LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Bone Yard 225), A Surprise Band Breakup, And More Recent Updates!!

Before we begin this post, we have a concert cancellation to take note of, as Barrie-based AC/DC tribute band Hells Bells are no longer headlining at the Sault Community Theatre Centre on April 10th "due to unforeseen circumstances", as per the S.C.T.C.'s Facebook page on March 4th. No word on if low ticket sales are those circumstances, but the White Pines theater was a big jump from their 2010s nightclub gigs here. Hopefully Hells Bells try again here down the road! Refunds for tickets already bought are available at point of purchase. Now, here's some updates on a local musician's newest studio material, fallout from a big recent show, a surprise band breakup, and leading off, a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!

Local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 will go "uncorked" for a special St. Patrick's Day concert TOMORROW NIGHT at... Smitty's?! Apologies for the short notice, this concert was first announced on the band's Facebook page on Friday, March 6th, but I didn't hear about it until last week. Yes, the new chain restaurant in the former Aurora's/Thali building at 384 McNabb Street will be hosting a live band, which is surprising in & of itself, but this won't be the first concert held there, as Smokehouse frontman Michael Yurich was booked there last month. While that show was electric, Bone Yard's debut there TOMORROW will not be, a'la their Water Tower Pub, Gateway Casino, and Beck's matinee gigs. With St. Patrick's Day being on a Tuesday this year, fewer bars are hosting live bands on the actual day, so if you want to wear your best green attire and drink some green beer with some ("uncorked") hard rock, come to Smitty's TOMORROW! The weather will be better!

Beyond your local 225's presence and the sale of adult beverages (including green beer), there will reportedly be some level of giveaways for the occasion. TOMORROW'S central concert takes place at an early 6:00-10:00 PM timeslot, there's no cover, and as that this is Smitty's Family Restaurant, I don't believe there is an age limit, but use common sense given the seasonality. Visit the above links for more on TOMORROW'S luck of the Irish, and for a preview, here's Greg, Alex, and Warren live!

Next up, here's some very surprising news that broke yesterday, as local classic/hard rock cover quartet Double Down have announced that they are disbanding, as per their Facebook page. A reason for the decision was not announced, other than to say that "it was definitely not easy" and that "we cannot carry on as (Double Down) without any one of us", though I will note that they did survive two lineup replacements and Dan's 6 month absence already. They did apologize to local venues for having to cancel scheduled bookings, including March 28th at The Water Tower Pub, which is the only one that had been publically announced at press time. A staple of the bar cover circuit since their live debut in April 2023, Double Down memorably played at Rotaryfest Stage 1 in 2023 & 2024 (closing the latter year), and they were known for their guest-friendly and Cancon-laden live sets.

Double Down had just played shows on Friday and Saturday at Jay's Piston Broke Pub alongside guest singer Jack Alisat, which makes things even more surprising (I even saw personal Facebook posts implying that she could be joining the band), but I hope things are amicable regardless of what exactly was discussed this weekend. They were a talented band regardless of lineup, and a welcome sight over the past three years, and hopefully we hear more from Joel, Beej, Dan, Ric, Adam, and Brad in the future!

Also today, have you been wondering where videos from last month's Trews concert at The Machine Shop have been? Honestly, I haven't found any public videos from the concert yet, but some media surrounding it has surfaced! Longtime SooToday contributor Donna Hopper returned to cover the show for this article, which features 20 colour photos from February 25th, including 13 of the headlining Nova Scotia hard rock band and 7 of openers Eddy & The Dirty Boys. Donna noted that The Trews' tour bus broke down in Dryden between dates, and that they endured highway closures due to inclement weather (readers of this post on March 16th may relate to that!) before finally making it to the Soo on schedule, and she also revealed a selection of the songs played by The Trews three weeks ago. Solid work with some predictably strong pictures, so give everything a look at this link!

