The Victoria Day (a.k.a. May 2-4) long weekend is drawing near, so let's preview most of this weekend's hard rock and punk concerts, though due to the amount, Sunday's Queen: It's A Kinda Magic concert will be previewed in our next news post. Here's what you should know, starting with SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!
Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to Jay's Piston Broke Pub for traditional concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the band only announced the shows on their Facebook page this afternoon, with the venue only following suit after Soundcheck first announced them. Yes, these shows follow their usual Thursday night hosting duties at the former Reggie's West tonight, but those are typically sans-Cameron and we've never treated them as concerts for our purposes due to their unpredictability by design. Fresh off of Esquire Club gigs last week, TOMORROW & SATURDAY'S shows will be Soundcheck's first standard concerts at Jay's since the Bring Back Summer party three weeks ago, and will be their first gigs since Jay's underwent a renovation of some type to the stage area, so it'll be interesting to see what's different compared to the old Rosie days!
For the record, no holiday/long weekend-related themes are suggested for TOMORROW and/or SATURDAY. These shows have no cover charges, 9:30 PM start times, and 19+ age limits as usual, so visit the above links for more details, and here's Soundcheck live!
Next up, we'll move to shows with advance notice, like the highly anticipated return of two legendary hardcore punk bands, as Victoria, British Columbia's own The Dayglo Abortions and Toronto mainstays Random Killing will make their respective Soo Blaster debuts TOMORROW NIGHT! Local fans have been waiting nearly a decade since the last Dayglo set in Sault Ste. Marie (September 2013 at what's now Jay's), so if you're up for another blast of old school punk from The Cretin and company, including cuts from their new album "Upside Down World", head downtown tomorrow! As for Random Killing and their Saultite frontman Andrew "Drool" Kiteley, we last saw them at The Rockstar Bar in July 2019, and it will be great to have them back for another hardcore homecoming of sorts tomorrow, with their own new album "Bring Out Your Dead" also fresh to deliver songs from to the Soo Blaster faithful! Vancouver garage/noise trio Motorama will make their local debut tomorrow as well.
Not a hardcore punk band, but they will help get things on the right foot with their hybrid sound! Local alt-punk trio A Dire Setback will play their first local date of 2023 as the openers in a rare Sault Ste. Marie set post-pandemic, and with usual Dayglo/Random Killing promoter J.D. Pearce moved out of town, their promotion company Live705 have reemerged to put this show on. Great to see A Dire Setback & Live705 back, and this should do well for them! This 19+ concert has an 8:00 PM start time and $20 tickets that you can buy at this link and at the door while available. Hopefully this is a huge show for all involved, so visit the Facebook event page for more details, and here are The Dayglo Abortions live!
Also, let's head a little further downtown to Shooters Downstairs Lounge, where local punk trio Vanity First will make their first appearances TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Following a one-off test of the conceit at Reggie's last month, these will be solo headlining dates akin to cover-centric bands who play on the weekend nightclub circuit, so expect lots of covers along with Andrew, Mikhal, and Keeghan's established originals this weekend! Nothing else too shocking to report for these gigs, but whether you're going to the Dayglos' concert or to see Vanity First tomorrow, punk fans will have a lot to like this weekend! These concerts have 9:00 PM start times, no announced cover charges, and 19+ age limits. Visit the official Facebook event pages linked here & here for more details on Vanity's Shooters debuts this weekend, and here they are live!
Finally, we'll head back up Queen Street East, let's next preview new local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations' gigs at Reggie's Place TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! This union of the final Jus' Chillin lineup and ex-Obsession singer Valerie Powley last took to the stage at The Esquire Club late last month, and they have gotten a good reception for their initial gigs this spring, so hopefully they set things off on the right foot on this holiday long weekend! If you can't make this weekend's shows, or would prefer to see them in the west end, Generations will be back at The Esquire Club next week. Tomorrow & Saturday's Generations concerts have 19+ age limits, no cover charges, and 9:00 PM start times. With the talent and skill level on display from Generations, classic and hard rock fans should find something to like here, so don't miss out at Reggie's this weekend, and here they are live!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes (and the Queen tribute preview) on the site shortly! Thanks everyone!
