LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Write-Ups), Mammoth Concert Updates, And More!!

For this Tuesday night post, we're mostly looking at Sault Michigan updates, including a new video interview and updates relating to a big upcoming concert and some more assorted notes, but we'll start in Sault Ontario with a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for later this spring!

Ska punk fans will want to circle Friday, May 1st on your calendars, as Flint, Michigan ska-punk band The Write-Ups will make their local concert debut that night at The Speak Easy at Algoma University! Not the first time that we've seen an touring punk band from the USA cross the border for a show here (promoter Mikhal Muto brought a handful of Michigan folk punk bands here last year), but The Write-Ups deliver a suitably bouncy brand of ska punk fuelled with politicially charged and social cause-driven lyrics, and (as you'd hope) a horn section, so they should whet the appetites of subgenre fans! Fittingly, the local openers are newer ska punk trio A.S.D.P. (who Mikhal is the frontman of), and while they don't play live super regularly, expect some fun cuts from their debut EP "Atom Bombs & Lemonade" to kick things off! This is the first concert to cross our radar at The Speak Easy since another touring political punk band (Quit It!) played there in October.

Put on by Mikhal's new agency Underground Events SSM, this will be an all ages concert with doors opening at 7:00 PM, and admission will be $15 at the door or $10 for current Algoma University students with valid student ID (I have not seen any reference to advance tickets being sold online or in person). This should be a fun way to kick off the merry merry month of May, so visit the above links for more details on this concert!

Next up, here's some cool promotion for this Saturday's Mammoth concert at The Dreammakers Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino that I wanted to address without clogging up our next round of weekend concert previews. As some of you may have heard live, Rock 101's Scott Cook interviewed frontman Wolfgang Van Halen on air on his weekday morning drive show Scott Cook In The Morning on March 6th! This is far from a unique occasion, but it's rare when The Sault's Rock Station posts interviews to check out on demand on social media, so kudos to Scott for conducting this and uploading it to Rock 101's Facebook page. The 11+ minute Zoom interview features Scott asking Wolf about how Mammoth's current tour is going, seeing him live out of town with both Mammoth and Van Halen, his family ties (including his uncle in Charlevoix), his uncle Alex Van Halen's current album plans...

...how he handles recording everything on Mammoth albums vs. playing the songs live with a band, their recent Billboard rock chart success, the inspirations of his song lyrics, and what to expect at the concert on Saturday, plus some more casual conversation. Pretty good interview with loose and friendly banter, and Wolfgang came off well here, so this is good hype for the big show in four days' time! Give it a watch below, especially if you missed the live airing of the interview on 101.3 FM!

I did want to note before we move on that promoters Allstar Promotions briefly had a post on Facebook last week indicating that this may be their final major show at The Dreammakers Theatre due to the costs of putting these shows on, coupled with how ticket sales had been going, but when I went back to their Facebook page to source from it, I couldn't find the post. I assume they took it down, but whether they're reassessing what was said (if not just the tone of it), I don't know. Putting on concerts of this scale isn't cheap, and for modern hard rock, Allstar Promotions are by far the biggest facilitator for bringing said bands here, so regardless of if they plan to put on shows beyond Mammoth or not, I do thank Dave & crew for all they have done over the past decade & a half! If you are curious, center section seats for Saturday night's concert are sold out, but there are still left/right section seats available from the sixth-tenth row ($54.50) and in further rows ($44.50) at this link, in person, or at 1-800-KEWADIN. Stay tuned for our full preview in a few days!

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

 

• I have regrettably removed the recently disbanded Double Down from our inactive Sault Ontario band links due to the recent deletion of both of their Facebook pages, which were their only online pages. It's never ideal when bands take down their pages after breaking up, as it pulls any official public content and media there offline for everyone, but alas, what can I do? I can only hope that the classic/hard rock cover band's breakup was more amicable than the sudden nature and social media exodus may indicate, and that we see everyone in new bands in due course!
• If you noticed that defunct Sault Michigan hard rock quintet Double Jack (better known as Exit 808) are listed on Kewadin Casino's entertainment page as playing at The Northern Pines Lounge in St. Ignace on April 3rd & 4th, that is assuredly an old booking from before their early 2024 name change, and not even the first time that the St. Ignace Kewadin listed a "Double Jack" booking there after their breakup, as they previously did so in December too. This is good proof that some venues can and do book bands for lengthy periods in advance, but hopefully Kewadin gets an active band to fill in over the Easter long weekend!
• Local hard rock cover band Unfortunate Sun teased in their new cover photo on their Facebook page that they may be dropping "Sun" from their band name, and while most of the comments were jokey, this would be a way to signal a fresh start following singer Skip Parish's departure from the band earlier this month. Unfortunate (Sun?) haven't made a formal statement otherwise, but their lineup listed there now credits Jody, Brett, and Jason as all providing vocals. Time will tell if they're all indeed splitting those duties going forward or not, but we'll keep you posted!

