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

This weekend's slate of hard rock/punk concert previews is, while certainly busy, much quieter than last week, in that we only need two posts to preview everything, not four! That said, due to the amount, the Saturday-only gigs from The Nameless and HeadFirst, plus Sunday's Sylo-headlined concert, will be in tomorrow's post, with room for a late notice confirmation if one hits the desk. Stay tuned then, but here's what you should know to lead off for the next couple of days!

Let's start with prolific local classic/hard rock musician Tym Morrison, whose regular weekly runs at at The Mike Case Memorial Stage outside of The Trading Post TOMORROW NIGHT and at Misty's Fifties THIS SATURDAY march on for another week! Nothing strange to report this week from the usual for Tym's summer arrangements this year, so if you want to enjoy his acoustic rock hits and the great live production that he gives them, be way down on Great Northern Road tomorrow or at the Second Line West nightclub on Saturday! As usual, both of Tym's shows this weekend have no cover charge, and while tomorrow's Mike Case Stage show is all ages, his Misty's Fifties show on Saturday is a 19+ matinee at 4:00 PM. Now, be advised that 9&10 News is calling for scattered thunderstorms during Tym's 7:00-9:00 PM timeframe tomorrow, and he has called off shows due to weather before.

At press time, I have not heard anything about how tomorrow's forecast may or may not impair Tym's outdoor concert at The Trading Post, but if you are at all concerned, keep tabs with Tym on social media closer to showtime. Regardless, it'll be cloudy (when not raining) with temperatures hovering in the 20-21° range. Visit the official Facebook event pages linked here and here for more details, and for a preview, here's Tym live!

Next up, we'll head just outside of town in Laird, where the annual North Shore Agricultural Fair (a.k.a. the Laird Fair) will welcome two covers-heavy bands from Sault Ontario as musical entertainment this weekend, namely southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 TOMORROW NIGHT and classic/hard rock quartet Soundcheck on SATURDAY NIGHT! Both bands are capping off the nightly festivities this weekend, and there's a lot of family friendly activities to take in through Sunday, both indoors and out, so be sure to visit the fair's official Facebook page for complete non-musical details! Both bands are playing under the covered stage at the fairground site at Lake George Road East at 9:00 PM on their respective evenings, there's no age limits or cover charges stated in festival materials, and camping on site is encouraged if you are so inclined. Shuttle buses will also be provided to get willing attendees to and from Sault Ste. Marie if needed.

The stage is covered but it's not fully indoors, so expect temperatures of around 20° tomorrow and a little higher on Saturday. 9&10 News is calling for rain tomorrow, but again, the space where the bands are playing has a roof. The Laird Fair is not historically known for hosting live rock bands like this, but it'll be interesting to see how things go for both Bone Yard and Soundcheck this weekend outside of Echo Bay! We'll have more from the former band in a bit, but for a preview, here's Soundcheck live!

Now we'll take a brief detour to Sault Michigan, where local hard rock sextet Exit 808 will return to The Rapids Lounge at the local Kewadin Casino branch TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! One week removed from their debut at The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin, this talented group will rock the Soo Kewadin for their second weekend there, following their mid-July shows that were heavily impaired by member absences (singer Amy Beach was ill and guitarist Will Robbins was on vacation), let alone that debuting bassist Myke Young only played half of the songs. Now at full force, hopefully tomorrow & Saturday's concerts are hits as Exit 808 continue on their upward trajectory! Both are 21+ events with 9:00 PM start times and no cover. See above for more details, and for a preview, here's two brand new St. Ignace videos via their Facebook page!

One was live-streamed by attendee Diana Davis near the start of Exit 808's first set on Friday, and it has them covering 97 seconds' worth of AC/DC's "T.N.T." (with Dillion Semasky on lead vocals and Amy backing). While they thanked her for the "videos", only that one was publically shared... so far? Embedded below is a much longer (though sideways for the second half) direct upload of them covering Steppenwolf's "Born To Be Wild" with Dillion and Amy alternating on verses & sharing choruses. Given their vocal ranges, this is a much better cover for them than AC/DC, but the new lineup sounds good overall on both, so check these out above & below, and don't miss Exit 808 in the Soo this weekend!

Finally for weekend concert preview post #1, let's head back north to Sault Ontario, as the aforementioned Bone Yard 225 will take their "uncorked" show to a third venue when they debut at Gino's Fired Up Kitchen & Bar THIS SATURDAY! Since commencing hosting local acoustic acts on their large patio this summer, the 1076 Great Northern Road restaurant has sparingly hosted some hard rock-leaning musicians (like the aforementioned Tym Morrison) on Wednesdays and Saturdays, with Bone Yard playing two of the final three Saturdays of this month there. If you liked their unplugged shows at The Water Tower Pub and the Gateway Casino, you should like what Greg, Alex, and Warren have in store at Gino's on Saturday, but of course, if you'd rather see them "corked", they'll be in full electric mode at the Laird Fair tomorrow night! Saturday's concert has no age limit, a 6:30 PM start time, and no cover.

