LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Headrush & About:Blank) And The End Of The Sault Star In Print!!

Before we get into today's news post, I wanted to offer our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Canadian hard rock icon Sass Jordan, who passed away on Friday at the age of 65. Sass had cancelled a number of concerts since last month due to a serious medical issue, and is survived by her husband, former Guess Who frontman Derek Sharp and their daughter, among other extended family. Born in England as Sarah Jordan and later raised in Montreal, Sass broke through on Canadian radio and on MuchMusic with her debut album "Tell Somebody" in 1988, and became a major hitmaker in the early-mid 1990s with songs like "Make You A Believer", "High Road Easy", and "Sun's Gonna Rise". She also made a new generation of fans in the 2000s as a judge on all six seasons of Canadian Idol on CTV. Sass had played multiple shows here in the 1990s, including at least once at The Eastgate Hotel.

Her final local concert appearance was when she opened for Kim Mitchell on night #2 of the Bell Border Jam at Runway Park in August 2008, which is her only local date that is well documented online. Sass Jordan's accessible bluesy take on hard rock helped her win a Juno Award for Most Promising Female Vocalist in 1989 and further nominations, and she will be missed by many fans and friends. Visit your preferred music and news websites for more information. R.I.P. Sass!

Today's post otherwise features big news from local news and two LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, and we'll actually start in Sault Michigan, where local hard rock/punk duo About:Blank will play a rare headlining concert on Saturday, October 17th at The Merchant's Bar! The band announced the show on their Facebook page on Friday, and it will mark their first public date since the Superior Whitefish Festival Battle of the Bands in Brimley in July. Parker & Kade did acknowledge playing at the Highland Clan Motorcycle Club's East Coast Fall Fling in the Soo yesterday, but in researching HCMC events, they are all at a private location that you have to inquire within about if not already a member. The club has brought in other local hard rock bands like Tarnished and The Nameless for recent events too, and photos can be seen on their Facebook group, but despite public acknowledgements, they were not fully public concerts.

It will be good to see About:Blank back on a fully public stage in just under two weeks as part of a busy month for them (more on their other show this month soon), and note that they will have new merchandise on sale here. Yes, new merch at The Merch! This concert has an oddly short 2 hour run time starting at 10:00 PM, a 21+ age limit, and no cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, and we should have more from them next week!

Next up, we'll head back to Sault Ontario for another entry in what will be a packed Halloween weekend for concertgoers, as local classic/hard rock cover quintet Headrush will open for local/Toronto pop rock cover veterans The Killer Hooks at The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre on Saturday, October 31st! Entitled "Fright Night At The Museum", this special event will mark the first hometown appearance from The Killer Hooks (led by former Gsis Murphy frontman Tony Marcello) since headlining a video dance party at Blaster Powerhouse in April. This show too will see them break out their video dance party format, which will be a fun multimedia experience to go along with a talented live band, and they do have occasional hard rock covers! Headrush will be two weeks removed from their next gigs at The Esquire Club, and their heavier 1980s-leaning covers should set the right tone on Halloween night as their fall schedule begins taking shape!

Presumably on a similar scale to this summer's Cory Marks show in the hangar, expect "goolish (sic) times" and "killer music" along with a costume contest, with prizes going to the best individual and group costumes. Sadly, this will be a 19+ event, doors open at 8:00 PM, Crank Sound Distribution will reportedly be on hand, and tickets cost $35 (up $10 from The Killer Hooks' April show here, but that didn't have Halloween frills). Tickets are on sale at this link, at the Bushplane Museum, or at sponsors Northern Superior Brewing Co.'s on-site Tap Room. This will be another strong contender to your Halloween schedule, so visit the Facebook event page for more details!

Finally for today, this doesn't bear directly on our coverage, but it was announced last week at The Sault Star and its sister newspapers in Northern Ontario will end print operations at the end of October. In this CBC article, it's noted The Sault Star's parent company Postmedia is transitioning to a digital-only distribution format for their news outlets here and in Sudbury, North Bay, Timmins, Elliot Lake, and Espanola, while the Cochrane Times-Post will end operations outright. No local jobs will be lost, as the paper was being printed in North Bay, where its printing press is closing and will see those cuts. Affected markets will still get a once-a-week newspaper, namely Northern News This Week, which will feature curated articles from Northeastern Ontario communities, but I have read conflicting reports on if it will be free like the former Sault This Week or only to paid subscribers. Stay tuned to the newly redesigned Sault Star website for updates.

The closest print newspaper after this will be The Sault Evening News in Sault Michigan, while St. Joseph Island still prints the weekly (if small) Island Clippings. The slow decline of The Sault Star to an ever-thinner three days-a-week publication was a hint that this was coming, alas, but The Sault Star lives on as a digital news outlet up against SooToday, and in our coverage of relevant Sault Star articles, I never assumed that they were print-only anyway. As long as we have effective local journalism for years to come, but it will be strange to not have the paper of old when we want it. Visit the above links for more details, and stay tuned for this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post on the SMS next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Soundcheck, Headrush, And Silent 9), And A New Bone Yard 225 Video!!

