LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Tym Morrison) & Eastern Upper Peninsula Weekend Concert Previews!!

It's another busy weekend for hard rock concerts in the Twin Saults and EUP, and its largely because of the EUP why we have to break our previews into three posts! The plan is to look at this weekend's Rock N' Roll Ave, Bone Yard 225, and Generations concert (plus WestFest II) in our next post, with Sunday's short notice Curtis McKenzie matinee as part of our next general news post once we get back in the swing of clearing out our backlog. For now, here's what you should know, starting with a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT in Sault Ontario and another new northern date!

Just one day removed from his late notice addition to the Maddy's Mighty Mutts Family Fun Day (more on that hopefully soon), local classic/hard rock musician Tym Morrison will play at The Up & Down Lounge at 24 Second Line West for a second straight Thursday TONIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, Tym only announced this show via his Facebook event page on Tuesday, and at press time, The Up & Down Lounge has not corroborated that he is playing there again TONIGHT. They did start with two straight Jason Taillefer solo acoustic concerts there, so if Tym is playing two straight too, is that the scheduling pattern here, or is Tym legitimately a short notice booking? Regardless, it's good to see Tym staying busy as the summer marches on, and hopefully there's a decent crowd in the west end TONIGHT for his unplugged classic and hard rock covers! Remember, acts play indoors at the Up & Down despite the patio being open.

In one more new booking, Tym will make the 45 minute drive southeast to Ije's Place in nearby Desbarats on Friday, August 14th, as per this Facebook event page! This will be Tym's third show at Ije's, following two shows at the Central Algoma cafe & bakery last month, most recently this past week. though be advised that Ije's Facebook page hasn't plugged that Tym will be back there yet either. Both TONIGHT'S Up & Down Lounge show and next week's trip to Desbarats are 6:00 PM concerts with no announced cover charge, and while the Up & Down gig is likely 19+, Ije's should be all ages as it's not a nightclub. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Tym live!

Next up, let's head across the border to Michigan for some hard rock concerts in the EUP, and we'll start in St. Ignace, where local classic/hard rock trio Peril will return for a special outdoor concert TONIGHT as part of the town's Music By The Bay summer concert series at American Legion Park! Aside from one or two annual gigs in this series, Peril (and Scarkazm) exclusively play at Kewadin Casino when they make trips north of the Mackinac Bridge, so if you want to see Jeff, Howard, and Brooks outside, earlier in the day, or just somewhere other than a Kewadin branch, keep tonight's show in mind! If you can't make it, Peril will be back on Friday the 21st, though be advised that they have not corroborated either booking on their Facebook page in recent weeks. TONIGHT'S concert runs from 7:00-8:30 PM, and it is absolutely free & all ages. Weather-wise, 9&10 News is calling for sunny skies and temperatures of 72-74° (22-23° Celsius) tonight.

Looks like good conditions are in store for TONIGHT in St. Ignace, so if you'll be in the area or up for the hour's drive from the Soo, consider swinging by for Peril's next local concert! Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Peril live a few years back!

Now let's take the half hour drive northeast along Saint Martin Bay to Hessel, where rebranded local hard rock cover band Nate's Chow will play their first show under this name TOMORROW NIGHT at The Islander Bar, but that's not all from them! As you may recall, the band formerly known as Unfortunate Sun rebranded as Nate's Chow (taking their name in part from their predecessors Fake Chow) after frontman Skip Parish left the band in March. Their Facebook description now lists them as a trio with Jody, Brett, and Jason sharing vocals, and while the band's AI-generated imagery does include photos featuring a band of four animals, including their beaver mascot (Nate?) on vocals, drummer Jason VanLuven confirmed on the venue's Facebook page that this will be "our new 3 piece singing debut". We will get into their other three new dates (all in September) in an upcoming post so we can keep our weekend concert previews on a reasonable schedule.

This one-night-only concert takes place tomorrow at 8:00 PM with a 21+ age limit and no cover charge. It will be interesting to hear how Nate's Chow sound, especially if they lean more to the generally heavier covers that Unfortunate Sun played compared to Fake Chow, though with Skip absent (and back in his country/southern rock cover duo Blood, Sweat, and Beers), things could be wide open, especially as the rest of the band aren't established frontmen. That, or "Nate" the beaver is singing, if you believe AI! See above for more details, and here's the former Unfortunate Sun live!

We'll close this post back in St. Ignace, where Ontonogan hard rock quartet Nolium will make their EUP debuts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT at The Northern Pines Lounge at their Kewadin Casino branch! The heaviest and most originals-focused of the three new-to-the-EUP touring bands debuting under the Kewadin umbrella this summer (our Rock N' Roll Ave preview is in our next post!), fans of modern grunge, alternative, and hard rock will take to their cover range, and fresh off of a show in Wisconsin for them, why not zip east across the peninsula? Nolium are a solid band with good enthusiasm and some eclectic song choices that bands in the EUP don't often play, so keep their shows in mind for this weekend! As usual for Kewadin lounges, these are 9:00 PM affairs with 21+ age limits and no cover charges. See above for more details, and here's a full-set video of Nolium live!

