LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Bon Jovi Forever), Assorted Recent News, And More!!

We're back with a new news post on this Friday night, so what's on tap? Mostly recent shorter updates to clear out, but we also have some updates to one of our battle of the bands profile features, and leading off, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for the spring, so here's what you should know!

If you've missed 1980s metal and hard rock tribute bands in the Soo, pay attention to The Rockstar Bar come Friday, May 6th, as Oshawa-based Bon Jovi tribute band Bon Jovi Forever will be rocking out that night! Announced by Martin Fiser on the venue's Facebook group last month, this will be the first local concert appearance on record for Bon Jovi Forever, but fans may recall seeing a different Southern Ontario-based Bon Jovi tribute (Keep the Faith) here twice at The Canadian in 2010. It's been a while, but if you're a Bon Jovi fan, you'd be hard pressed to miss their faithful interpretation of their classic hits, hair metal and modern era alike, on May 6th! No word yet on a cover charge or ticket fee for this show, but it'll be a 19+ event, and a 10:00 PM start time is likely. For more details, visit the above links, and stay tuned for more updates on this night full of Bon Jovi hits from Bon Jovi Forever!

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

• Sault Michigan nightclub & occasional concert venue The Back Door has re-opened under it's new ownership under a new name: Three One Three on Ashumn, obviously referencing it's address. After a year of renovations, the new bar returned on Wednesday in time for this year's I-500 pub crawl, and live bands are back for the new incarnation, with The London Gentlemen first up on Saturday. Great to hear, hopefully we hear more from Three One Three on Ashmun in short order, and click here for details on the "new" bar!
• Ex-RedD Monkey frontman Steve Mozarowski is holding a second band roulette concert event on April 8th! The catch: it's in Toronto (where he's back living again) at The Black Swan Tavern, but the same theme of musicians being randomly drawn into impromptu bands for a battle of sorts is back for this sequel to August 2014's band roulette. Steve did note in a comment reply that he'll host another band roulette in the Sault down the road, but if you're in Toronto, keep this in mind for April!
• In their most recent Facebook page update last month, local post-punk quartet Gnaeus confirmed that they've "been taking a little hiatus" while prepping for the release of their debut album "Loomings",  but they confirmed that "the songs are sounding amazing". Good to hear there's progress, but does this mean that they won't be defending their VM Radio Battle crown next month? Could you call their hiatus a "Gnaetus"? Stay tuned for more!
• Just as a reference note, the fourth annual Marquee outdoor concert at Bon Soo did take place today at Mill Market for it's second straight year as a one-night event, but online advertising for today's events only listed two acts: a Taylor Swift tribute, and local DJ Michael Babcock. Whether more acts are scheduled isn't clear, but in any event, we haven't seen any plugs of involvement via local hard rock or punk bands. Hopefully tonight's festivities are a blast though!
• Local alternative rock band Aldous will open for The Pixo Control at The Rockstar Bar next Saturday, as per the new official Facebook event page, which will mark the Nick Luck-fronted project's first show of 2016. Solid addition, and if you're not familiar with Aldous, prepare for a creative blend of sounds next weekend! For what it's worth, this show may be an evolution or replacement for the planned Valentine's Day-themed event from Project 421 members, possibly due to the family issue that has put their activities on hold. As well, the event page does not list Shit Creek Survivor as performing still, but we'll let you know if they're still playing!
• The first confirmed band for next month's second annual VM Radio Battle of the Bands at The Canadian Nightclub will be local pop punk quartet Stereo North, as per the official Facebook event page yesterday! They competed in the second semifinal of last year's battle (in just their second concert), and while they didn't advance to the finals, they were part of an incredibly close semifinal that saw 8.5 points separate the first & fourth place bands. Can Stereo North improve on last year's showing? Stay tuned for more details on this huge battle as it rolls in!

Finally for today, here's some more updated to one of our past profiles in our Battle of the Bands Rewind Profile series to keep it updated and current, namely our profile of 2012's Sault Humane Society Battle of the Bands! There, we restored all photos, and updated references to the statuses of competing bands, mainly concerning Late & Loud's 2014 reunion gigs, The Bear Hunters' current status, and the inactive status of As It Stands, Wishbone, and T-Rex Manning. In the section on performers' later bands, we replaced the inactive Caveman Morrison, D3athcharg3r, Frightlight, Hydra's Teeth, Punch, and Saints & Serpents with six more current acts, namely Jon & His Friends (Late & Loud frontman Jon Tiberi's current Hamilton band), Mourning Wood, local classic rock band The Peace Vibe, Rattlesnake Hotel (Valentine's Day Massacre guitarist Andrew Angelic's current London band), Skeyes of Seven, and Stereo North. Finally, we added references on last March's two battles of the bands, namely The Bear Hunters' performances in each, and Stereo North's run in the VM Radio Battle.

Hopefully things are updated for that profile now, and we'll touch on later battles in an upcoming post, so stay tuned then, and for more news and notes in the coming days! Thanks everyone!

Project 421 & Bon Soo Updates, Plus More Updates & Notes!!

We're back with a new news post to kick off this last full week of January, so what's on tap? Some updates to one of our battle of the bands profiles, some assorted recent notes, and the latest from a new local arts podcast, but let's start with some new concert videos!

Local classic metal quintet Project 421 are the subject of some new videos that were uploaded to their Facebook page yesterday, all courtesy of their Rednecks Saloon concert on Friday! Attendee Chris Weber shot three videos at the show (and got lots of photos, albeit made black & white after the fact), and they include renditions of Black Sabbath's "N.I.B.", Kiss' "Cold Gin", and as embedded below, their first original "No One Rides For Free". Shot on a cell phone camera, the audio is scratchy, and the camera angle can be jittery, but these videos are our best look yet at the current Project 421 lineup, and you can definitely sense that they have a good grasp on these songs! The lighting isn't great though, only drummer Chris Thompson is well lit on stage. Give these a look above and below, and don't miss Project 421 at The Rockstar Bar next month!



Next up, the newest episode of the new local music/arts podcast 7L is now online via their Soundcloud page, so what should you know from it? The episode features host Teddy Syrette interviewing Bon Soo general manager Kerrie De Poli about next month's installment of our annual winter carnival, where Kerrie talks about the inception of Bon Soo, the extended 12-day lineup for this year, events to look for, how long Kerrie's been working with the festival, her background before joining Bon Soo, the merger with Passport To Unity, where to get Bon Soo buttons, and more. The episode closes with Kerrie reading a poem about Bon Soo, and Teddy singing likewise, which is a fun way to close the episode! It's good and fun promotion for this year's festival, but what do we learn about Bon Soo's concerts for this year? Only bare basics, with no visible lineup information confirmed for either The Marquee or Passport to Unity, but The Marquee will apparently be a one-night outdoor event again on Friday, February 5th at Mill Market.

