Before we begin today's post, just a heads up that the expanded Cruisin' The Dub car show was planned for today at both A&Ws on Great Northern Road, with Soundcheck playing the car show at the new one as normal, while Bone Yard (more on them in a bit) would headline a motorcycle show concurrently at the old one. This would have been a Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada fundraiser, as is often the case for A&W car shows locally. While the advertising online for this one was minimal, it doesn't matter now, as Cruisin' The Dub was cancelled on Tuesday due to today's weather forecast, as per Soundcheck drummer Glen Thomas' personal Facebook page. Unlike past A&W car shows, this was going to be held between 5:00-8:00 PM today, and while they would have dodged this morning's rain, they wouldn't have made it until 8:00 PM before the rain came back (and with wind to boot.)
This is hardly the first time that an outdoor local concert was cancelled due to a gloomy weather forecast, but given that this is an annual event for a great cause, hopefully A&W reschedules in some form! Alas, August 17th each year is A&W's Burgers To Beat MS Day, hence the timing for this event. We'll let you know if it gets a do-over, but now let's dive into shows this weekend, sans Sault Michigan & area, plus the late notice (as bands go) street party on Sunday. Let's start with a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT that some of you will be eagerly anticipating!
Hamilton outsider folk/punk musician B.A. Johnston will return to Sault Ste. Marie for his fourth headlining concert appearance on SATURDAY NIGHT at Outspoken Brewing! Apologies for the short notice, this show was announced when B.A. confirmed his fall tour slate on August 8th, but I was waiting for information from the local promoters that have surprisingly never came (it must have been booked in house). Personal Facebook postings confirm that the show is on, so if you've missed B.A.'s amusing and eclectic brand of one-man punk rock, audience participation, and oddly relatable music, be at the 350 Queen Street East brewery on SATURDAY! This will be B.A. Johnston's first local date since rocking the temporary Legion Bar at The Marconi Club just under a year ago, with all four of his Soo gigs being at different venues.
Despite the minimal local advertising, fans who saw B.A. locally in 2015, 2019, and last year will know why you can't miss his live show, so be there on SATURDAY to see what he has in store! This is a 19+ concert with no advertised openers, and note that his Legion Bar show last year had an 8:30 PM start time and $12 admission. Visit the above links for more details, and here's B.A. Johnston live (though you'll want to see him for yourself)!
Next up, local classic/hard rock solo musician Tym Morrison will continue his weekly run of acoustic solo gigs at The Mike Case Memorial Stage outside of The Trading Post TOMORROW NIGHT! As it turns out, last week's show there was indeed cancelled due to (you guessed it) rain, as per Tym's personal Facebook page. This is why I've included weather forecasts for outdoor concerts in our weekly concert previews in the past few years, just to warn everyone in the event that weather affects the proceedings, and Tym did confirm that it was off after our preview post went live. Apologies for missing that! As such, tomorrow's show will be his sixth in his weekly arrangement at The Trading Post this summer, with at least one more to go, but note that in his prior weekly runs here, Tym did continue playing into early September. We'll let you know when/if any September dates there are announced!
Note also that Tym is not playing with The Nostalgic Band this weekend, after playing dates with his classic metal trio for four straight weekends, necessitating Tym playing two different shows on Fridays lately, but not tomorrow. This concert has a 7:00 PM start time, no age limit, and no cover charge, while 9&10 News is calling for sunny weather of around 17°, so it'll be a little cooler and much drier than last week. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Tym live at The Mike Case Stage!
We'll wrap up this preview post with local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard, who may not have been able to rock the old A&W today as planned, but they still have a busy weekend at Jay's Piston Broke Pub! As has been the case for their weekends at the former Reggie's West this summer, they'll be subbing in as the jam night hosts rather than Soundcheck tonight, and while we don't count jam nights as fully fledged "concerts" for our purposes, it is good to see that Greg, Alex, and Warren can still play somewhere despite the car show cancellation! In terms of traditional concerts, they will be rocking out at Jay's TOMORROW NIGHT, but the big event will actually be on SATURDAY, when Bone Yard serve as the headline musical entertainment for the Dragonfly Run, which is the relaunched Ride For ARCH motorcycle rally for the Algoma Residential Community Hospice. For full details on the bike rally proper, click here!
Along with music inside Jay's, there will be a street party outside of the Korah Road nightclub, local vendors, and family entertainment, and in a late confirmation, Bone Yard will have an opening band, namely new local rock band Skinbox (featuring Pixo Control/Vol. alum Steve Edwards). We still don't know anything on Skinbox's sound or membership beyond Steve, but this will be their first public concert set, so come out on Saturday to check them out! Their set begins at 7:00 PM, Bone Yard are on at 9:00 PM all weekend, these are 19+ concerts, and there's no cover charges beyond any ARCH donations. Great cause, solid hard rocking music, what's not to love? See above for more details, and for a preview, here's a brand new video of Bone Yard live at Shooters Downstairs Lounge this past Friday! This was live-streamed to their Facebook page.
The video sees Bone Yard covering Roger Miller's "Me & Bobby McGee", which is (was?) a staple of their acoustic side project The Bearded Lounge's set, and to that end, frontman Greg Simpson plays guitar rather than drums here. It's a fine cover of this oft-covered song by local classic rock-leaning groups, but alas, the filmer shot this vertically, not that I can be too shocked, as their last horizontal video posted on Facebook was shot in August 2022. Give Bone Yard's new video a watch below, and don't miss Bone Yard at Jay's this weekend!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for the rest of this weekend's known hard rock concert previews tomorrow! Thanks everyone!