While I have yet to find public videos from the show itself, Trews frontman Colin MacDonald was interviewed earlier that day from the Soo for the news piece below that aired on CTV News Northern Ontario! Conducted by anchor/former Sault Ste. Marie city councillor Tony Ryma, the interview sees Colin talking about how the tour is going, the tour bus & weather issues, their long work together, and their Ontario connections (two band members are actually from Northern Ontario originally). Effective promotion with a regional bent from the former MCTV, and longer than I assumed, so if you missed the piece on channel 2/11, give it a watch below!

Let's close today with the latest from local hard rock solo musician Mike McCleary, so how did 2026 start for him? On February 28th, he revealed on his Facebook page that the first single for his next solo album has been recorded and was in the mixing process at that time. Progress was steady, and he hoped to give details "in the near future". The album proper will have 8 songs touching on a variety of topics, and he is still working with Swedish indie label Rexius Records on the final product. We've heard nothing new since, but Mike did post a new teaser video from the recording sessions on Facebook in December, which features 29 seconds of guitar soloing with orchestral dynamics, as filmed from tracking computer monitors. It is obviously way too soon to comment, but if you liked Mike's heavier sounds, you should take to this sample! Give the new video a watch below, and stay tuned for more Mike when it rolls in!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Rhythm & Brews), A New Local Band, And New Videos!!

As we continue to catch up on news and notes from last month, today's post includes new video discoveries from both sides of the border, LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for later this month, and leading off, a new addition to our Sault Ontario band links, so here's what you should know!

We have a new local metal band to add to our links, namely Hollow Sky! This is the new project from former Uncanny Valley bassist Adam Fahrer, who also played in country musician Brendan Hodgson's backing band. Primarily credited now on guitar, Adam is joined by singer Liam Tallon, who you may recognize from competing in the Soo Youth Songwriting Contest in 2017 and later via recording hard rock material at Tidal Records in 2018, project unclear, but you can sample what he was doing at this link. Hollow Sky publically launched via their Facebook page on December 2nd, and haven't posted there since December 4th, but they did release their first studio original that day, named "The Spiral". They said that the song can be streamed on "all platforms", those being Spotify, Apple Music, and Deezer (all handily linked via DistroKid), plus YouTube, Amazon Music, and Boomplay.

At least far as this song goes, Hollow Sky are very promising with a modern metalcore sound including strong clean vocals and some djent influence in the guitar riffs, and the production quality is pretty good too! Again, we haven't heard anything from their camp in over a month, but give Hollow Sky's first song a listen below, and look for more from them this year!

Next up, here's some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for later this month, as Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Rhythm & Brews will return to The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino on Friday, January 27th & Saturday, January 28th! These come courtesy of Kewadin's entertainment page, and mark the only hard rock-leaning shows at the St. Ignace Kewadin this month. These shows will be Rhythm & Brews' first in three months, last seen rocking the Soo Kewadin branch over the Halloween weekend, though given their infrequent usage of their Facebook page, something definitely could have been missed since then. Hopefully Brandon, the Chris', and Ron deliver another entertaining weekend of fan favourite rock covers for fans in a few weeks! Expect 9:00 PM start times, 21+ age limits, and no cover charges. Visit the above links for more details!

Let's make our way back north now, starting with a stop in Sault Michigan for a much belated video from the Pop Evil concert at The Dreammakers Theatre at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino in March of last year! This was actually uploaded to the Muskegon hard rock band's Facebook page right after the show took place, as filmed by videographer Matt Akana from what appears to be the end of their set. The video was uniquely shot on stage with the camera generally pointing towards the audience, with Matt weaving his way through the band while frontman Leigh Kakaty thanks the crowd (admittedly, what he says is hard to hear). Sadly, this was shot vertically, and a film grain was added to it in post-production that doesn't seem entirely necessary, but this is a neat look at a side of major local concerts that you don't always see, and the crowd was definitely receptive, so give this Pop Evil video from their Sault Ste. Marie date last year a watch below!

