LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (The Rock Orchestra & Riverside Stasis), Fefe Dobson Concert Fallout, And More!!

Before we settle into weekend concert preview mode for the Thanksgiving long weekend, here's a packed news post on this early Thursday morning, including some assorted shorter updates, known videos from a recent concert, and leading off, two nearby LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS that are notable in different ways, so here's what you should know!

Local alt-hard rock band Riverside Stasis and acoustic punk cover duo Dos Amigos will join forces for a special outdoor concert on Friday, October 16th at The Canopy on top of Village Media headquarters! The rooftop space at 298 Queen Street East has been used sparingly as a live concert venue this year, notably at last month's second Downtown Street Party, where Dos Amigos' sister band BookcluB already played a headlining set. Next Friday's show will be the premiere of Village Sessions, a rooftop concert series that is implied to not be returning until 2027 (it will be mid-October next week, after all), but it will be a platform for originals-focused local headlining bands, and the corner of Queen and Bruce will be closed to accommodate the concert. In fact, this concert will have two hosts, namely long-time Rotaryfest Stage 1 MC Andrew Stuetz and Pat Mackan, who is the administrator of the Musicians page on Village Media's social media network Spaces.

After taking September off from the stage, Riverside Stasis will be fresh off of playing two concerts this Friday (more details in our weekend concert previews), while Dos Amigos remain busy even if their social media accounts don't (they recently played a private gig at a retirement home, believe it or not), and this will be a fun change of pace before it gets too cold for practical outdoor gigs! This is obviously free and all ages next week, and is expected to run from 7:00-10:00 PM. Hopefully the weather cooperates to give the Village Sessions pilot a fair shot, so visit the above links and Andrew's SooToday article for more details on all of next week's rooftop action!

Next up, the first major SMS-amenable concert at GFL Memorial Gardens for 2027 has been announced for Tuesday, May 11th, but the headliners aren't a major original touring band. Rather, they are The Rock Orchestra, a touring classical group who reinterprets rock and metal songs in epic orchestral and gothic fashion, complete with a dark candlelit stage show and suitable costuming to match, including instrumental performers in makeup and skull masks. The only equitable band to really hit the area is Sault Michigan's Theatre of Night, but they're a metal band with orchestral flourish and a Christmas theme in live performance, whereas The Rock Orchestra are a full-on touring orchestra who just happen to cover bands like Metallica, System of a Down, Evanescence, and The Cranberries (generally with a female singer if not instrumental). They do have a cover album too, with some very creative takes to check out.

The Rock Orchestra have played in Sudbury before to a positive reception, and it will be very interesting to see how they go over in seven months, but there's plenty of time to build anticipation, and videos of their shows will really show what they have to offer better than I can in text! Tickets for this all ages & 7:30 PM concert go on sale on Friday at 1:00 PM at this link or at the arena box office, but the ticket prices aren't being released until sales begin. Visit the above links for much more on The Rock Orchestra's Sault Ste. Marie debut, and stay tuned for more details!

Also today, I have put this off long enough, as there are a few videos on Facebook from the free Fefe Dobson concert at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion last month! Alas, multiple videos from the show were only shared as "Stories" (including at least one of local openers Silent 9 and one from the City of Sault Ste. Marie Facebook page that featured a shot of the line of fans), so I obviously can't link to those here. The Vivid Arts Festival headlining event was a hit based on fan reports on social media, and while multiple videos were posted online on personal accounts, the only page that I have seen permanent public videos shared on is the aforementioned City of Sault Ste. Marie Facebook page. One is actually of Toronto pop rock cover band Goodnight Sunrise's opening set, while the other has clips from Fefe's set. Unfortunately, the City opted to upload both as vertical highlight reel videos with dubbed over stock pop music instead.

Why not let us actually hear raw audio from a well attended concert? I think most fans would rather have heard "Bye Bye Boyfriend" or "Stuttering" rather than Giulio Cercato's "Dance On" while out of context clips of the concert were played. The only positive is that Facebook somehow didn't content match the audio, so I can embed it here. Give it a watch below, and see more from the concert at the above links! 

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

 

• The Full Throttle Saloon has a new home, as they will make the four minute drive northwest from the former Primavera Hall to The Market Mall at 275 Second Line West! Owner Rosa Carello has reportedly leased space in the Cravings Diner location at the now-strip mall, but I'm not 100% sure what this means for Cravings (this SooToday article from last month indicated that that most of their staff were recently laid off due to financial difficulties). A grand re-opening is still to be announced, so we'll let you know when it is, let alone when concerts resume there!
• Over two years after Crooked Music closed, Sault Michigan finally has a new local music store, named Rockstars Music! Located at 212 Ashmun Street (beside Ozone of the North), they opened on September 13th, and offer gear for sale as well as studio recording space, instrument repair, and lessons on multiple instruments, with Tarnished/Crush frontman Alex Traynor and Nameless guitarist Mike East serving as instructors (as best as I can tell, Alex is the owner). No word on if they'll sell local CDs like Crooked/Grooves Music did, but it's great to see a new music store back in the EUP, so stop in weekdays from 11:00 AM-5:00 PM!
• In the wake of the passing of Canadian hard rock singer Sass Jordan last week, The Sault Star re-published the interview that Jeffrey Ougler conducted with her in August 2008 in advance of her last local appearance at the Bell Border Jam festival in Sault Ontario. The article erroneously dates the show to "the fall of 2008" and otherwise stripped out mentions of the now 18-year old event, but it's a good interview with Sass reflecting on the ups and downs of her career, whether she could have theoretically auditioned for Canadian Idol, and the future of the music industry. Kudos to the paper for reposting the interview, and R.I.P. Sass!