 

That's all for today, but stay tuned for news, features, and previews ahead! Thanks everyone!

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 CONCERT ALERTS (Double Down & Tarnished), Weekend Concert Previews, And New Videos!!

Before we begin this preview post, I wanted to apologize for a show missed in last week's previews, as local alternative/punk cover supergroup BookcluB played at The Kiln at Searchmont Resort this past Saturday night. Both the band and resort only publically announced the show via their respective Facebook pages earlier that day, with BookcluB only giving fans five hours notice to make the trek to Searchmont. I'm sorry for missing this one, I'd have happily covered it had it even had a day's notice, but hopefully Mikey, Dustin, and crew had a blast for fans and skiiers alike on Saturday!

Today's first weekend concert preview post otherwise looks at most of this weekend's hard rock-leaning slate, but due to the amount of announced shows, we'll hold Saturday's Viscera show for tomorrow's post. As far as I'm aware, none of the hard rock-hosting venues this weekend are advertising early St. Patrick's Day festivities. Most of today's previews concern SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, and we'll start in Sault Michigan, where local classic/hard rock cover quartet Tarnished will play their first show of 2026 TOMORROW NIGHT at The Merchants Bar! Apologies for the short notice, the band first announced this show via their Facebook page yesterday, and as always, The Merch doesn't promote bands playing there by name on social media. The guys were last seen on stage at the local Kewadin Casino in December.

This will be Alex, Josh, Chris, and Ron's first stop at The Merch since late November, and hopefully there's a solid turnout! A one-nighter as usual at the 108 West Spruce Street nightclub, TOMORROW'S concert goes down at 9:00 PM with a 21+ age limit and no cover charge, and if you believe Tarnished's own promotion, "it's going to be a BLAST" (they capitalized it, not me!). Visit the above links for more on the hard rocking cover action ahead, and for a preview, here's Tarnished live at The Merch!

Next up, let's head north to Sault Ontario, where local classic/hard rock cover quartet Double Down will set up shop at Jay's Piston Broke Pub TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice, the band first confirmed this weekend's bookings on their Facebook page on Monday, and the venue has not corroborated them on social media. Marking their first gigs at the former Roosevelt Hotel for this new year, fans last saw Double Down elsewhere in the west end this past Saturday at Beck's Bar, where they welcomed back guest singer Jack "Jacklyn Hyde" Alisat for at least one song. Unlike that gig, however, the band are 100% publically advertising that Jack is back in some capacity TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT, so if you want to catch the original Quite Frankly frontwoman on stage with a full band again, you have at least two more chances in the west end this weekend!

Double Down's brand of rocking cover action can be enjoyed TOMORROW & SATURDAY at 9:30 PM with 19+ age limits and no cover charges. See above for more details, and for a preview, here's a brand new video of Double Down with Jack at Beck's on Saturday! Filmed by RPM drummer Joseph Bertrand and uploaded to the band's Facebook page, this cover of AC/DC's "Shoot To Thrill" really shows off her vocal range nicely, and you'd never guess she was just a guest here! I wish Joseph had zoomed in more from where he was in Beck's, but at least this is horizontal. Give it a watch below, and get more from Double Down & Jack TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT at Jay's!

Moving to shows that did get advance notice, we'll next head to The Machine Shop, as Great Britain-based Queen tribute band Majesty: A Tribute To Queen will make their local concert debut TONIGHT! While local fans will be no stranger to Australia's Queen: It's A Kinda Magic's periodic concerts at the S.C.T.C., this concert will deliver an alternate British take on Freddie, Brian, John, and Roger's classic singles and stage show. Whether you prefer the performance quality and attention to detail of It's A Kinda Magic or not is subjective, but Majesty are the real deal, and if you love Queen, they'll deliver the classic rock goods tonight from across Queen's run! I have not seen any reference to an opening band. The second of three major hard rock concerts at The Machine Shop in a sub-2 month span (following The Trews and preceding Pop Evil), this is an all ages event taking place tonight at 8:00 PM.

