All video post on this Tuesday evening, including some recent concert videos from both the Soo and out of town, along with an apology for a recent missed show, but let's lead off with videos from two different bands at the same major venue in recent weeks!
Chris was not in the closest seating section, but he had a good central view of the stage and fans ahead of him, which especially works to the benefit of "Amigo" with all of the clapping in time with the song mid-way through! The audio on heavier stretches can be scratchy, which is nothing new, but softer parts come through nicely, and fans of The Glorious Sons should take to all of these videos, which you can watch above & below!
Next up, here's the latest from young local hard rock quartet Raincourt, and first off, I do have to apologize for missing a concert of theirs, as they played a publically attendable concert at the aforementioned Sault Community Theatre Centre this past Wednesday! The humongous venue is explained by it being on the campus of White Pines Collegiate & Vocational School (which Raincourt's members currently attend), and White Pines has been hosting a Coffee House concert series there during the 2021-22 school year, with last week's being their semester-closing event, including a show for students only at 1:00 PM and a show open to everyone at 7:00 PM. The main attractions were The White Pines Concert Band and their Mustang Sally-esque school group The Pine Tones (who feature all of the guys from Raincourt), but other student artists performed, including Raincourt proper. I profusely apologize for missing this show, hopefully it was a huge hit!
If you missed this event, never fear, as a video of Raincourt (sans face masks!) covering The Beatles' "Come Together" was uploaded to their Facebook page on Friday. Solid cover from a nice and close angle, with Elijah showing some nice grit & swagger with his vocals and stage presence, and everyone has a strong handle on this classic rock favourite! Give it a watch below, and apologies again for missing the White Pines Coffee House show last week on here!
Note that in the song introductions, J.D. first calls the band "Jack Spades" still (old habits die hard?), but later acknowledges that they used to be "Jack Spades SSM" before relocating. This set will be very familiar for local Jack Spades fans, as nothing here wasn't seen in their local sets in 2019, only the venue and two new faces will be different. Great video quality with multiple camera angles and a nice crooked angle of the stage and front row fans, and Daniel Rodbard & Tyler Reiner compliment J.D. & Daniel nicely here and on the new Toronto clip! More videos are teased to be forthcoming, but give all of these a look above & below!
Finally, here are three videos of new local acoustic hard rock duo Short & Sweet's opening set for Parabol at Soo Blaster this past weekend! Uploaded to frontman Cory Murchison's YouTube channel yesterday, these feature him and bandmate/fellow Skeyes of Seven alum Kyle Sweet covering Breaking Benjamin's "Forget It", Slipknot's "Vermilion Pt. 2", and as embedded below, a stripped down version of his old Sense of Truth song "Anything At All". Despite some jittery camera work, the videos are nicely angled and capture Cory and Kyle in a good element with some strong vocal & guitar work, and they'd definitely be added to our links if they got a Facebook page or something! Give these a watch above & below!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!
Keeping our steady stream of regular posts going as the month of June rolls along, we have some new videos to check out today, plus updates on an upcoming CD release, and the latter ties into one of two big LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for next week, so here's what you should know!
Abbotsford, British Columbia art-rock/post-punk quartet Blessed will make their local concert debut on Wednesday, June 15th when they headline at Dryer Fire's temporary pop-up venue at 285 Wilson Street! Of course, "post-punk" and what many would traditionally call "punk" don't have a lot of obvious modern links, but Blessed's upbeat wall-of-noise approach and Talking Heads-inspired rhythms and vocals should appeal to a wide array of listeners next Wednesday, so definitely give them a listen to see what you think! Be advised that their newest EP is solely of remixes. Local punk/alternative quintet These Magnificent Tentacles will open in their third show with this lineup, and first appearance at 285 Wilson since the open house last month, and with 2 members of the band coming from the now-defunct local post punk stalwarts Gnaeus, their inclusion makes a lot of sense!
While this concert is technically part of Dryer Fire's summer concert series, it was only publically announced yesterday as a "bonus show", hence why we're only mentioning it now. This all ages event has a 7:00 PM start time, and admission runs for $10 at this link or presumably at the door. Of all of Dryer Fire's shows this summer, this one next Wednesday is the most punk-leaning, so we're starting with a bang in that regard, and visit the official Facebook event page and the above links for more details!
