visit the above links for more details, and here's Bone Yard 225 live!

Next up, let us head to The Dive Gastro Pub, where former Haggith/Eclipse frontman Curtis McKenzie is advertised to return for another "Think It Over Thursday" concert TONIGHT! Fresh off of his matinee debut at Beck's Bar this past weekend, this will be Curt's first stop at the former Low & Slow's "naughty corner" since early April. Curtis' hard rocking and alternative cover slate should get another solid reception from downtown fans tonight, so consider swinging by The Dive to start your weekend off right! As usual for musicians at The Dive, tonight's concert has a 9:30 PM start time, there is no announced cover charge, and you must be 19 or older to attend. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and for a preview, here's Curt live!

Finally for this post, readers in the Eastern Upper Peninsula can enjoy some hard hitting live music TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT Traverse City, Michigan classic metal trio Peril, who will headline at The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino all weekend! Scarkazm dates aside, these will be Peril's first stops in our area since headlining there in mid-March, and it's always good to see Jeff, Howard, and Brooks rocking a local stage again, so hopefully lots of Yoopers turn out for all of the old school hard rock covers from this veteran touring act this weekend! As usual for Peril's stops at local Kewadin branches, this weekend's shows have 9:00 PM start times, 21+ age limits, and no announced cover charges, and if you miss out this weekend, Peril will be capping off June at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin as well. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Peril live!

That's all for now, but our next post (hitting the site by tomorrow morning) will preview this weekend's Headrush, Double Down, Project 906, and Nameless concerts, so look for that soon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Double Down & HeadFirst) And This Weekend's Hard Rock Concert Previews!!

Before we begin this weekend concert preview post, just a heads up that Sault Michigan hard rock band Exit 808's planned concert on Saturday at The Well Diggers Watering Hole & Feed Lot in Kinross has been cancelled, as per the band's Facebook page yesterday. A reason for the cancellation wasn't announced, but the band pointed to this being the venue's call, even though Well Diggers plugged it on Facebook as recently as Monday morning. The new lineup's local debut will now be at The Merch in the Soo in two weeks, but hopefully nothing too bad happened with Well Diggers this week, and that we see Exit 808 rocking out there in the future!

Now to concert previews and LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, some on SHORT NOTICE, starting with Sault Ontario hard rock quintet HeadFirst making their Esquire Club debuts (debute?) TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the band first announced these dates on their Facebook page on Tuesday. These shows were originally scheduled to belong to local classic rock veterans Mustang Heart, as per the venue's concert calendar for the first half of 2024, but Mustang Heart are unable to play shows for at least the next month, including Rotaryfest(!) due to "a health issue within our band", as per their Facebook page. Prior references to guitarist Lorenzo Fabbri recovering from shoulder surgery have been taken down, so I don't know if this is (still) what they mean, but hopefully they return healthy when able! Kudos to HeadFirst for stepping in TOMORROW & SATURDAY, and hopefully their hard rocking covers and select originals win over a new-ish audience in the west end!

Yes, I am well aware of their recent judging turn at a local karaoke competition, we'll discuss that in an upcoming post. HeadFirst will be on TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT at 9:30 PM, both shows have no cover charge, and they are obviously 19+ events. Visit the above links for more on this weekend's Esquire Club debuts, and here's HeadFirst live!

Next up, let's jump ahead briefly, as local classic/hard rock cover quartet Double Down will return to Reggie's Place for concerts on Friday, June 21st and Saturday, June 22nd! Our source is the band's Facebook page earlier today, and the venue has yet to publically confirm the bookings on social media. While not taking the stage this weekend, their upcoming Reggie's shows will be their first since rocking The Water Tower Pub over the Victoria Day weekend, and their first at Reggie's since early last month. Of course, these will also be Double Down's fourth and fifth shows with new guitarist Beej Syrette, so if you have missed their prior shows since he came on board, keep next week's in mind, and while there are no videos of the current lineup yet, this Facebook photo lists bands that they currently cover! Next weekend's shows have 9:30 PM start times, 19+ age limits, and no cover charges. Visit the above links for more details on Double Down's Reggie's return!

