LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Soundcheck) & Labour Day Weekend Concert Previews!!

Despite this being the Labour Day long weekend, it's quiet for hard rock/punk concerts in the Twin Saults and EUP, so barring a surprise show announcement, our weekend previews fit in only one post! Note that Double Jack are playing at the soon-to-close Rapids Lounge at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino this weekend, and I don't mean the former Exit 808, as the Bay City-area classic rock cover band of the same name (who the local band changed their name over) are playing there this weekend. Confusing, but good to see the original Double Jack making their way north! 

We'll start our previews in Sault Ontario with SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, as local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will take the stage at Reggie's Place TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, these shows first came to my attention via personal Facebook postings, and neither the band nor venue have publically advertised the gigs on social media. This weekend's shows will be Soundcheck's first there with their new bassist, as Sidekicks/ex-Double Down bassist Dan Beaupre has joined the group, replacing the now-retired Jim Michaud. I have not seen a 100% confirmation that Dan has also joined their sister band Separate Wayz (whose lineup is 75% identical), but it seems quite likely given how often they play "epic crossover" dates. Of course, this also reunites Dan with his old Hollow bandmate Terry Eaton, so fans of that 1990s group should like that!

Dan was present at their last two weekends at Jay's Piston Broke Pub too. Note that AI-generated artwork on personal accounts is referring to the band as "Soundcheck 7.3", but if they have tacked a Bone Yard 225-esque number onto their name, there hasn't been a public confirmation yet. Dan is a solid and experienced rock bassist who should fit Soundcheck (and Separate Wayz?) like a glove, so welcome him to the fold TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT if you haven't yet! Both shows are at 9:30 PM with 19+ age limits and no cover charges. See above for more details, and here's Soundcheck live!

Next up, let's head to The Art Hub At Spring (technically at 504 Queen Street East) TOMORROW NIGHT, where local hard rock quartet The Reeves and space/hard rock duo The Spaceship Opening will join forces to open for Saskatoon indie rock quartet Autopilot! In something that completely slipped me by when this show was announced, this is actually a sequel to a concert from last fall, as Autopilot and The Spaceship Opening played at Piecing It Together Shows' pop-up venue on Wellington Street West in November, which I didn't cover here because I couldn't verify The Spaceship Opening's genre at the time (that may have been the final hard rock-included concert from the former Dryer Fire). 10 months later, they're rolling it back at a different downtown locale, but this time with The Reeves as a second opener, in what they referred to on their Facebook page as "our 2nd show" (did their debut at Toystock this past November go badly or did it just get forgotten?)

Regardless, their new originals should pair well with Andrew & Ralph's minimalist hard rock before Autopilot's distinct indie/alternative sound hits the stage! Promoted by Hails frontman Brenton Ellis as part of his slate of events and art exhibits at The Art Hub this month, this stop on Autopilot's Name That Tour! 2026 is an ALL AGES concert at 6:00 PM tomorrow, and admission is $15 or "pay what you can", which is down from last fall's $20 door charge (though it did have $15 advance tickets). Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's The Reeves live!

Now to Michigan's Eastern Upper Peninsula for the back half of our long weekend previews, and we'll start an hour south in St. Ignace, where Sault Ste. Marie classic/hard rock cover quartet Tarnished will take the stage TOMORROW EVENING for the penultimate night of the town's Music By The Bay concert series at American Legion Park! This annual seasonal run of outdoor concerts daily from June-September wraps up with Nancy Kelel there on Sunday, but Tarnished are back once more before the fall truly begins, having last played at the park at the end of July. Presumably the full band with Chris and Ron in tow after they missed the band's acoustic Bay Mills Casino show last week, you can enjoy Tarnished's old school-leaning rocking covers tomorrow from 7:00-8:30 pm, and this is absolutely an all ages concert with no cover charge. If you can't make it, the guys will be at The Driftwood Sports Bar there in two weeks!

Weather-wise, 9&10 News is calling for 68-70° temperatures (20-21° Celsius) tomorrow evening with sunny skies, which sounds like a perfectly cromulent way to end the season if you like outdoor concerts. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Tarnished live!

Finally(?) for this weekend's previews, we'll head to The Islander Bar in nearby Hessel, where local hard rock cover trio Nate's Chow will play their third post-renaming show TOMORROW NIGHT! Fans may recall seeing Jody, Brett, and Jason debut the former Unfortunate Sun's new name and Skip-less lineup at The Islander Bar last month, with a late notice gig downstate in Alanson in the interim. That show went well, complete with a bachelorette party concurrent with the concert, and now Nate's Chow are back home in the UP, so expect a fun night of hard rocking covers tomorrow! Unless The Islander Bar has had heavy renovations, I wouldn't believe how it's depicted in the AI-generated poster. "Nates Chow" (someone forgot the apostrophe in the prompt) are on tomorrow at 8:00 PM with a 21+ age limit and no cover. See above for more details, and for a preview, here's our first live video of Nate's Chow in concert!

