A New Addition To Our Band Links, A Mid-Week Concert Preview, And Much More!!

In terms of our backlog clearout, yesterday's posts somewhat set us back, as one was a scheduled feature post and the other only knocked one topic off of the list. However, today's post will clear six items from our list, so here's what you should know via some recent shorter updates, a concert preview for tomorrow evening, and leading off, a belated addition to our band links and full coverage, so here's what you should know!

After their well received closing set on Rotaryfest Saturday last month, it's high time that we finally roll classic/hard rock cover trio The Sidekicks into our full coverage! The band has generally been cagey when it comes to sharing media and setlist hints from their shows, which is what has kept them out of our links for this long, but what they played at Clergue Park last month definitely points to The Sidekicks fitting based on bands that we already actively cover. Active since at least February 2020 when they played at the United We Jam! fundraiser right before the pandemic began, their Facebook page was only launched in August 2021, and they have had a steady lineup since then, featuring singer/drummer Tracey Hilderley (formerly of bands like Tripod The Dog, Boogie Fever, and Domina) alongside guitarist Steve Cardiff and bassist Dan Beaupre (of 100 Gran, Griphook, and Double Down fame).

Pandemic restrictions are partly to blame for their relative lack of shows from before 2023, and while they're not the most regularly seen cover band going, they're probably best recognized from their appearances at The Water Tower Pub in the past three years, along with scattered gigs at venues like Jay's Piston Broke Pub, The Dive Gastro Pub, and Beck's Pub (sorry, Beck's Bar). Tracey, Steve, and Dan have also been seen at Rotaryfest Stage 1 in 2023, that year's Bushplane Days, and a 2024 Summer Concert Series gig at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion. As noted above, The Sidekicks don't post videos of themselves on social media, perhaps with the thought process of "if you want to see/hear us, come to our gigs!", but from what I caught of them on Stage 1 at Rotaryfest last month, they covered the likes of Heart, The Cult, Pat Benatar, Sloan, The Scorpions, The Tragically Hip, and Judas Priest, among others.

The Sidekicks will be a unique band alone from having a frontwoman who sings and drums simultaneously, and while I did find that Tracey's vocals could be overly theatrical on more upbeat rockers, she adjusts well when songs call for it, and they do have some interesting cover selections that other bands don't tackle. Steve and Dan are solid musicians to match, and Steve is (to me) an underrated lead guitarist that I'm surprised isn't talked about as much. There is a new Sidekicks video to share from Rotaryfest shot by an external page that we'll address when we cover the remaining Rotaryfest videos, but click here to see our video of them covering "You've Got Another Thing Comin'" from last month! 

Next up, here's our latest mid-week concert preview concerning the prolific local classic/hard rock musician Tym Morrison, whose weekly arrangement at The Mike Case Memorial Stage outside of The Trading Post continues TOMORROW! With five more shows to go for the former Caveman Morrison frontman for this seasonal run, tomorrow's date should provide fans with more unplugged rock favourites, so keep things in mind if you're in the area or are up for a drive north! If you'd rather see Tym on a better day for concerts or somewhere else, we will preview his next Desbarats show on Friday in this weekend's previews, plus his new late notice matinee confirmation for Sunday. These shows are 6:30-8:00 PM affairs with no cover charge or age limit, and as this is an outdoor event, 9&10 News is calling for sunny skies with temperatures in the 20-22° range. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Tym live!

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

 

• On June 2nd, Kewadin Casinos' Facebook page announced a new series of upgrades at their five locations to begin that summer, including "bar and restaurant/deli renovations". However, in the linked press release, the only way that this may affect SMS coverage is that the Sault Michigan branch is getting a new sports bar that begins construction next summer. Is this replacing The Rapids Lounge or is this something that will exist alongside it? Time will tell, but see above for more on all levels of upgrades at Kewadin Casinos in the coming months!
• The local openers have been announced for Australian hard rock band The Lazys' headlining concert at Blaster Powerhouse in Sault Ontario on October 9th, and surprisingly, it will be folk/country quartet The Golden Scoundrels! They revealed their involvement last week via the poster for their Full Chisel Tour this fall, though note that the former Soo Blaster has yet to visibly corroborate this in the full concert promotion. While 3/4ths of The Scoundrels have experience in hard rock/metal bands, they are still an interesting genre contrast, so hopefully they help pull a sizeable crowd in two months' time! Tickets are on sale at this link!
• In two more examples of local classic/hard rock cover bands using Facebook "Stories" to share self-destructing vertical videos that I can't link to or feature here, Quite Frankly did so from their April concert at The Water Tower Pub (where they covered Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Fortunate Son"), and Silent 9 just did so over the weekend for a very blurry video of them covering Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train" at a recent private event, with Jess singing on stage alongside an attendee. I will never understand why some bands and venues choose to share videos as "Stories" that can only be seen once or twice before vanishing into the ether, but alas, you may have missed those ones as of late!

