Two topic post on this Saturday night, including the latest from a prominent local band, and leading off, a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT and related videos from a prolific musician, so here's what you should know!
Local hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison will return to Reggie's Place for a matinee concert TOMORROW! Apologies for the short notice, Tym only announced this show via its Facebook event page earlier today, with the venue similarly only mentioning it today on their Facebook page. Fresh off his return to Tazzi's last night (no word on if he is playing there again tonight or not), this will be Tym's first Sunday matinee at Reggie's in over a month. Hopefully his unplugged classic and hard rock covers find another solid downtown audience TOMORROW despite the late notice, and of course, remember that Reggie's and Tazzi's aren't far away from each other at all! TOMORROW'S matinee gig has a 3:00 PM start time, no cover charge, and a 19+ age limit. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, Tym has been busy, as he's uploaded four new-ish songs/music videos to his YouTube channel in the past two months!
The only song with Tym himself singing is "Drug Dealers",
as already heard on his 2006 "Solo Project" CD. Featuring a newly made video full of stock and familiar video footage based on the lyrics, the
song was a hard hitting highlight on his album! The other three songs feature vocals from his "old singer" named Bob Cook (no word on if this is the same Bob Cook from Sault Michigan's Clownsack or not) named "Violet Rose", "Dark Entity", and as embedded below, "Tormented". The first one (which Bob wrote) appears to be based on an original concept, with footage of historic and fictional battles alike featured along with the song, which is a little slower but still a classic metal rocker that fans of Tym's past electric band work will be right at home with! "Dark Entity" is about a man's struggle between choosing God & Satan (remember, Tym's Christian beliefs are very present in his modern day life and music).
As for "Tormented", it is about being stuck in an insane asylum, and features
assorted video footage related to the conceit, like the other new videos. Both this and "Dark Entity" are more amped up classic metal songs that old Caveman Morrison and Hollow fans will appreciate, and they're well produced too! Maybe not a representative sample of what he'll play at Reggie's TOMORROW, but you never know what he'll play given his vast setlist, so check these out for yourselves above & below!
Finally for today, remember how local/Barrie crossover thrash quintet Spades GT teased "a big announcement" on their Facebook page on Wednesday night? Well, that announcement was the launch of their new official website! Cleanly designed, if somewhat plain in a black & white colour scheme, and there are some new details to take note of there. On the main page, the band revealed that their new album will be called "Sewer City Radio" and is still scheduled for a May release, exact date yet unknown. The brief band biography and "about us" listings still present them as having "formed in early 2022" without acknowledging their 2013-2020 Jack Spades run in the Soo, or having officially announced the band's Barrie relaunch in late 2021. The events page only lists the previously announced Anti-Queens show in Barrie next week (erroneously listed as taking place next year) and one new concert, albeit taking place in Toronto.
That event will see Spades GT play at Indie Night In Canada, a special music showcase concert on June 6th at El Mocambo in Toronto featuring 18 rock bands across two stages (none of them aside from Spades GT are familiar from prior local concerts). Should be a good platform for the guys, and hopefully things go well in June! That could end up being their first show after the "Sewer City Radio" release, though we'll let you know if an actual release concert (if likely not here) is announced. At press time, the website has a store page to buy their official t-shirt, a photo gallery, and three videos cribbed from this full-set video of them opening for Random Killing at The Queens Nightclub in Barrie last year. They feature ex-bassist Daniel Rodbard and predate Jay Sarrazin joining on rhythm guitar, for what it's worth. The guys have also pushed their "one Reel a day" streak on their Facebook page forward too, so what else can you see?
The new "Reels" include one on Wednesday of the guys playing "Rise" in concert last year, one on Thursday of drummer Tyler Reiner in studio, yesterday's "Reel" of guitarist Daniel Horton playing "Motorwolf" in concert, and in today's reel, the current lineup playing behind heavy post-production filters, almost giving a neon lights effect. I still don't like "Reels" for multiple reasons, but they're making the most of them! I can't embed them here, but give them a watch above, and stay tuned for much more from Spades GT soon, as there's definitely good stuff on the horizon! That's all for today, but look for more on the site next wee! Thanks everyone!
