Our Recap Of The Afterparty Episode With Brad Example & Jamie Vincent!!

Remember the slate of at-home music performance/interview series that increasingly cropped up in the early 2020s during the pandemic? Well, some are either still going on or debuted after things eased up, and one notable for many locals is The Afterparty, hosted by Inner City Surfers/Room 206 bassist Brad "Example" Lacell! Two seasons of 10 episodes apiece have been posted to Brad's YouTube channel in the past year, featuring at-home acoustic jams and chit-chat with and without guests from afar, not to mention live-stream viewers. These mostly haven't really crossed the SMS' radar so far for a few reasons, including that Brad has lived in Atikokan for many years now, most of his solo material is rootsier and folksier than his local punk work, and the guests that he's had on The Afterparty so far are mostly not local (though Jay Case was his guest in episode #12). However, the penultimate episode of season 2 fits the SMS!

Reportedly the second-to-last episode period of this series, Brad (who did shave off his trademark beard late last year) interviewed veteran local punk/metal musician Jamie Vincent in this episode from January 4th! Readers may recall seeing Jamie as the drummer in AlgomA and No Funeral, and the frontman of Fuller and Bad Back, among other groups here and in Edmonton. This takes on the loose format saw in Mike Haggith's pandemic livestreams with a special guest, where he and the guest alternate playing songs while occasionally checking out and responding to live-stream comments (Brad is using StreamYard for that). Episode #19 of The Afterparty begins with Brad playing his original "Sandbox" and covering John Prine's "That's The Way The World Goes Round", before Jamie takes over with a cover of T. Rex's "Spaceball Ricochet" and an original song that he co-wrote a decade or so ago, though he didn't give its name.

Afterwards, Brad notices that Jamie's old Fuller bandmate Mark Rand was commenting, leading to some discussion about the 2000s local punk/emo band's 2023 reunion concert, with Jamie revealing there that they recorded their old original material from Mark's run with the band in studio, but were still unsure of how they were going to release and finish the songs. That was rumoured at the time, but it's good to get 100% public confirmation, and hopefully the songs do get put out somehow! Remember, their actual self-titled EP from 2002 predated Mark joining Fuller, and none of its songs had titles. Brad takes over next to cover The Band's "Up On Cripple Creek" (R.I.P. Garth Hudson), before tackling The Inner City Surfers' classic "Booze N' Doobs" on request from Jamie, albeit with a minor lyric change. Next, he hands off to Jamie for another song, namely a country-ish original, name also not given.

We break from rotating two songs apiece to start the second half of the episode, with Brad next playing the first original song that he wrote after Room 206's breakup in the 1990s, though he did not give its name (it might be called "Rule The World"?). Jamie did title the next song, a "little funny" country song that he wrote named "Your Face", before Brad played his own original song "The Nightmare Is Real". The guys then highlight and acknowledge comments from Mark Rand again, plus Brad's Surfers bandmate Mikey Hawdon, before Jamie breaks out his harmonica (complete with Neil Young-style neck holder) for another original song, title not given. Brad follows up by covering Bob Dylan's "Shelter From The Storm", and after debating his merits vs. Steve Earle, Townes Van Zandt, and John Prine, Brad closes the episode by covering Steve Earle's "Lonelier Than This". 

It was nice to see one of these relaxed remote performance live-streams again, especially without pandemic fears knocking around behind me! I would have liked to see more of an interview/chat a component here, and fans of Jamie's local band work may be left wanting somewhat by the lack of originals from those groups, but he and Brad acquitted themselves well and showed their talents and songwriting abilites nicely! Check out the second-to-last Afterparty episode out below, see more from the series above, and look for weekend concert previews next! Thanks everyone!

Details On The Fox 104.3's Saturday-Sunday On-Air Schedule!!

