LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Dodge This) & Weekend Concert Previews!!

It's a new month, and a new slate of weekend concert previews ois here to welcome hard rock fans! Due to the amount of shows, I'll hold our preview of HeadF1rst's album release party at Soo Blaster on Saturday for tomorrow's post. Here's what you should know on this first day of May, starting with a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!

Local acoustic classic/hard rock cover duo Dodge This will play their first ever gig at Beck's Bar on Goulais Avenue THIS SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, this show was only announced on the venue's Facebook page on Tuesday, and the band has not posted on their Facebook page in any fashion since March. This is weekend #2 for the former Vibe Lounge since Becky set up shop at the Polish Canadian Hall's sister locale, and hopefully Jason & Jamie (and Jeff?) deliver a solid night of rocking covers for west end fans on SATURDAY! Remember, Beck's hosts 3:00 PM matinee performers on Saturdays as well, with Lime frontwoman & reigning Soo's Got Talent champion Madii Schomogyi playing a solo set there on SATURDAY, but this is a separately scheduled four hour concert on the same day, and she isn't "opening" for Dodge This. Neither has a cover charge if you want to hang around though!

Like at Shooters, Beck's Bar does not host live bands on Fridays, rather DJs. SATURDAY NIGHT'S concert has a 9:00 PM start time, and it is 19+. Visit the above links for more on Dodge This' Beck's debut, and here they are live!

Next up, let's head to The Water Tower Pub, where local classic/hard rock cover quartet Double Down will set up shop for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT! Last seen at Jay's Piston Broke Pub just under a month ago, this will be their fourth public gig with new bassist Dan Beaupre in the fold, and first with him outside of Jay's. If you haven't seen the new lineup yet, tomorrow is as good a day as any, and the hard rocking covers should be flowing freely for all to enjoy! As usual for The Water Tower Pub, this is a one-nighter, as they almost never host the same band on consecutive nights. The band playing there on Saturday night is Separate Wayz, the new live rock cover band from Soundcheck alumni Terry Eaton, Jim Michaud, and Steven Flint, alongside singer Nicole Thibodeau. I have yet to hear media of them in concert or get setlist samples to know if they would fit our coverage range like Soundcheck did, but we'll keep you posted!

Tomorrow's Double Down concert is a 19+ affair at the Great Northern Road nightclub with no announced cover charge, and it has an early-ish 8:00 PM start time once again. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Double Down live!

Also this weekend, local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 will return to Reggie's Place for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! These will be the first shows from "The Dirty 3" on home soil since rocking Reggie's three weeks ago, but the guys just made their bi-annual Sudbury road trip this past weekend at The Coulson Entertainment Center, getting another solid reception from fans 4 hours east. It's always good to see Greg, Alex, and Warren in more familiar local confines, and hopefully tomorrow and Saturday night's concerts deliver more southern fried original and cover rock action for downtown fans! These shows are 9:30 PM events with 19+ age limits and no cover charges. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's a brand new video of Bone Yard live! This was filmed by attendee Marcy Catherine for her personal Facebook page during the April 25th show in Sudbury.

This (sadly) vertical video was publically shared by Steve McArthur onto The Coulson's Facebook group later that day, and features the band playing a song that I can't immediately identify, and Google's audio match tool didn't help. Marcy shot this from a side stage vantage point, and given that, the vertical framing isn't as bad as it can be because the guys were framed better for it. Solid performance, if with somewhat muffled audio, though as this was a live-stream, it will leave Facebook around May 26th unless Marcy re-posts it as a permanent regular video, as per Facebook's rule change regarding live-streamed videos. Give it a look below while you can!

Finally, let's head to Sault Michigan for the latest multi-band event from local promoters Serious Business, as Muskegon "weirdo punk" trio Violet Scum will headline at Pickles Bar & Grill in Brimley on SATURDAY NIGHT! Violet Scum's brand of alternative-inflected punk should deliver for fans of grunge and 1990s alt-rock, and it will be neat to see this unique and talented group in our area this weekend, so don't miss them! Grand Rapids experimental/synth project Dick Texas will play their third local/Serious Business date as the co-headliners on Saturday, while the local support includes newer punk trio About:Blank (we'll have more from them soon), and in a rare cross-border appearance by a Sault Ontario musician in the E.U.P., local outsider folk musician Shae Tull. Is this the start of more Canadian acts engaging in Serious Business? Time will tell, but hopefully Shae kicks things off nicely on Saturday night!