Before we begin this post, just a heads up that local funk/hard rock sextet The Wyld Stallyns are not playing at Shooters Downstairs Lounge tonight. Other than saying on their Facebook page that they "had to cancel", they did not publically elaborate as to why they dropped out, but hopefully all's well in their camp! Pop rock cover band L!me (who were playing at Shooters tomorrow anyway) are stepping in to play tonight instead, and don't miss The Stallyns at the Festival of Beer next month! Now, here's new videos and SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS tied to a new local band!
We have a new local classic/hard rock cover band to add to our links, and they are Generations! This is the band that succeeded classic rock veterans Jus' Chillin, who only announced their dissolution earlier this month, with Generations re-appropriating their Facebook group as their own. This is not a renaming, Generations are considered to be a different band. Jus' Chillin never (knowingly?) crossed the hard rock line for SMS coverage, but Generations are getting off on the right foot in that regard, helped by former Obsession frontwoman Valerie Powley fronting this new group! We hadn't heard much from her in a rock band context since she left the now-defunct Obsession last summer, and she should fit in nicely in this new project! Their guitarist is recent Algoma University music program graduate Brandon Ruch, while long-time Jus' Chillin mainstays Pierre Anthony & Tony Santoro continue handling bass & drums here.
If you're curious, Jus' Chillin were a trio that whose guitarist appeared to change relatively frequently, though Brandon was on hand for their final gigs at Jay's Piston Broke Pub in February (they also often had guest musicians at their shows). Generations debuted at Jay's on April 7th-8th, and you can see videos from those nights on their Facebook group, including multiple shot by Sharilyn Van Scoy, including covers of Amanda Marshall's "Let It Rain", Linda Ronstadt's "When Will I Be Loved?", The Tragically Hip's "Little Bones" (with Brandon singing), and this song with Tony singing that I cannot make the words out for (which was also filmed by Dawn Santoro from further back). Dawn also shot them covering Stealers Wheel's "Stuck In The Middle With You" and a Brandon-sung take on Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers' "Runnin' Down A Dream", but embedded below are two songs filmed by Mario Naccarato.
He taped covers of David Wilcox's "Riverboat Fantasy" with Pierre on vocals and The Doobie Brothers' "Long Train Running" with Valerie singing. Generations' third show was a one-nighter at Reggie's Place on Saturday, and their fourth and fifth shows comprise those SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, as they debut at The Esquire Club TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, these shows were announced on their Facebook group on the 10th but I only added them to our full coverage today. It is worth noting that this weekend's shows were originally advertised for Obsession as part of their planned 2023 concert slate, which was listed through June while Valerie was still in that band, so the correlation is noted, if unintentionally! TONIGHT & TOMORROW'S shows are at 9:30 PM with 19+ age limits and no cover charges, as usual at this location.
From what I have seen and heard of Generations so far, I don't think they are quite as heavy as Obsession often got, but they do seem further in that regard than Jus' Chillin from what I knew of them, and with Valerie's input and very strong vocals, that can not hurt their existing formula one bit! Don't miss them at The Esquire Club TONIGHT & TOMORROW to see what Generations bring to the table, and see more from them above & below!
Finally for today, I again feel like the last person in the city to talk about this, but local alt-hard rock quintet Handsome Sandwich's third and final advance single for their upcoming debut album "Deconstructed" was released to major streaming services as scheduled on Wednesday, complete with a music video on their YouTube channel! This is for "No Entry", and while it was teased via "Reels" on their Facebook page, we don't have to settle for those now! I'll hold comment on the song proper pending our review of the entire album, but the video was filmed by former Shit Liver frontman Josh Penno and his filmmaking company Spacebag Productions, and Josh (credited as "Penno Cash") has an acting role in the video. It cuts between performance footage of the band and acted scenes of them going to see Dr. Penno, a plastic surgeon who promises to make the band "handsome" (well, if the sandwich is handsome already, it's a natural extension!)