Tickets remain on sale at this link, at the Community Box Office at Station Mall, or at the door tomorrow, and tickets run for $45 (seated) or $40 (standing). Despite this structure, this is a general admission event, so first come first serve for the best spots. This should be a fun concert, so consider coming out if you can swing it on a work/school night! Visit the above links for more details, and here's Majesty live!

Finally for this preview post, we'll head back to the west end, where local classic/hard rock cover quartet Silent 9 will rock Beck's Bar for the first time on SATURDAY NIGHT! It is surprising that this is their debut at the former Vibe Lounge, but remember that they had been prioritizing private and community events over the winter, only just playing their first nightclub gigs of 2026 this past weekend at The Esquire Club. This talented foursome should have a lot of fun rocking covers in store for fans on Saturday, so keep this one in mind! This is a one-nighter as is usual at Beck's (DJ Dark Mark is spinning tunes tomorrow), while the 3:00 PM Saturday matinee timeslot this week belongs to new local country rock duo Danielle Roberts & Brad Collar. Of course, they aren't "opening" for Silent 9, they and the band each have 4 hour timeslots spaced 2 hours apart, but you can hang out to see both if you like.

Silent 9 are up at Beck's on Saturday at 9:00 PM with a 19+ age limit and no cover. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's a brand new video from the band's Facebook page of them at The Esquire Club this past weekend! The band rarely uploads videos of full songs, so you only get 34 seconds of Silent 9's cover of Cher's "Believe" (featuring many front row fans as their "new backup singers") here, but at least the video is horizontal and filmed from a really close angle. Jess is completely at ease here, and everyone's having fun, so while not the most "rock" cover in their setlist, it's a fun rendition! Give it a watch below!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for the Viscera preview and more on the site next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Project 906, Unfortunate Sun, And Double Down), And New Videos!!

As promised, let's round up the rest of this weekend's hard rock concert previews along with some new live videos, so here's what you should know (mostly from Sault Michigan), starting with LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, mostly SHORT NOTICE ones!

Local hard rock cover quartet Unfortunate Sun will return to The Merchants Bar for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the band only announced this show on their Facebook page on Tuesday (The Merch never acknowledged it on social media, as usual). You'd think that Unfortunate Sun would have given this more of a push, as TOMORROW'S concert will actually be their final gig with singer Skip Parish, who is retiring from the band for unannounced reasons. This is the second lineup departure in under two months for Unfortunate Sun, following bassist Tony Rogers' exit in January, with the band playing just three gigs with new bassist Brett Blackwood in the fold before announcing that Skip is leaving too. From their predecessors Fake Chow to today, Skip has been a strong presence on vocals, and hopefully TOMORROW's show is a fitting sendoff!

In their post announcing Skip's departure, they said that Jody, Jason, and Brett are "not going anywhere" and to "stay tuned for the next chapter". We'll let you know when more on their further plans is announced! Everything goes down TOMORROW at The Merch at 9:00 PM with a 21+ age limit and no cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Unfortunate Sun live!

Next up, local blues/hard rock cover quintet Project 906 will return to Hulbert Happy Hour in Hulbert Township for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT themselves! Again, apologies for the short notice, the band also only announced this show on their Facebook page on Tuesday (and given the weather forecast, you may not want to bring an AI-generated snowmombile to the bar for it). Last seen at Hulbert Happy Hour five months ago during a poker run, TOMORROW'S show will be their first anywhere since rocking The Strongs Tavern last week. Of course, drummer Jason VanLuven is playing in the Soo TOMORROW with Unfortunate Sun, who get priority when the two bands have conflicting dates, but 906 have not announced whether there will be a guest fill-in drummer or not (but they have played shows with hand drummer Brian Duford as the sole percussionist in the past, so they won't be out of luck regardless).

You can enjoy Project 906's hard rocking cover slate TOMORROW at 8:00 PM with a 21+ age limit and no cover charge. See the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's a brand new video of the guys at The Strongs Tavern in Eckerman last week/month! This clip from their Facebook page sees the guys covering the end of Guns N' Roses' "Paradise City", which really tests Billy's vocal range, but he hangs in there well! Alas, this video is A. partial, B. very blue (blame the tavern's lighting), and C. vertical (oh so much ceiling here), but it's a fun performance for what we do get, so give it a watch below, and don't miss the Hulbert action TOMORROW NIGHT!

