A very busy Canada Day long weekend is in store for the SMS, and I am projecting needing three posts to address everything taking place for hard rock fans in the Twin Saults as a result! This post will lead off with LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (some on SHORT NOTICE) and a Friday nighter, while I am planning to look at previously announced Friday-Saturday nighters and this year's Poutine Feast in post #2, and Sault Michigan/E.U.P. shows will be part of a news post on Friday to round things out. Now, here's what you should know to start things in Sault Ontario!
Joining his fifth straight week of double solo dates TOMORROW NIGHT at The Mike Case Memorial Stage outside of The Trading Post and on SATURDAY at Misty's Fifties, local classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison will return to The Dive Gastro Pub for another "Think It Over Thursday" concert TONIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, this gig was only announced via edits to his batch Facebook event page for gigs at the former Low & Slow in recent weeks. Note that his previously announced concert there on Thursday, July 4th was removed, so Occam's Razor would suggest that his booking there was bumped up a week early. Regardless, TONIGHT's show is Tym's second at The Dive as a Thursday headliner, and he will be back for a third "Think It Over Thursday" on August 1st, as per the Facebook event page linked above, so prepare for some fan favourite hard and classic rock covers TONIGHT & then from this talented local music veteran!
Of course, Tym will then rock The Mike Case Stage tomorrow evening, but be advised that as of this writing, The Weather Channel is calling for showers when Tym's set to be playing, so follow your preferred local weather forecast closer to for updates, as Tym has cancelled outdoor dates due to weather before (the current projected temperature is 17-18°). Sunday's matinee at Misty's will be indoors for you west end fans as well, of course, so if you want to take things earlier, you know where to be! While we're on the subject, let's add Tym's July slate of shows to our calendar so they are in the system without being on short notice, so look for Tym Morrison at The Trading Post on Friday, July 5th, 12th, 19th, and 26th, while his Misty's Fifties shows next month will be on Saturday the 13th, 20th, and 27th! Tym had previously confirmed that he would not be playing there on July 6th, but has not publically said why that I have found.
TONIGHT'S and August's Dive shows are at 6:00 PM and 19+, tomorrow's and next month's Trading Post gigs are at 7:00 PM (weather permitting), and Saturday's and next month's dates at Misty's are at 4:00 PM and presumed to be 19+. Visit the above links for much more on Tym's weekend slate (and beyond), including his Trading Post and Misty's event pages linked here and here, and for a preview, here he is live!
Next up, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will kick off their brave new world sans Thursday jam night hosting duties by rocking The Water Tower Pub TOMORROW NIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice, this one-nighter was first announced via the band's Facebook page on June 19th, and we didn't have enough time to fit it into a post before it got to be in our short notice range (under a week out). Regardless, the venue hasn't advertised their live music schedule on social media since the end of May. It's been a few months since Terry, Cameron, Jim, and Glen have rocked the Great Northern Road venue, and hopefully their classic and hard rock cover slate goes over well with fans and regulars alike TOMORROW! No word on who's playing there on Saturday night. Expect an 8:00 PM start time, 19+ age limit, and no cover TOMORROW NIGHT. See above for more details, and for a preview, here's Soundcheck live a few years back!
Finally, fellow local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations will return to Jay's Piston Broke Pub for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies again for the short notice, these shows were only announced via the band's Facebook group on Saturday. Last seen publically at The Water Tower Pub two weeks ago and at Jay's back in March, TOMORROW & SATURDAY's shows should prove to be a good way to enjoy Generations' old school cover slate in advance of their Rotaryfest return next month! It is worth noting that the band (minus singer Valerie Powley) will be the first of the rotating fill-in bands for the Thursday jam nights at Jay's after the aforementioned Soundcheck withdrew from full-time hosting duties last week, and while we don't cover jam nights as full "concerts" for our purposes, keep the Tonys and Pierre in mind if you want to jam with them on stage at the former Rosie tonight!
TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT's concerts have 9:30 PM start times, 19+ age limits, and no cover charge, and the same would apply for jam night tonight. Generations seem to have the run of things this weekend at Jay's, so fans of their skilled covers won't wanna miss out! Visit the above links for more details, and here's Generations live!
That's all for weekend concert preview post #1, and we'll look at the Poutine Feast, Bone Yard 225, and Cory Murchison concerts later today! Thanks everyone!
As we end the month of May and enter June 2024, this weekend's hard rock concert previews straddle the transition from month to month. It's not a busy weekend compared to recent weeks, but due to a heap of LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (two on SHORT NOTICE) concerning an artist playing this weekend, I have to break up this weekend's previews into two posts. As such, HeadFirst and Rhythm & Brews, plus any further late notice confirmations, will come up in our next post hitting the site either tonight or tomorrow morning, so stay tuned! Now, here's what you should know to start off this weekend (and beyond!)