The Passport To Unity multicultural festival will be at The Essar Center as usual, but now on Sunday, February 14th rather than May to fit the Bon Soo schedule. We have yet to find lineup information for either event, but when updates come out on both/either, we'll let you know! Give the new 7L episode a listen above, it's informative and worth checking out, but note that the teased acoustic punk segment is not featured, no word on if it's coming for episode #4. Stay tuned though!

Also today, here's three assorted shorter items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphbetical order by artist name:

• If you've seen recent personal Facebook pictures of Havadder playing a recent gig without bassist Travis Sharpe, we can confirm that the show was a private event at The Rankin Arena, and with Travis unable to make the gig, local musician Brett Gottwald filled in for him. There are some videos from the event on Facebook, but unless the band shares them publically, we won't post them here. Brett filled in well though from what I saw, and give them a watch if they pop up on your news feed!
• Local musician Lee Catling is looking for a drummer for a Slayer tribute band that he's working on. He didn't offer any more details, but Slayer fans should be intrigued by this, so message Lee at this link or via his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from yesterday if you're interested! 
• Honest Job bassist Drew Armstrong has been added as a performer with Like a Pisces during the Nirvana tribute concert at The Gore Street Cafe on February 20th during The Fishbowl Festival's opening night, as per the Facebook event page last week. However, it should be noted that the current wording of the performers lumps The Pixo Control in as one of the main acts, rather than as defined openers, so is this going to be a collaborative show with guests coming & going between songs? We'll let you know if there's clarification!

Finally for today, here's some big updates to one of our past Battle of the Bands Rewind Profiles (which return in March!) In our profile of December 2009's Algoma University Battle of the Bands, we noted The Fury's brief 2014 reunion and RedD Monkey's hiatus & posthumous activity in the section on competitors' later work, while we replaced Keep It Lit and Giwakwa with The Apocalypse Afterparty, Infinity Grinder, and Kaepora Gaebora in the section on performers' later bands to keep that more current. Finally, the trivia section now features notes on planned judges Anthony Fabiano & Dustin Jones' later work in battles of the bands (as Griphook's drummer in Spanish and as a VM Radio Battle judge/sponsor respectively), info on how The Apocalypse Afterparty & Infinity Grinder did at the battles in March 2015, and a note on Fury frontman Paul Stanghetta's debuting band Keep It Lit, who never played after dropping out of 2013's Viva La Battle. Hopefully that's up to date now, and stay tuned for updates of battles from the early 2010s soon!

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

Treble Charger & Marquee Concert Fallout, Plus More Assorted Updates!!

Today's post mostly touches on the first fallout from a major concert this past Friday, including news articles, photos, and more, but we did round things out with some notes relating to a pre-concert event also at the Bon Soo Winter Carnival, and some assorted shorter items from the last week, so read on below for what you should know!

Let's start with some fallout from Friday night's Treble Charger concert at The Machine Shop, so what should you know from the event? In terms of news coverage, SooToday's Donna Hopper was on hand, and recapped the show for this article that went up on the site yesterday, where she noted that there were hundreds in attendance (might this be the mid-sized concert venue we've all been hoping for?) Note that while the article credits the show as Treble Charger's first local concert with a full lineup in 12 years, they did play with their touring members at a Searchmont fundraiser in January 2013. Donna got some great photos as well, with 29 of her 48 photos being from the concert, including seven of The Pixo Control, nine of Frank Deresti & The Lake Effect, and 13 of Treble Charger, so be sure to give them a look! I do like the overhead shots too, I wonder if access to the rafters will continue for more angles like this?

As previously hinted at, Treble Charger's set did feature a guest performer, that being Algoma University music director and keyboardist Ed Turgeon, who joined in for their early hits "Red" & "Ever She Flows". Ed will be working with Treble Charger frontman Greig Nori soon in Algoma's music department, as detailed in two recent Sault Star articles by Brian Kelly (which you can read here and here), where he positively remarked on Greig's ambition & energy, and reflected positively on returning to rock music for a night at the concert. Good reads overall! The concert notably ended as well with Treble Charger inviting the local bands on stage to rock out while they ended their set with covers from th likes of ZZ Top and Neil Young, which sounds great in & of itself! I wish I could have went, but the ticket cost + a tight personal schedule didn't add up well. Hopefully we see the guys back soon, but how about videos from the concert?

So far, all I've found is a 43 second clip (albeit unembeddable) from The Sault Star at this link, which is a preview of an article that's coming to the site and the paper tomorrow, though the video is just a slideshow of concert photos that will likely follow in the full article. I imagine Local2 was on hand for a future Tuned episode as well, so when any concert videos turn up (plus tomorrow's Sault Star article), we'll let you guys know! As for The Marquee (which was indeed outdoors, not in the actual Mill Market), there's not as much online in terms of fallout from it, with SooToday's photos only including one of local rock duo Frankly Speaking, but the new stage setup looks nice! We'll close today's Bon Soo fallout with some extra info on new local punk/modern rock band Stereo North, who debuted(?) at The Marquee, and (as best I can tell) still don't have an online page, but what do we know now?

According to personal Facebook page uploads from the members, their lineup includes guitarists Andrew Pucci (ex-Starlit Sins) and Matthew Anich, bassist Bill Bennett (T-Rex Manning), and drummer Brett Norton, and though I can't confirm which one sings lead yet, members have photos on their Facebook pages. Promising lineup, and hopefully we hear more from Stereo North soon! Stay tuned for more Bon Soo concert fallout when it comes in!

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

• Local rap/metal band The Apocalypse Afterparty will not be playing at August's Das Bunkerfest II, due to a falling out between the band and promoters (as per their Facebook page), though we won't detail that further on here. Hopefully things turn out on both sides, and stay tuned for more from both Das Bunkerfest and X & Z!
• The planned Blood Shed Productions 11-way split release party at a Poplar Avenue residence on February 21st has been postponed due to contractors working in the building through at least the 23rd, as per co-host Paul Stanghetta on the Facebook event page. Disappointing, but hopefully everyone can play the new date when announced! For reference, the original date would have seen a surprise set by Sudbury indie rock band Hello Holiday (who aren't on the split), as per this link, though no word if they're in for the rescheduling. We'll keep you posted!
• Local indie/punk quintet Northwest finally have an official Facebook page! I have no idea why it took this long, but it's great to finally see! There's no major unique news to speak of there yet, but the band did campaign to play at the Rogers Hometown Hockey event in the Soo on February 28th & March 1st. It'd be cool if they played, as local music is planned for the entertainment, but I haven't heard that much yet on the performers. Either way, like Northwest above!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes this week, plus this month's Defunct Local Band Profile on Tuesday! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Bon Soo Marquee), Treble Charger Concert Preview, And More!!