In one more show announcement, let's take a brief detour to Sault Ontario, where local classic/hard rock cover quartet Double Down will return to The Water Tower Pub on Saturday, March 28th! This show was announced via the venue's March concert calendar, and Separate Wayz TONIGHT aside, is the only new hard rock-leaning show revealed thusly. The pub didn't post a monthly calendar online last month, and January's seemed extremely rushed, so it's good to see the Great Northern Road nightclub putting the regular one up for March! Joel, Beej, Dan, and Ric will rock out at month's end with no cover, a 19+ age limit, and an 8:00 PM start time, and as the venue hosts different nightly bands, classic/pop rock veterans Encore are playing there on Friday the 27th. Visit the above links for more details, and while we're on the subject, here's a newly uploaded video from Double Down's Facebook page of them live with a special guest!

As you may recall, Double Down welcomed former Quite Frankly singer Jack "Jacklyn Hyde" Alisat as a guest for a handful of gigs last summer, including a Beck's Bar date that I don't believe the band ever officially confirmed she would be singing at. While the video description alluded to Cher, the video itself actually sees Double Down and Jack covering Daft Punk & Pharrell Williams' "Get Lucky", which is a surprisingly modern and poppy cover for them. The extremely dark foreground lighting isn't ideal, but at least this was filmed horizontally, and it's a fun cover with strong vocals, so give it a watch below, and don't miss the guys back at Beck's tomorrow night!

Finally for today, let's head back to Sault Michigan for some new videos from a band who isn't playing live this weekend, namely hard rock quartet The Nameless! On January 4th, the band shared videos from drummer Jamie Costner's personal Facebook page of them at a private event the previous day, where they were filmed on a stationary camera covering Blur's "Song 2", The Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Otherside", the end of Guns N' Roses' "It's So Easy" (with bassist Mike East on vocals), Chevelle's "Vitamin R (Leading Us Along)", and as embedded below, Papa Roach's "Last Resort". Most of the videos are incomplete, and alas, all five were shot vertically, but things were framed as well as they could have been given that, even though Josh is largely blocking Jamie from view. Solid work all around, and they should use Mike's vocals more, as we don't hear him leading songs often, just the end of "It's So Easy" a couple of times on video. Give these a watch above & below!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Silent 9, Generations, And Separate Wayz) & Weekend Concert Previews!!

In what's shaping up to be a mild and rainy weekend, let's dive into this weekend's Sault Ontario hard rock concert previews, mostly including SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS! Due to the amount and that it's on the other side of the border, I'll hold our preview of Saturday's Unfortunate Sun concert for tomorrow's post. Here's what you should know!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Separate Wayz will return to The Water Tower Pub for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the band only announced this show on their Facebook page yesterday, and the venue has not posted a March concert calendar on social media at press time. Last seen in their joint "epic crossover" matinee with sister band Soundcheck at The Tap Room two weeks ago, this will see Separate Wayz return to the site of their live concert debut from February of last year. As you may recall, singer Nicole Thibodeau had to drop out of the band's scheduled Esquire Club concerts last week due to illness (Travis filled in for her in what became a Soundcheck weekend), so hopefully she is 100% and ready to rock with the guys TOMORROW! As usual for The Water Tower Pub, they don't book the same band on consecutive nights, and the Saturday night headliners there will be Tex Riviera & The Ride.

Separate Wayz won't be idle on Saturday though, as for a second straight year, they will be headlining the dance party after the annual Wawa Ice Fishing Derby that night (Soundcheck have done so in the past too). Wawa is 2½ hours north of here, but if you're up there or are up for a road trip, keep this gig in mind, and click here for details! As for TOMORROW'S Water Tower Pub concert, it's an 8:00 PM event as usual with a 19+ age limit and no cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, and here they are live!

Next up, fellow local classic/hard rock cover quartet Silent 9 will set up shop at The Esquire Club for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT, and will also return there on Friday, May 22nd and Saturday, May 23rd! Again, apologies for the short notice on this weekend's dates, we only just heard about them via the band's Facebook page this past Saturday, and The Esquire Club has seemingly transitioned to plugging shows week by week on Facebook rather than a half year schedule like in the past. It is worth noting that both TOMORROW & SATURDAY's shows and the May dates are recent additions to Silent 9's website's concert calendar, and were not among the 2026 dates listed there at the start of the year. After focusing on private events for most of the winter and Bon Soo last month, this weekend's dates will be Silent 9's first traditional bar concerts of the year, and they should have lots of fun rocking covers in store for west end fans TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT!