Local classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison has announced a pile of upcoming concerts for the summer season, starting with returns to The Mike Case Memorial Stage outside of The Trading Post TOMORROW NIGHT and Misty's Fifties on SATURDAY! Apologies for the short notice on both of this weekend's shows, they were only announced on Monday via their respective official Facebook event pages linked here and here. As has become a tradition post-pandemic, Tym will bring his acoustic rock show back to The Mike Case Stage this summer now that it's open for the summer, but this year, the arrangement will see him play there every Friday at 7:00 PM through the end of September! No breaks or unbooked Fridays this year, so keep Tym's shows at 1332 Great Northern Road in mind before this stage closes for the year in four months! Of course, these shows are outdoors, and thusly, weather permitting.
As for Misty's Fifties, Tym had been booked to play there every second Saturday in recent months, with the last shows of that run scheduled to be on June 8th and 22nd, but clearly his shows at the Second Line West venue have went well, so his run there has been ramped up! Along with a short notice return THIS SATURDAY in what was originally an off day, he will also be playing at Misty's on June 15th, and will similarly return there (almost) weekly through at least the end of September! The only exception on the Misty's side of things is Saturday, July 6th, and while I believe I know why he's not playing that day, we await public confirmation. In terms of holidays, Tym will be pulling double duty on the Canada Day, Civic Holiday, and Labour Day long weekends via these shows. Lastly in terms of Tym's summer concert calendar, he will also return to The Dive Gastro Pub (née Low & Slow) for one night only on Thursday, July 4th!
That show is part of The Dive's new "Think It Over Thursday" series of rotating solo acoustic musicians, which Tym previously played in on May 9th, so keep his Queen Street East return in mind on the Fourth of July! No new Facebook event page was made for that show, it was just added to the May 9th one. For the sake of not overloading our concert calendar, I'll do what I did with Tym's past weekly arrangements and list these shows month by month. As such, only this weekend's and June's shows (plus his Dive show in July) are being listed for now, and I won't roll his weekly July-September gigs into the calendar until late the previous month. TOMORROW'S Mike Case Stage show (and beyond) are 7:00 PM events with no age limits or cover charges, SATURDAY'S Misty's concert (and the rest) are 4:00 PM matinees with no cover and 19+ age limits, and his Dive Gastro Pub show on July 4th is a 6:00 PM matinee.
Like three weeks ago, that should also be 19+ with no cover. Weather-wise, 9&10 News is calling for 21° temperatures and mostly cloudy weather TOMORROW, so it should be a good night to check out Tym's classic and hard rock cover selection at The Trading Post! If you want cooler indoor temperatures this weekend, head to Misty's on SATURDAY, but in any event, visit the above links for more on Tym's packed summer concert calendar, and for a preview, here he is live!
Next up, let's look at one more local band playing this weekend before we cover the rest in post #2, as local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 will take the stage TOMORROW NIGHT at The Water Tower Pub before heading downtown to Reggie's Place on SATURDAY NIGHT! This split weekend is due to The Water Tower Pub (where Bone Yard traditionally plays acoustic, or "uncorked") hosting different nightly bands, but I have not seen a social media reference to what band is playing there on Saturday. As such, Bone Yard 225 will plug their instruments in for a one-nighter at Reggie's on Saturday, so if you'd prefer to see them at this venue or in their electric splendour, you know where to go! For reference, HeadFirst (who have a one-nighter of their own at Shooters on Saturday) will fill in the Friday gap at Reggie's, and those previews will be in our next post.
You can take in Bone Yard 225's southern fried hard and classic rock covers (and select originals) tomorrow at The Water Tower Pub at 8:00 PM, while the Reggie's show on Saturday is at a normal 9:00 PM start time. Both shows are 19+ affairs with no announced cover charges. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Bone Yard live!
That's all for now, but look for our HeadFirst and Rhythm & Brews concert previews (and more?) next! Thanks everyone!
Here's another new post for your Friday morning reading, and it includes LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (one on SHORT NOTICE), and some new Van Halen-related guitar covers, so let's get things rolling!
Local classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison will continue his summer series at The Mike Case Memorial Stage outside of The Trading Post for at least one more week TONIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, Tym only launched a Facebook event page for it early this morning. Like in his past seasonal runs at this venue, Tym only announced dates in advance up to August, with anything in September either announced on late notice or not at all, so TONIGHT's show being confirmed the day of is not shocking. The Mike Case Memorial Stage is definitely seasonal with a closing date in September, so this very well could be it for The Nostalgic Band's frontman there in 2023, but if he does happen to continue things there for another week, we'll let you know if at all possible. You can enjoy Tym's classic and hard rock cover selection TONIGHT at 7:00 PM with no age limits or cover charges.
Weather-wise, 9&10 News is calling for sunny/clear conditions at 13-14°, and while Tym has called off outdoor shows for being "too cold" due to warmer temperatures than this, the late announcement for what could be his 2023 finale bodes well for it going on, and note that sunset occurs midway through TONIGHT's concert, so the visuals will be increasingly unique! Visit the above links for more details, and here's Tym live!
Next up, Tym's current classic metal cover trio The Nostalgic Band have announced a swath of upcoming concerts via three Facebook event pages covering multiple upcoming dates at three different local nightclubs through the end of the year! Tym, Dutch, and Chet will first return to Reggie's Place next weekend (Friday, September 15th & Saturday, September 16th) before returning there for another weekend on October 20th & 21st, so keep these in mind if you're up for seeing The Nostalgic Band at this Queen Street staple! The week prior, the guys will rock Shooters Downstairs Lounge for the first time (I believe) on Friday, October 13th, with a return booking on Friday, December 22nd (no word on possible seasonal ties for that one). These are both one-nighters, possibly confirming the extension of Shooters' Saturday DJ experiment, but we will keep you posted.
