LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Project 906, HeadF1rst, And Generations) & Weekend Concert Previews!!

Before we begin today's post, I wanted to apologize for missing Tym Morrison's Think It Over Thursday acoustic gig at The Dive Gastro Pub tonight in this weekend's previews. While Tym only announced the show on late notice via his Facebook group yesterday, the show was listed right along in The Dive's July 2025 concert calendar, which completely slipped me by in our recent coverage. My profuse apologies again, but don't miss Tym at The Eagles Club next Saturday, and hopefully tonight's Dive show was a hit! Now, here's what you should know for a reasonably quiet pre-Rotaryfest concert weekend as hard rock in the Twin Saults & area goes, starting with LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, mostly on SHORT NOTICE!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations have announced their scheduled solo headlining concerts for this month, and after taking this past weekend off, they'll pick things back up TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT at Reggie's Place! Apologies for the short notice, these shows were only announced one week ago today by drummer Tony Santoro on their Facebook group. Last seen on Canada Day at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion, TOMORROW & SATURDAY's shows will be their first at this familiar Queen Street East tavern since the end of March, so don't bypass these gigs if you want some hard rock-leaning cover action, especially with some other venues and bands taking a July-August break! After their previously announced Friday headliner at Rotaryfest next weekend, Generations will hit Jay's Piston Broke Pub on Friday, July 25th & Saturday, July 26th as well, so west end fans will approve!

Yes, Generations (sans Valerie) will also host the weekly Thursday jam night on the 24th as well, but we don't treat jam/open mic nights as "concerts" due to their in-built unpredictability. TOMORROW & SATURDAY'S Reggie's concerts and the end-of-July shows at Jay's are all 9:30 PM events with 19+ age limits and no cover charges. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's a new video of Generations' Beck's Bar debut last month! Filmed by Monique Chartrand for their Facebook group, this sees Valerie, the Tonys, and Pierre covering Linda Ronstadt's "Blue Bayou" Sadly, this was shot vertically, but the cover is soundly done, and you get a good & bright view of the Canada Day-flocked staging at Beck's, so give it a watch below!

Next up, Sault Michigan hard/blues rock quintet Project 906 will make their debut at Les Cheneaux Distillers' Tipper Room in Cedarville on SATURDAY! Again, apologies for the short notice, the band only announced this date via their Facebook page yesterday. Last seen in Brimley two weeks ago, this will be Project 906's first stop an hour away in Cedarville since their Government Bay Barge Bash gig last year (I'll have to see if anyone SMS-amenable is playing that this year too). The Tipper Room is Les Cheneaux Distillers' second location at 74 East Hodeck Street that opened in January, and serves as (from my understanding) a less formal bar/venue than their main production facility/tasting room on South Meridian Street. If you're into vodka, rum, gin, and/or whiskey, keep Les Cheneaux Distillers in mind regardless! Project 906's show there on SATURDAY will uniquely be a 4:00-7:00 PM matinee, so note the timing!

Drummer Jason VanLuven will not be on hand on SATURDAY due to his other band Unfortunate Sun's gig in St. Ignace that night (more on that in a bit), but 906 did not announce if they'd be replacing him or not (they have played with just Brian on hand drums before). This is a 21+ concert regardless with no announced cover charge. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and for a preview, here's a brand new video from their Facebook page of the guys at The Back Bay Grill & Games at Bay Mills Resort & Casino last month covering Styx's "Renegade"! Just a 30 second clip, but it's performed with enthusiasm, and it's a good showcase for Billy's vocal range in particular, so check it out for yourselves below!

Also in late notice announcements, Sault Ontario hard rock quintet HeadF1rst will head to Goulais River on SATURDAY NIGHT to take part in this year's Goulais Community Days! Apologies again for the short notice, the band only announced their involvement in this year's festivities via their Facebook page this past Saturday, though frontman Red Jettison did reference the booking in his interview on The Community Pulse last month. SATURDAY's concert continues in the post-pandemic trend of Goulais Community Days hosting a rock concert, with the now-defunct Soundcheck playing there annually from 2022-2024, so HeadF1rst are picking up where they left off on SATURDAY at  the Captain Tilley Community Centre at 592 ON-552. While HeadF1rst are blocked for a full matinee timeslot of 5:00-8:30 PM, the headline attraction on SATURDAY is actually local country musician Brendan Hodgson, who takes the stage at 9:00PM to cap off the night's events.