Today's SMS post is devoted to LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for your summer delectation, and while most come from a frequently seen cover band, a big headlining show was also confirmed featuring a rising headliner. Here's what you should know on all announced fronts!
Local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard have announced their concert schedule for the entire summer season (barring anything that could be announced in the interim) on their Facebook page, so what should you know about Greg, Alex, and Warren's mid-2023 plans? Firstly, we won't retread the Queen Street Cruise at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion on June 16th & 17th, as they were already announced for that last month, but click here for our coverage at the time. Five (technically six) of the new shows will take place at Jay's Piston Broke Pub, including a one nighter on Friday, June 2nd and then full weekends on June 30th-July 1st (Canada Day) and August 18th-19th! No word on why they're not playing at the former Roosevelt Hotel on Saturday, June 3rd, but as you can see in the calendar, they will reportedly be replacing Soundcheck as jam night hosts there on Thursday the 1st, though the reason for the switch is not yet known.
This won't be the first time that Bone Yard have subbed in for Soundcheck as the Thursday jam night hosts at Jay's, so prepare for the change in band if you come to that in two weeks! Of note, the August gigs at Jay's coincide with the Dragonfly Run, so what is that? Basically, it's the relaunched and renamed Ride For ARCH, the annual motorcycle rally that benefits the Algoma Residential Community Hospice, which will be held on Saturday, August 19th this year. Bone Yard are no strangers to the Ride For ARCH, having played at the former Reggie's West multiple times to support the cause, and while I'm not sure why the event was renamed, it's still benefiting ARCH in full. Along with the bike rally, there will be a barbecue, a street party on Korah Road, local vendors, and family entertainment outside of Jay's, so be sure to visit the above links and the Facebook event page for details on the event as they come in! All of Bone Yard's upcoming Jay's concerts have 19+ age limits, no cover, and 9:30 PM start times.
Heading downtown, Bone Yard have confirmed five upcoming concerts at Shooters Downstairs Lounge on Dennis Street, so look for them there on June 23rd & 24th, Friday, July 7th only (no word on why they're not playing on Saturday the 8th), and then on August 11th & 12th. Good to see the guys back at this familiar nightclub, so consider checking them out on all five of these dates! These are all 9:00 PM events with 19+ age limits and no cover. The other new dates are not local, starting with their already teased return to The Coulson Entertainment Centre in Sudbury (four hours east of the Soo) on July 21st-22nd, and hopefully they get a similarly strong reception compared to their gigs there in March! Lastly for this schedule, they'll take a road trip on Saturday, August 26th to Larder Lake (7 hours northeast of the Soo, near the Quebec border), so what's going on there in three months?
They're heading to Larder Lake (east of Kirkland Lake) for the third annual Rock N' Country By The Lake festival, whose full lineup hasn't been announced yet by organizers, but clearly Bone Yard got the go-ahead to promote their involvement. Should be a fun time for country & rock fans, so see above for details when they roll in! Conspicuous by its absence in the above schedule is a July return to Rotaryfest, an event that Bone Yard have rocked each year since 2019 and eight times total (nine if you count the virtual 2020 set) since their debut there in 2010. I wouldn't assume the worst yet, as the schedule reveal was in late June last year, so stay tuned there and at the above links for more on Bone Yard in 2023!
We'll close by staying in a country-ish lane, as North Bay country rock musician Cory Marks will make his local debut with a headlining concert at The Machine Shop on Friday, July 21st! This may seem off topic for the SMS, but Cory has been getting real crossover notice on both Canadian and American country & rock radio in the early 2020s, with his single "Outlaws & Outsiders" being a top 15 single on rock charts on both sides of the border, and a #7 country hit in the US at the same time. Adding to the crossover appeal, that song features Five Finger Death Punch's Ivan Moody, country star Travis Tritt, and ex-Motley Crue guitarist Mick Mars! There's more collaborations where that came from, including with Lzzy Hale from Halestorm and Theory of a Deadman's Tyler Connolly, among others. If you've taken to country/rock crossover artists like Hardy and Jelly Roll, then Cory will be up your alley come July!