It appears to be one of those weekends, namely a busy one full of SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS! Alas, all of today's hard rock/punk weekend concert previews are of shows that were only publically announced on social media in the past five days, so I'm pushing the previously announced Fort Creek & Peril concerts to our next preview post hitting the site by tomorrow morning. With all of that out of the way, here's what you should know to start off the weekend!
New local classic/hard rock cover quartet Double Down will play their second live concert weekend TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT at Reggie's Place! Apologies for the short notice, these shows were only announced on the band's Facebook page on Saturday, though be advised that Reggie's has not publically confirmed them at press time. TOMORROW & SATURDAY'S shows come three weeks after this talented foursome debuted at Reggie's, and with Bone Yard, Mojo, Griphook, and Mustang Heart alumni in their ranks, you know that Double Down will deliver the goods for classic and hard rock fans! These are 9:00 PM gigs with no cover charge and 21+ age limits once again. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's a new video from Double Down's first concert! Drummer Ric Datson uploaded this to his YouTube channel on April 24th, so what do you see/hear?
After a post-production intro featuring the sound of a jet flying by, we get a montage of clips and no full songs, which may be disappointing for some, but this conceit is not brand new for Ric's channel if you recall some videos of his old bands. Filmed on a stationary camera at different zoom levels (and different levels of crowd involvement as the night wore on), the video is full of snippets of familiar covers that will please fans of members' prior projects, but the lighting is surprisingly dark by default unless stage lighting is in action. Good teaser of what to expect TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT at Reggie's, so check it out below, and stay tuned for some more videos from weekend #1 from other sources soon!
Next up, local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard will return to Shooters Downstairs Lounge for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice, the band only announced these gigs via their Facebook page on Tuesday, and the venue had not followed suit whatsoever at press time. This is basically the re-booking of their cancelled Shooters weekend in early March, which was a casualty of 2/3rds of the band falling ill that weekend, meaning that TOMORROW & SATURDAY's shows will be Bone Yard's first at the Dennis Street nightclub in over three months. Good to see them downtown again, and hopefully their southern fried hard rock covers find another strong audience TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! These are 9:00 PM shows with 19+ age limits and no cover charges. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's a brief new video of them live earlier this year!
Uploaded on Saturday, this was filmed by attendee Trevor James at Shooters in February (I think) for his Tiktok page, and while his page there has either been deleted or made ultra private since, the band was able to save it for a Facebook upload. It features the guys covering all of Golden Earring's "Radar Love", and it sounds good with lots of nice angles, though the vertical-only limitations of TikTok videos do a disservice to how Trevor shot this. I'd have cropped the black bars out for Bone Yard's upload, but it's still a solid performance of this live staple, so check it out below, and don't miss Bone Yard at Shooters TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT!
Also this weekend, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to The Esquire Club for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies again for the short notice, these shows have not been announced publically by either the band or venue (at least as far as Facebook goes), and I only know about them because of plugs on personal Facebook accounts. Last seen at The Esquire Club via a show(s?) in early April that similarly had no public notice online (well, not until 7 hours prior), TOMORROW & SATURDAY's concerts follow Shooters gigs last week, and should provide fans with more fun hard rocking covers and good times! Be advised that Soundcheck had to cancel their usual jam night hosting duties at Jay's Piston Broke Pub tonight due to a band member falling ill (they didn't specify who, but it's not singer/guitarist Cameron Oliver, who typically doesn't appear at jam nights).
How this will affect TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT's shows, if at all, is to be determined, but stay tuned to band members' personal Facebook pages for details if you are able. Yes, this weekend's Soundcheck gigs were originally scheduled for bassist Jim Michaud's old band Obsession when they announced their now-scuttled 2023 concert slate. As usual, they have 9:30 PM start times, 19+ age limits, and no cover charges. Visit the above links for more details when/if they surface, and here's Soundcheck live!
Finally for today's previews, we'll head back downtown to Outspoken Brewing, where local indie/punk quintet The Northwest and alternative/indie rock quartet Man Feelings will reportedly join forces for a special matinee concert on SATURDAY! Once again, apologies for the short notice, this show was only announced via Man Feelings' Facebook page last night. Like every show above, the venue hasn't confirmed it publically that I have seen, and neither have The Northwest, who haven't posted on their Facebook page in over a month, despite being the ostensible headliners on SATURDAY. No word on why this is a matinee concert (Man Feelings gave a 2:00 PM start time, with Outspoken normally opening at 3:00 PM on SATURDAYS), but remember that the 350 Queen Street East microbrewery is a smaller venue that has lent itself more to acoustic acts in the past, so this should at least be a more intimate event than you may be used to.
Still good to see The Northwest back on a local stage for the first time this year, and Man Feelings should still have momentum on their side following their set at The Loft last week! This will also be our first previewed concert at Outspoken since their January-February closure and all of the rumours therein, but they have bounced back and hopefully more good times are ahead! This 2:00 PM event has no cover charge and a presumed 19+ age limit. Visit the above links for more details, and here's The Northwest live!
