LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Bone Yard 225, Even Flow, And Tym Morrison), An Inactive Band Note, And More!!

Today's post is mostly focused on LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for the fall, and there's some interesting shows ahead to look at here, but we also have a band newly moved to our inactive links and a preview of one more mid-week concert for August 2026, so here's what you should know!

Local acoustic classic/hard rock solo musician Tym Morrison will return to The Mike Case Memorial Stage outside of The Trading Post on WEDNESDAY, and in the likely final gigs for him there for the season, he will be back there on September 2nd and 9th as well! I try to go month-by-month for Tym's weekly runs at local venues, hence why I put off the September dates until now. While the September cutoff has varied in the past (and could be added to), ending his annual summer arrangement at the Great Northern Road outdoor stage just after Labour Day makes sense, especially with temperatures starting to drop. Hopefully Tym's unplugged rock covers get a strong reception from assembled fans at The Trading Post on Wednesday and next month! As recently usual, Wednesday's and the last two shows run from 6:30 PM-8:30 PM with no age limits or cover charges.

At press time, 9&10 News is calling for thunderstorms on Wednesday, but this is going up before we'd be in range for an hourly forecast, so I recommend keeping tabs on your preferred local weather source for updates, let alone with Tym on social media. While his Mike Case Stage shows this year have generally avoided bad weather, he has cancelled shows there before due to the elements. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and for a preview, here's Tym live!

Next up, local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 have been booked for a special Wednesday night concert of their own, this time on September 9th at Beck's Bar, but they won't be alone. For this one-off gig (named "Midweek Mayhem"), they'll welcome Stones & Crows/Jackleg Band guitarist Spencer Pine as a guest for their sets! In a sense, this will be a reversion to their original form factor, as Bone Yard had two guitarists before frontman Greg Simpson permanently moved to drums in 2022, though remember that they evolved from country covers into the heavier rock band that Boneheads know and love today by the late 2010s. In her update video on the bar's Facebook page, Beck's owner Becky Sawyer took credit for the idea for this gig, as she "fell in love" with Spencer's playing when Stones & Crows debuted there, and she expressed an interest in getting him and Bone Yard guitarist Alex D'Ettore together for a show where both would play on stage at once.

Emphasis is on this being an "old fashioned jam night" with more of a freeform setlist, but regardless, this will be a unique pull for many! Who knows if it would be repeated if it goes well, but remember that Spencer (also of Jupiter Marvelous and the internet radio network Tomahawk 141) has a lot of irons in the fire. Perhaps in deference to the school/work night scheduling, Midweek Mayhem has an 8:00-11:00 PM runtime, and it will be a 19+ event with no cover as usual. Head to the official Facebook event page for more on this intriguing collaborative concert next month! 

In one more new show announcement, we have our first confirmed Halloween concert for 2026, as local Pearl Jam tribute band Even Flow will open for local Red Hot Chili Peppers tribute Mellowship Slinky on Saturday, October 31st at Blaster Powerhouse! This year, we are lucky enough to have Halloween on a Saturday, which will be huge, and it will mark the one year anniversary of Even Flow's debut, when they headlined an October 31st, 2025 show at the aforementioned Beck's Bar. They're not seen live as frequently as Mellowship Slinky (led by Reeves frontman Brad Irwin), but the talent is most definitely there, so fans of 1990s rock of two different flavours will enjoy this double whammy of local tribute bands! The grunge and funk rock action goes down at 9:00 PM with no age limit. Tickets are on sale at this link and through the bands for $20, and the price will jump to $25 at door.

This may seem steep for a show featuring two local cover bands, but remember that it is Halloween night, the show is being branded as a Halloween party (so expect seasonal frills for the occasion), and while oddly not stated in text on the Facebook event page, I would assume that costumes are heavily encouraged. There will be competition ahead for your Halloween concert plans, but visit the above links for more details on Mellowship Slinky & Even Flow at the former Soo Blaster!