That's all for now, but our weekend concert previews will continue with Rock N' Roll Ave and Sault Ontario concerts next! Thanks everyone!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Tym Morrison), Mid-Week Concert Previews, And An Inactive Band Note!!

No rest for the wicked, as while the weekend concert previews are over, there are also a healthy amount of weekday concerts to preview over the next few days, so let's address them tonight (including a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT), so here's what you should know, along with a prominent band now back in our inactive links!

Firstly for this mid-week batch of previews, local classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison will bring his acoustic solo act back to The Mike Case Memorial Stage outside of The Trading Post on WEDNESDAY, but after that, he will debut at The Up & Down Lounge on THURSDAY NIGHT as well! Apologies for the short notice on THURSDAY'S concert, it was only announced via its Facebook event page yesterday. The Up & Down Lounge (at 24 Second Line West beside the Surplus Furniture & Mattress Warehouse) is scarcely known as a concert venue, last seen on the SMS when Silent 9 played a private event last fall, but they're experimenting with outdoor patio concerts on THURSDAYS this summer, with Dodge This' Jason Taillefer first up there for weeks #1 and #2, though as best as I can tell, musicians perform indoors. They are looking for more artists too, leaning towards acoustic acts and DJs.

Message the lounge/indoor golf simulator venue at this link for details! Preceding his Up & Down debut on THURSDAY, Tym is back at The Mike Case Stage on Wednesday, so you have two outdoor(?) chances to see his unplugged hard rock covers mid-week! Wednesday's Trading Post show is at 6:30 PM, the Up & Down show runs from 6:00-9:00 PM on THURSDAY, the latter show is 19+, and neither has an announced cover charge. 9&10 News currently has 21-24° temperatures on Wednesday with sunny skies, and if things are 100% outside, it should be even warmer the next day. Click here and visit the above links for more on Tym's back-to-back mid-week solo concerts, and for a preview, here he is live!

Next up, we'll head to Beck's Bar, where they will host a special Tuesday concert TOMORROW NIGHT headlined by Cornwall hardcore/metal quartet Hellrager! Last seen locally at 2023's Northern Vibe Festival (after dropping out of the last two), this will be their first show in Sault Ste. Marie proper, and will also mark the local return of former Spades GT/Caym guitarist Jay Sarrazin, who filled in on bass with the former Jack Spades at Northern Vibe in 2022. It's good to see Beard back in town, and hopefully Hellrager melt faces with their bluesy yet in-your-face attack tomorrow night! Local openers tomorrow at Beck's include local death metal quartet Eden Plague, in the former Bear Hunters' first gig since Rotaryfest earlier this month, as well as their debut at the 232 Goulais Avenue nightclub. Also joining them tomorrow is extreme metal quintet With Gunfire in their first concert set of 2026.

No idea where the former Sault Side Squad have been lately, but hopefully more of their promising original slate is unleashed tomorrow! Promoted by Eden Plague drummer (and fellow Spades alum) Johnny Belanger, tomorrow's concert runs from 6:30-10:00 PM, which is just as well given the work/school night timing. This will be a 19+ show, but surprisingly, it will have no cover charge, so if you need an extra excuse to come out, now you have it! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details on tomorrow's intriguingly heavy concert in the west end, and here's Hellrager live!

Also, let's go downtown for another free concert TOMORROW NIGHT, this time from local Pearl Jam tribute band Even Flow! Last seen at the first Downtown Street Party of 2026 last month (more on the second one soon), tomorrow evening's concert will see them gather under The Roberta Bondar Pavilion tent as the fifth of eleven bands in the City of Sault Ste. Marie's annual Summer Concert Series, which sees live covers-leaning local bands perform free concerts on Tuesday and Thursday evenings in July and August. Even Flow are the second and last SMS-amenable band scheduled in the series for 2026, and hopefully this supergroup delivers a fun evening of grunge and alternative rock hits from the Pearl Jam catalogue for assembled fans tomorrow! Summer Concert series shows are all FREE & ALL AGES, and they run from 7:00-9:00 PM.

9&10 News is calling for sunny skies tomorrow evening with temperatures in the 20-21° range, which sounds perfectly agreeable, so visit the above links for more on Rob, Steve, Cameron, Mike, and Derek's big downtown concert, and here they are in a recent jam session!