Singer Taylor Emlaw gets the most screen time during her appointment, but I won't dare spoil what happens with her, Josh, and the band. Note that Wyld Stallyns saxophonist Josh Norling (who was previously advertised to be guesting on this song) does not appear on camera or in the end-of-video credits. Fun video and well shot by Josh and his team, so do give it a watch below, and look for this and much more to be played at their album release show at The Loft two weeks from tomorrow!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site soon! Thanks everyone!
After a few lean weekends for concerts, we have a decent amount of hard rock shows to take in this weekend in Sault Ontario, including SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, so here's what you should know!
Local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard will return to the stage with concerts at Jay's Piston Broke Pub TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the band only announced these shows on their Facebook page on Monday. While technically last seen filling in as hosts of the Thursday jam night at the same venue last week (Soundcheck sat it out due to external commitments for bassist Jim Michaud), these will be Bone Yard's first traditional concerts since their Sudbury road trip late last month, and first local non-jam night dates since rocking Jay's over St. Patrick's Day weekend. Given that Greg, Alex, and Warren have been working on original material in studio all month, could the fruits of that labour be shown off TOMORROW and/or SATURDAY NIGHT? In any event, official Bone Yard t-shirts will be on sale, as will their famed "Bone Yard shot" for you potent potable fans.
As usual for concerts at the former Reggie's West, Bone Yard are on TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT at 9:00 PM with no cover charges and 19+ age limits. Should be a good time for fans of hard rocking classic and southern rock covers, so don't miss out, and here's Bone Yard live!
Next up, we'll move to concerts that had advance notice before this week, starting with local hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison's return to Tazzi's Cafe & Restaurant TOMORROW NIGHT! Tym had made his debut there on St. Patrick's Day, followed by a publically unannounced (at least online) encore the following night, and clearly things went well at the intimate Queen Street East venue last month for him to get a call to return this month! I have no clue if Tym will play there on Saturday again, we'll let you know if something is announced in time to mention it here. Hopefully his unplugged but well presented brand of hard & classic rock covers find another receptive audience tomorrow! This show has an 8:00 PM start time, a 19+ age limit, and no cover, and will likely be the same if he is re-booked on Saturday. See above for more details, keep his acoustic cover attack in mind tomorrow, and here's Tym live at Tazzi's last month!
Further down Queen Street East, if you take a turn left onto Dennis Street, you can also get some live music action TOMORROW NIGHT courtesy of local funk/hard rock cover sextet The Wyld Stallyns at Shooters Downstairs Lounge! Arguably a warm-up gig for their upcoming appearance at the Festival of Beer next month, this is their first publically advertised concert since headlining at Shooters for another one-nighter last month. Hopefully Christina, Rob, Jesse, Alex, Derek, and Josh deliver a fun night of hard rock and more varied covers for downtown fans, as we've come to expect from The Stallyns time and time again! A one-nighter due to or resulting in pop rock band L!me's show there on Saturday night, tomorrow's festivities are at 9:00 PM with no cover charge and a 19+ age limit. Don't bypass this show for some entertaining cover action, so see above for more details, and here are The Wyld Stallyns live!
Finally, let's bookend things with another cover classic/hard rock band playing TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT, namely the debuting Double Down at Reggie's Place! As you may know, this is the new band featuring ex-Griphook frontman Joel Syrette, former Mustang Heart guitarist Adam King, and former Bone Yard/Mojo bandmates Brad Stephen & Ric Datson on bass and drums (interesting that half of Bone Yard's 2013-2022 lineup are playing at each of the past/present Reggie's nightclubs this weekend!). Talented lineup on paper, and their early hints about Double Down's setlist point to an entertaining and very often heavy set that will call to mind Griphook and That's Chester in scope, so it should be interesting to see how they do with this downtown doubleheader this weekend! Expect 9:00 PM start times, no cover charges, and 19+ age limits. See above for more details, and we'll let you know when/if videos from this weekend surface!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site soon! Thanks everyone!
