LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Tym Morrison), Weekend Concert Previews, And Much More!!

(Updated on Friday at 1:00 AM) Before we begin this weekend concert preview post, we have a pair of concert cancellations to take note of, as Traverse City, Michigan classic metal trio Peril will not be playing at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino tomorrow & Saturday night. Don't worry, there's no "different direction" excuse, Peril cited a scheduling conflict as the reason on their Facebook page, and the shows have been postponed to an unspecified future date. Disappointing, but stay tuned for word on the shows' new dates! Now, let's dive into a this weekend's concert previews, plus some other stories, and starting with a SHORT NOICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!

Prolific local hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison is staying busy with a return to La Terrazza Franzisi in Richards Landing THIS SATURDAY! Apologies for the short notice, this show was only announced late on Thursday, after this post originally went online, so I opted to add it while we still could. At least this show has slightly more notice than his previous L.T.F. concert from this past Sunday! This will be the fifth weekend out of seven where Tym has played at least one weekend matinee at the waterfront restaurant on St. Joseph Island, and with the Gliss re-opening date still a mystery, it's nice to see Tym getting some relatively consistent bookings in the interim! Fans in Richards Landing and area can see Tym's skilled blend of hard and classic rock covers on SATURDAY evening at 5:00 PM, and while there is no age limit or cover charge, remember that this is a formal sit-down restaurant. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Tym live!




Next up, one of the biggest Sault Ontario punk concerts of the year will finally go down TOMORROW NIGHT, when former Misfits frontman Michale Graves will make his local concert debut as the headliner at The Canadian Nightclub! Though his solo output far outnumbers his Misfits run from the 1990s, Michale's work with that band lives on locally from such fan favourite songs as "Saturday Night", "Helena", and "American Psycho", and his brand of metal-tinged horror punk should get a huge audience at The Canadian tomorrow! It may not be the "secret show", but this one will more than suffice! Michale will be joined tomorrow (as on his Course of Empire tour) by West Virginia "horror death" outfit Argyle Goolsby & The Roving Midnight and Vancouver horror punk artist Nim Vind, and from the former's dark-yet-melodic originals to the latter's hard-edged "electric music", genre fans will find lots to love from this three headed monster! Local punk/metal quintet Jack Spades will provide local support in a massive no-brainer.

Given promoter/frontman J.D. Pearce's frequent covers of 1990s Misfits songs in his various bands, who better to open up for Michale himself?! Despite the Facebook event page still advertising "another act TBA", none have been publically confirmed. This 19+ concert has an early 7:30 PM start time listed, and advance tickets are now $20 at this link, The Canadian, and The Rad Zone (the price did drop from $25, but that may still be the door charge.) With 6 months of hype, this concert should be a huge hit for late-period Misfits fans and horror punk aficionados alike, so see the above links for complete details, here's Michale live, and don't miss this one!



Also, we'll head downtown to LopLops Lounge, where Toronto-based Ramones tribute band The Gabba Heys will make their local concert debut THIS SATURDAY NIGHT! Fronted by veteran local punk musician Mikey Hawdon, this will be his first local appearance as a band frontman in almost 2 years, and the first time he's channeled his inner Joey Ramone locally since bringing his prior Ramones tribute The Merves here for the fifth and final time in 2015. Mikey's Ramones fandom is well known, and his effective, fan favourite tribute experience should go over as well on Saturday with The Gabba Heys as it did with The Merves, so don't miss out! Mikey's long-time bandmate Dustin Jones will open with his (online page-less) punk cover quartet The Cover-Up, which is a fitting choice, but may fans get a mini-Surfers or Rising Tide reunion on Saturday? The advertised opener is Mikey's former Merves bandmate Amy "Gabba" Zucchetto with a Joan Jett tribute set, but I have read conflicting reports regarding whether she's opening or playing during The Gabba Heys' set.