Now let's head back to this weekend's currently known hard rock concert previews, and we'll resume things with week #3 of local classic/hard rock solo musician Tym Morrison's dual weekly arrangements for this summer, as he'll be back at The Mike Case Memorial Stage outside of The Trading Post TOMORROW NIGHT and at Misty's Fifties on SATURDAY! Whether your schedule prefers either day, or if you'd rather be inside or outside, you have options for Tym's stacked setlist and proficient guitar and vocal abilities this weekend, so hopefully he draws a solid crowd at both of these westerly venues this weekend! The Trading Post show tomorrow is an all ages & 7:00 PM event as usual, while his Misty's shows are all 4:00 PM matinees and presumably 19+, while neither have an announced cover charge. Weather-wise, we thankfully got all of the rain out of the way!

9&10 News is calling for sunny conditions with temperatures at around 15° tomorrow, so most readers will get a better weather report for Tym's concert tomorrow than last week's! Visit the official Facebook event pages linked here and here for more details, and for a preview, here's Tym live!

Finally, let's head downtown for this year's Queen Street Cruise, where local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 will return as musical entertainment for a seventh straight year (and first since tacking on the 225) TOMORROW NIGHT & SATURDAY! After moving from GFL Memorial Gardens' parking lot last year to the larger and construction-free Roberta Bondar Pavilion, the Cruise will again set up shop under the tent and along Foster Drive for the Show N' Shine car show proper, but the classic car cruise is back down Queen along with the other family entertainment this weekend, so visit the official website for full non-musical details! Bone Yard will be performing tomorrow night at 6:30 PM during/after the cruise at the Pavilion, while Saturday's gig is a 12:30 PM matinee during the car show. Admission is free all weekend for spectators, but registrants for the car show would obviously have had to pay to participate in that regard.

The big tent at the Pavilion obviously protects against bad weather for the concert alone, but like with Tym Morrison's Mike Case Stage gig, expect sunny weather tomorrow night during the Cruise proper, with temperatures from 12-16°. Saturday, the current forecast is calling for mostly cloudy weather, but it'll be warmer with a projected high of 20°, so the car show should go off without a hitch! Visit the above links for more details on Bone Yard 225's concerts and/or the Queen Street Cruise, and for a preview, here's Bone Yard live at the Cruise!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Bone Yard 225) & More Recent Updates!!

I hope that our Canadian readers had a good Victoria Day long weekend! We're picking things back up for Sault Ontario news on this Tuesday morning, including some assorted recent notes and a bunch of summer season LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, so here's what you should know!

Local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 have announced more summer concerts via their website's calendar, so where can you see Greg, Alex, and Warren after June 8th?  The first new shows will see Bone Yard play at the Queen Street Cruise once again on Friday, June 14th & Saturday, June 15th, marking their seventh straight appearances at this annual event and first since tacking "225" to their name. Of course, the Queen Street Cruise is the annual classic car cruise and show taking place downtown, and after moving from its home base at GFL Memorial Gardens to Roberta Bondar Pavilion last year due partly to construction and larger space, the cruise will remain at the Pavilion this year, presumably to keep using the larger locale. Bone Yard 225 will appreciate playing under the tent again in case of bad weather! Like last year, their sets will be at 7:00 PM on Friday and a 12:30 PM matinee during the car show on Saturday.

The Cruise is an ALL AGES event (aside from needing a valid drivers license and whatnot for the cruise itself) and there is no admission fee beyond the $20 registration if you are entering you vehicle for the cruise or show (click here for details). Hopefully the Cruise is another huge hit for car aficionados, let alone music fans, and there's more family entertainment there too, so visit the above links for more on what's going down next month! In terms of traditional indoor concerts, Bone Yard 225 will next return to Shooters Downstairs Lounge for a one-nighter (as they host DJs most Fridays) on Saturday, June 22nd, in their first show at the Dennis Street nightclub since playing there three nights ago. If you'd rather see them elsewhere downtown, they will be rocking Reggie's Place for full weekends on June 28th-29th (for this year's Canada Day long weekend) and on July 26th-27th, so keep all of these dates in mind!