Today's second post rounds out the weekend's hard rock and punk concert previews, and it's very much themed around the 52nd annual Bon Soo Winter Carnival, including an extended preview of a big opening night concert TOMORROW, a related recent news article, and all of the details (at last) on this year's Marquee entertainment stage (also TOMORROW), so here's what you should know, and check out more previews in the post below this one!

The lineup for the third annual Marquee performance stage at this year's Bon Soo Winter Carnival was finally announced yesterday via this SooToday press release, so what should you know? Moving from The Roberta Bondar Pavilion to the Mill Market at Bon Soo's new home of Mill Square this year, The Marquee (as previously reported) is only a one day event this year, but now being held on Bon Soo's opening day. Once again, it is being promoted by Sault College's Public Relations Event Management program in cooperation with Bon Soo itself. As for the performer lineup, there is one punk band playing tomorrow, so consider this a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT! The band in question is Stereo North, who some readers may remember from their search in December for a bassist on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group. They identified as playing punk and modern rock, and their drummer is Brett Norton, but I know nothing else on them yet. Hopefully we'll all find out more tomorrow, and we'll let you know when more comes out!

The full lineup for The Marquee also includes local acoustic cover duo Frankly Speaking, solo artist Jesse Merineau, and local beatboxer Robert "Killabeatz" Drolet (all of whom played at The Marquee last year) alongside North Shore frontman Jeremy Hannah, Aardvark the Magician (my dad!), local DJ Michael Babcock (a.k.a. Soldjure), the cast of Korah Collegiate & Vocational School's production of "The Phantom of the Opera", Thunder Bay's Eric the Juggler, local progressive rock quartet Mannapool, the aforementioned Stereo North, and local blues/country musician Cody Watt, with Mr. Bon Soo and "a special surprise" also teased. Quite a varied lineup, which isn't necessarily a change from last year, just condensed into one day. The Marquee kicks off at 4:00 PM tomorrow at Mill Market at the former St. Mary's Paper site, complete with a new film-themed stage, though I can't 100% confirm if The Marquee will still be outdoors.

Admission will be via a purchase of a $7 Bon Soo button at the door, at Wal-Mart (either location), or at Scotiabank, and this is definitely ALL AGES. For more details, visit the above links! I was hoping that Marquee organizers would (be allowed to?) promote the lineup and advertise the acts playing more visibly and with more advance notice, especially after last year (which had a Saturday crowd of 1 person; myself, at points), but given that The Marquee is now part of Bon Soo's opening night, that should be an easy fix for the attendance. I love the concept of an outdoor winter concert festival, and hopefully that is proven this year so it can grow for the future! Keep it in mind for TOMORROW, and apologies again for the short notice!

Of course, that's not all for SMS readers at Bon Soo's opening night, as local punk/alternative veterans Treble Charger will make their long awaited return to the stage when they headline at The Machine Shop at Mill Square TOMORROW NIGHT! Hyped as the official opening night for this Huron Street venue (though they have hosted sporadic events in the past, like the 2013 Gino Vanelli concert), this will also be the first major event following the announcement of Treble Charger frontman Greig Nori's new partnership with Mill Square and Algoma University, which will see his recording studio and more concerts brought to the site in the coming months. This well advertised concert (which has even had commercials on MCTV) will be Treble Charger's first in the Soo since a Searchmont Resort fundraiser last January, and this Juno-nominated quartet should be raring to rock their hometown once again tomorrow with classics like "American Psycho" and "Red", with guests and surprise covers also teased (source here.)

Opening for them will be local roots collective Frank Deresti & The Lake Effect and young alternative/grunge trio The Pixo Control (pictured), and while neither are perfect genre matches, they're both very talented and will bring a lot to the table, so don't miss them either! Tickets for this show cost $39.95, and while that does seem high, they're less than half of what the Searchmont fundraiser admission was, so keep that in mind (there are limited VIP tickets with meet & greets for $69.50 as well.) This is an ALL AGES concert AT 7:30 PM tomorrow, and tickets can be bought at this link, at the door, or at the LIFEforia Wellness Club at 681 Pine Street. For more details, visit the above links, plus SooToday and The Sault Star's coverage of the show! Among other coverage of this concert, a new Sault Star article from Brian Kelly went up on their site yesterday (and presumably in yesterday's paper) featuring interview excerpts with Greig Nori, so what should you know on that?

Entitled "Nori jams with Algoma U", the article goes further in-depth on Greig's new local plans, which include returning full time to the Soo this summer to teach commercial music production courses with Algoma's existing music program, something he's done at a few Southern Ontario schools since the late 2000s. The plans still involve construction of a full recording studio at The Machine Shop, he wants students to get experience recording and filming bands that play there, and he's working on getting a similar position here for Treble Charger bandmate Bill Priddle. The article also confirms that Greig and Bill wrote four or five new Treble Charger songs last fall (their first in over 12 years), but they're holding off on recording them until the Algoma program starts so they can involve students.

And yes, Greig really is coming home, he's purchased a new home here, and he said in the interview that he knew he had to move back when he saw the development going on at Mill Square, which he's enthusiastically hyped in prior interviews with local media. It's a solid article that sheds more light on what Greig is planning for the Soo, and while there's still a lot to do and reveal, I'm cautiously optimistic! Check it out above, and be sure to see above for more details on the Treble Charger concert TOMORROW NIGHT at The Machine Shop! For a preview, here's Treble Charger playing "Brand New Low" live in Southern Ontario in 2013!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes over the weekend, plus Treble Charger (and Marquee?) concert fallout as well! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Havadder), The End Of Pillory, And Much More!!

As we continue to clear out our recent news cache, we have an inactive band to take note of, big changes for a yearly music event, and some more assorted notes, but first, here's SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for THIS WEEKEND! (Edited at 10:49 AM)

Local classic hard rock cover quartet Havadder will return to The Rednecks Saloon for headlining concerts TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, frontman Jason Roy only just announced the shows yesterday via their Facebook event page. Keeping with their recent trend of playing one weekend a month at the former Nicolet Tavern, this weekend's shows are apparently Havadder's last of the year, so if you want one last 2014 show with Jason and company, you know where to be for their often heavy covers! The event page implies that they have both new songs in their setlist and "old members", though it's not clear if they're meaning guest spots by ex-members or not. We can confirm though that ex-drummer Scott McLurg will fill in for T.J. Case for at least a third straight weekend, at least partly due to T.J.'s conflicting date with Mourning Wood TOMORROW at The New American, so keep that in mind also! Our source is Scott's personal Facebook page.