Filmed by an uncredited attendee at last month's Hessel concert and posted to their Facebook page, this sees the band covering The Barenaked Ladies' "The Old Apartment" with Jody on lead vocals, and it's always neat seeing a Sault Michigan area band covering Canadian content! The audio is somewhat muffled, and the video is only 30 seconds long, but the performance isn't bad at all, and Jody's singing suits the original track, so give it a watch below, and don't miss the guys back at The Islander tomorrow night! 

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site in the coming days! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Soundcheck & Curtis McKenzie) And Weekend Concert Previews!!

Time got away from me yesterday, so between that and arguably the last mega-busy concert weekend of the summer, we'll push this month's YouTube Channel Profile up slightly to dive into what will be at least four posts with weekend concert previews as we wrap up August 2026! Today's previews look at shows from bands in Sault Ontario playing shows tomorrow in some form or fashion, but we'll start with SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!

Former Project 421/Eclipse frontman Curtis McKenzie will reportedly return to The Dive Gastro Pub for one night only TONIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, Curt only announced this show via his Facebook page on Monday, and as increasingly usual, The Dive has not corroborated this gig on their Facebook page at press time. Last seen at Beck's earlier this month, fans were last able to see Curtis at the former Low & Slow in early July, and hopefully there's a decent crowd at The Dive TONIGHT for his unplugged hard rock and grunge covers once again despite the few days' notice! While not firmly stated, this should be a "Patio Play" gig based on the recent Thursday gigs that The Dive did actually promote, so weather-wise, 9&10 News is calling for clear skies with 13-15° temperatures TONIGHT. The show begins at 9:30 PM with no cover, so see above for more details, and here's Curtis live!

Next up, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will reportedly rock Jay's Piston Broke Pub for a second straight week TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice, I only learned of these bookings via personal Facebook postings on Wednesday, and Jay's has not newly confirmed the shows (this AI-generated poster was made by the venue for prior bookings). The band has dropped out of their planned Friday-only Water Tower Pub concert for unannounced reasons, with his weekend's apparent return to Jay's being Soundcheck's second pair of concerts since announcing the retirement of bassist Jim Michaud, but they nor their sister band Separate Wayz have confirmed if Jim has been replaced yet or not. You can find out for yourself who (if anyone) is on bass at Jay's TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! These shows are not "epic crossovers" with Separate Wayz, but Nicole will be back with Terry, Johnny, and *insert bassist here* (and Travis?) next month.

For what it's worth, I believe I have identified former Korner Monsters guitarist Rusty Barrel as the synth player seen in some prior live photos. Rusty guested with former Soundcheck singer/guitarist Cameron Oliver on cajon at many of his final local gigs before moving to the USA, and he also played cajon for TNT (Travis & Terry's acoustic side project) during their Nicole-bolstered set at Maddy's Mighty Mutts' Family Fun Day earlier this month. As best as I can tell, he is a guest performer regardless of band name (he didn't make the Chapleau trip), but it's good to fill in that blank! TOMORROW & SATURDAY's concerts are at 9:30 PM with 19+ age limits and no cover. See above for more details, and here's Soundcheck live!

Now to shows that did have advance notice, and we'll start with local acoustic punk duo Dos Amigos, who will kick off a busy end-of-summer weekend with shows at Thomson Farms Cider & Winery TODAY and at The Whisky Barrel TOMORROW NIGHT! Doubling these up here because they're both standard concerts, just at two very different locales, with Mikey & Dustin first heading north to the Third Line West cider mill, farm, and winery for another evening of acoustic punk covers outdoors this evening, though the end of summer doesn't necessarily mean the end of shows there for 2026, as Thomson Farms will remain open through the end of October. The BookcluB side project will then head downtown tomorrow night for a concert at The Whisky Barrel on Gore Street, marking their first stop at this Irish pub since early last month, so if this is better located or timed, keep this show in mind for tomorrow!

Our preview of Saturday's Prince Fest will be in our third weekend concert preview post, as Northern Vibe will be next given that its Friday lineup begins sooner than the cover bands that night in city limits. This evening's Thomson Farms show is at 6:00 PM (9&10 News has light clouds and temperatures of 16-19° during the three hour showtime on the patio), while tomorrow's Whisky Barrel concert is at 8:00 PM indoors. The former is all ages, the latter is not, and neither has an announced cover charge. See above for more details on stages #1-2 of their busy weekend, and here's Dos Amigos live!

Finally for weekend concert preview post #1, we'll head to Reggie's Place, where local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations will take the stage TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! For as experienced and frequently seen as Generations are, these will surprisingly be their first Reggie's concerts since July of last year, and thusly their first stops at this Queen Street East staple with new guitarist Joe Miller (who hasn't played at Reggie's in way longer than that). Hopefully there's a solid turnout tomorrow and Saturday for their old school rock favourites, and the band has teased maybe debuting some new songs in their sets this weekend! Both shows are at 9:30 PM with 19+ age limits and no cover. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's a new video of Generations live at The Water Tower Pub last month! This was shared to their Facebook group via Joe's personal Facebook page.