Saturday's concert is an 18+ event with doors opening at 8:00 PM, presumably in Pickles' basement again, and there is a $10 cover charge. Always good to see Brighton and crew hosting a rare (but not as rare) multi-band show like this in the E.U.P., and hopefully there's a strong turnout on Saturday for this mix of touring and local talent! Visit the above links for more details, and here's Violet Scum live!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for our HeadF1rst preview and more on the site next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Violet Scum), The Room 206/Inner City Surfers Concert Preview, And More!!

The news keeps on rolling, so let's get to a few assorted topics today along with the last (but not least) of this weekend's hard rock/punk concert previews, but first, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for readers in Sault Michigan and the E.U.P. next month!

Muskegon "weirdo punk" trio Violet Scum and new local punk trio About:Blank will join forces for a multi-band concert at Pickles Bar & Grill in nearby Brimley on Saturday, May 3rd! Announced yesterday via About:Blank frontman Parker Talentino's solo Facebook page, this is the latest event from local promoters Serious Business, whose last concert in February (also at Pickles) was About:Blank's live debut, albeit on an all-local bill. Good to see Parker, Nathan, and Kade back at it, and if you missed them at last month's Shamrock Show, why not drive out to Brimley next month? Violet Scum's mixed-genre lineup delivers a nice grunge-laden sound that will appeal to punk and alt-rock fans, and it will be neat to see them play up here for the first time next month! Grand Rapids experimental/synth project Dick Texas (who have played at two prior Serious Business shows, including at Pickles in November) are your headliners on May 3rd.

The show will be opened (in a mild surprise) by Sault Ontario outsider folk musician Shae Tull, marking a very rare instance of an a non-Touch Of Class artist from this side of the border playing in the E.U.P.. Who knows what the tariffs and trade war may mean for the idea of Shae playing a show across the river, but hopefully things go well, and that this is the start of more cross-border bookings from Serious Business! This 18+ show (presumably in the basement of Pickles once again) has a $10 cover charge, and doors open at 8:00 PM. Nice diverse mix of styles here, and it's good to see more original multi-band shows in Chippewa County, so see above for more details!

Next up, let's wrap up this weekend's concert previews with the arguable main event for Sault Ontario punk fans, as 1990s punk band Room 206 and 2000s punk standouts The Inner City Surfers will join forces for a reunion concert at Soo Blaster TONIGHT!  As you may recall, The Surfers last reunited in November 2023 as a fundraiser stag & doe for drummer Mikey Hawdon's then-upcoming wedding, and similarly, tonight's event will be another stag & doe, this time for the impending nuptials of Room 206/Bookclub drummer Allan Watson and his fiancee Audrey. Congratulations to the happy couple, and a public concert featuring some big band reunions is one hell of a way to celebrate! Inner City Surfers reunions are always big deals for local punk fans, but Room 206 haven't played a (known) public concert since the 2021 vinyl re-release of "2 Innies & An Outie", let alone for over a decade prior, so don't miss this one!

No word on the exact lineup for Room 206 beyond Allan, but he was joined by Mike Yorke and Surfers bassist Brad "Example" Lacell" on the album, and Brad's fellow Surfers bandmate Dave Bahun was also once in Room 206. Local alternative/punk cover sextet Bookclub (featuring Allan, Mikey, and Surfers frontman Dustin Jones) will open the proceedings, as they did in 2023, so there will be lots of familiar faces rocking out, especially given the size of Soo Blaster! Tickets run for $25 in advance through the performers, with the price jumping to $30 at the door. This is an ALL AGES concert, and Bookclub leads off at 9:00 PM sharp. This should be a huge night for local punk fans, let alone friends and family of Allan & Audrey, and given the decades since we last saw Room 206 and Brad not living in town anymore, who knows when we'll see them or The Surfers on stage again! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's The Surfers live!

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

 

• There's a new on-air DJ/host on Classic Rock Sundays on 104.3 The Fox (and Rogers Radio's other rock stations carrying that format), as Adele Newton is now on air from 2:00-5:00 PM, as introduced here. This cuts into the prior 12:00-4:00 and 4:00-8:00 PM timeslots held by "Big" Kris Bawden and Lew MacDonald, but I need to listen to Classic Rock Sundays more fully to capture that day's current DJ rotation. Unlike other DJs and hosts on The Fox, Adele doesn't come from another market's rock station, rather Kitchener adult contemporary station CHYM 96.7. Tune in on Sunday to hear how Adele is doing on the former Q104!
• New local industrial metal solo act The Realignment Project revealed on their Facebook page on April 3rd that they are already mixing their second EP, and even shared the track listing for it via a photo of the songs written on a sheet of paper. The EP will be called "The Frustration Sessions" (no relation), and project leader Matt Hicks had earlier noted that he "never stopped writing while I was finishing "Afterthought", which is their debut EP from February. You can sample some of the at-home recording sessions in this Facebook "Reel" featuring heavy riffs and a keyboard line. Hopefully we hear more from T.R.P. soon, and it's good to see Matt keeping busy!
• In their newest video on their Facebook page (sadly also a "Reel"), local classic/hard rock cover quartet Silent 9 are seen covering Nickelback's "Rockstar" at The Esquire Club last month, and they were joined on stage for said cover by Fort Creek frontman Justin Grayson! I'm not a Nickelback fan, the blue lighting can overpower the view, and Justin's vocals are somewhat buried behind Jess' vocals, but this is well performed while the "Reel" lasts, so check it out above! Remember, "Reels" can't be embedded on external websites like this, nor played in background tabs, and are in permanently vertical dimensions.