Next up, local indie punk quintet The Northwest will play their first public concert set of the year when they open for Juno Award winning Toronto alt-country trio Elliott Brood on Thursday, June 16th at the re-opening LopLops Lounge! Last seen at the same venue in December 2019 (you can probably guess why they haven't played live for 2+ years), this will be The Northwest's first show since tacking "The" to the beginning of their name, but more importantly, it will be the de facto release party for their brand new EP "All In", which is full steam ahead for its public release on Friday! This is the cover art, and you can pre-save it on Spotify at this link, but the band has not firmly stated if the EP will be available in physical copies or on paid mp3 download platforms at press time. If they had to take such a long break (planned or not), The Northwest are returning with a bang, and expect to hear new and old original favourites then!
Be advised that official public online sources have not confirmed The Northwest as opening, but guitarist Greg Callaghan revealed the news on his personal Facebook page yesterday, so they may be a late addition (the show was announced with just Elliott Brood last month). Speaking of Elliott Brood, while not a metal/punk act, their dark brand of "death country" has been entertaining audiences for two decades, including at multiple local dates (mostly at LopLops), last playing in our area at the Go North Music Festival in Richards Landing in July 2018. If you're not a country fan, Elliott Brood may be an exception to the rule, so don't bypass them! As for LopLops, the popular Queen Street East venue has remained active during the pandemic with craft beer deliveries and hosting events off-site, but they closed their actual doors to the public in March 2020, so this should be a great way to come back!
An early 7:00 PM start time is in effect for this 19+ show (good thing too, given the Thursday scheduling), and with Elliott Brood's existing profile, tickets next Thursday will run for $32.84, and you can buy them at this link and presumably at the door. Whether you're in this for the alternative country or alternative punk, this double bill should deliver the goods next Thursday, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details!
Finally for today, let's get caught up on a couple of new videos from local/Barrie crossover thrash quartet Spades GT's Facebook page from last month! Both promotional clips for when the former Jack Spades opened for Anvil (more on them soon) in Toronto, one is a jokey video made by guitarist Daniel Horton where he used a website named www.talkobamato.me to use clips of former U.S. President Barack Obama's speeches to make him promote the Toronto concert, leading into clips of Spades GT's post-relaunch debut and fake videos of Obama dancing set to the studio version of "Rise". If you recall Jimmy Fallon's bit where he made NBC News anchor Brian Williams "rap", it's edited similarly, albeit by a program reading your text, not staff. Cute idea, but the speech goes so fast, it can be hard to hear what Obama is "saying". At least it's not overtly political or leaning toward any heavily partisan opinions!
Embedded below is their newest video, which is actually embeddable publically (Daniel's video isn't as it has longer audio to content match). This was uploaded the day of the Anvil concert, and features all four current members of Spades GT outside seemingly preparing to enter their vehicle to the venue, before jumping to studio audio and relevant posters/logos. Short but effective promotion, so give it a look below, see more above, and stay tuned for more from Spades GT when it rolls in!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site this week! Thanks everyone!
After a few days' delay due to weekend concert previews and a general increase in news as of late, here's this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post, as we're again looking at the current whereabouts of announced albums from local metal, hard rock, and/or punk acts that have publically confirmed the beginning of studio sessions! No new additions this month, but half of them have updated information, as noted with their title in italics. So, where are the new albums? Read on to hopefully find out!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Chase James Wigmore's new albums
Rumoured Songs:Multiple
Background: Ever
the prolific artist and songwriter, local folk punk/extreme metal
musician Chase Wigmore posted
on his eponymous Facebook page in August 2020 to announce two more distinct acoustic albums and the
long-gestating completion of his 33 part rock opera "A Story
About A Kid Named Todd". In 2021, one of those acoustic albums (the black metal-infused "Ruins Of Life") was posted for free on YouTube, with Chase later posting that and most of his back catalog albums for sale on his Bandcamp page
by March 2022, though none were still "new" at the time that their
Bandcamp release happened. In April, Chase released a brand new album for sale on Bandcamp named "Sonic Apocalypse", and later teased on his Facebook page last month that he started a new album in January that he was intentionally taking his time recording so he could "make music actually worth listening to."