We'll end things back in Sault Ontario for a video promoting last year's tenth annual Toystock! In advance of the annual Christmas Cheer charity concert at The Grand Gardens on November 26th, Toystock got some deserved hype from CTV News Northern Ontario during their evening newscast, with anchor and former Sault Ste. Marie city councillor Tony Ryma interviewing promoter/Bone Yard frontman Greg Simpson on air! If you missed this on the former MCTV at the time, never fear, as Greg posted the 2+ minute segment to Toystock's Facebook page, and it is embedded below. In the interview, Tony asks Greg about how Toystock came together, the format for this year, how much help families do need in the Soo at this time of year, and about the family friendly aspects of the event. During the interview, we even see some video footage from a prior installment, rather Toystock VIII in 2019, which CTV was there for!

At the time, Jairus Patterson had led this news piece to cover parts of the event, but we only briefly saw a bit of Kaitlyn Parr's set in it. Four years later, the new interview features her set again, but now joined by Brendan Hodgson, Soundcheck, their frontman Cameron Oliver, and the Case's Music instructors' band. That constitutes five of the first six acts in 2019, with only The Jeff & Jeff Show not included in the 2023 interview footage, so kudos for the local CTV crew for staying as long as they did! It'd be nice to see the raw footage, but good on CTV for digging these up to back up some very nice promotion for this year's Toystock, and check it out below!

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

Killer Dwarfs Concert Preview & Lots Of Updates From The Northwest!!

Here's a new news post to check out on this Monday evening, which is mostly devoted to one fast rising local band in particular, but leading off, let's start with a mid-week concert preview for you old school metal fans!

Oshawa glam metal legends The Killer Dwarfs will make their long awaited return to Sault Ste. Marie TOMORROW NIGHT with another headlining concert at Soo Blaster! The Dwarfs previously rocked Soo Blaster in April 2019 in their first modern-era local stop, and that show was very well received at the time by classic and new fans alike, so don't miss their brand of 1980s metal originals with songs like "Dirty Weapons" & "Doesn't Matter" tomorrow! While not reflected on public advertising, local acoustic hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison has confirmed on his personal account that he is opening tomorrow, a strong fit considering his past work in plugged-in metal bands, so don't be late for his set! No word on if he'll be at The Trading Post on Wednesday though, stay tuned if we hear anything with reasonable notice. Presented once again by Ernest Skinner of Border City Rock Talk, this show was originally scheduled for tonight before being bumped due to a concurrent booking in White River.

Tickets run for $20 in advance at this link and at Soo Blaster, and a meet & greet is also attached to ticket purchases on some advertising. Be advised that some involved with the show are selling individual tickets for a discount on Facebook, inquire within for details, but the public advertised price is $20 (higher on Eventbrite for processing fees). This is a 19+ show, and a 7:00 PM start time is advertised. Should be a great show for period hard rock and glam metal fans, especially after how well The Killer Dwarfs went over three years ago, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here are The Dwarfs live!

Next up, here's the latest from local indie/punk quintet The Northwest, starting with the big reveal that they will be opening for Marianas Trench and The Trews at GFL Memorial Gardens on Thursday, September 22nd! The band announced this on their Facebook page yesterday, but band members had mentioned it on personal accounts previously. Definitely the biggest local concert in scope and seating that (The) Northwest have ever played, so don't be late for their set next Thursday, and discounted tickets for next week's Mocha Concert Series shows (save for Kim Mitchell & 54-40 next Tuesday, oddly) are now on sale online! Save 25% using the coupon code SHRINERS at this link, and stay tuned for previews of those two gigs next week! Note that SooToday's advertising for both Marianas Trench and Kim Mitchell notes that they have "special guests" on the bill, and while The Northwest are presumably that for the former, I have not heard of a potential local opening band for Kim Mitchell. We'll keep you guys posted!

The Northwest may have been waiting to mention the Marianas Trench news until it broke on CTV News Northern Ontario yesterday, as they got a brief piece on the evening news! Wish they'd have plugged this in advance, even without spilling the beans, so we could watch it on channel 11 (or 2 over the air). Photojournalist Mike McDonald conducted the interview with Northwest frontman Wayne Watkins & guitarist Greg Callaghan (Mike Yak is shown on camera but isn't interviewed), where they discuss their feelings about opening for this show, how pandemic downtime allowed them to write their new EP, and their influences. Mike McDonald noted that The Northwest will also be playing a show in North Bay next month (the band proper has not confirmed this publically on Facebook) and hope to release new singles next year. Good, if brief promotion, especially for how little of their music you hear for the duration, though video clips are shown.

