A Mid-Week Concert Preview, SOOpfest 2 Updates, And A New Spaceship Opening Video!!

Before we begin this post, I wanted to note that former Havadder frontman Jason Roy's obituary was finally posted on SooToday on Monday, noting that he suddenly passed away at home on July 30th. Jason (who often went by Jay) is survived by his sisters, stepmother, and many others in his extended family. The obituary details his sense of humour, many friendships, love of music, and his musical talents (including songwriting), though it doesn't mention his local bands by name. Jason's battle with addiction is also touched upon, and in that respect, the family would appreciate donations by e-transfer or cheque to Save Our Young Adults in his name/memory. Cremation has taken place at O'Sullivan Funeral Home, and while there were no public services, a celebration of life is reportedly planned for a later date. This was well written and helped explain Jason's positive impact on so many, so give it a read above! R.I.P. Jay!

Today's post otherwise has new live video from a local band, info on a publically advertised house party concert, and leading off, here's a mid-week concert preview. Prolific local acoustic classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison's summer arrangement at The Mike Case Memorial Stage outside of The Trading Post TONIGHT! This will technically be Tym's second concert appearance of the week, as he took part in the aforementioned Save Our Young Adults walk for National Overdose Awareness Day at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion on Monday, but between his own lack of public promotion and the somber nature of the event, I hesitate to cover it as a concert, as that's not really the point. Kudos to Tym for supporting a great cause though, drug and alcohol addiction is always worthy to advocate the fight against! Tonight's Trading Post show is the penultimate gig in Tym's seasonal run there unless it gets extended.

Regardless, the Mike Case Stage is only open seasonally, so time is ticking if you want to see Tym at this outdoor Great Northern Road stage! You can check out his hard rocking covers tonight from 6:30-8:30 PM with no cover charge or age limit. 9&10 News has a better forecast for tonight than last week, with partly cloudy skies becoming clear during Tym's sets, and temperatures expected to hover around 21°. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Tym live!

Next up, here's some info on the planned second SOOpfest benefit concert! Local promoters Underground Events SSM hosted the first at a private residence on July 24th as charity drive/fundraiser for the Ken Brown Recovery Home, the $onny Vybe$ memorial, and the Soup Kitchen, and just eight weeks + one day later, they're rolling it back for the same charities. The show will again take place at an unspecified private locale ("ask a punk" for the address, lack of advertised punk bands acknowledged), and because it's not a static named location like Unnecessary Noise or the former Mellow D's Underground, I won't call it as a full public concert here, though it is publically advertised. Just ask those connected to the event for the address! This will also be a backyard potluck barbecue, similar to in July. Only one act (rap collective Fvcksxvad) are returning from last month, while party metal trio The Apocalypse Afterparty, folk singer/guitarist Gimiiwan Ikwe, ...

...Peasant Poetry (featuring Case's Music drum instructor Jamie Talbot), and a mystery project named So Many Bees are also scheduled. Unspecified guests will also be present, as will an open mic/jam element. A very varied lineup is in store for SOOpfest II, though I do wonder, wouldn't a benefit concert like this raise more good for the intended charities if it was a truly public event at an permanent venue with an address that can be posted on social media? In any event, visit the above links (and/or "ask a punk") for more details on SOOpfest II later this month!

Finally for today, we go to a bandmate of SOOpfest promoter Mikhal Muto, namely his ASDP colleague Ralph Barber's space/hard rock duo The Spaceship Opening! It only took 18 days, but third video of their full set at Blaster Powerhouse on August 1st was uploaded to their Facebook page on Sunday, and it sees them playing "a fresh song" that is "something new and on the spot". Like their "Everybody's Gonna Pay" video before, this is an instrumental with Andrew facing Ralph with his back to the live audience. It's a solid driving hard rocker, but presumably because it was improvised, they noted that "(we'll) probably never play this again". In that case, good thing it was filmed, so give it a watch below!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Aneurysm), Another Brimley Battle Of The Bands Video, And More!!

Our backlog is almost cleaned out, so to continue towards that goal, here's another news post to check out tonight, including one more video from a battle of the bands last year, some assorted shorter updates, and leading off, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next month, so here's what you should know!

It's been two & a half weeks of putting this show off amidst our severe backlog, but its number has finally been called, as Winnipeg-based Nirvana tribute band Aneurysm will make their local debut on Wednesday, September 23rd at Beck's Bar! The first Nirvana tribute in the Soo since The Pixo Control's one-off turn as Like A Pisces over a decade ago, this show actually has more in common with the Rush tribute concert at Reggie's in July 2022, in that the tribute band is the sister group for a touring original band who will be playing the opening set as themselves. In this case, the band is Winnipeg "nu grunge punk n' roll" quartet The Bloodshots, who alone would be an intriguing headliner here with their up-tempo melodic, yet in your face original sound that blurs genre lines, but they do Nirvana justice in available media, so fans of grunge and alt-rock should have a blast, work/school night scheduling acknowledged!

This concert will have a 9:00 PM start time in "Saulte Ste. Marie", it is 19+, and it will have a $10 cover charge (as best as I can tell, there won't be advance ticket sales). If you can swing a Wednesday nighter in late September, this should deliver the goods for Nirvana fans, let alone The Bloodshots' own entertaining originals, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details on all of next month's action!

Next up, I wanted to wrap up our look at Dafter, Michigan singer/guitarist Molly Escherich's videos from her sets at the Superior Whitefish Festival in Brimley, as we haven't talked about her "Music In The Park" acoustic set last year! Molly's solo unplugged sets don't lean as heavy as what she plays in bands (perhaps understandably), but she does throw in some hard rock covers in unplugged settings. Before she and The Other Guys played an abbreviated 10 minute long set in that evening's battle of the bands, Molly played a more standard 40 minute set in the afternoon, which was prefaced by the announcement by her mother Tiffany that she had won a major scholarship award for middle/high school music students, allowing her to afford the tuition at the Interlochen Academy For The Arts. She begins her second year there next month, and of course, belated congratulations to Molly on her success as she furthers her musical career and education downstate!