 

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Nelson) & The Three Days Grace/Finger Eleven Concert Video Showcase (Part 2!!)

Before we tackle this weekend's hard rock concert previews, here's an extra news post as our backlog continues getting slowly cleared out (and more and more stuff is being added as it is!) This post covers some late but welcomed videos from a major springtime concert in Sault Ontario, but let's start with a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT with a festive flair for Sault Michigan later this year!

California-based hair metal/hard rock duo Nelson will return to The Dreammakers Theater at the local Kewadin Casino on Friday, December 11th, but this won't be a run of the mill concert. Last seen unplugged opening for Night Ranger here this past October, Matthew & Gunnar's headlining return will be a part of their "Christmas With The Nelsons" tour, which will be a multimedia concert featuring their  nostalgic reflections and media from Christmases past with their families (including their celebrity grandparents Ozzie & Harriet Nelson and father Ricky Nelson), while playing Christmas carols and songs from their own back catalogue. You can read more on the concert proper at this link, and this sure will be an interesting way to marry hair metal (presumably acoustic again) with a warm and fuzzy Christmas experience, so keep this in mind for your holiday event plans! Click here for more information on the Christmas With The Nelsons tour.

Presented by Oldies 93 rather than Rock 101 (perhaps a hint that this won't be wall to wall Nelson songs from their early 1990s heyday), tickets for this all ages are now on sale at this link, at the in-person box office, or at 1-800-KEWADIN running from $26 to $46 apiece depending on row and section, which is a really good price if you like Nelson and Christmas, let alone the idea of them together. This will be a unique event for sure over the holiday season, so visit the above links for more details!

The rest of this post is comprised of belated new videos from the Three Days Grace/Finger Eleven concert at GFL Memorial Gardens in Sault Ontario in April! These come from prolific local concert filmer Christopher Paci's YouTube channel, but for one reason or another, Chris didn't upload his videos from this show until last month. Better late than never, but if you were wondering why our coverage of videos from this sold out concert stalled out after one post, this may help explain that! Chris filmed twenty videos at the Gardens on this night, with 13 coming from the headlining Norwood, Ontario hard rock quintet's set, so what did he film? Three Days Grace videos here included "Never Too Late", "Painkiller", "Mayday", "Just Like You", two songs from the acoustic campfire section ("Lifetime" & "Lost In You"),  "I Hate Everything About You", "Pain", "I Am Machine", "Break", "Animal I Have Become", "Dominate", ...

...and as embedded below, their closing song "Riot". Chris was on the floor here, and while not in the closest rows, he had a good clear view of the stage while still allowing for lots of attendee heads to validate the turnout and audience response (look at all the cell phones!). As I noted in our prior post on videos from this concert, Three Days Grace sounded good here, and while I do prefer Adam to Matt vocally, they pair off each other well, and it is interesting to hear how each other does songs from the other singer's era as the band's sole frontman. Give Chris' 3DG videos a watch above & below!

Shockingly, Chris is the only YouTube user that I know of to upload public videos of either opening band (in our first 3DG/F11 concert video post, the lone Finger Eleven video was from Facebook). In terms of Finger Eleven, he filmed the Burlington alternative/hard rock quintet playing six songs, including "Good Times", "The Mountain", "One Thing", "Slow Chemical" (Kane's theme!), "Above", and as embedded below, their closing song "Paralyzer" (complete with partial intro cover of Genesis' "That's All"). Some vocal wear from Scott aside, Finger Eleven sound good here, and the fans were definitely into their familiar hit singles, even if I like them heavier and darker than on "Paralyzer". Give these a watch above & below as well! 

Finally, Chris filmed a single video of Edmonton hard rock band Royal Tusk's opening set, but based on what I gathered from show reviews, there were delays getting fans from the lineup into the Gardens, so Royal Tusk were playing while a lot of fans were still making their way inside. This performance of their newer original song "Vindicate" has a solid edge to it with clear melodic vocals, and it sounds ready for radio airplay! No word on what the QR codes on the screen link to, my phone couldn't latch on to them clearly enough. Give the sole public local Royal Tusk video a watch below!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for most of this weekend's concert previews next! Thanks everyone!

Pop Evil & Triumph Concert Video Showcase!!

Tonight's post takes us to recent major concerts in to wrap up our coverage of videos shot at them, and in one case, we haven't even touched on the show yet! As you may recall, Muskegon, Michigan hard rock quintet Pop Evil made their Sault Ontario debut at The Machine Shop on April 12th, and while videos were not nearly as forthcoming as they were from their multiple Kewadin Casino concerts in the past 15 years, the ever-prolific Christopher Paci was in attendance that night and uploaded 10 videos to his YouTube channel! No word on if he filmed at the Three Days Grace concert, but if he was there, he hasn't uploaded anything yet. Fittingly for their eighth local concert appearance, Chris filmed eight videos of Pop Evil's headlining set, specifically their songs "Footsteps", "Waking Lions", "Legendary", "Torn To Pieces", "Skeletons", "Paranoid (Crash & Burn)", "Trenches", and as embedded below, "100 In A 55". 

While by no means a staple of the 104.3 setlist, Rock 101 listeners are well accustomed to Pop Evil by now, and there was a good crowd familiar with their ample radio hits last month! Chris about four rows deep (standing room only acknowledged) here, and Leigh and crew sound really good across these videos, especially on more melodic songs and choruses, so give these well shot videos a watch above & below!