No word on possible opening acts yet, but tickets for this 7:00 PM concert are now on sale at this link for $37.71, and there are no posted age limits. Country concerts usually do well here, but one that has such a rock component (especially courtesy of his new EP "I Rise") will be interesting on its own, so definitely give Cory's music a listen to see what he brings to the table, and it is neat seeing a Northern Ontario musician getting real notice like this! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and stay tuned for weekend concert previews on the site next! Thanks everyone!
We're back with a packed news post on this Tuesday night, including lots of recent updates from an E.U.P. metal band, big updates from a former-ish Sault Ontario group, and leading off, a new cover video featuring familiar faces from here and afar, so here's what you should know!
The newest cover song from Mikey & His Uke dropped on the project's YouTube channel on Thursday, so what should you know here? In a rare metal turn, Bookclub frontman Mikey Hawdon tackled Nine Inch Nails' "Wish" this month with another far-flung all-star band, with Mikey on rhythm guitar, backing vocals, additional percussion, and (initially as always) ukelele. Joining him are skateboarding legend Tony Hawk (in his fourth Mikey & His Uke appearance) on vocals, ex-Dillinger Escape Plan guitarist Ben Weinman, The Bronx bassist Brad Magers, ex-Every Time I Die drummer Ryan "Legs" Leger, and Stormylovechild/ex-Pink keyboardist Kat Lucas, and while not seen on camera, Mikey's Bookclub/Inner City Surfers bandmate Dustin Jones supplies backing vocals. The video footage was heavily edited in post production to have black and white and colour footage phasing out in increasingly trippy fashion, even adding in film grain.
I'm not a massive Nine Inch Nails fan, but this cover is well handled on all fronts, and props to Tony for singing while skateboarding in his footage! Watch for quite a cameo too. For the record, "Wish" was not on any Tony Hawk's Pro Skater soundtracks, but "Getting Smaller" was on Tony Hawk's Project 8. Mikey isn't playing somewhere recognizable in his footage, rather in another industrial area, this time with an unidentified person welding behind him. It'd be fitting if that was Dustin, but I know nothing. Strong work from everyone in front of & behind the camera, so give it a look below, and watch for Mikey's newborn daughter in the post-video thank yous (congratulations to Mikey on the new arrival!)
Next up, here's the latest from local/Barrie crossover thrash quintet Spades GT's Facebook page, so what's new from them in the past week? On May 9th and 10th, they posted two separate "Reels" (viewable here & here) of them at what I believe is the Anti-Queens show in Barrie last month, and it is a crying shame that these are just "Reels" given the high quality footage of the song in question from multiple camera angles! I wish these were full songs, let alone in a non-vertical and embeddable format! On Thursday, the band confirmed that guitarist Daniel Horton's Fast Life bandmate Andrew Moorehouse's involvement on their forthcoming album "Sewer City Radio" will be via a guest verse, though they did not reveal which song he'll be on. The full lineup for the Beer Bash 6 event that they're playing on in Toronto next month has also been revealed, though the former Jack Spades remain the only familiar band for local concertgoers among the announced groups.
Along with plugs for their airplay on CGCM Rock Radio and The Fast Life's recent battle of the bands victory in Barrie, they released the second advance single from "Sewer City Radio" as promised on Friday, this time going with "Final Girl", which you can now hear on Spotify and their YouTube Music channel in advance of the planned June 2nd release date. Unlike "Hands", this didn't debut live with Jack Spades in the Soo, at least as far as I can recall from their late 2010s gigs, so that will be notable for many listeners alone! I'll hold comment pending our likely fall review of the whole album, but give it a listen for yourself below, and stay tuned for more from Spades GT when we hear it!