The actual set begins 5+ minutes in with covers of Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down", Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band's "Still The Same", Radiohead's "Creep", and Eddie Rabbitt's "Drivin' My Life Away", before playing her own original song "Will This Last Forever". After tackling Cat Stevens' "The First Cut Is The Deepest" (perhaps the Sheryl Crow version?), Molly next plays her own original "Cheap Cologne" (which she played with The Other Guys in the battle later on), before finishing out with covers of Zach Bryan's "Something In The Orange", The Doobie Brothers' "Listen To The Music", Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Have You Ever Seen The Rain", and Coldplay's "Yellow". If you're curious, all songs here except the four from "Creep" to "The First Cut..." were played in Molly's Music In The Park set this year. Also, only five songs here were clipped out as indivdual YouTube uploads, so use the links above to see everything.

I'm thinking that the other six didn't get singular uploads to minimize on banter with people off-stage and/or false starts/minor flubs, but for a then-13 year old who had just received extremely exciting news about her further education in music, I'm not inclined to be judgy. Molly performed well here, and covered a lot of musical ground in this set, so give her full 2025 acoustic Superior Whitefish Festival set a watch below!

Finally, here's here's three assorted shorter Sault Ontario news items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist name:

 

• A bonus 16th act has been added to the Northern Vibe Festival's Forest Stage lineup this weekend, namely Darius McRae, a teenage acoustic singer/guitarist who you may recognize from local theatrical productions and from performing in Superior Heights Collegiate's student rock band Steel Rock at Rotaryfest Stage 1 in 2024 & 2025. How will he sound on his own? Be in Ophir this coming weekend to find out! The full two day schedule has been released, but as it's now short notice for us (as usual for this event), stay tuned for our extended Northern Vibe preview next week!
• In yet another example of a local band posting a Facebook "Story" that I can't embed or link to here, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Quite Frankly shared a brief vertical video of them covering The Arrows' "I Love Rock N' Roll" (well, the Joan Jett version) at last week's Outspoken Brewing concert. Actually, the show took place outdoors beside Outspoken, which is honestly for the best, as the space for concerts inside is very small, hence why you more hear of acoustic solo artists and DJs there. Hopefully the concert went well for the band and fans, even if I truly don't like the idea of "Stories"!
• Underground Events SSM posted a "Things To Do In The Soo" events listing on their Facebook page on August 15th featuring upcoming concerts from them and other promoters, even ones that haven't been formally unveiled yet. Of note, the second SOOpfest fundraiser will indeed be on September 19th (bands and location to be announced), and there will be a "mixed bill" Thanksgiving weekend concert on October 9th followed by a "metal show" on October 30th. If they're listing them without info, the latter two must be from Underground Events SSM too, so stay tuned for details on both!

 

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the SMS next week! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Downtown Street Party #2), A New Album Release, And Much More!!

Here's another packed news post to check out on this Tuesday night, which features a newly released album from some familiar faces, clarification on private events, and leading off, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT concerning a community event next week, so here's what you should know!

Local acoustic punk cover duo Dos Amigos will be the only SMS-amenable band playing at this year's second Downtown Street Party on Queen Street East on Thursday, July 16th!  This will come three weeks after the first Downtown Street Party of 2026, and with these monthly events progressively moving west, next week's will take place on a closed section of Queen from Brock Street to Elgin Street (basically from the former BMO building to the courthouse). Like last month's street party and the two to come, there will be vendors, family activities & games, beverage gardens, and deals and events at Queen Street businesses open along this stretch. As the Downtown Plaza is facing this block, there will be events there too, including live trivia and a screening of the first Jaws movie. Click here for full details on what to expect in a non-musical sense! Now, who all is performing next Thursday?

As was the case for street party #1, there will be two distinct music stages on/near Brock & Elgin respectively, but as of the most recent public promotion from You Belong SSM, they haven't firmly specified who is playing where. Five acts are confirmed, and Dos Amigos confirmed in this poster for their remaining summer dates (more on those in this weekend's concert previews) that they'll be playing at the Brock Street Stage at 8:15 PM. Classic country band The Stumpy Coldwater Trio confirmed on Spaces that they'd be on the "Spring Street Stage" (the same block, in any event) at 7:00 PM, while classic rock trio Flathead Ford will perform at 9:30 PM, stage unclear. Veteran local/Toronto blues musician Rusty McCarthy and country musician Brendan Hodgson will also perform during next week, and at least one more act is implied (note that the June street party had three acts on each stage).

What is unsaid here is that this street party coincides with the opening day of Rotaryfest, so downtown will be hopping, and as Stage 2 doesn't operate on Thursdays anymore, could you call the street party the de facto Second Stage for night #1? Not the right block of Queen from where Stage 2 used to be, but still! Next Thursday's festivities take place from 6:30-11:00 PM, and it is absolutely a FREE & ALL AGES event. Sounds like another fun time for the whole family, with a dash of punk from Dos Amigos, so visit the above links for more details on one part of a stacked Thursday in the Soo!

Next up, I wanted to acknowledge a recent private house party concert (and another to come) that got some attention on social media. With some exceptions, I don't tend to cover private concerts here (let alone give the address publically) out of deference and respect to the location, often someone's home. On occasion though, you'll see a show advertised that, while not containing a public address, is definitely marketed publically, which was the case this past Thursday when Underground Events SSM brought Nanaimo, British Columbia pop punk quartet Danger Box back for a "Not A Canada Day Show", two weeks before they swing back through here opening for The Ripcordz at Beck's next Saturday. The garage concert also featured Duncan, B.C. alt-punk band Red Lenses (who aren't playing at the Ripcordz show) and locals A.S.D.P. and 5 Dollar Bribe. If you wanted the address, you had to "ask a punk"!