Current Release Status:
Your guess is as good as mine, but remember that Chase is very prolific
and varied in his musical interests, and not every album of his has
seen a formal paid release, either by finishing it's lifespan as a demo,
or by being released online for free. In any event, stay tuned for updates from his camp when they roll in! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Dustin Jones & The Rising Tide's fourth album
Rumoured Songs:"Lost & Found", "All Broke Down", "No Control"
Background: Local Celtic punk veterans Dustin
Jones & The Rising Tide began recording sessions by October 2018 at Dustin's own Mission Control Studios, as per their Facebook page. In January 2019, the band confirmed that they were indeed recording a fourth studio
album (and first since 2012), which will presumably be
released through Tidal Records, and will also be their first album with second guitarist Liam Seymour & drummer Chris Johns. While "All Broke
Down" was initially cited as the first single in December 2018 (source here), the first two released singles were "Lost & Found" in March 2019 & "No Control" in December 2020. Credits on the above songs' music videos note that Kyle Whittaker at Strange Pumpkin Studios
in St. Catharine's is mixing the album, as he has done for multiple
Tidal/Mission Control releases. Dustin posted a handful of solo songs on Tidal Records' YouTube channel in 2020, but it's not publically known whether or not they'll also be used as new Tide originals.
Current Release Status:
When The
Tide shared a teaser clip for "Lost & Found", they mentioned that
the album was
"coming soon", which doesn't tell us much, especially as the band has
only posted sparingly on Facebook since the end of 2020. This may be
partially due to
fiddler Sheldon Jaaskelainen's recent out of town commitments, with
3/5ths of The Tide performing as Jonesy Land last summer. Still,
with recording sessions well
along the way, and two music videos now public, it's
likely that Dustin and company aren't early in the process,
but we'll let you know when more comes out on the album! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fort Creek's debut EP
Rumoured Songs:Unknown
Background: Local
southern/hard rock quintet Fort Creek have sporadically teased plans to
record an EP since February 2020, and while the pandemic lockdowns may
have gave them more time to record, they wouldn't release a sample from
the sessions until almost two years later when they shared this snippet on their Facebook page. The guys debuted it at their headlining concert at Soo Blaster last month, and have played it live since, but have yet to release any full tracks online.
Current Release Status:
Fort Creek are planning to release the EP in "late summer", which would
hint towards late July or August, but there are a lot of unknowns,
especially given the 2 years of production time and that this is a band
primarily known for their work on the weekend cover circuit (though some
members do have experience in name original bands, especially Matt and
Tony). It will be interesting to see how things develop, so follow Fort
Creek on Facebook for continuing details!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Handsome Sandwich - "Lettuce"
Rumoured Songs:"All or Nothing", "Bitter"
Background: After taking a year+
long hiatus during the pandemic, local "no genre" (but functionally
alternative/hard rock) band Handsome Sandwich reunited last summer with a new
lineup, with returning members Jesse Cook & Johnny Belanger now
joined by singer Taylor Emlaw and bassist Mitch Sirie. Via their new Facebook page and YouTube channel,
the band almost instantly began teasing a debut album (after previously
being covers-only in their 2017-2020 run), posting two YouTube videos
of them jamming new original songs planned for it. On June 25th,
Handsome Sandwich revealed that the album will be titled "Lettuce", it
will be recorded at Unsalted Audio
with producer Dustin Goodall (pictured with the band and Bill Priddle),
and that pre-production started on June 27th. As of April 13th, drums,
rhythm guitar, and bass tracks had been recorded, and Taylor was pictured in studio at the end of last month.
Current Release Status:
No clue, especially given that we have no prior Handsome Sandwich
albums to go off of, but the new look band has definitely hit the ground
running since resuming activity last year! Staying busy and creative
when proper non-socially distanced concerts couldn't happen isn't a bad
idea either, so stay tuned for updates from Handsome Sandwich's camp when they have them! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Northwest - "All In"
Background: Relaunching with "The" tacked onto their name in February after pandemic-aggravated dormancy, the former Northwest announced on their Facebook page
that they were "working hard on their next record" on March 22nd, with
the first single being released to streaming platforms one week later,
complete with a music video
and even features during NHL telecasts! Follow-up music/lyric videos for "Shoreline" & "Stay Gold" have followed over the past month on their YouTube channel. The release will be the
indie/punk quintet's third EP and first since "Songs From 2015-2017"
came out in 2018, but this time being recorded at Unsalted Audio as
well.