Finally for today, I have moved local hard rock quartet Sylo to our inactive band links. The band has not issued a public update since they headlined at Beck's Bar on August 20th of last year, with frontman Elijah Russell transitioning to work on his country/indie rock band Eli Russell & The River Fools in recent months, not to mention solo acoustic gigs that hewed closer musically to that band. Launched in 2021 under the name Raincourt (after original guitarist Raine Rancourt), and comprised of then-White Pines Collegiate students/Pine Tones members, the band was seen often at school events and at 2022's Go Skate Day, and even released two studio originals on major streaming services, before Raine left and the group quietly rebranded as Sylo. Sporadic activity followed until they fully relaunched in February 2024, playing at scattered local gigs as both headliners and openers until Eli headed off to university for a year that fall.

Sylo reunited last May for a handful of summer shows, including the aborted Ripcordz concert at The Distraction. Their social media presence was never very active (even as Raincourt), which didn't help their exposure locally, but what I heard of them under either name pointed to a talented group with an indie rock flourish on their harder rocking material, and given their ages, the sky was the limit had they stuck around. Still unsure where they got the Sylo name from though. Best of luck to Eli with The River Fools and Raine with Riverside Stasis, and hopefully we hear more from the Owens, Alder, and Jakob down the line! That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates on the SMS this week! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Nostalgic Band), The Sparrow Blue Concert Preview, And Inactive Band Notes!!

Here's a new news post to check out on this rainy Monday evening, and it includes notes on two bands moved out of our active links, a mid-week concert preview, and leading off, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next week, so let's get things rolling!

Local classic metal trio The Nostalgic Band will return to Jay's Piston Broke Pub for one night only on Friday, September 22nd! Announced a few days after their recent array of fall-winter gigs that we covered on the SMS this past Friday, this will be Tym, Dutch, and Chet's first show at the former Reggie's West in almost a month, and it should prove to be another quality opportunity to take in their old school metal and hard rock covers, so don't miss out! No word on why they're not playing on Saturday the 23rd. It is also worth noting that The Nostalgic Band will give a kick at the can at being jam night hosts at Reggie's Place this Thursday, as per this Facebook event page, with a presumably similar format as the Soundcheck-hosted jam nights at Jay's where audience members are encouraged to perform on stage, with or without the house band. The guys certainly have the chops & setlist ready!

Remember that we don't treat jam nights as "concerts" due to their unpredictability by design, but if you like such events as a spectator or possible participant, keep this Thursday's festivities in mind! As for next Friday's show at Jay's, expect a 9:30 PM start time, 19+ age limit, and no cover charge. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details!

Next up, here's our preview of a special Tuesday night concert TOMORROW NIGHT, as St. Albert, Alberta hard rock band Sparrow Blue will make their local debut at Soo Blaster! This fast rising sextet have been turning heads with their classic rock-inspired yet hard edged original sound that they dub "real thick rock n' roll", and they should leave a strong first impression among local fans tomorrow, so don't bypass Sparrow Blue whatsoever! Local support will come by way of hard/alternative rock quintet Handsome Sandwich and their good friends in indie/alternative quartet Man Feelings (they opened for each other's album release concerts, after all), and it will be good to see them share the stage again! Sponsored by Session Cannabis,  this 19+ show has an advertised 7:00 PM start time running until 11:30 PM, which will hopefully be amenable to those of you with work or school on Wednesday!

Tickets are $10 in advance (plus tax/processing fees) at this link, with the door price jumping to $15. This should be a fun concert for hard and alternative rock fans, with the three bands on offer delivering a little something for most tastes, so definitely visit the official Facebook event page and the above links for more details, and here's Sparrow Blue live!

Also today, we have two local hard rock bands to move to our inactive band links, the first being veteran local hard rock/ska punk band Tripod The Dog. While their public silence online since reuniting may be explained by their lack of an updated online page (their Facebook group was ran by ex-guitarist Greg Beharriel), the band has not publically surfaced in any form since playing in The Esquire Club's Buckets, Bands, and Birds matinee concert series in May 2022. They were scheduled to return to that venue for two weekends last fall (note the G poking out of the tape on this schedule), but they quietly dropped out of those bookings. After a successful local run from the 1990s-2008 and a well received reunion set at Rotaryfest Stage 1 in 2018, frontman Mark Oliverio fully brought back Tripod The Dog on the weekend cover band circuit with a Rockstar Bar gig in April 2019, primarily playing there & at The Esquire Club.