Here's a new news post on this Tuesday night, which features a recently revived solo project and some recent updates & teasers from an established act, but first, here's what you should know about a brand new addition to our band links!
We have a new local hard rock band to add to our active Sault Ontario band links, namely Far From Fine! This name will be unfamiliar, but you may have seen them live already, as this band debuted at Toystock at The Grand Gardens North in November under the name Ravencore. A reason for the name change wasn't announced, but on their new Facebook page, Far From Fine acknowledged that they were initially waiting to launch it in conjunction with their planned debut album (which was teased in this SooToday article on their Toystock set), but opted to get this up in advance of the summer concert season for promotional sake. Effectively, Far From Fine are successors to the 2012-2016 hard rock band The Suicide Kings (a.k.a. Beaumont Avenue), with singer Mike Gaetano and current Handsome Sandwich guitarist Mitch Sirie reunited as such. Mike also handles rhythm guitar and keyboard in this project.
The rhythm section features former Gnaeus bassist Matt Fronzi and former Brutally Fatal/Revolution frontman Austin "Mickey" McCrae on drums. Uniquely, each band member has an image on Facebook featuring a brief question & answer section (how Angelfire or Tripod of them!), which reveals details about their setlist, planned original songs, and favourite local bands, though Austin didn't give an answer on the latter query. Their covers do skew towards a more varied range of bands than The Suicide Kings played, with Everclear, Good Charlotte, and Blackstreet cited, while they are known to have covered Weezer at Toystock. Originals named "Relapse", "This Way Again", and "Poison In My Mind" are cited as individual favourites of the band so far, though Matt couldn't name one over the rest. The lyrics for "Relapse" and another original song named "Broken" have been posted as images on the band's Facebook page as well.
No media samples or planned concert dates are posted yet, but given that they already played live as Ravencore, got local news coverage out of it (especially with Mike's son Gavin guesting on drums), and that they already have at least four original songs ready, then these are all good signs for Far From Fine in 2023! I have no idea if the guys have actually been recording their originals in studio already or if they're still writing and rehearsing them, but thye're on the right foot, so visit the above links for more on Ravencore Far From Fine, and if you know where to look, a couple of videos from Toystock are floating around on personal Facebook accounts!
Next up, here's the latest from local/Barrie crossover thrash quintet Spades GT's Facebook page! True to their pattern of one "Reel" per day of each band member, that series closed on Sunday with a "Reel" of guitarist Jay "Redbeard" Sarrazin playing at an unidentified concert. A fine guitar solo, just a shame that I can't embed it here! Again, this is Facebook's fault, not the band's. The "Reels" did keep coming though, with another one posted yesterday featuring singer J.D. Pearce and both guitarists rocking out mid-song, and today seeing another one, this time obviously cribbed from the "Hands" video that Jake Disman filmed at the Road To Lockdown Fest in Toronto on April 7th. Earlier today, the guys did tease that a "big announcement" will be made on their Facebook page at 7:00 PM tomorrow, allegedly "the first of many this spring", though I have no definitive word on what they're getting at yet, or if it'd even be locally relevant as opposed to something for the GTA.
Remember that they were recording their new album in Toronto earlier this year, while J.D. is likely back as curator for The Northern Vibe Festival's band-centric Forest Stage in August, so another Jack Spades homecoming set would likely follow in Ophir once again (festival organizers revealed the DJ-centric River Stage lineup yesterday, with the band announcement "coming soon"). In any event, we'll keep you guys posted on the latest news and notes from Spades GT when it comes in!
