After a couple of off days for a personal matter, we're back with the SMS on this Wednesday morning, including new videos from recent concerts and some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for the coming months, so here's what you should know as we get back into the swing of things!
Sault Michigan blues/hard rock band Project 906 will return to The Islander Bar in nearby Hessel for one night only on Saturday, May 3rd! They announced this concert via their Facebook page on Sunday when thanking everyone for their successful Back Bay Grill & Games show in Brimley this past weekend, and it will be their first show in Hessel since playing there in August. Good to see the guys staying busy again with the weather generally getting nicer, and hopefully we hear of more mid-2025 dates from 906 to come! As you can see in the promotional image shared by the venue's Facebook page, hand drummer Brian Duford is pictured with the guys (front and center, no less), which seems to more or less confirm that he has officially joined Project 906, making them a quintet. Brian had guested with 906 since at least mid-2023 but his presence became more and more common, as seen in live media.
Having two percussionists may seem like overkill for some, but Brian's presence in Project 906 concerts gives them a unique aspect that you don't see from other local cover-leaning rock bands, and his drumming can add an extra flavour to their shows! Next month's Hessel concerts is a 21+ affair with no announced cover charge, and an early 7:00 PM start time is listed (past Project 906 shows there started at 9:00 PM but last month's Shipheads On Shore concert was indeed at 7:00). See above for more details!
Next up, folk punk fans will want to circle Independence Day on their calendars, as Mikhal Muto is hosting a Sault Ontario folk punk show at The Stellar Door under The Distraction on Friday, July 4th! Yes, this is in the basement again, they haven't visibly hosted shows in the former barbershop space since last summer. Your headline acts on the Fourth of July are Cambridge solo artist Ricky Mullen and Guelph solo project The Washout, with Ricky's catalog having more of an in-your-face punk attitude that would suit a full band, but The Washout's more reserved material has its audience, and Derek is a solid songwriter with good honest lyrics! Local folk musicians Shae Tull and Tye Lawless Co. will kick off the evening with their own distinct brand of original acoustic music, so don't be late for their sets! Despite his own affinity for folk punk, Mikhal's solo project Agnosticism is not scheduled for this concert.
As usual for Stellar Door/Distraction concerts, this is ALL AGES with a "pay what you can" admission model, though $10 is suggested. Doors open at 6:30 PM for this show, which should pique the interest of folk and punk fans, so keep all of the action in mind in three months, and visit the official Facebook event page for more details!
We'll spend the rest of this post by looking at new videos from local classic/hard rock cover quartet Double Down's Facebook page, starting with one of their shows at Jay's Piston Broke Pub over the April 4th-5th weekend! Two videos from the same night's gig (it's unclear which one) were uploaded on the 6th, and they include covers of Collective Soul's "Heavy" with guitarist Joel Syrette on lead vocals and, as embedded below, The Cult's "Fire Woman" with his cousin Beej on vocals. Both videos are short (33 and 43 seconds apiece), but the renditions are strong from what we hear, and the horizontal videos capture a unique overhead angle, so check both out above & below!
Finally, as part of Double Down's recent focus on promoting and getting the word out for concerts from other local cover rock bands, an unidentified band member was in attendance for veteran classic rock cover band Mid Life Crysis' show at The Esquire Club on Friday, where they were filmed covering most of Queen's "I Want To Break Free". Featuring recent Double Down guest bassist Lori Reinholtz, M.L.C. don't generally lean heavier, but this is a well done rendition with quality vocal melodies that Queen fans should enjoy! Alas, this is a horizontally shot video that was uploaded in vertical dimensions with pillarboxing, so apologies for how tiny it is, that's out of my hands. Check out this Mid Life Crysis cover below!
That's all for now, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews and more news/notes on the SMS soon! Thanks everyone!
Here's a stacked news post on this Monday night that features a surprise kinda-sorta album release 2+ years in the making, but let's lead off with three big LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for the next few months!
Local southern hard rock cover trio Bone Yard 225 will make their Soo Blaster debut for a one-night-only event on Saturday, February 22nd! You do occasionally see covers-leaning rock bands headlining at Soo Blaster, as seen from past gigs from bands like Half Past and Fort Creek, so such a booking is usually a sign that they have big plans and upward momentum locally, and that is definitely the case for your local 225. Of course, the guys have three studio original songs now, they recently got a lengthy interview on The Borderline, and they have big plans for shows locally and afar in 2025, so hitting the big Soo Blaster stage should be a good stop as they continue their late-period rise! No word on any specific frills given the larger venue, but expect merchandise and their infamous "Bone Yard shot". This show has a 9:00 PM start time, 19+ age limit, and no announced cover charge. Visit the above links for more on Bone Yard's big show ahead!
Next up, Winnipeg folk punk band Greg Rekus & The Inside Job will make their second local concert appearance when they return to The Distraction on Saturday, March 8th! Fans may recall seeing Greg and crew at the former barbershop in May of last year, but when they return next month, this show will take place downstairs in their basement venue space The Stellar Door, which has hosted all of The Distraction's concerts since the summer (I know that the Ripcordz show downstairs was a huge hit, but the upstairs barbershop space is unique and I hope it gets used for concerts again!) Unlike last year, The Inside Job are not the advertised headliners, with new and online page-less local space rock duo The Spaceship Opening (featuring former Redundant bassist Andrew MacDonald) getting top billing. We still don't know a lot about this band, but in case nothing is posted online prior, you can learn more next month! Local folk punk solo project Agnosticism (led by this show's promoter Mikhal Muto) will open in their first concert of the new year.
