With a mid-week Canada Day this year, we have some mid-week SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS to touch on to end the month with, but to spread things out a bit given the amount (and preview of a Tuesday night show TONIGHT), our preview of Havadder's Studio 10 concert tomorrow will come in a second post today, and yes, we are aware of the Rotaryfest stage lineup reveals, those are likely coming tomorrow! Now, here's what you should know for Canada Day!
Local post-punk quartet Gnaeus have been added to the lineup for TOMORROW'S first annual Peace Love Music festival! Apologies for the short notice, the guys were only officially confirmed for the lineup yesterday, though their involvement had been teased in preceding days. To be held at Club Current, the new nightclub/venue inside of Waterfront Legend (formerly Docks Riverfront Grill), this event is the culmination of a long dream from promoters Justin Roy & Michael Babcock to hold this kind of event in the Soo, which will primarily be an outdoors event outside of Club Current featuring live music from 1:30-10:00 PM, food and drinks, and of course, a great view of the Canada Day fireworks from the waterfront, so keep Peace Love Music in mind for TOMORROW! Despite the Woodstock-esque themes, this is actually primarily a house/DJ/electronic themed event, with Gnaeus the only full "band" that I can confirm on the lineup, but their set will co-headline tomorrow at 7:00 PM, with Justin Roy DJing as the headliner until 10:00 PM.
Other performers include Motus Canere (real name possibly Tyler McCaig, but I can't 100% confirm that) at 6:00 PM, Rhyan Lotto Toivanen at 5:00 PM, electronic duo Electric Therapy at 4:00 PM, Michael Babcock at 3:00 PM, and Shane "DJ Seith" Erickson at 1:00 PM. Note as well that earlier postings on the Facebook event page listed that artists named Montel J & Manzini Sangiovese were playing, but they've since been removed (or renamed?) for unannounced reasons. Peace Love Music admission will be $10, and this is presumably 19+, but note that it is an outdoor event primarily during the day. For more details, visit the above links! It's great to see some concerts at Club Current (and the former Docks), and while there's only one "band", keep this event in mind for some live club and house music from this talented DJ roster, plus Gnaeus' own post-punk originals! For a preview, here's Gnaeus' full Lopstock set!
Next up, local classic/hard rock cover trio Mourning Wood will play their own Canada Day concert TOMORROW NIGHT at The Rednecks Saloon! Apologies for the short notice, the band only announced the show via this Facebook event page on Friday, but at least they gave us a few days notice for a change (in fact, this is their first show to get plugged on their own Facebook page in two months, and first with an event page in three!) Terry, Steven, and T.J. are no stranger to mid-week shows (they just played a Wednesday nighter at Reggie's last week), but this week's is obviously timed for Canada Day, so if you're up for some live cover action, here's an option for you! For reference, Sault Online still lists Mourning Wood's Thursday jam nights at Rednecks on their music calendar page as an ongoing weekly event, but the band hasn't acknowledged new jam nights on Facebook at all this month, so unless they've held them without online comment, I don't believe they're still on.
Also, if the guys have weekend concert plans too, they won't be back at Rednecks on Friday night due to Mike Haggith's CD release party, but we'll let you know if anything is announced. Mourning Wood's Canada Day show TOMORROW goes down at 10:00 PM, there's no announced cover charge, and you must be 19 to attend. For more details, visit the above links, and here's Mourning Wood live last year!
Finally for this post, here's our preview of a Tuesday night concert going down TONIGHT, as Montreal psychedelic punk band Saturn Alien will rock The New American Pub for the first time! Playing a nicely varied hybrid of punk, funk, and psychedelic rock into a sound that's hard to describe while still retaining an edge, Saturn Alien should leave a good impression on this last day of June, so definitely give them a listen and see what you think! Two local opening bands are on board for tonight, including the aforementioned Gnaeus and newer local alternative/punk quartet Id Iota (in their New A debut), and both have their own punk hybrid sounds that will slide in nicely as openers tonight! Apparently promoted by Id Iota (who launched the Facebook event page), there is a $5 cover charge for this 19+ concert, and everything starts at 9:00 PM, but remember, tomorrow is a holiday, so you probably don't have to worry about this being a late night during the week!
Punk and alt-rock fans should have a great time at this show, so check the above links for more details, and send June off in style TONIGHT! Here's a Saturn Alien music video!
That's all for now, but stay tuned for our Havadder preview and much more this week! Thanks everyone!
Here's some news and notes for your Saturday morning, including assorted updates, big updates regarding a returning summer concert event and the imminent future of some outdoor summer festival events, and leading off, a new local band, so here's what you should know!