Today on the SMS, we're outlining the weekend schedule on The Fox 104.3 FM, which is quite different than what listeners to CJQM will be accustomed to from Monday-Friday! Remember, there is no "Shows" tab on the station's website yet, but the schedule is more or less verbatim to what you'll hear on Q92 in Sudbury and their sister stations in North Bay, Timmins, and Kingston. After spending much of Saturday mornings on autoplay music rotation, the first scheduled program of the day is This Year In Rock, which airs from 11:00 AM-12:00 PM with a re-airing from 6:00-7:00 PM. Hosted by Adam Kane of 92.1 CITI in Winnipeg, he looks at ten notable rock songs from a given calendar year, while he also outlines historical events and milestones from the year in question, often with a Canadian slant. The local premiere episode from January 11th was on 1976, while this Saturday's episode focused on 1978.

This show is roughly comparable in purpose to the syndicated Time Warp with Bill St. James on Sault Michigan's Rock 101, though Time Warp is four hours long and has more of a sonic collage of audio clips beyond just songs (also, the two shows do not conflict, as Time Warp runs on Saturdays from 6:00-10:00 AM). I like hearing more modern tunes than what This Year In Rock has focused on so far, but classic rock fans should be into it, and Adam's trivia and facts add some spice! From 12:00-6:00 PM on Saturdays, you'll hear Dan Koo (the Country 104.3 holdover in the 2:00-6:00 PM weekday timeslot) back in the booth, and after the This Year In Rock replay at 6:00 PM, the last scheduled program on Saturdays from 7:00-9:00 PM is The Biggs & Barr Show with Pastey Jamie, the Ottawa-based zoo crew show heard on The Fox weeknights from 6:00-8:00. Less unique programming, but there's lots to enjoy for rock fans!

For the record, Biggs & Barr were followed on Saturday the 11th by the syndicated Greg Beharrell Show from 9:00 PM-2:00 AM, but Greg's show has not visibly resurfaced on the former Q104 since that night. If you liked what you heard on the first three nights after the format change, or are curious as to how Greg is on air, click here to find his current affiliates!

Lastly for the regular schedule on The Fox 104.3 is the biggest diversion of all, as Sundays there are Classic Rock Sundays! From 6:00 AM until midnight, CJQM and their sister rock stations devote 18 consecutive hours to music almost entirely from the 1960s-1980s, which will please classic rock fans and former The Bear listeners to no end! In terms of scheduled programming, Sunday's first show (from 9:00 AM-12:00 PM) is the Church Of Rock, which is hosted by Cosmo Grant out of CHEZ 106 in Ottawa. This program is loosely themed around being an actual Sunday church service, with Cosmo's "sermons" being trivia and context on certain songs. Informative program with a good range of classics, and I even heard a couple of 1950s songs on air during the Church of Rock! Note that the show's first hour does run opposite the last hour of The Chop Shop with Steve Black on Rock 101, in case you're planning what to hear.

From 12:00-8:00 PM on Classic Rock Sundays, DJs are in the booth, with the first being "Big" Kris Bawden (a.k.a. BK) until 4:00 PM. BK isn't otherwise an on-air personality on The Fox or Q92, but he is also out of CHEZ in Ottawa. The Fox's weekday afternoon DJ Lew MacDonald takes over from 4:00-8:00, and he is definitely well tuned to classic rock, as he also hosts the Classic Rock Lunch from 12:00-1:00 PM on weekdays. The last scheduled program of the weekend is the Sunday Night Vinyl Series, which airs at 8:00 PM and seems to have a somewhat variable end time. Each week, host Howard Manshein (also out of CITI in Winnipeg) plays a notable rock album in full, from front to back, while adding trivia and context before and afterwards, as well as at the midpoint when the vinyl would be flipped over from side A to side B (nice touch!) For the local premiere episode, the album played was Rush's "Moving Pictures".