That's all for now, but look for our Fort Creek and Peril previews (and more) next! Thanks everyone!
Before we dive into this weekend's concert previews, just a heads up that I have removed The Wyld Stallyns' show at Outspoken Brewing tomorrow night from our calendar. While the band had agreed to play the first Friday of "every month" at their Taproom late last year, the venue has been closed since early January, with their Facebook page being cagey on the reasons, and there's no sign that they've re-opened this month. Maybe I'm wrong and they just haven't announced it, but I doubt The Stallyns are playing tomorrow, at least at Outspoken, but stay tuned if we hear anything! Now, here's this weekend's concert previews and new videos, starting with SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!
Sault Michigan blues/hard rock quartet Project 906 will return to Jack's Pub & Grub in Brimley for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the band only announced this show via its Facebook event page on Tuesday. Project 906 made their first appearance at the Willabee's Motel sister venue in November, and from what I have heard, the guys had a good debut there, so hopefully Billy, Joe, Dustin, and Odin deliver more of the hard rock goods with their covers-heavy sets TOMORROW! Note that advertising on the Facebook event page hypes up to "come join us to start the I-500 weekend right", even though Brimley is a 20 minute drive away (some attendees may be exploring the E.U.P. while in town, of course). TOMORROW'S show is at 8:00 PM with no announced cover charge and a 21+ age limit. See above for more details, and here's Project 906 live in concert!
Next up, we'll head back to Sault Ontario for two more late announcements, as local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to Reggie's Place for shows TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice, we only heard firm details about these dates via the venue's Facebook page on Tuesday, but when Soundcheck announced their bassist change on their Facebook page on Monday, they alluded to playing live this weekend without naming the location. Soundcheck just played at Reggie's three weeks ago, so this is a relatively quick turnaround for them, but hopefully their rocking blend of old school rock covers and select country favourites find another strong audience TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Note that while Obsession's Jim Michaud is their new bassist, Soundcheck did jokingly ask if regular fill-in Rob Gilmar was free this weekend in their Facebook post on Monday, implying no immediate changes.
Remember that Jim may not know their whole set for a double header weekend yet, let alone Thursday jam nights at Jay's (and Obsession still have their own farewell gigs to prepare for next week), so I can absolutely see Rob filling in short term. We'll let you know if anything concrete comes out! TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT's concerts are 9:00 PM affairs with no cover charge and 19+ age limits. See above for more details, and for a preview, here's Soundcheck live last year!
Lastly for known and announced hard rock concerts in the Twin Saults and area this weekend is the previously announced return of Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Tarnished to The Rapids Lounge at the local Kewadin Casino branch TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Their first local gigs of 2023 (following a Grand Rapids road trip last month), this weekend's shows coincide with the aforementioned International 500 snowmobile race, which goes down on Saturday and has attached events taking place all weekend long, with many tourists coming in to check this one out as usual. Click here for full I-500 details if you're interested in checking out the race and other events in person! Tarnished's shows are not expressly tied to the I-500, but Kewadin Casino is home base for many indoor pre- and post-race functions, so anyone who wants to stick around late for some hard rocking originals and covers should know to head to The Rapids Lounge tomorrow and/or Saturday night!
Tarnished will be on both nights at 9:00 PM, there is a 21+ age limit, and there are no cover charges, but expect it to be much busier than normal given the I-500 festivities in and around the casino. Visit the above links for more details on what should be a great weekend for exposure's sake for Tarnished, and here they are live last year elsewhere at Kewadin!
Finally for today, here's some new videos from a Sault Ontario band who are not playing live this weekend, namely southern hard rock cover trio Bone Yard! This is their off weekend in their previously announced run of February-March shows (they'll be at Shooters with more band t-shirts in tow next weekend), but you can still see them via these live-streamed videos on their Facebook page from their show this past Saturday at Jay's Piston Broke Pub, one seeing them cover The Beatles' "Come Together". The other video is embedded below, and it is their cover of Golden Earring's "Radar Love" from the end of the first chorus onward. Alas, both videos were shot vertically, but Bone Yard sound good in both, and the filmer did get some nice angles and shots of both the band (who have their own distinct & matching band shirts) and Jay's, which is definitely getting spruced up slowly with the new ownership!
Note that, when promoting this show on Facebook last week, Bone Yard noted that "we got a special guest making his first appearance" this weekend, and that "something tells me this guy is going to be hanging around there for a while". This wasn't an allusion to a band member addition, rather the return of the taxidermed moose head that was a fixture at The Rosie/Reggie's West for years, and at that patrons were known to kiss on their birthdays. Good to see it back on display under the new regime, but give Bone Yard's live-streamed videos a look above & below!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post on the site next! Thanks everyone!
The first concert weekend of 2023 is upon us, and while things are predictably quieter than last weekend, hard rock fans still have a couple of options! This post includes LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, some on SHORT NOTICE, plus some new videos, a cancellation, and an apology for a missed event last week, so here's what you should know!
Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will play their first concerts of 2023 (Thursday jam night duties excepted) when they return to Jay's Piston Broke Pub for headlining gigs TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, these dates were only announced via the venue's Facebook page on Tuesday. While we're on the subject, Soundcheck will also return to The Esquire Club for newly advertised concerts on January 20th & 21st and then on February 24th & 25th, all as confirmed via the venue's Facebook page's poster advertising bands playing in the first quarter of 2023. It's great to see Soundcheck (no space) kicking off the year on a busy note, and it'll be interesting to see where else and how often we'll see them in a traditional concert setting! TOMORROW & SATURDAY's shows at the former Reggie's West have 8:00 PM start times, and the Esquire Club dates begin at 9:30 PM.
All six of these gigs have 19+ age limits and no cover charges. West end fans will have lots of chances ahead to take in Soundcheck's old school and heavier rock covers (and some country) in the next two months, including TOMORROW & SATURDAY at Jay's, so see above for more details on them all, and for a preview of this weekend's gigs, here's Soundcheck live!
Next up, let's add the next expected date from local funk/hard rock band The Wyld Stallyns at Outspoken Brewing as part of their "first Friday of every month" arrangement there, which comes on Friday, February 3rd! Adding this to our calendar comes in the wake of learning that their planned Outspoken Brewing show tomorrow night is not
taking place. According to the venue's Facebook
page on Tuesday, they reasoned that "we figured everyone still needed to recoup
from New Year's Eve", though note that the announcement was included in details on reduced hours this month. If Outspoken are rescheduling The Stallyns for later this month, they haven't firmly said yet, stay tuned to their page if you are at all curious. Hopefully things resume on schedule for the monthly Friday series next month! Shows at Outspoken Brewing's on-site Taproom generally have 6:00 PM evening start times, 19+ age limits, and no cover charges.
This six-piece fan favourite band should have more fun cover action in store for fans at the Queen Street East nightclub/brewery on the first Fridays of months ahead (Good Friday in April acknowledged), so visit the above links for more on The Wyld Stallyns and/or Outspoken Brewing!
Let's head back to this weekend's still-on concert previews now for local classic/hard rock cover quartet Obsession's first shows of 2023, as they'll return to The Esquire Club themselves TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Unlike many of their weekend nightclub cover cohorts in town, Obsession announced a year's worth of gigs at The Esquire Club and Shooters on their website last year, so we already knew about this weekend's shows, with Jess, Gabe, Jim, and Steve scheduled to play at the Second Line West venue one weekend a month for the first half of 2023. Three weeks removed from their last shows, also at The Esquire Club, hopefully Obsession deliver the classic hard rock goods for fans once again tomorrow & Saturday! Like with Soundcheck later this month, these are 19+ events with no cover charge and 9:30 PM start times. Visit the above links for more details!
For a preview, here's a new video of Obsession live at The Esquire Club last month covering Neil Young's "Keep On Rocking In The Free World", as posted to their Facebook page last week! This isn't an ideal preview of Obsession proper both from the 30 second runtime only really capturing the repetitive chorus, and the fans on the floor largely obscuring the band, but it sounds good while it lasts, and everyone's clearly having fun dancing to the music, which is always welcome to see. Check it out below, and don't miss Obsession back there this weekend!
Finally, I wanted to belatedly apologize for missing a concert for coverage on the SMS on New Year's weekend, as Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Tarnished returned to The Islander Bar in Hessel this past Saturday for their New Year's Eve party! I profusely apologize for not covering it on the site proper, but the band only announced the show on their Facebook pagethat same day (The Islander Bar's Facebook page first plugged it early last week, but their announcement slipped me by at the time). I was able to get the word out about this one via our Facebook page, as December 31st was devoted to our year-in-review post, but again, I apologize for not getting on the site proper, I would have had I known about it even the day beforehand! Usually, I start posts with such apologies, but I put this one at the end because there's more to say than just acknowledging the missed show, as Tarnished put up a video to promote it!
While they waited until that afternoon to plug it themselves, Tarnished at least went all out to make a final push, with Alex (I think) putting guitarist Nathan Webber on the spot mid-practice to answer some big questions about the show. Fun and energetic little clip that does have some solid guitarwork in the background, so check it out below, and apologies again! I hope Tarnished impressed fans and revelers alike to send out 2022!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site in the coming days! Thanks everyone!
The first concert weekend of December is upon us, so let's kick off the month right! Due to the amount of shows this weekend, I'll hold the Rhythm & Brews shows in Sault Michigan for tomorrow's post, so don't worry, they are coming! Now, here's what you should know in Sault Ontario for hard rock concerts, starting with SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!
Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to
Shooters Downstairs Lounge for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT!
Apologies for the short notice, the band only announced these gigs via their Facebook event page earlier today, and at press time, the venue has not confirmed the dates online. Fresh off of their return to Toystock this past weekend, TOMORROW & SATURDAY'S concerts will be Cameron, Terry, Paul (or Rob?), and Glen's first shows at the Dennis Street nightclub since a one nighter in mid-November, but it's been a wait since the summer for them to double up for a weekend at Shooters like this. Despite the late notice, hopefully Soundcheck's classic, hard rock, and country covers find solid audiences TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! These are 8:00 PM gigs with 19+ age limits and no cover. See above for more details, and here's Soundcheck live in concert earlier this year!