Kicking off the proceedings is Tucker Lidstone, an acoustic folk singer/songwriter who you may have seen at The Distraction opening for former(?) Sylo frontman Eli Russell and playing at last fall's Sewing In Solidarity event, but this is the first time that he's crossed our radar on a heavier/punk show. Doors open at 7:00 PM for this all ages basement event, and admission is $15 (up from $10 last year) or "pay what you can". Greg & The Inside Job should deliver a solid set of folk punk amongst this diverse array of local talent, so don't miss out on all of the action at The Stellar Door next month, and visit the above links for more details!
Also newly confirmed is the long awaited return of Victoria, British Columbia hardcore punk legends The Dayglo Abortions to Sault Ste. Marie when they rock the aforementioned Soo Blaster on Thursday, May 8th! This will be the Cretin and company's first local date since headlining at Soo Blaster in May of 2023, following two well received gigs at the former Roosevelt Hotel in the early 2010s and many in prior decades, though the Soo's half-own Spades GT have opened for The Dayglos in Southern Ontario in the interim. Should be good to have their ferocious old school punk attack on home soil once again, so don't miss out in spite of the work/school night scheduling! Two touring bands are joining The Dayglo Abortions on their cross-Canada spring tour, including Vancouver-based "west coast skacore" quintet Dirtnap and Prince Edward Island folk punk band The Devil's Punchbowl, both making their local debuts.
Hardcore punk fans will find Dirtnap to be closer spiritually to Dayglo, but there's a diverse array of punk stylings here, which will be kicked off by local hardcore punk/crossover thrash quartet Hails in a rare Soo Blaster appearance. This will be a huge feather in their cap, so don't miss their fast and intense originals in May either! Doors open at 6:30 PM for this all ages concert, and tickets will run $20 in advance (presumably in time on Soo Blaster's website and through Ha!ls members) or $25 at the door. For reference, the advance ticket price is identical to 2023, but the door charge this year is actually $5 less. Hardcore punk fans will not want to miss this huge concert in three months, so see above for more details!
Their early original "Sweet Like Sugar" didn't make the cut, nor did "Stuck In Rotation", though the Clusterfolk compilation has the latter in full studio splendour. No idea if the band's logo was intended to be the cover art right along, for the record. This obviously isn't the ideal release method for what Adrian, Matt, Brenden, and Dylan had in mind in the early 2020s, but even 2+ years after they fell inactive, I'm glad that these songs finally saw the light of day! Nice slices of psychedelic and classic rock-tinged original material with solid melodies, and while not a proper paid album, do check it out on YouTube above and below to support what The Uncanny Valley worked on in their heyday!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site in the coming days! Thanks everyone!
Before we begin this post, I wanted to acknowledge two shows that were/weren't fully addressed in this weekend's concert previews. Firstly, I apologize for missing local acoustic hard rock duo Dodge This' headlining concert at The Dive Gastro Publast night, a show that was only announced via the venue's Facebook page yesterday afternoon (Dodge This have not updated their Facebook page in over a month). Simply no time to rush a post to cover it once I heard, and I apologize again for missing it, but hopefully there was a great turnout despite the late notice! Also, last night's planned Ha!ls-headlined mixed-genre concert at The Stellar Door under The Distraction was cancelled on Friday night, as per venue owner P.J. D'Agostino (a.k.a. ex-Danger Cats guitarist Paula Panther), due to her falling ill and unable to open. Definitely disappointing, but hopefully Hails, The Apocalypse Afterparty, and Eli Russell turn up on stage again in 2025, and that P.J. gets well soon!
Today's post otherwise has recent updates from a prominent local band, and leading off, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT and new videos, as local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations will return to Gateway Casino for one night only on Saturday, January 11th! Their second announced show of 2025 (following another one-nighter at The Water Tower Pub one week prior), this will be Valerie, the Tonys, and Pierre's first stop at the downtown casino since October. Hopefully this talented veteran quartet delivers lots of hard rocking covers for fans once again in three weeks! Expect an 8:00 PM start time, 19+ age limit, and no cover charge. See above for more details! While we're on the subject, I should note that new videos from a recent private booking were posted to the band's Facebook group by drummer Tony Santoro on Friday, but all feature young attendees playing musical chairs to pre-recorded music, not Generations themselves, so keep that in mind!
Finally, here's some more recent updates from local/Barrie crossover thrash band Spades GT from the past month! On November 13th, the band posted a "Reel" onto their Facebook page, which alleges to have "old found footage" of the band's current members, plus ex-guitarist Jay Sarrazin. It's 13 seconds long, so you can't expect the "found footage" to be substantial, but it's something! It's also vertical and unembeddable on external sites like this. Spades' search to find their new permanent bassist was ongoing as of November 258h, and are hoping to fill the position A.S.A.P., especially as they plan to record their new album in February, so click here for full details on how you can apply! Remember, this is far more amenable to musicians living in the GTA given where the former Jack Spades relocated to in 2021. The band is also supporting a GoFundMe campaign to help raise money for next month's celebration of life for guitarist Daniel Horton's mother Joy MacMillan, who died earlier this month. Click here to consider helping out!
On December 15th, the title track from last year's "Sewer City Radio" was played on Barrie rock radio station Rock 95 (CFJB 95.7 FM) during their Sunday night program Garage To Glory, so it's great to see that they're getting terrestrial radio airplay in their homebase again! Aside from teasers and reminders about their album recording plans for 2025, the other big news for the guys is that they will be playing at the third annual Walterstock at The Rockpile in Toronto on Saturday, January 4th! This memorial event in honour of beloved GTA metalhead and concert fixture Walter Froebrich will see 24 bands joining forces for charity, which is awesome to see again! Note that one of the bands is Stand Against Fear, who used to feature ex-Spades bassist James Roy Daley in their ranks, but the rest are not immediately familiar to me in a local context. 2025 is looking like a big year already for Spades GT, so stay tuned for more from them in the coming weeks and when announced!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site this week! Thanks everyone!