Whether you like rock or country, you'll find something to like on SATURDAY! Visit the Captain Tilley Community Centre's Facebook group and this schedule poster for more on what family events are going on just north of the Soo between tomorrow and Sunday. This all ages concert has admission via event bracelets ($5 for a day, $8 for the whole weekend, kids 3 and under free), though if you don't want a bracelet and just want to see the concert, admission is $2. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's HeadF1rst live rocking out!

Lastly for this preview post, we'll head back to the E.U.P., as Sault Michigan hard rock cover quartet Unfortunate Sun will return to the stage TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT when they debut at The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino! Surprising how they've never played there yet, though maybe Fake Chow did? Unfortunate Sun are coming back from a two month break from concerts, last playing live as a short notice fill-in band at the Sault Kewadin branch in May, and it will be good to see Skip, Jody, Tony, and Jason rocking out with their proficient covers once again to kick off their summer slate! Yes, this is why Jason will be absent from Project 906's late notice Cedarville concert on SATURDAY. Whether you're placing bets on the band's kickass levels or not, tomorrow and Saturday's concerts are 21+ affairs at 9:00 PM with no announced cover charge. See above for more details, and here's Unfortunate Sun live!

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

A New Addition To Our Band Links, Molten Imp Updates, And New Videos!!

After our long write-up on Thursdsay's LSSU battle, let's dive back into Sault Ontario to look at recent updates from bands north of the border, including new concert videos, the latest from a metal solo project, and leading off, a newer acoustic band. Here's what you should know!

We have a new local classic/hard rock band to add to our Sault Ontario band links, and they are Dodge This, the new acoustic band from former Phatstick frontman Jason Taillefer and former Havadder/Band Camp Rejects guitarist Jamie July! Jamie's brother Jeff also appears at some gigs playing percussion on a cajon. An extension of Jason's return to local acoustic concerts in 2024 (most notably at The Dive Gastro Pub), the Dodge This name first crossed my radar in late August when they co-headlined the ARCH Run outside of Jay's Piston Broke Pub, with Jamie launching an official Facebook page for the project in early September, though he & Jason had played shows prior to the ARCH Run without an advertised project name. As well as at The Dive, you may have seen Dodge This at The Water Tower Pub on September 7th and October 5th, as well as at McCauley's Restaurant in Goulais River.

Described on Facebook as "not looking to get rich, just doing what we love", Jamie has posted six videos of Dodge This on their Facebook page, including three from their September date at The Water Tower Pub of them covering The Gin Blossoms' "Hey Jealousy", Collective Soul's "December", and America's "A Horse With No Name". Jeff was present on cajon for this show, and while the covers are sound (if vertically shot), the harsh blue lighting of The Water Tower Pub will impair what you see. It's good mood lighting in person, but not the best for filming videos. The other three come from their gig at McCauley's (sans Jeff), including just Jamie covering Zach Bryan's "Something In The Orange", and two of him and Jay both tackling Chris Cornell songs, namely Soundgarden's "Fell On Black Days" and, as embedded below, Temple Of The Dog's "Hunger Strike". 

While these videos were also filmed vertically, the quality isn't bad, and Jason and Jamie play off of each other well in concert, with Jamie deploying some good melodic singing where needed. Jason can still unleash some impressive heavier vocals too, as heard on the Chris Cornell parts on "Hunger Strike"! If I was running McCauley's though, I'd use the TV monitor behind them to at least display the Dodge This logo for visual effect, though I don't know if they host live music that often. Stay tuned for more from Dodge This when we hear it, and check them out above & below!