Next up, local funk/hard rock cover sextet The Wyld Stallyns will return to Outspoken Brewing for a concert at their Taproom TOMORROW NIGHT as previously announced, but following that, their new run of gigs on the first Friday of every month will take them back to the same venue on Friday, January 6th! The description on event posters confirms that The Stallyns have agreed to play the first Friday each month there, end date unclear, hence us listing the January gig. Last seen at The Whiskey Barrel a couple of weeks ago, the Speers & company have ingratiated themselves well with Outspoken this year, and hopefully tomorrow's show at the newly confirmed January date both go swimmingly with their hard rocking cover set! Both shows have 8:30 PM start times, 19+ age limits, and entry to the Taproom has a suggested $10 cover, though "pay what you can" is also offered. Visit the Facebook event page for more details, and here are The Wyld Stallyns live!
Now, we'll stick entirely with this weekend's hard rock concert previews by heading to Reggie's Place, where local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard will return for headlining concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Fresh off of their headlining duties at Toystock (fallout forthcoming), these will be Bone Yard's first shows at the Queen Street East mainstay nightclub in three weeks, and these comprise the penultimate weekend in Bone Yard's six week run of steady weekend concerts. Of those six weekend bookings, Reggie's is the only locale to be booked twice, so hopefully existing and new Boneheads alike come out for Bone Yard's southern fried hard rock covers tomorrow and/or Saturday night! As usual, expect 9:00 PM start times, no cover charges, and 19+ age limits. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Bone Yard live!
Finally for today, new local metal trio The BAG will reportedly make their public concert debuts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT when they headline at The Esquire Club! For full disclosure, the band has not posted on their Facebook group for any reason since November 13th, and The Esquire Club still haven't acknowledged The BAG as playing this weekend, but unless given reason otherwise, we'll cover these shows as normal. After months of house/backyard parties and recording sessions towards a handful of singles on streaming platforms, this will be The BAG's first test in front of a public audience, and if you want a sampling of what Spencer, Austin, and Bradley bring to the table, check out this setlist from one of their private gigs. Their original material so far points to a solid groove/thrash metal hybrid sound, but hopefully their covers will carry them to a strong reception in the west end (assuming these are still on!)
Originally scheduled for online page-less local cover band Buzzsaw Jaw before dropping out for unannounced reasons, tomorrow & Saturday night's shows have 9:00 PM start times, no cover charges, and 19+ age limits. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and for a preview, here's one of two brand new songs from The BAG! Quietly posted on their YouTube channel on November 12th and recorded in their Mission Control Studio sessions in the summer, the new tracks are "Roadkill" (which is a short groove metal rocker with a nice guitar solo) and embedded below, "Get Out", a slower and thrashier track that delivers a promisingly intense sound, so definitely check both out above & berlow!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for our Rhythm & Brews preview and more on the site next! Thanks everyone!
Before we resume our Soo's Got Talent finals coverage, let's tackle some other recent videos from unrelated events on the site today, so we don't fall too behind on everything else going on! These include live footage from two big concerts that took place last month, but first, here's a new cover song featuring a very familiar face... and his uke!
After skipping October, local/Toronto punk covers project Mikey & His Uke's newest collaboration was posted to their YouTube channel earlier today, this time being a cover of AC/DC's "Shoot To Thrill"! In their fourth video since project leader Mikey Hawdon moved back to the Soo, he plays ukelele (at first) and guitar here, alongside Mikey's old Merves/Gabba Heys bandmate Amy Zuccheto (a.k.a. Amy Gabba) on lead vocals. If you haven't followed her since her last turns covering Joan Jett and The Runaways with Mikey's otherwise Ramones-centric cover bands in their local gigs, Amy has since fronted an AC/DC tribute band named AMY/DC that Mikey also played in while still living on Toronto, so she's a natural choice for this cover! Other performers are Frenzal Rhomb guitarist Lindsay McDougall (who also featured in August's NOFX cover), Chats bassist Eamon Sandwith, and past Frenzal Rhomb touring drummer Kye Smith.
As usual for the Mikey & His Uke series, this video is very well edited, and everyone is clearly having fun with this remote collaboration! Amy handles the verses slightly more leisurely than the original, but she has a great voice for Bon-era AC/DC, and the instrumental performances are all exactly what you'd hope for. Nice to see Mikey dip into heavier waters here too, so give the newest Mikey & His Uke cover a watch below!
Next up, let's dive into a pair of videos that I'm three weeks late to talk about on here (my apologies), as prolific local concert filmer Christopher Paci was in attendance for the two closing bands at Outspoken Brewing's second annual Oktoberfest on Saturday, October 15th, uploading four videos to his YouTube channel the next day! No luck on The Wyld Stallyns, Nein German Guys, or Frankly Speaking, alas. Chris' videos at The Rink outside of The Machine Shop include two of headlining psychedelic hard rock quartet The Uncanny Valley, who he filmed covering Jet's "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" and as embedded below, the back half of their original song "Stuck In Rotation". The audio is a little tinny, but Chris got a good vantage of the stage, and it looks the like the crowd turnout and the weather were both good for Oktoberfest! Solid performances from Adrian & crew, so give The Uncanny Valley's new videos a look above and below!