While Gino's patio is covered, 9&10 News is calling for scattered thunderstorms around the time that your local 225 are slated to take the stage (70% chance in general that day). Otherwise, the forecast has mostly cloudy skies with a high of 22°. The roof is very much acknowledged, but if you are at all concerned about the show being cancelled, curtailed, or moved inside due to the possible storm, keep tabs with the band and Gino's on social media for further updates. Visit the above links for more details on Saturday's show, and for a preview, here's Bone Yard "uncorked"!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for our Nameless, HeadFirst, and Sylo previews (and more?) next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Tym Morrison), Bone Yard 225's New Single, And Much More!!

Let's keep things rolling on the SMS on this Wednesday, for a post featuring an inactive band note, a local band's new original song, a local radio interview that we missed from the spring, and leading off, LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, one on SHORT NOTICE! Here's what you should know!

Local classic/hard rock solo musician Tym Morrison will reportedly make his debut at Gino's Fired Up Kitchen & Bar at 1076 Great Northern Road TONIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, Tym only announced this show via its Facebook event page this past Thursday. Yes, the show is TONIGHT, as Gino's is hosting Wednesday evening concerts at least occasionally now that their new and quite large patio is open for the summer, with the first advertised Wednesday nighter being with Lawrence & Mickey on June 19th. Note that Gino's has not confirmed Tym as playing TONIGHT on their Facebook page, but Tym's Facebook event page has him returning for two more Wednesday nighters on July 17th and August 28th, so keep all three shows in mind for some mid-week classic and hard rock cover action! As these shows are on the patio, I'd assume that it'd close for the season around September.

All three Gino's concerts have no stated age limit (Gino's is an Italian restaurant first and foremost), no cover charge, and a 6:30 PM start time. Be advised that 9&10 News is calling for a 30% chance of rain throughout TONIGHT's alotted timeframe of 6:30-9:30 PM, so keep tabs with Tym and/or Gino's if you're at all concerned about rain interrupting the show (temperatures will be around 21°). Visit the above links for more on Tym's Gino's shows this summer, TONIGHT included, stay tuned for our preview of his Trading Post show in our normal weekend previews, and here he is live!

Next up, local southern hard rock cover trio Bone Yard 225 released their first true studio single to Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and their new auto-generated YouTube Music channel on Sunday night! Entitled "FAFO" (an acronym for "fuck around (and) find out"), it is neat to see Bone Yard finally release an original song like this after fifteen years together primarily playing covers, but fans will have seen live performances and occasional studio teasers over the years. A solid hard rocker with defiant lyrics inspired by the state of the world, fans of the modern heavier Bone Yard will enjoy this, so give it a listen below, and don't miss them "uncorked" at The Water Tower Pub next weekend!

Also, here's something that completely slipped us by back in March, as Treble Charger guitarist Bill Priddle was interviewed on CBC Radio One about the band and their recent reunion! This took place on the March 6th episode of Morning North, the Sudbury-based morning show that airs on all CBC Radio One stations in the Northeastern Ontario market, the Soo on 89.5 FM included. If you missed it then, it is available for on-demand listening at this link. The 15 minute segment features host Markus Schwabe asking Bill about how their reunion concert at The Machine Shop the following day came about, how he's feeling as a live musician nowadays, him and bandmate Greig Nori growing up in the Soo, moving to Southern Ontario to make it in bands, making a living in music, some of their best known singles like "Red" & "American Psycho", how they initially started getting attention, their shift to pop punk...

... deep cuts that he and Greig loved that didn't become hits, any possible unfinished business or the chances of new material, and their reunion concert on March 7th, which was a fundraiser for Algoma University's music program. As well, clips of a few of their songs are played in between Markus and Bill talking, usually relevant ones to the topic. The interview doesn't touch on their initial breakup and Bill's music work beyond Treble Charger, and some extra plugs for the reunion show proper would have been nice, but this was an entertaining and relaxed interview that fans will enjoy, so if you missed it in March, give it a listen at the above links!

Finally for today, we have a band to move to our inactive Sault Ontario band links, namely local classic/hard rock quartet The Uncanny Valley. While they have not publically confirmed a break-up, they have not posted on social media since releasing their music video for "The Village" on June 24th last year, past our one year inactivity threshold. Beyond that, they otherwise haven't made a public statement since their Oktoberfest set in October 2022, and it did cross my mind in recent months that the "The Village" video may have been intended as a posthumous final act. Led by 2019 Soo's Got Talent winner Adrian Sullivan, The Uncanny Valley debuted on stage that December, and while much of their early run was lost due to pandemic lockdowns, they played a number of headlining dates when able, while also playing at Rotaryfest in 2021 & 2022, and taking part in 2022's Go North Music Festival.