Before we begin this post, just a heads up that Silent 9 (who are leading things off today as it is) do not appear to be playing at The Tap Room at Northern Superior Brewing Co. on Saturday anymore, as per the show's deletion from their website's concert calendar. It's possible that the date was a remnant of their Wolf Fest II booking last week, as that event was later in the year last year, but regardless, they're not playing there on Saturday. However, today's post has LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for later this year and a new video to check out, so here's what you should know!

The Esquire Club at 103 Second Line West has resumed hosting concerts on weekends after their annual summer break! After experimenting with week-by-week show announcements in the spring, they have posted a schedule through Christmas onto their Facebook page, albeit an AI generated one (note that none of the bands use the assigned logos). The fall band schedule started last week with Mid Life Crysis, and we'll address this weekend's band (it's not technically Soundcheck) in this weekend's concert previews, but the first of the non-short notice hard rock bookings is courtesy of classic/hard rock cover quartet Silent 9! In their only Esquire Club gigs for the rest of the year, they have secured the Thanksgiving long weekend, so you can see them there on Friday, October 9th and Saturday, October 10th. Still riding high on the success of Wolf Fest II (a shareable, non-"Story" video is coming soon), don't miss out on their west end gigs next month!

In one more new Silent 9 show announcement, their website's concert calendar confirms that Silent 9 will return to Beck's Bar on Friday, October 30th! This has yet to be corroborated by the venue (it may not be until the week of), but the timing hints that this could be a Halloween-themed event. Of course, October 31st is a Saturday this year, but we'll let you know when/if confirmation is made about spooky goings regardless of day! Next month's Esquire Club shows are at 9:30 PM, Devil's Night at Beck's will be at 9:00 PM, all are 19+, and none of the three have age limits. See above for more on this fan-favourite cover hard rock band's October gigs!

Next up, we'll jump ahead one week at The Esquire Club, as local classic/hard rock cover quintet Headrush will return there for a weekend in all three months ahead! They'll rock the west end nightclub on October 16th & 17th, November 13th & 14th, and December 11th & 12th, giving fans of the Johns, Wes, Gino, and Frank lots of opportunities to see their 1980s-leaning cover attack in the last quarter of 2026. Given the venue's summer break, Headrush haven't played here since April, so consider welcoming them back in mid-October after six months away, but you have no shortages ahead! As with Silent 9's shows there next month, expect all six upcoming dates to have 19+ age limits, no cover charges, and 9:30 PM start times. See above for more details, and stay tuned for more Headrush updates when they roll in!

After October finishes out with bands that largely don't cross the hard rock line (the aforementioned Mid Life Crysis drew the Halloween weekend this year), local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck (no space) will pick things back up at The Esquire Club with scheduled weekends on November 6th-7th and December 18th-19th! Note that this weekend's shows are technically not Soundcheck, but a "separate" band will be playing then (details forthcoming). The November weekend will be Soundcheck's first at The Esquire with new bassist Dan Beaupre, while December's will be the venue's last concerts for 2026, as Christmas and Boxing Day are on a Friday & Saturday this year (as such, that may be a very quiet weekend locally but time will tell for other venues). Good to see Soundcheck (7.3?) getting some more publically advertised bookings this year!

At press time, neither Esquire Club weekend is branded as an "epic crossover" with their sister band Separate Wayz, but that doesn't mean that we won't see Nicole pop in as a guest singer either. Regardless, all four of Soundcheck's upcoming shows there are 19+ with 9:30 PM start times and no cover charges. See above for much more on all of the hard rock-leaning shows hitting The Esquire Club to end the year, and look for more from Terry, Travis, Dan, and Johnny (and Nicole) in both bands soon! 

Finally for today, here's a new video of local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 live at the Bruce Mines Fall Fair this past Friday! Live-streamed to their Facebook page (alas, so you have until around October 11th to see it before it is deleted), the video sees Greg, Alex, and Warren covering Van Halen's version of John Brim's "Ice Cream Man". Shot vertically (though at least zoomed out enough to show the full band on stage simultaneously), this is a fun cover for what we see, and the stage for this post-demolition derby concert looks huge, so give it a watch below while you can, and we'll have more from last week's Beck's show in an upcoming post!

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

Wednesday Concert Previews, Plus Theatre Of Night & Headrush Updates!!

Before we begin this post, I wanted to apologize for a concert that missed our coverage, but the lone SMS-amenable band on the bill ended up dropping out. Fans of party metal trio The Apocalypse Afterparty are well accustomed by now to them being on the bill of otherwise-rap-only concerts at Blaster Powerhouse in the 2020s, and they were advertised to open for 94Fatso and Robbie G there on Friday (here's the poster). Between the band's lack of social media promotion and my own busy personal schedule, this fell through the cracks, which I do apologize for, but The AA did not play due to personal commitments (thank you to Paul for confirming.)

Hopefully all is well with him, Mikhal, and Amanda, and that we see them back at it down the line, and I do hope that the rap concert was a big hit! Now to two mid-week concert previews as we fully emerge from the Labour Day long weekend, with some more news and notes in the back half, and we'll start with the always-prolific Tym Morrison, who is slated to conclude his annual Wednesday summer concert arrangement at The Mike Case Memorial Stage TOMORROW! Unless Tym's run is extended (it has been before), this is your last chance to see Tym's unplugged covers on the 1332 Great Northern Road outdoor stage for the 2026 season, so keep tomorrow's show in mind if you enjoy his unplugged classic and hard rock covers! As usual for his shows there this year, Tym will be on at 6:30 PM tomorrow with no cover charge or age limit.