Let's close today with recent news from St. Ignace, Michigan metalcore quintet Heavy Lies The Crown, as I'm about a month behind on their general updates from their Facebook page! Apologies for the delay, but at least I got to their two lengthy interviews on Sunday! On April 15th, frontman Brandon West posted this brief video to plug that their new order official band sweatshirts was in, and to contact the band on how to get yours. On April 24th, they were confirmed for another big downstate concert, this time Michigan Metal Fest in Battle Creek on August 19th, where they will be among dozens of bands opening for the likes of Born Of Osiris, Upon A Burning Body, and Psychostick. Stacked bill on paper, and hopefully there's a massive turnout at the Leila Arboretum in three months! On April 27th, the guys shared the video embedded below from guitarist Ted Olson's personal Facebook page, so what's new to see there?
The 19 minute live-stream sees Ted playing five H.L.T.C. originals in full ("God's Butter", "Cigar With The Devil", "Celebrate The Night", "Voices", and "Knucklebutter"), and it lets fans get an up close look at how he plays each track, though the visuals are better than the audio. He is playing along to the studio tracks, but the quality has some of those halts and pops that can doom webcam audio, so be warned. Strong performances regardless, so give Ted's live-stream a look below!
The following day, Brandon posted this quick video to thank everyone for checking the band out after Heavy Lies The Crown were announced for Michigan Metal Fest, and they followed that by plugging their TikTok page that has actually been active since February! I can't embed TikTok videos on the SMS, but in terms of exclusive content there, they started with two short videos of drummer Jaxon Massaway playing at a jam session (one has Brandon on vocals & film grain, the other has neither). This clip shows them setting up for their new music video, with the aftermath of the shoot seen by clicking here (it is initially locked for content but the blood is fake!). Jaxon (now wearing their Iggy mask) is seen drumming in this video with extra lighting. while a camera stationed beside him captured the band playing "Celebrate The Night" at a jam session on March 8th, albeit with very grainy visuals and sub-optimal angles of the band.
A video from the same rehearsal of them playing "Every Step Of The Way" was also posted, and while darker without an attempt to brighten the video in post, it looks much better as a result. Lastly for TikTok exclusives is this video of the band jamming with Brandon & Jaxon trading vocal/drum duties, and that's a switch that would work live with the right song! Lots of good content above and ahead from Heavy Lies The Crown, so follow them for much more on their 2023 plans, and stay tuned for more news and notes on the site as the week continues! Thanks everyone!
Remember how St. Ignace, Michigan metalcore band Heavy Lies The Crown had been interviewed for a podcast in March, only to get lost in our backlog despite me mentioning it in posts? Yeah, well they actually have another one from early 2023 that I didn't know about, so let's take some time today to finally address them! The new-to-me interview (I don't even think H.L.T.C. posted about it) is even earlier still, premiering as a Facebook live-stream on January 26th, and it was conducted via Zoom by Dustin Noell of Ghost Media Entertainment, a promotional agency based out of Missouri, with co-hosting duties by his young daughter Zelda, believe it or not. Heavy Lies The Crown are represented here by singer Brandon West and guitarist Ted Olson, and I do recommend that you crank the volume on your device while watching the interview, as Brandon & Ted are very quiet compared to Dustin & Zelda in the live-stream.
In the 59 minutes-long interview, Brandon & Ted talk about how their current lineup came together (including complications at some venues given drummer Jaxon Massaway not even being 19 yet), playing music for the passion vs. the money, their evolution from jamming to actually being a real band, their upcoming album and planned heavier material as of January, working with David Dominguez on mixing some older material, plans to play more shows in 2023, their favourite songs to play live, the inspirations of various songs of theirs, how they came up with the Heavy Lies The Crown name, their favourite (and most disturbing) movies, the band that they'd most like to play with, issues playing live when most of their shows are 5 hours away, their upcoming concerts & label aspirations, and much more. Zelda asks a few questions too, and Brandon's daughter even makes a cameo.
Fun interview with a casual atmosphere that benefits from Brandon & Ted knowing Dustin already (he clearly has Michigan ties and even notes plans to move back there for work reasons), and the addition of Dustin's daughter Zelda for the whole interview helps keep things light and approachable! How many metal band interviews feature bits about stuffed animals and Arby's, after all? Not many scoops to note beyond plans that may have already began rolling out (I am behind on recent Heavy Lies The Crown news), but give their Ghost Media Entertainment interview a watch below!