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Who Made Who, Turner Up, And 5150), Plus Hempfest & Lion Ride News!!

Our busy 2011 continues with today's news post, our 18th already this year! Enclosed in today's post are the latest concert photos from a recent major show, the newest bands on this year's Hempfest, and kicking things off, FOUR LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!! So here's what you need to know, and check out our latest Defunct Local Band Profile on Nite Wülfe in the post below this one!

We'll go in chronological order for the new shows, starting with one THIS FRIDAY at The Canadian Nightclub! Just a few days after I told you guys that they'd be at Hempfest this year, Ontario-based AC/DC tribute band Who Made Who will return to Sault Ste. Marie for a night of high voltage rock n' roll on Friday night! Apologies for the relative short notice, the band didn't announce it on their pages, and the Facebook event page wasn't posted until the other day. It's great to see Who Made Who back in town, as they're no strangers to Sault Ste. Marie, and they have a very faithful AC/DC sound going for them! So they'll be back at The Canadian on Friday night at 10:00 PM, there will be a $5 cover charge, and you must be 19 to attend. I dunno if I'll be able to make this concert, but when I saw them in 2009, they impressed and entertained, and who doesn't love a night full of AC/DC classics? Check the above links for more details, and stay tuned for additional news if it comes in!

Speaking of shows this weekend, a local classic hard rock band return to the stage for another weekend of music! That band would be Turner Up, fresh off their well received weekend set at The Rockstar Bar, as they now head to the west end for shows THIS FRIDAY AND SATURDAY at The Roosevelt Hotel! Again, apologies for the short notice, these were only just announced last night on The Rosie's Facebook page. Like other Turner Up shows, I'd expect both of these to have 19+ age limits, no cover charge, and start times of after 10:00 PM. Check the above links for more details on these shows! Nice to see Turner Up back in the swing of things in 2011, and they'll have a nice mix of classic and newer songs that get heavier as the night gets longer! And, these fill out a nice three day stretch of concerts following Thursday's metal night, so make note of that as well! Stay tuned for more on these and the Who Made Who show as the week continues!

Our final new show tonight is another tribute band making their way to The Canadian Nightclub, but in this case, we have some extra notice. This time around, the tribute band is 5150: The Canadian Tribute To Van Halen, a Toronto based band who will be sure to deliver some great Van Halen classics from both the David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar eras on February 19th! The band features members of other notable tribute bands who've played here, like Gunz N' FN' Rosez and Second Coming, so there's talent to be had! I don't think the vocals are a complete match to either David or Sammy, but frontman Steve Stanley can pull it all off very well, so fans of either Van Halen era should be happy! The above link to their website and their Facebook page are my sources for this show. An event page isn't online for me to get definite information on the house rules, but I'd assume this has a 10:00 PM start time, a 19+ age limit, and a cover charge of around $5, probably similarly to the Who Made Who concert on Friday. February 19th is shaping up to be a surprisingly big night of music, with 5150, Maximum RNR, and As It Stands all playing separate shows that night, so definitely circle this date on your calendars! I'll keep you posted when more comes in!

Fourthly tonight, here's the latest lineup news from Hempfest, which returns to it's original home in nearby Ophir, Ontario from August 25th-28th! Three more bands are now on the lineup for this year, adding up to 12 in total now confirmed, and one of these will interest hard rock fans! Actually, this is a band we've covered on here a bit in the past. That band is London hard rock trio Violet Fuse, who feature Sault Ontario native Thom Edwards on drums! We covered them in our Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile in June, and they have a nice mix of classic and modern sounds in their original material, so they should fit right in in their first stop in the Sault area! Two more bands have been added to the Hempfest lineup, those being Hamilton ska punk band Lo-Fi and Blind River solo folk artist T.J. Kirby, so click on the links to give them a look as well! These bands join the previously confirmed Frightlight, Half Past, Who Made Who, Misery, 4Ward, The Killin' Time Band, Northern Lights, Scott Huckabay, and Josh Odair on the Hempfest lineup, which promoter Robert Neron says is now full. Good solid lineup, but as always, if something changes, I'll let you know! Check the above links for Hempfest updates and to check out all the confirmed bands!

