Neither Could Dylan, Salty Marie Trails Fest, And HeadFirst Concert Previews!!

Given that one of the remaining un-previewed hard rock/punk concerts in the Soo area this weekend is an afternoon matinee tomorrow, let's get our last weekend concert preview post up tonight to avoid putting things off any further! This last preview post looks at three shows tomorrow of varying appeal levels, so here's what else you should know!

We'll pick things back up TOMORROW with the second annual Salty Marie Trails Fest, which returns to Hiawatha Highlands with a bigger and better installment, now including live music! While the Trails Fest proper is a mountain biking/foot racing event featuring local vendors and family activities (click here for full details on how to attend or participate in the festivities), two local covers-centric bands will grace the "salty stage" tomorrow afternoon! Coverage of the bands hasn't been paramount in the recent festival promotion, but alt-punk cover sextet Bookclub are your headliners in their first show since Rotaryfest Stage 1 last week, and they should provide a fun soundtrack of scarcely heard covers for fans at Hiawatha tomorrow afternoon! No word on if bassist Dustin Jones (who missed Rotaryfest while on vacation) will be back in time for the Trails Fest or not, but note that ex-guitarist Dave Bahun returned to fill in for him last week.

Newer local pop rock cover band The Dead Stops (led by ex-Garden of Bedlam frontman Erik Boissineau) will open at 12:00 PM, and hopefully they leave a good impression! The "salty stage" will be set up behind Hiawatha Ice Cream at 780 Landslide Road, and 9&10 News is calling for sunny weather of around 16-24° during the Salty Marie Fest, so weather should be great for the outdoor bands, running, and biking, humidity aside! Attendance is free for spectators (click here to see what race events have openings, but most are booked solid), and while things begin in the morning, both bands play in the afternoon. Visit the above links for more on all of tomorrow's action, and here's Bookclub live!

Next up, after a quiet two months with only sewing events being promoted there, The Distraction on East Street returns to host a formal concert TOMORROW NIGHT, as Vaughan, Ontario "punkabilly" solo project Neither Could Dylan will be making their local concert debut! Neither Could Dylan blend many disparate genres into their original material and live show, with punk, power pop, and indie rock all being detectable in their live show, and it'll be interesting to see how Jaimee goes over to Saultites tomorrow! Sylo frontman Eli Russell will open with his indie rock project launched between Raincourt/Sylo's 2023 hiatus, so if you heard his solo album or saw him solo already, prepare for some talented singer/songwriter material! This concert takes place at 7:00 PM, there is no age limit, and admission is "$10 or pay what you can". Visit the Facebook event page for more details, and here's Neither Could Dylan live!

Lastly for known hard rock concerts this weekend, we'll head to Shooters Downstairs Lounge, where local hard rock quintet HeadFirst will headline their EP release party TOMORROW NIGHT! While attendees of last week's sets at Rotaryfest Stage 2 and Loud & Proud had first crack at buying advance copies of "Head Trauma", tomorrow is the full wide release of the EP beyond the 20 copies brought to the downtown festivals for early birds. If you didn't buy a copy last week (like I did), they cost $15 and feature four songs: "Hot Blooded Woman", "Take You (Down)" (which Liam & Anthony trade roles for live), "Little Darling", and the advance single "Don't Care, Don't Mind". At the moment, "Head Trauma" is exclusively available at their concerts, with the band noting on their Facebook page on Monday that there's "no online store yet", but availability of the full EP on major streaming services is expected tomorrow or soon after.

For the record, "The Walk" is not on the EP (singer Red Jettison told me that it's more intended as a live jam for now), but the band will be playing multiple non-EP originals tomorrow along with the four included songs and some covers, as this is a four set deal a'la weekend headliners on the cover band circuit. There will also be giveaways of signed gear and free CDs to "three lucky winners who rock out with us", so if you want to win some swag, stay until midnight for the reveal! Remember, Shooters hosts DJs on Fridays this year, hence why this is a one-nighter. Tomorrow's concert has no cover charge, a 19+ age limit, and a 9:30 PM start time. See above for more details on HeadFirst's big night, and note that the official trailer for the EP release is online, and it happens to feature live performance footage of the guys at what appears to be Robbie Adamson's old church in Leeburn!

No, this wasn't from a public concert (that I know of), but HeadFirst aren't the only band to use the church for a shoot. Remember The Bear Hunters' music video? Opening with lit firecrackers, the video (uploaded to their Facebook page on Tuesday) features clips of the guys playing live there, but "Hot Blooded Woman" aside, the songs seem like they were edited to look synced up and actually weren't. Lots of post-production graphics and effects (including a filmstrip motif) spice things up, and it's a good teaser of what's to come tomorrow, so check it out at this link! I can't embed it here due to Facebook content matching the studio material clips, but for a preview, here's HeadFirst live at Shooters!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (The Ripcordz, Rent Strike, Neither Could Dylan, And Agnosticism!!)

