Tym Morrison's Newest Live-Streamed Concerts & More Assorted Updates!!

A bit of a delay to get today's post (our 57th straight in as many days), but I wanted to tie in one of today's live-streamed concerts with one we haven't' touched on yet. Those make up the bulk of this post, but we do have some assorted news to round things out with, so here's what you should know!

Let's dive into Tym Morrison's last two live-streamed concerts on his YouTube channel today, as the local hard rock singer/guitarist brought his acoustic show back for it's 11th & 12th installments on Thursday and earlier this evening! Apologies for the delay on Thursday's episode, we had a lot of big topics to cover over the weekend. We'll start there, with his Thursday live-stream beginning about 10 minutes in to the 2+ hour video, but what does he cover there? In order, Tym tackles The Travelling Wilburys' "Handle With Care", Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble's "Pride & Joy", Cat Stevens' "Wild World", Nazareth's "Sunshine", Collective Soul's "Shine", an original jazz instrumental, John Fogerty's "The Old Man Down The Road", The Animals "House of The Rising Sun", The Beatles' "Golden Slumbers", Richard Marx's "Hold On To The Nights", Gary Wright's "Dream Weaver", Metallica's "Enter Sandman", Yes' "Owner Of A Lonely Heart", Coolio's "Gangsta's Paradise" ...

...Roxette's "It Must Have Been Love", Supertramp's "The Logical Song", Prince & The Revolution's "When Doves Cry", The Scorpions' "Still Loving You", The Romantics' "Talking In Your Sleep", Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun", Phil Collins' "Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now)", Styx's "Come Sail Away", a very familiar country instrumental, The Eagles' "Hotel California", and finally, Fleetwood Mac's "Never Going Back Again". Nice array of well performed covers once again, including some new cuts for his mid-pandemic live-stream series, so fans will want to give Thursday's concert a watch at the above links! Regarding his upcoming live-streamed concerts, this Facebook event page for his upcoming shows only lists them as taking place on Tuesday going forward. If that proves to be accurate or not, we'll let you know, but how about tonight's live-stream that just wrapped up?

That concert is embedded below, and it's structurally similar to Thursday's show as you might expect, but it begins 7 minutes in. Tym starts with covers of Chicago's "Hard To Say I'm Sorry" & Extreme's "More Than Words" before he leaves to set up his stage lighting. When Tym returns, he tacklesCarly Simon's "Nobody Does It Better", The Beatles' "Blackbird", two different instrumentals linked here & here, The Eagles' "Desperado", Little Texas' "What Might Have Been", Tom Petty's "Free Fallin'", White Lion's "When The Children Cry", Alan Jackson's "Chattahoochee", Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead Or Alive", "Hotel California" again, Guns N' Roses' "Patience", Poison's "Every Rose Has It's Thorn", Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama", Kansas' "Dust In The Wind", Eric Clapton's "Tears In Heaven", Tesla's "Love Song", The Who's "Pinball Wizard", The Stone Temple Pilots' "Plush", ...

...Days of the New's "Shelf In The Room", and his original "Say That You Care", before closing with  "Never Going Back Again"... again. While this was more of a reprise of prior covers from his live-streamed shows this year, the music remains on point, and as always, his usage of recorded backing tracks helps give these sets a fuller feel, as they do in proper concerts! That said, the 15 minute stretch of just instrumental songs may not be for everyone. Give Tym's newest live streams a watch, and look for more soon!



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

• I have taken the Pantychrist-headlined concert at LopLops Lounge on Sunday, June 1st off of our concert calendar due to the expected extension of Ontario's COVID-19 state of emergency & related non-essential business closures until June 2nd. Click here for more on the announcement. This show had not been publically called off by the headliners, local promoters, or venue at press time, but it looks like the premier has done that for them, alas. The new end date comes just before the Alienator concert at Soo Blaster on June 4th, which has not been publically addressed on social media in recent weeks.
• I have moved local HIM tribute band Poison Girl to our inactive band links due to a year's inactivity, having last been seen at The Rockstar Bar one year ago yesterday, with no Facebook page updates following. The Stegadeth side project played just two live sets, both at tribute band-themed concerts, and unlike frontwoman Tiffany Stocco's other local bands, they appear to have completely fallen by the wayside in the wake of her move out of town late last year. Hopefully she, Bill, Johnny, and Brian stay musically active as the year slowly crawls along!
• On May 1st, local classic/hard rock quartet Soundcheck announced on their Facebook page that singer/guitarists Terry Eaton & Cameron Oliver would do a live-streamed concert that night with fan requests encouraged. Despite the public plug, that live-stream was never shared or re-posted on the band's page, which is why we never talked about it here. If Soundcheck shares or re-uploads it publically, I will absolutely cover it on the SMS!