Yes, they will be at Reggie's on Saturday, June 1st too, but that one-nighter was already announced by the band. Lastly for this batch of shows, Bone Yard 225 will go "uncorked" for an acoustic show at The Water Tower Pub on Friday, July 12th, in their first show at the Great Northern Road nightclub since their upcoming date there on May 31st (which they also already announced). Remember, The Water Tower Pub hosts different acts nightly by rule. Sounds like a busy summer ahead, so look for Bone Yard's hard rocking classics at multiple venues in the coming months! Of the bar shows, all are 19+ with no cover charge, and all have 9:30 PM start times except at The Water Tower Pub (8:00 PM). Conspicuous by its absence from their schedule is a gig at Rotaryfest Stage 1, but note that A. the full schedule is not out yet (it was unveiled on May 26th last year) and B. they didn't play at last year's Rotaryfest.

We'll let you know when we know who all is playing at Rotaryfest this year, but in their four Stage 1 appearances from 2017-2022, Bone Yard were a nightly closing band, so one assumes they'd be well positioned if they do come back. Visit the above links for more details on Bone Yard 225's summer slate so far, and don't miss them at Gateway Casino this Saturday!

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

 

• Local folk punk/extreme metal solo musician Chase Wigmore reportedly dropped out of the Hails concert at The Distraction this past Sunday, as per Ha!ls frontman Brenton Ellis on his personal Facebook page earlier that afternoon. A reason for Chase's withdrawal wasn't given beyond that he "can't make it tonight", and he was not replaced on late notice. Hopefully all's well with Chase, and that Hails still rocked the old barbershop in style!
• Prolific local alt-rock musician Dustin Goodall has received two 2024 Northern Ontario Film & Music Award nominations for Outstanding Engineer, respectively for his work engineering/co-producing The Northwest's 2022 EP "All In" and Handsome Sandwich's 2023 debut album "Deconstructed" at his studio Unsalted Audio. It's rare when NOMFA nominations cross our radar, but it is very cool to see Dustin recognized twice over for his work in the mid 2022-mid 2023 voting period! The awards ceremony takes place in Sudbury late next month, so click here for details on that and the complete nominee list!
• I have moved local metal solo project Sir Hell to our inactive band links due to a year's inactivity. Led by Bear Hunters/ex-Handsome Sandwich guitarist Mitch Sirie, this was his newest solo project after prior attempts across the 2010s under differing names, with Sir Hell releasing a proper studio version of the Bear Hunters live favourite "Squirrel Buddy" to their Bandcamp page in February 2023. I was definitely curious to hear more from Sir Hell, but nothing has publically emerged since the "Squirrel Buddy" re-release, and hopefully Mitch resurrects this "vessel for my madness" when the time is right!
   

 

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

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

As promised, let's wrap up this weekend's hard rock/punk concert previews by covering previously announced shows not covered in yesterday's post. Here's what you should know to round out a busy weekend!

We'll pick things back up by heading first to Michigan's Eastern Upper Peninsula, starting with the debut of local blues/hard rock quartet Project 906 at The Well Diggers Watering Hole & Feed Lot in nearby Kinross TONIGHT! This will be both the first show we've covered at this relatively newer venue, which you may remember as the Malamute Saloon once upon a time, as well as Project 906's first since Fake Chow/Camaros drummer Jason VanLuven replaced Odin Osogwin behind the kit (Jason missed last week's gig in Cedarville due to being double booked with Fake Chow that same night). This show seems to be getting more of a to-do than your usual bar band setup, with 906 breaking in a new outdoor stage at Well Diggers (located at 3047 West M-80), and attendees can also expect food & drink specials, plus a charity 50/50 raffle. Hopefully things go well for Project 906 in Kinross tonight, especially in a new locale for them!

Tonight's concert has no announced cover charge, a 21+ age limit, and an 8:00 PM start time. Expect clear weather with a temperature no lower than 10°, according to 9&10 News. This should be a fun way to welcome Jason to Project 906, and their brand of crowd friendly hard and classic rock covers should get fans in Kinross going well, so visit the above links for more details, and here's Project 906 in concert last year!

Next up, we'll head further south to St. Ignace, where Traverse City classic metal trio Peril will return to their Kewadin Casino for gigs at The Northern Pines Lounge TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! While they have been seen in Sault Ste. Marie since, these will be Peril's first St. Ignace concerts since rocking that branch over the New Year's weekend. Peril don't play live as often as their sister band Scarkazm, but this is their second stop in a run of three E.U.P. weekends in three months, so hopefully fans of their old school hard rock and metal favourites come out in full force this weekend! As usual for Peril's Kewadin trips, expect 9:00 PM start times, no cover charges, and 21+ age limits at The Northern Pines Lounge tonight and tomorrow, and if you can't make it, you can see them at The Rapids Lounge in the Soo at the end of next month. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Peril live!