Finally, The Nostalgic Band will return to Jay's Piston Broke Pub for full weekends on November 3rd-4th and December 8th-9th, so if you'd prefer a west end date or two (or four), keep these gigs in mind! All of these shows are 19+ affairs with no cover charge, and all have 9:30 PM start times except at Shooters (9:00 PM). Visit the official Facebook event pages linked here, here, and here for more details!
We'll close today with some new videos, including a rare sight: local hard rock solo musician Mike McCleary performing on camera! Before that however, Mike has kept fans updated as to his recent quiet activity on his Facebook page over the summer. In July, he noted that he suffered a spinal injury and a separate "pretty significant health scare" that left him unable to play guitar for a few months, but he was able to play again at the time. For future plans, Mike hinted that he may make more instrumental music following how his "Fallout From Midnight Tides" EP turned out, while he is also open to collaborating with other artists. He was honest in noting that he has anxiety about performing live, hence why he isn't in a band and rarely performs concerts, but he is working to improve that. Last month, Mike reiterated that there's no timeline on his next material, and explained some of his issues with past songs of his.
He feels that many of his old songs were rushed and he was unhappy with the final product, which may explain why the vast majority of his back catalog was de-listed from streaming services. It sounds like he wants to take his time to make really good music by his standards, so hopefully things progress naturally! As for the video, it features him covering Van Halen's "Panama", and while he doesn't show much expression while playing, he lampshaded why in the description. Solidly done cover that shows off Mike's guitar abilities, and it's good to see that he's back playing guitar again, so give it a look below!
Finally for today, here's one more Eddie Van Halen guitar cover for you, this time his solo from Michael Jackson's "Beat It", courtesy of Silent 9 guitarist Ryan Robb! This was shared from his personal Facebook page to the band's Facebook page on Saturday, and if (like me) you were unfamiliar with Ryan from prior local bands, this will help show how he got the gig with Silent 9, as the solo is very well done! His shirt (which says "Good things are coming") could be a good omen for their headlining debut at The Water Tower Pub tomorrow night, but give his "Beat It" solo cover a look below!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for much more on the site in the coming days! Thanks everyone!
Before we begin this weekend's concert previews, just a reminder that Sunday's Tantric-headlined concert with Tarnished, Heavy Lies The Crown, and others is in Gould City (90 minutes west of Sault Michigan) and thusly out of our coverage range. It'll be a huge show by non-Kewadin standards in the E.U.P., so keep it mind if you live out west or are up for a road trip! Now, let's start off our Labour Day weekend concert previews in Sault Ontario (Ripcordz aside, check back by tomorrow morning) with some SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!
Nostalgic Band frontman Tym Morrison's weekly summer series at The Mike Case Memorial Stage outside of The Trading Post will indeed continue for at least one more week when he returns there TOMORROW EVENING! Apologies for the short notice, we only heard about TOMORROW'S booking via SooToday's events calendar, as the Facebook event page for his summer 2023 run there did not list anything past August. This is par for the course when it comes to Tym's past Mike Case Stage runs, where he'd only advertise shows in actual summer months, yet still play there for a week or two into September despite not being on his Facebook promotions. Perhaps September bookings are late additions? Assuming that last week's show wasn't called off for rain (he never announced as much on Facebook), TOMORROW'S Trading Post gig will be his eighth of this series, perhaps the final if none more get added.
As best as I can tell, The Nostalgic Band are not playing anywhere this weekend. TOMORROW'S solo acoustic concert has a 7:00 PM start time, no age limit, and no cover charge, while 9&10 News is calling for partly cloudy weather of 21-22°. We'll let you know if Tym's back at The Trading Post next week or not, but visit the above links for more on TOMORROW'S show there, and here's Tym playing some classic and hard rock covers live!
Next up, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to Jay's Piston Broke Pub for traditional concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice, these shows were only announced via drummer Glen Thomas' personal Facebook page yesterday, and neither the band nor venue's Facebook pages have publically acknowledged them at press time. Regardless, Soundcheck are virtually running the place this week, as their usual jam night hosting duties take place tonight as usual (remember, we don't count jam nights as fully fledged "concerts" due to their unpredictability), while singer/guitarist Cameron Oliver was the Wing Wednesday headliner at Jay's yesterday via an acoustic country set. Despite the late notice, hopefully Soundcheck's fully fledged concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY help ring September in nicely!
As usual, these shows (Soundcheck's first non-jam night gigs there in almost a month) have 9:30 PM start times, 19+ age limits, and no announced cover charges. Visit the above links for more details on TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT's shows at the former Reggie's West, and here's Soundcheck live!