Next up, here's the latest from a band we haven't covered on the SMS in way too long, namely local industrial metal solo project Molten Imp! At some point in the past year, project leader/former AlgomA guitarist Boyd Rendell took down their Facebook page, and as best as I can tell, their primary online presence is via a new Bandcamp page (their old one was taken down too). On the new Bandcamp page, Boyd describes Molten Imp as "the sound that comes from a damp basement near a steel plant" and hopes to "carve out its own niche in the industrial metal/noise scene with a folding pocket knife". Molten Imp's posted content now on Bandcamp include their digital singles collected as the "Bloom Closing"  complilation with bonus tracks in October of last year, as well as their half of the "Pyrolytic Punishment" split with Crucify The Whore. However, Molten Imp did release a new song on Bandcamp in June, so what should you know about that?

Entitled "Diesel On The Steamship I & II" (it is one 9+ minute file), this is an industrial noise instrumental. You have to have an appreciation for noise music to get into this, methinks, but it makes a good use of distorted effects and a mechanical theme across its runtime, and it's good to see that Boyd is still actively making music, if with less of an online presence! Check out more music from Molten Imp above!

Finally, here's a new video from last night's Blood Opera-headlined Steel City Nerdcon afterparty at Soo Blaster! This comes from 705Live Sound Co.'s Facebook page, with Mike filming the action from the soundboard. The 40 seconds long clip sees the Toronto "zombie glam/dead metal" band playing their song "Brundlefly", inspired by David Cronenberg's 1986 remake of The Fly. Solid turnout (if with very blue lighting) at Soo Blaster, though at this point in the set, their full horror movie/theatrical aesthetic wasn't on display beyond their punk-influenced stage attire. Fun for what we hear, so check it out below, and hopefully more videos surface!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Curtis McKenzie & Soundcheck), Plus Weekend Concert Previews (Part 1!!)

Another busy concert weekend is upon us in the Twin Saults, and with Rotaryfest taking place next week, it's going to get worse before it gets better in that regard! I will actually need three posts to get to everything on the hard rock/punk spectrum this weekend, with today's post devoted to SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS and some previously announced artists playing on tomorrow. The current plan is to cover this weekend's Master Nate & The Reprobates, Peril, Project 906, and Generations shows in preview post #2, with The Nameless' Saturday nighter in Sault Michigan being in a news post to wrap things up by that morning. Here's what you should know to lead off this busy mid-July concert stretch!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return for this year's Goulais Community Days THIS SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the band has not publically confirmed this booking, but they are advertised in festival promotion, and members have mentioned it in personal Facebook posts. This will be the (at least) third straight year that Soundcheck have made their way to the Captain Tilley Community Centre at 592 ON-552 in nearby Goulais River for the community's annual summer festival, which will have loads of family entertainment just north of the Soo, so check out the official poster for this weekend's complete itinerary! While not playing tomorrow night, singer/guitarist Terry Eaton will dust off his DJ hat to fill that role as the baseball tournament begins, while SATURDAY's concert has an 8:00 PM start time (running until midnight) and a 19+ age limit.

To see Soundcheck on Saturday, there will be a special $2 cover charge unless you have a bracelet for your pass to Community Days ($5 for a single day, $8 for everything Friday-Sunday), in which case you'd get in to the concert free. Note that The Hwy 17 Band and The Four For All Band are also playing earlier on SATURDAY, but their sets are all ages matinees and don't directly lead into when Soundcheck would take the stage, so they're not "opening" for them. Visit the above links for more on Soundcheck's Goulais Days return on SATURDAY as they warm up for their Rotaryfest Stage 1 return next weekend, and here they are live!

Next up, former Haggith/Eclipse frontman Curtis McKenzie will return to The Dive Gastro Pub for another solo headlining concert THIS SATURDAY NIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice, Curt did announce this show via his Facebook page last week but I didn't catch advertising for it until this week. This will be Curtis' third show at the former Low & Slow at 648 Queen Street East, all on SATURDAYS during The Dive's "Patio Play" series of outdoor concerts there (he will also be playing an indoor show there on Thursday, August 8th). Since resuming work as a live solo musician this year, Curt has exclusively played at The Dive, and his hard rock covers (you can see full setlists on his Facebook page) have clearly been a hit there, so here's hoping for more of the same on SATURDAY NIGHT! This show has a 9:00 PM start time, 19+ age limit, and no cover charge. 9&10 News is calling for mostly cloudy weather on SATURDAY with a high of 27°, so it will be a warm one.