Now let's head north to Sault Ontario, where local southern hard rock cover trio Bone Yard will return as musical entertainment for this year's Queen Street Cruise TONIGHT & TOMORROW! Of course, this is the annual event inspired by the old tradition of cruising Queen, where everyone drives down Queen Street East and shows off their vehicles, and that throwback takes place tonight followed by a car show tomorrow, though unlike past years, it will be held at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion and along Foster Drive rather than outside of GFL Memorial Gardens (planned construction work was cited initially but this SooToday press release suggests that expanded space was why they moved). Regardless, visit there and the Facebook page for all non-musical details, like vendors, draws, how to join the cruise, and more! Bone Yard have played the Queen Street Cruise annually since 2016, so look for more solid tunes from them downtown this weekend!

Bone Yard will break out their old school southern and hard rock covers under the big tent at 6:30 PM tonight, while Saturday's gig will be a 12:30 PM matinee during the Show n' Shine car show. Yes, they are under the tent, but weather-wise, 9&10 News is calling for clear sunny conditions tonight in the 12-16° range, while it'll be partly cloudy with a high of 23° during the matinee tomorrow. These are all ages events with no cover charge for general attendees. Visit the above links for full details, and here's Bone Yard live in concert earlier this year!

Finally on this busy weekend for hard rock and punk concerts, we'll get a little of both at Soo Blaster TOMORROW NIGHT when local punk trio Vanity First and rap/party metal duo The Apocalypse Afterparty join forces! Both bands have opened for major bands at Soo Blaster in recent months (Gutter Creek and Leash for Vanity First and various touring rappers for The A.A.), but this is an all-local showcase. Hopefully Vanity First's up-tempo modern punk originals and diverse covers go over well as they continue their upward momentum, and it's great to see The Apocalypse Afterparty on an rare all-local gig, so look for lots of eclectic minimalist rap rock from Paul & Amanda too! Sponsored by Session Cannabis, this 19+ event has doors opening at 7:00 PM and advance tickets run for $17.31 ($15 plus processing fees) at this link (oddly not given on Facebook at all, just Linktree), with the door price jumping to $20.

The ticket price for two local bands may seem steep, but Soo Blaster is a huge venue and both bands are talented groups on the rise that have released debut EPs, so hopefully they attract a strong turnout tomorrow! Visit the above links for more details, and here's Vanity First live!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Bone Yard, Bookclub, And Tarnished), Plus New Spades GT Videos!!

You know the summer is on the horizon when we're starting to get more LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, and not necessarily traditional ones, so some new shows make up most of today's post! Rounding things out are some new videos, so here's what you should know on this Saturday afternoon!

Online page-less local indie rock/punk supergroup Bookclub and funk/hard rock cover sextet The Wyld Stallyns will be among the musical entertainment at the 10th anniversary installment of the Sault Ste. Marie Festival of Beer, taking place on Saturday, May 6th at the Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre! The idea of both bands playing at a beer-heavy event is not a new one, as they were both at Outspoken Brewing's Oktoberfest last year, followed by a LopLops Lounge gig in December, and as luck would have it, LopLops put on the Festival of Beer, so that's a natural move!  Music is not entirely new to the Festival of Beer (White Cowbell Oklahoma headlined a kickoff event for it last year), but this time, bands will be playing during the event, not unlike pre-pandemic, with Bookclub and the Stallyns also joined by young local indie rock band The Hollow Heads here. This SooToday article details much about the Festival of Beer in 2023, including what craft breweries are taking part and this year's goals.

Timeslots for the bands are not out, at least not that I have seen publically, but the festival runs from 1:00-7:00 PM at the Bushplane Museum on May 6th. Expect a 19+ age limit (obviously), and tickets run for $35 apiece ($38.15 with processing fees and such) at this link. This is more for the beer aficionado than a concertgoer, I'd imagine, but this eclectic group of live musicians should provide a fun soundtrack in three weeks, so do visit the above links for current details on the Festival of Beer!