The 2+ minute video sees Generations covering most of The Headpins' "Don't It Make Ya Feel", which is some welcomed hard rockin' Cancon that Valerie sings with gusto, and while the song isn't fully captured via this stationary camera, at least it's horizontal. There is a couple blocking our view of Pierre and Tony, but they're enjoying their evening at a provided table, so I blame the camera placement. Still a solid cover, so give it a watch below, and see more from Generations at Reggie's this weekend!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for our extended Northern Vibe Festival preview next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Soundcheck & Dos Amigos), A Concert Cancellation, And Related Updates!!

Before we get into this weekend's concert previews, just a heads up that tonight's Angelmaker-headlined concert at Blaster Powerhouse has been cancelled. Local promoters Heavy North Entertainment finally confirmed on Tuesday that it wasn't taking place, though Angelmaker quietly dropped the show from their tour routing at some point between July 15th and 31st, and H.N.E. hadn't promoted it on social media since July 8th. As well, tickets never went on sale for the local date, and the search for local opening bands had no public follow-through. A reason for the cancellation wasn't announced, but note that Heavy North Entertainment haven't hosted a concert since late last year, though company head Tyler St. Amour has played occasional solo concerts in recent months. It is worth noting that North Carolina deathcore band Larcenia Roe were tapped to replace Disfiguring The Goddess on tour, which was quietly confirmed in the local advertising. 

The cancellation is very unfortunate, especially as local promotion was hyping this as "the ultimate metal concert", but the lack of postings about the show for over a month was a tell that something was up, and even with no tickets to refund, Heavy North should have announced the cancellation well sooner than they did. Hopefully nothing too serious happened with Tyler or the bands, and that Angelmaker, Ingested, and Larcenia Roe try again here down the road, as deathcore fans were interested in coming out!

This post otherwise dives into the first half of this weekend's concert previews, and we'll look at this weekend's Stones & Crows, Peril, Tarnished, and Viscera shows in our next preview post due to this being a busier stretch. Today's all involve LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, mostly SHORT NOTICE ones, and we'll start at Northern Superior Brewing Co., where local acoustic punk cover duo Dos Amigos will play at their on-site Tap Room TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the band only confirmed this show via their Instagram-only schedule poster last week, and Northern Superior have not corroborated this booking on their own social media at press time. No major frills or tie-ins that I am aware of TOMORROW, but fresh off of their Canopy gig with BookcluB at the Downtown Street Party tonight, hopefully Mikey & Dustin deliver some solid unplugged punk favourites in the Tap Room!

Note that I am well aware that Northern Superior are teasing the return of Wolf Fest at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion on Saturday, September 12th, complete with a promotional video featuring Trish Rainone in character as Jan from Jan's Not Movin!, but we await an official announcement of the lineup and other events in three weeks. TOMORROW'S Dos Amigos concert is at 8:00 PM with a 19+ age limit and no cover charge, and if you can't make it, they have three shows in three days next week. See above for more details, and here's Dustin & Mikey live at The Tap Room!

Finally, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will rock Jay's Piston Broke Pub TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT, and they'll also return to The Water Tower Pub on Friday, August 28th! Again, apologies for the short notice on TOMORROW & SATURDAY'S concerts, they were first announced via this AI-generated events calendar for this week on Jay's Facebook page (Soundcheck have not posted on their own Facebook page since early May). While ostensibly a normal weekend now that the guys are back from their Chapleau road trip, this weekend's shows come fresh off of the news that they are parting ways with bassist Jim Michaud (a.k.a. "Jimmy Sweetz"). The news was revealed on their sister band Separate Wayz' Facebook page on Tuesday, where their singer Nicole Thibodeau confirmed that Jim is amicably retiring from both groups, and "band line up announcements for both bands (are) coming soon". 

Best known for his near two-decade run as Obsession's bassist, Jim replaced Paul Belair in Soundcheck at the beginning of 2023, and he had been a constant presence in Terry Eaton's plugged in cover rock bands ever since, including Separate Wayz and the short-lived Guilty Party. What's unclear is who is playing bass at Jay's TOMORROW & SATURDAY... is Jim hanging on short term? Will they debut the new bassist this weekend? Will there be a temporary fill-in, or even no bassist? Regardless, hopefully Jim enjoys time away from the live grind, and if he is definitely retiring from bands, he will be missed! For the record, next week's Water Tower Pub show was announced via that venue's August concert calendar, and it is a one-nighter as usual there (Bone Yard 225 go "uncorked" there next Saturday). These are all branded as Soundcheck-only gigs and not "epic crossovers", but of course, that doesn't necessarily mean that Nicole won't pop in.