Admission for TONIGHT & TOMORROW is likely free, both shows have 10:00 PM start times, and you must be 19 to attend. For more details, check the above links, don't miss Havadder's cover attack this weekend, and here are the guys at The Rednecks Saloon this fall!



Next up, we have a band to move to our inactive band links, that being Sault Ontario thrash metal quartet Pillory. While their Facebook page hasn't been updated in over 8 months, we can confirm their demise via their entry on the Encyclopaedia Metallum, which confirms that the band split up in August, after being "on hold" since April. Any update there must be sourced when a report is submitted, so it's likely that a band member sent it in to confirm their status. Pillory had been active since 2012 as one of the Soo's few pure thrash bands of recent years, debuting live at The Canadian Nightclub that November. After founding guitarist Andres Duchesne's sudden passing the next month, the band wouldn't hit the stage again with a full lineup until the winter of 2013/14, where they played a handful of all ages gigs and released their only EP "Cringe At The Cross" in December 2013. Later updates were sporadic and mostly concerned lineup changes, though it should be noted that frontman Robert Sartini's other recent projects have all quietly closed most of their online pages this year as well.

Pillory were a talented and brutal band that had a lot of promise, especially on their EP, but Andres' death and other delays didn't help their live concert frequency. It would be nice to see Robert get back into bands again (Pillory or otherwise), as he has the skill and drive, and the same goes for Josh, Devon, Bret, and other surviving ex-members in the future!

Also today, remember The Marquee, which is the outdoor concert stage from the last two years of the Bon Soo Winter Carnival? Well, it will return for a third year in February, but with a changed format. According to Bon Soo's website, The Marquee will be retracted from a daily event throughout the festival to a one-day event on Friday, February 6th (Bon Soo's opening day for 2015), with acts only playing from 5:00-9:00 PM. A reason for the retraction hasn't been announced, but as you may remember, The Marquee struggled with attendance issues earlier this year, as addressed in our review of the night I attended, which could be blamed partially on the cold weather and poor advertising, among other factors. According to a post on a local music Facebook group by co-organizer Jessica Bolduc, The Marquee will move indoors from The Roberta Bondar Pavilion to The Mill Market, which goes along with the whole festival's move to Mill Square at the former St. Mary's Paper site for 2015.

With all of that said, if you or your band wants to play at The Marquee on February 6th, message co-organizer Aislyn Ireton A.S.A.P. at aislyn.ireton@student.saultcollege.ca. I'm disappointed to see The Marquee shrunk so much this year, as I do think the concept of a multi-day outdoor winter music stage has potential (especially if it's well advertised online), but if the shorter one-day indoor version can prove more sustainable, maybe they can expand The Marquee again for 2016? We'll keep you posted if hard rock or punk bands are on the lineup next year!

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

• The Bloody Boxing Day Basement Jam at 11 Hearst Street later this month has had a slight lineup adjustment, as the vacant slot will be filled by Brutally Fatal frontman Austin McCrae in a solo acoustic set, perhaps a throwback to his old Re-Born work? However, his solo set will now open the show at 6:00 PM, with the rappers bumped up a half hour, and Mikey Thomas now in the previously vacant 8:00 PM slot. Interesting, so visit the Facebook event page for more info!
• Leading from our addition of Telephone & Address' next album plans to yesterday's "Where Are The New Albums?" post,the Chris Shoust-led solo punk/grunge project is now distributing copies of their recent albums "The Rotten EP" and "Need Not Apply" on the online music store Interpunk! Nice to see, so keep that in mind also if you want to order physical copies! Both albums retail for $11,75 there, minus shipping fees.
• Danger Cats frontwoman Kate Drew will replace Greg Callaghan at the second annual X-Mess acoustic punk revue at The Algonquin Pub on  December 20th, and will be playing an acoustic set of Distillers covers under the handle "Ms. Tillers". Promoter J.D. Pearce revealed the change on the Facebook event page on Tuesday, confirming that Greg's out due to a scheduling snag. Disappointing for him and fans, but it's great to see Kate back, so stay tuned for more updates when they come in!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for a Toystock fallout post next on the site! Thanks everyone!

Haggith Updates, New Videos, And Much More!!

Entering the last week before the Canadian Thanksgiving break, we have some more news and back items to cover, including a lot of recent shorter items, a new guitar performance clip, and leading off, some recent updates from a prominent Sault Ontario band that have fallen by the wayside in the last week, so here's what you need to know!

We'll start today with some long overdue news from local grunge/alternative quartet Haggith, and after a brief announcement of drummer Mike Haggith's departure (since retracted), it's good to know that everything's alright in their camp! While it remains unclear if the personal concerns Mike was working through are continuing to delay their album plans, a new song from their upcoming concept release "Apocalypse II" named "Spreading The Disease" was posted onto their YouTube channel last month, and while I'll hold thoughts on it for now in advance of our next Haggith CD review, it's actually a folksy country-esque number with spoons and hand drum (no bass though.) Featured below however is a 21 minute private concert set that Haggith played at PaperClip Productions headquarters last week, as filmed with a cell phone camera from the back of the stage. This is our most extensive sneak peek at the band with new bassist James White yet, but what's played in this video?

In order, the set (entitled "Don't Ask") includes a cover of Led Zeppelin's "Rock 'N Roll", the band's own originals "Metal Cage" & "Wasted" from their other upcoming CD "XIV", and covers of Van Halen's "Panama", Bad Company's "Rock 'N Roll Fantasy", and Jimi Hendrix' "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)", so click each link to hear each song! Visually, you don't see much beyond Curtis, James' head, and Mike's close-up hat, and with the dark lighting, couldn't they have moved the camera to a better spot? The audio's alright though, and it's a nice glimpse at some of Haggith's newer songs and less familiar covers, including some surprises, so give it a look below!



Next up, here's a new solo guitar video from Exiled's Joe Jenkins' YouTube channel! The former Full Throttle and Bottom Line axeslinger posted this video online on Friday, and it's of him playing a composition named "Jedi Flip" that has a bluesy hard rock groove that's pretty catchy, and it'd be cool to see him expand this to a full band scenario! The "shot from below" camera angle and glare from the ceiling light are a little odd, but give Joe's newest guitar performance clip a look below!



