More Hard Rock/Punk Concert Previews For This Weekend!

Before we begin today's post, I wanted to acknowledge that Wyld Stallyns/ex-Elements singer/guitarist Rob Speers played a late notice & rare solo concert at The Dive Gastro Pub (formerly Low & Slow) yesterday as part of their new "Think It Over Thursday" series featuring acoustic musicians. I'm not sure that I would have been able to cover it before it happened given how crammed this weekend is, but I am also not entirely sure if Rob's solo set was just a solo Stallyns/Elements show or if he played things softer for genre all around. Regardless, I hope his debut at The Dive went well!
 

Now, let's finish up this weekend's hard rock/punk concert previews by looking at Sault Ontario concerts taking place solely tomorrow or on Sunday (anyone that played on Thursday or yesterday is noted in the post below this one), and we'll start with three Saturday matinees, including local acoustic classic/hard rock solo musician Tym Morrison, whose bi-weekly arrangement at Misty's Fifties marches on for another installment TOMORROW! Unless things get extended, Tym only has two more shows left in this series at the Second Line West nightclub, both next month, so if you want to take in Tym's hard rocking solo covers and professional production, head west! As usual for his shows at Misty's, this is a 4:00 PM matinee with a likely 19+ age limit and no cover charge. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and for a preview, here's Tym live!

Next up, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations will return to Shooters Downstairs Lounge for one night day only TOMORROW! While originally advertised by the band as a normal nighttime concert at the Dennis Street nightclub, Shooters has since confirmed that this show will actually be a 5:00 PM matinee, so keep the earlier timeframe in mind if you want to enjoy Valerie, the Tonys, and Pierre's blend of classic and hard rock covers! Of course, this is a one-nighter due to Shooters' Friday DJ nights this year, and while Shooters said on their Facebook that "we're shaking things up" with Generations' "first matinee" there, the earlier scheduling is actually to accommodate a second concert tomorrow night from Sudbury adult contemporary singer Ashley Woodruff, who also played at Shooters last July. While Generations' concert is considered a separate event and not as Ashley's openers, neither show has a cover charge if you wanna hit both.

Generations will take the stage from 5:00-9:00 PM tomorrow, while Ashley's distinct later concert begins at 9:30 PM. Obviously, both events are 19+. Hopefully things go well a little earlier for Generations, so visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here they are live!

There is some punk-leaning nighttime action to take in TOMORROW as well, as local folk punk/emo solo project Agnosticism (whose only social media account is on Instagram) will be headlining at The Distraction! As far as I know, this will be Agnosticism's first public local concert since releasing their new EP "A Letter Of Resignation" earlier this spring, so this could be considered the de facto release party for it (our review of said EP is coming in the next week). Project leader/prolific local punk guitarist Mikhal Muto is no stranger to the East Street venue, and he should have some entertaining folk punk originals in store for fans tomorrow! This all acoustic solo performer show will be opened by The Floor Between Us frontman Colin Gasparelli (who opened for Jackal Blood at The Distraction in February) and Mikhal's Vanity First bandmate Andrew Beggs (a.k.a. "Andrew Keith") in a rare solo set of his own.

I don't know how Andrew solo will differ from Vanity beyond being unplugged, but a wide array of sounds should be on offer tomorrow! While also a matinee, this has the latest start time of the three shows previewed here (6:00 PM). Unlike the above events however, The Distraction is an all ages venue and admission for this show is under a "$5 or pay-what-you-can" model. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Agnosticism live a couple of years back!

Finally, we'll take things to the slightly misnamed March Street Stage (beside June & Friends Hair Salon at 485 Queen Street East) for an eclectic outdoor concert on SUNDAY NIGHT from local promoters Piecing It Together Shows (née Dryer Fire) in their first hard rock-featured booking of the year! The headliners tomorrow are Victoria, British Columbia noise rock/synth duo Pet Retina in their local concert debut, though drummer Max Patterson played here for Dryer Fire last June at The Drawing Club on Bruce Street under his solo project handle i.o (concert promotion is treating this as "i.o. & Pet Retina so there is a possibility that i.o will have a separate set). Pet Retina have a strong and sometimes wild brand of noise rock, so don't miss out on something different on Sunday! Local support will include "noise art" project Hinterbrane, led by local artist Michael Burtch performing alongside Frank Deresti (of Lake Effect fame) and Annie King.

As well, cryptic local anti-folk/Americana act Tye Lawless Co. (also playing at the It's The Pits Festival in Leeburn in July) will be opening here. Sunday's festivities begin at 6:00 PM, this is definitely all ages, and this is strictly a "pay what you can" event with no recommended cover charge. Weather-wise, it's too soon for an hourly forecast as of this writing, but 9&10 News is currently calling for mostly cloudy weather with a 10% chance of rain and 20° temperatures on Sunday. Of course, keep tabs on the local forecast as we get closer to showtime. Visit the above links for more on the first hard rock-featured P.IT.S. show post-renaming, and for a preview of Sunday's action, here's Pet Retina live!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Agnosticism), Vanity First Updates, And New Videos!!