Finally today, I have moved local midwest emo/post-hardcore trio Fuller to our inactive band links. The reunited band has not issued a public update since their headlining Stage 2 slot at Rotaryfest last year, though remember that bassist Mark Rand (who missed that concert) and drummer David Peredun both live out of town nowadays. After their successful 2002-2005 local run, Fuller surprised many by reuniting for a December 2023 concert at LopLops Lounge, later confirming plans to record their Mark-era original material in studio, with their full length album "II" released to major digital platforms in March of last year. To date, the album isn't on CD or vinyl, but their Rotaryfest set was a fitting culmination of their reunion era, Mark's absence aside. While my music tastes lie heavier, it was neat seeing a staple of my early local concert-going years back at it, and hopefully frontman Jamie Vincent revisits Fuller in some form when the time is right, as they were a welcomed attraction!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for this month's YouTube Channel Profile next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Generations & Bookclub) Plus The Robbie G/Apocalypse Afterparty Preview!!

Let's finish up this weekend's hard rock concert previews on this rainy Friday, but leading off, we do have LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, one on SHORT NOTICE, so here's what you should know!

Local alt-punk bands The Northwest and BookcluB will join forces TOMORROW at the Downtown Plaza for the Elbows Up celebration! Apologies for the short notice, I only heard anything about local music involvement yesterday via Facebook plugs, but the event proper has been advertised in local news media for a few weeks now. TOMORROW's event is one of many "Elbows Up" events designed to promote Canadian sovereignty and national pride in the wake of the current political climate/trade war with the United States. The event is intended to be family friendly, non-political, and positive, and as such, expect t-shirt sales (red & white clothing is encouraged), celebrations and gatherings, and local indigenous dancers and drum groups in the afternoon. Timeslots aren't given, but the bands (including the reunited funk/jam rock band Big Wheel & The Spokes) were described on Facebook as playing the "after party", so don't expect them early.

Good to see The Northwest and BookcluB back out there after their relatively quiet starts to 2025! MCed by Spokes frontman Jay Case, TOMORROW'S Elbows Up celebration is a free and all ages event, and coincides with a similar Bridging Our Friendship event in Sault Michigan near the International Bridge tomorrow to show support to Sault Ontario amidst the trade war and strained relations (this is also simultaneously happening in Detroit and Port Huron). I hope both events are peaceful shows of support for both Canada and our relationship with Sault Michigan, as none of what's going on now is either Soo's fault! Weather-wise, we're looking at 7-9° weather TOMORROW afternoon with clouds disappearing by the evening, and no chance of rain. Visit the above links and SooToday for more details, and here's BookcluB live!

Next up, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations will return to the stage with concerts at Jay's Piston Broke Pub on Friday, May 16th and Saturday, May 17th! Yes, these shows fall on the Victoria Day ("May 2-4") long weekend, and will be joined by the band (sans singer Valerie Powley) hosting the Thursday jam night on the 15th as well. Remember that we don't cover jam/open mic nights as "concerts" due to their unpredictability. These will be Generations' first concerts after taking this month off from the stage, so it will be good to see the Jus' Chillin successors back at it with their fan favourite classic and hard rock covers next month! These remain 9:30 PM gigs with 19+ age limits and no cover charges. Beyond that, drummer Tony Santoro also announced on their Facebook group that Generations have been tapped as this year's headliners for The Roberta Bondar Pavilion's Canada Day festivities on Tuesday, July 1st, which could be their biggest show of the year!

Details are forthcoming on the day's complete itinerary, but last year, the stage under the big tent hosted live entertainment (not all musicians) from 2:00 PM onward, with The Way Backs doing the closing honours last year. Click here to see what 2024's schedule looked like. The Canada Day show will be FREE & ALL AGES, with Generations playing at around 8:00 PM, give or take when fireworks occur. Huge news for Valerie, the Tonys, and Pierre, and hopefully they deliver a solid evening of covers (ideally with lots of Cancon) for the occasion! Visit the above links for more details on Generations' impending dates, and we'll let you know if we hear more!

Finally for this post, let's wrap up this weekend's concert previews with a big mixed-genre show on SUNDAY NIGHT at Soo Blaster, as local party metal trio The Apocalypse Afterparty will again serve as outliers on an otherwise rap bill, once again opening for Guelph rapper Robbie G! This will be the fifth time that the Stanghettas & Mikhal have set up shop as the lone rock outpost at a Soo Blaster hip-hop event, previously doing so at shows headlined by Tech N9ne, Madchild, Afroman, and the aforementioned Robbie G, who last graced the Soo Blaster stage at the end of 2023. Clearly, these rap shows are giving The A.A. some strong positive notices, so hopefully there's more of the same for their guitar devoid & double bassed attack! DJ Bizick will be at the controls on Sunday, while other rappers performing on Sunday include No Filter Records representatives, Bold Noize, 1Don, Strangers, Q-Bone, and new confirmation KG Tha Sungod, who was confirmed on Eventbrite.