That general rule will apply to Underground Events SSM's next private gig on Friday, July 24th (I cannot 100% confirm if it will be at the exact same locale), but despite being private, it is actually a benefit gig. Entitled "SOOpfest", it will feature a special acoustic set from A.S.D.P. plus rap group Fvksxvad, unspecified guests, and a freestyle/open jam block. Alongside a backyard barbecue, admission is by donation, either cash for the Ken Brown Recovery Home and the $onny Vybe$ memorial or food for the Soup Kitchen. Despite the private trappings, these are three wonderful causes, so see above for more details, and I do hope last week's Danger Box show was a hit! "Ask a punk" for SOOpfest location details later this month!

Finally for today, here's a surprise new album release, as veteran local "blue Chinese metal crash punk" quartet Sykotyk Rampage put out their 72nd studio album yesterday via their Bandcamp page! In their first release in almost a year, this is entitled "No Neutrals Allowed: Double Live In Japan At The Boobikhan", which is not the first time that they have released a faux live album purporting to be from a far flung locale. If released physically, this would indeed be a double album, and it's oriented as such, as the first half of the 39 track album is comprised of re-recordings from their lengthy back catalogue (presumably as if they were performed live) with nineteen new songs in the second half. "No Neutrals Allowed" is dedicated to original SKR bassist Dennis Becker (brother of Paul & Dirk), who lost his battle with cancer in September 2024, and as "Ned", he was represented in their "Waerlogas Sagas I" concept album from that same year.

Performer credits for "No Neutrals Allowed" weren't given in text, but ex-bassist Brian Cattapan (Paul's son-in-law) was Photoshopped into the cover artwork sitting behind Dirk on the Boobikhan stage, implying that he guested on at least one song here. If true, it's good to see him working with the masters of the crash again! This album is on sale on Bandcamp for $15 and can be streamed for free there as well, though with our massive backlog of new album releases still to review, this won't be up until early 2027. It is great to see the Beckers, Shane, and Tony back with another huge array of new music, so check everything out above, and stay tuned for more news and notes on the SMS soon! Thanks everyone!

The Demon King/Sentiment Dissolve Concert Preview, Plus Convergence Updates!!

Today's post heavily circles around a big metal show tomorrow night that we're previewing to lead off with, and one of the opening bands has a lot going on to talk about afterwards. Here's what you should know!

We'll start with a special Tuesday night concert preview, as three touring death metal bands from three different countries will descend upon Soo Blaster TOMORROW NIGHT! The bands in question are Nashville-based death metal quartet Demon King (not Maynard Hayes frontman Damon King), London progressive death metal quartet Sentiment Dissolve (who headlined at Jay's Piston Broke Pub in May 2025), and Norwegian tech death metal quintet Celestial Scourge. Quite a feast of brutality is incoming for local metalheads tomorrow, so if you just miss original touring death metal, give all three bands a listen to see what you think, and hopefully you can swing coming out on a work/school night! Your local support bands tomorrow are death/thrash metal trio Pillory (who opened last year's Sentiment Dissolve show) and progressive metalcore quartet Convergence, both in their first concert of 2026.

Both should get faces melting early, and we'll have more from Convergence in a second! Promoted by Mikhal Muto's Underground Events SSM, tomorrow's show is an all ages affair at 7:00 PM, and tickets cost $15 in advance through the local openers, at Soo Blaster, or online at this link (the door charge jumps to $25). If you can make it for this one, you'll be in for a crushing night of metal, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and for a preview, here's Demon King live a few months back!

Next up, here's the latest from the aforementioned Convergence, who surprised fans by releasing the second advance single from their upcoming album on "all streaming platforms" this past Wednesday! Of course, "all" platforms is impossible to guarantee, but it's in the usual places and in a few you may not think of first, including Bandcamp. The song in question is "Gemini", which was once planned to be the title track for their third EP dating back to February 2024, but as you know, the band wiped most of their back catalog as an instrumental duo and have been reworking some of their older material for their next album. Of note, you can still hear their 2022 debut EP "One" on Bandcamp, albeit with new cover artwork, but there's no sign of their follow-up "Dead & Dreaming" there, implying that the songs from that EP will at least partially resurface with vocals ("The Ebb" already did, after all).

The Bandcamp postings for both "The Ebb" and "Gemini" glean some more info on both songs, including full lyrics, the inspiration behind both, and confirming that Swedish musician Adam Roxner is mastering the album. While I always found it odd that "Gemini" was going to be the name of their unfinished third EP, Convergence explained that the name was influenced by how it started production when they were still just a studio metal duo (and that "it also just sounds cool"). To promote the song's release, guitarist Brendan Christie was actually interviewed by 104.3 The Fox midday DJ Zenga McCurdy on Friday, and the band helpfully posted the interview to their YouTube channel over the weekend. Neat to see Zenga promoting and talking to an original local rock band! I don't recall Dan or Mitch doing something similar when they were on the former Q104. What all does Brendan talk about and reveal in this 6 minute interview?

Zenga asks about Convergence's sound and influences, what you can expect from tomorrow's Demon King concert, how to buy tickets, how Sault Ste. Marie locals have taken to Convergence since launching, the album plans, and what to expect from their stage show. Of note, Convergence plan to release two more advance singles "in the next couple of months" before the full album comes out, and he did confirm that the album will have more songs that predate Stephen & David's additions to their lineup. Good stuff that helps sell the band well to Fox listeners, and Zenga came off well when asking questions, so give the whole interview a listen above! A guitar playthrough video featuring 33 seconds of the song was also posted to the band's Facebook page, complete with tabs, but I'll embed the full song here via Convergence's official lyric video on YouTube, also featuring some space imagery behind the lyrics.

Pending our eventual review of the album, I'll hold comment on "Gemini" for now, but everything is very well produced and put together so far, so give the lyric video a watch below, and check out much more from Convergence at the above links (and don't miss their first show of the year tomorrow night!)