In a hard rock sense, the weekend before Christmas is fairly quiet as the SMS goes, which I wasn't expecting! Not a lot of shows from heavier bands, so barring a late notice confirmation, this weekend's previews will fit into one post! We'll round things out with _____, but here's what you should know for the next two nights!
We'll start at The Esquire Club, where local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will hit the stage TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Last seen here just under a month ago, this weekend's gigs will be Soundcheck's last ones on Second Line West before their reported breakup next month, which the band finally confirmed on their own Facebook page yesterday (they have not promoted this weekend's shows thusly but they've been referenced on members' personal Facebook pages and in the venue's advertising). After this weekend, Soundcheck have just three shows left (next weekend's have not been publically announced at press time), so if you wanna see Terry, Cameron, Jim, and Glen together on stage rocking out, keep tomorrow & Saturday's shows in mind! As usual, expect 9:30 PM start times, 19+ age limits, and no cover charges. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Soundcheck (no space) live!
Next up, let's head downtown, where local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 have a full weekend in store for fans TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT at Reggie's Place! With bookings next weekend and on New Year's Eve ahead like Soundcheck, Bone Yard have a busy end of December ongoing, with tomorrow & Saturday's shows being their second and third at Reggie's this month alone, before capping the year there on the 31st. It's good to see Greg, Alex, and Warren back in familiar confines this weekend, so if you want a full slate of plugged-in southern and hard rock covers (and likely a few originals), head to this Queen Street East mainstay this weekend! Like normal, expect tomorrow & Saturday night's shows to be 19+ affairs with no cover charge and 9:30 PM start times. Visit the above links for more on Bone Yard's pre-Christmas shows, and for a preview, here's your local 225 live!
Lastly for currently known hard rock concerts in the area this weekend, we'll head up to The Distraction on East Street, where crossover thrash/punk quartet Ha!ls and party metal trio The Apocalypse Afterparty will join forces on SATURDAY NIGHT! Both featuring Mikhal Muto in their respective lineups, this will be Hails' first show since Halloween and The A.A.'s first in five months, and both should unleash their live-ready brand of in-your-face original music on fans this weekend! Former(?) Sylo frontman Elijah Russell is home for the holidays after leaving for university this fall, so look for his own talented brand of acoustic singer/songwriter material to kick off the night! Note that metal trio The BAG were originally slated to play at this show, but were replaced by The Apocalypse Afterparty for publically unannounced reasons not long afterwards. Notably, this concert will be held at The Distraction's downstairs basement space The Stellar Door, which hosted the Total Chaos and Ripcordz shows this year and select all-local gigs earlier this year.
Saturday's festivities are ALL AGES with doors opening at 7:00 PM, and while general admission is $10, promoters are hosting a canned food drive for the occasion! For each non-perishable food item brought to the former barbershop on Saturday, your ticket price will be shaved by $1, for a maximum savings of $5 if you donate five items, If you want to save some cash while doing a good deed, why not?! Visit the above links for more on all of the action at The Distraction, and for a preview, here's Ha!ls live!
Finally for this post, here's a new song from... No Arrow? Yes, the 2005-2011 grunge/alternative rock band has resurfaced with a new-ish original track named "Question Marked", as posted onto frontman Dann Pichette's YouTube channel two months ago. In the description, Dann (who moved from the Soo a few years back) noted that this is "a re-recording of a rough demo (that was) recently revised and revived", and that it "was the last song (that) I originally recorded about 10 years ago" before opting to redo it. On the recording is former bassist Brad "Gortium85" Griffith (who later played with Dann in SBD and without him in bands like Bizotic), while the drummer is credited as "GliTcH!?" (if that is ex-No Arrow drummer Joe Falco, than the handle isn't familiar to me). The song proper feels like something that No Arrow would have played live and recorded in the late 2000s, with a grungy distortion that sub-genre fans will like!
The video proper has various questions and statements moving towards the camera while the song plays, but they're not the lyrics, nor are they in time with the song, but there is a relevance there. I wouldn't rush to add No Arrow back to our links as this seemed to be presented as just unfinished business rather than a remote comeback, but Dann and Brad have popped up a bunch in those "hang out and have the host review new indie music" webseries like Your Music Live, so keep that in mind. Check out No Arrow's new song for yourselves below!
That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site soon! Thanks everyone!
Before we begin tonight's news post, I wanted to apologize for missing Silent 9's concert at Soo City United's fundraiser at The Rockstar Barthis past Saturday in our last weekend's concert previews. While I did cover it when announced, I had it listed on an incorrect later day in our calendar and completely bypassed it when rounding up that batch of shows. My apologies, and I hope Silent 9 and the soccer program & families had a blast! They shared Facebook "stories" with media from the event after the fact, but of course, "stories" vanish after one or two viewings, and the band did not permanently upload them separately.
Today's post otherwise has new videos, some assorted recent updates, and leading off, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for the holiday season, as local crossover thrash quartet Hails and party metal trio The Apocalypse Afterparty will join forces to rock The Distraction
on Saturday, December 21st! Specifically, this is taking place
downstairs in The Stellar Door, their basement venue space that was
memorably used to host The Ripcordz and Total Chaos this summer, with
sparing use since for all-local events. This will be Ha!ls' first show since the Halloween season, while The Apocalypse Afterparty (who also feature Mikhal Muto in their ranks) will be playing their first public date in almost five months. Note that The A.A. have replaced The BAG on the bill for unannounced reasons, but hopefully all is well in The BAG's camp! Former(?) Sylo frontman Elijah Russell will open in two weeks with his own acoustic material, in his first local gig since Sylo headlined at Soo Blaster in August.