The openers at The Machine Shop last month were Waterloo hard rock quartet Sierra Pilot, who once featured ex-Spades GT guitarist Jay Sarrazin in their lineup, in case the band name is familiar. Chris got two videos from their set, including them playing "Replicants" and, as embedded below, what I believe to be a new song of theirs (in a cursory search of their studio material, it doesn't match anything obvious). Sierra Pilot have a good sound going for them, with distinct vocals and a melodic ear while still delivering heavy riffs and and a command of the crowd, so don't bypass Chris' videos from their set either!

The back half of this post takes us to the Triumph/April Wine concert at GFL Memorial Gardens 10 days after Pop Evil, as there are two more videos of note about the show that aren't fan-shot live clips. One is of video from the headlining Mississauga hard rock band's reunion tour-kickoff set here, and it actually is a "Shorts" (ie. YouTube "Reels") video from the band's official YouTube channel! The 48 seconds-long highlight reel video is set to the studio version of "Rock & Roll Machine", and features clips of Rik, Gil, and crew playing on stage and even a bit of off-stage content, as tiled and edited in post-production to make use of the vertical dimensions as best as it can, even with animations rather than plain black letterboxing. As I say often for bands who post highlight reels rather than raw uncut concert videos, I would far prefer full videos, as these look to be high quality from some unique angles!

Regardless, it is neat to see the Soo (and the Gardens) represented in a major band's official online video content, and seeing as this is the 5th (4½th?) post featuring Triumph videos, you know it was a hit! Give Triumph's "Short" highlight video a watch for yourselves below!

Finally, while this does feature videos from the concert, this is primarily a video review of the Triumph concert! Veteran local rock drummer Glen Thomas (ex-Flat Stanley, Wishbone, Soundcheck, et al.) posted a 40+ minutes-long review of the concert to his YouTube channel, in what you could argue also fits in line with his "Glen Yaps" videos there. Glen approaches things differently than some as an experienced drummer with connections (a friend was one of the techs that night), and he goes into detail not just about the sets proper by both bands, but also the stage setup, comparisons to what he saw of the pre-tour kickoff concerts in Florida, the fan responses, how the bands came off and sounded in relation to the video screens, the overall sound setup and rigging that night, how the gaps between songs differed between the two bands, and how the experience was seeing the show with his wife and how things connected to seeing Triumph in the 1970s.

Live videos that Glen shot are overlaid at around 10:30 into the review, and other closer videos from other filmers were also included similarly. Glen did suggest that he might post his own raw videos from the concert (he was filming with a GoPro, even), but as of this writing, he has not done so. Regardless, I do agree with him about preferring full songs on video rather than partial clips! Speaking as an experienced live and studio drummer, Glen gives strong insights into the concert, and it's an entertaining watch to go into detail of things beyond just who played what song, so give everything a look below, and we'll let you know if belated videos surface!

That's all for tonight, but stay tuned for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile next! Thanks everyone! 

Three Days Grace/Finger Eleven Concert Video Showcase (Part 1!!)

Have you been wondering where our coverage of last week's Three Days Grace/Finger Eleven concert at GFL Memorial Gardens has been? So have I, but compared to Triumph & April Wine at the arena last month, videos have been surprisingly harder to come by, and barring belated videos being posted from that night, I'll be lucky to fill two posts. Despite the relative lack of videos, the show was a huge hit with a sold-out audience (I'm told that The Sheepdogs drew well that night at The Machine Shop too!), and Kenneth Armstrong from SooToday got 12 solid photos of the headlining Norwood, Ontario hard rock quintet's set for this article! Nothing of Finger Eleven or Royal Tusk though. We'll highlight uploads from three filmers today, starting with Three Days Grace's set-opener "Dominate", which was one of five songs from their new dual-singer album "Alienation" to be played last week.

This was filmed by YouTube user MsSawfiler (who also filmed one Triumph video last month), and if you need context as to why the video screen has a random kid on it at the start, Three Days Grace literally preceded their set with an old Station Mall commercial! You can see fan-shot video of just that moment on (where else) Station Mall's Facebook page. As for the song itself, this is a well shot video (helped by Ms. Sawfiler being right along the extended stage walkway), so Matt and Adam get nice and close! The audio is a little muffled here, but it's a quality first look at Three Days Grace's first song, so check it out for yourselves below!

The most prolific filmer (so far?) of Three Days Grace was YouTube user MasonTheGoat, who also filmed at last year's Our Lady Peace concert at the Gardens, and he shot seven videos of the headliners last week! Again, nothing of the openers. Mason filmed 3.D.G. playing "Break", "Pain", "Kill Me Fast", "Apologies", "Don't Wanna Go Home Tonight", "Never Too Late" (which was his only vertically shot video), and as embedded below, "World So Cold". If you're curious, of the 17 pre-"Alienation" original songs in that night's setlist (according to Setlist.fm), 11 were from their first four albums with Adam Gontier on vocals, and 6 were from the three albums after Matt Walst replaced him, with the other singer providing backing vocals or follow-up verses as needed. They also played three covers, two in the acoustic portion (more on that in a bit) and a rendition of 3 Doors Down's ballad "Here Without You".

Mason was in the stands for this concert, and while not close to the stage, he zoomed in a bit, and he had a good side-stage vantage point that lets us see the crowd levels well. The stage lighting is really accentuated from where he was too! Audio is somewhat quiet (though not as muffled), but given where he was seated, you can't complaint too much, so give Mason's videos a watch above and below as well!