Next up, Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Tarnished will return to The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino on Friday, May 26th & Saturday, May 27th! The band has yet to confirm these dates on their Facebook page (late notice announcements there are not unheard of), but Kewadin's entertainment page has confirmed the gigs as part of their Rapids Lounge dates through the end of next month. These will be Tarnished's first shows at the Soo Kewadin since early March, and will mark their first announced local dates since their Savoy Bar encore three weeks ago. Of course, these are also over the Memorial Day long weekend, so keep that angle in mind too, but Tarnished's hard hitting covers and originals should be a solid soundtrack to end May 2023 with no matter what! If you're up for a road trip, Tarnished will also be downstate in Grand Rapids next Sunday, which you can get details about here.

That show will see them open for Southbound Beretta and Card Reader at Turnstiles, so good to see them spreading their wings, H.L.T.C.-style! They'll also return to the Grand Marais Music Festival in the central U.P. on August 11th, which will be much closer than Grand Rapids if you're up for it, so click here for full lineup details! As for next month's Rapids Lounge dates, expect them to be 21+ affairs with no cover charges and 9:00 PM start times. Visit the above links for more on Tarnished's mid-2022 plans!

Back to Sault Ontario now for another downtown community event, as local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard will return to the Queen Street Cruise for concerts on Friday, June 16th & Saturday, June 17th! Recently taking a break from the stage while working on original material, these will be Bone Yard's fourth straight appearances at the Cruise, which debuted in 2016 and has been held annually since, barring 2020 & 2021 due to the pandemic. However, things will not be as you're used to, as the cruise will actually not be down Queen Street and ending at GFL Memorial Gardens this year. Planned construction work on Queen has led organizers to have the event based at the Roberta Bondar Pavilon with vehicles shown off along Foster Drive, though the final route for the classic car cruise proper (possibly still including part of Queen Street) is to be unveiled. This Sault Star article by Brian Kelly will fill in details about changes to expect this year.

As best as I can tell, Bone Yard will now be playing on the stage at the Pavilion, so they're at least protected from the elements under the tent this way! Like last year, their Friday show will be the nightcap at 6:30 PM during that night's actual cruise. while the Saturday gig will be a 12:30 PM matinee during the car show. Attendees can also expect a swap meet, the Sault Area Hospital 5 car draw, vendors, and more as usual. Unless registering for the car show, the Queen Street Cruise is a free & all ages event, and if you love cars and some family friendly entertainment, this should do the job, so visit the above links for continuing details!

Let's close with some new videos from local/Barrie crossover thrash quintet Spades GT, including some new "Reels" on their Facebook page! Alas, I'm not a fan of these short, vertical, and unembeddable videos, let alone ones that won't play in a different browser tab, but if you detect me being dismissive or snarky about them, it's all on Facebook for the conceit, not the bands for using what's offered on the platform. This "Reel" from Thursday features drummer Tyler "Jeeb" Reiner at an unidentified concert (no beer mishaps like in J.D.'s earlier one), while this "Reel" posted yesterday features guitartist Daniel Horton playing a solo live, and today's "Reel" has bassist James Roy Daley (a.k.a. KillRoy) playing mid-song, albeit with very muffled audio and a stippled dot filter. If the plan is to post one "Reel" per band member per day, then expect one of guitarist Jay Sarrazin tomorrow.

Is it bad that I wish these were full videos of the song(s) in question? I digress. We do have a full performance video of Spades GT to check out though, featuring the guys playing their newer original "Hands" at the Road To Lockdown Fest at The Rockpile in Toronto on April 7th! Filmed by attendee Jake Disman for his YouTube channel, the video is heavily filtered into what kind of looks like the thermal camera vision from the Predator movies, but darker and exclusively using warm colours. The audio quality is very rough too, with J.D. almost inaudible under the music, so while this isn't an ideal way to see or hear Spades GT, at least it's a full embeddable video that you can watch below!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (The Wyld Stallyns, Soundcheck, And Tym Morrison), Plus Weekend Concert Previews!!