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

Upcoming Concert Statuses, A New Live-Streamed Concert, And More!!

A new month is upon us, so let's kick things off with our 47th straight daily post at the SMS, though we might as well address the ongoing concert cancellation & postponement slate to start. Given the pessimistic reports about the future of concerts in general in 2020, you could infer a lot more than this, but these are just shows to firmly be called off by the bands or promoters online. For one, the Queen: It's A Kinda Magic tribute concert at The Sault Community Theatre Centre on June 17th has been postponed, so click here or contact the former Kiwanis Theatre for details on refunds. On April 16th, Hamilton hardcore punk band Pantychrist announced on their Facebook page that their upcoming tour (including the Rockstar Bar stop on June 1st) "is not looking good", and while they stopped short of calling dates off then, they promised to keep fans updated. As of this writing, other local hard rock/punk concerts through June 2020 have not visibly been cancelled on social media, though expect that to change.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford did advise last week that concerts will "continue to be restricted for the foreseeable future" (source here), and I'm not getting into the divisive back-and-forth in Michigan right now, but I will keep you guys posted as word rolls in on upcoming concerts, as I don't think we're anywhere near done for concert cancellations this year, sadly.

Next up, local hard rock solo artist Tym Morrison's ninth live-streamed concert took place on his YouTube channel yesterday, and after the technical difficulties with the video stopped Tuesday's show midway through, things seem to be resolved, judging by the 2+ hour runtime! This time, we only have to wait 80 seconds for the actual show to begin, which Tym prefaces by talking about the electric acoustic guitar he used last night and the restoration work done on it, which also comes up later between songs. His set includes renditions of Yes' "Owner of a Lonely Heart", Jim Croce's "Time In A Bottle", The Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby", Bryan Adams' "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You", Imagine Dragons' "Radioactive", Roxette's "It Must Have Been Love", John Lennon's "Imagine" (with altered lyrics reflecting Tym's Christianity), Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead or Alive", Alan Jackson's "Chattahoochee", White Lion's "When The Children Cry", Tom Petty's "Free Fallin'", ...

...Little Texas' "What Might Have Been", Carly Simon's "Nobody Does It Better", Extreme's "More Than Words", The Beatles' "Blackbird", Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'", Night Ranger's "Sister Christian", Skid Row's "I Remember You" (well, part of it), Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train", The Beatles' "Lady Madonna", Extreme's "Hole Hearted", his own original "The Hard Stone", Bryan Adams' "Summer of '69", Paul McCartney's "Maybe I'm Amazed", Lonestar's "Amazed", The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's "Fishin In' The Dark", and Journey's "Open Arms". With four exceptions, every song from Tym's abbreviated Tuesday show returned here, so if you want to see those songs with smooth video quality, keep this one in mind! As usual, Tym's performances are great, especially for fans of the covered songs, including more of a Beatles this time, so give everything a watch below, and look for his likely 10th & 11th live-streamed concerts next week!

We'll close today with an update video from local/Thompson, Manitoba solo alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith's Facebook page yesterday, which starts with the news that this year's Nickel Days festival (basically Thomspon's Rotaryfest equivalent) and the Blueberry Jam Music Gathering in Flin Flon, Manitoba have both been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Of course, Mike was slated for both events, and he had played at Nickel Fest the last two years, so this is a bummer for him & fans out west! The rest of the video is good news, as he plugged tomorrow's #LockdownLive concert at home (which will be themed around covers that impacted Mike in the past) and his planned "If Ever Comes The Day" at-home release show on May 15th, with the #LockdownLive series tentatively scheduled for every Saturday until he's back to work. Tune in tomorrow night on his Facebook page for "The Cover Story", and watch the full update video below!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Pantychrist & Mike Haggith), Another Cancellation, And More Updates!!