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes as this week rolls along! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (The Ripcordz & Soundcheck) Plus More Recent News & Notes!!

On this snowy Tuesday morning, we have a packed news post to check out, featuring some notable LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, a new promotion agency's initial activity, and a returning face on the local FM radio dial, so here's what you should know before you head out the door!

Defunct local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will reunite for concerts at Jay's Piston Broke Pub on Friday, January 30th and Saturday, January 31st! First announced on Sunday via the venue's Facebook page, these will mark the first official Soundcheck bookings since their farewell gig on New Year's Eve 2024 at the YNCU Curling Centre. Personal Facebook postings indicate that this will be a reunion of most of the band's final 2023-2024 lineup, including singer/guitarists Terry Eaton & Cameron Oliver and bassist Jim Michaud along with guest musicians to be revealed (I assume the AI generated band in the poster will not be among them). The band's final drummer Glen Thomas does not appear to be involved in the reunion. Now, you may recall seeing Cameron, Terry, and Jim play together a few times last year under the name "The Band", so why is it only now that they're reviving the Soundcheck name, even if temporarily?

Keep in mind that Terry is the only original band member, so he can theoretically use the name with whoever he wants. Of course, Terry & Jim still play together in Separate Wayz & The Guilty Party, who Cameron has guested with live, and Terry has recently been seen playing with Cameron during his solo country dates, so there's a lot of synergy regardless of name. I'm treating this as a one-off (two-off?) booking unless otherwise stated, but 2025 collaborations under other names aside, fans won't want to miss Soundcheck's official return! These are 9:30 PM and 19+ shows with no cover, as usual for Jay's. Visit the above links for more details!

Next up, I'd normally wait for local promoter announcements to cover this here, but seeing as the venue has eagerly plugged it on social media, I figure getting the word out now can't hurt. Montreal hardcore punk trio The Ripcordz will make their long awaited return to Sault Ontario on Saturday, July 18th when they debut at Beck's Bar! While this legendary punk group last played here in August 2024 at The Distraction, Paul and crew were in town for an encore in July of last year that was shut down by the police due to a fire safety complaint, with the East Street venue remaining closed for new concert bookings since (read more at this link). That show was stopped before The Ripcordz could even begin their set, but at a new west end venue with fire code measures in place, hopefully they tear it up after (technically) almost two years away! I don't currently know if this is being promoted in-house by Beck's or through another agency.

No word yet on local openers, but Hails (who opened both of The Ripcordz' Distraction gigs) and Sylo did the honours last year, while technically active local bands like A Dire Setback, The Gambit (then The Sick Sons), and the former Jack Spades have all opened for The Ripcordz since 2017. Finer details are forthcoming, but last year's Ripcordz show had a $20 admission fee (or "pay what you can") with a 7:00 PM start time, though that was all ages and I assume Beck's Bar will be 19+. Something to get excited for this summer, so stay tuned for updates on The Ripcordz' return to the Soo in six months!

Also today, you may recall that ex-Hails guitarist Mikhal Muto put on the aforementioned Ripcordz concerts at The Distraction, and he has recently formally launched his own concert promotion agency! Mikhal has returned to Facebook on a personal basis and launched the page for Underground Events SSM at the same time, and it is through this name where he's putting on the Demon King concert at Soo Blaster in March. Other upcoming concerts have been plugged on their Facebook page too, The Ripcordz among them. This video implies that "news bombs" are coming soon, including "new venues, new bands, and new bookings", so we'll have to see what all that entails! However, a prior "news bomb" is that Underground Events SSM have released a compilation album for sale on Bandcamp! It leans to folk and acoustic artists, but there are some names involved that you are sure to recognize from prior concerts and coverage.

Mikhal's own folk punk solo project Agnosticism leads off with a song called "Growing Up", and recognizable names like his cousin/ex-Hails bandmate Carmen Muto, his old Vanity First bandmate Andrew Beggs (as "Andrew Keith"), Golden Scoundrels/ex-Shit Liver frontman Josh Penno, Gimiiwan Ikwe, Shae Tull, and Tye Lawless Co. are among the performers. Like with 2022's Clusterfolk compilation tape (featuring The Uncanny Valley), this doesn't cross our punk/metal radar enough to join the monthly album review backlog, but there's a lot of talented artists here, and hopefully you guys buy the album for $9.99 to support their work (or stream its official YouTube copy from Mikhal's channel for free below!)

Finally for today, we have some news from 104.3 The Fox, as Sault Ontario's rock radio station has a new local midday DJ! After five months with Mitch Belanger from 101.9 The Fox in North Bay in the 2:00-6:00 PM timeslot here (following Country 104.3 holdover Dan Koo's departure in August), the station's Facebook page revealed via the video embedded below that Zenga McCurdy was back on the local airwaves, making his on-air debut yesterday. If the name is unfamiliar to you, then you likely don't tune in to Kiss 100.5, as Zenga was an on-air personality on The Fox's sister pop/top 40 station from 2018-2021. Originally from Kitchener, Zenga debuted on CHAS in the fall of 2018 alongside Taylor Lucas (and later Casey MacDonald) to replace the former morning drive show hosted by Scott Turnbull and Lou-Anne Young, moving solo to midday after Rogers added the Toronto-based Roz & Mocha Show to more Kiss stations' morning timeslots in November 2020.

Zenga left Kiss 100.5 in the summer of 2021, after which he worked at 101.5 Indie FM in Orangeville and 96.3 Cruz FM in Saskatoon, and the latter is a rock station, so he does have experience DJing this format. I don't listen to Kiss 100.5, so I was totally unfamiliar with Zenga before yesterday, but he did good from what I heard on-air on day #1, and he was already referencing local weather and ticket giveaways for the Triumph concert, so it's good to have a truly local DJ on The Fox again! Watch his return video below, and listen for him today from 2:00-6:00!