The other new videos take us back to the aforementioned Mikey Hawdon, as his new local old school indie rock cover band Bookclub made their live concert debut as the Saturday co-headliners at Oktoberfest! Still online page-less, this band features 3/4ths of The Inner City Surfers in mostly shuffled roles (Mikey on vocals & guitar, Dave Bahun on guitar, and Dustin Jones on bass), plus Dave's old Room 206 bandmate Al Watson on drums, as well as trumpet player Erin Antonello. Very odd seeing a trumpet in a non-ska band, but as we've seen with Josh Norling in numerous local rock bands, a little brass never hurt anyone! Despite early teasers of Bookclub covering 1980s-1990s indie rock bands that you don't tend to see tackled around here, both of the songs that Chris filmed are ones I've seen performed locally, including The Refreshments' "Banditos" and, as embedded below, Cheap Trick's "Reach Out".
While not a full-on punk band like we're used to seeing from most of the Bookclub members, power pop like Cheap Trick specialize in is not far removed, and their established talents are on full display on both songs! The recording quality is similar to the Uncanny Valley video, so keep that in mind, and Erin wasn't always very audible in the mix, but it'll be interesting to see where Bookclub go from here, especially as Mikey is actually in town full-time again, not commuting from Toronto steady. Give their videos a watch above & below, and stay tuned for updates!
We'll close today with some more recent live cover action, this time from local classic/hard rock quartet Obsession, who made their local &public debut with new lead singer Jessica Amadio at The Esquire Club on Halloween weekend! Two videos from the Halloween party on October 29th were posted to their Facebook page since, including a 44 second clip of them covering Trooper's "Raise A Little Hell" that was posted yesterday bunched in with live photos, but embedded below is the longer 90 second clip of them covering Poison's "Nothing But A Good Time". Yes, Obsession had costumes for the occasion, with Jess going as Kiss' Paul Stanley and Gabe as AC/DC's Angus Young, but I am not 100% positive on if Jim and Steve had a specific person that they were dressed as. This video was edited with Capcut and has lots of professional cuts to different camera angles with post-production effects, and views of the costumed attendees.
The Achilles heel with this video is that it was compiled and uploaded in portrait orientation despite a heavy use of landscape footage, so big chunks of it are tiny unless they fill the space with post-production effects. That said, Obession sound good in both videos, and Jess is definitely at ease on the stage and has a strong voice to match! Good first public outing for the new lineup, so look for them back at The Esquire Club next weekend, and give their Halloween weekend clips a look above & below!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for our continuation of our Soo's Got Talent finals coverage next! Thanks everyone!
Today's post was supposed to start our Soo's Got Talent finals coverage, but a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT fell into my lap, so this is now a standard news post with the T.S.G.T. coverage now planned for tomorrow. As such, today's post has one more new concert (with a related apology) and new videos, so here's what you should know!
Next up, here's another apparent new show (and a related apology for missing one), as local funk/hard rock band The Wyld Stallyns will apparently perform at Outspoken Brewing's on-site Taproom at 350 Queen Street East on Friday, December 2nd, after previously playing there yesterday! I profusely apologize for missing yesterday's show, it completely fell through the cracks when writing this weekend's concert preview post, and it was on short notice on both the band's and venue's ends (the venue first plugged it on Tuesday). If you believe the Facebook description for the event poster, The Stallyns will be playing at the Taproom "the first Friday of every month", so clearly their Oktoberfest sets went well to get a regular arrangement! That said, much like Tym Morrison's old weekly runs at atypical venues, I'll take these a month at a time, especially if there are any schedule changes to note.
If this continues into the spring, they likely couldn't play on the first Friday in April, as that's a statutory holiday next year (Good Friday). For what it's worth, the above-linked poster only shows an early Rob/Christina/Jesse lineup, but the full band (including frequent guest saxophonist Josh Norling) was advertised in Outspoken's November events calendar. Their expected return on December 2nd will have an 8:30 PM start time, 19+ age limit, and a suggested $10 cover, but "pay what you can" is also offered, a standard offer for Taproom events. Visit the above links for more details, and I apologize again for missing yesterday's show, hopefully it was a big hit!
We'll close today with new videos, starting with our first look at the interior of the aforementioned Jay's Piston Broke Pub! This comes from their Facebook page at midnight today, and it features local classic/hard rock cover band Soundcheck (minus Cameron) at their weekly jam night on Thursday, which is continuing uninterrupted under the new regime. In fact, SooToday spotlighted the ownership change in this article last night, which didn't get into why Reggie Daigle sold the former Roosevelt Hotel, but we did learn more about new owner Jay Scott's plans. Jay (who also owns Scootz) explained how he came up with the Piston Broke Pub name, his plans for gradual (but minor) interior changes, and how he's bringing back Sunday karaoke nights and hoping to host events mid-week along with what sounds like an unchanged weekend band slate. In many respects, he's not fixing what isn't broke, so existing patrons should be happy!
As such, the video looks about the same as Reggie's West did, but fresh paint and new flooring are plans for the future. In the video itself, Soundcheck are seen performing with two jam night guests (a singer and a saxophonist), and while the song sounds like a country cover, the 10 seconds long runtime doesn't leave a lot of time to identify it, but it is the ending of the song in question. Good view of the interior and fans dancing, if not band focused, so give it a look below!
Finally, here's three new live-streamed videos from The Bearded Lounge's plugged-in sister band Bone Yard's Facebook page! All filmed at their Shooters Downstairs Lounge concert last night, the videos include covers of Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show's "The Cover of 'Rolling Stone'", Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Simple Man" (with guitarist Alex D'Ettore on lead vocals), and embedded below, a much closer shot video of them covering Golden Earring's "Radar Love" that gives us some nice angles of the guys rocking out. The audio quality isn't super crisp on these videos, but Bone Yard have good energy and rock out as strongly as you'd expect, so give these a watch, and catch them back at Shooters TONIGHT!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for our delayed Soo's Got Talent finals coverage beginning tomorrow! Thanks everyone!