Terry, Travis, Johnny, and ?????'s Jay's Piston Broke Pub shows are at 9:30 PM, next Friday's Water Tower Pub concert is at 8:00 PM, and all are 19+ with no cover (though I somehow doubt that Soundcheck all wear fedoras and look alike nowadays, based on Jay's AI poster). Visit the above links for more on all three new Soundcheck dates (TOMORROW & SATURDAY included), best of luck to Jim in the future, and here's Soundcheck live!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for the rest of this weekend's hard rock concert previews either tonight or early tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Ethereal Tomb), Soundcheck/Separate Wayz Updates, And New Videos!!

I think our backlog is sufficiently addressed enough where we don't have to post twice a day regularly (famous last words), but there's still stuff to cover, new and old alike! For this post, we have new live videos, recent updates from a local weekend cover staple, and leading off, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, so here's what you should know on this Tuesday morning!

Barrie doom metal trio Ethereal Tomb will return to Sault Ste. Marie for a "DIY garage show" on Monday, September 28th at Unnecessary Noise! Remember, this is the house party venue at a private residence that began being used as a location for select Underground Events SSM concerts this year, so while the address is not publically listed, the show is being publically marketed as a normal concert event at a specific venue otherwise. Fans may recall seeing promoter Mikhal Muto bring Ethereal Tomb to the former Soo Blaster in July of last year, and while this is a smaller scale event, their brand of "Turtle Island street metal" should deliver the sludgy intensity for local fans next month! The local openers will be really varied from the extreme metal to cap off the evening, including ska punk quartet ASDP (fronted by Mikhal, who opened last year's Ethereal Tomb show while still a member of Hails) and young hard rock quartet 5 Dollar Bribe.

This all ages concert has a 6:00 PM start time, admission is $10 or "pay what you can", and as this is at Unnecessary Noise, "ask a punk" for the address (though note that ASDP are the only punk band on this particular bill). Definitely a talented spread of sounds to be had at Unnecessary Noise late next month, so visit the above links for more details!

Next up, let's touch on some recent news and notes from local classic/hard rock cover band Separate Wayz, who have technically been quiet this month as a local concern, but they've been busy in informal and out-of-town ways. On August 8th, a stripped down acoustic version of the band made the 3½ hour drive to Sudbury to perform at Her Northern Voice, a week-long concert festival honouring female singers, with Nicole, Terry, and frequent guest guitarist Travis Sharpe (Terry's Soundcheck/TNT bandmate) performing there at the Grace Hartman Amphitheatre. This is basically why Nicole guested with TNT at the Maddy's Mighty Mutts Family Fun Day here a couple days prior, as it served as a local teaser and warmup. Separate Wayz (+ Travis) played on the penultimate Saturday lineup, where they technically opened for Susan Aglukark, though they were part of the free matinee block before ticketed admission was enforced for the closing acts.

For what it's worth, the Sunday the 9th concert at Her Northern Voice featured a set by Lime frontwoman "Miss" Madii Schomogyi in the identical 2:00 PM timeslot, while Sudbury psychedelic hard rock band The Dirty Mystics (who debuted at The Northern Vibe Festival in 2024) also played that day. Celebrating women in the arts (not just singers) is a fantastic idea, and it's great that so many local and non-local ladies were able to rock Sudbury that weekend! Among various "sneak peaks" (sic), a video from promoters The Sudbury Performance Group was posted on Facebook of Nicole, Terry, and Travis covering The Weeknd's "Blinded By The Light", though it is unfortunately vertical and only 30 seconds long. The side-stage vantage point is sure unique. if not supremely indicative of where they were, but they sounded good here! Nicole also just hit the road again with Soundcheck (Jim & Johnny included) for an "epic crossover" gig.

The five-piece combined band headlined at the Gold Rush National Drag Race in Chapleau (this time 3½ hours north of here) on Saturday, but media and teasers from that trip north did not follow on either band's page. There is big lineup news concerning both groups that I'll touch on in this weekend's concert previews, as Soundcheck have late notice gigs this weekend (with or without this band member, I don't yet know), but visit the above links for more on Separate Wayz & Travis (or Soundcheck & Nicole), and here's the live video from Her Northern Voice!

We'll close this post with some new videos from local space/hard rock duo The Spaceship Opening! As you may recall, the "east end rock n' roll" act (featuring ASDP drummer Ralph Barber) played their first public gig of 2026 at an all-locals concert at Blaster Powerhouse on August 1st, and they began uploading official videos of their set to their Facebook page last week. The guys plan to "post the whole show in bits", and they clearly meant it when they said "the whole show in bits", as the first video features just Andrew and Ralph setting up before their first song! Embedded below is their first song from this set, an original named "Everyone's Gotta Pay", and at press time, they have not uploaded any more songs, videos, and/or bits from the set. This is an instrumental hard rocker that Andrew plays virtually the entire time while facing Ralph with his back to the audience, but the video was filmed side-stage, so it doesn't hurt the home viewer experience.