Unfortunately, plans to release an album stalled out before it could see the light of day, but original songs can be seen in extant videos, and they recorded "Stuck In Rotation" for the Clusterfolk compilation tape. The Uncanny Valley's old school, psychedelic-tinged brand of hard rock was a welcome change of pace among rising young local bands at the turn of the 2020s, and hopefully we hear more from Adrian, Matt, Brenden, and Dylan soon (and don't miss ex-bassist Adam Fahrer in Hollow Sky!). That's all for now, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Bone Yard 225)!!

Local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 have updated their website's concert calendar to reflect their slate of summer concerts taking place in August, so when can you check them out then? Their first show that month will be out of town, as they'll be heading 90 minutes east to Thessalon to play at the Aubrey Falls Trading Post & Outpost Camp on Saturday, August 3rd for their Civic Holiday weekend pig roast. Thessalon is outside of our coverage range, but hopefully this show goes well despite the atypical venue, and keep it in mind if you're in Central Algoma moreso! And yes, it is that Aubrey Falls, namely Bone Yard singer/drummer Greg Simpson's old That's Chester bandmate. Your local 225's first truly local show of August 2024 will see them rock Algoma Tree Services' sixth annual community meet & greet/charity barbecue on Saturday, August 10th! This will be Bone Yard's first ever appearance at this event.

Readers may recall that the musical entertainment at the Goulais River-based business over the past two years was local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck and classic rock band Angry Joe & The Growlers, and according to their website's calendar, Bone Yard 225 will be replacing Soundcheck as the headliners this year for unannounced reasons. In the past two years, I didn't hear a peep about this event until after it took place, so kudos to Bone Yard for publicizing it, and hopefully lots of money is raised for the Kiwanis Club that weekend! The Growlers kick things off at 1:30 PM with Bone Yard headlining at 7:00 PM, and there is no cover for this public, outdoor, and all ages event. Click here for more updates! On Friday, August 16th, Greg, Alex, and Warren will hit the road (if still nearby) to perform at the opening night of this year's Laird Fair outside of Echo Bay! 

The Laird Fair (a.k.a. the North Shore Agricultural Fair) is new to me as SMS coverage goes, but music is not new there, with last year's featured act being local country singer Mark Tarantini and his solo band. If similarly staged/plotted, Bone Yard 225 will rock a covered stage at the fairground site at Lake George Road East at 9:00 PM. Specifics on this year's fair are not out yet (follow their Facebook page for updates), but this should be an all ages event, and I didn't see reference to a cover charge last year. See above for more on the 2024 fair so far! On August 17th and 31st, Bone Yard are slated to go "uncorked", but not at one of their usual two acoustic haunts, as they'll rock Gino's Fired Up Kitchen & Bar at 1076 Great Northern Road for the first time on those Saturday nights! Gino's (which re-opened after heavy remodeling early last year) began hosting live musicians on weekends on their patio this past Friday.

So far, Gino's has welcomed Matthew James and Leslie Cook for shows at their covered patio (apparently the largest one in town), and while there is a roof on the patio, one imagines that live music will only be a seasonal thing if Gino's keeps it going into 2025. Will hard rock-leaning acoustic performers beat Bone Yard 225 to the Gino's stage before August? Stay tuned, but both of their shows are 6:30 PM affairs with no cover charge or stated age limit. The Gino's dates sandwich two shows elsewhere in August, starting with Bone Yard's return to the second annual Dragonfly Run (the rebranded/re-organized Ride For ARCH) on Sunday, August 25th! Their concert events move from an outdoor stage outside of Jay's Piston Broke Pub to The Grand Gardens on Great Northern Road this year, and Bone Yard 225 knows the new locale very well via their involvement in the annual Toystock charity concerts there in November.

Of course, the Dragonfly Run is a motorcycle rally supporting the Algoma Regional Community Hospice, which has attached community events to support ARCH, the concert included. No word on who else will be playing, but Bourbon Blue offshoot Nicky & The Southpaws and alt-rock band The Haze (née Skinbox) also performed last year. Just for the record, I am not getting into the recent controversy over this event vs. the unrelated ARCH Run that Jay's Piston Broke Pub is hosting the previous day at/outside the Korah Road venue, but if you want to read the Dragonfly Run organizers' statement about why they didn't return to Jay's for 2024 and their view on a competing rally/festival that same weekend, click here. Expect family activities, a bike show, and yes, the rally proper based at The Grand Gardens on August 25th, and this is an all ages event as usual.

There is no cover unless pledging/riding in the rally, with Bone Yard 225 playing at 7:00 PM. Lastly, the guys will return to The Water Tower Pub for one more "uncorked" show on Friday, August 30th as they kick off the Labour Day long weekend! As usual, that one-nighter has an 8:00 PM start time, no cover, and a 19+ age limit. Like last year, Bone Yard 225 are prioritizing special events over normal nightclub gigs to end the summer, so there's a lot to take in as such with their classic, hard, and southern rock cover attack, so see above for more details, and look for more news and notes on the site this week! Thanks everyone!