Talk Shit/Nebraska Arms Video Showcase!!

Today's post spotlights videos on a YouTube channel brought to my attention last month when the channel's owner filmed an unlisted video at a recent concert, and while I don't share/post unlisted videos here without the video(s) in question being publically shared in some form, the channel in question has a bunch of public SMS-relevant videos! The channel (named Skwunch) is owned by Honest Work/ex-Nebraska Arms drummer Adam Sauve, and his bands have been featured in uploads for the past decade. How did I not know about it before now? Not counting his 2014 re-posting of Nebraska Arms playing "Lighthouses" at The Speak Easy (first uploaded to guitarist Wayne Watkins' own channel in 2008), Adam's first unique videos of one of his bands came in 2015, when he posted two videos of his now-defunct punk band Talk Shit playing two jam session covers.

These two videos feature Adam alongside guitarist Marc LaFrance and bassist Ian Robinson, and they seem to have been filmed before Steve Shaw replaced the long-since-relocated Andrew Angelic on guitar. Uploaded over a year before Talk Shit ended their 7 year hiatus from live gigs, the videos feature the guys covering NOFX's "Linoleum" and as embedded below, Propagandhi's "A Speculative Fiction". Very cool hearing Propagandhi covered by a local band, for the record! Adam sings here, and while they're obviously short-handed, these rough jam covers aren't bad for what they are, though the cymbals are way too loud in the recording. Check out Talk Shit's 2015 jam session covers above & below!

Next up, Adam belatedly posted a video in 2019 of Talk Shit's second reunion-era concert set, where they were among the performers at the first Guy Thiffault memorial concert at The Rockstar Bar in December 2016! Steve was now in the group, but Guy's old Bondar bandmate Mark Rand (now of Cross Dog) filled in for Ian here for unannounced reasons. An attendee filmed the guys covering Guy's old band The Hangdowns' song "Separation Anxiety", and this is a fun rendition with lots of impromptu guest vocals from Guy's friends and old bandmates, as filmed from a close spot on the floor. Good stuff that Guy would have been very proud of, so give Talk Shit's Hangdowns cover a watch below!

Today's other two videos are also from the 2016 Guy Thiffault tribute concert, but were filmed from a far more distant stationary camera angle, and were surprisingly only posted onto Adam's channel in December of last year. One is of Talk Shit covering NOFX's "Don't Call Me White", and if you just want to hear Steve, Marc, Ian, and Mark rocking out, this will do the trick! The audio quality makes up for how far away the stage is given where this camera was set up, but you do get a sense of the solid turnout for this memorial concert, and a nice reminder of the holiday season given the obvious Christmas tree in the lower right. Strong cover with Steve acquitting himself well vocally, so check it out below!

We'll close today with a band that actually played earlier that evening at The Rockstar Bar, namely 2008-2010 indie punk quartet Nebraska Arms, who Guy also fronted and played bass for in their original run. It was nice to see Adam and guitarists Wayne Watkins & Dave Prendergast bring the group back for a night in Guy's memory! Mark Rand filled in on bass here too, while Wayne sang lead, a'la The Northwest. During their short reunion set, Nebraska Arms were filmed playing their original song "I Was A Writer", and while the same visual deficiencies exist for this video, it's a solid performance of this melodic punk original from their heyday, especially given the circumstances. Give it a look below, and R.I.P. Guy!

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

A New Mike Haggith Full-Set Concert Video, Bullet Train's New Song, And More!!

On this rainy Monday night, let's dive into some new videos from recent months, including a new original song/lyric video, a brief clip from a big touring headliner in the spring, and leading off, a high quality concert video from this summer, so here's what you should know!

The full multi-camera video of local/Barrie alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith's set at this year's Northern Vibe Festival was posted to his YouTube channel yesterday! Like last year when he and The Big Finish Band rocked the Forest Stage on Poplardale Road in nearby Ophir, Mike had a single-camera live stream posted after the fact, while enlisting Justine Chalykoff of Chalykoff Studios to professionally film the entire set with multiple high quality cameras. While the final 2023 video wasn't uploaded to YouTube until May, the turnaround to get this year's full multi-cam video was only 2 months, which is great for fans of Mike's! Still no word on if the interview shot with Chalykoff Studios last year will ever be released though. Note that I won't go into a detailed blow-by-blow of the new Northern Vibe video, as I already did that when recapping the single-camera 2024 live stream in this post from September.