Let's tackle some recent news and notes from Sault Ontario on this rainy Sunday morning, including some new videos, recent updates on an album release, and leading off, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!

Local folk punk/emo solo project Agnosticism will return to the stage with a headlining date at The Distraction on Saturday, May 25th! Led by young & prolific local guitarist Mikhal Muto, Agnosticism (whose only social media account is on Instagram) haven't played live that much in recent months, possibly owing to Mikhal's busy schedule in at least three other bands, but I believe this will be their first public show since releasing their new EP "A Letter Of Resignation" on major streaming services, so you could call this the de facto release party! That EP will be reviewed on the SMS this month, for the record. Mikhal will be joined here by two other solo artists, including 2022 Soo's Got Talent finalist and The Floor Between Us frontman Colin Gasparelli (who opened for Jackal Blood here in February) and Mikhal's Vanity First bandmate Andrew Beggs, who is credited as "Andrew Keith" for this concert. 

No word on if Andrew's solo set will essentially be a one man unplugged Vanity First set or if he'll employ a different sound, but come down to The Distraction on East Street to find out! This Memorial Day weekend concert has an early 6:00 PM start time, no age limit, and admission set at "$5 or pay what you can". This should be a good time for fans of folk punk and acoustic stylings, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details!

Next up, and speaking of Vanity First, let's cover some recent updates from Andrew and Mikhal's local punk band! For those of you who haven't bought their new album "Identity Crisis" on CD or vinyl, the guys posted the back cover of it on their Facebook page on April 25th, so you can glean some more information on the album that way. They credited "Studio 702" as where the album was recorded, and you can see the complete writing and singing credits as well. Notably, Mikhal was the producer of the album, and sang lead on "Off With The Heads", "When I Fall", and "Playboy Magazine", the latter of which being the only song co-written by drummer Keeghan McAllister. Of course, that album was launched at their release party at Soo Blaster on April 20th, and they continued posting content from that show to Facebook after the fact, including lots more black & white photos by Honest Job's Drew Armstrong.

Vanity welcomed a guest guitarist for at least part of their set on 4/20, namely Carmen Muto (second from the left), who is either Mikhal's brother or cousin, I am not 100% sure which. If you want to see how he factors in, both of the videos posted from the concert feature Carmen, and both are covers, including a (sadly) vertical clip of them covering NOFX's "Linoleum", and as embedded below, a shorter but horizontal clip of them covering "Suicide" by Choking Victim. Everyone sounds good on these covers, which did seem to go over well with assembled fans, and while Carmen was stiff up there, his guitar work did help fill things out! Before we move on entirely, Vanity First also posted a "Reel" on Friday featuring in-studio performance footage of them playing "Off With Their Heads" from the new album, and heavily filtered with strobing lights (an interesting choice given that the band has confirmed that Andrew is epileptic).

I don't like "Reels", as readers will be well aware, but the video is neat looking, and I hope that a horizontal/non-"Reel" version exists to capture the whole song, especially if Vanity First intend it to be a formal music video! In any event, I can't embed it here, so watch it (and more) above, give their live Choking Victim cover a watch below, and stay tuned for more from Vanity First when it rolls in!

We'll close today with a new video of local/Barrie alternative/hard rock musician Mike Haggith's set at last year's Northern Vibe Festival in Ophir, courtesy of his Facebook page on Wednesday! While a full live-stream of Mike & crew's set was filmed at the festival last year, this is pro-shot, multi-camera footage that was filmed by Justine Chalykoff of local filmmaking company Chalykoff Studios, who reportedly filmed Mike's whole set thusly. At the time, Mike promised that "a proper full-length video" was coming, not to mention a teaser clip of an interview that Mike and his solo band recorded with Justine, but neither has made its way online in full yet. At least we have one song from the concert proper from what Chalykoff Studios shot, and hopefully we'll get more from it and the interview (even with the bassist switch) in due course! Justine filmed Mike playing his and drummer Brandan Glew's old band The Din's song "Missing", which was their sixth of eleven songs that day.

No less than five cameras (four stationary, including the camera from the live-stream) filmed the guys in action last year, so you get a lot of great looks at the band and Forest Stage setup, especially notable given how the off-the-grid nature of Northern Vibe doesn't lend itself to plentiful video content compared to something like Rotaryfest. Note that the credits list Elly McWatters as a backing vocalist, but that appears to be a remnant of the full Chalykoff Studios video to come(?), as she only joined Mike for the last two originals. Excellent video, so give it a watch below, and hopefully there's more to come before Mike returns to Northern Vibe in July!

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