We'll close today with a surprise revival of a local grunge/alternative solo project, namely Kush Wood! The subject of our Defunct Local Band Profile just last month, project leader Kristien Woodcock posted on their Facebook page for the first time in over two years on April 10th, and has two new acoustic cover videos to show for it, one being a "Reel" of him covering Matthew Good's "Symbolistic White Walls". Sounds good while it lasts, but of course, the limitations of "Reels" are noted. The other video is cross-posted from Kush Wood's Instagram page, and while videos from there are not the cleanest thing to embed on the SMS, at least you can do it, unlike TikTok videos (not to mention "Reels"!). This sees Kristien covering Stone Sour's "Through Glass", and while neither of these videos are overly long, it's good to see him back at it with some strongly played & sung renditions! Give these a look, and Kush Wood are back in our active links!
Four days after the return of his monthly live-streams on Facebook, fans of local/Barrie alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith were spoiled again with another lengthy interview involving him, courtesy of the March 31st episode of Rock 'N Roll Heaven on local internet radio station The Borderline! While you may be more familiar with Sev's Cellar in terms of shows there interviewing heavier or punk musicians from the area, host and veteran local musician/photographer Brian Tremblay has interviewed some impressive names in recent years from both the Soo and far flung locations, so click here for the full archive of past episodes! Mike's interview with Brian runs for an hour and 54 minutes, and starts with Brian setting up the interview and key notes about Mike as a musician and re: his day job as a pilot, before playing "The Nature Of The Times" at the 1:37 mark. The interview proper begins next around 6 minutes in.
Conducted by phone from Mike's current Barrie homebase, it starts with Brian asking about Mike's work as a pilot, the origins of him wanting to fly airplanes (much earlier than you may think), moving to the Soo to enroll in Sault College's aviation program, his extended stay here helping his musical career (The Din are promoted here), his move to Thompson, Manitoba in 2017, and his move to Barrie with WestJet, which abruptly cuts to his song "From The 55th Parallel" at the 12:30 point in the interview. When we come back to the interview, Brian compares Mike to major musicians who fly airplanes, and they stick to airplane talk next, including preferred planes to fly, if Mike brings guitars with him on flights, and his penultimate goal as a pilot, with "The Best You Never Had" playing next at 21:27, if less abruptly. Mike next talks about his marriage and recent one year wedding anniversary, before diving into his music career proper.
Brian asks Mike about his early beginnings with writing and recording music in his hometown of Windsor (this section has lots of amusement), as well as the early albums of Mike's that he has digitized and kept but never plans to release. At the 31:39 mark, we next hear Mike's song "2145", which is incorrectly labelled as "12" in the track listing on the episode page, before Brian asks about Mike's past bands and if some could ever come back. Mike did reveal that there were "limited talks" about The Din reuniting, but will likely leave that to archival releases now, but he did note that his old Windsor band S.C.A.R. could reunite, time permitting. Brian also asked if Mike would ever consider focusing on music as a 100% full time career rather than flying (Mike answered in the negative), before we next hear "Twist of Fate" at the 41:48 mark, which is from Mike's forthcoming album "All The Best In All You Do".
Yes, this is the studio take of the song, so if you're looking forward to that album, note this preview! Afterwards, Brian asks about Mike's work doing the soundtrack for the independent film Ashes of K (whose soundtrack featured existing songs from his solo and Din catalog), which actually ties in with talk of the Windsor Express basketball team, as Mike moonlighted as a broadcaster for them once! The first half of the interview ends with "Into The Setting Sun" at 51:26, before Brian asks about how Mike' family supported his music career, The next song is "Back Away Slowly" at 58:33, before we next get discussion about Mike's planned indie label MorningStar Records and his planned artist-friendly aims for the label, especially knowing what it was like as a local musician looking at contract offers and knowing that better can be done for the artists. "Blue Highway" is the next song up at 1:09:09.