Be advised that they are also projecting a 10% chance of rain that night, and while it's too soon to go off of an hourly forecast, stay tuned to your preferred local weather report if you have any concerns. Also, if you're curious, tonight's "Think It Over Thursday" musician is The Crossed/Deter alum Josh McNally (haven't heard his name in a long time), who plays blues nowadays. Visit the official Facebook event page for more on Curt's patio gig on SATURDAY NIGHT, and here he is live!

Now to shows that we knew about in advance, starting with southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225's return to The Water Tower Pub for another "uncorked" concert TOMORROW NIGHT! Last seen at the Great Northern Road nightclub at the end of May, this will be Bone Yard's first acoustic concert since rocking Gateway Casino early last month, and is their only public show this month to not take place at Reggie's Place (remember that they are not playing Rotaryfest next weekend, let alone anywhere else at press time). If you like seeing your local 225 unplugged, consider a run to this high quality central venue tomorrow! According to personal Facebook posts, Headrush (John Amendola's new classic rock band that debuted at last year's Toystock) are playing there on Saturday. Tomorrow's concert has an 8:00 PM start time, 19+ age limit, and no cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's a new lyric video!

We already featured their new single "FAFO" on the site earlier this month, but on their new YouTube channel last week, they also uploaded a lyric video of it, so now you can learn the words and sing along if you so choose! The video proper features a slideshow of pictures of Greg, Alex, and Warren, along with some brief video clips from a gig at The Esquire Club (why they used vertical footage when the video proper is in 16:9, I have no idea). Well put together otherwise, and it lays their view of the world out there, so check it out below, and don't miss Bone Yard 225 tomorrow!

Finally for this first weekend concert preview post, prolific local classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison will continue his weekly summer arrangements at The Mike Case Memorial Stage outside of The Trading Post TOMORROW NIGHT and at Misty's Fifties on SATURDAY! This weekend sees a return to last month's status quo of the two weekly gigs following Tym not playing at Misty's this past Saturday due to his wedding that same day. Of course, congratulations to the happy couple, and I'm glad things went well! If you're up for acoustic classic and hard rock covers at The Trading Post's outdoor stage tomorrow or want to welcome Tym back to Misty's on Second Line West for Saturday's matinee, you know where to go for all of this weekend's action! Both shows have no cover charge, the Mike Case Stage gig is all ages at 7:00 PM, and the Misty's show is a 4:00 matinee as usual for these ongoing weekly series.

Weather-wise, tomorrow's outdoor Trading Post show is forecasted by 9&10 News to have sunny weather in the 22-25° range, so summer lovers who don't mind the warmer recent temperatures will be right at home tomorrow evening! Visit the official Facebook event pages linked here and here for more details, and for a preview, here's Tym live!

That's all for now, but look for part 2 of this weekend's concert previews on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (The BAG & The Apocalypse Afterparty), Plus New Videos!!

We have made it to October, and if today's LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS are any indication, local hard rock fans may finally have some big Halloween weekend shows to check out beyond single cover band gigs for the first time post-pandemic! Those lead off today, as well as new videos from an artist playing one of these events, so here's what you should know!

Eight local music acts will join forces for a special Halloween weekend concert on Saturday, October 28th at... Triple H Cabins in Goulais River? Yes, a cabin/outdoor gear rental business at 317 B Harmony Beach Road is actually hosting a concert of this scale, and yes, it is publically attendable (admission is by donation), with the poster circulating on Facebook pages over the past week, some publically. I am unsure if the poster's order of acts is accurate, but given that many acts share performers, I'll jump around a bit. The apparent headliners are party/rap metal duo (trio?) The Apocalypse Afterparty, and while I don't know if Mikhal Muto will be playing bass with them again on the 28th, he will be playing here with his online page-less folk punk/emo solo project Agnosticism as well, if early in the evening given the poster. Highly placed there is a band named The Floor Between Us who we've never mentioned here before, so who are they?