A busy weekend for community events is in store, what with both the Science Festival and Queen Street Cruise both taking place in the days ahead, and wouldn't you know it, hard rock-leaning bands are playing at both! Today's post is devoted to weekend concert previews, mostly via SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, so here's what you should know!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to Shooters Downstairs Lounge for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the band only confirmed these dates via their official Facebook event page on Tuesday. After typically playing at the Dennis Street nightclub on SATURDAY only, this weekend's late notice gigs will see Terry, Cameron, Paul/Rob, and Glen rock out TOMORROW NIGHT as well, keeping with their increasing slate of Shooters gigs, having also played there this past weekend and often in the spring. Hopefully Soundcheck's blend of old school hard and classic rock covers (even some country) goes over just as well for fans TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT at Shooters once again! Both shows have 8:00 PM start times, no cover charges, and 19+ age limits. See above for more details, and here's Soundcheck live earlier this year!

Next up, busy local acoustic funk/hard rock cover quartet The Wyld Stallyns will be among the live entertainment THIS SATURDAY at The Machine Shop during Science North's Great Northern Ontario Roadshow, which sets up shop downtown this weekend! Again, apologies for the short notice, frontman Rob Speers let me know of The Stallyns involvement earlier this month, but confirmation on organizers' end didn't come as quick. Coinciding with this weekend's annual Sault Ste. Marie Science Festival, The Great Northern Ontario Roadshow is the touring community festival from Science North, with the Sudbury science museum bringing family entertainment with them to stops on the tour as well as uniting local vendors, entertainers, and businesses to promote local wares and services, so definitely click here for full details on what's going down SATURDAY and Sunday before the tour heads further east!

The Wyld Stallyns are the only advertised band, timeslot unclear, but they will be on between 10:00 AM and 2:30 PM on SATURDAY, given that the House of Gore drag performer group will be on at that point. Thunder Bay comedian Ron Kanutski will be hosting this weekend's festivities, for the record, and I do not believe The Stallyns are playing on Sunday. The Great Northern Ontario Roadshow is a FREE & ALL AGES event, and definitely visit the above links for full details on the tour! The Wyld Stallyns' performance is comparatively minor on SATURDAY, but there's lots of fun to be had, and it's nice to see Science North coming this way! Here are The Stallyns live!

Also this weekend, prolific local classic/hard rock musician Tym Morrison will return to Reggie's Place on Queen Street East for a matinee concert on SUNDAY! Apologies again for the short notice, Tym only announced this show via its Facebook event page on Tuesday. Aside from his apparent new weekly series of Wednesday evening gigs at The Trading Post, this will be Tym's first announced public concert since hitting The Water Tower Pub over a month ago, and his first Reggie's Place matinee in over two months. I While not a traditional weekend nighttime gig, the SUNDAY matinee at Reggie's is long established, and Tym has played here successfully multiple times in the past, so hopefully his vast array of hard rock, classic rock, and even country covers find another receptive afternoon audience! Tym will be on SUNDAY at 3:00 PM, with no cover charge and a likely 19+ age limit. See above for more details, and here's Tym live!

Finally for this weekend's currently known hard rock concert previews, local southern hard rock cover trio Bone Yard will provide musical entertainment at this year's Queen Street Cruise, performing outside of GFL Memorial Gardens TOMORROW NIGHT & SATURDAY! These will be Bone Yard's first live appearances since playing at Shooters this past Friday, with their planned Rockstar Bar show the next night apparently being cancelled by the venue (personal Facebook postings will go into details but I won't air that laundry here). Hopefully things are worked out, in any event! These previously announced dates will provide entertainment for fans and participants of this year's Queen Street Cruise, with classic car aficionados crusin' Queen like in the good old days tomorrow before holding a car show on Saturday, with local vendors also on hand, so definitely visit the official website for full details on how to register or just come on downtown!

Tomorrow's Bone Yard show will be from 7:00-10:00 PM during the cruise proper, while Saturday's will be an afternoon matinee during the car show, with Greg, Alex, and Warren taking the stage from 12:00-4:00 PM (the weather is supposed to hold out, for the record). Attendance is FREE unless you are registering for the car show on Saturday, and this is definitely an all ages event. Bone Yard's down-home brand of southern-tinged hard rock covers (plus some country favourites) should be a solid soundtrack for the Cruise, so visit the above links for more details, and here's Bone Yard live!

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

A Long Overdue Addition To Our Sault Ontario Band Links!!