If you missed the former MCTV News yesterday, you can watch the video & read the similar article at this link!  We'll close today's Northwest updates with their newest music video, which went online on their YouTube channel on Friday! This is for their song "Walls" from their "All In" EP, leaving only "Lights" without a music or lyric video this year. Directed, produced, and edited by Jeff King, the video was shot in Toronto by Pie In The Sky Studios with external actors (the band is only seen in a framed photograph). This video is basically reflective of the lyrics of "Walls" (repressing hostile feelings towards a negative workplace environment), with an office worker slowly losing his patience while on the clock and ultimately destroying his office and announcing his resignation in no uncertain terms. Well shot and it gets the point across, but it is kinda odd to see a local band's music video without seeing them live and on camera.

Lots to take in from this busy and very prominent local heartland rock/punk band, with a steadily rising profile on the local scene and from afar, so give their "Walls" music video a watch below, and see the links above for much more on The Northwest's recent activity!

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

Mikey Hawdon's Latest Quarantunes, Blood Shed Productions Updates, And More!!

Another work week ends today, and let's keep the consistent news rolling with the latest from a long-running extreme metal label, a new performance video, and to start, the latest from Mikey (Hawdon) & his uke! Matching his Global News piece on Monday, Mikey's "quarantune" videos will reportedly be spotlighted tonight on CTV News Northern Ontario's 6:00 PM broadcast! My source is Mikey's personal Facebook page, I don't imagine this is meant to be a surprise given the optics. Local readers can watch live on the former MCTV at 6:58 PM or so on channel 11 (Shaw Cable) or on it's channel number on Bell, with a likely internet link to the piece following, and I will discuss his appearance in an upcoming post. As for his daily ukelele covers, Mikey has posted three more onto his YouTube channel in as many days, including a solo cover of The Dukes of Hazzard theme song, plus a cover of The Wallflowers' "One Headlight" with guest musicians.

Embedded below is today's cover, which sees Mikey cover Teenage Head's "Let's Shake" alongside his Gabba Heys bandmates Lucas Stagg & Cleave Anderson, though lead vocal duties are provided by Hamilton rockabilly/blues musician Ginger St. James. Fitting choice, given that Teenage Head are Hamilton punk icons! While running for only 77 seconds, this is a fun acoustic cover while it lasts, and Ginger's dog Chico adds a star quality too! Give it (and more) a watch above, below, and on MCTV tonight!

Next up, here's some overdue updates from local independent label Blood Shed Productions' Facebook page, as they have been staying busy during the quarantine! On May 4th, they announced that they had a "cpl (sic) new releases and some re-releases coming your way", and to inquire with the label about availability. All of these are projects featuring label founder Tyler Gibson and/or frequent collaborator Chase Wigmore, but you know how prolific they are. The advertised new material include a new full length release from Tyler's primary grindcore solo project Crucify the Whore entitled "P.C. Sells... But I Ain't Buyin'!", an eponymous solo album entitled "Instrumentally Unstable", a compilation called "BloodShred Vol. 1", and "episode 1" of Chase's "Stray Dog Howl", plus print runs of late 2010s material. Upcoming releases include "History of Shedding Blood Vol. 1" (featuring their early 2010s songs)" and a new Malignant Neoplasm release.