The pandemic ate up a good chunk of their three years back, and Tripod weren't seen most weeks anyway, but it was nice to have them back on weekends when they had gigs, and hopefully we haven't heard the outright last from Mark and the Amendolas, let alone their many prior members!

Finally, the other band moved to our inactive links is young local hard rock band Sylo, better previously known as Raincourt. We have not heard any public updates from Sylo since they opened for Vanity First at a gig in Harmony Beach last July, with Sylo proper never having their own dedicated online presence beyond renaming their YouTube channel. In their original run as Raincourt since the fall of 2021, they were well publicized with two studio original songs, gigs at White Pines Collegiate and last year's Go Skateboarding Day, and this lengthy interview with original guitarist/namesake Raine Rancourt on The Boar's Nest with Don Lewis, but once Raine left the band at some point in June or July 2022, their social media presence dried up. Note that frontman Elijah Russell released a solo acoustic album named "The Late Great Eli Russell" on major streaming services last month, which turned out well for its genre!

I don't know what happened to Raincourt/Sylo after such a promising few months, possibly accentuated if you went to White Pines and saw them in both this band & The Pine Tones, and while losing Raine was a blow for fans, I was curious to see how Sylo would progress as a group. Raincourt's two original songs were promisingly heavy and didn't indicate that teenagers wrote them, so give them and their live videos a watch/listen above, and hopefully we hear more from Elijah, Raine, Owen, and Jakob soon! That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news on the site soon! Thanks everyone!

Tym Morrison Concert Preview, Plus News From Vanity First & Raincourt/Sylo!!

Before we begin this post, I wanted to apologize for a missed concert in this weekend's concert previews, as local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck played a normal concert at Reggie's West on Friday night. The show was not announced on the band's Facebook page, though singer/guitarist Terry Eaton did launch a Facebook event page on his personal account (albeit on the day of the gig), and it notably featured guest bassist Cory Valentine (who previously filled in with Soundcheck in 2019) in place of Paul Belair. I profusely apologize for missing this show, I'd have covered it had it got any kind of public advance notice, but hopefully it was a hit! Soundcheck played a private event in Echo Bay last night.

Now, let's dive into today's post, starting with a concert preview, as local classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison will return to Shooters Downstairs Lounge for his third Sunday matinee gig there TODAY! Tym previously played there on July 24th and 31st before ceding way to Leslie Cook for two weeks, and after Shooters skipped this past Sunday for a matinee performer, Tym is back for a third go-around this afternoon! If you like his unplugged classic and hard rock covers, let alone while beating the heat as we bring August to a close, don't miss out on today's action on Dennis Street if you can help it! He should be back at The Mike Case Memorial Stage to end the month on Wednesday, and at Shooters next Sunday, for the record. This show has a 3:00 PM start time, a 19+ age limit, and no cover charge. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Tym live!

Today's post covers otherwise has recent updates and/or videos from two different local bands, and we'll start with the apparent demise of a young local hard rock band as we knew them, namely Raincourt. In a post on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group on Thursday, guitarist/namesake Raine Rancourt posted looking to join local bands in need of a lead guitarist, and while he plays hard rock & heavy metal, he's open to alternative, punk, and other genres. In the comments, he confirmed that he not still in the band Raincourt, and given that they're named for him, that's very surprising! Raincourt last posted on their Facebook page on June 16th to hype the imminent release of their second single "War Times", and never even promoted their set at Go Skateboarding Day later that month. Raincourt only launched in August of last year, and were primarily seen at events held on campus at White Pines Collegiate & Vocational School.