And finally for today, a ton of new concert photos from local photographer Curt O'Neil from last month's packed Lion Ride concert at The Canadian Nightclub are now online! Preview shots of each band member were originally posted on Curt's website two weeks ago, but he uploaded plenty more this afternoon, and you can check them all out at this location! Great work as always, and though this photo isn't of the band themselves, I'm just trying to entice you to click the above links and give Curt some well deserved traffic! Plenty of photos of each band member from all different angles are posted, and they're all of outstanding quality! Curt should do more concert photography work, he's very good at it! Definitely check out the above links for more, and remember, there are more concert photos to come, as Donna Hopper of SooToday was there snapping photos as well, so stay tuned for those soon as well, hopefully! I'll keep you posted when her shots come in, along with any more Lion Ride news!

That's all for tonight, but stay tuned for more news and notes very soon, including last month's poll results and this month's new poll tomorrow! Stay tuned!

Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile: The Disciples Of Rock & Violet Fuse

As promised, it's now time for our sixth monthly installment of our Saultites in Out Of Town Bands profile series! This month, we look at two Ontario hard rock bands with local connections, one from Northern Ontario, one from Southern Ontario, both of which are well worth discussing! Let's begin this month's profiles, and of course, if there's something incorrect, missing, or lacking info/details, please tell me! (UPDATED: November 25h, 2014)
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The Disciples of Rock (Blind River, Ontario)

Lineup: (Saultites in RED; ex-members in italics)

Yves Rock (vocals)
Aaron LeBlanc (guitar)
Preston St. Jules (guitar)
James White (bass)
Jamie Labreche (drums)

Terry Lantaine (bass)
Roger Landry (drums)

Official MySpace page: http://myspace.com/thedisciplesofrock
Official YouTube channel: http://youtube.com/disciplesofrock
Official SoundClick page: http://soundclick.com/disciplesofrock
Official CBC Radio 3 page: http://radio3.cbc.ca/bands/Disciples-of-Rock
Official Facebook page: http://facebook.com/pages/Disciples-of-Rock/6911548158

Local Info: Two Saultites would find their way into The Disciples of Rock as later additions to the band, starting with James White in July 2006, replacing Terry Lantaine on bass. Later, Aaron LeBlanc joined as the lead guitarist, making the band a five-piece. Both Aaron and James were born here, but both moved to Blind River in their youth. Since the band's apparent hiatus, James moved back to Sault Ste. Marie, and now plays bass in local punk band Redundant and funk rockers The Elements, along with tenures with bands like Caveman Morrison, Browbeat, The Northern Mudsliders, Haggith, The Quims, and as a guest with Frightlight since re-entering the local scene, plus work as a producer and concert soundman with his company White Wreckords. As best as I can tell, Aaron still lives in Blind River, though I could be wrong. I haven't heard if Aaron's been in a band since The Disciples of Rock went on hiatus, but it'd be nice to see him gigging again, as he has real talent!

Band Bio: The Disciples of Rock were founded in June 2006, with their classic lineup being completed not long after their formation. Only frontman Yves Rock and rhythm guitarist Preston St. Jules remained in the band from the start. Consisting of 5 musicians of widely varying ages and styles, The Disciples of Rock quickly gained a solid reputation in the Blind River/Elliot Lake area, and released their first and only CD, "Nasty Habits", in May of 2007, which was recorded at Blind River's EFR Studios. Playing sets of their originals and select covers, The Disciples of Rock gave Blind River a good dose of hard rock before their 2008 hiatus, but they did reunite for occasional one-off gigs through July of 2009. I don't believe the band ever played in Sault Ste. Marie, but I bet their concerts were must see events no matter where they were!

I've always liked The Disciples of Rock, I remember hoping they'd play locally when I first heard of them, but no such luck. Good thing they have tons of pages online, cause they've got some solid stuff to check out! There's a definite classic rock influence in a lot of their songs, but at the same time, they know how to keep things heavy, and there's an equal mix of metal-ish stuff and bluesy classic tunes on their album! Yves Rock has a nice melodic rock voice that has a lot of soul and melody to it that works nicely, and I'm impressed with the band as a whole! Four of the members were between the ages of 16 and 22 when they released "Nasty Habits", and they were really playing beyond their respective years! I'm particularly impressed with Aaron LeBlanc's guitar work, I'd love to see him back in a band, cause he's got some awesome guitar skills! They're not the absolute heaviest band in Northern Ontario, but they have enough heaviness to get by, with a nice classic rock twist! Here's hoping they reunite down the road once again!