We have a pair of LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for the ensuing months, plus some shorter assorted updates in today's post, but before then, we have another COVID-19 coronavirus cancellation to note on here, as local Celtic punk quintet Dustin Jones & The Rising Tide's planned St. Patrick's Day concert at LopLops Lounge has been postponed, as per the band's Facebook page. However, LopLops proper will remain open if you want to visit as a regular patron, and it is still owner Stephen Alexander's birthday, so hopefully he gets lots of relevant greetings in that regard! I had figured that if any more dominoes would fall this weekend, this would be the one given the holiday ties and The Tide's name recognition, but I didn't want to stir negative rumours about it beforehand. Now, with that said, The Wyld Stallyns have confirmed that they are still playing at The Whiskey Barrel tonight, and they are planning to take fan requests for live video streams if you don't want to attend.

As well, I have not seen any announcements regarding calling off Tym Morrison's slate of acoustic matinee concerts at Northern Superior Brewing & Gliss today and The Kiln tomorrow, though given their more intimate settings and the lack of any touring headliners, they are less susceptible to a coronavirus-related cancellation, in theory. Of course, we will keep you posted with updates on show postponements and cancellations when & if they roll in. Stay safe out there!

Now, let's kick off those new concert announcements, and both happen to be at LopLops too, starting with local/Thompson, Manitoba indie/hard rock musician Mike Haggith's return home for the official CD release concert for his new album "If Ever Comes The Day" on Friday, May 15th! This will be Mike's first local concert appearance since his acoustic Outspoken Brewing gig in August, but this looks to be formatted way more similarly to his last solo CD launch show here (in July 2015 at Rednecks for "The Warinside"), complete with a live backing band to be announced. For reference, he played alongside his then-Din bandmates Curtis McKenzie and Brandan Glew at that event. Much of the online materials for this show reflect "If Ever Comes The Day" proper, including information on it's lyrical inspiration & themes, the amount of songs and run time (12 songs, 47 minutes), and a few new-to-us song names like "Back Away Slowly" & "Into The Setting Sun". The full cover artwork is also now up on Facebook.

No word on potential opening bands, but 2015's release concert also featured the now-inactive Wild Iris and solo artist Micheal Husband. The "If Ever Comes The Day" release concert will have a $5 cover charge with a 19+ age limit and a 10:00 PM start time, and CDs will be on sale for $10, which does include a digital download card. When Mike announced that this album was coming out on a Friday, I had a hunch he would have a CD release party for it, and we're lucky enough to have it on local soil! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details on the show & CD as they roll in, and I think we know what album we're reviewing on the site in May!

Today's other new concert announcement will see all-female Hamilton hardcore punk quartet Pantychrist make their Sault Ste. Marie debut at LopLops on Monday, June 1st! Long-time readers may actually recognize Pantychrist from being scheduled for the cancelled Das Bunkerfest II in Garden River back in 2015, so it's great to see the ladies finally playing a local date five years later! Pantychrist's rough-edged, aggressive brand of hardcore punk should be more than welcomed on a local stage in June, and while LopLops may be a somewhat surprising venue, they should own that stage on this night! At least one opening band is to be announced. Promoted by the Oh!No Collective (who would have held Das Bunkerfest II under their old name Six, Two, Oh.), this 19+ show has a 9:00 PM start time, and while a cover charge has not been announced at press time, bring at least $5. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and stay tuned for updates!

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

• A Facebook event page has finally surfaced for the Alienator-headlined concert at Soo Blaster on June 4th, which confirms that this will be an ALL AGES event. Tickets are also now on sale via Soo Blaster, The Rad Zone, and through promoter Mathieu Villebrun, though a promised online sale point on the event page is not immediately visible. Visit the above links for more details!
• SooToday contributor Chris Belsito posted this interview article with Matthew Good on Thursday, a day before he postponed his entire Moving Walls Tour, local date on March 26th included. How's that for unfortunate timing! The article proper features Matthew talking about his recent touring, songs he likes playing live, his new album, and some recollections on coming through or staying in Sault Ste. Marie on prior tours (his divisive 2007 show here was not brought up directly.) Very informative article, so give it a look above, and hopefully we hear about the rescheduled Soo event soon!
• Apologies for the delay in acknowledging these on the site, but a couple of local news outlets were in attendance for and got photos from the We Will Rock You musical production at GFL Memorial Gardens in January! SooToday's Donna Hopper & SaultOnline's Megan Pounder both snapped lots of photos, with Donna's being higher quality, but Megan got far more pictures total. The context may be lost if you don't know the story, but it seems to have been well received by attending Queen fans! Give them a look above!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Scarkazm & Tym Morrison), Plus Das Bunkerfest II Info!!