Now let's tackle a couple of shows that did have advance notice, starting with a road trip to St. Ignace, Michigan, where Traverse City classic metal trio Peril are advertised to play at American Legion Memorial Park as part of the town's Music By The Bay summer concert series TONIGHT! While advertised on Peril's concert calendar for this & last month as seen here, and listed on the concert series schedule linked here, take this concert with a grain of salt, as Peril haven't promoted it anew on their Facebook page despite plugging shows prior and since with new pictures and whatnot. Assuming that tonight's show is still on, it marks a very rare E.U.P. gig for Jeff and crew at a non-Kewadin venue, let alone an outdoor one on a Thursday, so if you want to check out their old school range of heavy covers, keep tonight's show in mind! 9&10 News is calling for sunny temperatures at 64-65°.
If things are still on for Peril tonight, then expect a 7:00 PM start time, no age limit, and no cover charge, much like Tym Morrison in Sault Ontario tomorrow. If Peril aren't playing tonight, you can next see them in the E.U.P. at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino in two weeks. See above for more details, and here's Peril live!
Finally for today's previews, let's head back to Sault Ontario, where local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations will return to The Water Tower Pub for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT! This will be Generations' first date since the block party on Queen Street East earlier this month, and will be their second gig with new guitarist Tony Kajnar, third if you could his guest appearance with them in July (also at The Water Tower Pub). With a couple of weeks to rehearse and get ready, hopefully Generations keep the classic and hard rock good times going as they head to this popular central venue tomorrow! Remember, The Water Tower Pub traditionally hosts separate acts on Fridays and Saturdays, though I have not heard at press time who is playing there on Saturday. Tomorrow's show has an 8:00 PM start time, no cover charge, and a 19+ age limit. See above for more details, and here's Generations live at the block party earlier this month!
That's all for now, but stay tuned for the Ripcordz preview and more on the site next! Thanks everyone!
Before we begin today's post, just a heads up that the expanded Cruisin' The Dub car show was planned for today at both A&Ws on Great Northern Road, with Soundcheck playing the car show at the new one as normal, while Bone Yard (more on them in a bit) would headline a motorcycle show concurrently at the old one. This would have been a Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada fundraiser, as is often the case for A&W car shows locally. While the advertising online for this one was minimal, it doesn't matter now, as Cruisin' The Dub was cancelled on Tuesday due to today's weather forecast, as per Soundcheck drummer Glen Thomas' personal Facebook page. Unlike past A&W car shows, this was going to be held between 5:00-8:00 PM today, and while they would have dodged this morning's rain, they wouldn't have made it until 8:00 PM before the rain came back (and with wind to boot.)
This is hardly the first time that an outdoor local concert was cancelled due to a gloomy weather forecast, but given that this is an annual event for a great cause, hopefully A&W reschedules in some form! Alas, August 17th each year is A&W's Burgers To Beat MS Day, hence the timing for this event. We'll let you know if it gets a do-over, but now let's dive into shows this weekend, sans Sault Michigan & area, plus the late notice (as bands go) street party on Sunday. Let's start with a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT that some of you will be eagerly anticipating!
Hamilton outsider folk/punk musician B.A. Johnston will return to Sault Ste. Marie for his fourth headlining concert appearance on SATURDAY NIGHT at Outspoken Brewing! Apologies for the short notice, this show was announced when B.A. confirmed his fall tour slate on August 8th, but I was waiting for information from the local promoters that have surprisingly never came (it must have been booked in house). Personal Facebook postings confirm that the show is on, so if you've missed B.A.'s amusing and eclectic brand of one-man punk rock, audience participation, and oddly relatable music, be at the 350 Queen Street East brewery on SATURDAY! This will be B.A. Johnston's first local date since rocking the temporary Legion Bar at The Marconi Club just under a year ago, with all four of his Soo gigs being at different venues.
Despite the minimal local advertising, fans who saw B.A. locally in 2015, 2019, and last year will know why you can't miss his live show, so be there on SATURDAY to see what he has in store! This is a 19+ concert with no advertised openers, and note that his Legion Bar show last year had an 8:30 PM start time and $12 admission. Visit the above links for more details, and here's B.A. Johnston live (though you'll want to see him for yourself)!
Next up, local classic/hard rock solo musician Tym Morrison will continue his weekly run of acoustic solo gigs at The Mike Case Memorial Stage outside of The Trading Post TOMORROW NIGHT! As it turns out, last week's show there was indeed cancelled due to (you guessed it) rain, as per Tym's personal Facebook page. This is why I've included weather forecasts for outdoor concerts in our weekly concert previews in the past few years, just to warn everyone in the event that weather affects the proceedings, and Tym did confirm that it was off after our preview post went live. Apologies for missing that! As such, tomorrow's show will be his sixth in his weekly arrangement at The Trading Post this summer, with at least one more to go, but note that in his prior weekly runs here, Tym did continue playing into early September. We'll let you know when/if any September dates there are announced!
Note also that Tym is not playing with The Nostalgic Band this weekend, after playing dates with his classic metal trio for four straight weekends, necessitating Tym playing two different shows on Fridays lately, but not tomorrow. This concert has a 7:00 PM start time, no age limit, and no cover charge, while 9&10 News is calling for sunny weather of around 17°, so it'll be a little cooler and much drier than last week. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Tym live at The Mike Case Stage!