It's been way too long, but it's finally time to add local classic/southern hard rock cover trio Bone Yard to our full coverage! Initially, their exclusion was chalked down to their early more country-centric years and members' concurrent work in heavier cover bands, but as time has progressed, Bone Yard have had much more of a rock focus and have became members' primary group, so let's make up for 13 years of lost time! Debuting in July 2009 at The Canadian Nightclub, Bone Yard are currently comprised of former Stiffler's Mom singer/drummer Greg Simpson (who played guitar until this year), guitarist Alex D'Ettore, and new bassist Warren Reville. Greg is the band's only constant member, and until January, he & Alex were joined by bassist Brad Stephen and drummer Ric Datson (Greg's old That's Chester bandmate). Their founding guitarist was Kevin Tallon, who Alex replaced in December 2013.

While arguably taking a secondary position to Greg's concurrent bands Stiffler's Mom and That's Chester until both of them fell inactive in the mid-2010s, Bone Yard still carved out a strong presence beforehand locally, and especially in recent years. Seven time veterans of Rotaryfest's Stage 1 (one of only four bands to play that often since 2010), Bone Yard will also be familiar to many readers from appearances at local festivals & community events like Toystock, the Ride For Sight & Ride For ARCH, and The Queen Street Cruise, alongside frequent appearances on the weekend nightclub cover circuit through March 2020, picking things back up as the pandemic allowed. They even opened for Crystal Shawanda, Aaron Pritchett, and High Valley at The Machine Shop, and they have also played out of town on occasion. Bone Yard also took a front seat in much of Greg's promotions for his old company (Choose) Maxx Entertainment.

After Brad & Ric's departures and Warren subsequently coming on board, Bone Yard 3.0 debuted on St. Patrick's Day at Reggie's Place and have been primarily seen since there and at Shooters Downstairs Lounge. In our first Bone Yard-centric LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, you can see them at Shooters on consecutive Saturdays on May 28th & June 4th (both of those dates are at 8:00 PM with no cover and 19+ age limits), while also returning to the downtown Reggie's on Friday, June 24th & Saturday, June 25th (also 19+ & 8:00 PM affairs with no cover). Bone Yard are also scheduled to return to The Queen Street Cruise (the festival where attendees drive and then show their restored classic cars downtown) on both Friday, June 17th & Saturday, June 18th, where they will play outside of GFL Memorial Gardens at 7:00 PM both nights! Get more on the Cruise proper at their website, but this is obviously all ages, and I believe admission is free for onlookers.

There is absolutely no shortage of Bone Yard videos between YouTube & Facebook (from official band uploads at fans alike) and even SaultOnline has given them strong coverage in the past, so definitely crawl Bone Yard's social media pages for lots of live videos of theirs (no sign of the teased original song they were recording in 2019 though). Again, Bone Yard started off more country themed than they've evolved into by the late 2010s and today, but they've always shown a lot of pure talent and experience, and Greg's solid vocals and multi-instrumental skills have sure been a constant from the start! From what I've seen of the new lineup, they're in fine form with what basically feels like Stiffler's Mom with more of a southern rock influence, but there's way too many videos from the past 13 years to sum up so briefly. Become a "Bonehead" at their official Facebook fan page, and definitely crawl around to see their videos!

Apologies for the single topic today too, I had 13 years to make up for, and Bone Yard certainly are not lacking for documentation of their run! Picking a video to share from their current three piece lineup wasn't easy, but I was definitely coming back to this Reggie's clip of Bone Yard covering The Jimi Hendrix Experience's "Little Wing", which especially shows off Alex's very strong guitar solo work and a nice crunchy sound between the guys, though note that most of Bone Yard's 2022 videos are vertically oriented. Give it a look below, see much more above, and stay tuned for more news and notes on the site soon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Shit Liver & Tym Morrison) And Two New Local Hard Rock Acts!

Hey guys, here's another news post for your Tuesday, including two newly discovered hard rock acts from Sault Ontario and two LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (one of which is extremely short notice), so here's what you need to know!