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

• Sault Michigan hard rockers 415E have finally replaced departed members Jack Slater & Devin Anderson, as the band have confirmed the addition of Jack's Highest of Fives bandmate Mitch Goetz as their new bassist, while enlisting Chris' dad Tony on drums, reuniting 3/5ths of the original Splitshot lineup in the process! The news was announced on their Facebook page on September 23rd, and the new lineup will debut in two weeks at The Rapids Lounge, so don't miss it!
• The first studio track from The Apocalypse Afterparty's upcoming debut EP is now online via their new Reverbnation page! A cover of The Fury's "The Crowd", fans of their rap/metal stylings should enjoy this, and it's recorded well. but we'll hold further comment until the EP's release. Give it a listen above!
• If The Marquee entertainment stage returns at the next Bon Soo Winter Carnival in February, it will do so at a new location once again, as the festival will be moving from the Roberta Bondar Pavilion area to Mill Square at the former St. Mary's Paper site, as per this SooToday article by Michael Purvis on Friday. The move is to give Bon Soo more room for expanded activities and make the event more accessible, though it's not clear yet whether The Marquee would be at The Machine Shop or elsewhere on the site. We'll keep you posted if we hear more!
• Local acid jam/hard rock collective Mike Haggith & The Din are apparently looking for a new drummer to go along with a "dramatic" lineup shift, though it's not clear whether someone left or moved to a separate instrument. The plans are for the band to become more structured than they have been in the past, though what this means for their recent recording plans isn't clear yet. If you're interested, message Mike or bandmates Curtis McKenzie or Daniel Horton on Facebook, or visit Mike's Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from Monday!
• Maxx Entertainment have confirmed that a third annual Toystock concert will take place on Sunday, November 30th at The Canadian Nightclub, and they are still looking for bands to play this year (presumably of the cover/bar variety to go with past themes.) Only a few spots remain, so if your band is interested in playing this event (which supports toy donations to Christmas cheer), message Maxx Entertainment at the above link!
• Sporadic local concert venue and banquet hall The Verdi Hall has been sold and had it's name partially changed to Bucci's Verdi Hall, reflecting the new owners, who I believe are the same as the owners of Bucci's Place (host of last year's Big Loonie Bus Show) in Echo Bay. Things seem to be going good there for bookings and Facebook updates, and we'll let you know if any metal or punk concerts are booked there in the coming months!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news as we inch closer to the Thanksgiving weekend! Thanks everyone!

Danger Cats Lineup News, The Full Bon Soo Marquee Schedule, And Much More!!

As we continue clearing out backlogged news stories the SMS, this post is full of stuff we've missed over the past week, including the full schedule from Bon Soo's outdoor stage, a lineup change for a rising local band, and much more, so read on below for what you need to know! (Updated on Tuesday at 5:38 PM)

Firstly, here's a lineup confirmation for local all female hard rock band The Danger Cats, as they have indeed parted ways with singer Summer Stevens, a.k.a. Summer Snow-Leopard. According to members Kate Kougar and Paula Panther in recent Facebook e-mails, Summer left for medical reasons, but while I'm not at liberty to go into further details, her departure is 100% amicable. There wasn't a public confirmation of her status until just the last few days (hence the confusion by her absence from band photos), and while she had missed a few dates last fall while out of town, she did return for their X-Mess set at LopLops in December. Disappointing news, and she has a nice voice, but hopefully Summer gets better soon! As you saw on Friday, Kate is now handling most lead vocals for The Danger Cats, though both Paula and bassist Jamie Jaguar do a few songs too at their shows, and after their great reception at The Rockstar Bar that night, hopefully they get similar results this weekend at Docks, so stay tuned for our previews of those shows later this week!

Next up, I wanted to acknowledge the full schedule for the Bon Soo Winter Carnival's Marquee, their outdoor performance stage at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion. I know we're very late for this, but I wanted to share a full copy of the schedule so you guys can see the full performer lineup, as the only public schedules were given out at Bon Soo and weren't posted online. In terms of the days with metal bands, you can see that the only actual bands on the Wednesday were The Suicide Kings & new punk quartet Fist Fighting Stephen Hawking, while Jack Spades' set on the Friday followed the still unknown Foreign A Chord and sets by members of The Salty Mollies. Also, this schedule copy shows that the SooToday press release about The Marquee only listed performers on the last four days, and of them, a plugged set by former Chronic Demonic singer Sabrina Strange did not make the final schedule (unless she performed with someone or under an alias.) For earlier days, you can also sense themes, like many indie/folk bands on the 8th, while the Monday schedule lacked any musical performers.

The Marquee's schedule also didn't show performers Maria Parella or the Davey Dance Company that were on other advertising at Bon Soo, while some of the short-formed names didn't detail the performers a lot (i.e. "EMP" are The Enigmatic Monster Project writing collective, and "Mitch Acoustic Set" was a set by performers Mitchell Nielsen & David Williams.) I appreciate that there were schedules available at Bon Soo, but for next year, Marquee organizers really need to expand their social media presence and get schedules online and in the program (a'la Rotaryfest's advertising for their stages.) Fingers crossed, but give the full schedule a look above!

Finally for today, here's eight assorted shorter news stories from the last while, as we're badly overdue for most of these. Like usual, these items are in alphabetical order by artist or company name:

• These Sins of Time frontwoman Alexa LeClair is looking for a drummer for a rock music project, though it's unclear whether it's to replace Ben Boudreau in T.S.O.T. or for a new band. If you're interested in trying out, message Alexa at this link or via her Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from last Tuesday. She's a very good singer, we'll have to see where this goes!
• Garden of Bedlam's song "Around The Bend" is featured in this new video for the Algoma Autism Foundation, which is a nice surprise for this well done clip! Fittingly co-produced by drummer Derek Turner, the softer song fits the mood, though sections with lyrics aren't included, probably as the original song's not about autism. Note that the video's host doesn't allow external embedding, but give it a look at the above links!
• According to their newest Facebook page post, local punk/metal quintet Jack Spades' upcoming debut EP will be mixed by Cross Dog bassist/prolific local musician Mark Rand! Vocal recordings have just finished, and the tracks will be sent to Mark after some additional tweaking. This marks the second local metal CD that Mark is mixing (after AlgomA's "Reclaimed By The Forest"), and I can't wait to hear how things turn out! Stay tuned for updates!
• Frightlight bassist Mike "Eddie Fright" Gingras was interviewed by SooToday's Donna Hopper for this article posted on Thursday concerning his short film "The Kid Who Made The Face", which will be screened at The Buffalo Niagara Film Festival in April! A local screening in March is planned (alongside a film by AlgomA's Boyd Rendell), while the article plugs the fundraiser show for Mike's short film that took place last summer at The Rosie. Great interview, give it a look above!
• I have switched the link for defunct band management/promotion company New Era Design & Developments in our Other Local Metal Links section to an updated link, as the link we previously had is now "frozen" according to it's hosting company, though the new link is very similar (if not the same) to the old page. Owned by Derek Pearce, the company once worked with Stillbroke, but focused it's early 2010s work on digital media.
• A new setlist from Sault Michigan metal band One Hour Till Dawn (formerly The Eleventh Hour) was posted on their Facebook page on February 15th, and it includes covers of bands like Pierce The Veil, Wolfmother, Atreyu, and The Strokes, among others. Interesting mix, hopefully they can get off the ground where other young Sault Michigan metal bands of recent years have fell short!
• A new video discovery from local goregrind duo Rotopsy is on singer Dylan Taylor's YouTube channel, as uploaded last October, but due to it's non musical-content (including pipe usage), I won't link to it here just in case some readers view it as offensive. If you give it a look, there is some solid bass work in the background from Tyler "Ringsnaps" Gibson though!
• Local hard rock quartet The Suicide Kings have indeed replaced Pillory on the lineup for the Anvil concert on March 15th at The Canadian, following their late notice replacement at the most recent Heavy Thursday at The Rosie. This is disappointing for Pillory fans, but don't miss them at Dank Fest in April, and The Suicide Kings should fit in nicely like they did at last August's Airbourne show!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes this week, along with our last monthly features of February! Thanks everyone!