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

Blood Opera Concert Preview, Crooked Music's Closure, And More News & Notes!!

Today's post wraps up this weekend's concert previews, explores the surprise closure of a local music store, looks at a new hard rock cover from last year, and covers some assorted recent updates, so here's what you should know on this Friday evening!

Here's the remaining hard rock concert preview for this weekend, as Toronto "dead metal/zombie glam" band Blood Opera will return to the Soo TOMORROW NIGHT when they rock Soo Blaster! For the record, this show was quietly relocated from The Queen Of Hearts Club above Shooters to Soo Blaster last month for publically unannounced reasons. Blood Opera first rocked Sault Ste. Marie in May in the afterparty to the Steel City CollectorCon, and this is basically a sequel to that event in every way, as Blood Opera are headlining the afterparty for the related Steel City NerdCon, which goes down tomorrow at the Quattro Hotel on Great Northern Road (click here for full details on the convention proper). Blood Opera's theatrical, horror movie-inspired, and very violent stage show will play very well with attendees once again, even better than in May given that this is the Halloween season!

Local hard rock quintet HeadFirst will be the local openers this time out, which will be huge for them, and if you can't make it tomorrow, they'll be rocking Reggie's tonight! Despite the gory spectacle ahead, this is an all ages event with a 9:00 PM start time, and admission is $20 online at this link or at the NerdCon proper. It'd be foolish of me to try to hype up the stage show that Blood Opera put on, so I highly recommend checking them out online if you missed the CollectorCon afterparty, and this should be a fun spectacle to cap off a busy NerdCon with! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and for a preview, here's Blood Opera live!

Next up, here's some sad news out of Sault Michigan, as local music store Crooked Music is closing at the end of the month. Owner/local musician Zac Crook made the announcement on their Facebook page on Wednesday, noting that "the benefits no longer outweigh the risks" towards keeping the store open. The costs of being a small business owner in this economy and the availability of inventory were cited as primary concerns, but Zac did thank everyone for their support and encouraged everyone to support other mom & pop businesses and locally owned music stores. For the next two weeks, all remaining store items and fixtures are on sale for 50% off during regular hours. Zac and his wife Christy had bought the former Grooves Music from Gary Hatch in 2017, moving it from 540 Ashmun Street directly across the road to 539 Ashmun in 2019, and they even expanded their repertoire to include clothing, used albums, and books.

Crooked Music serves an important purpose to musicians in the EUP, and it'll be that much harder for musicians to get equipment and lessons now (if you can't come to Sault Ontario, I think the nearest equitable stores are over an hour away). Alas, economics are a concern for many entrepreneurs and business owners, but kudos to the Crooks for keeping the store active for over seven years, and weathering the pandemic in the middle! Visit Crooked Music while you still can at 539 Ashmun Street near the Soo Theater, and our best wishes are with Zac, Christy, and family!

Let's head back to Sault Ontario for a new hard rock cover from local acoustic classic rock/country singer/guitarist Jeremy Logan Newman's Facebook page! We've mentioned Jeremy on here a few times, notably when he opened for Fort Creek at one of their original run concerts, but most of his public media doesn't point to SMS-amenable material. This is an exception, of him and veteran local guitarist/Soo's Got Talent judge Darren Robertson (who perform duo sets under the name Fog Brain) covering Ozzy Osbourne's "Mama, I'm Coming Home" at The Water Tower Pub in August of last year.  The harsh and over-exposed blue lighting is far from ideal, let alone the vertical camera angle (at least both musicians are in frame), but this is an effective rendition that lets Jeremy apply his voice in a unique way, with a tone you may not expect for this classic Ozzy ballad. 

Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items from the last while, and as usual for these short form story blocks, these are in alphabetical order by artist or company name:

 

• Dormant local concert promotion agency Live705 have changed their name to Algoma Underground, as per their Facebook page on September 22nd. The change was made to avoid confusion with Mike Blair's 705Live Sound Co., who I believe launched after the members of A Dire Setback started promoting as Live705, but 705Live are far more active nowadays providing sound at local concert events. Obvious AI logo for Algoma Underground aside, hopefully the rebranding is a good sign that they plan on resuming work as promoters next year!
  
• If you were curious what the etymology of new local death metal band Bardo's name was, they have clarified it on their Facebook page. The name refers to a Buddhist belief in a transitional intermediate state between death and rebirth, which is definitely a deep concept, and it'll be interesting to see what slants the Them successors' original songs so far will take in that regard! Follow Bardo above for continuing updates!
• Local southern hard rock band Fort Creek have filmed their first music video for their upcoming single "One For The Road", as per their Facebook page! Golden Scoundrels/ex-Shit Liver frontman Josh Penno filmed the video via his company Spacebag Productions, and it was shot at Jay's Piston Broke Pub, with a black & white teaser image from the shoot also posted on Facebook featuring singer Justin Grayson sitting at the bar. Good sign towards Fort Creek's return to full activity, so visit the above links vor more details on the song and video ahead!
  

 

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (415E), Buckcherry Concert Videos, And More!!

We're back with a new news post on the SMS on this Thursday morning, and it includes one more teaser for a concert tonight at a technically private venue (organizers want fans to come though, and this may be the push you need!), plus the first public videos from a recent major concert, and leading off, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for later this month! Here's what you should know!

Revived Sault Michigan hard rock quartet 415E will return to The Hilltop Bar in nearby Sugar Island for a Devil's Night concert on Saturday, October 30th! This will be 415E's first publically advertised concert since playing at the same venue in February 2020, with guitarist Chris Hubbard publically working on his long-gestating solo project and his new band Rhythm & Brews in the interim. I'm not sure if 415E were just on hiatus during the pandemic or if Rhythm & Brews were functionally "replacing" them, but it's great to see 415E back, and with their pre-pandemic lineup intact! This includes singer Dave Menard, bassist Brett Blackwood (who played in Rhythm & Brews' debut gigs), and drummer Jason VanLuven joining Chris once again, as revealed in this 5 second "video" to promote the concert, though it's more of an animated poster than anything else, hence why it's not embedded here.