As well, they have new drum & bass releases in the works from Tyler's Alegendary project and a compilation of some kind. If you were hoping to hear the new C.T.W. studio album, then you are in luck, as it was released on Bandcamp on May 18th! "P.C. Sells... But I Ain't Buyin'!" is a slightly longer release in multiple aspects, as 8 of it's 18 songs exceed 2 minutes in length, and only one is under a minute long. Chase provides drum programming on the opening song "Crucified", while "Stab Alley" is a cover of a 2016 song from Tyler's dormant grind duo Rotopsy. Content-wise, C.T.W.'s polarizing one-man goregrind attack and pig squeal vocals will still not be for everyone, complete with song names I shouldn't reprint here, but Tyler's unapologetic grind attack retains a solid local following, and it's great to see him continuing his music during the pandemic! Get more information and hear the new tunes above, and also inquire about Blood Shed's new run of cassette tapes!

We'll close today with a new video from local/Thompson, Manitoba alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith's Facebook page on Tuesday, and unlike his usual video content during the pandemic, this one is not at his home. Mike was able to perform at the Rare Earth Greenery in Thompson, and can be seen here playing his original "Communique" inside a greenhouse. Some bongos and shakers can be heard being performed by someone, and a man can be seen playing harmonica (I think) outside the door, but I can't hear it if that's the case. Nice & unique rendition at a screwy time, so give it a watch below!



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

Toystock VIII Fallout & Videos (Part 1!)

After a delay of far too long (blame personal commitments and the holidays), it's time to finally look at fallout from this year's Toystock charity concert at The Grand Gardens North on Sunday, November 24th! Lots of local news services were in attendance for the eighth annual installment last month, including CTV Northern Ontario, who sent camera crews to the event for a 52 second piece on that day's local news, similarly to last year. The video proper features video of Kaitlyn Parr's set (albeit without audio of consequence), plus a brief interview with Toystock organizer Greg Simpson about Toystock's growth. While it's not a long feature, it's great to see MCTV give it any platform, so give it a look at the above links! SooToday's Darren Taylor was also on hand for this article on the festivities, featuring 12 photos from the afternoon, including four photos of L!me's set, one of Kaitlyn's, and seven of attendees and the donations. Shame he couldn't stay longer, but Darren got some nice shots!

The article proper features a similar but extended interview with Greg about Toystock, and it's great to see how much he enjoys giving back to the community and helping the less fortunate each year like this! Finally, SaultOnline's Megan Pounder was also in attendance for this article, which features 11 photos, mostly of the Stuff-A-Bus, though she did get one band photo (more them in a second.) She left most of the formal coverage for an attached YouTube video that presumably also got played on the ONNtv streaming channel. The video features lots of clips from Toystock in progress, as well as an interview with Greg's wife and co-organizer Kerry Simpson, and it's very informative while also giving a nice look at what was going on that afternoon. The only band featured in the piece or in the photos was the Case's Music Band, but in a surprise change from years' past, they were not made up of students there. Rather, this band was comprised of Case's Music instructors, all familiar to local music fans!

In fact, if you like local progressive rock quintet Machines Dream, this will have been extra exciting, as singer/bassist Craig West, guitarist Jake Rendell (on drums), and keyboardist Brian Holmes made up 3/4ths of this band, rounded out by Parabol guitarist Steve Myers. Judging by the performed cover in Megan's video (The Beatles' "Back In The USSR"), I imagine they didn't get too proggy at Toystock, but they definitely had the musical chops and experience to make their mark! The above news coverage didn't get into hard rock covers or bands, but we do have some footage of that ilk today, as power rock quartet Re:Born played at Toystock VIII and posted footage of the last six bands onto their Facebook page the following day! They weren't present for the opening four acts, but we will address more afternoon band footage in an upcoming post. We'll start with headlining country rock cover quartet Bone Yard, who Re:Born filmed covering April Wine's version of Hot Chocolate's "You Could Have Been A Lady"!

As previously filmed by Mike Caruso at Reggie's West on Halloween, this rendition is a welcomed classic hard rock sampler in their country-heavy repertoire, and the filmer has a nice central angle of Bone Yard in action, with solid use of the zoom lens. Give it a look below!



We'll close today with Re:Born's video of themselves in action on this night, wherein they play their original song/Project 421 carry-over "Running Away". With their cameraman playing on stage, the camera is stationary here, but the audio quality and angle work out just fine, and everyone plays to their strengths, with Blair's guitar work shining as usual, and Elly's getting more and more confident on the mic with every set. Check their clip out below, and stay tuned for much more from Toystock shortly!