They're an newer outsider folk/comedy band fronted by 2022 Soo's Got Talent finalist Colin Gasparelli, who you may have seen at the Fringe North Festival in August and at an array of private gigs, often ones featuring Agnosticism. There's some humour to be had from their original material, and a comedy band like this is certainly distinct in this market! Colin is also slated to play a solo set on this night. The other four acts playing in four weeks are rising young metal trio The BAG, prolific extreme metal/folk punk solo musician Chase James Wigmore, a rare non-Fringe North set from acoustic punk solo project Slumshine (led by Mikhal's Ha!ls bandmate Brenton Ellis), and DJ Seith's online page-less hip hop duo Planet Rock. Quite a stacked lineup of (mostly) rising younger talent, and it's been four years since we've seen a heavier, multi-band Halloween concert like this here, so keep that in mind!

This all ages event takes place at 5:00 PM at Triple H Cabins, refreshments will be available, and costumes are encouraged (no word on a contest). Again, admission is by donation. A half hour drive north of the Soo may not be ideal for some, but it's certainly a unique event with a very intriguing array of performers, and weather permitting, being up on Harmony Beach may be nice for you nature lovers! Visit the above links for more details!

Next up, you know how I said that we hadn't really had a multi-band Halloween concert like this in the Soo area in four years? Yeah, well we're not done, as another one is taking place on Halloween night proper (Tuesday, October 31st) at The Art Hub at Spring! This one will have no cover charge but a tip jar for musicians will be on hand, and it'll be a B.Y.O.B. event if you are so inclined. The full lineup is not yet out, but The BAG confirmed on a post on their Facebook group last week that they will be playing this event too, so expect more metal mayhem for Halloween before the month is out! The rest of the lineup is to be announced, but the show is being promoted by Skinbox bandmates Steve Edwards (ex-Pixo Control) and William Wardlaw (ex-Stoned To Deaf), strongly implying that this new local rock band will be playing on the 31st. Despite already debuting live, their full lineup and sound is still not publically posted, we'll keep you posted when more is known.

Stay tuned for updates on the full lineup as well! This show takes place at 504 Queen Street East on Halloween night at 8:30 PM, there is no stated age limit, and again, it's free but tipping the artists is encouraged. Halloween or not, a Tuesday nighter isn't ideal for many, but hopefully a solid turnout comes out to rock out on Halloween night itself downtown! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details!

We'll close today with new songs from the aforementioned Chase Wigmore, who has posted two new original songs onto his YouTube channel over the past three weeks! Both have attached music videos featuring that choppy and possibly AI-generated style that he has recently been using. The first of the new songs/videos is for "The Speciesist", which Chase noted on his Facebook page was about "our impending extinction and coming to terms with the fact that we probably deserve it". The video realizes this message by showing various demonic aliens laying waste to the planet, so now you know how the doomsday will occur! I don't know if this will be on his long-gestating "Chaotic Rite" album or not, so I'll hold comment for now, but it is definitely a metal song but with drone-style clean vocals. Embedded below is his newest song from September 23rd, entitled "A Song For The Apocalypse", which feels like a direct sequel to "The Speciesist".

The visuals here show destruction of Earth, wastelands, and people observing the state of the planet, so yeah, not the most optimistic video out there, but the visuals are cool looking! This is more of a progressive metal song with more ominous overtones and screaming, plus an acoustic interlude, so you get a wide breadth of his styles here, but again, I'll hold comment in case this song is on "The Chaotic Rite". Give Chase's entertaining new videos a watch above & below!

 

 

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Double Down, Soundcheck, And Tym Morrison) And Weekend Concert Previews!!

We're still a week out from Rotaryfest, but this weekend is proving to be quite a busy one itself, so this weekend's hard rock concert previews are being broken up into two posts. As such, the Go North Music Festival, Handsome Sandwich, and Project 906 (all previously announced as taking place on Saturday) will be covered in our next post, while the late notice and Friday gigs are in this one. Let's lead off with a bunch of LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (some on SHORT NOTICE), as well as some new live videos of two bands playing this weekend!