Current Release Status: The Northwest have confirmed on social media that they are planning to release "All In" on
Friday, and it's always a good sign when a band has a firm
release date in mind, let alone so soon! Hopefully the date holds, but follow The Northwest on
Facebook for updates!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Uncanny Valley'sdebut album
Rumoured Songs: "The Uncanny
Valley", "Glowin'", "Middle Man", “This Love is Psychedelic”, "Stuck In
Rotation", “Sweet Like Sugar”, "Fumbling Through"
Background: The new classic hard
rock band from 2019 Soo's Got Talent winner Adrian Sullivan, fans will
have seen original material of theirs right from the start, as The
Uncanny Valley debuted their own songs in their first live concert at
The Canadian on New Year's Eve 2019. Live concert & jam session videos
have followed on their Facebook page featuring their own material as well. After posting a teaser audio clip of "Sweet Like Sugar" in September 2020, they posted the full studio version of "Middle Man"
in October, finally confirming there that they are working on their
first album, though no other details have followed suit. The guys did
record a studio version of "Stuck In Rotation" at Unsalted Audio for the Clusterfolk Music Festival
and a related cassette tape compilation in April, but whether that
exact recording will be included on the band's own album is unclear.
Current Release Status: No clue,
which isn't helped by The Uncanny Valley's age and relatively unfamiliar
profile for many readers, not to mention the complications of the
pandemic and their lack of concerts so far in 2022 (having dropped out of the Clusterfolk concert proper the week of).
That said, they are a
talented group who seemed to be taking the
right steps for the future, and hopefully more updates on The Uncanny
Valley's debut
album follow in some form or another when ready!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
I hope you guys liked this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post! Next month's will hopefully be on time on July 2nd, while our next monthly feature post will likely be this month's Defunct Local Band Profile on Friday. That's all for today, but stay tuned for a new news post on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!
Before we begin today's post, I wanted to apologize for a missed concert in this weekend's concert previews, as local acoustic hard rock quartet The Wyld Stallyns returned to The Whisky Barrel on Gore Street last night. The band did not announce this date on their Facebook page in advance, but the venue did announce the show last Sunday when revealing their full slate of live entertainment on weekends this month (The Stallyns are not advertised as playing the rest of the month there, FYI). I profusely apologize again, I'd have covered this had I checked the venue page or if the band had plugged it publically, but hopefully the show was a hit!
Now, today's post features some new videos, a few assorted updates, and new additions and removals to our band links, and we'll start positively with the new band, namely Sault Michigan hard rock quartet The Nameless! As our E.U.P. readers may recall, The Nameless debuted at Three One Three on Ashmun in April to open for the also-debuting Buddy Repperton & The Camaros, but their Facebook page presence has always been somewhat cryptic, still not even revealing their full lineup. I can confirm two band members (singer/guitarist Joshua LaCoursiere and ex-Tantrym Tyme bassist Michael McLeod), but their second guitarist and drummer haven't even been named on personal Facebook posts that I've located (the drummer isn't even in most pictures!) We'll let you know if we hear anything, but the band definitely crosses the hard rock line, and we now know that via their first proper video, so what can we see there?
Visually, not a lot, due to the dark stage lighting and placement of the band members, with the second guitarist not in frame whatsoever. Good thing Joshua was in white! Their near-hour long, all-covers set features many songs familiar to FM rock radio listeners, including (in order) Three Doors Down's "Kryptonite", Lit's "My Own Worst Enemy", System of a Down's "Lonely Day", The Offspring's "The Kids Aren't Alright", Chevelle's "The Red", The Animals' "The House Of The Rising Sun", Collective Soul's "December", 30 Seconds To Mars' "The Kill (Bury Me)", Kenny Wayne Shepherd's "Blue On Black", and Seven Mary Three's "Cumbersome", before closing with an instrumental that sounded kinda familiar. The guys didn't really introduce themselves or banter with the crowd between songs aside from encouraging fans to get on the floor once or twice, but Camaros frontman David Waite did take to the mic afterwards to thank them for the set.