I'm not a hip-hop scholar, but there's a lot of talent among Sunday's roster, and it is great to see Bold Noise performing again, so don't miss out on all of this rap action then, with a dash of rock! Tickets are $20 in advance at Soo Blaster for general admission (it is all ages), while there are higher priced V.I.P. packages if you wanted merchandise, a chance to meet Robbie G, and perhaps more. Click here for full details on online tickets and V.I.P. passes, though there will be taxes and processing fees that way. Visit the Facebook event page for more details, and here's The Apocalypse Afterparty live!

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

Selias Concert Videos & 104.3 The Fox Updates!!

Before we begin today's post, I wanted to apologize for a missed concert in our St. Patrick's Day weekend previews, as local classic/hard rock cover duo Dodge This played last night at the Up & Down Lounge at 24 Second Line West. Murphy's Law strikes again, as the hard rock concert with the most blatant holiday themes and frills is the one that the band only announced on their Facebook page four hours before showtime, let alone at a venue that's never crossed our radar before. Apologies again for missing this one, I'd have covered it on here with even a day's notice, but hopefully Dodge This had a solid turnout at the bar/indoor golf lounge!

Today's post otherwise covers some on-air details from one of our local rock radio stations, but leading off, here's videos from Friday night's Selias concert at Soo Blaster! Two videos of the headlining Toronto melodic death metal band's set have publically surfaced on Facebook this weekend, and while both are short, you get a nice little sample of their local encore from them. The longer of the two clips comes from 705Live Sound Co.'s Facebook page, with Mike Blair again filming the video from the soundboard. I know he likes to do the "camera zooms out from the soundboard and comes back" thing for their videos, but here, it put too much emphasis on the crowd level on the floor. I couldn't place the song upon checking out this clip (maybe it's new?), but it features a more melodic chorus with clean vocals. What we see and hear sounds good, so see some of what you may have missed from Selias' set on Friday night below!

Next up, the other local Selias video (so far?) actually comes from Selias' own Facebook page, with a band representative filming 18 seconds worth of their set on Friday. The band representative was on the floor, so the video is much closer to the stage and better highlights the audience, but the audio quality isn't quite as crisp as on 705Live's video. Still a solid little teaser, so check it out below, and we'll let you know if other videos from Friday night turn up!

Finally for today, let's discuss some recent programming notes for new Sault Ontario rock radio station 104.3 The Fox! I forgot to mention this at the time, but back on February 13th, they aired a "great albums" program to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the release of The Black Crowes' "Shake Your Money Maker", with Howard Manshein of the Sunday Night Vinyl Series playing it front to back. This concept is not a regular program that airs at a given time, and didn't get a lot of commercials prior, but keep it in mind if you're listening to CJQM! Also last month, regular local DJ Dan Koo was off air for a week (I never heard if it was due to illness or vacation), and with him being absent, Mitch Belanger from 101.9 The Fox in North Bay was on air for the 2:00-6:00 PM weekday timeslot. On that Saturday from 12:00-6:00 PM, Nick Liard from Q92 in Sudbury filled in for Dan instead.

Now you have an idea how The Fox will deal with talent absences! As for their theme weeks, they've continued unabated since launch, but two of them in recent weeks weren't for a specific band. February 10th-16th was Cover Songs Week, with the Sunday Night Vinyl Series episode on the 16th seeing Howard play David Bowie's covers album "Pin Ups" in full, while March 3rd-9th was Women In Rock Week, ending with Heart's "Dreamboat Annie" playing on the Sunday Night Vinyl Series. Nice to see Rogers change things up every so often for the theme weeks and what gets played on air for them, but I am still surprised that they don't do Canadian acts all that often. The Q104 switch to The Fox in January happened during Rush Week and they haven't spotlighted a domestic band since. Lastly, all Rogers-owned radio stations got new website overhauls last month, The Fox included, so they all have the same design & layout heavily inspired by the Seekr application.

Honestly, I'm not a fan of the new website, as it focuses way more on Seekr than any of Rogers' individual FM stations, and you can't see a full programming schedule or on-air playlist anymore (ironically, the Seekr application still lists that day's schedule). Good thing the old layout was still in effect when I was first covering The Fox, as I had links and more sources to go off of! Hopefully they improve and add to the websites in due cpurse, but if you want to hear exclusive Seekr content, you'll know more about it now! That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site as the week continues! Thanks everyone!

The First Of This Weekend's Hard Rock Concert Previews!!

This weekend's slate of hard rock/punk concert previews is, while certainly busy, much quieter than last week, in that we only need two posts to preview everything, not four! That said, due to the amount, the Saturday-only gigs from The Nameless and HeadFirst, plus Sunday's Sylo-headlined concert, will be in tomorrow's post, with room for a late notice confirmation if one hits the desk. Stay tuned then, but here's what you should know to lead off for the next couple of days!