Hopefully 415E's hard rocking brand of covers get a strong reception from fans in Sugar Island next weekend, so don't miss out if you're able! Pre-pandemic Hilltop Bar events had 7:00 PM start times, there's no announced cover charge, and expect a 19+ age limit, and please respect & follow any social distancing and public health guidelines at the bar to ensure everyone's safety, especially over Halloween weekend. See above for more details!

Next up, and from what accounts I've heard online so far, last night's Buckcherry concert at Soo Blaster in Sault Ontario was a success, and a couple of public videos from it are now online to check out! One is a brief 15 second clip of the headlining Anaheim hard rock quintet playing their 2012 single "Gluttony", as shared by 705Live Sound Co.'s Facebook page yesterday afternoon. Not to be confused with dormant concert promoters Live705, 705Live provide sound at live events, and they were on hand in that regard last night, hence why their video is so far from the stage. Still, you can get a sense of the crowd numbers, and even with the vaccine passport mandate, it looks like a sizeable crowd came out! Fan heads do mostly block Buckcherry from view, but the overall quality is respectable despite the video's short length and lack of zoom. Give it a watch below, and we'll let you know if more videos surface!

The only other video I've found on a public source so far comes from new-ish local/Ottawa hard rock quartet Bad Chug's opening set, as filmed by prolific local concert filmer Christopher Paci for his YouTube channel, marking his first concert video upload since The Hair Scare Live in Sault Michigan in February 2020! We all know why it's taken this long for him to film anything else. No word yet on if Chris shot anything from Buckcherry or Redundant's sets (the Bad Chug video was uploaded early yesterday), but we'll let you know if anything else surfaces! The video gives us our first look at Bad Chug on a Sault Ste. Marie stage and with new second guitarist Jacob Quarrell (no comment on his attire), and on this song, it looks like guitarist Aaron Desmoulin is on lead vocals. Alas, the scratchy audio & steady cymbal hits don't help in my efforts to identify if this is a cover.

The song proper is an up-tempo hard rocker that has a little bit of a classic rock feel to it that almost reminds me of some horror punk. Not bad, but again, this isn't the clearest quality audio, so hopefully more footage of Bad Chug (at this show or otherwise) surfaces! Chris wasn't too far from the stage and he had a good vantage point of the proceedings, but Aaron is very hard to make out from the very bright stage lighting above him and his placement at the side of the stage. Give this Bad Chug video a look below, and we'll have more videos from this show when & if they goes public!

Finally for today, here's a trailer for tonight's Alien To The Ignorant concert at the private venue Mellow D's Underground, but this one isn't focused on the headliners, rather openers/venue hosts The Apocalypse Afterparty! Uploaded to their Facebook page on Sunday, this serves a double purpose, as while it promotes the concert (including finally giving away Mellow D's current address!), it also features 17 seconds of their to-be-released music video for their cover of Saul Williams' "List Of Demands (Reparations)". The video (shot by Spacebag Productions) shows the band playing in that very cramped room as we saw in prior teasers from the shoot, perhaps not a bathroom like I had guessed, but it is worth noting that The Apocalypse Afterparty appear to just be represented here by frontman Paul & drummer Amanda Stanghetta without a second bassist, which would 100% signal that Alice Rose has left the band.

A reason for her departure was not announced, but she had initially been absent on temporary basis as of December 2019, and The A.A. had enlisted uncredited bassists to fill in through last summer, but the video has the Stanghettas in full-on Death From Above 1979 mode as a two-person band. Hopefully all's well with Alice! The music video teaser is promising and shows Paul & Amanda getting an energetic, full sound out of this staple cover of theirs, and hopefully the full video is released soon! Give it a look below, and remember, the address for TONIGHT'S Alien To The Ignorant concert (also featuring the returning Bear Hunters) can be found within!

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

Buckcherry & Alien To The Ignorant Concert Previews!!

Today's post is devoted to previews of two notable mid-week hard rock/metal concerts in Sault Ontario, one well over a year in the making, and the other featuring a lot of intrigue for it's cryptic locale and touring headliner, with both also featuring local openers we haven't seen in a long time. Here's what you should know!

The biggest Sault Ontario hard rock concert of the pandemic era will finally take place TOMORROW when Anaheim, California hard rock quintet Buckcherry will make their fourth local appearance (and first in this half of the Twin Saults) when they headline at Soo Blaster! This concert was originally scheduled to take place way back on May 13th, 2020 before everything went topsy turvy in March of last year, forcing a postponement to November 11th, and then ultimately to tomorrow night, but barring an imminent COVID outbreak, this show is taking place! Buckcherry are definitely in Canada and they have been touring across country all month, so fingers crossed! Well known rock radio staples from hit songs like "Sorry", "Lit Up", and "Everything", Buckcherry are touring in support of their new CD "Hellbound", so expect lots of familiar songs and new cuts in their first local stop since 2019's outdoor Kewadin Casino gig with Pop Evil, and before that, headlining Dreammakers Theater shows in 2011 & 2012.

This will also be Buckcherry's first local appearance since Billy Rowe replaced Kevin Roentgen on lead guitar last year. Amazingly, the local support acts remain unchanged since last spring, and they will include punk trio Redundant in their first public concert set since they opened for The Cancer Bats at Soo Blaster in August 2019, as far as I can gather. Obviously, it's great to see Justin, Andrew, and Rick back on stage after over two years, so don't be late for their familiar punk attack! The other opening band is local/Ottawa hard rock band Bad Chug in their long-delayed local concert debut, but they were previously active in Ottawa dating back to 2016! In case you're unfamiliar, their lineup features guitarist Aaron Desmoulin, bassist Kyle Dube (who was quietly re-added to their lineup anew), and drummer Matt D'Ettore, plus local folk singer/guitarist Jacob Quarrell as their newest member.