Just as a reminder, this was The Big Finish Band's first show with Elly McWatters on guitar for every song (Mike just sang here), and their all-original set only had three songs held over from Northern Vibe 2023. For extra minutia about the set, see the September post linked above, but Mike and crew played the debuting "Brand New Day", "Back Away Slowly", "An Act Of Strength", Mike's newer originals "I Really Hope This Gets To You" and "No Love", "Hot & Cold", "From The 55th Parallel", "Carousel", "The Nature Of The Times", "All The Best", and "Twist Of Fate" this year. Justine used even more cameras to capture Mike, Chris, Elly, Matt, and Brandan rocking out on the outdoor stage than last year, even utilizing a drumcam for the occasion, plus more fade transitions and mirror effects than before, so kudos for the extra work to spruce up the already solid performance footage here!

Your next chance to see Mike & The Big Finish Band will be this Friday when they play a half-time set at this year's The Soo's Got Talent semifinals (preview forthcoming), so whether you want a teaser of what to expect at Soo Blaster on Friday or just want to relive the action at Northern Vibe 2024, give their multi-camera full-set video a watch below!

Next up, local hard rock trio Bullet Train released their fourth original single "Wayside" to their YouTube channel as a lyric video on Wednesday! The song had previously had its exclusive premiere in the rotation of Unity X Radio, a Canadian internet radio station that has been playing Bullet Train's prior singles already. The band's longest song yet, "Wayside" continues with its inspiration on their take of current events, with social justice and recent protests coming under their microscope here. I won't go into specifics on all of that, but fans of Cory's prior local bands won't be thrown off by the hard rock sound here, if more complex and layered throughout, so give Bullet Train's new song a listen below!

Finally for today, here's a video from the Matthew Good concert at The Machine Shop in April that totally slipped us by at the time! This was filmed by Mike Blair for 705Live Sound Co.'s Facebook page, as 705Live were manning the soundboards on that night, and he had quite a neat spot from the balcony at this point of the concert, so you get a nice overhead view of The Machine Shop's interior layout and the sizable crowd (at least until Mike zoomed in!). The video features part of the bridge of the Matthew Good Band staple "Hello Time Bomb", and while there's not much to hear in the 19 seconds-long runtime, it's a neat watch, so check it out below!

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

Where Are The New Albums? (November 2024 Update)

Here is our penultimate "Where Are The New Albums?" post for the year, as we again look at the current release whereabouts of announced albums from local metal, hard rock, and punk artists that have seen studio recording sessions publically commence! For the most part, we're in a holding pattern from last month, but two of this month's six returning entries have updated info, as noted with the title in italics.

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Bullet Train's upcoming EPs

Rumoured Songs: "Atmosphere", "Illusions", "Profit", "Wayside"

Background: The current hard rock band from former Sense of Truth/Skeyes of Seven frontman Cory Murchsion and ex-Fort Creek bandmates Robin "Bones" Lee and Anthony Fabiano, Bullet Train have existed solely as a studio band so far, releasing four original songs recorded at their own home studio to their YouTube channel earlier this year, all very much influenced by their take on current events. After a quiet summer due to "life's trials", Bullet Train resurfaced on their Facebook page on September 1st to reveal that they were working on two demo EPs, with the first one entering post-production as of the 9th, though it's not clear if their 2024 singles will be on them.

Current Release Status: No idea yet, especially as this band has no prior track record for releasing albums, though all three band members have experience writing and recording studio material to varying degrees. Bullet Train claimed on September 9th that a release date for EP #1 would be announced "in the upcoming weeks", a timeline not realized as of this writing. It'll be interesting to see how fast things come along for Bullet Train, so keep tabs on their Facebook page for further updates!

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Chase James Wigmore - The Chaotic Rite

Rumoured Songs: "The Cities Alive & It's Angry"

Background: Ever the prolific artist & songwriter, local folk punk/extreme metal musician Chase Wigmore has been working on an extensive rock opera for years (once claimed to be a 33 part work), originally named "A Story About A Kid Named Todd". Worked on in between his other unrelated solo albums, released for sale or otherwise, Chase posted a lengthy elaboration of the rock opera in 2022, now titled "The Chaotic Rite", outlining its concept, recording plans, and long-term release timeline. Clips of songs have surfaced on his Facebook page, as have full songs not explicitly tied to the album, as well as the final artwork. In more recent promotion, Chase has hinted that "The Chaotic Rite" might be his final eponymous solo album as part of aims to focus on his personal life more than his prolific rate of original material. Regardless, the final product has been pared down to 25-30 minutes.