You don't see a lot of videos from the former Soo Blaster shot like this, so it gives a unique look at the action! I hope this is a fair comparison, but I was reminded a bit musically of Helmet from this performance, and while there were no vocals, it has a spark and a catchy groove, so give it a look below, and hopefully more official videos of this Spaceship Opening set surface!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for a busy slate of mid-week concert previews and more on the SMS soon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Bone Yard 225!!)

Local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 have announced new concerts for September and October, as per their website's calendar, so where will fans be able to see them next? We'll get into their "uncorked" show on Thursday during our next round of concert previews due to the proximity of the event, as the band did not publically confirm their involvement early enough for us to plug it without being considered "short notice". We already knew about their August 29th show at The Water Tower Pub, and we'll address the band playing there on Friday, August 28th in an upcoming post this week if able, given the ongoing backlog clearout here. The first brand new show will be on Friday, September 11th, when your local 225 will kick off the fall season by headlining the annual Bruce Mines Fall Fair (a.k.a. Central Algoma Exhibition)! Technically, this is the first time that we have covered an SMS-amenable band playing at this event.

However, classic/hard rock cover trio The Sidekicks were among the opening bands for last year's Saturday concert headlined by The Luxury. Apologies for missing that, but remember, I didn't know that they leaned towards hard rock last fall. This year, the band aspect of the Fall Fair an hour southeast of the Soo (basically on the edge of our coverage range going east on Highway 17) will allegedly include a Saturday concert again, even though I cannot find public confirmation of who yet, but Bone Yard will be performing right after the annual demolition derby on the opening Friday night program. If you like seeing cars get smashed up, let alone Bone Yard's hard rocking sound, keep this in mind! Bone Yard's concert and the demolition derby will both take place at the Bruce Mines Fairgrounds at Highway 638 in Bruce Mines, and the only start time given is for the derby at 7:00 PM (implying that they'd prefer if you come for that too and stay for the band.)

This is all ages, but there will be a beer garden on-site, and while admission is $10 for a day pass and $25 for the three day festivities (kids 12 and under are free), the concert tickets specifically are $30, but will include admission to the Saturday concert, whoever is playing. Despite the costs, it sounds like a fun day, so visit the above links for more details, including all of the other family activities at the Bruce Mines Fall Fair in four weeks! Two weeks after this trip east, Bone Yard will also hit the highway (albeit just 20 minutes away) to Echo Bay for a special "End Of Summer Bash" at the Elks Lodge #535 there on Saturday, September 26th! While this really isn't summer anymore by then, the southward equinox is earlier that week, so the shoe fits in that way.  We haven't covered an Echo Bay concert on here since Soundcheck played a couple of shows there in 2024, but alas, I missed one.

As it turns out, Soundcheck played at their slo-pitch tournament again on June 27th of this year, as confirmed via this AI-generated poster on the Echo Bay Elks Lodge's Facebook page. It's tougher to catch some Soundcheck bookings when they update their social media so scarcely, but apologies again, and I hope the guys had a good time and crowd in June! I don't know if there's an official reason for Bone Yard 225's booking next month beyond the end of summer, but hopefully they rock the lodge well and have a strong turnout! The Elks Lodge is located at 96 Church Street off of Highway 17B (that's the old highway.) That concert has an 8:00 PM start time, no stated age limit, and an admission fee of $15 (contact the names on the Facebook event page if you want advance tickets). In terms of typical nightclub gigs in the Soo, Bone Yard 225 will play a rare double header weekend at Beck's Bar in early October!

The former will be a regular nighttime show (their first plugged-in public concert in the Soo in two months) on Saturday, October 3rd at 9:00 PM and the latter will be an "uncorked" matinee on Sunday, October 4th at 3:00 PM. Finally, fresh off of their "uncorked" gig at The Water Tower Pub in two weeks, they will return there for another acoustic show on Friday, October 9th, which will take place on the Thanksgiving long weekend. As always, they exclusively play here "uncorked", so keep Greg, Alex, and Warren's softer side in mind for this upcoming one-nighter, which is 19+ at 9:00 PM with no cover. Busy times ahead for Bone Yard 225 as they round out their summer calendar and enter the autumn, so visit the above links for more on the southern fried hard rock action ahead! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Soundcheck), New Concert Videos, And More!!

Before we begin today's news post. I wanted to apologize for missing a pair of recent EUP concerts for coverage on the SMS. Firstly, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Tarnished reportedly played a second outdoor concert at American Legion Park in St. Ignace earlier today at 1:00 PM, separate (but still organized by the folks behind) the town's summer concert series, which they played at yesterday. The band only announced the added matinee on their Facebook page last night, too late for me to rush it into a post. I'm assuming that today's rainy forecast didn't impair the show, as I didn't hear about a late cancellation, but regardless, I do apologize for missing it even with the late notice! The other show, I really should have caught wind of, as Sault Ste. Marie promoters Serious Business brought another eclectic multi-act show to the basement of Pizza Hut on the Business Spur on July 18th.