Local death metal/punk trio Shit Liver will be playing at The Roosevelt Hotel TONIGHT! The rising trio have been named as the openers for this short notice concert which is being headlined by Yellowknife punk quartet Booze Cruise, who are touring Canada in support of their new LP "Moose Stuff"! They're not really a metal band, but they have a nice high energy punk sound with some faster ripping sounds here and there, so they're well worth seeing tonight, despite the late notice! And with Shit Liver opening, you know there'll be some hard hitting crust to kick things off, so if you're free, head to The Rosie TONIGHT! Plus, it's bassist Mike Kyle's birthday, and what better way to celebrate than at a punk/metal show? Remember, this show is TONIGHT at 10:00 PM, you must be 19 to attend, and there's no cover. For more details, visit the above links and the Facebook event page! Should be a fun time, hopefully a good sized crowd turns out despite the late word! For a preview, here's Shit Liver playing their song "Fabricated Nonsense" at The Rosie in June!



Also on the docket for new shows is another solo acoustic show from Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison! He's back out for another concert on Saturday, this time at The Zone Roadhouse on Highway 17 North in Goulais River, for his first solo show there in three months! Note that this is the second Saturday in three weeks that he hasn't played at Service Grill Pizza, so either he's now playing there bi-weekly, or his gigs there aren't as rigidly scheduled as they were in the summer. I'll keep you guys posted on any possible Service Grill shows he may have coming up! So if you want to head to Goulais River for some acoustic hard rock hits, The Zone Roadhouse is the place to be on Saturday night! Tym will take the stage at 8:00 PM, there is no announced cover charge, and I'd assume there's a 19+ age limit. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Should be a good concert, Tym's solo acoustic show always impresses, and hopefully lots of people turn out! Stay tuned for more on this show later in the week!

Now, we have two newly discovered local hard rock acts to mention on here, so here's all that you need to know! Firstly, we have a local electronic instrumental hard rock project from Sault Ontario named Candle Hour. Led by local musician Hugh Stephens, Candle Hour launched last October, quickly releasing a debut album named "Airplane" on numerous online stores, along with launching band pages on most popular internet music sites (examples: MySpace, Facebook, Reverbnation, YouTube, Soundclick, and many more.) Though a solo project with a mostly unrevealed background, Candle Hour are currently working on a second album, and have released four music videos. I probably missed Candle Hour for SMS coverage for so long because I assumed they were strictly a techno project, but there's a lot of hard rock here! Hugh lists Nine Inch Nails as one of Candle Hour's influences, and on songs like "Astral Transmission" and "Without A Parachute", there's definitely a hard rock sound to be enjoyed! The closest local band I can think of to Candle Hour in terms of sound would be the defunct solo project Divinity Collapsed, though I don't believe there's a link between the two bands.

Candle Hour is an interesting project, and Hugh definitely shows some talent and creativity with this material! The techno and electronic elements are well constructed, and the heavier hard rock sounds are integrated well, though I'd be interested to see him expand on some of the songs, as the songs I've heard can be slightly repetitive. Overall though, I am impressed with Candle Hour, so definitely check them out for a solid blend of electronic and synthesized sounds with hard rock, they work well together! I'll embed one of their videos here, so here's one of Candle Hour's heavier songs "March To The End", as accompanied by old military footage! Good stuff!



Lastly, the other new act finally connects some of the pieces left following a local band's abrupt disappearance last summer. Remember Silver Dream, the local glam rock quartet that crashed and burned last July? Well, at the time, departed frontman Matthew Silver said that the rest of the band would remain together, but we never heard anything else come from that... until now! Drummer Steven Flint launched a solo MySpace page in July, and he credits Silver Dream bandmates Mike LaRue & Chris Stainthorpe for backing instruments and production on his solo material! Specifically, Mike plays bass and handled the technical recording, while Chris played guitar, and Steven handled drums, vocals, and additional guitar & bass. I wouldn't say that Steven's solo project is one and the same as Silver Dream, but it's nice to see the old members sticking together! One song is posted, entitled "Run To You", and it's not bad! Definitely heavier than most of the Silver Dream samples we heard. Has a bit of a classic rock vibe while still being heavy, and Steven's vocals are deeper and grittier than you may expect, reminding me a bit of Mike Haggith vocally.

"Run To You" needs to be filled out more, but the guitar work is promising, the production isn't bad, and with some more work, this could get some deserved local attention! Check out more on Steven's solo project at the above links, and both he and Candle Hour are now in our active Sault Ontario band links!

That's all for today, but GO SEE SHIT LIVER & BOOZE CRUISE TONIGHT! Short notice or not, it'll be worth your time! Thanks everyone, and stay tuned for much more in the next few days!