Current Release Status: Chase elaborated on Facebook this summer that the album was 95% done earlier this year when the files "got trapped on my desktop's hard drive", and he had been unable to procure a backup of the material or recover the files as of that post. In any event, three of the full songs uploaded to Facebook in the past year were clarified as not being planned for "The Chaotic Rite", but they could surface on a separate EP. Fingers crossed that Chase is able to save this album and put it out when able, especially given the years that he's put into the making of it!

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Convergence - Gemini

Rumoured Songs: "Gemini", "In Bloom", "Breaking News", "It Ate The F&$%ing Moon", "Kraken Mara", "You Are Not Flesh"

Background: Just over a month after releasing their sophomore EP "Dead And Dreaming", local progressive metal band Convergence announced on February 9th that EP #3 would be named "Gemini", despite the obvious twin implications of that name. The cover artwork for "Gemini" was released at the same time, with the band asking fans if they should release singles in advance or put it all out at once. Teaser clips of most songs from the EP have been posted on their Facebook page and their YouTube channel since May. Guitarist Brendan Christie revealed the names of five songs in a recent Facebook conversation, one named after the band's prior name Kraken Mara, though a new or renamed song named "You Are Not Flesh" was posted an advance single on Bandcamp in September. New drummer David Peredun (who was confirmed to have joined the band in late February) will presumably make his studio debut here.

Current Release Status: No clue, and given the complexity of their music yet their independent studio trappings so far, that could bode a quick or lengthy timeline for "Gemini" to come out, depending on what angle you take. Since their modern studio cycle commenced last year, things have been relatively steady for Brendan and Jake as a recording act, and here's hoping that Convergence keep that up for their third offering! 

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Fort Creek's debut EP

Rumoured Songs: "One For The Road"

Background: Background: Local southern/hard rock band Fort Creek have sporadically teased plans to record an EP since February 2020, but they wouldn't release any samples until almost two years later when they shared (now-deleted) clips of their original song "Hammer Down" on their Facebook page. The guys would play it regularly at concerts from June 2022-August 2023, and were working in studio throughout 2023, revealing that "it's coming along" in a Facebook post on March 22nd of last year, and teasing new recording sessions following earlier "learning experiences" there that May. After the departure of bassist Robin "Bones" Lee and drummer Anthony Fabiano (both now of Bullet Train) last fall, Fort Creek opted to abandon material recorded with them "as a show of good faith", and have been working on new material and rebuilding their studio over the past year, with an acoustic single named "One For The Road" teased as their "first release". We don't know if new drummer Phil Greco will be immediately involved in that recording, but the band did film a music video for the song last month.

Current Release Status: Prior release timelines for their debut EP reflected their early 2020s lineup's material, and Justin, Shane, and Bill have largely kept things somewhat close to the vest beyond optimistic teasers in the past year. There are a lot of unknowns, especially given the 4+ years of production time and their decision to basically start over last fall, and that this is a band that was primarily known for their work on the weekend cover circuit before their rhythm section left. It will be interesting to see how things develop, so stay tuned for updates!

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Handsome Sandwich's first EP

Rumoured Songs: "Without You", "Partyfuel", "Change A Bit", "No Idea", "All Done Now"

Background: Before even releasing their full-length debut album "Deconstructed" in May 2023, local alternative/hard rock quintet Handsome Sandwich revealed that not all of their existing originals would be on that album, with plans to instead release them and some brand new songs on a forthcoming EP. On September 13th, they began recording this EP (which will reportedly have seven songs) at the Algoma Conservatory of Music, with bass & drum tracks complete as of September 2023, and then-guitarist Mitch Sirie was finishing his parts as of December 21st, with vocals still to go. At least five of the seven songs have had their names revealed in concert setlists. After only contributing to the packaging on "Deconstructed", bassist Rafael Medina will perform on this EP, and a "Reel" of him recording an unidentified song in studio was posted to the band's Facebook page. It's not clear if new guitarist Brandon Ruch will be involved on the EP in some fashion or not, but Wyld Stallyns saxophonist Josh Norling may appear again, as he guested with them to play "Partyfuel" at August's Northern Vibe Festival.