Let's start with prolific local classic/hard rock musician Tym Morrison, whose regular weekly runs at at The Mike Case Memorial Stage outside of The Trading Post TOMORROW NIGHT and at Misty's Fifties THIS SATURDAY march on for another week! Nothing strange to report this week from the usual for Tym's summer arrangements this year, so if you want to enjoy his acoustic rock hits and the great live production that he gives them, be way down on Great Northern Road tomorrow or at the Second Line West nightclub on Saturday! As usual, both of Tym's shows this weekend have no cover charge, and while tomorrow's Mike Case Stage show is all ages, his Misty's Fifties show on Saturday is a 19+ matinee at 4:00 PM. Now, be advised that 9&10 News is calling for scattered thunderstorms during Tym's 7:00-9:00 PM timeframe tomorrow, and he has called off shows due to weather before.

At press time, I have not heard anything about how tomorrow's forecast may or may not impair Tym's outdoor concert at The Trading Post, but if you are at all concerned, keep tabs with Tym on social media closer to showtime. Regardless, it'll be cloudy (when not raining) with temperatures hovering in the 20-21° range. Visit the official Facebook event pages linked here and here for more details, and for a preview, here's Tym live!

Next up, we'll head just outside of town in Laird, where the annual North Shore Agricultural Fair (a.k.a. the Laird Fair) will welcome two covers-heavy bands from Sault Ontario as musical entertainment this weekend, namely southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 TOMORROW NIGHT and classic/hard rock quartet Soundcheck on SATURDAY NIGHT! Both bands are capping off the nightly festivities this weekend, and there's a lot of family friendly activities to take in through Sunday, both indoors and out, so be sure to visit the fair's official Facebook page for complete non-musical details! Both bands are playing under the covered stage at the fairground site at Lake George Road East at 9:00 PM on their respective evenings, there's no age limits or cover charges stated in festival materials, and camping on site is encouraged if you are so inclined. Shuttle buses will also be provided to get willing attendees to and from Sault Ste. Marie if needed.

The stage is covered but it's not fully indoors, so expect temperatures of around 20° tomorrow and a little higher on Saturday. 9&10 News is calling for rain tomorrow, but again, the space where the bands are playing has a roof. The Laird Fair is not historically known for hosting live rock bands like this, but it'll be interesting to see how things go for both Bone Yard and Soundcheck this weekend outside of Echo Bay! We'll have more from the former band in a bit, but for a preview, here's Soundcheck live!

Now we'll take a brief detour to Sault Michigan, where local hard rock sextet Exit 808 will return to The Rapids Lounge at the local Kewadin Casino branch TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! One week removed from their debut at The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin, this talented group will rock the Soo Kewadin for their second weekend there, following their mid-July shows that were heavily impaired by member absences (singer Amy Beach was ill and guitarist Will Robbins was on vacation), let alone that debuting bassist Myke Young only played half of the songs. Now at full force, hopefully tomorrow & Saturday's concerts are hits as Exit 808 continue on their upward trajectory! Both are 21+ events with 9:00 PM start times and no cover. See above for more details, and for a preview, here's two brand new St. Ignace videos via their Facebook page!

One was live-streamed by attendee Diana Davis near the start of Exit 808's first set on Friday, and it has them covering 97 seconds' worth of AC/DC's "T.N.T." (with Dillion Semasky on lead vocals and Amy backing). While they thanked her for the "videos", only that one was publically shared... so far? Embedded below is a much longer (though sideways for the second half) direct upload of them covering Steppenwolf's "Born To Be Wild" with Dillion and Amy alternating on verses & sharing choruses. Given their vocal ranges, this is a much better cover for them than AC/DC, but the new lineup sounds good overall on both, so check these out above & below, and don't miss Exit 808 in the Soo this weekend!

Finally for weekend concert preview post #1, let's head back north to Sault Ontario, as the aforementioned Bone Yard 225 will take their "uncorked" show to a third venue when they debut at Gino's Fired Up Kitchen & Bar THIS SATURDAY! Since commencing hosting local acoustic acts on their large patio this summer, the 1076 Great Northern Road restaurant has sparingly hosted some hard rock-leaning musicians (like the aforementioned Tym Morrison) on Wednesdays and Saturdays, with Bone Yard playing two of the final three Saturdays of this month there. If you liked their unplugged shows at The Water Tower Pub and the Gateway Casino, you should like what Greg, Alex, and Warren have in store at Gino's on Saturday, but of course, if you'd rather see them "corked", they'll be in full electric mode at the Laird Fair tomorrow night! Saturday's concert has no age limit, a 6:30 PM start time, and no cover.