Last night's album was Van Halen's 1978 self-titled debut, and if you noticed that both albums were by the band who was spotlighted with their very own "week" of coverage and extra songs played on air, you're not alone! I don't know whether the Sunday Night Vinyl Series selection is made prior to or as a result of what band gets the weekly focus, but keep that in mind going forward! It does go head to head with the second hour of the modern hard rock-focused hardDrive with Lou Brutus on Rock 101, so make note of that as well. Beyond the possibility of the Sunday Night Vinyl Series album being post-1989, I did catch at least one instance of a 1990s song being played during Classic Rock Sunday (Colin James' 1990 hit "Just Came Back" was definitely played one week ago), so the 1960s-1980s focus isn't 100% ironclad. Personally speaking, I honestly prefer The Fox's general rotation to Classic Rock Sundays, but there are still lots of good tunes then!

Myself, I do want to hear modern stuff along with older songs, but 18 hours of classic rock will have a lot of appeal for many listeners, especially with the Canadian content factor. If you want songs from the 1990s or this millennium though, you'll have to tune in before 6:00 AM Sundays, or wait until Monday. Barring future programming changes or hosts/DJs coming & going, this concludes our look at The Fox 104.3's on-air schedule, so hopefully this helps give a better look at what you're hearing on Sault Ontario's new rock station, and whether you're all-in on The Fox or if you like bopping between it and Rock 101 or any other stations as songs/shows dictate, enjoy this new variety on the local dial! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Queen: It's A Kinda Magic & About:Blank), Plus New Music Videos!!

Let's get a new news post on the site on this cold Sunday night, and it's half devoted to new music videos and half to LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, so here's what you should know!

A number of alumni from last fall's Lake Superior State University battle of the bands will gather at Pickles Bar & Grill in nearby Brimley, Michigan for the first show of 2025 from local promoter Brighton LeBlanc's agency Serious Business! To be held on Saturday, February 8th, this show (possibly named "We Will Be Music") will be headlined by the live concert debut of About:Blank, the new (according to Brighton in an e-mail) punk trio from former Tarnished bandmates Parker Talentino and Nathan Webber! Their lineup is rounded out by former Letters To Abel/Midnight Logic drummer Kade DesArmo. No hints of their music yet beyond what we know of members' prior band work, but based on About:Blank's lineup, they should fit our coverage! We'll have more on them in an upcoming post. Opening the proceedings in three weeks are newer local indie rock band (and Sole Aggressors side project) The Undecideds, plus local acoustic singer/guitarists Kevin Blakeney and Kaleb Shannon.

With the exception of Kade, everyone played at the LSSU battle last fall, so every act except Tarnished and The Small Town Society will be at least partially represented at Pickles next month (Nathan and Parker left Tarnished prior to the battle, where both played in separate acts). Whether you were at the battle or not, consider driving out to Brimley for what should be a fun night of original E.U.P. music with a nice mix of genres! This show has a 9:00 PM start time, 18+ age limit, and $10 cover charge. Visit the above links for more on this next round of Serious Business!

Next up, let's head north to Sault Ontario, where Australian tribute band Queen: It's A Kinda Magic will return to the Sault Community Theatre Centre for their third local headlining appearance on Thursday, May 8th! It seems like this highly proficient and faithful Queen tribute have played here more often (possibly due to their 2022 debut here being postponed twice due to pandemic restrictions), but this will be their first trip to the former Kiwanis Theatre in two years, skipping the Soo on their 2024 Canadian tour run. From what I heard, Queen: It's A Kinda Magic delivered a great stage show with strong Mercuryesque vocals in early 2020s stops here, so if you are a big Queen fan, you'll be right at home with their return this spring, especially as they're touring in honour of the 50th anniversary of the release of "Bohemian Rhapsody"! All of the action goes down at White Pines' amphitheatre on May 8th at 8:00 PM, with no age limits whatsoever.

Tickets run at this link or at the in-person box office for $69 (adults) or $40 (kids 12 and under), which is actually $3 lower across the board from 2023. Sales have been good even with our coverage not being immediate, as the closest center section seats available are in the twelfth row (fourth in the side sections), so act now to ensure as good as a seat as possible if you don't have tickets already! For more details on Queen: It's A Kinda Magic's return to the Soo, visit the above links!