I'm not 100% sure if Jacob will play the same roles in Bad Chug (they credit him as "bender"), but readers may be familiar with his acoustic solo sets, previously under the project name Shit Creek Survivor. Bad Chug's mid-2010s Ottawa material had a solid carefree hard rock base, and it will be very interesting to see how they do in 2021 with in a new city, so find out first tomorrow night! Promoted by the Ottawa-based Diamond Mine Agency in their first major local booking with heavier bands, tickets are still available for $39.99 + taxes and service fees on Eventbrite, so click here to get yours online in advance! I presume you can also pay at the door, and yes, tickets bought for Buckcherry's 2020 dates will be accepted tomorrow. Everything starts at 8:00 PM, and unfortunately, this is a 19+ event. And as recently usual, attendees must show vaccine passports at the door to get into Soo Blaster.

Given the size and anticipation for this show, it's more important than ever that attending fans please mask up, follow social distancing guidelines at Soo Blaster, and use common sense to keep everyone safe, and thusly ensure that we get more concerts like this in the short term. Admittedly, I'm not a Buckcherry fan, but it's great to see that at least one of the COVID-postponed concerts is finally taking place, and hopefully Josh and crew deliver a fun set of up-tempo rock hits for fans tomorrow night, complete with local openers we haven't seen on a public stage at all in the 2020s! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and for a preview, here's Buckcherry live in Sault Michigan in 2019!

Finally for today, here's a special preview of a technically private concert taking place THIS THURSDAY NIGHT, but organizers are treating this as a public event, just with the venue being given out on request if you want to come out. The show in question will see Saskatchewan post-hardcore trio Alien To The Ignorant make their first ever local concert appearance when they headline at local party metal band The Apocalypse Afterparty's re-opened and relocated private venue Mellow D's Underground! Alien To The Ignorant's brutal hardcore sound and none-too-serious approach to their promotion should serve them well to attract an audience on Thursday, so don't miss out if you can come out on a work/school night! Local death metal quartet The Bear Hunters will play their first concert set in over two years on Thursday, which will also be their first live appearance since releasing their album "The Dead Testament" last fall, so hopefully they shake off the rust with their brutality!

And yes, The Apocalypse Afterparty themselves will perform in a rare live appearance that isn't purely a private house party, so what musical shenanigans will the Stanghettas be up to with their up-tempo brand of music? Be at Mellow D's Underground, wherever it is, to find out! There is no advertised cover charge for this concert, which has a thankfully early start time of 6:00 PM, and inquire with The Apocalypse Afterparty and/or Paul & Amanda for the address in case they never publicize it. Vaccine passports must be presented upon entry, and please use common sense re: social distancing. Visit the above links for more details, stay tuned for more updates, and here here's Alien To The Ignorant live!

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

A New Private House Party Concert, New Videos, And Musicians Wanted Facebook Group Updates!!

After a personal break from active updates on the SMS (my mom's COVID-delayed funeral took place on Saturday), we're back with a new news post on this Tuesday evening, including some recent updates from a popular local Facebook group, new videos from two genre-defying local bands, and a new publically advertised but privately located house party concert to keep in mind for next month. Here's what you should know!

Saskatchewan post-hardcore trio Alien To The Ignorant will make their local concert debut on Thursday, October 21st when they headline at The Apocalypse Afterparty's revived Mellow D's Underground private venue! Readers may recall seeing Mellow D's Underground turn up as a host venue for Apocalypse Afterparty-linked concerts in early-mid 2017, and again in October 2019, but the Stanghettas are bringing it back after another 2 year hiatus for an all-too-rare extreme metal show at this stage of the pandemic. The (new?) location of Mellow D's isn't publically advertised, but it is on posters circulating on personal Facebook accounts. Alien To The Ignorant have an intense modern hardcore sound that should attract a solid response from fans, to go along with a clear sense of humour, so consider coming out to see them, especially as local death metal band The Bear Hunters will open in their first concert set of any kind in two years!

This will also be The Bear Hunters' first live gig since releasing their new album "The Dead Testament" last year, though they have yet to confirm any CD pressings of it to sell, let alone if they still want to have a formal launch party. The Apocalypse Afterparty are also opening with a fun party metal attack, though if you were in the know, you may have seen them in fully private events earlier in the pandemic. Doors will open at 6:00 PM for this concert, which has no advertised cover charge, but vaccine passports will be mandatory despite the house party locale. Visit the above links for continuing details as they roll in, and while we're on the subject, The Apocalypse Afterparty posted a new video from their teased music video shoot onto their Facebook page last month! Apologies for the public delay, updates from their camp are sporadic. Back in March, you may recall seeing this clip of the band performing in a bathroom, but how about now?

The new 56 second video features what appears to be the end of the video in question being shot, in a room full of pink lighting and a LOT of smoke, leading to Amanda, Paul, and Spacebag Productions' Josh Penno (who was filming the shoot) leaving the building. The room here looked bigger than the bathroom, so is the basic idea of the video (assuming it's just one video) that the band is playing in multiple rooms of a house? Time will tell, but give it a watch below, and hopefully the final product goes live soon!

Next up, new local alt-hardcore duo These Magnificent Tentacles have posted two new videos on their Facebook page in the last two months to tease some recent studio recording work they've done with Dustin Jones at Mission Control Studios! Brent & Steve started these sessions on August 9th, and other than saying that they're recording "some new tracks", they didn't specify whether these would be part of an album of some kind, or just to have some more studio content ready. The first 18 second video is a low-res clip of what appears to be the guys tracking material with Dustin behind the computer (you hear more of the metronome than the actual song), but embedded below is last week's video shared from Tidal Records' Facebook page, where Brent & Steve use all twenty of their magnificent tentacles (ie: their fingers) simultaneously on a keyboard while in studio.