We'll wrap up this preview post with local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard, who may not have been able to rock the old A&W today as planned, but they still have a busy weekend at Jay's Piston Broke Pub! As has been the case for their weekends at the former Reggie's West this summer, they'll be subbing in as the jam night hosts rather than Soundcheck tonight, and while we don't count jam nights as fully fledged "concerts" for our purposes, it is good to see that Greg, Alex, and Warren can still play somewhere despite the car show cancellation! In terms of traditional concerts, they will be rocking out at Jay's TOMORROW NIGHT, but the big event will actually be on SATURDAY, when Bone Yard serve as the headline musical entertainment for the Dragonfly Run, which is the relaunched Ride For ARCH motorcycle rally for the Algoma Residential Community Hospice. For full details on the bike rally proper, click here!
Along with music inside Jay's, there will be a street party outside of the Korah Road nightclub, local vendors, and family entertainment, and in a late confirmation, Bone Yard will have an opening band, namely new local rock band Skinbox (featuring Pixo Control/Vol. alum Steve Edwards). We still don't know anything on Skinbox's sound or membership beyond Steve, but this will be their first public concert set, so come out on Saturday to check them out! Their set begins at 7:00 PM, Bone Yard are on at 9:00 PM all weekend, these are 19+ concerts, and there's no cover charges beyond any ARCH donations. Great cause, solid hard rocking music, what's not to love? See above for more details, and for a preview, here's a brand new video of Bone Yard live at Shooters Downstairs Lounge this past Friday! This was live-streamed to their Facebook page.
The video sees Bone Yard covering Roger Miller's "Me & Bobby McGee", which is (was?) a staple of their acoustic side project The Bearded Lounge's set, and to that end, frontman Greg Simpson plays guitar rather than drums here. It's a fine cover of this oft-covered song by local classic rock-leaning groups, but alas, the filmer shot this vertically, not that I can be too shocked, as their last horizontal video posted on Facebook was shot in August 2022. Give Bone Yard's new video a watch below, and don't miss Bone Yard at Jay's this weekend!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for the rest of this weekend's known hard rock concert previews tomorrow! Thanks everyone!
Better to get the rest of this weekend's concert previews on the site early given that all involve a show tonight, so those make up the majority of today's post, alongside some new live concert videos from earlier this month! For previews of this weekend's Cory Marks/Silent 9, Generations, and Nostalgic Band concerts, visit yesterday's post below this one. Here's what (else) you should know for the weekend!
We'll resume our previews with Nostalgic Band frontman Tym Morrison's acoustic concert at The Mike Case Memorial Stage outside of The Trading Post TONIGHT! One week removed from a similarly busy weekend for both the band and by himself, tonight's previously announced unplugged matinee will be his third gig at the outdoor stage at 1332 Great Northern Road in this year's weekly summer series there, with this show again preceding a Nostalgic Band show elsewhere, this time a short notice stop at Jay's Piston Broke Pub TONIGHT (as previewed in last night's post). Hopefully fans of Tym's well produced acoustic show and vast setlist get a strong performance tonight before he heads to the west end to keep on rocking! This evening's acoustic matinee has a 7:00 PM start time, no age limit, and no cover, and 9&10 News is calling for sunny weather in the 18° range. Click here for more details, and here's Tym live!
Next up, let's cross the border to Sault Michigan, where local classic metal/hard rock quartet Tarnished will rock The Merchants Bar for one night only TONIGHT! Fresh off of their Cedarville gig this past week, this will be Tarnished's first stop at The Merch (at 108 Spruce Street West) since rocking that same venue for their St. Patrick's Day bash in March. It's always nice to see Tarnished take to the stage in the Soo, and hopefully tonight's show has all the heavy originals and covers you need! If you can't make this one, they'll be back in town at The Rapids Lounge in two weeks. Expect a 9:00 PM start time, 21+ age limit, and no cover charge for tonight, and for a preview, here's some videos from their concert at Snow's Bar & Grill last week, courtesy of the venue's Facebook page! Like they did for Project 906 on Saturday, an uncredited staffer had the (sadly vertical) camera rolling for three live-streams, so what can you see then?
The videos include covers of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Proud Mary" (with frontman Alex Traynor just singing and not playing guitar), Ratt's "Round & Round" (if obscured by fans on the floor), and as embedded below, Quiet Riot's "Cum On Feel The Noize". The guys sound good on these covers, which are strongly played with clear enthusiasm, and while I wouldn't have filmed these vertically, at least the band is in frame consistently (the "Round & Round" video acknowledged, but you do want fans engaged!) Give Tarnished's new videos a look above and below, and don't miss them at The Merch tonight!
Barring any further late notice show announcements, our hard rock concert previews end this week back in Sault Ontario, as local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to Shooters Downstairs Lounge for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! The band has not confirmed these shows on their Facebook page at press time, but the venue did via their own Facebook event pages (linked here & here) well in advance, thankfully! This will be Soundcheck's first public date since returning to Goulais River's Community Days two weeks ago (they did not play at Rotaryfest), and their first at Shooters since a one-nighter last month. Interesting how Soundcheck aren't playing all that far away from tonight's Cory Marks show at The Machine Shop, featuring the debuting Silent 9 (featuring ex-bassist Paul Belair, and current bassist Jim Michaud's old Obsession bandmates Jess Amadio & Steve Porco) as the local openers.