If you believe David, he named them The Nameless in reference to their then-lack of a name! As for The Nameless as a band, they're quite promising and I like the diversity of their set while still injecting a heavy flavour, including a surprisingly high amount of screamed backing vocals on songs that didn't have them! The lighting and tight camera angle don't help this as something to watch, but there is something here, and hopefully The Nameless can make a real name for themselves in the E.U.P. as 2022 continues! Give their full Three One Three video at this link! I can't embed it here due to Facebook flagging it for copyrighted content, likely the Theory of a Deadman song played over the venue's P.A. at the very beginning.
Next up, here's the band that I have reluctantly moved to our inactive Sault Ontario band links, namely local acoustic punk solo project Slumshine. They have not issued any public updates or played an announced concert date since releasing their newest EP "Slumlord" in May of last year, perhaps not uncoincidentally the same week as when project leader Brenton Ellis launched his current band project These Magnificent Tentacles. Active off & on from 2017-2021, Brent donned a pink knit ski mask and employed plural pronouns with Slumshine, a folk-inspired punk project who opened for touring bands like Dany Laj & The Looks, The Faps, and The River Jacks in the late 2010s, while also appearing at the third Oh!No festival in Leeburn, and releasing their demo EP "SLMSHN" exclusively on cassette tapes in July 2019. After launching their Facebook page that January, Slumshine's 2020 plans were decimated by the pandemic.
Brent did resurface in the spring of 2021 with new studio material, but a teased second cassette tape release never occurred, and it looks like Brent has switched focus to These Magnificent Tentacles since. Slumshine definitely had a unique presence that was adaptable well to unplugged-friendly venues and electric punk shows alike, and the DIY nature influenced by Brent's own visual artwork also helped set them apart. Hopefully Slumshine resurface down the road, but follow These Magnificent Tentacles to see what Brent and crew are up to nowadays!
Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist or event name:
The tenth annual Algoma Ride For Autism will take place on Saturday, June 18th with The Esquire Club as a home base, and local classic rock veterans Angry Joe & The Growlers as this year's featured band. The autism awareness/support motorcycle rally was never cancelled outright during the pandemic, but this year's looks to be a complete return to 2010s form after post-lockdown adjustments the last two years, and while there's no hard rock band this year, the charitable cause is obviously most important. Click here for full details on how to attend as a supporter or rider!
Former Project 421/Re:Born guitarist Blair Burch is looking to get back into the live music scene, specifically via "an outlet" that doesn't require distortion or growled death metal vocals. Blair is accustomed to classic hard rock, hair metal, and power metal, and he'd be most comfortable in a band with a second guitarist. He also emphasized wanting to actually play music, not in a band where that's seemingly secondary to drinking alcohol. Given Blair's experience and talents, it should be easy to find a new band or at least someone to jam with, but message him at this link or via his Musicians Wanted group post from Wednesday if you want more details on Blair's return to the scene!
As it turns out, singer/guitarist Mitch Sirie did leave revived local death metal band Exploring Detritus, a fact he confirmed with me in a Facebook conversation yesterday. Mitch said that he left due to his own busy personal schedule, which lines up given his ongoing work in Handsome Sandwich, These Magnificent Tentacles, and the teased new metal band he was looking for members for, not to mention The Bear Hunters if they resurface. No word on when Exploring Detritus will confirm their vocalist status, but guitarist Dan Souliere has been providing vocals in their recent jam session clips. We'll keep you posted when more comes out!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's Where Are The New Albums? post tomorrow, finally, I promise! Thanks everyone!
As promised, our weekend concert previews conclude today with an extended look at a very intriguing (if somewhat cryptic) community festival tomorrow, plus some new videos of relatively new band lineups to round things out with. Here's what you should know!
Local party metal duo The Apocalypse Afterparty will play their first public concert set of the year TOMORROW NIGHT when they take part in the oft-delayed Glambition fundraiser festival at The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre! Readers and interested parties may recall hearing about this event dating back to its original date on November 20th of last year, but pandemic capacity restrictions, COVID-19 case count rises, and unforeseen circumstances forced it to be postponed to December 18th, January 30th, April 23rd, and ultimately, tomorrow. Glambition is a benefit event for local youth homeless shelter Pauline's Place and in support of community togetherness, a very important idea as we start Pride Month, so the right intentions are present throughout, and kudos to the organizers for sticking with Glambition for six & a half months rather than just giving up on the idea!