The interview continues with Mike elaborating on print-on-demand methods for physical albums, and how Mike has used Kunaki for his solo catalog in recent years, extending into Mike's sales of his albums online and how this all ties in to the MorningStar Records plans. After we hear "Bridges" at 1:18:44, the MorningStar Records talk continues, including the optimism about the far flung artists who have expressed interest in signing on, before Brian asks about Mike's album "Bridges" and why it had such a delayed and eventually abrupt release. Mike talks about the songwriting and his moving to Thompson initially, broken up with the song "To Be With You" at 1:26:52, which ironically is not from "Bridges" (it's another new track that premiered on The Borderline). Afterwards, Mike outlines the recording of "Bridges" and his work in the Thompson rock band Between The Ditches.
Mike doesn't go into great detail about the personal matters that led to recording "If Ever Comes The Day" and releasing that in lieu of "Bridges", but he does address his decision to finally put that album out in 2021 in conjunction with his new website. The next song heard at 1:36:12 is "The Catalyst", which is from "Bridges" this time! He next discusses his new album "All The Best In All You Do", where he comes back around to the themes of "If Ever Comes The Day" and how it inspired the more optimistic & personally influenced album ahead. This wraps up the interview proper, before Brian plays "All You Do" from the new album at 1:45:47 (this might be that song's public premiere but don't quote me on that). After thanking Mike again, Brian teased that he and Mike will apparently be playing a "very intimate singer-songwriter evening" together next month, but details on the event are forthcoming. We'll keep you posted when more comes out!
After signing off, the Sinister Hearts frontman plays one more song of Mike's at 1:49:54, namely "MorningStar". This was an entertaining interview with lots of interesting tidbits and reveals throughout, and Mike came off well when talking about his musical and aviation careers! I would have took more time to gameplan which song plays where, let alone with the often abrupt jumps from interview to song and back (I'd have Brian introduce them on air for the songs to be added afterwards), but aside from that, fans will want to check it out at this link! That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site this week! Thanks everyone!
You know the summer is on the horizon when we're starting to get more LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, and not necessarily traditional ones, so some new shows make up most of today's post! Rounding things out are some new videos, so here's what you should know on this Saturday afternoon!
Online page-less local indie rock/punk supergroup Bookclub and funk/hard rock cover sextet The Wyld Stallyns will be among the musical entertainment at the 10th anniversary installment of the Sault Ste. Marie Festival of Beer, taking place on Saturday, May 6th at the Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre! The idea of both bands playing at a beer-heavy event is not a new one, as they were both at Outspoken Brewing's Oktoberfest last year, followed by a LopLops Lounge gig in December, and as luck would have it, LopLops put on the Festival of Beer, so that's a natural move! Music is not entirely new to the Festival of Beer (White Cowbell Oklahoma headlined a kickoff event for it last year), but this time, bands will be playing during the event, not unlike pre-pandemic, with Bookclub and the Stallyns also joined by young local indie rock band The Hollow Heads here. This SooToday article details much about the Festival of Beer in 2023, including what craft breweries are taking part and this year's goals.
Timeslots for the bands are not out, at least not that I have seen publically, but the festival runs from 1:00-7:00 PM at the Bushplane Museum on May 6th. Expect a 19+ age limit (obviously), and tickets run for $35 apiece ($38.15 with processing fees and such) at this link. This is more for the beer aficionado than a concertgoer, I'd imagine, but this eclectic group of live musicians should provide a fun soundtrack in three weeks, so do visit the above links for current details on the Festival of Beer!
Next up, Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Tarnished will return to The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino on Friday, May 26th & Saturday, May 27th! The band has yet to confirm these dates on their Facebook page (late notice announcements there are not unheard of), but Kewadin's entertainment page has confirmed the gigs as part of their Rapids Lounge dates through the end of next month. These will be Tarnished's first shows at the Soo Kewadin since early March, and will mark their first announced local dates since their Savoy Bar encore three weeks ago. Of course, these are also over the Memorial Day long weekend, so keep that angle in mind too, but Tarnished's hard hitting covers and originals should be a solid soundtrack to end May 2023 with no matter what! If you're up for a road trip, Tarnished will also be downstate in Grand Rapids next Sunday, which you can get details about here.