Bon Soo/The Marquee Concert Review!!

Apologies for the delay (busy day for me), but now, here's my review of last night's action down at The Marquee, the Bon Soo Winter Carnival's second annual outdoor performance stage taking place this year at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion! I'll start just by noting that I did not get to the event until 4:30 PM, so I missed the earlier music sets from Tym Morrison and Anthony Aceti and the demonstrations by Soo Dan Hap-Ki-Do and the dance team from Central Algoma Secondary School, but I hope they went well! (My schedule info comes from schedule copies available at The Pavilion, so at least attendees could find out who all played and when.)

In terms of this year's Bon Soo setup, I liked seeing the Team Jacobs/Olympics inspired snow sculptures (despite some being damaged), and the slides brought back nostalgia, but activities were winding down by the time I got there, so for non-musical aspects, I wouldn't be the right person to judge. The first act that I saw was local solo singer/guitarist Steevy LaPlante, who played at 4:30 PM in lieu of The Northern Tragedy, and though I didn't hear an announcement about the change, one may have occurred before I got there.. Steevy and a fellow musician (who I didn't get the name of) played a set of acoustic songs from varying influences, including covers of Icona Pop's "I Love It" and John Denver's "Leaving On A Jet Plane". I found the girls to be talented and relaxed during their set, but you could tell that they were a bit nervous, and I'm sure the cold temperature didn't help. I'm curious to hear more from them, and at least they had more of a crowd than later in the night, but we'll touch on that later.

The Northern Tragedy's delayed set began at around 5:00 PM, and it was nice to see them again for their first live set of the year! The guys played an entertaining set of punk originals, including established tracks like "Mr. Brooks Called In Sick Today" and material from upcoming demos like "Writing A Letter", and while the cold was an impairment (judging by singer/drummer Terrence Gomes' full face toque), their talents and chemistry were there! For this sort of an event, I won't nitpick or critique their performance too much, as playing instruments will be tougher in -12° weather will be tougher, but I enjoyed their set, and they made the most of this unique platform! I hope to get a copy of their most recent demo soon, as they're on the rise, especially if they can work on their stage presence more! It was cool to see some of the children dancing to some of their songs too when they were still there, they looked like they had fun!

Fellow local punk trio Redundant followed them at around 6:00 PM after a bit of a delay, as they rocked pretty well in their first live concert set in 6 months! It's just a shame almost no one was there to see it, as midway through their set, I realized that, not counting Marquee staff and band members, the only remaining fan was me (I'm dead serious.) Just a strange sight, but at least Redundant didn't mail it in despite the near absence of paid fans, as songs like "Labatt 50" and "Miles Apart" played well and felt nice to hear, and Rick White's drumming was on form (great to see him on stage after so long!) Again, the weather conditions didn't create an optimal situation (frontman Justin Langlois remarked on stage that he couldn't feel his hand), but this talented trio put in a solid set for me and the staff, and I give bonus points to bassist James White for playing half of their set topless! You are a braver man than I, good sir! I could barely hold the camera for Redundant's set, good thing there was a fire!

I would talk about the next three sets here before Frightlight headlined, but... there were none. The originally planned "dance party" after Redundant's set basically was a wash given the almost-nil attendance (I'm sure the 11:00 AM dance party was more successful), and a planned set by local sideshow performer D.J. Williamson didn't take place either. No public word on why he was absent that I heard, but it'd have been cool to have seen him again! The planned co-headlining band at 8:00 PM was to have been local grunge/hardcore duo Bad Back, and while they did make it to The Pavilion for their set, they reluctantly had to call it off due to technical difficulties (at least partly relating to the lack of an on-stage heater for their equipment.) That would have been a great feature for the stage as a permanent fixture to help each band, so hopefully they try and have one for next year! It'd have been nice to see Bad Back too, but hopefully they'll play live soon!

Added delays for local horror punk/metal quintet Frightlight's setup led to their set not beginning until around 7:45 PM, but at least there was an additional non-staff attendee for their set to help the attendance numbers (thanks Sabra!) With the delays, Frightlight only played 3 songs ("Fright Night", "They All Float, and "C.H.U.D."), and given all the hang-ups and the cold temperature, I was impressed by how the guys sounded even still! 6 months is too long since their last show, but the guys played as well as I'd expect after all things considered! Johnny Pints' vocals were strong, and Chris Freaknstein's drumming was solid and welcome especially, but with the rushed nature and the weather, I know things will work out better the next time out! Frightlight are a very talented band, and it was nice to see the Marquee staff show their support to help the crowd levels, but the turnout wasn't anything like I pictured.

Overall, I enjoyed the music at The Marquee last night, and having the last bands play with enthusiasm despite the lack of fans was welcomed for sure, but there's a lot of work to do for Bon Soo and Marquee organizers for next year. The attendance wasn't strong when I arrived, but it dropped like a rock during Redundant's set, and with the last bands being the featured attractions in theory, having just 1 or 2 non-staff attendees is a huge problem. From the start, I had fears that Bon Soo wasn't advertising The Marquee enough to tell prospective attendees who was playing and when, and unless you got a copy of the schedule on an earlier day, your only bet to hear about specific times was through social media or personal contact with performers (the press releases from Bon Soo only listed some performers, and not their days & times.) If people don't know who's playing, prospective attendees aren't going to go, and I think this was a contributing factor (though I admit not knowing how the turnouts were earlier in the week.) 