My first thought was that the band may have ended due to the end of the school year (young local bands going out with their Grade 12 year has happened), but that doesn't appear to be the case. If you look up Raincourt's singles "Penny Arcade" & "War Times" on YouTube or streaming services, they are no longer listed under that band name, rather Sylo, which is the name you may recall being used by a mystery band who opened for Vanity First during the Harmony Beach clean-up gig from last month. Based on personal Facebook posts, it looks like Sylo are basically Raincourt minus Rancourt, and Elijah, Owen, and Jakob reportedly played together at Reggie's Place on August 13th (apologies again for missing that, I still didn't know who Sylo were then). From what I've seen, a reason for Raine's departure from the band was not publically announced. At this juncture, they have not rebranded Raincourt's Facebook page or visibly launched a new one.

Given how big Raine hyped up Raincourt in his Boar's Nest interview in April, this didn't seem like an option so soon, and while it looks like the rest of the band stuck together, a name change was necessary if Raine left. Hopefully Raine gets a new band going soon, he's a very talented guitarist with a lot of upside, and we'll keep you posted when more comes out on Sylo! For now, I have renamed the band to Sylo in our active band links.

Finally, here's the latest from the aforementioned local punk trio Vanity First, who have advertised two more concerts on their Facebook page this month, both at private residences (including the locale of one of their gigs last month). I'm hesitant to cover shows at locations like this, but hopefully the Harmony Beach gig yesterday was successful, as well as their show next month! Their other big new update is that they released a new single named "Get Out" to major streaming services and their YouTube channel on August 16th! Do not listen to it on Facebook though, as it was, believe it or not, partially muted due to a copyright claim, meaning that Facebook flagged their own upload of the song for matching itself on other services! Amazing. The song proper feels very reminiscent of Pennywise musically (if not lyrically), and while Andrew's vocals don't always mesh on the chorus, it's a solid modern punk track! Give it a listen below!

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

Go Skateboarding Day 2022 & Tym Morrison Concert Previews!!

To start another work week at the SMS, here's another mid-week concert preview post, as we have hard rock/punk shows to spotlight over the next two days, including a major returning annual event with a stacked lineup, so here's what you should know!

After a pandemic-induced two year hiatus, Tidal Records will bring back its annual Go Skateboarding Day festivities and attached concert TOMORROW at Queen Elizabeth Park outside of the John Rhodes Center!  Of course, Go Skate Day is a special holiday to encourage people (especially youths) to, well, go skateboarding, and safely indulge in other extreme sports activities, and Tidal Records held local Go Skate Day events from 2013-2019, including live bands atop the ramp from 2014 onward. It's great to see Dustin and company back for a belated eighth year, and hopefully there's a great turnout of skateboarding and music fans tomorrow! Skate games, refreshments, and other family friendly activities are to be expected, partially thanks to presenting sponsors. The expanded five band lineup includes headlining punk/alternative quintet These Magnificent Tentacles, who should turn some skater heads to close the day!

Promoter Dustin Jones' own online page-less punk cover quartet The Cover-Up will return from their own pandemic hiatus as co-headliners, in their first announced show since their turn as "You First & The Givee Givees" at a tribute concert in December 2019. The Cover-Up are this year's only returning band from any prior Go Skate Day, so you know their upbeat skate punk covers will be a fitting soundtrack! Unplugged roots/ska group Unorganized Township will chill things down in the middle slot tomorrow, while two rising young alternative bands will open the proceedings, including punk quartet Vanity First, who will be making their first announced public concert appearance outside of Korah C&VS tomorrow! The guys actually played a set at Korah's Relay For Life cancer fundraiser event on the 9th, and the band shared photos on their Facebook page to end their three month break from posts there.

If that was a publically attendable event beyond Korah students & staff, I apologize for missing it, but again, Vanity First never plugged their involvement. Lastly, hard rock quartet Raincourt will open in their first announced show outside of White Pines C&VS, and with their new Tidal-assisted studio recordings making waves, hopefully they kick things off on a strong note! Go Skate Day 2022 is a FREE & ALL AGES event that is projected to run from 4:00-9:00 PM, and be advised that while 9&10 News projects partly cloudy weather of 24-28° during showtime, there is a chance for thunderstorms around 8:00 PM. If you love skateboarding and live punk-leaning music, head to The John Rhodes Center for all of the action tomorrow, and remember to bring the kids if they want to shred at the skatepark or even learn how! Visit the above links for full details, and here's These Magnificent Tentacles live!