Despite the proximity to May 24th, their shows in May are not on the Victoria Day long weekend, which is the week prior this year. All four shows are 19+ affairs at 9:30 PM with no cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's a brand new video from Silent 9's Facebook page from their Bon Soo-opening concert at The Machine Shop! This 33 second clip sees Jess, Ryan, Paul, and Steve covering Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'", albeit in two chunks, and alas, shot vertically (look at all that needlessly empty space above the stage!) Length and orientation aside, they sound good here, and Jess' voice sounds strong for what is included, so check this video out below, and don't miss out this weekend!

Also newly announced for this weekend, one more female-fronted classic/hard rock cover quartet will take the stage on SATURDAY NIGHT, as Generations will return to Gateway Casino! Apologies again for the short notice, the band first announced this show on their Facebook group on Monday. This will be Generations' first gig at the downtown Sault Ontario casino this year, and it will also be their first show there with new guitarist Joe Miller, (their most recent Gateway gig in October featured fill-in guitarist Michael Yurich). Hopefully there's a sizable crowd at the casino on SATURDAY for Generations' tried and tested classic and hard rock hits! As usual for shows there, this one-nighter is at 8:00 PM with a 19+ age limit and no cover charge. Visit the above links for more details on SATURDAY's concert action, and for a preview, here they are live last month!

Finally for this preview post, we'll look at a show that did get advance notice earlier than the past week, as local classic/hard rock cover quartet Double Down will return to Beck's Bar for one night only on SATURDAY NIGHT! Last seen at The Water Tower Pub two weeks ago, this will be Double Down's second Beck's gig of 2026 and their first since last summer with bassist Dan Beaupre (not pictured, unless their AI prompt was really vague). No word on if there will be multiple guest appearances like fans saw last time, but there should be a solid array of hard rocking covers in store on Saturday from the Syrettes, Dan, and Ric for fans in the west end! Beck's is hosting live music tomorrow too, but like The Water Tower Pub, they don't double up on Fridays and Saturdays, so tomorrow's band is new local blues rock act Sunday & The Broken Hearts, who you may recall from last year's Toystock.

As for the matinee performer on Saturday, the 3:00 PM slot then goes to 2024 Soo's Got Talent semifinalist Arin Karki, who you may know as a frequent performer at The Dive Gastro Pub. Remember, Arin isn't "opening" for Double Down, he and the band have separate 4 hour timeslots spaced 2 hours apart, but you can hang out to see both if you like. Double Down are up at 9:00 PM on Saturday with no cover charge and a 19+ age limit. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Double Down live!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for our Unfortunate Sun preview and more next! Thanks everyone!

Not A Leap Year Party & Project 906 Previews, Plus Double Down & Tym Morrison Videos!!

As promised, here's the rest of this weekend's hard rock concert previews, and in case you were wondering, the late replacement band at The Esquire Club was covered in an update to yesterday's post below this one, Along with this weekend's remaining heavier shows, we also have new videos from acts not playing live imminently, so here's what you should know!

We'll start with in Michigan for this post, as Sault Ste. Marie blues/hard rock cover quintet Project 906 will play at The Strongs Tavern in Eckerman TOMORROW NIGHT! Historically a favourite venue for the 906 crew despite not playing a public concert there since July, tomorrow's show will be the first from Billy, Joe, Dustin, Jason, and Brian since rocking the Snowsfest weekend at Snow's Bar & Grill in Cedarville two weeks ago. Hopefully there's a solid crowd beating the winter blues in Eckerman tomorrow for Project 906's entertaining blend of hard rock covers, and there's lots of videos online to sample what they bring to the table! As usual for their trips an hour west to Eckerman, tomorrow's Strongs Tavern concert is an 8:00 PM affair with a 21+ age limit and no cover charge. Visit the above link for more details on Project 906's Strongs concert tomorrow night, and for a preview, here they are live last year!

Next up, if you've missed a multi-band concert in Sault Ontario in recent months, this might fit the bill, as local promoters Underground Events SSM are hosting a "Not A Leap Year Party" TOMORROW NIGHT! While this is a house party concert (something I usually don't cover due to their not-usually-public nature), this is a publically advertised event on Bruce Street with an admission fee and 19+ age limit, and while they don't give the exact address, there will be balloons outside the locale so you know where to go! Specifically, the venue is being called "Mellow D's Basement", which is an allusion to the former pop-up venue Mellow D's Underground. Six acts will gather in said basement tomorrow, including new local ska punk trio A.S.D.P. (in their first concert set since releasing their debut album "Atom Bombs & Lemonade"), party metal trio The Apocalypse Afterparty, and online page-less space rock duo The Spaceship Opening (featuring A.S.D.P. drummer Ralph Barber).