As for the interview from March 13th that I did know about, that one was actually an audio interview done for a podcast, namely Dark Side Of The Scene, which is hosted out of Indiana by To My Dismay frontman Brandon Wright and his co-host Ed Corella. This podcast (whose episodes are cross-posted to their YouTube channel) is themed around touring musicians and the ups & downs that they go through with bandmates, promoters, and venues, and given that H.L.T.C. travel downstate for the vast majority of their concerts, they should have stories to tell! In their 92 minute episode (the fourth ever for Dark Side Of The Scene), they talk to the whole band except Ted, now including guitarist Christian Thanasiu, bassist Christian Cook, and drummer Jaxon Massaway. The interview begins about 4 minutes in with plugs for their recent studio work and how things have been going for recording the material.
Diving into the themes of the podcast moreso, Heavy Lies The Crown next discussed how there's nowhere for them to play in the Eastern Upper Peninsula (they have gotten offers to play in Sault Ontario but various issues keep them from coming across), and how they have to commute downstate for almost all of their gigs. They also discuss how there isn't a massive scene for metal bands in St. Ignace and/or the E.U.P., but they do praise local musicians in general and how kind people are up here. The band do talk up the opportunities that they've had in the Lower Peninsula, but they are candid (if always polite) about their negative experiences from tour runs and the shows that they've played, which will be especially interesting if you were at these concerts. H.L.T.C. next discuss their lineup, how close apart they live, and exactly what led to Nathan, Danny, and Cale leaving last year, before going into experiences recording in studio.
After some more casual discussion about life in the E.U.P. and whatnot, they address the Heavy Lies The Crown name and how it is also being used by an existing death metal band from Indiana (I'm surprised that the two have coexisted for this long), before addressing their then-current merchandise, the genre that they consider themselves to be, and more assorted topics before playing "God's Butter" on air. Another solid interview, if often very respectful without taking any overtly direct shots at the bad experiences that they've had on the road, let alone their being an outlier in the E.U.P. in terms of contemporary original extreme metal bands. Check their Dark Side Of The Scene interview below!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more from Heavy Lies The Crown and other local bands on the site this week! Thanks everyone!
As promised, let's wrap up this weekend's hard rock concert previews today via the shows that did have advance notice before Saturday, with some videos & recent updates to round things out. Here's what you should know!
We'll start by hopping the border to Sault Michigan, where Traverse City classic metal trio Peril will return for concerts TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT at The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino! Last seen north of the Mackinac Bridge when they rocked The Rapids Lounge in January, these should be more prime opportunities to check out Jeff, Dave, and Brooks' brand of old school metal and hard rock covers, and while not as active on stage as Scarkazm, Peril's reputation and longer history in Northern Michigan speaks for itself! You can check out Peril in the Soo tonight & tomorrow night at 9:00 PM with no cover charge, and these are both 21+ events. Visit the official Facebook event pages linked here & here for more details, here's Peril live, and stay tuned for their next regional dates!
Next up, let's head back to Sault Ontario for this weekend's only hard rock/punk shows there that had more than five days' advance notice online, as local southern hard rock quintet Fort Creek will return to Jay's Piston Broke Pub for headlining concerts TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! Still hard at work in studio on their long-gestating debut EP, this weekend's concerts will be Fort Creek's first since opening for Destroyer at Soo Blaster last month, and their first at the former Reggie's West in over two months. Should be a good weekend for fans of Fort Creek's heavy covers and newer originals, so don't miss this experienced group this weekend! In tonight's show only, former Sense of Truth/Skeyes of Seven frontman Cory Murchison will serve as an opening act, in a set that will likely be similar to his dormant acoustic band Short & Sweet, if minus the Sweet. Always good to see Cory on stage, and hopefully he sets the tone nicely with his unplugged covers!