I envision The Marquee being a winter answer to Rotaryfest, and the diverse, all-local, and original-friendly lineup was a great start, but more advertising is needed to get people to want to come out, especially in the cold. I love the concept of an outdoor winter concert festival, and I really want to see Bon Soo bring back The Marquee next year with a lot more advertising. Credit & plug the bands and schedule in the program like Rotaryfest does, send full schedules to social media and the press, give fans a reason to come (or stay) for the music! Plus, I'm sure the bands would like a heater on stage too, as the cold was a factor for their sets. The Marquee can be a unique special attraction on the local concert calendar (a'la the NHL's outdoor games), and they've taken steps from last year, but I hope the 2015 installment addresses some of this year's criticisms and comes back stronger and more successful!

Still, I had fun being at Bon Soo and seeing some talented local musicians, and thanks to Frightlight for their hospitality! I did get photos (albeit not as much, my hand took a beating in the cold), so click here to check them out or visit our Facebook page! Given the low attendance and unique nature, I got videos of the last three bands, including the full punk ones, so here's The Northern Tragedy's new original "Writing A Letter", The Scary Uncles (sans James' shirt & jacket) playing "That December", and Frightlight playing their song "They All Float"!







That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

This Week's Last Hard Rock Concert Previews, And More!!

Finally, let's close this busy concert preview stretch with the last verifiable hard rock/metal shows of the weekend, those being two events taking place tomorrow only in Sault Ontario. We also have some assorted recent notes to close things out, so read on below for what you should know!

The second last day of The Marquee performance stage at this year's Bon Soo Winter Carnival goes down TOMORROW, and the best lineup yet for metal & hard rock fans is in store for fans who brave the cold down at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion! Headlining tomorrow's lineup is local horror punk/metal quintet Frightlight (in their first concert in six months), and their full permanent lineup will be on hand to deliver a blistering set of originals and covers for fans at 7:30 PM! Preceding them at 7:00 PM are local grunge/hardcore duo Bad Back in their first live gig of the new year (they might have some new originals to debut for the occasion), and if you saw them at the Biipiigwan show last fall, you'll know the entertainment value they bring! I can't confirm the performers in the 6:00 PM hour or at 5:00, but local punk trio Redundant will make their long awaited return to the stage at 5:30 PM tomorrow, and it's also been 6 months of waiting for them too, so it's good to see them at The Marquee!

Fellow local punk rockers The Northern Tragedy will make their first live appearance of 2014 at 4:30 PM tomorrow, while, in a late confirmation, hard rock solo artist Tym Morrison will be playing at some point between noon & 3:00 PM as per the calendar on his website (we'll get to tomorrow night's solo show of his in a minute), though no word on the exact time or length of his set. Remember, Bon Soo organizers have not released a formal public schedule for The Marquee, but visit this link for potential possibilities (unless they've already played this week.) Like previous days at The Marquee, admission is only via the purchase of a $7 Bon Soo button (at local retailers or upon entry), and this is absolutely ALL AGES, but weekend Marquee lineups have an extended timeframe of 11:00 AM-8:00 PM, so there's a lot of entertainment to expect at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion tomorrow, and check the above links for more details!

Sounds like a great show to me, and I'm hoping to bundle up and head downtown for the coolest show of the year (literally) on Saturday! Hopefully I'll see you guys there, and for a preview of Saturday's action at The Marquee, here's Frightlight live in 2012!



Finally for this weekend's metal/hard rock concert previews, the aformentioned Tym Morrison will continue his ongoing concert arrangement/open-mic hosting duties at The Harp Bar & Grill TOMORROW NIGHT for his second concert set of the day! The Caveman Morrison frontman will be entering the 11th weekly installment of his current run at the former Madison's Pub, and the last of two to take place on a Saturday night rather than his usual Friday night slot there, so like last week, go TOMORROW for his entertaining acoustic hard rock covers (and open-mic action), not tonight (he'll be back on Fridays next week!) For tomorrow's show, there shouldn't be a cover charge, you must be 19 to attend, and a 10:00 PM start time is likely. For more details, visit this link & the above links! Nice to see Tym staying busy with two shows tomorrow, so if you can't make his early afternoon set at The Marquee, head to The Harp tomorrow night! For a preview, here's Tym at Mill Square last summer!




Finally for today, here's three shorter news stories from the last few days, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by band or series name:

• The full cover art for local sludge metal trio AlgomA's upcoming debut album "Reclaimed By The Forest" has been posted online at this link via an interview with designer Adam Geyer on the website Horror Metal Sounds. I assume the band's name & album name will be added later too, but it's suitably brutal, so give it a look above!
• Recent promotional photos & advertising by local hard rockers The Danger Cats include a creative reenactment of Late & Loud's last album art, but you may have noticed the absence of singer Summer Snow-Leopard in them. I have no firm idea if she's left the band in any capacity yet, but for what it's worth, she's still listed on their lineup on their Facebook page. If we hear more before next weekend's show at The Algonquin Pub, we'll let you guys know!
• The third installment of The Roosevelt Hotel's new Heavy Thursday series on February 27th will feature the Rosie debut of new local punk quartet Fist Fighting Stephen Hawking alongside guitarist Rick White's existing punk band Redundant (4 time veterans of the original metal nights), and though a third band is to be announced, this show does sound punk themed. Solid lineup though, so keep it in mind in a couple of weeks for some high octane local punk action, and click here for details!

 That's all for today, but stay tuned for a huge new concert announcement TOMORROW! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Lucky 13) & More Weekend Concert Previews!!

Keeping the concert previews rolling on this busy weekend, we're looking at four shows taking place tomorrow, though one of the bands below is playing on Saturday as well for the whole weekend. Tomorrow's post will look at Saturday-only gigs, so watch out then for what's missed today! Now, let's begin our second of three preview posts, including a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!!

Local alternative/hard rock cover quartet Lucky 13 will make their first ever appearances at The Roosevelt Hotel TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the band only just announced the Friday show on Tuesday, with Saturday's only getting announced on The Rosie's Facebook page last night. After a two weekend stretch at The Rockstar Bar, it'll be interesting to see how Lucky 13 do in their first ever Rosie stops (though half the band played there with the debuting Throwbacks in December), so if you've missed them in recent weeks, give them a look at The Roosevelt Hotel tomorrow or Saturday! Admission tomorrow is likely free, you must be 19 to attend, and there is a 10:30 PM start time in effect. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! It's nice to see bookings ramp up for Ed & company, so keep TOMORROW & SATURDAY'S shows in mind, and for a preview, here's the guys at Toystock in late 2012!