While Gino's patio is covered, 9&10 News is calling for scattered thunderstorms around the time that your local 225 are slated to take the stage (70% chance in general that day). Otherwise, the forecast has mostly cloudy skies with a high of 22°. The roof is very much acknowledged, but if you are at all concerned about the show being cancelled, curtailed, or moved inside due to the possible storm, keep tabs with the band and Gino's on social media for further updates. Visit the above links for more details on Saturday's show, and for a preview, here's Bone Yard "uncorked"!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for our Nameless, HeadFirst, and Sylo previews (and more?) next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Tym Morrison), Bone Yard 225's New Single, And Much More!!

Let's keep things rolling on the SMS on this Wednesday, for a post featuring an inactive band note, a local band's new original song, a local radio interview that we missed from the spring, and leading off, LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, one on SHORT NOTICE! Here's what you should know!

Local classic/hard rock solo musician Tym Morrison will reportedly make his debut at Gino's Fired Up Kitchen & Bar at 1076 Great Northern Road TONIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, Tym only announced this show via its Facebook event page this past Thursday. Yes, the show is TONIGHT, as Gino's is hosting Wednesday evening concerts at least occasionally now that their new and quite large patio is open for the summer, with the first advertised Wednesday nighter being with Lawrence & Mickey on June 19th. Note that Gino's has not confirmed Tym as playing TONIGHT on their Facebook page, but Tym's Facebook event page has him returning for two more Wednesday nighters on July 17th and August 28th, so keep all three shows in mind for some mid-week classic and hard rock cover action! As these shows are on the patio, I'd assume that it'd close for the season around September.

All three Gino's concerts have no stated age limit (Gino's is an Italian restaurant first and foremost), no cover charge, and a 6:30 PM start time. Be advised that 9&10 News is calling for a 30% chance of rain throughout TONIGHT's alotted timeframe of 6:30-9:30 PM, so keep tabs with Tym and/or Gino's if you're at all concerned about rain interrupting the show (temperatures will be around 21°). Visit the above links for more on Tym's Gino's shows this summer, TONIGHT included, stay tuned for our preview of his Trading Post show in our normal weekend previews, and here he is live!

Next up, local southern hard rock cover trio Bone Yard 225 released their first true studio single to Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and their new auto-generated YouTube Music channel on Sunday night! Entitled "FAFO" (an acronym for "fuck around (and) find out"), it is neat to see Bone Yard finally release an original song like this after fifteen years together primarily playing covers, but fans will have seen live performances and occasional studio teasers over the years. A solid hard rocker with defiant lyrics inspired by the state of the world, fans of the modern heavier Bone Yard will enjoy this, so give it a listen below, and don't miss them "uncorked" at The Water Tower Pub next weekend!

Also, here's something that completely slipped us by back in March, as Treble Charger guitarist Bill Priddle was interviewed on CBC Radio One about the band and their recent reunion! This took place on the March 6th episode of Morning North, the Sudbury-based morning show that airs on all CBC Radio One stations in the Northeastern Ontario market, the Soo on 89.5 FM included. If you missed it then, it is available for on-demand listening at this link. The 15 minute segment features host Markus Schwabe asking Bill about how their reunion concert at The Machine Shop the following day came about, how he's feeling as a live musician nowadays, him and bandmate Greig Nori growing up in the Soo, moving to Southern Ontario to make it in bands, making a living in music, some of their best known singles like "Red" & "American Psycho", how they initially started getting attention, their shift to pop punk...

... deep cuts that he and Greig loved that didn't become hits, any possible unfinished business or the chances of new material, and their reunion concert on March 7th, which was a fundraiser for Algoma University's music program. As well, clips of a few of their songs are played in between Markus and Bill talking, usually relevant ones to the topic. The interview doesn't touch on their initial breakup and Bill's music work beyond Treble Charger, and some extra plugs for the reunion show proper would have been nice, but this was an entertaining and relaxed interview that fans will enjoy, so if you missed it in March, give it a listen at the above links!

Finally for today, we have a band to move to our inactive Sault Ontario band links, namely local classic/hard rock quartet The Uncanny Valley. While they have not publically confirmed a break-up, they have not posted on social media since releasing their music video for "The Village" on June 24th last year, past our one year inactivity threshold. Beyond that, they otherwise haven't made a public statement since their Oktoberfest set in October 2022, and it did cross my mind in recent months that the "The Village" video may have been intended as a posthumous final act. Led by 2019 Soo's Got Talent winner Adrian Sullivan, The Uncanny Valley debuted on stage that December, and while much of their early run was lost due to pandemic lockdowns, they played a number of headlining dates when able, while also playing at Rotaryfest in 2021 & 2022, and taking part in 2022's Go North Music Festival.