Today's last videos actually come from 104.3 The Fox's Facebook page, and much like at the Triumph show, a representative of the Sault Ontario rock radio station included short videos from the show in a batch post alongside a handful of photos. Five of their six videos were of Three Days Grace, including clips of them playing "Dominate", "Animal I Have Become", 10 seconds of the crowd chanting the band's name, and "Kill Me Fast", but embedded below is 31 seconds of them playing "Lost In You" during the acoustic break, which is set around a faux campfire on this tour (you may recall seeing a contest from The Fox to win a chance to be on stage for it, hence the onlookers!). During this stretch, they also played "Lifetime" and a medley, the latter of which included a cover of "Porn Star Dancing" by Matt's old band My Darkest Days (it would be interesting to hear how that came across in an unplugged setting!)

Alas, they don't cover Saint Asonia at all in return ("Better Place" is too good of a song to leave untouched, but that's just me). Like with The Fox's Triumph videos, these are all vertical, and were clearly shot from the stands, but they zoom in a lot to capture the action while it lasts, and the campfire motif is well done for a palate cleanser! Give these a watch above & below, and hopefully longer (and horizontal) videos of the campfire songs surface!

Finally, let's take a look at (surprisingly) the only public video that I have found from Finger Eleven's support set, which was also included in 104.3 The Fox's aforementioned batch post. This sees the Burlington alt-hard rock quintet playing "Together Right" from their 2023 greatest hits album, and it's a decent quality performance that accentuates the stage well despite the verticality of the aspect ratio! Scott does seem to be straining his voice a bit, but the energy and enthusiasm are clearly there, so give this video a watch below, and hopefully more turn up!

We do have a little bit more from the Three Days Grace (and Triumph) concerts to come, so stay tuned for all of that and more on the SMS as the month of May rolls along! Thanks everyone!

Triumph Concert Video Showcase (Part 4!!)

After getting through this weekend's hard rock concert previews and a bit of other E.U.P. items, we're covering the remaining known and public fan-shot videos from the Triumph/April Wine concert at GFL Memorial Gardens last week! As I previously indicated, this post will only feature Triumph, as these four filmers only posted one or two videos each of the Mississauga hard rock legends without uploading anything involving April Wine. We'll start with attendee April Barnes' YouTube channel, which has videos of Triumph playing "Rock & Roll Machine" and as embedded below, their cover of Joe Walsh's "Rocky Mountain Way". I hadn't mentioned it in prior posts, but original drummer Gil Moore (who sang lead on many of their songs) left the kit entirely to do the honours here, and with touring second drummer Brent Fitz on hand, he was able to do so! April picked two longer jam-infused performances here.

April was on the floor for the concert and had a good vantage point of the stage (not a dissimilar one from some other recent filmers either), and her camera capture nice quality video and audio with stability to capture everyone's solo jams in this cover! Gil sounds good here on vocals too, so check out April's Triumph videos above & below!

Next up, in just their second YouTube upload, user Penguin (a.k.a. OGpenguinBTW) posted a video of the first 11 minutes of Triumph's set, including their "Time Canon" intro, "When The Lights Go Down", and "Somebody's Out There". Penguin even gave a brief review of the show in the description, saying that "Triumph really kicked ass that night", which is more or less the consensus that I have read since! While not the highest quality video recording and featuring scratchier audio, Penguin was front row or very close to it, so you get a nice look at everyone kicking off the Canadian tour in style, so give this video a watch below!

If you like "When The Lights Go Down", then good news, as that's what attendee MsSawfiler uploaded to her YouTube channel! She also filmed at the recent Gardens shows from Foreigner and Three Days Grace (more on the latter very soon, I promise!), but in all three cases, just one video apiece. Ms. Sawfiler was to the left of the stage, but still very close, and while she didn't zoom much, she did have a stable view of the song in action with good audio quality, so give their first full song from last week's concert a look below!

Finally, this actually comes from Facebook, specifically 104.3 The Fox's Facebook page, but not from the station (we already covered their own videos in Triumph video post #3). In the comment thread to The Fox's batch post of media from the concert, attendee Jeremy Treadwell publically posted this video of Rik Emmett's standalone guitar solo, as filmed off of the video screen. Sure, it's of the screen showing Rik, not Rik directly, but it counts! In this case, I won't complain that it's vertical because Rik is the 100% focus of this minute-long clip, and he can still deliver a quality solo, as you saw if you were at the arena last week. Check out Jeremy's video below!

There are a couple more videos of note regarding the Triumph concert that aren't fan-shot live videos, but we'll get to those in an upcoming post, and yes, Three Days Grace and more are coming, but first, look for this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post! Thanks everyone!

Triumph/April Wine Concert Video Showcase (Part 2!!)

You know the Triumph/April Wine concert at GFL Memorial Gardens on Wednesday was a huge success, as we have even more videos from the show to feature on here, and I'm gonna have to extend our fallout posts to four as a result! Today's videos weren't even uploaded when I was writing up our first Triumph video post on Sunday, so let's dive right in to our look at 32 brand new videos from two different YouTube users!

We'll start with YouTube user hbogie321go's YouTube channel, and no word on if this is the same person as hbogie123, who also uploaded videos from shows at the then-Essar Center in the early 2010s. Same person or not, you may recognize hbogie321go from posting videos from 2024's Sheepdogs and Chase Rice concerts in the Soo, among many others out of town. From the headlining Mississauga hard rock band's set, hbogie321go filmed them playing "When The Lights Go Down", "Hold On", "Allied Forces", "Rock & Roll Machine", Rik Emmett's extended guitar solo after that song, their cover of Joe Walsh's "Rocky Mountain Way", solos and introductions from the rest of the band, most of "Magic Power", "I Live For The Weekend", "Fight The Good Fight", and as embedded below, "Lay It On The Line". For one reason or another, a few of hbogie's videos were separately uploaded as "Shorts" videos.