Now let's look at two newly released music videos from notable local bands, and we'll start with the long-teased debut music video (and studio single) from local southern/hard rock band Fort Creek! As launched yesterday with their non-concert release party at Jay's Piston Broke Pub, the song is "One For The Road", and you can see its video on their new YouTube channel, as well as hear the song on "every streaming platform" (in reality, it's on Spotify, YouTube Music, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and Anghami). The band has also launched their own official website in conjunction with the single and video, including an electronic press kit and hype for the current members and their upcoming album plans, but not a lot of detail on their pre-2024 activity. The song was mixed/mastered by Josh MacIntosh, and the video was filmed by Josh Penno at Spacebag Productions.

The music video intercuts scenes of frontman Justin Grayson driving to Jay's with the band setting up for an acoustic performance there, plus Justin singing the song at the bar proper, before everyone is seen playing "One For The Road" together on stage, and ultimately leaving the Korah Road nightclub at the end. I'll hold comment on the song itself pending our review of Fort Creek's long-gestating debut album, but the video is well filmed and edited, and if you like acoustic southern rock, you should take to this song, so give Fort Creek's first video and single a watch/listen below!

Finally, here's a surprise from last week, namely an official music video for local death metal band The Bear Hunters' 2014 single "Collapse The Sun"! The second Bear Hunters-branded music video to be posted to their YouTube channel this month (joining "Squirrel Buddy"), this features assorted clips of the band in concert in the early-mid 2010s, and is not strictly designed to sync up with the original song in terms of performance clips or lineups (as such, look for 2010-2011 rhythm guitarist Mike Vincent here and there). Some of the footage was shot by yours truly, which is neat to see! It took a decade+, but it's great to see the "Eternal Hibernation" lead single get a proper and well compiled music video, even if that album's production quality wasn't as high as on 2020's "The Dead Testament". Give it a watch below, and we'll let you know what other (final?) content that The Bear Hunters have in store for 2025!

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

Details On The Fox 104.3's Monday-Friday On-Air Schedule!!

After a few days of double checking the on-air schedule, here is our second post all about new Sault Ontario rock radio station The Fox 104.3 FM! In our post from this past Sunday, I looked at general information about CJQM's switch from country to rock, and gave some insights into their playlist rotation, but today's post looks at the on-air programming lineup during the work week (we'll look at the different weekend schedules in a post early next week). At press time, The Fox's website does not have a "Shows" tab like its sister stations to reflect the shows and DJs on air, but you don't need one, as the local station shares a nearly identical schedule as The Fox 101.9 in North Bay, Q92 in both Sudbury & Timmins, and (where all four stations get their base playlist and schedule) K-Rock 105.7 in Kingston. The only programming exceptions from those markets are a North Bay Battalion talk show and the "Friday 6pack" in Kingston.

The Fox has two different zoo crew programs during the week, including The Brock & Dalby Show from 5:30-9:00 AM and The Biggs & Barr Show from 6:00-8:00 PM, bookending overnight autoplay with no hosts or DJs. The former show is hosted by Brock Lewis & Drew Dalby out of K-Rock in Kingston, while Chris Biggs & Jason Barr (alongside Pastey Jamie) host the latter from CHEZ 106 in Ottawa. Both shows are formatted similarly, in that their host segments pop up between the station's music rotation, though only Brock & Dalby introduce songs. If you just want to hear the hosts and their on-air segments (like The Draft and The Quiz on Brock & Dalby, or OttaWHAT?! and Lights Out on Biggs & Barr), you can hear both programs sans music/commercials and with some additional exclusive content on major podcasting services, plus Rogers' Seekr application.

Which of the two zoo crew shows that you like more will be subjective (let alone if you factor in Scott Cook In The Morning on Rock 101 in the morning drive timeslot, which runs from 6:00-10:00 AM), and while I have laughed a little more at Brock & Dalby, both shows have certainly had their moments. I do like when radio hosts have someone to play off of and react to, so keep both shows in mind if you haven't tuned in yet, and if you like what you hear, catch up with their podcasts!