Eli moved out of town for university that month, so it is good to see him home for the holidays! Doors open at 7:00 PM for this all ages concert, and while admission is $10, you can shave up to $5 off of the entry fee by bringing in up to five non-perishable food items (one assumes for Christmas Cheer donations but they did not specify that). Visit the official Facebook event page for more on this multi-band concert later this month!
Next up, here's some new videos and updates from both sides of the border, starting with local southern hard rock band Fort Creek, who resurfaced after almost a month of silence on their Facebook page on November 10th to share teaser photos from their upcoming music video for their debut studio single "One For The Road"! The pictures all feature the band playing the song unplugged at Jay's Piston Broke Pub, and confirm that new drummer Phil Greco is on the track despite this being acoustic. The video (shot by Spacebag Productions) was further teased on Sunday with the teaser clip embedded below, which has a few seconds of the song's apparent chorus, and some extra footage from the video, including singer Justin Grayson driving a pick-up truck from Douglas Street onto Korah Road, as well as walking into Jay's while talking on a cell phone. There's way too little to assess the video and song with yet, but the teasers are effective to get buzz for the final product!
The song has not been released in full yet, with Fort Creek saying that they have to "tie up a few loose ends" and "work out the final details" first, but it looks like things are progressing naturally, if not as fast as some fans would prefer! Check out the "One For The Road" teaser below, and stay tuned for more from Fort Creek in the near future!
Also today, here's some new videos from Sault Michigan hard rock band Exit 808's concert in Wolverine (90 minutes south of here) this past Saturday! That show seemed to creep up on me on short notice, hence why I never mentioned it prior, but late notice or not, Lower Peninsula gigs are outside of our coverage range. Warren Woeste (who has worked sound at multiple Exit 808 shows this year) live-streamed two videos from the show at the 2 Wheel Tavern to his personal Facebook page, which the band publically shared afterwards, with the first seeing them cover The Goo Goo Dolls' "Long Way Down" with Amy and Dillion sharing lead vocals. Lively cover that definitely sounds rocked up! The other video is embedded below, as it runs for 38+ minutes! In order, Exit 808 covered The Cranberries' "Zombie", Miranda Lambert's "Gunpowder & Lead", the Daughtry/Lzzy Hale version of Journey's "Separate Ways (World's Apart)", Black Sabbath's "Paranoid", and Eminem & Rihanna's "The Monster".
A cover of Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train" had begun when the audio cut out on Warren's live-stream at the 23:18 mark, though he kept filming for another 15 minutes. Amy sang lead on the first two songs (no Dillion on "Gunpowder & Lead" at all), Dillion handled Sabbath, and they split the other two. Note that frequent guest bassist Blaze Beairl filled in for Alex Zimmerman at first due to him being late to the very snowy gig, and he can be seen on "Long Way Down", but no guitarist is visible at all on the longer video (it also looks like Bob Libick returned as a guest fill-in bassist). The audio and video quality are patchy, but Exit 808 sound good on these diverse covers, so give everything a watch above & below!
Finally for today, here's three shorter assorted news items from the last while, and as usual for these short-form stories, these are in alphabetical order by artist or venue name:
I should have caught this at the time, but Saturday night's Generations-headlined concert at Shooters Downstairs Lounge will see them replace HeadFirst as this weekend's entertainment. A reason for HeadFirst pulling out of the date was not publically announced, but something happened between October 15th (when they listed the date in their upcoming concert calendar) and November 13th (when Generations confirmed that they'd be playing there on the 7th). HeadFirst have been busy behind the scenes in recent months, but they are still scheduled to rock The Esquire Club next week, and stay tuned for our Generations preview in our weekend concert previews!
Above Shooters, The Queen of Hearts Club announced in October that they have been re-purchased by The Grand Gardens and have re-branded and re-opened as The Grand Gardens Downtown. Deja vu for fans of The Grand Gardens, but Toystock aside, the original venue isn't known for regularly hosting concerts, so this could end the occasional ones that were booked upstairs in recent months. Best of luck with The Grand Gardens' return to Dennis Street!
Local punk trio Redundant have parted ways with bassist Andrew MacDonald, as per his personal Facebook page last month. A reason for his departure was not publically announced, but hopefully nothing too serious happened! Andrew had played with Redundant since replacing James White in the band back in 2018, and he left prior to their Toystock set last month. Yes, they did find a replacement bassist, as seen in a personal Facebook video from Toystock, but I couldn't identify him, nor do I know if he's joined permanently. We'll let you know if we hear anything, but best of luck to Andrew and The Spaceship Opening!
That's all for now, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews next! Thanks everyone!
Today's post is loaded with LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS from later this month into December, along with some new updates from one of the bands, plus a mid-week concert preview, so here's what you should know!
Here's an intriguing new show announcement from a promising younger band, as metal trio The BAG will headline a Halloween night concert at the Downtown Plaza at 526 Bay Street on Thursday, October 31st! Announced on their new Facebook page (which has been used more for current promotion than their Facebook group),
this show is kinda unexpected given that it's taking place outdoors at
the end of October, and who knows what the weather will be like then
(roof over the stage acknowledged), but booking the plaza is certainly
one way to stand out among the crowded Halloween concert calendar! This
will be The BAG's first show since opening for Among Legends earlier
this month, and will see two mystery(?) bands opening for them. The
middle slot belongs The Funky Monks, whose name and logo heavily
suggests that they are a Red Hot Chili Peppers cover/tribute band.
Keep in mind that members of alt-rock band The Haze played as a RHCP tribute named The Psychic Spies at a Halloween party last fall at The Art Hub on Spring
headlined by The BAG, so is this them renamed or different musicians?