The concert saw Detroit experimental band The Hum and Muskegon post-punk duo The Mollusks make their way north, alongside local acoustic folk openers Shae Tull (by way of Sault Ontario) and Kevin Blakeney. Not the most hard rock/punk-centric bill, but it did have The Mollusks, so I should have caught wind of this concert prior, and I apologize for that. Hopefully that Serious Business show and Tarnished's bonus matinee were both hits for artists and venues alike, and we'll have more from both soon!

Now, today's post is start of a big clean-out of accumulated news, videos, and announcements from last month that got delayed by busy weekend concert previews and our concert reviews from last month, and we'll start today with a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for later this month, as Sault Ontario classic/hard rock cover quartet (quintet?) Soundcheck will return to The Water Tower Pub for one night only on Friday, August 28th! A relatively rare stop at this Great Northern Road nightclub, this show was first announced in the venue's August concert calendar on their Facebook page on Wednesday. Soundcheck proper may not corroborate the booking on social media at all, as their haven't posted on their own Facebook page for any reason since May. You'd think they'd want to hype up their Drag Race Nationals gig in Chapleau with Separate Wayz in mid-August, at least, but we shall see how things go for updates this month!

As always for The Water Tower Pub, this is a one-nighter, and the Saturday the 29th band there will be southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225, who already announced that show on their own. Terry, Travis, Jim, and Johnny (and the new synth player?) will be on that night at 8:00 PM with a 19+ age limit and no cover charge. Visit the above links for more details!

We'll close today with new videos, starting with a trip west to The Up & Down Lounge for videos from the first solo musician to play there during their Thursday summer concert series, courtesy of their Facebook page! As you may know, Tym Morrison played there this week, but for the first two Thursdays, the honours went to Dodge This/ex-Phatstick frontman Jason Taillefer, who was filmed playing covers at both gigs. On July 16th, the patio party had to be moved indoors due to that day's severely poor air quality, but musicians at The Up & Down Lounge were always playing inside anyway, and you get a look more at the fans than Jason in this 12 seconds-long clip of him playing keyboard that evening. A 31 seconds-long video of Jay covering Shinedown's "Symptom Of Being Human" (also on keyboard) was shared too, with a hard-coded caption above him plugging their Thursday musician search.

The other videos are from this batch post featuring media from the July 23rd concert. Jason is faintly heard on vocals & guitar in three sub-12 seconds videos there promoting the on-site Pizza Wagon by the patio, but I can't make out the song(s?) in any of them. Two slightly longer videos show him on camera, including a keyboard cover of Coldplay's "The Scientist", and as embedded below, a guitar cover of Green Day's "Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)". The short lengths aren't ideal, let alone the on-screen captions, but it is good seeing Jason out there during Dodge This' ongoing break, and while most of the covers aren't songs I personally love, he performs them well, so check these out above & below!

We'll come full circle today by heading south to St. Ignace, Michigan, where Sault Ste. Marie hard rock cover quartet The Nameless headlined at The Driftwood Sports Bar on June 26th during the St. Ignace Car Show weekend! The venue shared two videos of their set to their Facebook page that night, and despite being shot and uploaded during the show, neither was a live-stream. Thank goodness, as we can still watch them now! One video is just 7 seconds long, and focuses on the turnout in the bar rather than The Nameless' cover of The White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army". Embedded below though is the longer and more band-centric of the two videos (if still only 20 seconds long), which sees the guys covering 3 Doors Down's "Kryptonite". Of note, bassist Mike East was not seen on camera for this cover, and I have no idea if he missed the Driftwood show entirely or just sat out this song.

The short lengths, vertical framing, and complete lack of band focus on the White Stripes cover don't make these ideal looks at this talented group (let alone Mike E.'s apparent absence), but what we hear is soundly performed, and it definitely looks like they had a solid crowd on a packed weekend in Mackinac County! Give these a watch for yourselves above & below!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Soundcheck) & Other Indoor Weekend Concert Previews!!

With Rotaryfest's remaining music schedule still very much up in the air (no pun intended), it may be worth noting that there are other concerts locally over the next two days, and indoor ones at that, so if you want to see some live music on what's supposed to be a busy weekend, you have alternatives! The focus around here is always on metal, hard rock, and punk concerts, but I thought that it's appropriate to mention other known concerts in Sault Ontario tomorrow and Saturday before we dive in to regular previews. Country cover veterans Tex Riviera & The Ride are playing at Jay's Piston Broke Pub tonight & tomorrow night, DJ Dark Mark will be spinning tunes at Beck's Bar tonight only, Juliana Regan & Convergence guitarist Jacob Valois will play a joint acoustic gig on Saturday at The Whisky Barrel, and a reunion of classic rock veterans Pegasus is slated for tonight at The Water Tower Pub. Consider these as possible alternatives if you're in the market!