Unfortunately, plans to release an album stalled out before it could see the light of day, but original songs can be seen in extant videos, and they recorded "Stuck In Rotation" for the Clusterfolk compilation tape. The Uncanny Valley's old school, psychedelic-tinged brand of hard rock was a welcome change of pace among rising young local bands at the turn of the 2020s, and hopefully we hear more from Adrian, Matt, Brenden, and Dylan soon (and don't miss ex-bassist Adam Fahrer in Hollow Sky!). That's all for now, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Bone Yard 225)!!

Local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 have updated their website's concert calendar to reflect their slate of summer concerts taking place in August, so when can you check them out then? Their first show that month will be out of town, as they'll be heading 90 minutes east to Thessalon to play at the Aubrey Falls Trading Post & Outpost Camp on Saturday, August 3rd for their Civic Holiday weekend pig roast. Thessalon is outside of our coverage range, but hopefully this show goes well despite the atypical venue, and keep it in mind if you're in Central Algoma moreso! And yes, it is that Aubrey Falls, namely Bone Yard singer/drummer Greg Simpson's old That's Chester bandmate. Your local 225's first truly local show of August 2024 will see them rock Algoma Tree Services' sixth annual community meet & greet/charity barbecue on Saturday, August 10th! This will be Bone Yard's first ever appearance at this event.

Readers may recall that the musical entertainment at the Goulais River-based business over the past two years was local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck and classic rock band Angry Joe & The Growlers, and according to their website's calendar, Bone Yard 225 will be replacing Soundcheck as the headliners this year for unannounced reasons. In the past two years, I didn't hear a peep about this event until after it took place, so kudos to Bone Yard for publicizing it, and hopefully lots of money is raised for the Kiwanis Club that weekend! The Growlers kick things off at 1:30 PM with Bone Yard headlining at 7:00 PM, and there is no cover for this public, outdoor, and all ages event. Click here for more updates! On Friday, August 16th, Greg, Alex, and Warren will hit the road (if still nearby) to perform at the opening night of this year's Laird Fair outside of Echo Bay! 

The Laird Fair (a.k.a. the North Shore Agricultural Fair) is new to me as SMS coverage goes, but music is not new there, with last year's featured act being local country singer Mark Tarantini and his solo band. If similarly staged/plotted, Bone Yard 225 will rock a covered stage at the fairground site at Lake George Road East at 9:00 PM. Specifics on this year's fair are not out yet (follow their Facebook page for updates), but this should be an all ages event, and I didn't see reference to a cover charge last year. See above for more on the 2024 fair so far! On August 17th and 31st, Bone Yard are slated to go "uncorked", but not at one of their usual two acoustic haunts, as they'll rock Gino's Fired Up Kitchen & Bar at 1076 Great Northern Road for the first time on those Saturday nights! Gino's (which re-opened after heavy remodeling early last year) began hosting live musicians on weekends on their patio this past Friday.

So far, Gino's has welcomed Matthew James and Leslie Cook for shows at their covered patio (apparently the largest one in town), and while there is a roof on the patio, one imagines that live music will only be a seasonal thing if Gino's keeps it going into 2025. Will hard rock-leaning acoustic performers beat Bone Yard 225 to the Gino's stage before August? Stay tuned, but both of their shows are 6:30 PM affairs with no cover charge or stated age limit. The Gino's dates sandwich two shows elsewhere in August, starting with Bone Yard's return to the second annual Dragonfly Run (the rebranded/re-organized Ride For ARCH) on Sunday, August 25th! Their concert events move from an outdoor stage outside of Jay's Piston Broke Pub to The Grand Gardens on Great Northern Road this year, and Bone Yard 225 knows the new locale very well via their involvement in the annual Toystock charity concerts there in November.

Of course, the Dragonfly Run is a motorcycle rally supporting the Algoma Regional Community Hospice, which has attached community events to support ARCH, the concert included. No word on who else will be playing, but Bourbon Blue offshoot Nicky & The Southpaws and alt-rock band The Haze (née Skinbox) also performed last year. Just for the record, I am not getting into the recent controversy over this event vs. the unrelated ARCH Run that Jay's Piston Broke Pub is hosting the previous day at/outside the Korah Road venue, but if you want to read the Dragonfly Run organizers' statement about why they didn't return to Jay's for 2024 and their view on a competing rally/festival that same weekend, click here. Expect family activities, a bike show, and yes, the rally proper based at The Grand Gardens on August 25th, and this is an all ages event as usual.

There is no cover unless pledging/riding in the rally, with Bone Yard 225 playing at 7:00 PM. Lastly, the guys will return to The Water Tower Pub for one more "uncorked" show on Friday, August 30th as they kick off the Labour Day long weekend! As usual, that one-nighter has an 8:00 PM start time, no cover, and a 19+ age limit. Like last year, Bone Yard 225 are prioritizing special events over normal nightclub gigs to end the summer, so there's a lot to take in as such with their classic, hard, and southern rock cover attack, so see above for more details, and look for more news and notes on the site this week! Thanks everyone!