Both shows have 19+ age limits, no cover charges, 9:30 PM start times, and no finite word on if they're doing merchandise giveaways. See above for more details, and for a preview, here's a new live concert video of Fort Creek at Soo Blaster last month covering The Allman Brothers Band's "Midnight Rider"! Filmed by attendee Justyne Gilbert for her personal TikTok page and re-posted by the band on their Facebook page last week, it was notably uploaded sideways to correct for Justyne filming/uploading it sideways originally (you can tell by the TikTok handle on screen). Strong full cover here that effectively makes it heavier, so check it out below!
While we're on the subject of bands playing live this weekend, let's cycle back to new local classic/hard rock cover quartet Double Down, who will play at Reggie's Place on short notice TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! We previewed those shows on the site yesterday, but there are more live videos from their debut weekend last month (also at Reggie's) to check out, including a 19 second video of them setting up for their debut concert that was filmed for Reggie's Facebook page. Not a lot to see, but it gives a window into their setup process, which will no doubt be similar TONIGHT! In terms of actual performance videos, PROV3RB5/Saturday Nights drummer Phil "Philly Gee" Greco posted two videos that he shot onto the band's Facebook page that Saturday. Alas, a title eluded me on both songs, partially as I couldn't make out Joel's vocals in the beginning of the 20 second clip, which was otherwise instrumental.
I normally would have embedded the other video below, namely a 72 second clip of Double Down playing an instrumental number, but I don't believe Phil's settings allow external video embedding given that they were posted to his personal account first and shared with the band later. The vertical camera-work is unfortunate, and I apologize for not having titles for them, but they do sound good and are a positive harbinger for TONIGHT & TOMORROW! Give the Reggie's teaser from last month a watch below!
Finally for today, here's three shorter news items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist or venue name:
After a 2+ week closure, Gateway Casinos re-opened their Sault Ste. Marie branch this past Friday! As you may know, a ransomware attack forced the casino chain to close their Ontario locations, the Soo's included, on April 16th, and you can get more on the incident and response at this link. The Bay Street location does sporadically host heavier concerts on Saturday nights, and the closure did scuttle a planned Wyld Stallyns show there on April 29th. Good to see Gateway Casinos across the province back up & running, and stay tuned for concert details when available!
I have moved local hard rock solo artist Shane "The Shaner" Solomon back to our inactive band links, as I haven't seen verifiable updates on his Reverbnation page in over a year (full disclosure, Reverbnation is not set up for easily dateable posts, which has always irked me about that platform). Hopefully Shane resurfaces in some form down the line!
In a couple of "Reels" on her solo Facebook page, Handsome Sandwich "frontwoman" Taylor "Tea" Emlaw plugged the band's album release concert at The Loft last week, while also playing a clip of their song "Okay" as set to her hanging out with bandmates Mitch Sirie and Jesse Cook to plug the "Deconstructed" album proper. Short but sweet hype on both fronts! While Taylor has mostly focused her solo page on Handsome Sandwich promotion as of late, this is where her purely solo activity has went, so follow her there for updates in that regard!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site this weekend! Thanks everyone!
It appears to be one of those weekends, namely a busy one full of SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS! Alas, all of today's hard rock/punk weekend concert previews are of shows that were only publically announced on social media in the past five days, so I'm pushing the previously announced Fort Creek & Peril concerts to our next preview post hitting the site by tomorrow morning. With all of that out of the way, here's what you should know to start off the weekend!
New local classic/hard rock cover quartet Double Down will play their second live concert weekend TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT at Reggie's Place! Apologies for the short notice, these shows were only announced on the band's Facebook page on Saturday, though be advised that Reggie's has not publically confirmed them at press time. TOMORROW & SATURDAY'S shows come three weeks after this talented foursome debuted at Reggie's, and with Bone Yard, Mojo, Griphook, and Mustang Heart alumni in their ranks, you know that Double Down will deliver the goods for classic and hard rock fans! These are 9:00 PM gigs with no cover charge and 21+ age limits once again. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's a new video from Double Down's first concert! Drummer Ric Datson uploaded this to his YouTube channel on April 24th, so what do you see/hear?