Now to heavier concerts, and we'll start those previews with SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, as local classic/hard rock cover band Soundcheck will reportedly rock Reggie's Place TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, we only learned of the gigs via confirmation by Separate Wayz singer Nicole Thibodeau in a comment on this post from the Sault Live Music Gig Announcements Facebook page. At press time, neither Soundcheck (nor their sister band Separate Wayz) have publically corroborated these bookings on social media, with Soundcheck not updating their Facebook page since May, and Reggie's hasn't confirmed them publically online either. Based on shares of this photo, these appear to strictly be Soundcheck gigs and not "epic crossovers", as Nicole reportedly isn't singing on a local stage again until the fall, but kudos to her for at least mentioning these bookings!

Note that recent live photos and videos of Separate Wayz appear to show a synth player in the back of the stage, but I have not seen a firm public confirmation of his identity on social media, let alone if he has joined one/both bands full time. Regardless, singer/guitarist Travis Sharpe should be back TONIGHT and TOMORROW after missing the Separate Wayz-branded concerts at Jay's last week (which weren't promoted as "epic crossovers" anyway). TONIGHT & TOMORROW'S Reggie's concerts are at 9:30 PM with 19+ age limits and no cover. While Soundcheck haven't played Rotaryfest in two years, you can still rock out with them this weekend, so see above for more details, and here they are live!

Next up, here's quite the nightcap TOMORROW NIGHT regardless of if Rotaryfest proceeds with music or not, as Montreal hardcore punk legends The Ripcordz will return to the Soo that night as headliners at Beck's Bar! While technically their first local stop since they rocked The Distraction in August 2024, it's not for a lack of trying, as their planned return there last year was cancelled during the openers' sets due to police stopping the show after reported fire code violations (The Distraction has been closed ever since). Paul Gott and crew love touring here, and local fans give them great receptions time and time again, so kudos to Beck's for bringing The Ripcordz back for what should be a ferocious night of punk, especially indoors and within the fire code! Nanaimo, British Columbia pop punk quartet Danger Box (as seen at The Distraction in May 2025 and at a private event here last month) will help set the tone as openers tomorrow night, while the local openers are crossover thrash trio Hails in their first local gig of the year.

Unless you saw them in Toronto last week, this will be your first chance to see Ha!ls with With Gunfire guitarist Anthony Orazietti in place of the Muto cousins, and what a way for him to debut in city limits! This concert has a $10 cover charge (first come first serve, this is expected to draw well, Rotaryfest or not), a 19+ age limit, and a 9:00 PM start time. If Stage 1 takes place as scheduled, Hails (who played Stage 2 last year) will take the stage during Zed's featured set at Clergue Park, with The Sidekicks still to come there. Hardcore punk fans won't want to miss out on all of the action in the west end tomorrow night, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's The Ripcordz live!

Finally for known hard rock concerts this weekend, we'll head to Michigan, where London, England post-grunge/hard rock quartet Bush (a.k.a. BushX for Canadians of a certain vintage) will make their local debut TOMORROW NIGHT with an outdoor concert at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino! Long-time rock radio staples thanks to hit songs like "Everything Zen", "The Chemicals Between Us", and "Mouth", Bush were among the most prominent rock bands of the 1990s, and while I was admittedly never their biggest fan, this show should be a good time for fans, especially if air conditions improve! As of this writing, Kewadin Casino have not said anything about possible air quality provisions on social media, but the air quality index is high an hour south of here too, so follow Kewadin's website and so forth if you are at all concerned. Planned openers Candlebox (of "Far Behind" fame) can relate, as this has hit them here before when they last planned to play in the E.U.P..

The Seattle grunge/alternative veterans were supposed to headline at the Soo Kewadin in April 2020 before the first pandemic lockdown scuttled that gig, so hopefully something similar doesn't recur! Presented by Northern Michigan's Rock 105 & 95.5 and Classic Rock: The Bear, this show is nearly sold out, with limited tickets still available in the right section for $106 USD and the general admission lawn area for $96 at this link, in person, or at 1-800-KEWADIN. The show starts at 7:00 PM, it is definitely all ages, and 9&10 News is calling for clear skies with temperatures around 67-72° (low 20s Celsius), smoke risk aside. If all goes well, this should be a huge concert for 1990s rock fans, so see above for more details, and here's Bush live!

That's all for now, but between air quality reports, the possibility of further adjustments to Rotaryfest (let alone Bush), and other news and notes, we're not sitting idle despite this weekend's concert previews seemingly being done, so stay tuned for more on the SMS shortly! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Tarnished & Separate Wayz) And Most Of This Weekend's Hard Rock Concert Previews!!