 

 That's all for now, but stay tuned for another new SMS post later today! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Tym Morrison), Wednesday Concert Previews, And A New Video!!

(Updated at 6:08 PM) With there being a pair of mid-week concerts of note TOMORROW (one being a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT), let's focus our latest post around them, plus some more upcoming new concerts and a new live video, so here's what you should know on this Tuesday morning!

Local classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison will return to The Mike Case Memorial Stage outside of The Trading Post TOMORROW, and while we're on the subject, let's roll the rest of his August dates there into our calendar! Apologies for the short notice on TOMORROW's concert, I really should have got the ball rolling on his August dates last week, as I wanted to go month-by-month with them given the amount. August 2026 has four Wednesdays, so fans of the former Caveman Morrison and Nostalgic Band frontman can see Tym go unplugged at The Trading Post TOMORROW and then on August 12th, 19th, and 26th, with his weekly summer concert arrangement at this outdoor stage scheduled to run through mid-September. Hopefully weather holds out throughout, and Tym's skilled covers should get a solid reception TOMORROW and beyond! All four shows have adjusted 7:00-9:00 PM start times.

These are all ages concerts with no cover charge, and 9&10 News is calling for 20-21° temperatures and partly cloudy skies during Tym's scheduled two hour block TOMORROW. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and for a preview, here's Tym live! 

Finally, let's head to The Roberta Bondar Pavilion, where local dog rescue charity Maddy's Mighty Mutts will host their first ever Family Fun Day! To promote Maddy's work and give back to the community, attendees tomorrow can expect a barbecue, craft and food vendors, kids activity, a beer tent, dogs up for adoption, and more, so visit the official Facebook event page for full non-musical details! A stacked lineup of local musicians are supporting Maddy's Mighty Mutts tomorrow, including anywhere from nine to eleven acts, though unfortunately, I have not seen a verified performance schedule. Based on the advertised 8 hour timeframe, I'd be expecting some half-hour long sets, especially from the solo acts. The listed band order puts the bands first, and in order, they include young local hard rock quartet 5 Dollar Bribe, southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 (with new single in tow!), Josh & Todd from local folk/bluegrass quartet The Golden Scoundrels...

...as their duo spinoff Half Scoundies, classic/hard rock cover duo TNT (Terry Eaton n' Travis Sharpe from Soundcheck unplugged), and country rock cover veterans Tex Riviera & The Ride (not "Tex & The Relix") The solo performers include Bone Yard frontman Greg "The Ranting Rockstar" Simpson (featuring a guest appearance by Travis from TNT), Dive Gastro Pub regular Arin Karki (a.k.a. Arin Jung), Dodge This/ex-Phatstick singer/guitarist Jason Taillefer, newer local country musician Jazmine "Jazz Marie" Ladouceur, former Project 421/Eclipse frontman Curtis McKenzie, country cover veteran Leslie Cook, and in a late addition via this AI generated poster from this morning, the aforementioned Tym Morrison. That's quite a solid lineup of familiar faces, many not regularly seen on multi-band bills like this, so keep all of this in mind! However, be advised that the new AI poster omits three acts (Tex & The Ride, Arin Karki, and Leslie Cook), even though Tex's Facebook page confirmed an hour prior that they were playing tomorrow.

Have any of the three dropped out (theoretically, someone must have for Tym to join this bill), or did Maddy's and/or the AI program forget a few names? We'll let you know if anything concrete is said! Also newly confirmed is that unspecified "friends" will guest with TNT during their set. Alas, the Wednesday scheduling is far from ideal, especially for an event starting before people working 9:00-5:00 are off the clock, but hopefully there's a decent turnout given the quality lineup & other activities. I have not seen any firm postings indicating a cover charge, but bring cash just in case to support Maddy's work and the vendors on site! This is absolutely an all ages event (dogs are welcome too!), and it is slated to run from 2:00-10:00 PM. Weather-wise, 9&10 News is calling for partly cloudy skies tomorrow with temperatures ranging from 18-22°, and while the Roberta Boundary Bondar Pavilion tent is acknowledged, the show should avoid tonight's rain.

Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's the first original song from listed headliners(?) 5 Dollar Bribe! This video was uploaded to their Facebook page from their headlining date at Blaster Powerhouse on Saturday, and features Jayce, Tyler, Randy, and Chase playing their own original "Cold". A 1990s tinged hard rock song with grunge influences and some surprising screams from Jayce, this is a promising start that seemed to go over well this past weekend! I'd definitely be interested to hear more original music from 5 Dollar Bribe, but will they play this tomorrow under the tent? Be there to find out, and check out the "Cold" video from Saturday night for yourselves below!