9&10 News is calling for temperatures hovering around 20° tomorrow evening with clouds disappearing as the 2 hour show progresses, so things should be similar to last week. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, we'll have more on his new Reggie's show announcements later this week, and for  a preview, here's Tym live!

Next up, here's a special Wednesday night concert at Beck's Bar, as local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 will play their first fully-plugged-in public concert in Sault Ste. Marie in over a month TOMORROW NIGHT, but they won't be alone. For this one-off(?) concert named "Midweek Mayhem", they will welcome Stones & Crows/Jupiter Marvelous guitarist Spencer Pine in a brief reversion to Bone Yard's 2009-2021 form factor. Beck's owner Becky Sawyer was inspired to bring Spencer and your local 225 together after being impressed by Spencer's guitar skills during Stones & Crows concerts there, and given his and Alex's talents on the six string, this should be fun to see what they can cook up together alongside Greg and Warren! Implications in marketing have this being more of a freeform/jam night setup than a typical Bone Yard concert, but if you want their full three-piece shabang, check them out an hour east at the Bruce Mines Fall Fair this weekend, preview forthcoming.

In deference to this being a work/school night, tomorrow's concert runs from 8:00-11:00 PM, though the 19+ age limit and no cover charge remain as expected. It will be very interesting to hear how Spencer fits in with "the dirty three", especially if he is able to sing lead at all, so visit the official Facebook event page for more on Midweek Mayhem, and here's Bone Yard 225 (sans Spencer) live a couple of years back!

Also today, I wanted to acknowledge an event that local classic/hard rock cover quintet Headrush played at last month at Mulligan's Irish Pub. On August 22rd, the guys played their last summer gig for the year at the afterparty for the sixth annual Andy Buffone Memorial Golf Tournament, which is a fundraiser for Canadian Mental Health Association Algoma held at The Sault Golf Club at 1804 Queen Street East. Click here for SooToday's coverage of the tournament, who Andy Buffone was, and what funds raised here go towards at CMHA Algoma. While nominally held at Mulligan's (the golf club's on-site bar/restaurant), Headrush's concert was outside on the front lawn, and bassist John Amendola heavily implied on the band's Facebook group that they also played at this tournament last year, though they did not publically acknowledge their involvement at all in 2025.

I didn't cover this on the SMS last month because it wasn't open to the general public, just registered golfers and donors, but John praised the event well, from the start to the alleged end-of-night "shenanigans", so hopefully everything was a hit for a worthy organization like the CMHA! A video from the private gig was shared by John to their Facebook group, which sees Headrush playing the back half of their cover of April Wine's "Roller". Sadly, the video is both vertical and incomplete, but they were in solid shape on this big outdoor stage, and John Anderson was hitting the notes you expect on vocals, so give it a watch above! I can't embed it here, possibly due to John Amendola's video privacy settings.

Finally for today, let's head south to Sault Michigan for updates from local/Grand Rapids classical metal band Theatre of Night! While their Facebook updates have been slight since releasing "Christmas Night III" last year, they have been teasing that they might be returning to do another Christmas tour run this year after not playing shows last year. Their website has confirmed two new band members joining Craig, Steve, and Erik, including vocalist Aziza Poggi (replacing their most recent live singer Marquita Bernard) and bassist Alex Darwin (replacing Luke Bernard). Aziza is a Grand Rapids-based classically trained mezzo soprano singer with a strong background in Western Michigan, and while I can't find substantial details on Alex's musical background, he is pictured with a 5 string bass, which is usually a good talent indicator. A reason for the Bernards' departure wasn't announced, but all past live and studio singers with Theatre of Night are listed as "guest singers", regardless of if they were officially advertised as band members.

No, they did not credit Luke or fellow past instrumental members Greg Giles, Chris Webster, or Scott Andringa in the same way. German session vocalist and former full-band member Gaby Koss remains credited as a "featured singer", implying that she will turn up on some future studio material. While we await full band samples with Aziza & Alex, this Instagram-exclusive video from last week sees guitarist Steve Giles and drummer Erik Sales jamming "O Holy Night", which is an effective teaser of what's to come later in the year! I believe the band turned off external embedding on Instagram, so give it a watch above, and stay tuned for more from Theatre of Night soon, let alone on the SMS as the week continues! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Hails), The Full Throttle Saloon's Future, And New Live Videos!!

Here's that second promised news post for your Friday reading, and it features three linked stories that take us from a closing concert venue to one of its last concerts to videos from its opening act, but first, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next month!

Less than one week after he promotes the Autopilot-headlined concert at The Art Hub At Spring, Hails frontman & visual artist Brenton Ellis will bring an all-local punk/metal concert to the intimate 504 Queen Street East art gallery on Friday, September 11th! Hails proper will headline the show in the crossover thrash trio's current lineup's Art Hub debut, while former Ha!ls guitarist Mikhal Muto's ska punk quartet ASDP will co-headline the proceedings, and extreme metal quintet (and "Sewer City breakdown kings") With Gunfire will open. Could this be the heaviest Art Hub concert ever? This concert comes as part of Brent's new working relationship with the venue, as along with his two shows, he will be hosting an art exhibit there that premieres on Wednesday, September 2nd. As part of "B.G. Ellis' Audio/Visual Eviscerate", he will be displaying artwork that he has painted since 2019, and concert posters and band merchandise will be exhibited too.