Finally for today, here's one more mid-week concert preview, as local hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison will return to The Mike Case Memorial Stage outside of The Trading Post for a fourth straight week on WEDNESDAY NIGHT! My pre-call last week that Tym would be back at the Mike Case Stage this week was accurate, as even if he hasn't firmly said so on his Facebook group, as he launched a Facebook event page earlier today for this week's stop. As such, he does appear to be on a Gliss-esque weekly arrangement for Wednesday evening gigs there, so if you're up for some classic and hard rock covers way down Great Northern Road in two nights' time, you know where to be! Night #4 of Tym's Trading Post series has a 7:00 PM start time, no cover charge, and no age limit, and 9&10 News is projecting a sunny evening with temperatures of 12-15°. See above for more details, and here's a full concert of Tym's from back in 2020!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Crush & The Wyld Stallyns), A New Original Song, And More!!

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!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Wasting Time, Go Skateboarding Day, And Tarnished) & The Northwest's New EP!!

The summer season is sure giving me a lot to write about at the SMS, so apologies in advance if anything gets/is delayed for coverage on the site, I'm working on it! Today's post features a new live concert video, details on a new local album release, and leading off, two LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS that you punk fans will definitely be interested in for later this month, so here's what you should know!

Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Tarnished will return to Snows Bar & Grill in nearby Cedarville for a concert TONIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the band only announced the show on their Facebook page last night, even lampshading the short notice by saying "Better late than never!". Tarnished debuted at Snows (at 1187 South Park Avenue, 40 minutes south of the Soo) in February during the venue's involvement in this year's Les Cheneaux Islands Snowsfest pub crawl, but TONIGHT'S concert does not have any advertised frills or themes. Regardless, it's their first announced concert since their (also late notice) Rudyard gig three weeks ago, but Tarnished have hinted that they will have shows to announce soon that have advance word. In fact, after TONIGHT, they'll hit the road for non-local shows in Gould City and Curtis later this month, so visit their Facebook page for continued details on those events.

Despite the late notice, fans can expect more hard hitting originals and covers from Alex, Nathan, Isaac, and Josh TONIGHT in Cedarville, so don't miss out if you're able! This concert has an 8:00 PM start time, 21+ age limit, and no announced cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Tarnished live!

Next up, after a two year hiatus for very obvious pandemic-related reasons, Tidal Records will bring back their Go Skateboarding Day festivities on Tuesday, June 21st with five Sault Ontario bands hitting the stage (well, top of the ramp) at Queen Elizabeth Park outside of the John Rhodes Centre! After previously celebrating Go Skate Day annually with a free skateboarding community event from 2013-2019 (featuring live bands since 2014), it's great to see Dustin and crew (and sponsors) bringing this back at last! As usual, expect skate games, refreshments, and family fun, and if you can skate, you're welcome to come down! As for the musical side, the advertised headliners are local punk & alternative quintet These Magnificent Tentacles, while Dustin's re-activated (and still online page-less) cover punk band The Cover-Up will play their first show of 2022 as the only returning band from any prior Go Skate Day. 

The other three bands are all younger local groups, including acoustic roots/ska collective Unorganized Township (who you may remember from the 2019 Fringe North festival), punk quartet Vanity First (in their public concert debut, though note that they have not updated their Facebook page in almost three months), and hard rock quartet Raincourt (in their first show outside of White Pines C&VS). Nice diverse lineup that should set the tone for the extreme sports action well! Admission is free for this all ages concert, which begins at 4:00 PM one week from Tuesday, expected to end at 9:00 PM. Sounds like a fun time, so definitely see above for details!