From 9:00 AM-6:00 PM weekdays, The Fox enters normal rock radio airplay with DJs in the booth, plus weather and news reports. Mid-week, you'll hear three DJs, including Heather Williams from 9:00-11:00 AM, Lew MacDonald from 11:00 AM-2:00 PM, and Dan Koo from 2:00-6:00 PM. Heather is out of CHEZ in Ottawa, and also hosts the Today In Rock interstitials, where she names off three major events in rock music history on this day in the past. Lew is out of K-Rock in Kingston, and his time in the booth encompasses the Classic Rock Lunch, featuring an hour of just pre-1990 rock songs from 12:00-1:00 PM (call it an appetizer for Classic Rock Sundays, which we'll outline early next week). The 2:00-6:00 DJ changes in every market in this five station loop, so Dan is the only locally-based on-air personality, and also the only on-air holdover from the hosts/DJs on Country 104.3.

If you're tuning in online to Country 600 in North Bay (which shared the same playlist and schedule as 104.3 until last week), Dan is still on air there too, so things will be familiar regardless. I suspect Dan will also be the primary conduit for local promotions and interviews for The Fox, but we will see how that bears out in the coming months. I'm not one to compare and rank DJs on a given station, but all three have handled their spot well on CJQM, so continue getting familiar with all three if you have the former Q104 on during the week! Lastly, if you were tuning in to The Fox from launch, you may have heard a different host/show at nighttime during its first three days on air, namely the syndicated Greg Beharrell Show, which has been heard on dozens of rock stations across North America and isn't exclusive to Rogers. It aired last Thursday & Friday from 6:00-10:00 PM and this past Saturday from 9:00 PM-2:00 AM, but was not on this week.

From what I can tell, episodes of Greg's show (which used to air on Q92 and in North Bay) were used as a stopgap until Biggs & Barr episodes were ready to run on CJQM, though that's just how I read it. As far as I know, Greg Beharrell is not related to Luxury/ex-Billy Bastards guitarist Greg Beharriel. In the event that he resurfaces on The Fox, Greg's show is similar to The Fox's zoo crew programs, in that host segments were dropped in between the music rotation, including light-hearted conversations with callers, and he came off kinda Ryan Reynoldsy, if that's fair. If you're curious, click here to see what other stations that Greg airs on! We'll leave things there for now, but the variety of on-air content, musical or otherwise, is very noted for local rock music fans, so hopefully this post helped outline the weekday schedule! Weekends on The Fox is very different, so look for our coverage of what airs on Saturdays & Sundays on the site next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Dressed To Kiss, Dirty Musky, And Curtis McKenzie), Plus Exit 808 Concert Previews!!

As promised, we're wrapping up this weekend's concert previews with this post, but we also have some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS of an increasing scale to take a look at also, so here's what you should know!

Former Haggith/Project 421 frontman Curtis McKenzie will play his first formal headlining concert of 2025 on Saturday, February 1st at The Dive Gastro Pub, as per his Facebook page! Not counting his turn hosting the former Low & Slow's inaugural Monday jam night earlier this week (not to mention his involvement in the Din reunion at the same venue next week), this will be Curt's first traditional solo headlining gig anywhere since rocking The Dive in early November. No word on why he's been away from the stage for so long for full concerts, but head down to this Queen Street East restaurant and nightclub to hear some "banger tunes" from this hard rock and grunge veteran! As usual for Curtis' shows at The Dive, expect a 9:00 PM start time, 19+ age limit, and no cover charge in two weeks. Visit the above links for more details, and don't miss Curt solo and reuniting with Mike Haggith & The Din next Saturday!

Next up, let's head to nearby Hessel, Michigan, where local hard rock quartet Dirty Musky will return to The Islander Bar for one night only on Friday, February 7th! Making their first live concert appearance of the new year and their first stop at The Islander Bar since Halloween weekend, this concert will coincide with the annual Les Cheneaux Islands Snowsfest and their annual pub shuffle (crawl, if you will) taking place that night at bars in both Hessel and Cedarville. Outside of the music, if 2024's pub shuffle is anything to go by, you can vote on which participating pub has the best decorations, costumes, and themed drinks, while also taking part in a scavenger hunt across the locations. Fun if you're in the area, and Dirty Musky should have some solid hard rock tunes in store that night! For reference, roots rockers The Seth Brown Duo are playing at Snow's in Cedarville during the pub shuffle, and the other bars don't host hard rock acts regularly.