The exhibit's opening night (featuring live music by DJ Seith) coincides with Brent's birthday too, so next month will be big for him! This all isn't a new idea either, as he hosted an exhibition of his art there in March 2023, with a Hails concert taking place at the time as well, but if you've followed Brent's music in the past seven years, you'll know that his distinct art style is a common thread, and it'll be neat to see it all come together like this! As for the concert proper, doors open at 6:00 PM on the 11th, the show will definitely be all ages, and admission will be $10 or "pay what you can". Visit the official Facebook event page for more details!

Next up, here's some surprising news, as The Full Throttle Saloon at 256 Wellington Street West closed today after a nine month run. The former Primavera Hall was rebranded under Rosa Carello's ownership in November of last year, becoming a new host for live cover bands on weekends. as well as hosting three high profile touring tribute band concerts this year, most recently Sandman on July 25th. However, as per this SooToday article by Brandon Walker, the building's owners have opted to sell (click here for details), and with Rosa now unable to lease the space, she has confirmed that "I am temporarily closed until I find a new location". As part of the final events at the Steelton locale, Rosa had hosted a customer appreciation week with drink specials since Tuesday. Time will tell what happens for The Full Throttle Saloon 2.0, but hopefully Rosa lands on her feet somewhere else, and it was good having a new-ish venue for concerts!

The fact that this news comes out less than three weeks after the Sandman concert is unfortunate, but at the same time, they hadn't plugged the show on their Facebook page at all since June despite the show going down as scheduled, so that would (to me) hint that their attention was at least diverted with the closure talks. However, before we say goodbye to 256 Wellington West outright, there are two new videos from the Crazy Babies show there in May that completely passed me by at the time! The Toronto-based Ozzy Osbourne/Black Sabbath tribute band were the first of the three touring tribute bands to rock the Full Throttle Saloon in mid-2026, and local openers Headrush actually posted two videos of their set to their Facebook group. Both filmed by bassist John Amendola, one sees them covering Ozzy's "No More Tears", though the sidestage clip is sadly both 17 seconds long and was shot vertically.

Embedded below is their opening song on this night ("I Don't Know"), which John filmed in full and horizontally! The vocal wear on "No More Tears" was evident at that later stage of the night, but the Crazy Babies deliver the goods for fans of Ozzy's, and they look the part where it counts, even down to the Zakk Wylde bullseye guitar! Of course, this show caught a lot of flack online for its $70 price point and lack of admission at the door, but it did well enough to warrant Rosa bringing in two more tribute bands to the former Primavera while she could, and the crowd looks decent from what is visible! Give John's Crazy Babies videos a watch above & below!

Finally for today, let's stay with Headrush's Facebook group, as they have some new videos there, but not from the Crazy Babies show. This year, they've been going the Silent 9 route by taking the summer off aside from festivals and private events, and in the latter case, they have played at at least two private functions since Rotaryfest. Last week, they headed north of Desbarats for a private party of some type on Diamond Lake, and in John Amendola's batch post of media from the event, there is one brief live video of them covering Foreigner's "Hot Blooded", but it has three big issues: It's vertical, it's only 18 seconds long, and it heavily focuses on partying attendees in the crowd rather than Headrush, though you do see guitarist/keyboardist Frank Mannarino late. Still, it looks like a blast was had by all! The other acknowledged private event since was a wedding concert at The Loft at the Algoma Conservatory of Music earlier this week.

For this private booking, Headrush welcomed a special guest performer on vacation from England, namely saxophonist/keyboardist Piero Tucci. Odd not seeing Frank behind the keys, but Piero knows his way around the sax here! In another batch post from John, he included (thankfully full and horizontal) videos of them covering The Doobie Brothers' "Long Train Runnin'" and, as embedded below, Foreigner's "Urgent". Both covers are strongly done by this veteran group, with John Anderson's vocal range put to good use, and The Loft is a nice upscale downtown venue that is well suited for a wedding event like this, so give Headrush's new videos a watch above and below!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Tym Morrison & Headrush) And Weekend Concert Previews!!

A quieter weekend (comparatively speaking) is in store for hard rock concerts in the Twin Saults and area this weekend, so we will be able to address all concerts this weekend within two posts, in all likelihood. Sunday's Krash-headlined concert will be previewed separately closer to the event, but here. let's look at the covers-leaning action over the next few days, including some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, some on SHORT NOTICE!

Local classic/hard rock cover quintet Headrush will be the headliners of this year's North Shore Agricultural Fair (a.k.a. the Laird Fair) on SATURDAY NIGHT at the Laird Fairgrounds 20 minutes outside of town! Apologies for the short notice, the band oddly hasn't really plugged the booking on their Facebook group (fans confirmed the Laird Fair gig there on August 2nd), but the Laird Fair's Facebook page has been advertising them since late last month. In their first public gig since Rotaryfest, Head Rush (if you believe the schedule) will be taking over the baton as SATURDAY headliners from Silent 9 this year, and according to the AI-generated poster (one of many covering this year's fair), expect "a night of dancing, singing along, and partying". There's plenty of family friendly games, activities, vendors, and much more to take in at the fairgrounds, so click here for the full weekend itinerary and schedule from tomorrow-Sunday.