This is presented as multi-cultural community festival with musicians, singers, dancers, fashion shows, stand-up comedy, food/drink vendors, and a raffle of some kind, but organizers have surprisingly not listed a performance schedule on Facebook, let alone a list of the scheduled artists. Pauline's Place fundraising manager Karam Singh was quoted hyping Glambition in this SooToday article by new reporter Alex Flood, while Karam was also interviewed on ONNtv's First Local on Monday about Glambition, again without citing performers by name. Apocalypse Afterparty frontman Paul Stanghetta did tell me in a Facebook conversation that a young local jazz band was performing too, but unfortunately, that's all I've got. The A.A. have been hyping their involvement in Glambition right along though, and hopefully Paul & Amanda make some more fans at this diverse family-friendly festival tomorrow!
A 6:00 PM start time is in effect for this all ages event, and tickets run for $11.34 at this link. Door entry is presumably an option of capacity allows, but Glambition will reportedly be capped at 300 attendees, so get yours A.S.A.P. just in case. Despite the cryptic nature of the performer lineup, it is awesome to finally see Glambition going forward tomorrow night (assuming there's no sudden postponement again), and helping Pauline's Place is a wonderful idea, so don't miss out at the Bushplane Museum tomorrow! Visit the above links for more details, and here's The Apocalypse Afterparty live!
Next up, here's some new videos from both of Bear Hunters guitarist Mitch Sirie's newest local band projects, starting with the first publically posted clip of the expanded five-piece These Magnificent Tentacles lineup! Shot by Dryer Fire's Nicole Dyble at their Wilson Street open house last month (apologies again for missing that in our weekend concert previews at the time) and shared to the company's Facebook page on May 23rd, it was joined by a video of fellow performers The Dynowaves that same day, plus a short video of vendors at the open house. As for the T.M.T. video, it was uploaded in square dimensions, and it sees The Tentacles playing an instrumental piece for one minute, all looking very determined and serious in the moment (except maybe Brad, who's largely obscured by Steve at this angle). As such, this may not be an ideal look at the new lineup, but what we hear sounds promising enough!
Surprisingly doomy but still melodic piece that deviates well from their punk-leaning base of old, and it will be interesting to see how the guys progress throughout mid-late 2022! Give it a look below, and see more from Dryer Fire's open house above, and also keep tabs on their summer concert series, which is largely hard rock-devoid, but certainly not lacking in musical talent! Give Nicole some support and check them out!
Finally, here's two new jam session clips of local death metal band Exploring Detritus, as posted to their Facebook page on Wednesday and earlier today, though neither features Mitch, who hasn't been seen in any of their videos since he was announced as their singer/guitarist last month. Busy personal schedule, or have they not reported his exit yet? Click here to watch the former Kaepora Gaebora playing for a minute, but I'm actually embedding the shorter 30 second clip below, as guitarist/founder Dan Souliere is handling lead vocals in it, and he sounds suitably brutal while it lasts! We'll let you know if there's any clarification about their frontman status, but give these four-piece jam videos a watch above & below!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's delayed "Where Are The New Albums?" post on the site next! Thanks everyone!
Before we kick off this weekend's hard rock concert previews, just a heads up that local classic/hard rock cover quartet Obsession's planned Esquire Club matinee show on Saturday, June 11th has been cancelled, as per their Facebook page. This is their second straight concert cancellation following their planned May 28th gig at the same venue, and while that one was scuttled due to "health reasons", they emphasized this time that "we are all OK" and it was "due to unforeseen circumstances". Obsession will reportedly return to the stage at Rotaryfest Stage 1 next month, but we await a formal announcement by organizers on this year's lineup. Stay tuned, and hopefully all is indeed well in the band's camp!
Now, let's dive into most of this weekend's hard rock concert previews, with the exception of the Glambition festival on Saturday, which will topline tomorrow's post due to it's size & nature. Today's shows are all pure concerts, starting with SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, as local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to Reggie's Place on Queen Street East for shows TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, these dates were only announced via two separate Facebook event pages (one for each night) launched through their own Facebook page yesterday. These will be Soundcheck's first gigs at the downtown Reggie's in just over a month, and come fresh off of their usual Thursday open mic/jam night that they host at Reggie's West. Hopefully Terry, Cameron(?), Paul or Rob, and Glen have a great weekend!