Three brief vertical videos can be seen thusly, namely portions of "Somebody's Out There", "Follow Your Heart", and the last minute of "Magic Power". Why that song was broken up (and filmed in two aspect ratios), I don't know, but the vertical excitement(?) doesn't stop there, as four of the regular videos were also shot like that. At least most of the videos are in a normal widescreen orientation, and hbogie was in a good central spot on the floor to capture the set. A lot of attendee heads and arms can be seen up front but it gives a good silhouette effect for reactions! Solid quality in spite of orientation flips with strong performances from Rik, Gil, and crew, so give this batch of videos a look above and below!

Like on Sunday, we'll pick things back up with hbogie321go in a second so we can check out more of Triumph's set, this time via prolific local concert filmer Christopher Paci's YouTube channel! Yes, I am aware that he was also at the Pop Evil concert, stay tuned for those videos soon. All but two of Chris' Triumph videos were songs that hbogie filmed, with these uploads including "When The Lights Go Down", "Spellbound", "Hold On", "Rocky Mountain Way", "Lay It On The Line", "Follow Your Heart", "Magic Power", "Fight The Good Fight", and as embedded below, "Rock & Roll Machine". While not as centrally located, Chris looks to have been about second row on the floor, and we get a clearer look at the staging setup thusly! The framerate seems lower on these clips (this could be my computer's fault, granted) but Chris zooms in a lot, and the audio is clear, so give his Triumph videos a watch above and below as well!

As on Sunday, the back half of this post is devoted to videos of Halifax hard rock band April Wine's opening set from the same filmers, though neither filmed nearly as much. In hbogie321go's case, he filmed Brian and the gang playing "Oowatanite" and, as embedded below, "Roller", while his "Shorts" videos included their cover of Hot Chocolate's "You Could Have Been A Lady", "Say Hello" , "I Like To Rock", and "Enough Is Enough". Shakier camera than we would later see from his Triumph videos, but these are both quality videos of the modern version of April Wine, so give these a watch above and below!

Finally, Chris Paci got three April Wine videos last week, including "I Like To Rock", "Sign Of The Gypsy Queen", and as embedded below, "Say Hello". The same framerate drop aside, everyone sounds good here (even with the lack of original members), and they know these classic songs as well as you'd hope, so check them out above and below for yourselves!

We will have more from this concert in a few days, but our next post will likely be this month's CD review, so check back on the SMS tomorrow for that! Thanks everyone!

The Three Days Grace/Finger Eleven Concert Preview, An Inactive Band Note, And A New Soundcheck Video!!

Let's take a look at some news and notes on this Monday evening, including our extended preview of a major concert tomorrow, a band newly moved to our inactive links, and a surprise live concert video find, so with all of that said, here's what you should know!

We'll start with today with a huge concert preview for TOMORROW NIGHT, as Norwood, Ontario hard rock icons Three Days Grace and Burlington alternative/hard rock quintet Finger Eleven will return to the Soo at GFL Memorial Gardens! For Three Days Grace, this will be their third time at the arena, and first since headlining there in December 2009, and of course, this is their first local date with ex-My Darkest Days singer Matt Walst on vocals, notably with original frontman Adam Gontier returning to the band in 2024 to give them two lead singers. The two do share vocals throughout the night, so if you wanted to hear Adam do "I Am Machine, or Matt do "Animal I Have Become", let alone new stuff like "Apologies", this is your chance! As for Finger Eleven, local fans last saw them opening for I Mother Earth at The Machine Shop in 2018, and this will mark (at least) their fifth concert appearance here, and first at the former Essar Center.

In the almost eight years since we last saw Finger Eleven here, they have kept touring and released their new album "Last Night On Earth" last year, so expect classics like "First Time" and "Falling On" along with newer cuts like "Adrenaline" as the take the stage! Opening the proceedings tomorrow are Edmonton hard rock quartet Royal Tusk in their local debut, and they've been slowly gaining traction on domestic rock radio with songs like "Head Up" and "Hated" from their new album "Altruistic", so don't sleep on their accessible but hard hitting original sound tomorrow! This stop on Three Days Grace's Alienation Tour is brought to you by Live Nation, and while neither local rock radio station is a presenting sponsor, both have had ticket giveaway contests. A 7:00 PM start time is advertised for this all ages concert, and limited tickets are still available at this link or at the in-person box office, starting at $116.50 in section 119.

Other sections and general/floor seating will run $157.25, but there's not many left. VIP passes are also available, so see above if you're so inclined. The sixteen years long wait for Three Days Grace alone will be cause for excitement, but add in Finger Eleven's return and Royal Tusk, and you've got one hell of a Tuesday night out, so don't miss out on all of tomorrow's action in spite of the work/school night scheduling! Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Three Days Grace live!