As well, three solo acoustic acts will be playing tomorrow, namely Sylo frontman Eli Russell, folk singer/guitarist Gimiiwan Ikwe, and former Vanity First frontman Andrew Keith (Beggs). Promoted by A.S.D.P. frontman/Apocalypse Afterparty bassist Mikhal "Châ" Muto, this show has a $10 cover charge (or "suggested donation"), and doors open at 5:00 PM. An intriguing event for sure, especially as these six acts do not collectively update social media much, so come to Bruce Street tomorrow for all of the action, and look for the balloons! See above for more details, and here's The A.A. live!

Also today, let's talk about two acts that aren't playing this weekend, but have new videos to share, starting with classic/hard rock cover quartet Double Down! As you may recall, they played their first show with bassist Dan Beaupre in six months this past weekend at The Water Tower Pub, and while there are videos from the show on their Facebook page, both of them have guest performers. One is a cover of Traffic's "Dear Mr. Fantasy" (possibly the Big Sugar version) with guitarist Joel Syrette on vocals and RPM's Joseph Bertrand on drums in place of Ric Datson. Still a relatively original cover choice as local bands go, and the guys do a good job with it! Joseph shows his stuff well behind the kit too, and don't bypass RPM, they have developed a good following with their own classic rock covers! The other video is embedded below, and it features the return of Mid Life Crysis bassist Lori Reinholtz, who was Dan's "stunt double" for most of his absence.

Thanked for helping Double Down out with this Cameo video by musician/social media personality Joey Breaux, Lori did two songs last week as a guest singer, with the filmed one being Joan Jett & The Blackhearts' "I Hate Myself For Loving You" (yes, Ric was back on drums here). While both videos are sadly vertical and incomplete, they are unique in that guitarist Beej Syrette filmed them with a headcam while performing, so we got to see his direct point of view on both videos. The audio quality is kinda tinny on both, but you sure get a different view of everything this way, and it'd be interesting to see Beej (let alone other local musicians) do this more! Check both videos out!

Finally for today, let's talk about local hard rock/metal solo musician Tym Morrison, who is taking a break from concerts until at least late March while he heals up from a broken pinky finger. He's not staying musically idle though, as he has posted four original songs to his YouTube channel in the past two weeks! All have accompanying music videos featuring assorted linked video clips, though be advised that some feature apparent generative AI. One song is an instrumental metal song named "Moon Patrol" that you may remember as being planned for his unreleased second album. The other three seem to be new, and the only one to exceed two minutes is "Jesus Save Me", which leans heavily into his faith. It is a lyric video if you wanna sing along! The other two new tracks are secular, including a comedy rock song named "Liar Liar Pants On Fire", which is about who the title suggests!

Embedded below is his new metal instrumental "Frantic Delay". It's good to see some heavy new music from Tym, who gets to let loose on these tracks and shred to his standards (granted, I assume these all predate his broken finger), and his singing voice is put to good use on the two songs with lyrics! Note that only "Jesus Save Me" even cracks 2 minutes in length. Give Tym's new songs/videos a look above and below, and we'll let you know if he has more material to post before he returns to the stage!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for this month's YouTube Channel Profile next! Thanks everyone!

Double Down & Oz Concert Previews, New Videos, And More Recent Updates!!

As promised, we're wrapping up this weekend's known hard rock concert previews today, along with clearing up some loose ends re: preview videos that I couldn't use yesterday, and some more recent updates, so here's what you should know on this mild Friday night!

We'll start in Sault Michigan, where Iron Mountain classic/hard rock cover quintet Oz will play their first local dates of 2026 TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT at The Rapids Lounge at the local Kewadin Casino! Last seen in the Soo over two months ago, this veteran outfit have proved to be a reliable favourite sight in their mid-2020s trips east, and hopefully tonight and tomorrow's shows provide more hard rocking classic hits from Ryan, Kevin, Joe, Todd, and Dave once again! And you know they put on a good live show, as Oz noted on their Facebook page that they brought two trailers with their gear and equipment! Tonight and tomorrow's concerts, as usual at The Rapids Lounge, are 9:00 PM affairs with no announced cover charges and 21+ age limits. Visit the Facebook event page for more details, and here's Oz live!