TOMORROW & SATURDAY'S concerts are 19+ affairs with no cover charge as normal for Reggie's, but in what may be a reversion to pre-pandemic scenatios, the start times for both nights are listed as 9:30 PM rather than 8:00 PM. Good sign towards further normalcy, or a typo? Visit the above links for more on Soundcheck's Reggie's Place shows TOMORROW & SATURDAY, and here's Soundcheck's rock attack live!
Next up, here's some shows this weekend that had lots more than a few days' notice, starting with the return of Traverse City, Michigan classic metal trio Peril to The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! An unusually fast turnaround for these veteran touring favourites in the E.U.P., as fans in Sault Michigan will have just seen Jeff, Adam, and Brooks three weeks ago, but St. Ignace-area fans last saw Peril this past fall. Peril's talented and experienced brand of hard rock, classic rock, and metal covers should go over well as usual tomorrow & Saturday in St. Ignace, so don't miss out on all of the action if you're able to go! As usual for Kewadin lounge gigs, expect 9:00 PM start times, no cover charges, and 21+ age limits. If you can't make it, Peril and their sister band Scarkazm are not advertised for Kewadin dates through July, so keep an eye out for late 2022 dates. See above for more, and here's Peril live!
Also this weekend, let's head back to Sault Ontario, where local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard will return to Shooters Downstairs Lounge on Dennis Street for a second straight week THIS SATURDAY NIGHT! After surprisingly playing both Friday and Saturday there last week, Bone Yard are back to the usual Saturday-only booking at Shooters this weekend, either due to or resulting in their Warren-less acoustic side project The Bearded Lounge (more on them soon) playing at The Water Tower Pub tomorrow night, and click here for details on that. The new Bone Yard lineup has been impressing since their debut in March, and hopefully the guys deliver more southern fried hard & classic rock favourites on Saturday once again! Expect an 8:00 PM start time, no cover charge, and a 19+ age limit as usual. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's some new live concert videos of Bone Yard playing at Shooters last week!
On May 27th, they live-streamed (sadly vertical) videos of covers of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Simple Man" and (as embedded below), Van Halen's "Eruption" & their version of The Kinks' "You Really Got Me", while an attendee named Becky shot them covering snippets of The Georgia Satellites' "Keep Your Hands To Yourself" & Kim Mitchell's "Lager & Ale" the next night in this (also vertical) clip. Solid performances, if not optimally angled, and Bone Yard have a good grip on these covers, especially thanks to Alex's very sound lead guitar work, so check these out above & below, and don't miss Bone Yard proper on Saturday night!
Finally for today's previews, local Tool tribute band Parabol will play their first public concert since October 2019 when they headline at Soo Blaster THIS SATURDAY NIGHT! In the 2+ years since this supergroup of Redefined, Odd Man Out, Half Past, and Late Shift alumni last performed, we've sat through a pandemic and the deletion and relaunch of their Facebook page, but hopefully their very faithful brand of Tool's progressive metal staples will be welcomed back with open arms on Saturday night! Soo Blaster may seem over-sized, but their last show before now was held there, and unlike then, Parabol will have an opening act. The band in question is new local acoustic rock duo Short & Sweet, featuring former Skeyes of Seven bandmates Cory Murchison (a.k.a. recent Fort Creek opener Cory Daniel) and Kyle Sweet. No online page or public media samples yet, but Cory & Kyle are well established and should set the tone nicely!
Note that Parabol's Al Fletcher is also a Skeyes of Seven alum, and Steve Myers played with Cory in Sense of Truth, so could we see any sort of symmetry during either band's set? Originally set to be a 19+ event, this concert is reportedly nowALL AGES due to popular demand, which does bode well for Parabol's return! Admission is $15 at the door (alas, this is up from the October 2019 concert), and a 9:00 PM start time is in effect. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Parabol's ultra faithful live Tool experience in video format!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for our Glambition preview and more next, with this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post following this weekend! Thanks everyone!
After a break for my 33rd birthday, we're back in business at the SMS with a new news post to kick off June 2022! Alongside a preview of a special Wednesday night concert tonight and some new live videos from just last week, we're kicking things off with LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS on both sides of the border, so here's what you should know!