For today's post, we're focusing 100% on LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for this summer, all either taking place at the same venue or with a common local musician as opener. If you crave some live punk music in different locales, you'll get some good ideas from these events, so here's what you should know in chronological order!

The first of this new batch of shows will see local folk punk/emo solo project Agnosticism return to The Distraction on Saturday, June 8th for their second show in a two week span, but this time, they are not headlining. On this night, they'll be opening for local alt-rock band The Haze, a name new to the SMS, but readers will recognize them under their old name Skinbox! If you didn't see their late 2023 dates, this band features (featured?) singer/guitarists Steve Edwards (ex-Pixo Control) & Brad Irwin (ex-Gnaeus) plus Sault Side Squad bassist Jordan Wardlaw. At least under the Skinbox name, they played 1990s-2000s alt-rock and Arctic Monkeys covers. Now, Steve was posting on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group last week looking for a drummer, presumably to replace Jordan's old Stoned To Deaf bandmate Jamie Labreche in this band, so who knows if that search could affect the show in three weeks or not. Stay tuned for updates!

Unless the name change also equals a sound change, I don't believe The Haze will lean to heavier/punk styles, but Agnosticism's acoustic folk punk sound will fill that quota for attendees! This all ages concert has a 9:00 PM start time and a "$5 or pay-what-you-can" entry model. Should be an entertainingly diverse sound between the two acts, so keep this show in mind, and see above for more details!

Next up, we'll jump ahead to Thursday, July 27th, when The Distraction welcomes Vaughan, Ontario "punkabilly" solo project Neither Could Dylan for their first local concert appearance! Led by singer/guitarist Jaimee Jakobczak, this project takes inspiration from punk, power pop, and indie rock in their diverse and well written original material, including from their new album "Foxchase", and Jaimee (and her band?) should deliver an entertaining set for multiple genre fans in two months! Opening here is Sylo frontman Eli Russell, who launched an indie rock solo project in between Raincourt/Sylo's hiatus last year and has played at The Distraction as a solo act in the past. Eli's solo stuff obviously isn't as hard rock-centric as Sylo's, but he's a talented performer, so don't be late! Neither Could Dylan's show has a 7:00 PM start time, no age limit, and a "$10 or pay-what-you-can" entry format. See above for more details!

Today's only new concert not taking place at 72 East Street will instead find its way further downtown to Soo Blaster on Friday, August 9th, when two American folk punk bands cross the border! The headliners are Lansing folk punk band Rent Strike, whose rollicking and lore-heavy brand of original folk punk effectively cross genre lines with a solid intensity, and it will be neat to see them on a local stage, let alone one as big as Soo Blaster! Bangor, Maine "POS indie rock" band Milk St. will also hit the Soo on this date, and with a more emo-influenced and melodic brand of folk punk compared to Rent Strike, they'll have their own appeal for assembled fans, so definitely check both of them out! Local punk trio Vanity First (featuring Agnosticism's Mikhal Muto, a known folk punk performer & fan already) will be the local openers, and that's an ideal choice given who the touring bands are, so don't be late!

Another all ages concert, this show begins at 8:00 PM, and as it's not at The Distraction, there are flat admission fees ($15 via advance tickets or $20 at the door). You can buy tickets from Vanity First members and/or via an online link to be posted, so stay tuned to their social media accounts for details on that front. If you love folk punk, it'd be hard to pass this concert up, so visit the above links for more on all that's going down at Soo Blaster!

Finally for today, and just one day removed from Rent Strike, we'll head back to The Distraction on Saturday, August 10th, when Montreal hardcore punk legends The Ripcordz return to the Soo! This will be Paul Gott & company's ninth local concert in the past eleven years, but compared to their upstairs show at The Loft last fall, they're heading downstairs on August 10th, as they're not playing in the former barbershop proper. The building has a basement (accessible through a back door) that owners are opening to events on a limited/seasonal basis, dubbed The Stellar Door, and that's where The Ripcordz will set up shop for this concert. No word on what The Stellar Door is like as a venue, but it must be more amenable to hardcore punk for space and location! Local support will come by way of skate punk trio Hails (a.k.a. Vanity First with a different frontman) and the aforementioned Skinbox The Haze.

Owing to the still-not-huge capacity, only 30 advance tickets are being sold for this concert (contact Ha!ls guitarist Mikhal Muto if you want one), though the door charge is an identical $20 (yes, "pay-what-you-can" remains available). This show begins at 7:00 PM, and unlike at The Loft in September, this is absolutely an all ages event. This should be a must-attend concert for hardcore punk fans, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and stay tuned for much more news and notes on the SMS next week! Thanks everyone!