Like past years with a cover rock band on the SATURDAY, Headrush's concert will be at 9:00 PM with no cover charge (select events have registration fees), but the concert itself will be licensed and 19+. The fairgrounds gazebo is covered but not a completely closed-off building, so just in case, 9&10 News projects a high of 21° in Laird on SATURDAY NIGHT, and there is the potential for rain late, so definitely follow your preferred weather forecast for updates (rain is more likely for the Sunday program though). Visit the above links for more on this year's Laird Fair, and here's Headrush live!

Next up, prolific local acoustic classic/hard rock musician Tym Morrison will return to Ije's Place in Desbarats for his third show there TOMORROW NIGHT, but in a new confirmation, he will also return to Beck's Bar for a matinee concert on SUNDAY! Again, apologies for the short notice on SUNDAY's Beck's concert, the venue only announced the show via their Facebook page this past Sunday as part of their weekly schedule reveal, and Tym followed suit a day later with a batch Facebook event page that confirmed two more Sunday matinee gigs on September 27th and November 1st. No word on if the latter will have any belated Halloween themes, but keep these shows as well as THIS SUNDAY's gig in mind for Tym's unplugged hard rock covers! Counting his Trading Post gig yesterday, tomorrow's and SUNDAY's concerts will keep Tym busy with three shows in five days.

Tomorrow's show in Desbarats is proof that "Tim Morisson" (if you believe the venue's AI-generated poster) has went over well on his road trips 45 minutes southeast, and hopefully he is a hit again at Ije's! That show takes place at 6:00 PM with no cover or age limit (though it will be "happy hour for alcohol!" during Tym's sets), while all three Beck's matinees (THIS SUNDAY included) are at 3:00 PM during their weekly euchre tournament, with no cover and 19+ age limits. Visit the above links for more details on all fronts, and for a preview, here's Tym live!

Now to shows that had 100% advance notice, and we'll start with local classic/hard rock cover quartet Quite Frankly, who have a rare double header weekend in store, with two shows in two days! TOMORROW NIGHT, they'll make their debut at Outspoken Brewing at 350 Queen Street East, while they'll return to Gateway Casino on SATURDAY NIGHT (they don't host concerts on Fridays), so you have two downtown options this weekend. Like Headrush, fans last saw Linsaey, Frank, Harley, and Joe rocking out at on Stage 1 at Rotaryfest Friday last month, and while these are indoor shows (and Outspoken is a smaller, intimate space as it is), at least there's no air quality concerns to worry about! The classic and hard rock covers will be flowing regardless, so don't miss out at 9:00 PM tomorrow and 8:00 PM on Saturday! Both shows are 19+ with no announced cover. Visit the above links for more on both shows, and here's Quite Frankly live!

Finally for this preview post, we'll head south to St. Ignace, Michigan, where Sault Ste. Marie classic/hard rock cover quartet Tarnished will return to Kingston Kitchen for their second show there of 2026 on SATURDAY NIGHT! Like last month's concert at the Jamaican restaurant, Alex, Josh, Chris, and Ron aren't in St. Ignace for a special occasion (for that, stop by for the truck show next month), so this will just be a good excuse to see Tarnished's hard rocking and 1980s-friendly cover slate, so keep everything in mind if you'll be in Mackinac County or are up for the hour's drive from the Soo! Expect "good vibes and great music" from Crush's sister band at Kingston Kitchen on Saturday night with an 8:00 PM start time, no likely age limit given that this is a restaurant first, and no stated age limit. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Tarnished live a few years back!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes (plus our Krash preview) in the coming days! Thanks everyone!

Rotaryfest 2026 Fallout (Part 2!!)

Today's second post (eight already this month!) takes us back to last month's Rotaryfest for more media and videos and whatnot from that survived the air quality index levels to rock out at Clergue Park! Check out yesterday's first post linked here for what's known to be circulating publically from the first four bands on Stage 1 on Friday, July 17th. We'll next look at the co-headliners on that Friday, namely local classic/hard rock cover quintet Headrush, who were filmed by the prolific Christopher Paci for his YouTube channel. Yes, Dopethrone, Three Days Grace, and Bush fans, Chris' videos for all of these concerts are among our still ridiculous backlog, stay tuned hopefully soon! Chris swung by Clergue Park late, and only filmed three videos that night, with his only Headrush video being of them covering Greta Van Fleet's "Highway Tune".  Bizarrely modern choice for them, especially given earlier marketing putting them as primarily covering 1980s music.

I am admittedly not a Greta Van Fleet fan, but Headrush do cover this song well, and it's a good match for John Anderson's vocal range! The crowd sounded receptive too, so give their Rotaryfest 2026 video a watch below, and yes, I am well aware of their Laird Fair gig, that too is coming to a proper post as soon as possible! This backlog will take some time!