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

Toystock VII Fallout, News Coverage, And Videos!!

As you may know, the seventh annual Toystock charity concert went down this past Sunday at The Northern Grand Gardens, and it was another hit for both attendees and Christmas Cheer donations alike, so let's devote an entire post to fallout from that day! Among this year's news coverage was this SooToday article by Darren Taylor, which features quotes from co-organizer Kerry Simpson, details on the then-still-ongoing concert, and two photos each from The Algo Rhythms' and Case's Music students' sets, plus one of donated toys. Good promotion for Toystock VII, and hopefully it encouraged some late attendees to head down there! A linked photo album courtesy of attendee Sandi Wheeler also includes more photos from early in the day, though aside from a video of Brendan Hodgson's set, it's focused on the donations and vendors. Sault This Week's Allana Plaunt was also on hand for Toystock last week, covering the event and interviewing Kerry again for this Wednesday's front page story. It's a brief article with no large focus on the musicians, but again, the positive promotion is great to see!

Sault Online's Megan Pounder was also in attendance for this article on Toystock, and it's a longer piece with more reflections on the concert aspect, including remarks from Kerry's husband and co-organizer Greg Simpson, plus local radio DJ Jeff McNiece, who played on Sunday with The Jeff & Jeff Show. This article has a few minor spelling notes, but it's great to see some more in-depth local news coverage! There are a few photos there too, but again, not of the bands. And much to my surprise, CTV News Northern Ontario were also on hand, with journalist Lincoln Louttit filing this report in both video and text formats on Monday, so if you watched the MCTV News that day, this will be old hat! In this case, both the video piece and text article feature remarks from both Greg and Kerry, as well as three attending fans, while you do get brief footage of The Bearded Lounge and The Jeff & Jeff Show's opening sets. It's great to see CTV stop in to cover Toystock, it's proof the event is growing bigger and bigger!

Regarding videos, let's first touch on some clips of local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck, courtesy of drummer Glen Thomas' YouTube channel on Wednesday! There are more clips on personal Facebook pages from Sunday night, not to mention more non-Toystock videos we haven't addressed yet on Glen's channel, but we'll focus on his two public Toystock videos today. One is of his annual drumkit giveaway to a lucky child in attendance, with two more being donated for the cause that night as well. Glen's been donating personally refurbished drumkits for Christmas Cheer over the past two decades, and it's great to see him continue giving back at this time of year, so give that video a look! As for Soundcheck proper, Glen shared this video of them playing a 13 minute-long medley, including versions of David Wilcox's "Riverboat Fantasy", Journey's "Don't Stop Believing", Metallica's "Enter Sandman", Boston's "Foreplay/Long Time", ...

...Bon Jovi's "Livin' On A Prayer", and Van Halen's "Jamie's Cryin'", before ending with a reprise of "Riverboat Fantasy". For reference, singer/guitarists Travis Sharpe and Terry Eaton split lead vocal duties on the individual songs (Travis did Journey, Boston, and Bon Jovi, Terry did the rest, and they did backing vocals for each other.) Despite some attendee heads getting in the way, Soundcheck sound in fine form here, and they handle these classic rock hits (with a dash of metal) with their usual professional yet lively manner! Give Soundcheck's Toystock medley a look below, and don't miss them at Reggie's West TONIGHT!

Finally for today, here's one more video from Toystock VII, courtesy of one more local news service that stopped by the event, namely Soo Profile Magazine! This follows the magazine's cover feature on Toystock co-organizer and Bone Yard/Bearded Lounge frontman Greg Simpson in their current issue, which goes into nice detail on his musical career and recent country work. Admittedly, I'd have liked to have seen a little more detail on his old hard rock bands Stiffler's Mom and That's Chester, but this is still a must read for fans of Greg's extensive musical resume in the Soo! As for that Toystock video, it's of local acoustic hard rock trio The Wyld Stallyns, as live streamed by attendee Marcy Catherine and shared to Soo Profile's Facebook page shortly thereafter.  The video features the Elements side project covering Prince's "Kiss" in a folksy acoustic style, but the focus of the video could arguably go to Mr. Bon Soo himself, who came to meet the kids in attendance on Sunday.