Summer Concert Festival Postponements, Mike Haggith Updates, And New Videos!!

Day #33 of consecutive posts on the SMS sees a little more in the way of news for a change, but we do have a bunch of videos to look at from some familiar local faces, including a live-stream, a single release, and a two man acoustic jam. Here's what you should know!

The summer concert season will be taking a major hit this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, as both Rotaryfest in July and the Fringe North International Theatre Festival in August have been postponed. Sault Ontario's summer festival (which hosts two music stages at Clergue Park) announced the news on their Facebook page this morning "out of concern for our wonderful community", and they will be monitoring Algoma Public Health and provincial government guidelines before announcing plans for the next installment. Fringe North had taken place in tandem with the Up The Arts music stage in the last couple of years, hence why that event is relevant for the SMS. Their SooToday press release is more up front about the challenges and reasons behind cancelling this year's festival, but they are committed to bringing it back for 2021. Sadly, there are probably more shoes to drop for the summer concert calendar locally, so what should you keep an eye on in this regard?

Other big concert festivals this summer that could very well be cancelled or postponed include The Northern Vibe Festival in Ophir, the Go North Music Festival in Richards Landing, The Sugar Island Music Festival, and the Rudyard Musicians Festival, and that's not even counting smaller events and traditional concerts expected in the months ahead. Time will tell what happens, but if Rotaryfest isn't happening this year, you know this is serious. When more details come to light, we'll keep you posted!

Next up, local/Thompson, Manitoba alt-hard rock solo musician Mike Haggith has unveiled the third and final advance single for his forthcoming studio album "If Ever Comes The Day", as you can now hear "MorningStar" in it's full studio splendour, courtesy of his YouTube channel this morning! Of course, I'll hold comment on the song pending our review of the CD (which may hit the site sooner than you expect), but I will say that there's more to this version than you've heard in Mike's acoustic videos. In a bit of a scoop, Mike asked me earlier today if I could reveal the rescheduled date for his planned "If Ever Comes The Day" release concert at LopLops Lounge on the site, so you heard it here first: Assuming that provincial health guidelines allow it, the show will now take place on Friday, November 6th, which also happens to be Mike's 29th birthday! If anything changes re: the venue, album, Mike's backing band, or admission, we'll let you know.

There is a long time to go before we know if concerts as we know them can go forward, let alone at nightclubs, but hopefully the curve will be flattened sufficiently by the fall. At least Mike has a backup plan in motion, and it'd be quite a way for him to celebrate his birthday, so fingers crossed everything works out! For now, give "MorningStar" a listen below, and look for his third live-streamed "#LockdownLive" concert tomorrow!



Also today, local hard rock solo musician Tym Morrison performed his fifth live-streamed acoustic concert (and second on his YouTube channel) last night! The set proper begins about 8½ minutes in, and in performance order, Tym plays Chicago's "Hard To Say I'm Sorry", Eric Clapton's "Tears In Heaven", Kansas' "Dust In The Wind", and Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama", before pausing briefly to respond to Facebook messages. Afterwards, he tackles The Eagles' "Hotel California", Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead Or Alive", Alan Jackson's "Chattahoochee", White Lion's "When The Children Cry", Tom Petty's "Free Falling", Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'", Night Ranger's "Sister Christian", The Beatles' "Blackbird", Fleetwood Mac's "Never Going Back Again", Days Of The New's "Shelf In The Room", Billy Joel's "Piano Man", Richard Marx's "Hold On To The Nights", The Tragically Hip's "New Orleans Is Sinking", ...

...The Animals' "House of the Rising Sun", Collective Soul's "Shine", The Travelling Wilburys' "Handle With Care", his own original song "Say That You Care", and finally, Extreme's "Hole Hearted". While Tym was using the lyric book from his first two Twitch live-streams here, the set is almost entirely different from what he played on Tuesday, so the variety is definitely welcomed, and his performances are as strong and musically varied as ever! Give Tym's new home concert a watch below, and stay tuned for the likely next installments on YouTube on Tuesday and Thursday!



Finally for today, here's a new video from local indie/punk band Northwest's Facebook page, and it's a social distance-friendly acoustic rendition of their original "Sorry Sunday" featuring frontman Wayne Watkins and guitarist Mike Yakasovich! After Wayne posted a couple of solo covers there, it's great to see one of their originals brought back for a video during the pandemic, though I have to be honest, his vocals seem a little overdone for an unplugged jam like this. Still a well done collaboration, and hopefully we hear more like this soon! Give it a look below!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for last month's poll results and our new poll on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!