After a post-production intro featuring the sound of a jet flying by, we get a montage of clips and no full songs, which may be disappointing for some, but this conceit is not brand new for Ric's channel if you recall some videos of his old bands. Filmed on a stationary camera at different zoom levels (and different levels of crowd involvement as the night wore on), the video is full of snippets of familiar covers that will please fans of members' prior projects, but the lighting is surprisingly dark by default unless stage lighting is in action. Good teaser of what to expect TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT at Reggie's, so check it out below, and stay tuned for some more videos from weekend #1 from other sources soon!
Next up, local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard will return to Shooters Downstairs Lounge for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice, the band only announced these gigs via their Facebook page on Tuesday, and the venue had not followed suit whatsoever at press time. This is basically the re-booking of their cancelled Shooters weekend in early March, which was a casualty of 2/3rds of the band falling ill that weekend, meaning that TOMORROW & SATURDAY's shows will be Bone Yard's first at the Dennis Street nightclub in over three months. Good to see them downtown again, and hopefully their southern fried hard rock covers find another strong audience TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! These are 9:00 PM shows with 19+ age limits and no cover charges. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's a brief new video of them live earlier this year!
Uploaded on Saturday, this was filmed by attendee Trevor James at Shooters in February (I think) for his Tiktok page, and while his page there has either been deleted or made ultra private since, the band was able to save it for a Facebook upload. It features the guys covering all of Golden Earring's "Radar Love", and it sounds good with lots of nice angles, though the vertical-only limitations of TikTok videos do a disservice to how Trevor shot this. I'd have cropped the black bars out for Bone Yard's upload, but it's still a solid performance of this live staple, so check it out below, and don't miss Bone Yard at Shooters TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT!
Also this weekend, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to The Esquire Club for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies again for the short notice, these shows have not been announced publically by either the band or venue (at least as far as Facebook goes), and I only know about them because of plugs on personal Facebook accounts. Last seen at The Esquire Club via a show(s?) in early April that similarly had no public notice online (well, not until 7 hours prior), TOMORROW & SATURDAY's concerts follow Shooters gigs last week, and should provide fans with more fun hard rocking covers and good times! Be advised that Soundcheck had to cancel their usual jam night hosting duties at Jay's Piston Broke Pub tonight due to a band member falling ill (they didn't specify who, but it's not singer/guitarist Cameron Oliver, who typically doesn't appear at jam nights).
How this will affect TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT's shows, if at all, is to be determined, but stay tuned to band members' personal Facebook pages for details if you are able. Yes, this weekend's Soundcheck gigs were originally scheduled for bassist Jim Michaud's old band Obsession when they announced their now-scuttled 2023 concert slate. As usual, they have 9:30 PM start times, 19+ age limits, and no cover charges. Visit the above links for more details when/if they surface, and here's Soundcheck live!
Finally for today's previews, we'll head back downtown to Outspoken Brewing, where local indie/punk quintet The Northwest and alternative/indie rock quartet Man Feelings will reportedly join forces for a special matinee concert on SATURDAY! Once again, apologies for the short notice, this show was only announced via Man Feelings' Facebook page last night. Like every show above, the venue hasn't confirmed it publically that I have seen, and neither have The Northwest, who haven't posted on their Facebook page in over a month, despite being the ostensible headliners on SATURDAY. No word on why this is a matinee concert (Man Feelings gave a 2:00 PM start time, with Outspoken normally opening at 3:00 PM on SATURDAYS), but remember that the 350 Queen Street East microbrewery is a smaller venue that has lent itself more to acoustic acts in the past, so this should at least be a more intimate event than you may be used to.
Still good to see The Northwest back on a local stage for the first time this year, and Man Feelings should still have momentum on their side following their set at The Loft last week! This will also be our first previewed concert at Outspoken since their January-February closure and all of the rumours therein, but they have bounced back and hopefully more good times are ahead! This 2:00 PM event has no cover charge and a presumed 19+ age limit. Visit the above links for more details, and here's The Northwest live!
That's all for now, but look for our Fort Creek and Peril previews (and more) next! Thanks everyone!