Everyone looks like they're having fun, and The Wyld Stallyns handle this somewhat out-of-left-field cover pretty well, so give this video a look below, stay tuned for more from The Wyld Stallyns soon, and look for copies of The Soo Profile Magazine at select local businesses!



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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Ten Kings), Rotaryfest Fallout, And More!!

We're back on this Tuesday morning with some recent news and notes for you guys, including some anticipated fallout from local news media on a pair of major linked concerts, and a light new video from a rising young band, but first, here's some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for next weekend across the river!

Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Ten Kings are scheduled to return to The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino on Friday, August 7th & Saturday, August 8th! The only new hard rock show confirmations from Kewadin's entertainment page's updated August listings (the rest were either confirmed by bands already or not hard rock for our coverage), these will be this fast-rising band's first shows since rocking The Northern Pines Lounge two weeks ago. Ten Kings are definitely making a name for themselves with their solid covers and fan favourite talent, so definitely consider a trip to St. Ignace next weekend to see the guys in action! These shows, like usual, have no announced cover charge, 9:00 PM start times, and 21+ age limits. For more details, check the above links, and stay tuned for much more from Ten Kings as the summer rolls on!

Next up, here's some long overdue fallout from Rotaryfest's music stages over a week ago! I apologize for being so late on these, personal commitments, other stories, and video-only posts pushed these back. Starting with SooToday, two different correspondents were on hand for our annual summer festival, with Darren Taylor covering Thursday activites at this link (including a photo of local Elvis Presley tribute artist Larry Tschekalin from his Stage 1 set), while Donna Hopper got more of her great concert photos during the Saturday entertainment on both stages! As seen at this link, her photos include 3 each of Second Stage bands Caroline Divine & The Pixo Control, plus 3 of classic rockers Domina and 5 of The Band tribute The Big Waltz, both from the main stage. Though it'd be nice to see some more bands included, Donna got some great shots once again, so give them a look along with more Rotaryfest entertainment above!

Speaking of Domina, Sault Online's Mike Caruso uploaded a separate final video of Domina covering The 4 Non Blondes' "What's Going On" onto his YouTube channel last week, so give that a look for more from this talented all-female cover band! No, there still isn't a summative video of Saturday's main stage bands, one likely isn't coming now. Finally from known major news coverage from Rotaryfest, CTV News Northern Ontario (yes, the former MCTV) covered Rotaryfest for a brief  video report on the regional newscast at the time, which is unexpected, but what's covered? Anchored by Carrie Trownson, the report itself was filed by Jordan Allard, and talks mainly about the musical aspect of the event, with footage of Second Stage-openers The Boot Hill Crooners and interview remarks by all three members of the alt-folk trio (primarily Sheldon Jaaskelainen) and new Stage 2 director Chelsie Parayko.

Nice comments by the guys and Chelsie about what Rotaryfest and local support mean for original music, and hopefully The Crooners' second Stage 2 set helped further things for both them and Tidal Records! However, note that the piece itself is short and features no video footage or comments from other bands that day. Still, nice to see CTV News covering some local music events, so give their report a look at the above links, and stay tuned in case we find more fallout from this year's Rotaryfest (Local2, in particular!)

Finally, we'll close with a short new video from Stage 2 co-headliners The Pixo Control, which isn't Rotaryfest related at all, instead of the alternative hard rock trio "leaving the suburbs" while on their brief Southern Ontario tour run. Fun, carefree, yet brief, it's a light watch, so give it a look below, and see more from their Instagram page at this link!

A video posted by The Pixo Control (@thepixocontrol) on Jul 23, 2015 at 8:12am PDT

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news this week, plus this month's CD review! Thanks everyone!