We have a new local band to add to our band links, ans they are Caroline Divine, the new local rock trio that debuted at last night's Id Iota-headlined Gonqshow event at The Algonquin Pub, so what should you know on them? Not to be confused with defunct local hard rock band Borderline Divine (the former Stillbroke), Caroline Divine are essentially the successors to defunct pop rock band The Frasiers (albeit sans frontman Charlie Derrer), with their lineup featuring singer/guitarist Anthony Marcello, bassist Brenden Fitzgerald, and drummer Devin Williamson. Compared to The Frasiers, Caroline Divine definitely play heavier material, with their Facebook page describing their sound as "hair/glam metal infused power pop" and "party rock" that is reminiscent of bands like Van Halen and Motley Crue while remaining modern. Interesting description, and the guys have clear talent from their Frasiers run, but when can you check out Caroline Divine for yourself?
If you missed yesterday's concert, you can also see Caroline Divine TONIGHT at Lopstock II at LopLops Lounge and then at The Rankin Arena on Friday during fellow Lopstock performers The Pixo Control's fundraising concert, so definitely consider checking them out at either event! Stay tuned for more info and media on Caroline Divine as it comes in, like them above & on Twitter, and they're now in our band links!
Next up, here's some good (and bad) news regarding downtown outdoor summer concerts, starting with the good news: Rotaryfest's Second Stage is officially coming back next month! After earlier teases via The Bear Hunters' petition to get on that stage, the local summer festival's website has restored a "Stage 2" tab to their music section, which does confirm that Tenaris Algoma Tubes will return as presenting sponsors of the event. As you may remember, the Second Stage ran annually from 2005-2013 before financial issues forced it to take a hiatus last year, and it was the official Rotaryfest outlet for original local bands and select out of town acts, which will hopefully be maintained come July 16th-18th for it's 10th installment! No, the schedule isn't out for either the first or second stages, we will let you know when they're announced. With that said, will the Second Stage return to it's usual placement on Queen Street between Brock and East?
That appears to be up in the air, at the very least, as there's currently a push by some downtown business owners to disband The Sault Downtown Association, which helps organize and put on many downtown street parties and festivals on Queen Street, including some outdoor concert events like The Emergency Festival. Some local business owners want the Downtown Association abolished because they find that it's ineffective, isn't worth the cost that they put into it, and focuses on too small of an area, as they want to promote all of downtown rather than just a section of Queen Street, and there is a debate around this topic ongoing at City Hall. I won't pretend to be a scholar in finance, event promotion, or local business ownership, so visit SooToday and The Sault Star's articles for further details. While not publically stated yet, the fight to save or disband the Downtown Association will apparently result in Queen Street not hosting any further outdoor festivals or parties this summer.
No word yet on the new(?) location for Rotaryfest's Second Stage, but personal Facebook postings suggest that The Emergency Festival (which basically replaced the Second Stage for it's debut last year) will have a new home for 2015. Maybe that's why we haven't heard details on the stages and schedule yet? I hope things work out so that the Downtown Association can host events again, and hopefully there's a compromise struck that can please everyone, so stay tuned when we hear a resolution or details on upcoming outdoor concert events!
Finally for today, here's some assorted shorter updates from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist or venue name:
Remember how Waterfront Legend (the former Docks Riverfront Grill) opened a restructured live venue named Club 89 in January? Well, updates on their Facebook page haven't came since March, and now, a new Facebook page for an apparent renamed or replacement nightclub named Club Current is now active, hyping the fact that it's a waterfront patio bar with live DJs. Fun idea, but are bands still a part of the plan here? We'll keep an eye on this and let you know if we hear anything!
Have you noticed that local punk trio Redundant haven't played live or posted any updates all year? No word on where they've been, but bassist James White has indicated on his personal Facebook page that he's moving to Toronto in September for college. No word on what this would mean for Redundant or The Elements, but we'll keep you posted, and best of luck to James this fall!
In recent days, you may have seen references to local lo-fi/punk project Telephone & Address adding Boxes of Boom's Sam Decter as their full-time drummer (making them a duo), as well as Chris & Sam launching a separate linked new band named Are You Now? or Have You Ever? (interesting name), but all references to the lineup addition and A.Y.N.O.H.Y.E. have quietly been deleted from Facebook without explanation. Hopefully nothing bad happened between Chris & Sam, but stay tuned for updates!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates in the coming days! Thanks everyone!
Local post-punk quartet Gnaeus have been added to the lineup for TOMORROW'S first annual Peace Love Music festival! Apologies for the short notice, the guys were only officially confirmed for the lineup yesterday, though their involvement had been teased in preceding days. To be held at Club Current, the new nightclub/venue inside of Waterfront Legend (formerly Docks Riverfront Grill), this event is the culmination of a long dream from promoters Justin Roy & Michael Babcock to hold this kind of event in the Soo, which will primarily be an outdoors event outside of Club Current featuring live music from 1:30-10:00 PM, food and drinks, and of course, a great view of the Canada Day fireworks from the waterfront, so keep Peace Love Music in mind for TOMORROW! Despite the Woodstock-esque themes, this is actually primarily a house/DJ/electronic themed event, with Gnaeus the only full "band" that I can confirm on the lineup, but their set will co-headline tomorrow at 7:00 PM, with Justin Roy DJing as the headliner until 10:00 PM.