It's the (relative) calm before the storm that is Rotaryfest weekend next week, as this weekend's slate of hard rock concert previews is much quieter by comparison! Still too many shows for one post, so Saturday's previously announced Quite Frankly concert will be in tomorrow's post. Here's what you should know to kick off this weekend, including LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, some on SHORT NOTICE, and an apology for a missed concert last week!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Separate Wayz (and/or their sister band Soundcheck) will return to Jay's Piston Broke Pub for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, Separate Wayz first announced these shows via their Facebook page yesterday. Now, Jay's Facebook page has an AI generated poster crediting the shows to Soundcheck, a contradictory plug that I have surprisingly never seen since Soundcheck relaunched with a 75% identical lineup. I'm inclined to believe Separate Wayz' own promotion, but at the same time, could Soundcheck singer/guitarist Travis Sharpe be on hand too for another "epic crossover" weekend, or even just a smaller guest spot? Be at Jay's TOMORROW and/or SATURDAY NIGHT to find out! If truly Separate Wayz-led gigs, these will be their first since rocking Reggie's last month, and their first standalone bookings at Jay's this year.

Hopefully there's a solid crowd TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Both shows are at 9:30 PM with no cover and 19+ age limits, and if this is of note, Jay's now serves Slush Puppies! Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's just the second public video from Separate Wayz' Facebook page (at least it's not a "Story"!). This 13 seconds-long clip appears to come from their Reggie's show on June 13th, and features Travis on guitar despite those gigs not being advertised as "epic crossover" dates. He, Nicole, Terry, Jim, and Johnny were filmed here covering Alanis Morissette's "Hand In My Pocket", and what we hear sounds good, but look for much longer full performances from Separate Wayz (and Soundcheck?) this weekend!

Next up, let's head across the border to St. Ignace, Michigan, where Sault Ste. Marie classic/hard rock cover quartet Tarnished will return to Kingston Kitchen on SATURDAY NIGHT, with two more Saturday nighters booked there on August 15th and September 19th! Again, apologies for the short notice on SATURDAY's concert, it was only announced on the venue's Facebook page on Monday. As you may recall, Tarnished debuted at the 250 South State Street Jamaican restaurant last year during the Richard Crane Memorial Truck Show weekend in St. Ignace, and while unsaid in Kingston Kitchen's promotion, that appears to be the raison d'etre for the September 2026 booking. THIS SATURDAY'S and next month's shows appear to be just standard concerts, and clearly Tarnished's Kingston Kitchen debut went well last year for them to come back thrice this year! Remember, there's more going on in St. Ignace than just the casino, as Tarnished have proved umpteen times lately.

In two more new confirmations, Tarnished will end the summer with shows at The Back Bay Grill & Games Lakeside Lounge at Bay Mills Resort & Casino in Brimley on Friday, August 28th & Saturday, August 29th, so if you want some hard rock action a little closer to the Soo at our other regional casino, keep these shows in mind! They were announced via this batch Facebook event page for all Lakeside Lounge concerts for the next two months. All five dates (THIS SATURDAY at Kingston Kitchen included) are at 8:00 PM with 21+ age limits and no cover charges. Visit the above links for more details across the board, and for a preview, here's Tarnished live!

Now back to Sault Ontario briefly for a show that had lots of advance notice, as local acoustic classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison will play his third show in the past week TONIGHT at The Dive Gastro Pub! Fresh off of his second Mike Case Memorial Stage show of the year yesterday (I believe the rain held off too), this is the third and last show (so far) for Tym at The Dive, as per his batch Facebook event page for shows there. While The Dive has hosted Thursday acts on their outdoor patio on occasion (including Old Roads last week), their AI generated poster confirms that tonight's "Think It Over Thursday" concert will be indoors in "The Naughty Corner". While we're on the subject, I wanted to apologize for missing a show of Tym's last week, as he debuted at Ije's Place in nearby Desbarats this past Friday, in a solo concert that he never publically corroborated on social media, just on his personal account.

While Desbarats (40 minutes southeast of the Soo) only typically comes up on the SMS when referencing CASS, it is good to see a venue there hosting live music on occasion, though I do wish Tym would have said something about that gig, as I'd have happily plugged it had I known about it. Apologies again regardless! Tonight's Dive show (despite Tym's event page listing it as a matinee) takes place at 9:00 PM with a 19+ age limit and no cover. See above for more details, and for a preview, here's Tym live!

We'll close this post by looking at more touring rock band action in Michigan's Eastern Upper Peninsula, but unlike the three bands debuting at Kewadin Casinos in the coming weeks, the band playing TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT at The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin is quite familiar, namely Traverse City classic metal trio Peril! While not newly promoted on the band's Facebook page, this weekend's shows are confirmed on their summer calendar seen here, and mark their first EUP shows since rocking the St. Ignace branch two weeks ago. Jeff and crew (whether in Peril or their sister band Scarkazm) are not advertised to return to either Kewadin branch, so unless you go see them at the Music In The Park series in St. Ignace, these are your last chances to rock out with either band north of the Mackinac Bridge this summer, so hopefully they have lots of fun covers in store!

As usual for Peril's shows at Kewadin lounges, tomorrow and Saturday night's concerts are at 9:00 PM with 21+ age limits and no cover charges. Visit the above links for more details on Jeff, Howard, and Brooks' concerts in the Soo this weekend, and here they are live!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for the Quite Frankly preview and more on the SMS next! Thanks everyone!