Chris' other videos on Rotaryfest Friday were of North Bay classic rock cover band Just Press Play, whose lineup features long-time Stage 1 sound tech and former That's Chester/Obsession guest guitarist Dan Belanger. Rain cropped up during their set, which is obvious by the small crowd and scattered umbrellas, but kudos to Chris for filming what he did, and that includes covers of Foreigner's "Hot Blooded" and, as embedded below, Cheap Trick's "The Flame". Just Press Play sound good on these covers, with strong vocals and tight musicianship, and they did hint on their Facebook page to wanting to play here again, so hopefully (if outdoors) there's no rain or smoke to worry about! Just press play on these videos above & below!

Over on Stage 2, The Sault Blues Society took over the Friday lineup for a fifth straight year of Friday Night Blues. None of the acts have major social media presences at a level where they are posting videos online to watch on public and official sources, alas. Still, Bob Davies snapped photos of all five bands on the Second Stage that night, so click here for some really nice photos, and familiar faces lined all five groups! Moving back to Stage 1 on Saturday, July 18th, the earliest band that has a public video to my knowledge (outside of our coverage) is classic rock cover quartet Mid Life Crysis, who the aforementioned Chris Paci filmed covering 'Til Tuesday's "Voices Carry" before he hit the road to see Bush in St. Ignace. "Voices Carry" isn't the biggest 1980s cover choice in retrospect, but it's soundly covered by this experienced and familiar local band (in their tenth Stage 1 appearance), and it lets Lori show off her vocal range!

We'll close our second Rotaryfest fallout post with the next Saturday band with public videos, namely classic rock cover quartet RPM, whose entire set was filmed across multiple cameras for their Facebook page! You can see the songs broken up in individual videos linked below, but they eventually posted a full-set video combining everything into a 49 minute watch. In order, Dino, Marcel, Rob, and Joseph played a medley of songs by The Romantics, Neil Diamond, John Mellencamp, and John Cafferty & The Beaver Brown Band, followed by Duran Duran's "Hungry Like The Wolf", The Rolling Stones' "Brown Sugar", John Mellencamp's "Authority Song", The Outfield's "Your Love", Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Looking Out My Back Door", Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues", Joe Walsh's "Rocky Mountain Way", Poison's "Talk Dirty To Me", Huey Lewis & The News' "Walking On A Thin Line", ...

...Bryan Adams' "Summer Of 69", and AC/DC's "TNT". Credit to Out & Out Country/ex-That's Chester drummer Ric Datson for helping set up the multiple cameras here, in a similar way to his Double Down footage from Rotaryfests past. While only really dipping their toes into heavier covers late, RPM are a talented group who have definitely improved as an ensemble and individually over the past decade, and they had a good crowd for their set (which I saw most of, so I can vouch for how they went over!) Give RPM's full multi-camera set a watch for yourselves below!

When we pick up our Rotaryfest fallout coverage (hopefully soon-ish), we'll look at any extant public videos from the last four bands on Stage 1, and if there's space, the Saturday lineup on Stage 2, but our next post will be a news post. Stay tuned for that and more in the near term! Thanks everyone!

Rotaryfest Stage 1 Concert Previews, Cancellations, And Air Quality Condition Notes!!

(UPDATED AT 1:09 PM) Today's post previewing Stage 1 of Rotaryfest for 2026 went up when there were still many unanswered questions about the status of the festival given the severely poor air quality due to the forest fires in Northwestern Ontario and the smoke drifting east across much of the province. Festival organizers announced late yesterday that they would monitor conditions and issue updates about closures at 9:00 AM and 12:00 PM, and in the latter update on their website, they confirmed that today's Stage 1 lineup at Clergue Park (Encore, Lime, The Lock City Rollers, and The Range Lights) has been cancelled. In fact, every Rotaryfest event today has been called off except for Ribfest, the midway (though hours may be subject to change), and certain vendors at their discretion. Musically speaking, I believe this is the first time that a complete day's worth of music at Rotaryfest has been cancelled due to weather or atmospheric conditions (they tend to tough out rain).

Similarly, the City of Sault Ste. Marie has cancelled the Downtown Street Party scheduled for tonight (concurrently with the Stage 1 timeframe at Rotaryfest), as well as all other City-ran outdoor events today, as per this update. Tomorrow's Rotaryfest itinerary is not yet determined, but the air quality index for Sault Ste. Marie remains at 10+ (very high risk), and unfortunately, the forecast has worsened, as it's now only expected to drop one notch tomorrow to a forecast maximum of 10 (high risk). At this point, I have zero idea if they will chance having bands at Clergue Park tomorrow on any stage, and if so, would there be lineup adjustments based on performers opting out of playing. Pandemic aside, large-scale outdoor concert cancellations like this are new to me, but I will absolutely let you know when/if anything is tangibly announced about the status of Stage 1 and Stage 2 for Rotaryfest tomorrow and/or Saturday.

Regarding our current post schedule, I'll leave our Stage 1 previews as is for tomorrow's and Saturday's programs, as they're still officially on until otherwise stated, and I'm still covering the Second Stage programming in our next post, hitting the site by tomorrow morning, but I'm monitoring everything as much as I can, and so should you if you were planning on going to Clergue Park this weekend. Please stay inside and stay safe, especially if you have asthma or preexisting health conditions, and if you have to go outside or want to chance going to the carnival/getting ribs, please mask up and use common sense. As always, our best wishes go out to those directly dealing with and fighting the forest fires out west!