Assuming that all goes well for Silent 9, the commonality between the two bands will become less of a novelty as time goes on, but the membership of both bands is absolutely noted! As for Soundcheck at Shooters, expect a 19+ age limit, no cover charge, and a 9:00 PM start time. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Soundcheck live!
We'll close today with another band that surprisingly did not play at Rotaryfest last week, namely local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard! They are on the road for Sudbury gigs this weekend, and don't have a currently announced local concert booked for another three weeks, but we do have some newer concert videos of theirs to check out, courtesy of their Poutine Feast gig at the Ermatinger Clergue National Historic Site on Canada Day. An uncredited representative of the band live-streamed four videos from this outdoor gig to their Facebook page, where Greg, Alex, and Warren were filmed covering Dire Straits' "Sultans of Swing", The Beatles' "Come Together", Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show's "The Cover of 'Rolling Stone'", and as embedded below, Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Simple Man". Alas, all four of these were shot vertically, but at least the filmer used zoom often, and the guys sound pretty good on all four covers!
The videos do give a good look at the Poutine Feast stage setup for 2023, and while not overly specific to the festival/Canada Day, it looks more than capable for the bands, and they had a good vantage point of the Old Stone House based on Greg's picture from the stage! Give Bone Yard's Poutine Feast videos a watch above and below!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more Rotaryfest fallout on the site next! Thanks everyone!
Let's continue this weekend's concert previews by primarily looking at bands playing tomorrow night, with Rotaryfest Stage 2 and Saturday-only events still to come. Kicking things off are SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, two tied to a new local band, so here's what you should know!
We have a new local classic metal cover band to add to our band links, namely The Nostalgic Band! Debuting with gigs at Reggie's Place in May and June, and originally named Nostalgia, this is the first full band project from prolific local singer/guitarist Tym Morrison since his old band Caveman Morrison's last show in 2016, so fans of his will be extra curious, even without his long hair! Tym is joined here by his 2012-2013 Caveman bandmate Randy "Dutch" Vanderploeg (otherwise best known as Browbeat's frontman) on bass, while former Nikkfitt drummer Chet Dziergas rounds out their lineup. Yes, Dutch is a Nikkfitt alum too, but they were not in that band concurrently. The Nostalgic Band's new Facebook group was actually created in time for their third & fourth gigs last month, but I only just found out about it this week, and they have confirmed a handful of new concert dates for the coming month.
These include returns to Reggie's Place TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT, then on Friday, August 4th & Saturday, August 5th! Apologies for the short notice on TOMORROW & SATURDAY's concerts, they were only announced via the Facebook event page for all four Reggie's dates, which only went up on Sunday. The other new date will see The Nostalgic Band make their Jay's Piston Broke Pub debut in an apparent one-nighter on Friday, July 28th (click here for its Facebook event page), so fans of Tym, Randy, and Chet have lots of chances ahead to see them live, starting TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! All of these are 19+ concerts with 9:30 PM start times and no cover charges. For a preview of this weekend's gigs, four live videos of The Nostalgic Band are online to check out, so what can you see here?
All shot at Reggie's gigs, the videos include Facebook-exclusive covers of Starship's "We Built This City" and System of a Down's "Aerials" uploaded by Dutch, but they also have a YouTube channel that features cross-posted videos of Ozzy Osbourne's "I Don't Know" and, as embedded below, a 9 minute promotional video featuring assorted cover fragments from their debut gig on May 26th. So far so good for The Nostalgic Band performance wise, with strong musicianship and chemistry dating back to the Caveman Morrison days, and while I'd have made transitions more obvious in the promo clip, classic metalheads won't want to miss them TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT at Reggie's Place!
Next up, we'll head across the river for another short notice announcement, as Sault Michigan metal quartet Tarnished will return to Snow's Bar & Grill in nearby Cedarville for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice, this show was only announced on their Facebook page this past Friday when they posted their concert slate for the next month+ there. Fresh off of their even later-notice Hessel gig last week, TOMORROW'S Cedarville show will be Tarnished's first at Snow's in three weeks, so if you're in the area or are up the 40 minute drive due south of the Soo, keep Tarnished's brand of old school metal originals & covers in mind! A one-nighter due to or resulting in Project 906's previously announced show there on Saturday (preview forthcoming), Tarnished are on TOMORROW at 8:00 PM with a 21+ age limit and no cover. See above for more details, and here's Tarnished live last year!
As the Tarnished show was on short notice, I gave it priority in this post, hence why three naturally linked shows are broken apart here, but to close, let's head back to Sault Ontario for Nostalgic Band frontman Tym Morrison's previously announced solo acoustic concert TOMORROW NIGHT at The Mike Case Memorial Stage outside of The Trading Post! The second weekly gig of his new seasonal arrangement at the outdoor stage at 1332 Great Northern Road, shows in this series won't conflict with Nostalgic Band concerts on Fridays because Tym is only blocked from 7:00-9:00 PM at The Mike Case Stage. Long day for Tym, but hopefully easing into things with an unplugged gig will get things rolling naturally before he joins Randy and Chet downtown! You can enjoy Tym's solo classic/hard rock covers tomorrow at 7:00 PM with no age limit or cover charge, and the weather forecast is much the same as it will be at Rotaryfest happening concurrently.