We'll let you know when we know! The opening group is named Prodigal
Phase, and I have absolutely no advance info on who they are. Again,
we'll keep you posted when/if we hear more! This Halloween concert is
FREE and likely all ages, and starts at 7:00 PM with The BAG taking the
stage at 10:00 PM. If you want some heavy live music in a relatively
unique locale on October 31st, see above for more details!
Next up, local hard rock quintet HeadFirst have announced their current concert slate for the rest of the year via this concert calendar image on their Facebook page! We'll hold this Friday's show for this weekend's concert previews due to the late notice, and we already knew about their set opening for Blood Opera at Soo Blaster on Saturday night and their Esquire Club weekend in mid-December, but when else can you see them this year? After this weekend, HeadFirst (not to be confused with Headrush) will return to Reggie's Place for a full weekend on Friday, November 23rd and Saturday, November 24th, and they'll also end 2024 there on December 27th & 28th. If you like Reggie's, keep these two weekends in mind! On Saturday, December 7th, the guys will head to Shooters Downstairs Lounge for one night only (due to Shooters' Friday DJ nights), and they have not announced a potential Friday nighter elsewhere that weekend.
These five brand new bookings are 19+ affairs with no announced cover charges and 9:30 PM start times. Visit the above links for more details on HeadFirst's shows ahead, but what else have they been up to as of late? After a very quiet month & a half on social media (only barely promoting their shows at Jay's earlier this month), they posted on Facebook earlier today to apologize for their lack of updates, chalked up to being busy both in the band and in their personal lives. The guys have been writing new material, with the band member who wrote the post noting that "I think we've got something coming down the pipe that will excite". After their also-newly announced Sudbury debuts at The Coulson Entertainment Center (a'la Bone Yard 225) in mid-January, they plan on "stepping away from the live scene temporarily" for a couple of months "to develop our music and projects". What projects are they getting at? Stay tuned!
There is a new video of HeadFirst too that was shared earlier today, but I'll save that for our late notice Friday nighter preview in a couple of days. It's good to see that HeadFirst are keeping busy, and don't miss them this weekend and beyond as 2024 continues winding down!
Finally for this post, here's a special mid-week concert preview, as online page-less folk punk solo project Agnosticism will make their debut at The Stellar Door underneath The Distraction on THURSDAY NIGHT! Last seen opening for The Haze upstairs at the former barbershop back in June, the Mikhal Muto-led solo project will be a part of a mixed-genre lineup on Thursday led by Shane "DJ Seith" Erickson, who should have another solid batch of vinyl mixes and mash-ups in store for fans! Also playing on this night is local comedy rock band The Floor Between Us, who Mikhal/Agnosticism has shared the stage with at multiple past events. and they have some creative and amusing original songs that you shouldn't bypass! Thursday's all ages concert starts at 7:00 PM and is a "$10 or pay what you can" event. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Agnosticism live!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site soon! Thanks everyone!
For our first post of October 2024, we're looking at some videos from a big recent concert and a pair of LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for later this month, so here's what you should know!
Peterborough hardcore punk trio Cross Dog will make their long awaited return to the Soo on Saturday, October 12th when they set up shop in the basement of Discover The Canvas Studio at 317 Wellington Street West! Yes, this show is taking place in a tattoo parlor's basement, which should lend itself to be an interesting locale! Featuring veteran local punk/metal bassist Mark Rand (last seen locally at last year's Fuller reunion concert) and his wife Tracy Ashenden on vocals, this will be Cross Dog's first local concert appearance since the final Oh!No festival in Leeburn in 2019, and their first public show in Sault Ste. Marie city limits since 2013. Either way, it's been way too long to hear Cross Dog's ferocious and guitar-devoid sound close to home, and hopefully everything goes swimmingly in the basement next Saturday! Local openers (both online page-less) include indie punk quartet Honest Work and new local metal supergroup The Sault Side Squad.
Honest Work united Nebraska Arms & Rising Tide alumni to debut at the aforementioned Fuller reunion concert, but have not been seen since despite their promising and experienced lineup. Meanwhile, The Sault Side Squad just opened for Selias at Soo Blaster and this is just their third public concert, and second in the Soo proper, so don't miss either group on the 12th! Doors open at 7:30 PM for this Thanksgiving long weekend concert, which has no stated age limit and $15 advance tickets (contact the local openers for details) and a $20 door charge. With or without Cross Dog, Mark doesn't return home for concerts too often, so hopefully there's a huge turnout next Saturday, and visit the above links for more details!
Next up, another online page-less (Instagram aside) punk act will return to the stage later this month, as folk punk solo project Agnosticism will return to The Distraction on Thursday, October 17th for a special mixed-genre event in their Stellar Door basement space! No word on why this show will be downstairs, for the record, but I believe it will be the first all-local show at The Stellar Door. On this night, the headliner will actually be Shane "DJ Seith" Erickson with his fan favourite blend of turntable mixes, while young local comedy rock band The Floor Between Us (led by 2022 Soo's Got Talent finalist Colin Gasparelli) will also be performing in a couple of weeks. Of course, Agnosticism is the solo project of prolific local punk guitartist/promoter Mikhal Muto, and will be making their first advertised public concert appearance since opening for the newly renamed The Haze upstairs at The Distraction in June, believe it or not.
It's good to see Mikhal break out his acoustic guitar again after a few months of focusing on electric band gigs and promotion, and it'll be interesting to see how this widely varying genre lineup goes over later this month! While it is on a work/school night for many, this show has an early 7:00 PM start time, it is ALL AGES, and admission is $10 or "pay what you can". Visit the official Facebook event page for more details on the action under The Distraction later this month!