While there are places online to buy "Nasty Habits" in it's entirety (Amazon has it for $9.99), the band's various internet pages have the full album for free to stream too! If you wanna support the band (never a bad idea), buy it today, but feel free to listen to the whole thing whenever you want on one of their pages! I recommend their CBC Radio 3 page for audio quality, but it's up to you! And yes, they have plenty of videos, click here to visit their YouTube channel, which features live performance clips of originals and covers, as well as some songs straight from the album! I'm embedding their Halloween 2006 performance of "Hey DJ" here, check it out below, see what you think, or see more from the band at the above links!


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Violet Fuse (London, Ontario)

Lineup: (Saultites in RED; ex-members in italics)

Kyle Mayer (vocals/bass)
Scott Vincent (guitar/backing vocals)
Thom Edwards (drums)

Tim Vujicic (vocals)
Unidentified members (bass, drums)

Official website: http://www.violetfuse.com
Official Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/violetfuse
Official MySpace page (1): http://myspace.com/violetfuseband
Official MySpace page (2): http://myspace.com/violetfuse
Official YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/violetfuse
Official Reverbnation page: http://reverbnation.com/violetfuse

Local Info: Drummer Thom Edwards was born right here in Sault Ontario, but was raised in Mattawa. Sure, it's not the strongest local connection, but Thom was a Saultite, that can't be denied! His dad being a rock drummer, Thom picked up on drumming early, at the age of 11. This led to him joining some high school bands and being a roadie for his dad's bands. Thom moved to London to further his music career when he was 20, and recorded an EP with London hard rockers The Bumps in 2006 before their breakup. The next summer, Thom joined Violet Fuse, though he's most recently been seen in the pirate rock collective The Gypsy Ghosts.

Band Bio: Violet Fuse were formed in late 2006 by college classmates Tim Vujicic and Scott Vincent on vocals and guitar respectively, along with an unidentified bassist and drummer who have since left the band. Thom Edwards and bassist Kyle Mayer joined in June 2007, playing their first concert two months later. Tim left the band in April 2008 to pursue other genres, which led to Kyle Mayer taking over on vocals as well as bass in time for their return shows in August 2009. Violet Fuse have since became a fixture of the London music scene, playing frequently at area bars, and kept busy recording their self titled debut album, which was launched at a CD release party in London in August 2010, and the album's now on iTunes! Violet Fuse have never played in Sault Ste. Marie, but they were briefly advertised for Hempfest's local return in 2011 before dropping out. Activity persisted on a steady basis through December 2012, though public updates didn't follow, and the band quietly fell inactive the following year.

Violet Fuse describe their sound as "classic rock inspired, with a modern rock sound", and I can see where they get that idea! They're by no means the heaviest band in the world, but they rock pretty hard, and they're right about having classic rock inspiration! Hard to explain, but they have the kind of sound that would fit well with fans of new and old hard rock! Really nice melodies combined with some hard riffs and good singing! Scott Vincent's a good rock guitarist, I like his riffing and his rhythm, and Kyle Mayer's a great bassist! Good singer too, but to me, his bass shines through more, but on songs like "Castle Walls", he's particularly great vocally! Thom Edwards holds down the drums effectively, no complaints there! For some nice melodic hard rock that music lovers new and old can get into, check out Violet Fuse!

The above links have lots of music from Violet Fuse, notably their self-titled debut album and a live EP, which you can purchase at this location! Material is also available on Reverbnation, Soundcloud, and on their official website, which sound pretty good! Check them out, but if you want lots of Violet Fuse material, head to their YouTube channel, where the band has uploaded 14 concert videos featuring both originals and covers! Here's one of their better originals, "Be Confident", from a May 2011 show in London!


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Hope you guys enjoyed this month's profiles! Next month, I have decided on two metal bands to profile that have/had a Saultite in their lineup! I think you'll like my choices! They are Thrawsunblat, the Fredericton, New Brunswick black metal project featuring the Sault's own David Gold on drums (alongside current Woods of Ypres guitarist Joel Violette), and Jar., the Vancouver metal band that originally featured Wishbone bassist Chris Smith! Look out for that late next month! Stay tuned later tonight for another packed news post (I've been swamped with news lately) and tomorrow evening marks the kick-off of our GarageBand Profile Mini-Series! Stay tuned!