If we have any Sudbury readers, keep in mind that all of these performers will be playing there tomorrow at The Townehouse Tavern, so click here for details on that concert. As for Saturday's local show (a presentation of Tidal Records), this is a 19+ event with a 9:00 PM start time and a $10 cover charge. Misfits one night, and Ramones the next, punk fans are definitely blessed with some classic songs this weekend, and with some familiar faces from the past two decades of local punk music, fans won't want to miss out on all of Saturday's action at LopLops! For a preview, here's The Gabba Heys with Amy Gabba live in Toronto last year!



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

• New local grindcore solo project Awokest quietly dropped out of Tuesday night's Truth of All Death concert at The New American Pub, as per promoter Chase Wigmore on the Facebook event page. Other than to say Awokest's exit was "at the last second", a reason for their removal wasn't announced, but hopefully nothing bad happened in their camp! Chase himself filled in with a solo set, which should have went over well for assembled fans!
• Local solo metal musician and ex-Bear Hunters guitarist Mike Vincent is looking for other musicians to jam with. Mike says that he's up to play "any genre... literally", and he has a guitar, keyboard, and electric drums. If you're interested in jamming with Mike and seeing where things go, message him at this link or via his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post yesterday!
• The Soo Zombie Walk will not take place next month, as per organizers on their Facebook page on Tuesday. Despite meetings and plans for the event's 10th installment, funding issues have led the organizing committee to postpone the annual walk until 2019. This popular Halloween season event didn't feature live music last year as it was, but this is definitely an unfortunate announcement, as I know how fun the Zombie Walk was for attendees of all ages. Hopefully they can regroup in time for next year!
• The teased acoustic performers have been announced for the #TeamBear benefit concert at The Sault Theatre Workshop on October 6th, namely Machines Dream frontman Craig West, ex-Blackberries frontman Norm Rosteck, folk singer/guitarist M.D. Dunn, and a mystery act named The Cheesemakers (we'll let you know if we can confirm their identity.) Solid choices overall, so look for some proficient tunes at this event to help Pirie Kaufman through his cancer battle, and click here for more details! As well, local drag queen performer Paris Gore will also have a live performance of some kind that day.
• If you missed the Weekend Warrior Fest concert at The Marconi Club earlier this month, than you can relive the event via this SooToday article from James Hopkin from September 9th. The beer launch is given precedence over the concert aspect, but Northwest frontman Wayne Watkins is interviewed for the piece, given that he works as a sales account manager for Rogers Radio's stations here, including Weekend Warrior Fest sponsors Country 104.3. Hopefully the event was a big hit for craft beer fans and music lovers alike!
• Local acoustic hard rock trio The Wyld Stallyns will host the weekly open mic night at the M.S. Norgoma museum ship at 91 Foster Drive this coming Tuesday, as per it's official Facebook event page. We don't treat open mic nights as "concerts" for our coverage on the SMS due to the uncertain nature of the lineups and format, but Rob, Jesse, and Christina should prove to be solid hosts with their fan friendly live sets! Ex-Gore Street Cafe owner Nicole Dyble has been hosting open mic nights and night markets at the Norgoma in recent months, and hopefully Tuesday's helps towards keeping the Norgoma downtown long-term!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (The Gabba Heys, Re:Born, And Tym Morrison), Plus More Concert Previews!!

Today's post is half devoted to this weekend's remaining hard rock/punk concert previews, but to round things out, we have some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for this fall, and one of this weekend's gigs is on SHORT NOTICE as well! Here's what you should know!

The ever-prolific Tym Morrison will have at least one public concert this weekend, as he'll return to Room 21 for consecutive Saturdays TOMORROW NIGHT and next Saturday the 15th! Apologies for the short notice on TOMORROW'S show, that concert was only confirmed via it's official Facebook event page on Wednesday (next week's show was announced with more notice on Sunday.) With the ongoing wait for Tym's regular Gliss run to resume, it's great to see that he's staying busy with regional concerts, and these two Room 21 gigs should provide patrons and fans a solid chance to take in his unplugged hard and classic rock covers! Note that TOMORROW'S concert is a one nighter due to the previously announced Wyld Stallyns concert tonight, but I don't know why Tym's only playing Saturday next week. Both TOMORROW'S and next week's concerts have 10:00 PM start times, 19+ age limits, and no cover charges. Click here and above for more details, and here's Tym live!