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

Bone Yard 225 Updates & A Tym Morrison Concert Preview!!

For our first post of what will be a busy work week at the SMS, here's a pre-Rotaryfest mid-week preview and the latest updates from a prominent veteran band both here and abroad!

We'll start with a mid-week concert preview before the Rotaryfest crush begins, as prolific local classic/hard rock musician Tym Morrison will return to The Mike Case Memorial Stage outside of The Trading Post for his third weekly concert there of his current summer arrangement TOMORROW EVENING! While not a Rotaryfest performer on record (odd that he's never played to my knowledge), this could be an appetizer for fans of rock covers to see some live music outdoors before the action begins downtown, and hopefully Tym has a solid block of rock favourites in store for fans way up Great Northern Road! Like the last two weeks, tomorrow's show is expected to run from 6:30-8:30 PM with no age limits or cover charges. Weather-wise, 9&10 News is calling for cloudy skies and temperatures hovering around 21°, so similar to last week, but with no likelihood of rain. Visit the Facebook event page for more details, and here's Tym live!

Next up, let's take a look at the latest updates from local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225, so what's new from their camp? When we last saw them on a local stage, they performed not one, but two concerts in one day (one "uncorked", one fully electric) at Beck's Bar for the Biker Rights Organization's annual Shoot & Scoot on Saturday, June 27th, and a live-streamed video from the former set made its way to their Facebook page, though note that it was not playing for me on a desktop browser (it worked fine on a cell phone though). The video sees the guys covering The Marshall Tucker Band's "Can't You See" (with an amusing "Drift Away" interlude late), and the video notably does not feature bassist Warren Reville. No idea if he was absent for all/part of the acoustic block or just sat out this song, but with him not there, this video is effectively a Bearded Lounge reunion. It's a solid unplu... sorry, uncorked rendition while it lasts, and familiar for long-time fans!

Despite being shot vertically, Greg & Alex are steadily captured in frame, which is nice! Due to Facebook's current regulations for live-streamed videos, the "Can't You See" cover will vanish from Bone Yard's Facebook page in around two weeks unless re-uploaded or converted, so click here to watch it while you can! More of singer/drummer Greg Simpson's "ranting rockstar" videos from his personal Facebook page were shared in the following days, including this one the next day where he reflected on the "huge success" of their double booking the previous day, including a full house for the nightcap. July will see your local 225 exclusively play private or out of town events, starting with a Canada Day gig in Chapleau (3½ hours north of here) on July 1st, as teased in this "ranting rockstar" video, and this one where Greg shows off their hotel rooms for the night. They called it "a fantastic show for a fantastic crowd", so it's good to see that the trip went well!

"The Dirty Three" played their next gig 50 minutes southeast of here in Johnson Township (outside of Desbarats) on Saturday, July 4th, which was a private event at the Caribou Log Cabin Resorts there, hence why we didn't cover it on the SMS. Greg even apologized for the lack of media in this video, saying that "certain private parties should stay private", but things went well! For a second straight year, Bone Yard packed their things to play in Greg's hometown of Kirkland Lake (7½ hours northeast of here!) this past Saturday, once again headlining the Stéphane Léveillé Memorial Poker Run motorcycle rally, a.k.a. the Leave No One Behind Ride for Veterans. Before heading home, Greg did another radio interview with CJKL 101.5 there (as per this "Ranting Rockstar" video), but as best as I can tell, the band has not posted that for on-demand streaming like they did last year. There is a video from the Kirkland Lake concert to check out though, so what's to see?

Sadly live-streamed (so you likely have until around August 11th to watch it), this comes from the Facebook page of the Royal Canadian Legion there, which is where the show took place this year and last. This sees Greg, Alex, and Warren covering The 4 Non Blondes' "What's Up?", which remains a mystifying cover choice for me, regardless of which rock band does it (I know it has been funny and a crowd pleaser, but the joke got old for me years and years ago). Well performed in spite of that, let alone the vertical camera angle, so give it a look below while you can! Bone Yard 225's next public show (aside from a private stag & doe set in two weeks) will be at Beck's on August 1st, and they are not playing Rotaryfest again this year.

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Even Flow, BookcluB, And Tym Morrison) & The M1 Concert Preview!!

An unusually busy Tuesday & Wednesday lie ahead in terms of hard rock/punk concerts in Sault Ontario, so today's post mostly focuses on them, including LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (two on SHORT NOTICE), so here's what you should know for this week and beyond!