Also, here's some fallout from Saturday night's Selias-headlined concert at Soo Blaster, starting with new local tech death metal band Bardo, who have finally clarified their lineup on their Facebook page! As previously known, frontman/Heavy North Entertainment promoter Tyler St. Amour is joined here by his brother Travis on drums and Christopher Neveau on guitar, reuniting three former bandmates in March Into Regression in the process. The second guitarist from their prior teaser videos is Christopher Brown, who I am not familiar with from prior local bands, but the lineup on their Facebook page actually lists him on bass now, and true to that, Tyler (who primarily played bass in prior local bands) appeared to just sing/growl on Saturday. Interestingly, the Facebook lineup also lists Danielle Roberts as a singer too, but in what capacity? The Them successors did post a live video from the Selias show onto their Facebook page, but she is nowhere to be found.
The 8 seconds-long video (cross-posted from Instagram) primarily focuses on Tyler growling while Travis drums, and is accompanied by post-production effects of the moon. I can confirm that Danielle was standing on the far right in a video shared on personal Facebook accounts, but she was not singing in that clip. My guess is that she's a backing/clean singer, but we await longer/more videos to verify this unless you were at Soo Blaster on Saturday. Regardless, the video is way too short and has unusual dimensions, but it's a promising glimpse of something brutal for metalheads, so check our Bardo briefly below!
Finally, here's a video from local hard rock quartet Half Past's set at the Selias concert, which sees them covering System Of A Down's "Toxicity"! Courtesy of their Facebook page, this fan-shot video sees the filmer head from the floor in front of the stage to beside the stage very early on, so prepare to see a lot of bassist Arthur Lacasse's back at this angle (frontman Jordan Rains is often obscured as a result). The audio is a little muffled, but the camera was definitely good quality, and this cover is strongly done across the board! Give it a watch below, and don't miss Half Past back at Soo Blaster as headliners on Saturday the 12th! Tickets are on sale at the venue, through band members, and at this link!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post next! Thanks everyone!
In our fourth post in two days, and last before the National Day For Truth & Reconciliation (wear your orange shirts!), we're covering some recent news and notes, new videos from a big show last month, and leading off, a concert preview for tomorrow night, so here's what you should know!
We'll start with a special Monday night concert preview, as Edmonton punk/hard rock quintet The Devil's Sons will make their local concert debut TOMORROW NIGHT at The Whisky Barrel! A very atypical headliner compared to the usual acoustic fare seen at the Gore Street nightclub, The Devil's Sons will bring a raw and rollicking brand of punk n' roll (even including a keyboard player!) to local audiences tomorrow with an in your face attitude and familiar influences, and it will be interesting to see how they go over at The Whisky Barrel, especially to see if more heavier and plugged-in bands stop by there! Local support will come by way of thrash metal trio The BAG in their Whisky Barrel debut and their first public date since last month's ARCH Run. This fast rising young group should set the tone well and hopefully keep things as heavy as possible without the venue getting too much shock given how different this show is from the norm there!
Presented by promoter Mikhal Muto, tomorrow's concert is FREE and has an 8:00 PM start time, but it remains a 19+ event. Despite the timing on a work/school night for many, this should be a fun concert, and with no cover, hopefully that ensures a decent turnout at 113 Gore for all of the action tomorrow! Visit the above links for more on tomorrow night's festivities, and for a preview, here's The Devil's Sons live!
Next up, here's some videos from last month's Ripcordz-headlined concert at The Stellar Door underneath The Distraction, as per prolific local concert filmer Christopher Paci's YouTube channel! For unannounced reasons, these were only uploaded last week, but of course, better late than never! Chris filmed 13 videos from all three bands at The Distraction's intimate basement space (which The Ripcordz highly praised after the fact), with eight of them coming from the headlining Montreal hardcore punk legends' first local set in almost a year. The filmed Ripcordz videos included Paul and crew playing "Anarchy", "Girls In The Pit", "Elvis Death Cult", "All Gods Must Die", "Hippie Kids", "Your Mother Wears Army Boots", "X" (which Jack Spades frequently covered in the 2010s), and as embedded below, "The Fence". If you missed the Ripcordz and Total Chaos shows at The Stellar Door, these will likely be your first public looks at the venue, so how is it?
Hard to say to an extent given how packed of an audience they had downstairs here, to the point where The Ripcordz themselves are hard to see behind attendee heads, but it does have the ambiance of the basement punk show that many fans recall in days gone by. Musically, these aggressive and cutting hardcore punk originals will get the job done for fans, and the audio is even a little crisper than Chris' videos of their Loft show last year, so definitely give The Ripcordz' 2024 local concert videos a watch above and below!
Chris' five videos of the two local opening bands include two of alt-rock band The Haze (who played as a trio here) covering two Arctic Monkeys songs, namely "When The Sun Goes Down" and "Bigger Boys & Stolen Sweethearts". If you recall the marketing for the former Skinbox last year, they were advertised as playing 1990s-2000s alt-rock and Arctic Monkeys covers, so the name and drummer changes didn't seem to portend a sound change. In that sense, they were an outlier on this bill, but there's been far more diverse lineups locally than this. The Haze are a talented group, and hopefully they made some new fans before things got heavier! The middle band on August 10th were hardcore punk/crossover thrash quartet Hails, who Chris filmed three videos of, including their Slumshine holdover "Thrashmastertenbillion", this song that I couldn't immediately title, and as embedded below, a longer-ish 3 minute song that also wasn't introduced by name on camera.
Most of Ha!ls' own videos on Facebook are incomplete, and whether by design to encourage live concert attendance or not, it would be handy if they had more full songs to help identify such videos from other sources! On both The Haze's and Hails' videos, the smaller audience near the band's area helps us see more of the basement, and yeah, it's a basement. That said, the aesthetics and ambiance lend itself very well to a punk show, and it looks like everyone had a great time! Ha!ls deliver some ripping thrash/punk originals here, and Chris had a better shot of both local bands than he did for The Ripcordz, so check these out above & below as well!