Also, let's head to Soo Blaster, where Toronto pop punk quartet Wasting Time will make their local concert debut on Wednesday, June 29th! Wasting Time have been active in the Southern Ontario scene since 2017, and their upbeat brand of modern skate and pop punk will definitely appeal to genre fans with its spontaneity and energy, so definitely give them and their new album "Once More Without Feeling" a listen to see what they bring to the table! Young local classic hard rock quartet The Uncanny Valley will open in their first public concert of 2022 following their late withdrawal from the Clusterfolk Festival in April (more on that soon, if belatedly), and while they're not a perfect genre match to the headliners, The Uncanny Valley's talents and raw potential will be on full display, as fans will have seen at Soo Blaster in October! This is the fourth stop on Wasting Time's Bite Fight Tour of Canada this summer.

Tickets for this show run for $15 in advance (presumably at the venue, I haven't seen a link to buy them online) or $20 at the door. This is a 19+ event as far as I know, and doors open at 8:00 PM. Hopefully things wrap up somewhat early given that there are only two bands and it is a Wednesday night, but visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and if you like skate punk, definitely consider coming to Soo Blaster on the 29th!

Finally, here's a very big story for local punk fans, as The Northwest's long awaited third EP "All In" was released yesterday! The indie/punk quintet put the EP out on Spotify as expected, as well as on Apple Music, but crucially, it is on sale for digital download via their Bandcamp page for $7, so it is officially in line for a formal review on the SMS! No word on physical copies, but your first chance to see if they exist would be at the Elliott Brood show at LopLops next Friday. Produced at Unsalted Audio by Pointless bandmates Dustin Goodall & Bill Priddle (with Dustin engineering and mixing solo), "All In" was mastered by Bryan Lowe at Joao Carvalho Mastering (where Id Iota's EP was mastered too), and the album artwork was made by frontman Wayne Watkins' old Small Town Rivals bandmate Jesse Nelson and prolific local punk musician/Cross Dog bassist Mark Rand.

The EP has six songs, including the three preview singles and three previously unreleased songs named "Unsober October", "Lights", and "Walls". It's great to finally see "All In" on sale and available to stream for free if you are so inclined, but when will we be reviewing the EP on the site? Honestly, it won't be until August, as this month is already set for Chase Wigmore's new album, while Sykotyk Rampage's surprise new album is ahead in July due to it going on sale sooner. We'll go all in on "All In" in a couple months, but give the whole thing a listen above! That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news on the site next week! Thanks everyone!

Local Metal Video Showcase!!

All video post on this Tuesday evening, including some recent concert videos from both the Soo and out of town, along with an apology for a recent missed show, but let's lead off with videos from two different bands at the same major venue in recent weeks!

Let's start with lots of videos from The Glorious Sons' headlining concert at The Sault Community Theatre Centre last month, and while I've only found YouTube videos from one source, they're thankfully from Christopher Paci's awesome YouTube channel, so you know he got a solid fill of content! Whether he's a big fan of theirs or whether he was adjusting for the lack of an opening band, I can't say, but Chris filmed eleven videos of the Kingston roots/hard rock quintet at the former Kiwanis Theatre, including (in performance order) "I Want Ya", "Mama", "My Poor Heart", "One Church Town",  this song that he couldn't title (the lyrics don't match anything on Google so it may be new), "Lean On Me Love", "Young King", "S.O.S. (Sawed Off Shotgun)", "Everything Is Alright", "Kill The Lights", and as embedded below, their set-closer "Amigo", which is typically extended to 8+ minutes in live appearances like this.

Chris was not in the closest seating section, but he had a good central view of the stage and fans ahead of him, which especially works to the benefit of "Amigo" with all of the clapping in time with the song mid-way through! The audio on heavier stretches can be scratchy, which is nothing new, but softer parts come through nicely, and fans of The Glorious Sons should take to all of these videos, which you can watch above & below!