That show will see them open for Southbound Beretta and Card Reader at Turnstiles, so good to see them spreading their wings, H.L.T.C.-style! They'll also return to the Grand Marais Music Festival in the central U.P. on August 11th, which will be much closer than Grand Rapids if you're up for it, so click here for full lineup details! As for next month's Rapids Lounge dates, expect them to be 21+ affairs with no cover charges and 9:00 PM start times. Visit the above links for more on Tarnished's mid-2022 plans!
Back to Sault Ontario now for another downtown community event, as local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard will return to the Queen Street Cruise for concerts on Friday, June 16th & Saturday, June 17th! Recently taking a break from the stage while working on original material, these will be Bone Yard's fourth straight appearances at the Cruise, which debuted in 2016 and has been held annually since, barring 2020 & 2021 due to the pandemic. However, things will not be as you're used to, as the cruise will actually not be down Queen Street and ending at GFL Memorial Gardens this year. Planned construction work on Queen has led organizers to have the event based at the Roberta Bondar Pavilon with vehicles shown off along Foster Drive, though the final route for the classic car cruise proper (possibly still including part of Queen Street) is to be unveiled. This Sault Star article by Brian Kelly will fill in details about changes to expect this year.
As best as I can tell, Bone Yard will now be playing on the stage at the Pavilion, so they're at least protected from the elements under the tent this way! Like last year, their Friday show will be the nightcap at 6:30 PM during that night's actual cruise. while the Saturday gig will be a 12:30 PM matinee during the car show. Attendees can also expect a swap meet, the Sault Area Hospital 5 car draw, vendors, and more as usual. Unless registering for the car show, the Queen Street Cruise is a free & all ages event, and if you love cars and some family friendly entertainment, this should do the job, so visit the above links for continuing details!
Let's close with some new videos from local/Barrie crossover thrash quintet Spades GT, including some new "Reels" on their Facebook page! Alas, I'm not a fan of these short, vertical, and unembeddable videos, let alone ones that won't play in a different browser tab, but if you detect me being dismissive or snarky about them, it's all on Facebook for the conceit, not the bands for using what's offered on the platform. This "Reel" from Thursday features drummer Tyler "Jeeb" Reiner at an unidentified concert (no beer mishaps like in J.D.'s earlier one), while this "Reel" posted yesterday features guitartist Daniel Horton playing a solo live, and today's "Reel" has bassist James Roy Daley (a.k.a. KillRoy) playing mid-song, albeit with very muffled audio and a stippled dot filter. If the plan is to post one "Reel" per band member per day, then expect one of guitarist Jay Sarrazin tomorrow.
Is it bad that I wish these were full videos of the song(s) in question? I digress. We do have a full performance video of Spades GT to check out though, featuring the guys playing their newer original "Hands" at the Road To Lockdown Fest at The Rockpile in Toronto on April 7th! Filmed by attendee Jake Disman for his YouTube channel, the video is heavily filtered into what kind of looks like the thermal camera vision from the Predator movies, but darker and exclusively using warm colours. The audio quality is very rough too, with J.D. almost inaudible under the music, so while this isn't an ideal way to see or hear Spades GT, at least it's a full embeddable video that you can watch below!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes in the days ahead! Thanks everyone!
Today's post is devoted to new or upcoming concerts, both to preview this weekend's slate and to announced LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS ahead! We're mostly looking at E.U.P. gigs here, with a Sault Ontario stop for good measure further down, so here's what you should know!