Moving to previously announced shows, the second of three hard-rock featured nights at The Marquee at the Bon Soo Winter Carnival goes down TOMORROW, as local metal/punk quintet Jack Spades are headlining the day's entertainment at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion! Fresh off of last night's set at Heavy Thursday at The Rosie, look for this entertaining band (featuring current members of T-Rex Manning, The Elements, and Bear Hunters) to rock out hard in front of their fans and the Bon Soo faithful tomorrow evening! They're the last slotted band at 7:30 PM, and while tomorrow's entertainment begins at The Pavilion 5:00 PM, I can not confirm the other acts' times (partly due to the lack of a full public Marquee schedule), but click here for the identity of some Wednesday-Saturday performers. Like before, admission is FREE if you have a $7 Bon Soo button (or buy one upon entry), and this is definitely ALL AGES. Check the above links for more details, don't miss Jack Spades in this unique outdoor setting, and here they are live in December!

Also TOMORROW NIGHT, Kinross, Michigan hard rock trio Banned will return to The Runway Bar in nearby Hessel, but according to their Facebook page, their previously announced one nighter is now extended to Saturday night as well! The only hard rock band playing across the river this weekend that I can reasonably verify, these will be Banned's second & third shows of the new year (following last weekend's stop in Gould City), but these will be their first within an hour of the Soo of 2014. After taking January off, and with only an April weekend at Kewadin Casino otherwise known, why not head out this weekend just in case those are next? Also note that their sets coincide with this year's Snowsfest at the nearby Les Cheneaux Islands, so keep that angle in mind tomorrow! Alex, Don, and Jim will be rocking Hessel tomorrow at 9:00 PM & Saturday at 8:00 PM, you must be 21 to attend, and there's no announced cover charge. Check the above links for more details! It's great to see Banned back at it, so don't miss them this weekend, and here's the guys live last year!

Finally for our second preview post this week, Sault Ontario classic hard rock quintet That's Chester will make their first live appearances of 2014 TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT when they return to Docks Riverfront Grill! Last seen live at Toystock over 2 months ago (and at Docks that same weekend), it's nice to see this talented veteran band playing more regularly following their reunion last year, and hopefully they have a great weekend of entertaining covers for their fans tomorrow & Saturday night! Like usual, these are 19+ shows with 10:00 PM-ish start times, and as with other recent Docks shows, there is NO COVER CHARGE! For more information, visit the official Facebook event page! Sounds like a good time to party out with That's Chester, so keep their Docks return in mind for this weekend, and for a preview, here are the guys at Docks a few years back!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for the rest of our weekend concert previews tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

The First Of This Week's Metal/Hard Rock Concert Previews!!

Largely thanks to the expanded hard rock & metal presence at our local winter festival this year, we have a pile of concert previews to touch on this week, so I'm forced to break them up into three posts. Today, we'll look at shows taking place between TODAY and tomorrow, with any Friday-included shows coming tomorrow, followed by Saturday-only shows on Friday, and any late notice gigs will be slotted where needed, so other previews are coming! Without any further adieu, here's the first of your heavier concert previews for this week!

In it's second year among the entertainment at the Bon Soo Winter Carnival, the outdoor live performance stage known as The Marquee is bigger both in scale (now based at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion) and in performer amount, including featuring hard rock and metal bands for the first time (unless you counted Lazer Queen last year), with at least one hard rock band rocking The Marquee for three of the next four days! The SMS-leaning bands kick off TONIGHT with a lineup headlined by Rockstar Bar Battle of the Bands winners The Suicide Kings! Last seen at The Rosie last month, the guys should have an exciting set of heavy originals and covers this evening, so don't be late to see them for their 7:30 PM set! The only other band that I can confirm for tonight is a debuting local punk quartet named Fist Fighting Stephen Hawking (amusing name!), who will be on at 7:00 PM according to their Facebook page.

Curiously comprised of 4 local drummers, their lineup includes two Frightlight alums (ex-drummer Jeff De Rose on vocals & current guitarist Rick White) alongside Late Shift bassist Clint Wilson and ex-As It Stands guitarist Ryan McLaughlin on drums. No media yet, but expect a solid half hour of old school punk covers from this promising new band, and it's great to see Rick back on stage for the first time since what happened last September! The day's Marquee entertainment begins at 5:00 PM, attendance is FREE with the purchase of a $7 Bon Soo button from local merchants (or upon entry to the Winter Playground downtown), and given that this is a family festival, it's obviously ALL AGES. For more details, click here and the above links! This should be a great showcase for both the established Suicide Kings and the debuting Fist Fighting Stephen Hawking, so don't miss out on this action at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion TONIGHT! For a preview, here's a video from The Suicide Kings' most recent outdoor set, courtesy of last year's Rotaryfest!



For reference sake, the reason we don't have full daily schedules is because Bon Soo hasn't released them, likely out of respect to possible timeslot alterations. However, according to this recent press release on SooToday, upcoming Marquee performers (some of which may have played yesterday) include Salty Mollies dancer Tallulah Gin, solo artist Steevy LaPlante, a dance team from Central Algoma Secondary School, former Chronic Demonic singer Sabrina Strange (though her set may be performance art-based), beatboxer Killabeatz, a band named Foreign A Chord (who I know nothing on), and the Sault College Cougars Competitive Cheerleaders, among others. As well, a recent post at this link says that tomorrow's Marquee lineup will be centered around DJs, with DJ Seith opening at 5:00 PM. I just wanted to get those names out there, even if we don't know times for them, so you guys have more of an idea of who to expect at The Marquee through Saturday!

Finally for this preview post, the second installment of the brand new Heavy Thursdays series at The Roosevelt Hotel goes down TOMORROW NIGHT, and the lineup will be very familiar for confirmed attendees of next month's Anvil concert, as all three local opening bands will rock The Rosie tomorrow! The listed headliners (though the order is subject to change) are newer local punk/metal quintet Jack Spades, in their first show of the year & just their second with new guitarist Jesse Cook, and their hard hitting originals & covers should go over well on familiar ground tomorrow! The other bands are both making their Rosie debuts tomorrow, including new local classic metal quintet Project 421 (in their second show with new singer Curtis McKenzie) and resurgent local thrash quartet Pillory, so don't be late for their varying takes of metal either! Also, if you're a fan of the original Rosie metal night series, keep in mind that members of Frightlight, The Bear Hunters, Winkstinger and March Into Regression will all be performing tomorrow.

Also titled "Smash the North Kickoff", tomorrow's show has FREE ENTRY if you show or buy your Anvil concert ticket at the door! Otherwise, there's a $5 cover charge, and regardless of entry method, there is a 19+ age limit, and 10:00 PM start time. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! This should be another solid entry for the new Heavy Thursdays, and the bands should all devastate to help kickoff the road to Anvil's return on March 15th! For a preview, here's Jack Spades live in December, and stay tuned for our preview of their Bon Soo Marquee set tomorrow!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for our next concert previews (including Friday's Marquee lineup) tomorrow! Thanks everyone!