Dirty Musky's "original msusic" (sic) can be enjoyed at The Islander Bar that night at 9:00 PM with a 21+ age limit and no cover charge, and the band has teased having new setlist additions for this event. Visit the above links for more details on Dirty Musky's concert and Snowsfest proper!

Lastly for today's batch of new concerts, have you Kiss Army soldiers been relatively lacking in the past year+, last summer's Ace Frehley show in St. Ignace acknowledged? Well, you will want to circle Saturday, April 5th on your calendar, as Niagara-based Kiss tribute band Dressed To Kiss (or D.T.K.) will make their local debut that night at The Sault Community Theatre Centre! While local fans have seen Toronto-based Destroyer at least six times here in the past decade & a half (most recently in October 2023 at Soo Blaster), Dressed To Kiss will bring their own take on Gene, Paul, Ace, and Peter to local audiences this spring, and from what I have seen of their live show, they have the costumes, staging, and sound to please Kiss fans! You can see for yourself in three months at the former Kiwanis Theatre at White Pines Collegiate, and this show has an 8:00 PM start time.

Tickets run for $53.68 (adults), $42.37 (seniors and students with valid ID) or $16.95 (kids 14 and under) depending on where you apply. Whether you prefer D.T.K. to other Kiss tributes is subjective, but I think this band will appeal to local Kiss fans for obvious reasons, so click here or visit the in-person box office at Station Mall to get your tickets!

Finally for today, let's wrap up this weekend's hard rock concert previews by returning to the E.U.P., specifically The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino, where local hard rock band Exit 808 will play their first local dates of 2025 TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! Last seen in Bergland (4½ hours west of here) for a New Year's Eve concert there, this will be Exit 808's first truly local date since rocking Rudyard over a month ago, so if you've missed this talented covers collective, head to the Soo Kewadin tonight and/or tomorrow! Now, be advised that tomorrow's show takes place during the Detroit Lions/Washington Commanders NFL divisional round playoff game, which would theoretically divert attention from the band, though I don't know if there'd be a true conflict of consequence (though note that the band was openly hoping that the game would be early or on Sunday because of their show.)

You can see Exit 808 this weekend at 9:00 PM tomorrow and/or Saturday with 21+ age limits and no announced cover charges, though if you are at all concerned that the Lions game will cause Exit 808's show to be curtailed in any fashion, keep tabs with the band or venue closer to showtime (if you're curious, the game is on Fox tomorrow night at 8:00 PM). Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Exit 808 live!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Tym Morrison & Dodge This), Weekend Concert Previews, And More!!

Before we begin this weekend concert preview post, we have two notes regarding Saturday events. First, local southern hard rock band Fort Creek will be hosting a release party for the new single/music video "One For The Road" at Jay's Piston Broke Pub (where the video was largely shot) on Saturday night at 6:00 PM! This is not a concert (Generations are playing there at 9:00 PM), but there will be discounted $5 burgers if you come between 6:00 & 9:00, and the band will be on hand to meet fans and sell merchandise. Fun idea to keep Fort Creek's name out there while still not playing live, so come down to Jay's early on Saturday to be the first to see the music video! The other note is that Sault Michigan hard rock cover quartet Unfortunate Sun have postponed their planned concert at Snow's Bar & Grill in nearby Cedarville on Saturday, "after much deliberations with (the) band and the bar manager."

Our source is the band's Facebook page on Monday, as Snow's haven't referenced the date before or after that point. Hopefully all is well with the venue and Unfortunate Sun, and that they get a makeup date locked in there soon, but don't miss them at The Merch in the Soo at months end! Now let's head back to Sault Ontario for most of this weekend's known hard rock shows, starting with LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, mostly on SHORT NOTICE! This weekend's Exit 808 shows in Sault Michigan will be covered in our next news post, so stay tuned for them by tomorrow!