Next up, we'll wrap up this weekend's hard rock concert previews at The Water Tower Pub, where local classic/hard rock cover quartet Double Down will take the stage TOMORROW NIGHT! This show will feature the long awaited return of bassist Dan Beaupre for the first time since last summer, after taking a six month break for health matters and foreign travel, so if you've missed this local rock mainstay, don't be absent tomorrow! Double Down were last seen with fill-in bassist Lori Reinholtz at Beck's Bar last month, and they kicked off 2026 at The Water Tower Pub on January 3rd. Remember, this venue does not host bands on consecutive nights, and Generations are playing there tonight (more on them in a second). Tomorrow's show is at 8:00 PM with a 19+ age limit and no cover. See above for more details, and for a preview, here's a new video of Double Down (and Lori) live at Beck's last month!

This clip sees the band covering Our Lady Peace's "Starseed" with guitarist Beej Syrette on lead vocals, and it was uploaded three days after their initial batch of videos from that night. Alas, like with the prior three, this is both incomplete (75 seconds) and vertical, but it's a soundly handled cover that O.L.P. fans should like! I think that there are songs that suit Beej's vocal range better though. Give it a watch for yourselves below!

Also today, this extends from our weekend concert previews, as two of the bands playing this weekend have posted new live videos to their Facebook pages that I am unable to embed here, so I held discussion about them from yesterday's post so it didn't get overlong. Two are from local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations' Facebook group, where new guitarist Joe Miller posted videos from their Full Throttle Saloon gig this past Saturday! One is a cover of Sheryl Crow's "If It Makes You Happy", and the other appears to be the guitar solo from ZZ Top's "Tush". I'd have embedded the former here if able, but I can't embed either video externally, and I don't know whether that's a changed setting in the group or if that was Joe's call. Regardless, both are vertical and incomplete, seemingly filmed from a cell phone set down on the side of the stage. What we hear sounds good, but they aren't optimal in a few regards.

The other unembeddable video is from hard rock quintet HeadF1rst's Facebook page, and it's a highlight video compiled with InShot featuring three tiled windows of them playing at Beck's Bar last month, overlaid with post-production lighting effects and the Beck's logo. I can't embed the video here because Facebook content matched the backing music (the band's studio track "Stay For The Show"). I'd really prefer seeing the raw unedited live video with the music as performed that night, but at least it's an attempt to do something artistic with vertical cell phone videos! Give all three videos a watch above, and don't miss Generations tonight at The Water Tower Pub or HeadF1rst TOMORROW NIGHT at Beck's!

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

 

• A tribute concert in memory of late Rebel Priest/Glass Statues guitarist Ben Kemp-Reynolds (named Blitz Fest) will be held at The Rickshaw Theatre in Vancouver on Saturday, April 4th! Friends and former bandmates of Benny's, including Rebel Priest and reunions of The Lust Boys and Roadrash, will be on hand to perform songs from his B.C. bands & his own favourite artists. West Of Hell singer Chris "The Heathen" Valagao (who fronted that band at the former Roosevelt Hotel in 2012) will be the host of Blitz Fest. Not a local event, but it's great to see friends and colleagues putting on a proper memorial concert for Ben, so see above for more details!
• In clarification for the performers on local death/thrash metal trio Pillory's new full length album "Old Soul", their Bandcamp page confirms that 2015-2017 bassist Jordan Leach did indeed perform the low end on the final product, not his replacement Blair St. John or current bassist Devon Lucier. What's unsaid there is whether these are archival recordings from his stint in the band a decade ago or if he tracked his parts remotely in the past year (he lives and works out of country now). Regardless, it is neat to see Jordan in a new context again in local music! The album was recorded at Mission Control Studios with producer Dustin Jones.
• The Soo's Got Talent is looking for a band to perform at this fall's seventh annual installment, where they would perform a guest set during the semifinals and be the house band during the finals, backing up the last performers on their chosen covers. Handsome Sandwich (in 2022) and Mike Haggith & The Big Finish Band (2023-2024) did the honours previously, before T.S.G.T. went without a live band last fall during its "Soo Voxx" format change. This is a paid role and will garner wide exposure for the chosen group. If you're interested in more details, message The Soo's Got Talent at this link!

 

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

Double Down & Separate Wayz/Guilty Party Updates, Plus A New Video Interview!!

Before we tackle another round of weekend concert previews, here's a new news post on this Wednesday night, which includes lineup updates for some bands on the weekend rock cover circuit and a new interview discovery with a musician who had a brief but noteworthy stint in a local band, so with all of that said, here's what you should know!