Next up, here's the latest from young local hard rock quartet Raincourt, and first off, I do have to apologize for missing a concert of theirs, as they played a publically attendable concert at the aforementioned Sault Community Theatre Centre this past Wednesday! The humongous venue is explained by it being on the campus of White Pines Collegiate & Vocational School (which Raincourt's members currently attend), and White Pines has been hosting a Coffee House concert series there during the 2021-22 school year, with last week's being their semester-closing event, including a show for students only at 1:00 PM and a show open to everyone at 7:00 PM. The main attractions were The White Pines Concert Band and their Mustang Sally-esque school group The Pine Tones (who feature all of the guys from Raincourt), but other student artists performed, including Raincourt proper. I profusely apologize for missing this show, hopefully it was a huge hit!

If you missed this event, never fear, as a video of Raincourt (sans face masks!) covering The Beatles' "Come Together" was uploaded to their Facebook page on Friday. Solid cover from a nice and close angle, with Elijah showing some nice grit & swagger with his vocals and stage presence, and everyone has a strong handle on this classic rock favourite! Give it a watch below, and apologies again for missing the White Pines Coffee House show last week on here!

Also, local/Barrie punk/metal quintet Spades GT have launched their official YouTube channel and have posted three performance videos there to check out! Two were also uploaded to their Facebook page, including the jam session clip of "Crossroads" (albeit still with audio from the Jack Spades studio version dubbed overtop) and a brand new video from their set opening Anvil at The Rockpile in Toronto last month, where they played "Cenobites", a song that debuted with Jack Spades but isn't on an album yet. Embedded below is their full 28 minute return set in April opening for Random Killing at The Queens Nightclub in Barrie, and yes, it has the live original audio! In order, you'll see J.D., the Daniels, and Tyler play "They Live", "Rise", "Cenobites", "Crossroads", "Fear Corps", "Motorwolf", "Negative Headspace", a cover of Turbonegro's "All My Friends Are Dead", and finally, their own song "To The Left".

Note that in the song introductions, J.D. first calls the band "Jack Spades" still (old habits die hard?), but later acknowledges that they used to be "Jack Spades SSM" before relocating. This set will be very familiar for local Jack Spades fans, as nothing here wasn't seen in their local sets in 2019, only the venue and two new faces will be different. Great video quality with multiple camera angles and a nice crooked angle of the stage and front row fans, and Daniel Rodbard & Tyler Reiner compliment J.D. & Daniel nicely here and on the new Toronto clip! More videos are teased to be forthcoming, but give all of these a look above & below!

Finally, here are three videos of new local acoustic hard rock duo Short & Sweet's opening set for Parabol at Soo Blaster this past weekend! Uploaded to frontman Cory Murchison's YouTube channel yesterday, these feature him and bandmate/fellow Skeyes of Seven alum Kyle Sweet covering Breaking Benjamin's "Forget It", Slipknot's "Vermilion Pt. 2", and as embedded below, a stripped down version of his old Sense of Truth song "Anything At All". Despite some jittery camera work, the videos are nicely angled and capture Cory and Kyle in a good element with some strong vocal & guitar work, and they'd definitely be added to our links if they got a Facebook page or something! Give these a watch above & below!

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

A New Local Hard Rock Band, Lots Of Live Concert Videos, And More!!

After a couple of single topic posts the last two days, here's a mix of stories on this Monday morning, including a local solo project's return with new material, lots of new YouTube videos from a prominent local cover band, but let's start with a new and very promising group to check out!

We have a new local hard rock band to add to our band links, namely Raincourt, a high school-age group that launched in August of last year! Raincourt's social media presence is spotty at best, so it took a bit of work to glean the information here, but you can get more on them via their Facebook page. Named for their lead guitarist Raine Rancourt, the lineup is comprised of current White Pines Collegiate students, all members of their school band The Pine Tones, and Raine is joined by singer/guitarist Elijah Russell, bassist Owen Dearing, and drummer Jakob Kuiack (a.k.a. Jakob Fice-Lesage). Curiously, their lineup is not given on their Facebook page, I had to get the credits from this video interview that Raine took part in with the local podcast series The Boar's Nest with Don Lewis last month. For the record, The Boar's Nest doesn't appear to be music-centric (wrestling moreso), but it's cool to see Don give Raincourt some early promotion!