Local acoustic classic/hard rock duo Dodge This will return to The Dive Gastro Pub for one night only THIS SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, this show was first announced via this concert calendar on The Dive's Facebook page last week, which slipped us by at the time (I'll always welcome concert calendars being shared on social media like this though!). However, note that Dodge This have not corroborated the booking on their own Facebook page, last posting there three weeks ago. Unless they played an unadvertised gig in the interim, SATURDAY'S concert will be Dodge This' first public date of 2025, and hopefully Jamie & Jason (and Jeff?) deliver a fun night of classic and hard rock covers, and perhaps a few country tunes, to fans at the former Low & Slow then! You can see Dodge This on SATURDAY at 9:00 PM with a 19+ age limit and no announced cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, and here's the guys live!

Next up, fellow local acoustic classic/hard rock musician Tym Morrison will bring his venerable unplugged solo show back to Misty's Fifties for matinee gigs both THIS SATURDAY and next Saturday, January 25th! Again, apologies for the short notice, Tym only announced both dates via this Facebook event page on Monday. These dates will mean that Tym has played three straight Saturday matinee concerts at the Second Line West nightclub, and four out of five there, only missing January 4th in that span. If Tym has a new weekly arrangement there like he did in mid-2024, I don't know, but it's good to see him playing regularly to start the new year, so don't miss his unplugged rock classics at Misty's on SATURDAY and again next week! Both shows are early 4:00 PM matinees with no announced cover charges and 19+ age limits. Visit the above links for more on SATURDAY'S and next week's shows, and here he is live!

Finally for this preview post, let's head to the aforementioned Jay's Piston Broke Pub, where local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations will take the stage TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! The last of their previously announced January dates from their Facebook group, these shows are also joined by tonight's jam night hosting duties, where the band (sans singer Valerie Powley) will host the proceedings again, so keep that in mind if you want to see the guys and perhaps play with/in lieu of them! However, if you want to see them with Valerie in a normal concert setting, they have you covered for the rest of the weekend. Remember, Saturday's show follows Fort Creek's single/video release party at Jay's, which is not a concert, but keep that in mind if you want to celebrate with them and/or get a cheaper burger! Both shows (and jam night) are 9:30 PM affairs with 19+ age limits and no cover charges. See above for more details, and for a preview, here's two new videos!

These come from Generations' headlining concert at Gateway Casino on Saturday night, courtesy of their Facebook group. One video was actually filmed by Pierre himself from on stage after their first set, which he appeared to film to show the strong audience turnout, even to a point where casino staff had to bring out more tables and chairs, but it has no music. The other video was shared by Valerie from attendee Fay Szcyrek's personal Facebook page, and it features Generations covering Roy Orbison's "Blue Bayou" (technically the Linda Ronstadt version). Sadly, this was shot vertically, but it's a good quality video otherwise with strong vocals, so give it a look below, and don't miss them at Jay's!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for our Exit 808 previews and more on the site next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Room 206), Fort Creek Updates, And More!!

We'll take a break from 104.3 FM talk for now (don't worry, there's more to come) so we can look at some other recent news on this Monday night, including a few assorted shorter notes, a defunct local band's social media rebirth, and details on an upcoming video/single release. However, let's lead off with a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for the spring!

Veteran local punk bands Room 206 and The Inner City Surfers will both reunite on Saturday, April 5th for a special concert at Soo Blaster! Almost a year & a half after the Surfers' last reunion show (a public stag & doe for Surfers drummer Mikey Hawdon's then-upcoming wedding) in November 2023, they'll return to the same venue for a similar purpose, as Room 206/Bookclub drummer Allan Watson is getting married to his partner Audrey, hence the occasion for a big reunion show like this. Any Surfers return is a big deal, but the long awaited return of Room 206 will be very notable for fans around for the local punk scene of the 1990s, and whether you checked out the 2021 re-release of their album "2 Innies & An Outie" or not, it will be neat hearing these songs live again! No word on what lineup of Room 206 is playing in April, but singer/guitarist Mike Yorke and Surfers bassist Brad "Example" Lacell were on said album alongside Allan, and Surfers guitarist Dave Bahun also played with them later.