Next up, I have reluctantly moved local alternative/hard rock band Handsome Sandwich to our inactive band links. While not at our one year inactivity threshold, I'm now inclined to believe that they quietly disbanded in late 2025, thanks in part to their "Collage" EP's abrupt release in September, their lack of any public updates since, and most members currently focusing on new projects. After a year's hiatus during the pandemic, guitarist Jesse Cook & drummer Johnny Belanger brought Handsome Sandwich back in the summer of 2021, but not as the genre-less cover trio that fans had known since 2017. Now with singer Taylor Emlaw in their ranks, they became favourites at local concerts for the next four years, including two Rotaryfest Stage 2 sets, tour runs in Southeastern Ontario, and their 2023 release party for "Deconstructed" at The Loft.

The band last played live at the Northern Vibe Festival in August. Since then, Johnny has been playing with ex-guitarists in both Eden Plague and The Golden Scoundrels while also joining the revived Stiffler's Mom offshoot Wheelhouse, Taylor is working on a new project with HeadFirst alum Raine Rancourt, and bassist Rafael Medina has moved back to his native Colombia, where he has joined the band Adios Celeste. Handsome Sandwich had a good eight year run locally in two very different halves, and they stood apart musically with a fun alt-rock sound and pointed lyrics. Best of luck to everyone (including James, Mitch, and Brandon) in the future!

We'll close today with a new/old video of local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck that made its way to YouTube in September of last year! This was uploaded to former drummer Glen Thomas' personal YouTube channel shortly before the band reunited without him, and it comes from Soundcheck's set at Toystock at the Grand Gardens in November 2022. In their fourth of five consecutive Toystock sets, Soundcheck were represented here by Glen alongside founding guitarist Terry Eaton, singer Cameron Oliver (who is not playing guitar here at all), and guest bassist Rob Gilmar, who frequently sat in for Paul Belair in the early 2020s (Jim Michaud would join the band permanently a few months after this gig). Soundcheck were filmed here by an uncredited attendee covering The Black Keys' "Lonely Boy" and Big & Rich's "Save A Horse (Ride a Cowboy)" to close their set.

Alas, this video was shot vertically, but we do get the unique visual of the filmer walking to the stage early on, and they do focus on Cameron as he roams the stage on the latter cover (also note the uncredited guest singer on "Save A Horse"). I admittedly don't have love for either of these cover choices, but the performances are lively and the crowd was receptive, so fans of the 2019-2025 Cameron era of Soundcheck will want to give these covers a watch below, and best of luck to Cameron in Nashville!

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

Triumph/April Wine Concert Video Showcase (Part 1!!)

It's high time that we spotlight videos from Wednesday night's Triumph/April Wine concert at GFL Memorial Gardens on the SMS, and we have a lot of videos to rifle through, from at least eight different public channels and uploaders! While local news media didn't cover it in person from what I have found, the concert was a rousing success based on social media reports, which is great to see! To start our (at least) three fallout posts from Wednesday, we'll look at videos of both Canadian classic hard rock legends from two different filmers, so here's what you should know!

Most of the current YouTube videos from the show come from attendee Chris Berlinguette, who posted 12 videos to his YouTube channel, joining a few dozen other concert videos from elsewhere in Ontario and even in Buffalo, New York. Nine of his videos are from Triumph's headlining set, where he filmed the reunited Mississauga legends playing "Hold On", "Allied Forces", "Blinding Light Show", "Rock & Roll Machine" split across two videos (here and here), their cover of Joe Walsh's "Rocky Mountain Way", "Lay It On The Line", "Follow Your Heart" (complete with a partial cover of "24 Hours A Day" at the start), and as embedded below, their two encore songs, namely "I Live For The Weekend" and "Fight The Good Fight". You'll notice by the video lengths that Rik, Gil, and crew are very amenable to jamming and extending songs live ("Rocky Mountain Way" alone is a 9 minute video), so fans got their money's worth!

Give their long hiatus as a touring concern, Triumph sound pretty good overall in these videos, and their touring musicians do beef things up without taking away from the original lineup, though bassist Mike Levine did not join the tour due to a long-term hand injury. Note the locally unique sight of Gil Moore and Brent Fitz drumming on stage simultaneously! The lighting and video screen definitely adds to the presentation, and they picked a solid cross-section of hits from their original run! Chris also had a good vantage point of the stage from the floor, clearly from the third or fourth row. Check out his Triumph videos for yourselves above and below!

We'll pick things back up with Chris in a second, but for some more Triumph videos, let's look at the three uploaded by the non-local tourism YouTube channel Two Thirsty Travelers, which does feature a bunch of live concert videos from far-flung locales. One of the thirsty travelers filmed three Triumph songs on Wednesday, namely "Somebody's Out There", "Never Surrender", and as embedded below, "Hold On". Props to touring bassist Todd Kerns for wearing a Marco Mignosa Soo Greyhounds jersey for part of their set too! The travellers were in side-stage seating, giving us a clearer and more open look at everyone in action, if sacrificing a real look at the audience, but things sound good, so give them a look above & below also!

For the back half of this post, we'll look at the above filmers' videos of Halifax hard rock legends April Wine's first local concert set in 13 years, and first since the retirement & death of frontman Myles Goodwyn. Chris Berlinguette filmed three videos from their set, including "I Like To Rock", a triple header of the back half of "Just Between You & Me", "Sign Of The Gypsy Queen", and "Roller", and as embedded below, both "Oowatanite" and their cover of Hot Chocolate's "You Could Have Been A Lady". Now, April Wine have no original band members left (and long-time guitarist Brian Greenway is the only current member who was even in the band before 2011, so I understand there being fans who don't really consider this to truly be "April Wine". That said, Brian has assembled a talented band to carry the name forward, and Myles did give the current touring band his blessing before he retired in 2023.