Local classic/hard rock cover solo musician Tym Morrison will pick up his acoustic guitar and return to The Mike Case Memorial Stage outside of The Trading Post TOMORROW NIGHT and every Friday of this and next month! Apologies for the short notice on TOMORROW'S show, it was only announced via the Facebook event page for all eight Trading Post gigs. Of course, long-time followers of Tym's solo career will know that weekly arrangements at a non-typical concert venue are nothing new for him, and he has done this at the Mike Case Memorial Stage a few times now, most recently via a (more or less) weekly series last year that took place on Wednesday evenings from June to September (when The Trading Post closes for the season). Having 2023's on Fridays will be better for most schedule-wise, and hopefully there's a decent turnout and weather for Tym TOMORROW, next Friday, and on the 21st, 28th, and beyond!

Like in past instances of a regular weekly series, I'll wait to add Tym's August dates until closer to, and be advised that his September dates last year got short notice announcements at best. You can see the Nostalgia frontman TOMORROW and on the other dates at 7:00 PM with no age limits or cover charges. As the Mike Case Stage is outdoors, 9&10 News is calling for partly cloudy weather at 22°, which is a good start for this summer series! Visit the above links for more on all eight of Tym's trading post gigs this summer (so far?), and here he is live!

Next up, newer local classic/hard rock cover quartet Double Down will return to Jay's Piston Broke Pub TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice, the band only announced these shows via their Facebook page on Monday. One week out from their Rotaryfest Stage 1 debut, this new supergroup of That's Chester, Mojo, Mustang Heart, and 100 Gran alumni will play their first shows at the former Reggie's West since their first gigs there last month. With a talented lineup at their disposal, hopefully the guys deliver a strong weekend of hard rocking classics TOMORROW & SATURDAY! These are 19+ events with 9:30 PM start times and no cover charges. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's two new videos of Double Down live at Jay's their last time out on June 10th! Bassist Brad Stephen uploaded these to his YouTube channel last month, his first videos there in 3+ years.

An uncredited attendee filmed them (horizontally!) covering Mack Rice's "Mustang Sally" (with guitarist Adam King on vocals) and, as embedded below, Sugarloaf's "Green-Eyed Lady" with frontman Joel Syrette singing lead. Both of these songs are 6+ minutes long, so you get a nice sense of Double Down's range and talent as they jam through these, and the dark lighting is actually accentuated rather well once things come on for the songs themselves. Good stuff, so check these out above & below, and don't miss Double Down back at Jay's TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT!

Also this weekend, fellow local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will headline this year's 45th annual Goulais River Community Days on SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies again for the short notice, Soundcheck only confirmed their involvement on their Facebook page earlier today, but "Sound Check" were advertised in festival promotions beforehand. This is nothing new for Soundcheck, having played at Community Days last year as well, but unlike last year's 19+ "adult dance" at 9:00 PM, this is advertised as a "family dance" at 6:00 PM on SATURDAY. It was confirmed that organizers do not have a liquor license for this year's festival, hence the change for Soundcheck's set, and you can read more about what is and isn't occurring on SATURDAY at the Goulais River Area Recreation & Events Facebook group. Music was also cut back, with only the returning 17 North (at noon) also playing that day.

I rarely promote concerts on the SMS on the basis of "you can drink beer!", as that shouldn't the point over the musicians at most gigs, but this may be a concern for some who are used to alcohol being available at Community Days, so keep that in mind. The music will still be rocking, of course! As best as I can gather, Soundcheck's set/the dance will occur at the Captain Tilley Community Centre at 592 ON-552 once again, though no word on if singer/guitarist Terry Eaton will resume his DJ duties from last year. Admission is $5 for most, $4 for seniors 65+, and free for kids 4 and under all weekend, but SATURDAY is the only day with advertised bands. See above for more details, and here's Soundcheck live!

We'll close this preview post with a show that did get advance notice, namely local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard's return to Shooters Downstairs Lounge TOMORROW NIGHT! While not newly promoted by the band this week, this will be Bone Yard's first Shooters gig since playing there for a full weekend just two weeks ago. Like Soundcheck, Bone Yard are not playing at Rotaryfest this year, and with their Sudbury road trip in two weeks, this may be as close as you get to seeing them again this month in the Soo, so consider heading down to the Dennis Street nightclub for all of the action tomorrow! A one-nighter due to or resulting in a video dance party at Shooters on Saturday, tomorrow's Bone Yard concert has a 19+ age limit, 9:00 PM start time, and no cover charge. Visit the Facebook event page for more details, and for a preview, here's some of Bone Yard's new live concert videos from their concerts this past weekend!