As promised, let's wrap up this weekend's hard rock concert previews today, including the back half of a festival this weekend, an apology for a missed concert a year in the making, some show reschedulings, and a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next month! Here's what you should know!
We'll pick back up with local acoustic classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison, who is slated to return to Shooters Downstairs Lounge for a matinee concert this weekend, but not on Sunday as originally announced, rather TOMORROW NIGHT! Tym quietly updated his Facebook event page for his Shooters gigs this month to reflect the shift of both this weekend's and his Halloween weekend gig from Sunday each to Saturday, both for unannounced reasons. Despite being moved to Saturdays, these are 100% still 3:00 PM matinees, which will be unusual for a Saturday concert, but Tym has been well received at the Dennis Street nightclub on Sundays before now, so hopefully he gets another receptive crowd tomorrow and on Saturday the 29th! Meanwhile, that LOCAL CONCERT ALERT is also for Tym at Shooters, as his event page has quietly had a Saturday, November 12th gig added as well!
This lines up with recent scheduling there, as Tym has been alternating weekend matinees with country musician Leslie Cook in recent weeks, so Leslie will presumably be playing there on November 5th (his shows look like they moved a day back too). TOMORROW'S show, plus the rescheduled October 29th date and the new one next month, all have 19+ age limits and no cover charge as usual, Tym's deep setlist and well-tested vocal & guitar talents should prove to be a winning combination once again, so visit the above links and Shooters' Facebook event page for tomorrow's gig for more details, and here's Tym live earlier this year!
Next up, let's close out this weekend's known hard rock concert previews, by looking at day #2 of Outspoken Brewing's second annual Oktoberfest TOMORROW at The Rink outside of The Machine Shop! For extra details on the festival & tonight's lineup, check yesterday's post below, as I don't want to repeat myself too much, especially when I had to break the Oktoberfest previews across two posts already. Tomorrow's bill has the longer, family friendly program, with vendors, refreshments, science exhibits, and games for all ages, plus the requisite alcohol for adults with photo ID, so be sure to click here for full non-musical details! However, it is recommended that adults only stick around from 7:00 PM onwards, which is coincidentally when the heaviest block of the band lineup performs. Young local psychedelic hard rock quartet The Uncanny Valley will headline tomorrow at 11:00 PM for a... second straight year?
As it turns out, year #1 for Outspoken Brewing's Oktoberfest last year did have a night of live music, with The Uncanny Valley also closing in 2021 on a bill also featuring a reunited Wild Turkeys and fellow 2021 returnees Nein German Guys. I profusely apologize for missing that last year, that oversight appears to have been a combination of The Uncanny Valley not promoting their involvement on Facebook and me not expecting the Outspoken-hosted Oktoberfest (which I knew about) to have a concert with the pandemic where it was last fall. Clearly things went well for The Valley last year for Outspoken to bring them back for a bigger and better Oktoberfest, and their hard rocking originals should end the night on a high note! Co-headlining tomorrow are the debuting Bookclub, an indie rock supergroup featuring 3/4ths of The Inner City Surfers (all but Brad) alongside Room 206 drummer Al Watson and singer(?) Erin Antonello.
This band appears to be a real departure from the punk we're used to seeing the guys play, with bands like Devo and Weezer cited as groups that Bookclub will cover, along with some more obscure songs. It will be very interesting to hear how Bookclub do, even if they don't lean heavier! Bookclub's set is at 9:00 PM, with tonight's co-headliners The Wyld Stallyns pulling double duty for a 7:00 PM timeslot tomorrow night, so look for more fun and crowd-friendly hard rock covers from them and Josh then! The all ages matinee block of Oktoberfest tomorrow includes the aforementioned Nein German Guys (who also played tonight) with their traditional music at 5:00 PM, and classic rock cover duo Frankly Speaking opening the day at 3:00 PM. Tomorrow's Oktoberfest program begins at 2:00 PM, and adult admission is $45 unless you bought an all-weekend pass in advance for $70, with a free mug and 20 oz. draught included.
As for admission for kids 14 and under, they will cost just $5, but remember the recommended cut-off of 7:00 PM for underagers. Sounds like a fun time for all, depending on how you want to celebrate Oktoberfest, so definitely click here and/or visit the above links for much more on what to expect on day #2 at The Rink, hopefully the weather holds out, apologies again for missing Oktoberfest 2021 on the SMS, and here's The Uncanny Valley live!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site this weekend! Thanks everyone!
Before we begin previewing this weekend's known hard rock concerts, just a heads up of a cancellation of a show we hadn't even gotten to yet, as a late notice Wyld Stallyns show at Shooters Downstairs Lounge tomorrow night is not taking place, as per the venue's Facebook event page. This appears to be 100% due to a scheduling conflict, as The Stallyns will be down by The Machine Shop for Oktoberfest concurrently with the planned Shooters timeslot. An unidentified DJ will replace them at Shooters tomorrow, and we'll have more on Oktoberfest night #1 in a bit. Now, let's dive into the first half of the weekend previews, with Tym Morrison & night #2 of Oktoberfest to follow in tomorrow's post!