The performances here are sound, and from experience, I honestly hear April Wine a little more frequently on local radio than Triumph, so the familiar songs are done in a way that won't alienate fans beyond debating their authenticity compared to the 1970s band. Marc Parent has good energy and melody to his vocals, though some higher notes don't come easy. Good stuff for fans of these classic songs, so give Chris' April Wine videos a look!

Lastly for this post, the aforementioned Two Thirsty Travellers filmed two videos of April Wine's set, specifically them playing "I Like To Rock" and, as embedded below, "Sign Of The Gypsy Queen". These are both songs that Chris also filmed, so interest here will primarily be around the side-stage angle, but they're still a good look at the guys in action playing some familiar hits from back in the day, so give these a look above and below as well!

There's definitely more coming from Wednesday's concert, but stay tuned for this month's YouTube Channel Profile next! Thanks everyone!

The Triumph/April Wine Concert Preview, Plus Fallout From The BAG's Album Release Party!!

I have a packed news post for the SMS on this Tuesday morning, which includes a big preview for a mid-week concert tomorrow night, and some notes on what went down at another downtown venue this past weekend, including an album release and videos of an opening band, so without any further ado, here's what you should know!

We'll lead off with a major concert preview for TOMORROW NIGHT, as reunited Mississauga, Ontario hard rock legends Triumph will kick off their 50th anniversary reunion tour here at GFL Memorial Gardens! Alongside a touring lineup including Bon Jovi guitarist Phil X and members of Slash's solo band The Conspirators, original Triumph members Rik Emmett, Mike Levine, and Gil Moore will join forces for this milestone tour, with tomorrow's local stop being Triumph's first here since they rocked the old Sault Memorial Gardens in 1985. As this is the first show on the tour, we will be among the first to see and hear how Triumph sound in 2026, let alone how involved Rik, Mike, and Gil are throughout, so look for classic hits like "Hold On", "Magic Power", and "Say Goodbye" during their set! Opening tomorrow are Halifax hard rock veterans April Wine in their first local gig since rocking Sault Michigan in 2013 and their first in Sault Ontario since 1999.

Since we last saw April Wine in the area, Marc Parent has succeeded the late Myles Goodwyn on vocals, and he has the right voice and presence to handle "You Could Have Been A Lady", "Roller", and "Enough Is Enough"! This all ages concert goes down tomorrow at 8:00 PM, and there are limited tickets available at this link and at the arena box office for the floor and in sections 108-109 and 117 from $60.50, with VIP passes also available. This should be a great time for fans of vintage Canadian hard rock, so see above for more details, and here's Triumph live in their pre-tour kick-off in Orlando!

Next up, here's some fallout from Saturday night's album release party from local metal trio The BAG, so let's talk about their debut album "Sacculus", which did indeed drop on major streaming platforms that night! CD copies were on sale at the concert at Soo Blaster, but they did not specify what those cost on social media, or if they will be available at any brick-and-mortar stores. You can stream "Sacculus" on YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Apple Music, Spotify, and Qobuz, though Google searches don't list other platforms, so poke around elsewhere if you're curious. No, it is not on Bandcamp, but you can buy the album on iTunes for $8.91. "Sacculus" features nine songs, all with titles capitalized except "6", which (confusingly) is track #5. The album does not feature their 2022-2023 singles "Roadkill", "Get Out", "Our Rock", and "Eccentric Refuge" for unannounced reasons.

It's not unheard of for some local bands to exclude prior standalone singles on their eventual full album (ask Jonesy Land and Heavy Lies The Crown for proof), but I'd have included them, if only to lengthen the album and get those songs on CD! The producer of the album is credited solely as "Gene" on streaming services. Two songs have a guest performer, including A.S.D.P./Agnosticism singer/guitarist Mikhal Muto (who promoted the release concert) on "Emergency Room Mayhem (Break Through The Gates)", and Jordan Alexander (who I'm not familiar with musically) on the "gurd version" of "Dream Machine". Did they intentionally misspell "good"? Regardless, that and the original version are on the full album if you want to compare the two. With all of the above said, and some blanks still left to fill, when can you expect our review of the full album? Believe it or not, it's currently scheduled for a review on the SMS in January.

This is our current queue for new album releases for the rest of the year (by release date order): The Realignment Project, Pillory, Viscera, Mike Haggith, A.S.D.P., Heavy Lies The Crown, The Realignment Project again, X's & Y's, and finally, The Sole Aggressors. We've been blessed with new albums in recent months, and you can see the conundrum that has developed! It is coming, I promise, but congratulations to Spencer, Austin, and Bradley/Ben on finally getting "Sacculus" out! Listen to track #1 ("Braindead") below!

To close today's post, I wanted to share some videos from the release party, and while The BAG and most openers have not done so publically that I'm aware of, Pillory have, courtesy of drummer Bret Shuttleworth's personal YouTube channel! Bret posted six videos from the show there, including four videos from an attendee of the back half of their set, but I'll embed the full 33+ minutes long drumcam video that Bret uploaded here today. In performance order, the death metal trio played started with their usual intro ("End Of Small Sanctuary" from Silent Hill 3) before playing their originals "Specimen Of Egotism", "Abhorred Apprehension", "Curse Of Eternal Sickness", "The Angst Of Existence", "The Passing", and "A Drop Of Shame In An Ocean Of Guilt". Of note, the latter song (which is not on Pillory's new full-length album "Old Soul") was separately uploaded as a cropped & vertical video on Bret's channel.

