Keeping our busy slate of posts going at the SMS, today brings us a pair of mid-week concert previews for tomorrow, and a new live video, but let's lead off with a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!
Local classic/hard rock cover quintet Obsession will return to live concert action during the first Downtown Street Party of the season on Thursday, July 14th! This will be Obsession's first public concert set in over two months, following two show cancellations for "health reasons" & "unforeseen circumstances", so hopefully everyone is healthy and ready to go for not just the Street Party, but also Rotaryfest Stage 1 the next evening! Presented by the Downtown Association, the Downtown Street Parties are back after a two year hiatus (we all know why), with Queen Street East closed from Pim to Spring Street next Thursday with local vendors & merchants, kids activities, live music, and more, much like we saw in the late 2010s! The Downtown Association have not specified who all is playing and where yet, but Obsession's own Facebook event page indicates they'll be playing at the intersection of Queen and East Street.
In other words, they'll be at the corner of Coch's Corner, the Museum, East Street Pizza, and the former Muio's all at once! Also, Obsession will feature guest performer Jessica Amadio for at least part of their set, as they will also do at Rotaryfest the next day, instrument/role still unclear. The Downtown Street Party next Thursday is FREE & ALL AGES, and while it starts at 4:00 PM, Obsession are scheduled from 5:00-8:00 PM. Visit the above links for more details, and stay tuned for more!
Next up, let's dive into another pair of Wednesday concert previews (the joys of a once-again busy summer season), starting with prolific local classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison's return to The Mike Case Memorial Stage outside of The Trading Post TOMORROW EVENING! This is the first show of July in Tym's current weekly arrangement at The Trading Post's outdoor stage, and presumably things are still on for tomorrow after Tym reportedly cancelled his Wednesday nighter last week due to it being "too cold". Tomorrow's forecast calls for mostly sunny weather with 21° temperatures, so it will be warmer than last week's 18°, if not dramatically so. In any event, Tym's talented musicianship and strong vocals should provide a solid musical soundtrack at The Trading Post tomorrow! Like usual in this series, Tym's on at 7:00 PM with no cover charge or age limit. Visit the Facebook event page for more details, and here's Tym live!
Also TOMORROW is an intriguing double bill of touring progressive rock action, as Toronto-based Rush tribute band Crush: The Ultimate Rush Experience and their sister original progressive metal band Pyramid Theorem will both make their local concert debut at Reggie's Place! Yes, the downtown Reggie's is hosting not just touring bands, but non-country touring bands, so it will be very interesting to see how this show does both for its mid-week placement and for its traditionally atypical venue! Usually, when tribute bands play at nightclubs in the Soo, they either have a local opener or no opener, but this can easily be explained, as the members of Pyramid Theorem started Crush as a second project, and they're treating the Rush tribute as the headline act for this tour. Under either guise, this band has the chops musically, as Crush can handle Rush classics with ease from what I've seen, while their more technical heavier originals are very solid in their own right!
Even though this concert may be somewhat under the radar for locale, night, and band familiarity, I highly recommend checking out both bands to see what you think, especially if you like progressive hard rock, and hopefully Rush fans who show up come early to appreciate Pyramid Theorem's originals! Tomorrow's concert is a 19+ affair with a 9:00 PM start time, and believe it or not, there is NO COVER, so Rush and prog fans, take note! See above, and for a preview, here's Crush live!
Finally for today, here's our first public look at local southern hard rock quintet Fort Creek's first publically unveiled original song! Shot by attendee Mackenzie Hahn at their Soo Blaster headlining gig in May but only uploaded to their Facebook page on Sunday, the song is entitled "Hammer Down", and the video captures all but the first 30 seconds of it. Unfortunately, the video is shot vertically and not all that close to the stage, but it's clear all around. I'll hold comment on the song proper until the release of their debut EP later this year, which will feature this song, but fans will definitely want to check it out below, and hopefully Fort Creek will play it opening for Sandman at Soo Blaster on Saturday!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site soon! Thanks everyone!