We'll start today with LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, specifically SHORT NOTICE ones, as local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to Reggie's Place on Queen Street East for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, these dates were only announced on the venue's Facebook page yesterday, and while the band's Facebook page has not plugged them yet, drummer Glen Thomas did mention them on his personal page. As best as I can tell, this will be Soundcheck's first stop at the original downtown Reggie's since a one-nighter in June, with Reggie's West appearances (including tonight's usual open mic hosting duties) being far more frequent in the third quarter of 2022. Hopefully a decent crowd turns out both TOMORROW & SATURDAY for Soundcheck's country tinged classic and hard rock cover selection!
Note that Soundcheck singer/guitarist Cameron Oliver will be playing a solo matinee set at Reggie's on Sunday afternoon too, as per the Reggie's Facebook page, but I believe his solo gigs are more country centric. Still good to see him tripling up too, as he typically does not take part in the Thursday open mics. TOMORROW & SATURDAY'S shows have 19+ age limits, no cover, and 9:00 PM start times. See above for more details, and here's Soundcheck live in concert earlier this summer!
Next up, let's head to Sault Michigan, as local hard rock quartet Tarnished will return to The Rapids Lounge at the local Kewadin Casino branch for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! These will be Tarnished's first shows in the Soo since rocking The Rapids Lounge almost two months ago, and will be their first anywhere since their Northern Lights Cannabis Co. show in nearby Dafter on September 30th. Speaking of which, the band has newly announced that they'll be returning to the local marijuana dispensary for one night only on Friday, October 21st, so clearly their first show there went well to warrant an encore just three weeks later! As before, expect this Fire Up Fridaze event to have a 4:00 PM start time, 21+ age limit, no cover, and the same cannabis deals/offers, vendors, refreshments, and more that are staples of Fridays at N.L.C.C., live bands or not. Yes, I am aware that an outdated, Isaac-less band photo is on the poster.
Before then, Tarnished's modern brand of old school influenced hard rock can be enjoyed at The Rapids Lounge for typical & presumably cannabis-free entertainment tomorrow and Saturday night at 9:00 PM, also with 21+ age limits and no cover. Should be a good time this weekend and next Friday alike for Alex, Nathan, Isaac, and Josh (and their fans), so visit the official Facebook event page for the Kewadin gigs and the above links for more details, and here's Tarnished live!
Finally for today's previews, we'll head back north to Sault Ontario for the reason why local funk/hard rock band The Wyld Stallyns dropped out of their Shooters gig tomorrow, as they're taking part in Outspoken Brewing's second annual Oktoberfest, with The Stallyns part of both TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT's live music slate outside of The Machine Shop! Picking up where LopLops left off pre-pandemic, Outspoken debuted their Oktoberfest last fall, and with a year under their belts and the pandemic much less of a concern, things are much bigger in scope this year, including full live music slates both nights, plus a wide array of entertainment both for adults hoping for beer or for those just wanting to have some family activities. Everything takes place at The Rink at the Canal District, transformed this weekend into a Munich biergarten. Click here for non-musical details!
We'll focus on tomorrow's bill today with Saturday's to follow in tomorrow's post. Three bands play tomorrow night at The Rink, with The Wyld Stallyns and frequent guest saxophonist Josh Norling playing in the middle 8:00 PM timeslot, sandwiched between headlining R&B/soul sextet The Hustle Brothers at 10:00 PM and traditional German supergroup Nein German Guys with a more traditional Oktoberfest sound at 6:00 PM. Tomorrow's festivities are 100% 19+ and heavily themed around alcohol as such, so if you want to bring the kids, wait until Saturday (more on that day's band lineup in our next post, but of tomorrow's bands, only The Hustle Brothers aren't pulling double duty). Admission tomorrow will run you $45, or $70 for a full weekend pass, and if you buy a ticket in advance, you'll get a free Oktoberfest mug and 20 oz. draught. Buy your tickets online at this link!
Everything properly begins at The Rink at 5:00 PM tomorrow, for the record. The Wyld Stallyns are comparatively the outliers on the Friday bill, but their varied & often heavy cover rock stylings should go over well with the Oktoberfest attendees, and they should have some songs primed for a drinking crowd given all of their nightclub sets! Visit the above links for much more on this year's Oktoberfest, stay tuned for our preview of Saturday's lineup tomorrow, and here's The Wyld Stallyns live!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for the rest of this weekend's hard rock concert previews tomorrow! Thanks everyone!
Along with music inside Jay's, there will be a street party outside of the Korah Road nightclub, local vendors, and family entertainment, and in a late confirmation, Bone Yard will have an opening band, namely new local rock band Skinbox (featuring Pixo Control/Vol. alum Steve Edwards). We still don't know anything on Skinbox's sound or membership beyond Steve, but this will be their first public concert set, so come out on Saturday to check them out! Their set begins at 7:00 PM, Bone Yard are on at 9:00 PM all weekend, these are 19+ concerts, and there's no cover charges beyond any ARCH donations. Great cause, solid hard rocking music, what's not to love? See above for more details, and for a preview, here's a brand new video of Bone Yard live at Shooters Downstairs Lounge this past Friday! This was live-streamed to their Facebook page.