An attendee had cameras rolling for live-streamed videos at both their Jay's Piston Broke Pub show on Friday and Poutine Feast on Saturday (nothing at Jay's on Saturday though), with three videos at the former and four at the latter. I'll save the Poutine Feast ones for an upcoming post, but at Jay's, Bone Yard were filmed covering Van Halen's "Eruption" & The Kinks' "You Really Got Me" back to back, The Foo Fighters' "Monkey Wrench", and as embedded below, Wild Cherry's "Play That Funky Music". Vertical camera angle aside, these are well shot videos with good close views of Greg, Alex, and Warren playing some covers not filmed often at their gigs, and they sound good overall, so check these out for yourself!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for the rest of this weekend's hard rock concert previews next! Thanks everyone!

Defunct Local Band Profile Series: The Red And Black & Stoned Ape Evolution

It's now time for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile, continuing our monthly spotlight of randomly selected local metal, hard rock, and punk acts of the past in order to spotlight them and their run for current readers! This month's installment is a double profile, as the first band only had minimal information online, so I randomly picked a second band, namely early 2010s Sault Michigan hard rock band Swayze Train, only to re-discover that I had announced their removal from our band links last year due to a lack of surviving public content (their Reverbnation page proves it), but forgot to actually delete them. Blonde moment! I picked the closest un-profiled & alphabetically adjacent Sault Michigan band with minimal info to fill things out, so here's what you should know on both!

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The Red & Black

Hometown: Garden River, Ontario

Genre: Post Punk/Grunge

Lineup:

Christopher Shoust (Telephone & Address), vocals/guitar
Damjan Binda (Spider Fingerz, F.F.B.), drums

Info/Analysis: Launched by former F.F.B. bandmates in August 2014, The Red & Black posted seven songs to their Soundcloud page & six mostly-shared songs on their Bandcamp page over the next three months. Plans were teased for a full length album, then a split release with Christopher's recently reunited punk duo Orange, but neither came to fruition. A planned live debut opening for The Whiskey Shits in November 2014 was cancelled, but they did play an unrehearsed impromptu set in June 2015, opening for Toronto doom metal band IRN at The New American Pub. Public updates did not follow, and the band dissolved by the end of 2015. If you know Telephone & Address' more aggressive, plugged-in material, then The Red & Black's raw, unpolished sound & Chris' distinct vocals on songs like "Talk Talk Talk" will be very familiar, and Damjan's drumming fit in well! Solid stuff for fans, hopefully we hear from both guys musically again!

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Stoned Ape Evolution

Hometown: Bay Mills, Michigan

Genre: Thrash Metal

Lineup: Stoned Ape Evolution never revealed their lineup publically and always wore masks on stage, not unlike prior Sault Michigan metal band Clownsack. Two of the band's four (later five) publically depicted members were John Napoletano and Melvin Willis, instrument roles unclear, though I believe John was the frontman. If you can fill in any blanks as to this band's lineup(s) and if it's alright to reveal them now, let me know!

Info/Analysis: Formed by early 2016, Stoned Ape Evolution sought to "bring a taste of a bigger metal band to a smaller area". Primarily seen at the Bay Mills Bands Together series of charity concerts in the mid-2010s, they debuted at Pickles Bar & Grill in Brimley in May 2016, and also played at that year's Rudyard Musicians Festival. Their final gig was an outdoor Bay Mills Bands Together event in September 2017, and the band otherwise shared memes on their Facebook page into early 2018 before quietly dissolving. Two public videos are known to exist from their run, including covers of Megadeth's "Sweating Bullets" in Rudyard and of Metallica and Megadeth songs in Brimley, and while I do think the vocalist was trying a little too hard to sound evil, they were technically sound and definitely unique for the E.U.P. in this day and age! Hopefully their members are still active!

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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! This series will return on or around October 10th when we look at another randomly selected band, this time back in Sault Ontario with inactive local "shield rock" band Swmapgut! Look for that in a month's time, and for more news and notes on the site next week! Thanks everyone!