Keeping the news rolling along for this early stretch of October, we have a recent jam session video, big updates concerning an event almost a year away, and first, LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for this month (encompassing the only known concert previews we have this weekend in terms of "heavier" artists), so here's what you need to know!

Traverse City, Michigan metal trio Scarkazm will make their Sault Michigan debuts (I think) when they hit The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Kewadin Casino branch TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the band quietly announced the shows on their Facebook page in August, but they only just came to our attention yesterday. These shows appear to be replacements for previously scheduled gigs by local country band Perry Hatch (source here), and follow a handful of successful weekends at the St. Ignace Kewadin in the past year, most recently in April. Featuring Peril frontman Jeff Hudson on drums, it's great to see Scarkazm finally come up to the Soo for a change, and their groove metal originals & covers should find a solid audience in their latest U.P. stops, so keep their shows this weekend in mind if you're up for some live metal action! 21+ age limit, no announced cover charges, and 9:00 age limits are in effect, so visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's the guys live last year!

Also newly announced, Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison has confirmed via Facebook that he'll be back at The Harp Bar & Grill TONIGHT, so we'll add his October concert schedule there to our concert listings! Remember, due to the immense length of scheduled bookings on his website's calendar, we're taking these shows a month at a time, as it'd be excessive to add continuous dates into the 2020s to our listings. In October, Tym is advertised on his website to return to the former Madison's Pub tonight & TOMORROW, as well as on October 10th & 11th, 17th & 18th, 24th & 25th, and on Friday the 31st (we'll list Saturday, November 1st too just to complete that weekend), though it's not explicitly clear yet whether Tym and/or the venue will have a Halloween theme then. For reference, the event page for this weekend only explicitly references tonight's show, not tomorrow's, but as his website still lists a Saturday gig, we'll list it as on unless we get additional clarification.

Pushing his ongoing weekly concert arrangement at The Harp into it's 44th-48th straight weekends, Tym will be on each night at around 10:00 PM, you must be 19 to attend, and there's no announced cover charges. For more details, check the above links! Whether you're up for his full solo show on Saturdays or his sets along with open mic acts on Fridays, keep Tym Morrison's Harp shows in mind this month, and for a preview, here's Tym live at The Harp last winter!



Finally, here's a surprise announcement for almost a year away that's almost a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT! Remember Das Bunkerfest, the private Garden River weekend concert event in August by Oh! Right Arm! Promotions that got a lot of online notice? Well, promoters are giving it a second go around over the last weekend of August 2015 (specifically, August 28th-30th, all 3 days), and they've already tentatively slotted in an intriguingly massive lineup for it! Remember though, with 11 months until show time, this can very easily change. As of right now, Das Bunkerfest II will feature Hamilton all-female hardcore punk band Pantychrist, Toronto crust punk quartet IDNS (as seen at "Das Bunker" last month), London doom/punk trio Moon Hag, Sudbury doom metal trio Horse Lung, and North Bay hardcore punk quartet The Muff Huffers, along with local metal & punk bands Shit Liver, Destroilet, AlgomA, Crucify the Whore, The Apocalypse Afterparty, The Bear Hunters, Rotopsy, Jack Spades, and surprisingly, a reunion of the older local punk band Nullified Youth, whose lineup featured AlgomA alumni!

The lineup is (for now) rounded out by local rappers Mikey Thomas, Conika, Phat Boii, and Brownman, with local DJ Hakan' Loob also scheduled for an "after hours dance party". Stacked lineup, and with a lot of female talent partly thanks to the out of town bands, so hopefully things don't change too much in the next year! A co-promotional effort by Oh! Right Arm!, Blood Shed Productions, and Jack Spades frontman J.D. Pearce, this will again take place at "Das Bunker" in Garden River, but this is absolutely a public event (at least one shuttle bus is planned too, a'la 2013's Big Loonie Bus Show in Echo Bay.) That said, as is our usual protocol, we don't list a show in our concert listings unless there's a publically advertised address, and if prior "Das Bunker" shows are any indication, we'll know the address "when we need to". Tickets will be $15 and will go on sale in May 2015, so stay tuned to the Facebook event page for full updates as they come in for the very intriguing second Das Bunkerfest!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more big news in the coming days! Thanks everyone!