We have a new news post on this late Friday night, including a new original song and new album press, but let's lead off with LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, one on SHORT NOTICE!
Local unplugged hard rock/funk band The Wyld Stallyns will return to Outspoken Brewing at 350 Queen Street East for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, this show was only announced via the venue's Facebook page this past Saturday. This will actually be The Stallyns' second live concert TOMORROW, following their matinee gig at The Machine Shop during Science North's Great Northern Ontario Roadshow (details in yesterday's post), and the Outspoken concert appears to be on later notice entirely, as it wasn't on the schedule that singer/guitarist Rob Speers sent me on Facebook. As you may recall, the downtown craft brewery had hosted (usually) acoustic artists on their outdoor patio stage often before the pandemic, and as of June 9th, they had resumed hosting concerts there on weekends for the summer season, so definitely follow Outspoken Brewing's Facebook page for a current schedule!
TOMORROW NIGHT'S Wyld Stallyns concert will see the Speers', Jesse, and Jonas take the stage at 8:00 PM, expect a 19+ age limit given the locale & time, and while there isn't technically a cover, Outspoken is encouraging attendees to donate on a "pay what you can" basis to support the band. Yes, the weather should be fine, clear skies with temperatures from 10-14°, so look for The Wyld Stallyns' entertaining hard rock and funk covers there TOMORROW NIGHT! Here's The Stallyns live!
Next up, Toronto-based Rush tribute band Crush: The Ultimate Rush Experience will make their local concert debut on Wednesday, July 6th with a concert at.... Reggie's Place?! Yes, Reggie's will be bringing in not just a touring band, but a non-country touring band! Very unusual on paper, but Randy and crew have been spreading their genre wings since re-opening in 2020, and it'll be interesting to see how the Crush show does! A relatively new tribute band who only launched last year, Crush do seem to have the auditory chops down to replicate the progressive hard rock legends' live stage show, if not entirely a visual match, so definitely give them a listen on YouTube to see what they bring to the table! Toronto progressive metal quartet Pyramid Theorem will open at Reggie's next month, which is easily explained, as the members of Crush are also in this band, who play original music with more varied influences.
If Pyramid Theorem were the headliners instead (they have more Facebook followers than Crush), I could see the show going over just as well, as their technicality and original songwriting chops are more than evident, so progressive rock fans are in for a good time on July 6th! This 19+ concert has a 9:00 PM start time, and while admission fees weren't announced on Reggie's Facebook page, bring cash just in case. Given the mid-week scheduling and atypical venue, it'll be very interesting to see how this concert does, but definitely check the above links for more details!
Also, new local hard rock quartet Raincourt have released their second studio single onto their YouTube channel and every major streaming music platform! After almost two weeks of silence on their Facebook page, the band revealed the impending track drop there yesterday, but oddly didn't link to it once it went live. I believe this was recorded at Mission Control Studios again, and the song is entitled "War Times". Very Ozzy-era Black Sabbathy song here, but well recorded and performed by the guys, who hardly sound like high schoolers here, and Raine gets some guitar solo time to shine late! Solid stuff, so give "War Times" a listen below, and maybe Raincourt will perform this at Go Skateboarding Day on Tuesday?
Finally for today, here's some new news media coverage on local indie punk quintet The Northwest's new EP "All In"! In another feature on Niagara Falls music website From The Strait, writer Kris Goetz interviewed frontman Wayne Watkins and one of the Mikes (they didn't specify which) for this article, where the guys talked about how "All In" came together, their experiences over the past year, underground artists they recommend, nerves when playing live, and advice for rising musicians. More good, if succinct, press from Southern Ontario, so give this interview a look above! The other new press comes from the blog Turn Up The Volume, who named "All In" as their EP of the week for this week, and in a brief review, their writer positively compared The Northwest to Band of Horses and Bob Mould for their "spry drive and harmonious spirit" yet "agitated turbulence", and noted that they "deserve your attention".
Strong praise, so give everything a full look above, and stay tuned for more from The Northwest! That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site this weekend! Thanks everyone!