Metronome-heavy again, but you at least hear the rather trippy-sounding instrumental track clearly, and it's great to see that These Magnificent Tentacles are working on new material so they'll hopefully have more than one song on social media! Will we hear these new songs when they make their live concert debut at The Klub in the Pall Mall on Saturday night? Be there to find out, and give these new videos a look above and below!

Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items from the last while, all via recent postings on the the Musicians Wanted Facebook group from local musicians looking for new bands over the past month! As usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist name:

 

• Toronto-area rock bassist Chris Ricci is moving to Sault Ste. Marie this month and is looking for musical projects in town to play in/with. He is an experienced musician in Southern Ontario hard rock acts like Cocked & Loaded and Black Sun, plus multiple tribute bands for the likes of Ozzy Osbourne, Kiss, and AC/DC, and multiple videos are on YouTube from his recent band work if you want to see what he brings to the table. Sounds like a very promising pick-up for anyone looking for an experienced bassist, but message Chris at this link or via his group post from two weeks ago for more details!
• Former Suicide Kings frontman Mike Gaetano is looking to either join or start a new local band. His post from last month notes that while he can play guitar and piano, he wants to focus on singing unless absolutely necessary. Ideally, his band would be playing covers and originals equally and he's hoping to play live once every couple of months at first, though he did not specify whether he'd want to play hard rock like in his prior major bands or something else. It'd be great to see Mike fronting a new local band, but message him at this link or through the group for more info!
  
• A local musician named Taylor McKay is looking to start an extreme metal band with like-minded artists (who have gear), and he can play bass & rhythm guitar, as well as provide clean vocals. He also has a home studio for songwriting purposes if need be. I'm not familiar with Taylor musically, but message him at this link or via his group post (like Chris, also from two weeks ago) for details!
  

 

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

Noochin' Lanterns & Them Updates, Mellow D's Next Private Concert, And More!!

On this Saturday afternoon, we have some news and updates to touch on, largely focusing on a newer local concert site and videos from bands that recently played there, but we also have some shorter assorted items to round things out. Now, here's what you should know!

Here's some new videos of bands at new local private concert venue Mellow D's Underground, which returns for it's (at least) fourth event tonight! Just in terms of that event, it'll take place tonight at 7:00 PM, have "an underground whiskey bar", and at least three bands, including newer local power punk quintet The Noochin' Lanterns. For what it's worth, a shared post notes that "The Apocalypse Afterparty invite you to come join us" tonight, implying that they'll end their 2 year concert hiatus for this event, but that hasn't been referenced elsewhere. Message promoters and the involved bands above to inquire about the address and extra details! As for the videos, The Apocalypse Afterparty shared this Noochin' Lanterns video from frontman Paul Stanghetta's personal Facebook page on Wednesday where the band (sans Amber McKay) sit around on a front step listening to the first mix of an original song of theirs, implied to be via Dustin Jones at Mission Control Studios.

There has been no public confirmation yet on if The Noochin' Lanterns are working on a debut CD (we're still waiting on "Bufflesnort" release info), but it's a nice sample, and uniquely framed, so check it out above! The remaining new videos were all filmed by Them frontman Tyler St. Amour and posted to Mellow D's Facebook page on Wednesday, though these may actually be delayed uploads from their March 1st private gig, given the lack of Amber or new guitarist Tyler Gibson. Three videos (titles unclear) were filmed from this set, linked here, here, and below, and while they were all unfortunately filmed in portrait orientiation, these capture vibrant and energetic originals that Paul, Matthew, and Amanda handle pretty well! And yes, they have their pajamas on here too! Also, the setup reminds me a tiny bit of Sykotyk Rampage's "Cave" that they hold jam sessions in, just with brighter lighting. Give these new Noochin' Lanterns videos a look!



Next up, the aforementioned Them have some new videos of their own, courtesy of their set at the Mellow D's Underground private show on February 24th (unless they played a later one without a public acknowledgement!) Posted to the grind/punk duo's Facebook page on Wednesday as well, these constitute the band's first promotion of a concert set since opening for Gorod at The Oddfellows Hall almost one year ago, so it's great to see that Tyler and Anthony are back at it, albeit at a private venue! One video can be seen at this link, while the longer clip is embedded below. Unfortunately filmed at a vertical camera angle again (though it does work better for a two man band), these capture Them at a good ferocity and energy level, but Tyler could be clearer on the mic, and announcements of song names would have helped. It's great to see Them alive and well, and hopefully they return to a public stage sooner or later, but give their Mellow D's clips a look above & below, and keep tonight's event in mind if you're curious!

 

Finally for today, here's three more assorted shorter news items from the last little while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by company or event name:

• We have updated the link on the SMS for Castlegar, British Columbia internet radio station Energy Rock Radio (which broadcasted locally from 2008-2011), as their old "Radio Last Call" domain is no longer active, in favour of the more expected www.energyrockradio.com. Now that's accurately linked again, and check out Ryan and the Brew Crew's original programming and metal playlist there for an alternative radio option with local roots!
• Have you been wondering why we didn't cover Tuesday's announced lineup reveal for June 18th's Rock The Border Music Fest? Assuming there's hard rock or punk on the bill, we would have, but the lineup announcement was postponed to yesterday as promoters CSA International were "waiting on one more contract", but yesterday's new deadline has came & went too. This event still has promise, especially as what looks like a larger scope rebound from CSA's postponed Quiet Riot concert, so stay tuned to the Facebook event page for updates! For what it's worth, the lineup will reportedly have an American, Canadian, and Australian band.
• I have reluctantly removed former local recording studio Stereo Soul Studios from our "Other Local Metal Links" section due to the apparent expiry of their website's domain name, and I can't find a comparable replacement for our links. Best known for producing albums from bands like Gates of Winter and Woods of Ypres throughout the late 2000s, studio head Miguel Gauthier has since found success in photography and film in Los Angeles. Hopefully he keeps up the great work, and he's definitely been missed up here!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes next week! Thanks everyone!