9&10 News is still calling for a high temperature of 23° tomorrow, and while the chance of showers and thunderstorms has slightly dropped to 40%, keep the forecast in mind, as this is very much an outdoor concert (roof on the stage acknowledged). Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Tym live!
That's all for now, but look for our Rotaryfest Stage 2, Wyld Stallyns, and Project 906 previews on the site next! Thanks everyone!
Here's a new news post for your Tuesday evening reading, and it includes some assorted recent updates, a local solo musician's big plans, and the latest from a prominent punk/metal band (in a write-up postponed from our last news post due to a concert preview). Speaking of which, here's a mid-week hard rock concert preview to take in before the month ends!
Local classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison will likely return to The Mike Case Memorial Stage outside of The Trading Post for another outdoor matinee gig TOMORROW NIGHT! While not currently advertised with a Facebook event page or anything like that, note that Tym only posted a Facebook event page for last week's Trading Post show on the morning of. Good thing I knew to anticipate his regular weekly arrangement there, but time is definitely ticking for The Mike Case Stage in 2022, as it is only open on a seasonal basis and closes for the year at some point next month. As such, I won't rush to include new Wednesday evening gigs from there in advance in our concert calendar, but we'll absolutely let you know if he confirms September dates there or not! As usual for Tym's summer series at The Trading Post, expect no age limit, no cover charge, and a 7:00 PM start time tomorrow.
Weather wise, 9&10 News is calling for partly cloudy/mostly sunny conditions, but their temperature projection is 14-15°, which could be enough for the show to be called off due to it being too cold out (Tym has made a call like that for warmer evenings than this). If you're at all concerned, follow Tym above or via his personal Facebook account if you're a friend of his. For now, see above for more details, and here he is live!
Next up, here are some recent updates from local/Barrie crossover thrash quartet Spades GT,
who hit the road with Anvil on a few Northern Ontario dates before
heading to nearby Ophir for their first ever post-Jack Spades local set
at the Northern Vibe Festival on Friday (fallout forthcoming), with a further Anvil support gig planned in Brampton on September 16th (details here). Their August shows were done with a guest fill-in bassist, namely drummer Tyler Reiner's old Caym bandmate Jay Sarrazin (now of the Cornwall metal band Hellrager),
so anyone who saw Caym's local concerts will at least be slightly
familiar with Jay on stage! A reason for regular bassist Daniel
Rodbard's absence from this run of shows wasn't announced, but hopefully
all's well with him & the band!
One new, if very brief, video from Spades GT's Sudbury show at The Coulson Entertainment Centre on Thusday was posted to their Facebook page,
and it features the end of a drum solo from Tyler shot from behind Jay
on stage. He clearly approved, as did the sizeable crowd! Short video,
yes, but a good teaser, and hopefully more pops up from their Northern
Ontario tour run! Get more from Spades GT above & below!
Also today, here's the latest from prolific local folk punk/extreme metal musician Chase Wigmore's Facebook page, and while he has nothing new to show for videos, he has elaborated a lot on his upcoming studio plans! Two weeks ago, he clarified in a post that the overdub-free album that he's currently working on ("Is This The End Of...?") will focus on multiple genres, and he cited four tentative song names, including "All We Really Have" from his last video upload. He dwarfed that post with a massive one last week which starts by detailing the genesis of a concept album he's had plans for named "The Stone", which would heavily be influenced by and parody religion & the Freemasons (read it for yourself, it's way too deep for me to summarize!). "The Stone" has evolved into an album named "The Chaotic Rite", which he estimated won't be complete until "probably next year or the year after it", but he calls it his "magnum opus".
If "The Chaotic Rite" sounds familiar, Chase uploaded a 12 minute acoustic performance of a song of that name back in March. His ambitious plans call for the album to be across two CDs, and be accompanied by the backing tracks, MIDI files, notation, and supplementary literature and art to fit the album's very deep concept. Yes, he did acknowledge his long-gestating rock opera "A Kid Named Todd" too, but according to him, its second episode is "just sitting on the shelf". It'll be very interesting to see if Chase's plans for "The Chaotic Rite" come to fruition as described, but given the thought and research he's put into these topics, it'll be an event when finished! Read more at the above links!
Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist name:
If you've been hoping to see more of local southern hard rock cover trio Bone Yard on public stages in the next month beyond their Shooters gig on September 16th, then the wait appears to be extended, as their newest Facebook page posting noted their thanks for the reception they got at a recent wedding gig, and they confirmed that "more private events (are) coming up". Good to see that Bone Yard are in demand, but hopefully their frequency of normal concerts returns to its early summer pacing at some point!
In their first Facebook page posting in over a month (the guys didn't even promote their Northern Vibe set), local indie/punk quintet The Northwest plugged this article by Darryl Sterdan of the music website Tinnitist, where their song "Shoreline" was given a showcase on Thursday! The article features remarks by frontman Wayne Watkins on the song's origins, the band's aspirations since receiving an Ontario Arts Council grant, and how the pandemic & social distancing influenced how their new EP "All In" came together. Solid promotion to a largely non-local audience, so give it a look above, and stay tuned for more from The Northwest!