Assuming things aren't impaired any further by the forest fire smoke (a big if), TOMORROW is the delayed kickoff for the annual Rotaryfest music program, as Sault Ontario's summer festival returns for another year of family entertainment across three two days at Clergue Park and surrounding areas! Visit the official website or read your physical program in your mailbox for full non-musical details, including what's going down at the EDM-focused Stage 3 at the Downtown Plaza. This post will focus on the cover band-centric Stage 1 beside the Centennial Library, which will be curated by stage manager Valerie Pluss once again with Andrew Stuetz returning as MC. In the 25th installment since the familiar blue/yellow stage and modern format debuted in 2001, TOMORROW'S now-opening day on Stage 1 will feature six bands, with all but two making their Rotaryfest debuts (assuming no dropouts or replacements.)

TOMORROW'S day of music on Stage 1 will be headlined by the local debut of North Bay classic rock quintet Just Press Play at 10:20 PM, featuring long-time Rotaryfest sound tech Dan Belanger, so welcome him back in style if you're out! Your Friday co-headliners at 9:00 PM are classic/hard rock cover quintet Headrush (who closed last year's festival) in their return from a recent pause, while reunited classic/hard rock quartet Quite Frankly will debut at Rotaryfest in the 8:00 PM timeslot. Remember, they are late replacements for The Sidekicks, following their move to the Saturday bill after a band dropout that day. Way Backs alumni Jeffrey Wright & Meggy Lee will bring country to the big stage at 7:00 PM, preceded by the returning Jazz Cats (featuring three members of Sunday & The Broken Hearts) at 6:00 PM. Your openers at 5:00 PM are Red Hot Chili Peppers tribute band Mellowship Slinky, featuring guest drummer John Mignacca (ex-As It Stands).

Between Headrush & Quite Frankly, some early heavier funk rock Chili Peppers cuts, and Dan Belanger's track record guesting with the likes of That's Chester and Obsession at past Rotaryfests, SMS readers should hear some hard rock tunes tomorrow from this stacked lineup, air quality permitting! 9&10 News is calling for 19-21° temperatures during tomorrow's band timeframe, and the mostly cloudy(!) skies have a chance of turning into rain during Just Press Play's set, so follow Rotaryfest and your preferred weather forecasts for updates on that front. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's a new video of Headrush closing last year's Stage 1! Bassist John Amendola shared this to their Facebook group yesterday, and it's a 100 seconds-long highlight reel edited with Capcut, in which you'll hear fragments of the likes of Billy Squier, AC/DC, Rick Springfield, and Boston.

Alas, this video was shot (framed?) vertically, and I'd really rather see full videos of Headrush rather than short clips, but this does contain high quality footage of their biggest concert to date, and while not capping off Rotaryfest this year, they look to deliver more classic hard rock hits for fans at Clergue Park tomorrow evening! Give Headrush's new video a watch below!

Finally for the Stage 1 program this year, we head to SATURDAY, where 10 bands will (hopefully) rock out on the biggest and last day of the festival! As usual, a local band will cap things at 10:30 PM, and following the withdrawal of Tragically Hip tribute The Luxury for unannounced reasons, classic rock trio The Sidekicks were bumped from tomorrow's bill into this key timeslot, and hopefully Steve, Dan, and Tracey deliver for fans at night's end! This year's featured touring band is London-based Led Zeppelin tribute band Zed, making them the first Zeppelin tribute at Rotaryfest in 12 years (surprisingly, Mothership haven't played here). Zed's faithful take on the British hard rock legends' catalogue will be at 8:30 PM, following the third Rotaryfest set from punk/alternative cover sextet BookcluB at 7:15 PM, featuring The Jazz Cats' Josh Norling, who is scheduled for four bands this year across both stages. Kudos to him for staying busy!

Note that many of the 2:00-6:00 PM band timeslots were shuffled from the original schedule release, but no bands in this timeframe dropped out (yet?). Half of Abba tribute band Abba Soo will play on Saturday in the classic rock duo Just J&M at 6:15 PM, preceded by veteran classic rock quartet RPM at 5:15 PM. Pop rock cover veterans (and Dark Side Of The Soo sister band) Bourbon Blue return to Stage 1 at 4:15 PM, while Superior Heights Collegiate's student rock band Steel Rock will grace Rotaryfest at 3:15 PM once again. Local classic rock staples Mid Life Crysis will play their tenth Stage 1 set (tops among this year's lineup) at 2:15 PM, preceded by the debut of new local classic rock band Hush (featuring Mustang Heart's Vito Tassone, Turner Up's Robert Brown, and Bigsuit's Brian Oja) at 1:15 PM. Like last year, the Saturday bill will lead off with blues rock sextet Rusty & The Soft Parade at 12:15 PM.

Of course, they are led by local legend Rusty McCarthy, and feature the aforementioned Josh Norling once again), but will they play their Rotaryfest set in the rain again? We won't have an hourly forecast until later today, but 9&10 News is currently calling for a 50% chance of rain on Saturday with a high temperature of 21° (low of 12°). If rain is to be the issue rather than the air quality, it will be on Saturday, alas, but follow Rotaryfest's socials and your preferred weather forecast for specifics as we get closer. All three days of Stage 1 music at Clergue Park are FREE & ALL AGES, and there's certainly lots of music to enjoy, including seven debuting acts, so visit the above links for complete details, and here's Zed live!