Pillory next headed back to their thrash metal roots to play an original intro named "The Stalker" that was the last piece of music that they wrote with original second guitarist Andres Duchesne before his passing (nice of the guys to pay tribute to him!). That segued right into a cover of Death's "Pull The Plug" to close the set. The drumcam angle isn't ideal to capture the whole view (as such, you never see Robert), but it's a ferocious half hour, and Robert's stage presence and banter is slowly improving! You've gotta love Devon's Crimson Crusade shirt too, they were a solid band, and their Death influences were always present. Check the set out below, and we'll have more of Bret's videos from this show soon!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Triumph & The Nameless) And More Weekend Concert Previews!!

Today's post is a little longer than expected due to a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT popping up, but with the rest of this weekend's known hard rock shows to cover, and a huge new show coming in a few months, I was too far in to try to edit things out. Here's what you should know!

Sault Michigan hard rock cover quartet The Nameless will return to The Merchants Bar for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, this show was actually first announced via their Facebook page back on November 28th, but that completely slipped me by at the time. At least they did announce it, unlike their Brimley VFW Veteran's Ride gig last month! The Nameless last rocked The Merch (or the Soo in general) back in August, and it will be good to see their lively and hard edged slate of covers back on stage! Their own promotion for TOMORROW'S concert implies that there could be an ugly sweater party theme, but they nor the venue (who almost never promote bands playing there on social media) have outright confirmed that, so it could just be seasonal hype. Everything goes down TOMORROW at 9:00 PM with a 21+ age limit and no cover charge. See above for more details, and for a preview,here's The Nameless live!

Next up, reunited Mississauga, Ontario hard rock icons Triumph and Halifax hard rock legends April Wine will kick off their Rock & Roll Machine Reloaded Tour at GFL Memorial Gardens on Wednesday, April 22nd! Triumph's return has been the talk of many rock fans this week, and they remain classic & active rock radio staples to this day with hits like "Lay It On The Line", "Hold On", and "Somebody's Out There", so it will be really neat to see them back in town to begin their 50th anniversary reunion tour! Triumph last played here at the old Gardens way back on April Fools Day in 1985, so what's a 41 year wait? A lot of the discourse about Triumph in 2026 has been about who exactly is playing in the band for this tour, including rumours that some original members will only be playing select dates, but according to the band's Facebook page, original members Rik Emmett, Mike Levine, and Gil Moore will all be touring North America next year.

Joining them on tour are Bon Jovi guitarist Theofilos "Phil X" Xenidis (who was a late-era Triumph member in the early 1990s), and two members of Slash's solo band The Conspirators (bassist Todd Kerns and drummer Brent Fitz). This could imply that the touring members could fill in for Rik, Mike, and Gil on certain songs, or we could get double the bass and drums, but I know Triumph fans kinda expect to see the original band, so hopefully we get our fill! As for April Wine, we've seen them multiple times between the Twin Saults, most recently at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino in 2013, but this will be their first Sault Ontario gig since headlining at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion in 1999. As fans may recall, frontman Myles Goodwyn retired from touring with April Wine in 2022 before passing away the following year, but he gave his blessing for long-time guitarist Brian Greenway to take over leading April Wine and continue touring.

As such, the lineup playing here in April will be the same as what fans saw in Sault Michigan in 2013, only with Marc Parent as their new lead singer and rhythm guitarist, but Marc has the chops to tackle classics like "Roller", "I Like To Rock", and "Sign Of The Gypsy Queen"! Tickets for this all ages and 8:00 PM concert went on sale today at 10:00 AM at this link and at GFL Memorial Gardens' in-person box office, but this is a pricey one, as the cheapest tickets run for $88.65. Many closer seats are reserved for VIP passes too, and there good perks therein, so check online for details. This should be a huge show, and it's neat that the reunion tour begins here, so visit the above links for more on Triumph & April Wine in the spring!

Now to close out this weekend's hard rock concert previews, and fittingly, what's left is all at Beck's Bar, starting with prolific local acoustic rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison, who will play their weekly Saturday matinee timeslot TOMORROW! No stranger to frequent bookings at one locale, this will be Tym's second show at Beck's this week, having played their most recent Sunday matinee gig as well, so if you missed that performance, here's your encore! This won't be Tym's last Beck's gig of the year however, as he will be back at the former Vibe Lounge for their last Sunday matinee timeslot of the year on the 28th, let alone his upcoming Misty's and Eagles Club stops, so fans have lots of chances ahead. You can enjoy his unplugged classic and hard rock covers tomorrow at 3:00 PM with a 19+ age limit and no cover charge, and we'll address the nightcap there in a second. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and for a preview, here's Tym live!

Finally, who's playing at Beck's TOMORROW NIGHT? None other than southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225, who will be playing the rare double header at the Goulais Avenue nightclub this weekend, as they're headlining their SUNDAY matinee timeslot as well! As usual, the Sunday matinee acts at Beck's traditionally play acoustic, so that will be Bone Yard's final "uncorked" show of 2025, a fact to keep in mind when planning your live music attendance this weekend, especially if you like Greg, Alex, and Warren in this form factor! Of course, tomorrow's concert is the big one, with fully electric instruments, so if you've missed them at this venue since the Halloween weekend, then come on down for your local 225's hard rocking covers and their increasing slate of originals! As a reminder, Tym Morrison is not "opening" for Bone Yard tomorrow, he and the band each have four hour timeslots spaced two hours apart.

Tomorrow's concert is at 9:00 PM, Sunday's is at 3:00 PM, neither has a cover charge, and there's a 19+ age limit in effect. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's "the dirty three" live!

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