Local punk/alternative cover sextet BookcluB have announced a new concert slate that kicks off TOMORROW NIGHT as the second band at this year's Summer Concert Series at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion! Apologies for the short notice, the full band schedule was only announced on social media on Thursday. Following an Elvis Presley tribute on Saturday, BookcluB (replacing Mid Life Crysis for unannounced reasons, source here) will kick off the usual Tuesday/Thursday evening schedule for this annual City of Sault Ste. Marie-booked concert series running through mid-August, and hopefully there's a good turnout under the big tent TOMORROW for this talented group and their often unexpected covers! The photo used by the City for official promotion is old, remember that ex-Hails guitarist Carmen Muto has replaced Brandon Ruch. TOMORROW's concert is FREE and all ages from 7:00-9:00 PM, as standard in this series.

9&10 News is calling for partly cloudy skies tomorrow (tent acknowledged) with temperatures of 26-27°, so please prepare for the warm and humid conditions even at this later point. The rest of BookcluB's summer calendar was (oddly) only announced via their Instagram page, and it includes their already-known Rotaryfest Stage 1 set next Saturday, plus shows coinciding with Downtown Street Party #3 and the returning Wolf Fest, so I'll hold comment on them pending full announcements from organizers. See above for more details, and here's BookcluB live!

Next up, local classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison has announced his annual return to The Mike Case Memorial Stage beside The Trading Post for another regular concert arrangement, and it actually began this past Wednesday, continuing THIS WEDNESDAY and running every Wednesday through mid-September! Apologies for missing Tym's Canada Day gig and for the short notice on show #2 THIS WEDNESDAY, I only heard about his return to the Mike Case Stage yesterday via his batch Facebook event page for this residency. Tym is a regular summer sight at the outdoor 1332 Great Northern Road stage beside the Big Moose Ice Cream Parlour, but this year, he is scheduled every Wednesday like clockwork for 2½ months, a schedule that is obviously weather permitting. As we usually do when Tym announces a glut of regularly scheduled shows at one venue at once, we'll go month by month for our calendar.

As such, his July 8th, 15th, 22nd, and 29th shows are all now listed, and we'll roll the August ones in later in the month. WEDNESDAY'S concert (as well as the rest of them, and last week's) runs from 6:30-8:30 PM with no age limit or cover charge. Be advised that 9&10 News is currently calling for a 60% chance of rain from 6-7:00 PM on WEDNESDAY at the tail end of likely rain from the morning onwards, so check with Tym and/or follow your preferred weather forecast if you are at all concerned (temperatures are projected to be 21°). Visit the above links for more details, apologies again for missing show #1 last week, and here's Tym live!

Before we wrap up this batch of mid-week concert previews, here's one more new show for the aforementioned Roberta Bondar Pavilion's Summer Concert Series, and in the only other scheduled show that crosses our genre radar, newer local Pearl Jam tribute band Even Flow will take the stage there on Tuesday, July 28th! Last seen at Downtown Street Party #1, this concert gives the Summer Concert Series an unusually grungy and alt-edged collection of covers from this talented supergroup, and if you've seen Rob, Steve, Cameron, Mike, and Derek in concert since their debut last fall, you know they have a good handle on Pearl Jam classics, including many cuts that aren't among the usual FM radio suspects! Of course, I do hope that the recent heatwave breaks well before this Tuesday evening concert at month's end, which is the fifth of eleven in the Summer Concert Series for 2026, so fingers crossed that it is cooler out!

Like with BookcluB there TOMORROW NIGHT, the Even Flow concert in three weeks is a FREE & all ages concert from 7:00-9:00 PM, and potential rain shouldn't screw things up given the tent. Visit the above links for more on Even Flow's next headlining date! 

Finally for today, we'll travel back to this week, as there's one more mid-week show to preview, albeit one that had lots of advance notice, as Calgary-based Motorhead tribute band M1 will play their second local concert on WEDNESDAY NIGHT at Beck's Bar! Fans of the British rock legends will remember seeing M1 debut here exactly 52 weeks prior to their return on Wednesday, and while this being mid-week again isn't ideal for many, at least it's not a school night for most! M1 don't exactly look like Motorhead, but they pay strong homage to Lemmy and crew with their take on their classic back catalog, so look for a fun night of gravelly vocals and fast rock & roll in their local encore! Like last year, they're easing into the metal ahead with an acoustic singer/guitarist as opener, with recent Dive Gastro Pub regular and Soo's Got Talent alum Arin Karki leading off on Wednesday.

Myself, I'd have a proper electric band to set the tone, but Arin does cover the occasional hard rock song, and hopefully he leaves a good impression beforehand! While last year's show had no cover, this year's will cost $5 at the door, which still beats what Crazy Babies cost! Arin leads off the night at 7:00 PM, and this is a 19+ concert as usual. Visit the above links for more on what should be a fun concert for Motorhead fans, and here's M1 live!

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

Pop Evil & Triumph Concert Video Showcase!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Triumph Concert Video Showcase (Part 4!!)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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