With Stage 1 covered (as far as we can currently say), our next post will feature our Stage 2 preview for this year, and the rest of this weekend's known hard rock and punk concert previews will fall into place in that post or the next, so stay tuned for all of that! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Rotaryfest Stage 1!!)

The lineup for Rotaryfest's music stages started rolling out on their website earlier this week! While we await the Saturday lineup on Stage 2, the full lineup of bands on the main covers-centric Stage 1 at Clergue Park is now viewable at this link, and if you're curious, an expanded lineup of EDM artists are scheduled at the Downtown Plaza on the Friday for the returning Stage 3. Today's post will focus on the main stage action, back at the familiar pop-up blue & yellow stage beside the Centennial Library, marking 25 years since the modern format for Stage 1 debuted in 2001. 20 bands will take part on Stage 1 once again, half being returnees from last year, though historically speaking, this is a much different lineup than what is common. Only one band this year has played Stage 1 five+ times in the past, and this is the first ever Rotaryfest with this format without either Mustang Heart or The Northern Jazz Ensemble.

The Thursday, July 16th lineup is devoid of hard rock acts, and will be headlined by classic rock veterans Encore at 9:30 PM in their fifth Stage 1 set, with pop rock cover quartet Lime co-headlining at 8:00 PM in their third straight year and fifth since 2019. Local yacht rock cover band The Lock City Rollers will return from debuting last year at 7:00 PM, while the only newcomers on Thursday are debuting local country/southern rock band The Range Lights (who I know little about) at 6:00 PM.

Heavier acts will play on the other two days, but on July 17th, the Friday lineup will feature a touring headliner for just the second time, namely North Bay classic rock quintet Just Press Play at 10:20 PM in their local debut. Long-time Rotaryfest sound tech Dan Belanger will reportedly guest with them that night, as you may have seen him do with That's Chester and Obsession in the past decade. Co-headlining that night are classic/hard rock cover quintet Headrush (last year's Saturday closers) at 9:00 PM, so if you want some heavier covers, they'll be the likely best bet that day! Classic rock trio and 2023 Stage 1 performers The Sidekicks will return to Rotaryfest in the 8:00 PM timeslot, while after playing Stage 1 the last three years with country band The Way Backs, members Jeffrey Wright & Meggy Lee will take the stage for a pared down duo set at 7:00 PM. 2025 newcomers The online page-less Jazz Cats will bring their complex stylings back at 6:00 PM.

Kicking things off on Friday the 17th are newer local Red Hot Chili Peppers tribute quartet Mellowship Slinky, who have been making solid noise in the Soo over the past year, and there are hard rock-leaning early Peppers songs to draw from, so don't miss their Rotaryfest debut at 5:00 PM!

As for the closing day's program on Saturday, July 18th, two tribute bands will close the 10 band program, with this year's featured touring band being London-based Led Zeppelin tribute band Zed! Long-time fans may recall seeing a different Southern Ontario-based Zeppelin tribute here in 2014 (Michael White & The White), and while part of me is surprised that Mothership have never been booked on Stage 1 given who their singer is, Zed deliver the goods for fans of Led Zeppelin's hard rock classics of the late 1960s and 1970s! Their set is slated for 8:30 PM, while local Tragically Hip tribute band The Luxury will close out the festival for 2026 at 10:30 PM, after previously debuting at Rotary in 2024. This is a key timeslot, so kudos to this local supergroup for getting the honours! Alternative/punk cover sextet BookcluB will continue their march up the Saturday schedule with a 7:00 PM set in their fourth straight year on Stage 1 and first with Carmen Muto on guitar.

The 6:00 PM band this year are classic rock cover veterans Mid Life Crysis in their first Stage 1 set since 2022, but tenth total since debuting here in 2006, making them this year's Rotaryfest iron men (and woman). Fellow local classic rockers RPM will play Rotaryfest for the fifth straight year and sixth total at 5:00 PM, while Spyder's Web's Mark Allemang & Encore's Janet Brown (half of Abba Soo) will play as their new 1970s classic rock duo Just J&M on Stage 1 at 4:00 PM. Pop rock cover quintet Bourbon Blue will return to Rotaryfest for a second straight year at 3:00 PM, while Superior Heights Collegiate student rock band Steel Rock are back on Stage 1 for a third straight year at 2:00 PM. New local multi-genre classic rock band Hush (who I know as little about as I do The Range Lights) will debut on Stage 1 at 1:00 PM, and blues rock veterans Rusty McCarthy & The Soft Parade will kick things off at 12:00 PM after debuting at Rotaryfest in the rain last year.

Other notable recent bands to not return to Stage 1 in 2026 include Flathead Ford, Generations, The Rhythm Junction, and Silent 9, but there's a good array of newer and established faces, especially if you've complained about them allegedly booking the same bands year after year! Of course, hopefully the weather cooperates in five weeks. All days' music programs at Rotaryfest are FREE & ALL AGES, and be sure to visit the official website for full non-musical details, plus the eventual reveal of the Saturday schedule on Stage 2. See above for more on what to look for next month! Thanks everyone!