Finally for today, here's three shorter assorted news items from the last little while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist name:
A new video of Bardo guitarist Christopher Neveau playing part of their new original song "Blood Moon" (which he at least co-wrote) was shared from his personal Facebook page to their Facebook page on Friday! Unfortunately, it is a "Reel", so I can't embed it here, and it was uploaded in full horizontal orientation and thusly pillarboxed (why not make it a normal landscape video then?), but the performance is solid and shows his underrated skill level, if with very muffled audio! Give it a watch above, and hopefully Bardo had a good debut at last night's Selias concert!
In their first Facebook posts since June (reportedly due to "life's trials"), newer local hard rock trio Bullet Train revealed earlier this month that they are working on not one, but two demo EPs, and the first one was in post-production as of September 9th! "The next set of tunes" were also on their way, along with "a new killer kit and studio setup", and a release date for the first demo (which will reportedly be available on CD) will be made in the coming weeks (which clearly means more than two weeks). No word on if their three public singles so far will be on either EP, but this is exciting news for Bullet Train, so follow them for further updates!
I have removed defunct local glam metal quartet Dirty Virgin from our inactive band links due to the quiet deletion of their Facebook group, which was their last surviving substantive band page. Primarily active from 2007-2010 before reuniting as a support band for two Canadian Nightclub gigs in 2011 & 2012, the 2009 YMCA Battle of the Bands runners-up were ahead of their time in bringing a 1980s throwback sound & visual style to local concert venues, and it's a shame that they didn't last longer. Hopefully we hear more from Bobby, Lionel, Matt, Ryan, and Dickie in the future, and don't miss original guitarist Matt Clement in his current London-based rock band The Stone Doves!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site this week! Thanks everyone!
Another busy concert weekend is upon us, necessitating two posts to cover it all. As such, look for our previews of this weekend's Bone Yard 225, Double Down, Tarnished, and Nameless concerts in tomorrow's second preview post, so don't worry, they are coming! Now, here's what you should know, starting with a big punk show TONIGHT!
Leading off this busy weekend is the long awaited return of Pomona, California hardcore punk legends Total Chaos, who will headline TONIGHT at The Stellar Door under The Distraction! The second basement show at the former East Street barbershop, this space won rave reviews when The Ripcordz played there this summer, and hopefully the good vibes of a good old fashioned punk basement show continue for Total Chaos in their first local concert appearance since they rocked the former Oddfellows Hall fourteen years ago. Hardcore punk fans won't want to miss their established and newer original fury, so don't miss out tonight! Opening here are Ottawa "post street punk" band BALM Squad in their local debut, and they'll be a strong lead-off band with their hard hitting original sound, so don't bypass them tonight either! Surprisingly, this show does not have any advertised local opening acts.
Note that local/Barrie crossover thrash band Spades GT opened for BALM Squad in Toronto in July, and will open for The Exploited at two GTA shows this weekend, so the local connection goes further than you think! If you hadn't bought the limited $25 advance tickets by now, door admission is via a "$20 or pay what you can" setup, the Mikhal Muto-promoted concert starts at 9:00 PM. and this is definitely an ALL AGES venue (no alcohol, please respect the space). Despite being on a work/school night, this should be a great night of hardcore punk action, so don't miss out at The Stellar Door under The Distraction tonight, and here's Total Chaos live!
Next up, let's dive into musicians on the weekend cover circuit, starting with prolific local classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison, who will wrap up his summer 2024 arrangement at The Mike Case Memorial Stage outside of The Trading Post TOMORROW NIGHT before returning for another matinee on SATURDAY at Misty's Fifties! As The Mike Case Stage only hosts live musicians seasonally, their live music schedule ends in early-mid September, hence why this is Tym's last Friday evening gig there of the year. If you like seeing Tym playing outdoors way down Great Northern Road, this is your last chance until (likely) mid-2025, so keep tomorrow's show in mind! If you prefer seeing him indoors and earlier in the day, his Misty's Fifties run continues until at least the end of the month, and we'll let you know if it gets extended at all. You can enjoy his unplugged classic & hard rock covers tomorrow at 7:00 PM and Saturday at 4:00 PM.
The Misty's show is likely 19+, and neither has a cover charge. For his outdoor swan song for 2024, tomorrow's Trading Post concert, we're looking at sunny-to-clear skies with temperatures at around 23°, so it should be a fine evening to wrap up the season's schedule with! Visit the official Facebook event pages linked here and here for more details, and for a preview, here's Tym live!
Also this weekend, former Haggith/Eclipse frontman Curtis McKenzie will hit the road just outside of town to play at the Rowdy Ranchers Horse Show at the Laird Fairgrounds TOMORROW & SATURDAY! This annual event is hosted by the local Rowdy Ranchers Round-Up horse club, and will see lots of family enterainment, vendors, and horse/pony shows and exhibits, so if you ride or just love horses, you might want to head out to Laird for all of the action this weekend! Visit the above links for more on the non-musical specifics. Curt will be the matinee musical entertainment during the day throughout the weekend, though he nor organizers have stated when exactly he's playing each night. On Saturday, there will be a nighttime headline band (pop rock cover quartet Lime), but given the formatting of this event, I hesitate to say that Curtis is "opening" for Lime. Regardless, the Rowdy Ranchers Round-Up is FREE & ALL AGES with gates opening at 8:00 AM.