Mikey & Allan's current alternative/punk cover sextet Bookclub will open the proceedings, returning from the November 2023 stag & doe concert, so don't be late for their varied covers! This is absolutely a public event, and tickets will go on sale "shortly" with prices running for $25 in advance or $30 at the door, exactly on par with the last Surfers reunion. Alongside this huge show announcement, Room 206 have launched a posthumous Facebook page, so we can thusly re-add them to our inactive band links! They were previously linked here via their also-posthumous MySpace page, but you know how degraded MySpace has gotten for surviving content. If we got 100% confirmation that they were reuniting beyond this gig, we'd move them to our active links, but this appears to be a one-off. The Facebook page primarily features archival content shared from Mikey's personal Facebook page, as he spearheaded the album's rerelease.

While videos there have mostly been featured on the SMS before, I would have embedded this one here if Facebook hadn't content matched the Room 206 song playing in the background off of Mikey's turntable. The video from December 2021 sees Mikey showing off what comes with the limited vinyl copies of "2 Innies & An Outie", and while the vinyl was limited to 206 copies (fittingly), you can hear it on major streaming services. For the first (only?) vinyl release from Mikey's boutique label Soolebrity Records, it came together really well, so check it out at this link, and visit the Facebook event page for more on the Room 206/Surfers reunion concert!

Next up, here's the latest from local southern hard rock band Fort Creek, who ended a month+ of social media silence last week when they revealed that they will finally release their first studio single and music video for "One For The Road" on Saturday at 8:00 PM! The song will also be available on, if you believe their Facebook post, "all streaming platforms", but we'll see how accurate that claim proves to be this weekend (nothing against Fort Creek, loads of bands say that). They'll also be launching their own website through Wix that night, and the "One For The Road" video will be up on YouTube and shared to Facebook as well. To promote the release, Sault Star reporter Maggie Kirk covered the band for this article on Friday, where it's confirmed that Fort Creek are still working on a full album with 10 songs that will be eventually recorded at Jettison Studios (as in, Red from HeadFirst?). What else is there to learn?

For one, I had no idea that singer Justin Grayson's actual last name is Dimma! I'd never seen him credited otherwise until this article, but I guess it's like with Pierre Vaillancourt usually going by Pierre Anthony in Generations. Justin talks there about working with his bandmates, why they chose the Fort Creek name, and their songwriting process, while also noting that they wanna finish up their studio work before returning to the stage (they haven't played live since their fall 2023 lineup changes). Solid press for Fort Creek as they begin this new year, so read more above, and stay tuned for the single release on Saturday!

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

• While we don't cover jam nights as full "concerts" on the SMS due to their in-built unpredictability, I'd be remiss if I didn't note that The Dive Gastro Pub hosted their own debut jam night tonight, and it was hosted by former Haggith frontman Curtis McKenzie, who frequently plays normal shows there! An array of instruments, including some electric ones, were on tap for musicians who wanted to jam with or without Curt. Hopefully this went well for all involved, and that The Dive tries it again soon!
• In their 2024 summary post on their Facebook page, local crossover thrash quartet Hails revealed that the song they recorded for the upcoming compilation CD "Punk Canada 4" will be a cover of Toronto punk legends The Almighty Trigger Happy's song "Meathook". That should come out nice and ferocious, so look for that and more modern punk covers when "Punk Canada 4" is released later this year!
• I have moved local hard rock solo musician Mike McCleary to our inactive band links. Mike's output had slowed down in 2023, and despite teasing more original instrumental material and a planned soundtrack for a local author's new novel, little came out before his last Facebook post on January 7th of last year, which was an archival video of him at a Bawating Collegiate concert performance in 2003. Hopefully we hear more from Mike in time, as he's a talented and honest musician who lays out his feelings and life well in his songs, and I was looking forward to his next projects!
  

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