Local acoustic hard rock quartet The Wyld Stallyns will be among the musical entertainment at a "Come As You Are Gala" for downtown charity grocery store Grocer 4 Good on Saturday, June 11th at The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Center! This special community event is in support of the Gore Street establishment that helps provide groceries to downtown residents while also giving employment opportunities those with employment issues and developmental disabilities, so they definitely are grocers for good! The event proper is designed to celebrate and recognize staff, volunteers, and supporters of the store, and will feature catering and meals from local restaurants, a silent auction table, and a cash bar, so definitely visit the ticket page on Eventbrite for full non-musical details! The Wyld Stallyns and a country & western band led by Daryl Seabrook will supply musical entertainment that night, while singer and 2019 Soo's Got Talent runner-up Juliana Regan will perform during the dinner portion of the evening.
A 6:00 PM start time is in effect for this all ages gala, which has tickets running for $40 (remember what all this includes and what cause it's supporting), and table reservations for 8 people cost $300. The Wyld Stallyns' set will definitely be in the back half of the gala once dinner wraps up, so don't expect them or Daryl & crew until at least 9:00 PM. This may seem very out of left field for The Stallyns, but they have played at the Bushplane Museum before (remember the Entomica fundraiser last summer?), and their sound is diverse enough to appeal to a wide array of fans, so look for more unplugged hard and classic rock covers next weekend, and see the above links for more on the gala!
Next up, let's head to the E.U.P., as Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Rhythm & Brews will return to The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino on Friday, July 8th & Saturday, July 9th! These are the only completely new hard rock concert announcements at the two local Kewadin Casino branch lounges through their most recent schedule extension through the end of July, with anything else SMS-friendly already being announced by the bands in question. These will be the 415E sister band's first shows at the St. Ignace Kewadin since February, with Brandon, Chris, Brett, and Ron last being seen together in April at The Rapids Lounge in the Soo. While still very scant for public media of their shows, this supergroup of Nixxon Dixxon, Clownsack, and Monkey's Uncle alumni should have lots of solid covers in store next month! Expect 9:00 PM start times, no cover, and 21+ age limits, and see above for more details!
Now let's head back to Sault Ontario for a special Wednesday evening concert preview, as local classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison will play his first Mike Case Memorial Stage concert of the season TONIGHT outside of The Trading Post! Given the days Tym usually plays on (even factoring in his weekly Thursday shows at Gliss pre-pandemic), the mid-week scheduling is odd, especially when today nor tomorrow is a holiday, but this could be a simple as The Trading Post wanting to start the summer months off on the right foot with live music at the start of June. If so, good sign for Tym and his extensive setlist of familiar covers to be called in right away, and if things remain steady (pandemic willing), we could be seeing much more of him at 1332 Great Northern Road through September! For now, tonight's show has a 7:00 PM start time (ending at 9:00), no age limit, and no cover charge.
As for the weather, 9&10 News is projecting things to be sunny with temperatures of 11-12°, and assuming the show isn't delayed past 9:25 PM, it will end before sunset, so conditions are very favourable (and much less humid than yesterday!) Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Tym live in 2020!
Finally for today, here's five new cover songs from local classic/hard rock cover band Soundcheck's between-guest songs during last week's jam night that they host at Reggie's West on Thursdays! Like with many of his prior Reggievelt jam gig videos on drummer Glen Thomas' YouTube channel, these were as a trio without singer/guitarist Cameron Oliver, while frequent fill-in bassist Rob Gilmar was also present in place of Paul Belair, both for unannounced reasons (at least online). The videos are covers of ZZ Top's "Tush", Bryan Adams' "Cuts Like A Knife", The Tragically Hip's "New Orleans Is Sinking", David Wilcox's "My Eyes Keep Me In Trouble", and as embedded below, Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead Or Alive". With Cameron absent, Terry Eaton naturally handles lead vocals here... except the Bon Jovi cover, with Rob singing lead instead, and he gets the job done well, especially compared to the real Bon Jovi in 2022!
Note that Glen again filmed these with a mounted aerial camera, and while these were apparently filmed for the benefit of a drum student of his, he was asked to post them publically. This may explain the heavy post-production lens flare in two corners of the screen, perhaps to direct visual focus onto the drumming, but I can't 100% say if that was the intent. Still solid covers for fans of Terry and Glen's extensive local music work, so give these videos a look for yourself above & below!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for our proper weekend concert previews on the site next! Thanks everyone!