Next up, here's some more new concerts with lots of advance notice, starting with the local concert debut of Toronto-based Ramones tribute band The Gabba Heys (fronted by prolific local punk musician Mikey Hawdon) on Saturday, September 22nd at LopLops Lounge! This is nothing new for Mikey, as he fronted the preceding Ramones tribute band The Merves from 2010-2015 (who played here 5 times in that span) before joining The Gabba Heys in 2016. New faces and name, but Mikey's Ramones love and knowledge isn't new to fans, so hopefully their set goes over well in two weeks! Mikey's Surfers & Tide bandmate Dustin Jones will open the proceedings with his active (but online page-less) punk quartet The Cover-Up, while fellow Merves alum Amy "Gabba" Zucchetto will play a selection of Joan Jett covers to kick off this concert, as she did for half of late-period Merves sets. Stacked lineup, which fans can also see the previous day in Sudbury, so click here for details on that Townehouse Tavern event if you're in the area!

This "Punk Rock Blitz-O-Rama Dance Party" is brought to you by Tidal Records, and it has a 19+ age limit, $10 admission fee, and 9:00 PM start time. Advance tickets can be purchased at LopLops' website, The Rad Zone, Case's Music, Thomas Walls School of Music, and presumably at the door. This should be a fun concert for long time followers of Mikey and Dustin's local punk careers, even if you're not a Ramones scholar, so visit the above links for complete details on this intriguing concert later this month!

Lastly for new concerts, local power rock quintet Re:Born and funk/hard rock quartet The Elements will join forces on Saturday, October 6th at The Sault Theatre Workshop as part of the musical entertainment for a benefit concert for prolific stage actor and director Pirie "Bear" Kaufman! A familiar presence in the local theatre community, including via his recent productions with the Chippewa Theatre Guild, Pirie is currently battling cancer, so his family has put together this benefit to help raise funds and support at this difficult time. A buffet, cash bar, and silent auction are all planned for next month, as well as a solid musical lineup, with The Elements' diverse set sure to nicely compliment Re:Born's first public concert appearance in four months! Unspecified acoustic acts are also advertised to open this concert, we will let you know when their identities are publicized. This presumably all ages fundraiser will have $30 tickets and a 6:00 PM start time, and the Sault Theatre Workshop is located at 121 Pittsburgh Avenue in the west end.

I don't know Pirie at all, but those that do have spoken very highly of his impact in local theatre and as a person, and I hope this benefit goes a long way to helping in this fight! Cancer sucks in every way. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, kudos to everyone involved in this concert, and if you'd like to support Team Bear and/or can't make the event next month, send PayPal donations to teambearpkk@gmail.com!

Finally, here's our last currently announced hard rock/punk concert preview of the weekend, as local musicians will hit The Marconi Club on Albert Street West TOMORROW NIGHT as part of Joe's Weekend Warrior Fest! This special event (co-presented by Joe's Sports & Surplus and Sault Ontario radio station Country 104.3) will serve as the kick-off for Northern Superior Brewing Company's new Weekend Warrior Wheat Ale, and for the occasion, fans can partake in a craft beer social, taste testing, and specially paired dinner selections. If you're in this more for the beer than the music, you'll be in good hands with the craft brews on tap, and where else have you seen a new type of beer launched this big? Scheduled performers will include indie/punk quintet Northwest, blues/country notables The Barn Board Trio, and Country 104.3 morning host Jeff McNiece, who is now publically listed on the bill.

The aforementioned Cover-Up & indie rock musician Jesse Merineau were also previously advertised, but have both since dropped out. Jesse cited "a miscommunication & unforeseen changes" on his personal Facebook page, while Cover-Up frontman Dustin Jones is currently in Toronto for concerts with his non-local bands. We'll surely see both back on stage soon! Tomorrow's 19+ concert is at 7:00 PM affair at The Marconi Club, with $25 admission, though remember that the price includes food and drinks. This is a very unique event, but with Northwest adding some punk to the proceedings, don't miss out on the tunes & brews tomorrow! Here's Northwest live!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates on the SMS in the coming days! Thanks everyone!