Don't expect late notice concerts at local venues from classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck this weekend, as they'll be taking a rare road trip to the aforementioned Coulson Entertainment Centre in Sudbury for shows on Friday & Saturday, as per their Facebook page! A road trip four hours east my seem odd, but Soundcheck actually did play two gigs at The Coulson in September of last year, which appear to have went well to warrant an encore road trip almost a year later. Best of luck to Soundcheck on the road! If you really want to see them this week, the guys will host their usual weekly jam night at Reggie's West on Thursday.
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site this week! Thanks everyone!
Here's a new news post for you guys on this Monday night, including some new videos on both sides of the border, an inactive band note, and to start, here's a mid-week concert preview!
Local classic hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison's seasonal weekly concert arrangement at The Mike Case Memorial Stage outside of The Trading Post is expected to continue THIS WEDNESDAY NIGHT! As of this writing, there is no Facebook event page for this show, but of course, Tym is no stranger to regular series like this, and time is ticking for The Mike Case Stage for 2022, as it closes for the season next month. If an outdoor mid-week show works better for you than Tym's Shooters matinee on Sunday, then don't bypass his classic and hard rock cover selections on Wednesday evening! As usual, expect a 7:00 PM start time, no cover charge, and no age limit at The Trading Post on Wednesday, while 9&10 News is currently calling for mostly cloudy weather in the 22° range. Visit the above links for more details, we'll let you know if the show is indeed off, and here's Tym live!
Next up, I've delayed covering this video for way too long now, as local/Thompson, Manitoba alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith's most recent live concert got the live-stream treatment for his YouTube channel! Back on August 6th, Mike took a road trip to Flin Flon, Manitoba to perform at their Blueberry Jam festival, where he was the fifth of eight acts that day on the Museum Stage (despite the name, artists played at the Flin Flon Tourist Bureau & Campground). The outdoor covered stage played host to a 40+ minute set from Mike, who played eight Thompson-era original songs at the Blueberry Jam, including "The Best You Never Had", "Communique", "MorningStar", "If Ever Comes The Day", "21:45", "The Nature Of The Times", "Into The Setting Sun", and "Take Back The Moon". The stationary camera angle frames the stage well, but the fuzzy visuals and low frame rate on the live stream are not ideal, despite good audio.
I will say that Mike looks absolutely isolated on the Museum Stage by himself, especially with the camera not even trying show the crowd, and visually speaking, it may have been a better aesthetic choice to focus on Mike himself over the stage. Still a solid concert from Mike, and his easy crowd rapport is on full display, so give it a look below!
Also today, I have moved local horror punk quintet Frightlight back to our inactive band links. They have not issued a public update on new band activity since the fallout from their set headlining the Friday lineup of last year's Northern Vibe Festival, but their future has been murky since on two fronts. Of course, frontman J.D. "Johnny Pints" Pearce currently lives in Barrie, where he fronts the rebooted Spades GT (nee Jack Spades), so distance will be a huge factor towards future plans. As well, drummer Chris "Freaknstein" Thompson passed away in November of last year, which was a huge loss felt across multiple groups, and there's been no public hints towards a return with a new drummer. After previously rocking the Soo from 2009-2014, Frightlight reunited as an occasional live attraction in 2018, playing at J.D.'s Halloween party that year and opening for Michale Graves in September 2019.
A planned set opening for First Jason in April 2020 was cancelled due to the first pandemic lockdown, and J.D. moved out of town that fall, but at least fans got Northern Vibe last year without any incidents. Hopefully Frightlight's spooky brand of Misfits-inspired punk & metal can return in some form down the line if the cards line up, but best of luck to J.D., Rick, Kevin, Mike, and their prior drummers in the future, don't miss J.D. & Spades GT this weekend at Northern Vibe in Ophir, and R.I.P. Chris!
Finally, let's leap across the border for a new video from Sault Michigan blues/hard rock quartet Project 906, as shot by an attendee at their show at The Islander Bar in nearby Hessel on Saturday! This video actually captures the first half of Project 906's original song "The Comeback", which you can hear in full at this link from its 2021 studio recording. This song definitely leans to their blues side, and it's well done for blues rock fans, too bad the video only captures the first half! The guys definitely seem to be cramped with The Islander Bar's stage setup, but the audio comes through, and at least they had an electric fan going. Check it out below!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site this week! Thanks everyone!
Next up, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will kick off their brave new world sans Thursday jam night hosting duties by rocking The Water Tower Pub TOMORROW NIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice, this one-nighter was first announced via the band's Facebook page on June 19th, and we didn't have enough time to fit it into a post before it got to be in our short notice range (under a week out). Regardless, the venue hasn't advertised their live music schedule on social media since the end of May. It's been a few months since Terry, Cameron, Jim, and Glen have rocked the Great Northern Road venue, and hopefully their classic and hard rock cover slate goes over well with fans and regulars alike TOMORROW! No word on who's playing there on Saturday night. Expect an 8:00 PM start time, 19+ age limit, and no cover TOMORROW NIGHT. See above for more details, and for a preview, here's Soundcheck live a few years back!