Raincourt first posted on Facebook last fall via video covers (complete with face masks) of Black Sabbath's "Electric Funeral" & Bob Dylan's "All Along The Watchtower" at White Pines, resurfacing in March to tease the release of their debut original single "Penny Arcade" (embedded below), though again, curiously not linked on their Facebook page. This was recorded at Mission Control Studios with producer Dustin Jones, so Raincourt are aiming high and working with the right people from the start, and you can watch more from those recording sessions in January via this video on their new YouTube channel. Official band t-shirts are also now on sale, for the record. Raine's interview on The Boar's Nest will be the best source of information on Raincourt so far (it's 57 minutes long, FYI) where you'll learn about how the band formed, Raine's future aspirations in music, the inspiration of "Penny Arcade", the support from White Pines students/faculty so far, ...

...their songwriting process, aimed local concerts to play at, recording at Mission Control Studios, musical inspirations, future plans, and much more. For hearing just one song, Don sure shows his fandom for Raincourt so far, which is cool! "Penny Arcade" will appeal to modern hard rock fans with it's catchy guitar riffs, strong production, and tight structure, and as Don often noted, you can be very surprised that this song was recorded by teenagers! That said, this is one song, so unless you're a Wolverine, you'll have only seen this and the above covers. Hopefully we hear much more from Raincourt in due course, but give their videos a look above, and here's "Penny Arcade", which is also on Spotify!

Next up, let's take a somewhat overdue look at videos of local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck that have been uploaded to drummer Glen Thomas' YouTube channel since the fall! While some of these were uploaded to the band's Facebook page at the time, not all of them were, and it's odd that many have lived here without Soundcheck giving them a public push. Ten videos of Soundcheck (with Paul or Rob on bass) have made their way to Glen's channel in the past six months, including them covering The Black Keys' "Lonely Boy" at The Esquire Club & The Tragically Hip's "New Orleans Is Sinking" at Reggie's Place. From Shooters Downstairs Lounge, you can see Soundcheck cover Shania Twain's "Man! I Feel Like A Woman", John Mellencamp's "Hurts So Good", Kenny Chesney's "Young", and ZZ Top's "TV Dinners", while the other four are from Reggie's West shows, including two from a Thursday jam night & an overhead camera angle!

These include "Young" & "TV Dinners" again (the latter video uploaded twice), plus Harlequin's "Thinking of You" and David Wilcox's "My Eyes Keep Me In Trouble". Singer/guitarist Terry Eaton sings lead on all but the Black Keys, John Mellencamp, and Kenny Chesney songs, which were handled by Cameron Oliver, and notably, Cameron was not featured in any of the Reggievelt clips except "Young". For the wide screen resolution and Cameron's presence, I'll embed the Shania cover here, believe it or not, but all will deliver for fans of Soundcheck's workmanlike and diverse set with some good hard rock bits along the way, so give these a look!

Finally, let's head to Sault Michigan, as local metal solo project X's & Y's is back in action! Led by former Life's Eclipse guitarist and Werehold Records founder Jason Mills, the project's Facebook page had been quietly deactivated in mid-late 2020, but it came back by December of that year (apologies for not noticing that until now) with a teaser video of a Casio DG-20 guitar synth. Updates were extremely sporadic afterwards, but last night, Jason uploaded a full track from the planned debut X's & Y's EP (title now anglicized from “Þe Obsidian Sömnen” to "The Obsidian Dream"). The song is named "Solid Glass", and it's a very djent-heavy instrumental that Meshuggah fans will take to, and this comes honestly to Jason if you followed his Werehold-era music, or saw his prior upload of playing all of the songs from Meshuggah's new album "Immutable" simultaneously.

The technical brutality is great, but given all of the planned Werehold albums that never got a formal paid release, who knows when "The Obsidian Dream" will go on sale, but hopefully it bucks old trends! Give this a listen below, and X's & Y's are back in our active band links!

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