Single topic second post today, featuring the latest from local/Barrie alt-hard rock solo musician Mike Haggith (last month's live-stream aside, though it is coming), so what's new to report from him? As you may recall, Mike returns to Sault Ste. Marie for the first time this year on Friday, May 26th when he shares the stage with local musician, photographer, and radio host Brian Tremblay for Face To Face, a VH1 Storytellers-esque evening of music and stories about their music at The Art Hub on Spring. Mike's website confirms that not only is this event being recorded for a planned live album (it's not 100% clear if it will feature Brian's songs too or not), but it will be available on vinyl records through Mike's Morningstar Records label! The implication is that you might hear your own voice on vinyl if you attend, though whether this is purely via audience cheering or further crowd involvement (questions for the artists?!) is not yet known.
Mike also confirmed on his Facebook page that video cameras will be rolling throughout the night. The planned complimentary food/beverages are still on the table, along with a "top-secret special prize" for one lucky winner, presumably as a door prize draw. It'll be an interesting & informative evening based on what we've heard so far, so click here to get your tickets! Regarding the aforementioned MorningStar Records, Mike has finally launched the label proper beyond teasers and as a solo imprint, and you can visit its website for complete details. In short, Mike calls this "a different kind of label" and a "label minus the label" where artists produce their own material at their own pace and in their own environment, then "affiliate" (not sign) with MorningStar to host the material and have physical copies printed through Kunaki, while still retaining ownership of your own music.
Affiliated artists are hosted on MorningStar's website for digital sales and artist biographies, and won't go bankrupt for the privilege, just paying some small overhead/labour fees so it is as artist friendly as humanly possible. If this interests you, click here for Mike's lengthy write-up on MorningStar, and e-mail contact@morningstarrecords.com for any extra questions. Though Mike moved from the Soo in 2017, MorningStar Records has absolutely been promoted to local musicians as well as Mike's contacts in Manitoba, Southern Ontario, and afar via connections made from Your Music Live and You Rock!, so ideally it will have a wide reach. Alongside Mike himself & his old local power pop/hard rock trio The Din, industrial metal solo project Molten Imp, jam rock veterans Odd Man Out, and the aforementioned Brian Tremblay have all affiliated with MorningStar so far, among other non-local acts.
If you're curious in an SMS-covered sense, Molten Imp's biography is purely hype and teasers along with relevant links, so there's nothing broken in terms of news yet re: Morningstar output, but I am admittedly behind on recent Molten Imp news from their own social media accounts. Lastly from Mike's recent activity (the live-stream aside) is that he unveiled a lot about his upcoming studio album "All The Best In All You Do" via this lengthy write-up on the MorningStar website, so what do we learn about it there? Within the deep elaboration on the concepts and themes of the album/lyrics, we know that the album's ten songs in order are "All You Do", "Twist Of Fate", "Hot & Cold", "If Only You Could Hear Me", "Carousel", "I've Seen It Before", "Love Will Light The Way", "The Start Of Something Real", "To Be With You", and "All The Best". The first half will be darker and themed around grief, before going optimistic.
While the album will be available on "all streaming platforms", those who buy it on Bandcamp will get bonus songs under the name "All The Rest To Get You Through" which will include originals not yet heard publically as well as a cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Atlantic City". In terms of guests, the only one listed by name is Hetriani, a Southern Ontario-based metal guitarist who Mike likely discovered via being featured in episodes of Your Music Live With Pete Johns, and who will feature with solos on "Hot & Cold". Also worth noting that there will be a flute solo on "The Start Of Something Real", though if Mike isn't channeling Lizzo there, I don't know who is. Mike gives a lot more details on the songs as compositions and for the themes they embody, but if you want to be more surprised, you may want to hold off on reading all of the write-up. In any event, when is "All The Best In All You Do" coming out?
Mike says that it is "targeted for release this summer", which basically implies any point between June and August, whereupon it'll join our monthly album review backlog (it'd be reviewed in the fall at this rate). There's a lot of excitement ahead for Mike as a musician and now as a record label owner, and fans should be excited at a busy mid-late 2023 to come, so visit the above links for much more on Mike & MorningStar, and weekend concert previews are on the way next! Thanks everyone!