Traverse City, Michigan classic metal trio Peril will return to The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino for concerts on Friday, May 12th & Saturday, May 13th! Announced via this concert calendar shared to their Facebook page earlier this month, these have since been confirmed on Kewadin's entertainment page's listings of lounge bands through the end of May (we will address Tarnished's return to the Soo Kewadin in an upcoming post). These will be Jeff, Adam, and Brooks' first shows at The Rapids Lounge since playing there in late January, and will hopefully prove to be another entertaining weekend of hard rocking covers for fans and lounge regulars alike, so don't miss out on next month's action! Peril will be on both nights at 9:00 PM with no cover charge and a 21+ age limit, as usual. Visit the above links for more details, and we'll look at their sister band's Kewadin gigs this weekend in a bit!
Next up, let's dive into this weekend's concert previews, starting with the return of Manistique hard rock duo Fyrbird to The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino themselves TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT, but that's not all from them! Last week, band representative Shannon Hider posted their current schedule through the end of the year on their Facebook group (we had previously known about their E.U.P. gigs through next month), so when else can you see Fyrbird in our neck of the woods? The next new-to-us gigs within an hour of the Soo will see them rock The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino on September 22nd & 23rd, before returning to The Rapids Lounge in Sault Ste. Marie on November 17th & 18th. More spread out, but they will be back! Also, note that they'll be seen often in Paradise, Newberry, Gould City, Curtis, and Naubinway as well, which are not in our coverage range.
Remember, we stop at an hour's drive from Sault Ste. Marie, but of course, those towns are in Chippewa, Mackinac, or Luce County, so don't disregard them if you happen to be in the area, as they play there more than under the Kewadin umbrella. Tonight, tomorrow's, and this fall's Kewadin gigs from Fyrbird are at 9:00 PM with no cover charges and 21+ age limits. Hopefully Fyrbird's hard hitting two-man cover attack goes over well for Yooper fans this weekend and beyond, so visit the above links for more details, don't miss them tonight and tomorrow in the Soo, and here's Rick & Jamie live and in concert last year!
Also, let's head further south in Michigan for the aforementioned shows this weekend from Peril's sister band, namely Traverse City metal trio Scarkazm, who will return to The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace branch TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT themselves! Fresh off of rare gigs in Indiana this past weekend, these will be the Peril sister band's first shows in St. Ignace since February, so not a huge time between gigs there, but definitely still another fine opportunity or two for their hard hitting yet fan friendly covers & originals on a local stage awaits local fans this weekend! Like with Peril in the Soo next month, Scarkazm's concerts tonight and tomorrow have 9:00 PM start times, 21+ age limits, and no cover charges. Visit the official Facebook event pages linked here & here for more details on Scarkazm's St. Ignace shows this weekend, and here they are live!
Finally, let's head north to Sault Ontario, as Toronto-based Kiss tribute band Destroyer will make their (at least) fifth local concert appearance here TOMORROW NIGHT, when they rock Soo Blaster
for the first time! Fans of Kiss may recall last seeing Destroyer give
rock n' roll to you at the former Canadian Nightclub in March 2019 (with
a planned May 2020 return cancelled due to the first pandemic
lockdown), so it'll be great to see Destroyer's faithful take on Kiss'
classic original hard rock sound and stage show on a local stage again,
and fans should be in good hands after their prior gigs here went well!
Support will come by way of local southern hard rock quintet Fort Creek,
who are stepping out of the studio for their first set since their
headlining weekend at Jay's last month and their first appearance at Soo
Blaster since playing there in December. With Fort Creek's
long-gestating new album still in the works, look for new studio
material mixed into tomorrow's high profile set!
Sponsored by Sessions Cannabis,
this 19+ concert has doors opening at 7:00 PM, and tickets run for $20
(up from $15 in 2019) or $25 for VIP passes, perks unclear, though note
that on Eventbrite,
the only advance tickets there cost $27.96 with taxes/service fees
already applied. If you're a fan of Kiss, you owe it to yourself to
check this show out, as Destroyer are the next best thing to the real
thing, and Fort Creek will be a good match to kick off the evening, so
don't miss out tomorrow, visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Destroyer live!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site soon! Thanks everyone!