We have some big lineup news from two (kinda three) local classic/hard rock bands, as Half Past drummer Johnny Amendola has joined both Separate Wayz and The Guilty Party, replacing Brent Royer. As per Separate Wayz' Facebook page on Sunday, Brent amicably left due to being unable to "commit (to) the amount we want to play in both bands" (not unlike why Steven left), and while the statement was only made on one of the two bands' pages and didn't directly say that Brent left The Guilty Party too, singer/guitarist Terry Eaton confirmed that he did in a Facebook e-mail yesterday. Brent had been a founding member of The Guilty Party last fall, and only just joined their sister band Separate Wayz three weeks ago, but he played just one weekend with each group before opting out. He's a talented musician (you have to be to drum and sing at once), and hopefully we see him in a new band soon!

The son of Headrush bassist John Amendola, Johnny has been a familiar face in local rock bands like Cherry Crush, Tripod The Dog, and Skeyes Of Seven since the mid-2010s, and he reportedly is gelling well with Terry, Jim, and Nicole so far, so we'll have to see how things go for the two bands in 2026 now that they have a drummer who is purportedly more available! Terry also confirmed that Johnny will take over for Glen Thomas behind the drumkit for Soundcheck's reunion gigs next weekend at Jay's Piston Broke Pub, which only makes sense. Stay tuned for more on the two full-time bands' next shows when they roll in, let alone Soundcheck next week!

Next up, here's the latest from local classic/hard rock cover quartet Double Down, who confirmed on their Facebook page on Monday that this past Saturday's concert at Beck's Bar was their last with Mid Life Crysis bassist Lori Reinholtz as a fill-in, as their regular bassist Dan Beaupre is finally returning after being AWOL since the summer for medical and travel reasons. Apologies for erroneously covering that Dan was on bass for their show at Jay's Piston Broke Pub on December 12th, the band never said either way who was on bass that night. It will be good to have Dan back for their Water Tower Pub gig on February 21st, if not sooner! While we're on the subject, the band posted three videos from their Beck's gig on Saturday to their Facebook page, one with each regular band member on lead vocals. Alas, all three were shot vertically and none are full, but what was filmed?

The uncredited attendee filmed Double Down & Lori covering Collective Soul's "Gel" (with guitarist Joel Syrette on vocals) and Weezer's "Island In The Sun" (with drummer Ric Datson on vocals), but embedded below is the longest of the three, of their take on the Thin Lizzy version of the Irish standard "Whiskey In The Jar" with guitarist Beej Syrette on vocals. Nice sampling of their live sound with everyone singing well when called upon, and while I wouldn't have shot these vertically, the filmer at least got some close-up angles from all over the stage, including the band's view of Beck's! Give Double Down's new videos a watch above & below, and kudos to Lori and Alex for filling in with them since last fall!

Finally for today, I figured this was worth sharing, even if the musician in question was only briefly a local band member, and only became publically known as such after the band dissolved. As you may recall, after Woods Of Ypres frontman David Gold passed away in December 2011, it came out that he and guitarist Joel Violette had enlisted American musicians Brendan Hayter & Rae Amitay to serve as their new bassist and drummer the previous month. Obviously, their 2012 tour plans never came to fruition, but Joel would add both Brendan and Rae to the lineup of his studio-only black metal band Thrawsunblat, and Brendan appeared on their albums through 2019. Brendan is otherwise best known for his New England-based atmospheric black metal band Obsidian Tongue, who predated his brief Woods tenure and are still active today.

I bring all this up now because Brendan was interviewed about his career (including Woods Of Ypres) by Shayan S. of the Iranian/British interview series/podcast Iblis Manifestations last year! You can watch the whole hour+ interview below, but if you want to jump straight to the Woods section, that begins 34:40 into the 67 minute interview. Here, Brendan talks about how he and Obsidian Tongue got the chance to open for Woods of Ypres on their last tour in May 2011 and how he befriended David and Joel afterwards, how he got the bassist gig, and his perceptions of "Woods V: Grey Skies & Electric Light" before it came out. He outlined plans for him and Rae to drive to Ontario in January 2012 to rehearse with the band before flying to Great Britain for label dealings, a music video shoot, and European tour dates, which leads into how he processed learning about David's death and the lost opportunities therein.

It's interesting to hear how Brendan balanced his thoughts about grief and loss from his place in the band, especially as he didn't know David that well yet, and he approaches things at a very mature and respectful level while not asking for pity or playing the blame game. The Woods of Ypres section takes up about 15 minutes, and it's an interesting look into the tail end of the band's all-too-short run, so check our Brendan's entire Iblis Manifestations interview below, and black metal fans shouldn't bypass Obsidian Tongue!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews on the SMS next! Thanks everyone!