Note that, according to Curt's Facebook page, he had been booked to play at The Dive Gastro Pubtonight but the show was cancelled, as the former Low & Slow had mistakenly double booked tonight's "Think It Over Thursday" gig (the actual performers there tonight are Aaron Lucas & Jeff July). Curtis hadn't announced a September 12th show in advance anyway, but hopefully we see him back at The Dive soon! As for the Rowdy Ranchers Horse Show, this may seem more like a country music-amenable event, but hopefully Curtis' hard rocking covers keep the good vibes going in Laird this weekend! See above for more details, and here's Curt live!
Finally for this weekend, we'll head back into city limits for local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations' return to Jay's Piston Broke Pub TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Last seen at the former Reggie's West early last month, these shows will be joined by Generations hosting Jay's weekly Thursday jam night tonight, so if such events interest you as a spectator or prospective performer, keep that in mind! It is worth noting that Generations frontwoman Valerie Powley does not take part in their jam nights, a'la Cameron Oliver missing Soundcheck's, but she will be back to sing all night this weekend, and the guys have teased having new Bob Seger and The Outfield covers to debut in their sets. Tomorrow and Saturday's traditional concerts (and jam night tonight) are 19+ affairs with no announced cover shows, and the normal concerts have 9:30 PM start times. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Generations live!
That's all for now, but stay tuned for the second half of our weekend concert previews next! Thanks everyone!
As promised, here are this weekend's final hard rock and punk concert previews as we finally wrap up this extremely busy slate of concerts! This last post looks at concerts taking place in Sault Ontario tonight, including a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, so here's what you should know!
Despite dropping out of his planned "Think It Over Thursday" gig at The Dive Gastro Pub yesterday, former Haggith/Project 421 frontman Curtis McKenzie will instead return to this venue TONIGHT as part of their "Patio Play" series of Saturday night outdoor concerts! Apologies for the short notice, Curt only announced the new date via his Facebook page on Wednesday, with a Facebook event page following the next day. For unannounced reasons, Curtis was bumped ahead two days at the former Low & Slow (half of Soundcheck played inside The Dive on Thursday instead), and while the scheduling TONIGHT leaves its own variables due to weather that Thursday wouldn't have had, fans of outdoor patio performances will like hearing Curt's hard rock and grunge covers thusly if Mother Nature plays ball! Curtis' fifth 2024 date at The Dive (indoors or out) has a 9:00 PM start time, 19+ age limit, and no announced cover charge.
As noted in our prior weekend concert preview posts this week, rain is very much in the forecast TONIGHT, with 9&10 News currently calling for a 60% chance of showers & thunderstorms during Curt's expected showtime of 9:00 PM-1:30 AM (temperatures will be hovering around 14-15°). Normally, I would say to keep tabs with Curt and/or The Dive if you're concerned about this show being cancelled or postponed, but given how The Dive hosts musicians indoors on Thursdays, it seems way more likely that they'd just move him indoors if weather necessitated it. Don't miss Curt TONIGHT in any event, and for a preview, here he is live!
While advance tickets were limited to just 30 people, admission tonight is $20 or via a "pay what you can" entry model. The Stellar Door is accessible via a back door leading to the basement at the former barbershop (it should be obvious once you get there). If you have enjoyed The Ripcordz' other local dates in the past decade+, or want to experience raw and unfiltered hardcore punk by subgenre icons, be at The Distraction (well, below it) tonight! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's The Ripcordz live here last year!
Also TONIGHT is a scheduled joint show from local alternative hard rock quintet Handsome Sandwich and their sister bluegrass/folk quartet The Golden Scoundrels at Soo Blaster, but I do have concerns that this show is not taking place. Announced in late May as part of Soo Blaster's summer concert series of (generally) Friday night gigs from solo musicians and duos, I have found no further public advertising of this event on social media from band or venue in well over a month. Yes, this show was always advertised for tonight, yesterday's Rent Strike concert was booked separately and was never listed as part of the Friday series, but Handsome Sandwich & The Golden Scoundrels splitting the bill tonight was always an outlier in the series given that it is (was?) a double band event. Both bands (who both feature guitarist Brandon Ruch and drummer Johnny Belanger) have had a busy summer, and momentum is theoretically on their side!
IF this show is taking place (I'll let you guys know if I hear public confirmation that it's not), it starts at 8:00 PM with a presumed 19+ age limit and no announced cover charge. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and for a preview, here's Handsome Sandwich live!
Finally on this exceedingly busy slate of weekend concert previews in the Sault Ste. Marie area, we'll head to Shooters Downstairs Lounge TONIGHT, where local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations will return to the stage! Last seen at Gateway Casino to cap off Rotaryfest weekend last month, tonight's show will have a big change from what fans of theirs will be used to, as singer Valerie Powley will not be present tonight due to "a prior commitment", as per drummer Tony Santoro on their Facebook group. Rather than play as a trio a'la in the Jus' Chillin days, they've called in bassist Pierre Anthony's son and former Fluid 5ive bandmate Liam Vaillancourt to fill in for the night! Yes, Vaillancourt is Pierre's real last name, but he's always been billed as Pierre Anthony since Generations formed. Liam is better known to me from his guitar work in bands like Smokehouse, so I couldn't tell you how his vocals are (let alone that he's filling in for a female singer.)
Liam also presently lives out of town, so it is neat to see him back home playing in a band with his dad once again, and it'll be interesting to hear how this one goes! A one nighter due to Shooters' DJ nights on Fridays this year, tonight's concert has a 9:30 PM start time, 19+ age limit, and no cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, hopefully all is well with Valerie, and for a preview, here's Generations live!
That is all for this weekend's stacked roster of hard rock and punk concert previews! There's a lot of news and notes to touch on here in the next week, including this month's Defunct Local Band Profile, so stay tuned for all of that starting later today! Thanks everyone!