Current Release Status: To be determined, and while they're not recording this EP at the same place as "Deconstructed", note that the sessions for that album at Unsalted Audio wrapped up four months before the album release. An article about the band from The Sault Star in June noted that the seven new songs "will likely be released as singles", but whether this points to a change of release plans or is just an acknowledgement that they have seven individual singles to put out, I don't know. It will be interesting to see how things progress in the coming months!

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Mike Haggith's "Face To Face" live album

Rumoured Songs: "MorningStar", "The Best You Never Had", "Into The Setting Sun", "Come On Home", "I've Seen It Before", "If Ever Comes The Day", "Suburban Dream" (The Din cover), "Out Of My League" (The Din cover), "Potato (Should've Known Better)"

Background: In the lead-up to the staging of his joint storytellers "Face To Face" concert with local folk/country musician Brian Tremblay at The Art Hub on Spring on May 26th, 2023, local/Barrie alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith announced plans on his Facebook page to release a live album from this event through his indie label MorningStar Records, including a vinyl pressing. If this comes to fruition, it's not clear if Brian's half of the concert (he and Mike alternated songs), let alone the stories, would be included on the final product, which would necessitate a double album on vinyl. In any event, you can watch the entire "Face To Face" live-stream at this link.

Current Release Status: Little has came out about the "Face To Face" live album plans since first announced, and while that show went off without a hitch for Mike (unlike Rotaryfest 2023), it understandably wasn't his first musical priority last summer, with his newest studio album "All The Best In All You Do" being released as planned last July. We'll let you know when/if more comes out on this live album in any form!

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I hope you guys liked this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post! This series will return on or around December 2nd for its final installment of the year, while our next monthly feature post will be this month's Defunct Local Band Profile next week. Look for that then and for more news and notes on the site this week! Thanks everyone!

Saturday Night Concert Previews, A New Live Concert Video, And A New Original Song!!

Before we begin this post, I wanted to apologize for a missed Halloween concert in our weekend concert previews, as newer local acoustic hard rock duo Dodge This played at The Dive Gastro Pub on Thursday night. Originally, advertising just had (ex-?)Wyld Stallyns singer/guitarist Rob Speers playing a matinee there, but Jason & Jamie were booked on late notice as the night cap at The Dive. Alas, I only heard about the booking earlier that same day, hence why I wasn't able to cover it in advance, so I apologize again, but hopefully Dodge This and Rob both had a good turnout!

Today's post otherwise finishes this weekend's hard rock concert previews (neither being belatedly seasonal) along with some new songs from two veteran local bands, so let's start things in nearby Brimley, Michigan for the newest concert from local concert promoter Brighton LeBlanc's agency Serious Business, as he hosts four bands live at Pickles Bar & Grill TONIGHT! Three of them are local, including 2023 LSSU Battle of the Bands winning hardcore punk trio The Sole Aggressors (featuring half of The Undecideds) and hard rock quintet The Nameless, who both played at Serious Business' last Pickles show in August. Reunited and online page-less hard rock band The Karstens will also return after playing at Serious Business' first show at The Satisfied Frog last fall, a show that also featured tonight's touring headliner, Grand Rapids experimental/synth project Dick Texas. Not a heavier act, but Valerie is a talented artist!

This 18+ (not 21+ concert) takes place in Pickles' basement level, and will have an 8:00 PM start time and a $10 cover charge. Multi-band concerts like this still don't take place in the E.U.P. all that often, so definitely support the ones that you can to ensure that more could happen! It does seem like Brighton has been getting the word out about tonight's show well, and Brimley is not a far drive at all (20 minutes west of the Soo), so definitely consider coming down tonight if you're able! Visit the above links for more on tonight's action, and for a preview, here's a brand new full-set video of The Sole Aggressors live at Pickles in August! This was uploaded to their YouTube channel shortly after that event, and features what appears to be an all-original 40 minute set, including "Ventilation", "Reject", "Teenage Guide", "Time To Commercialize!", "Melted Plastic", "Hypocrite", ...

..."False Hope". "Fast Punk For Fast Food", "Kill Thy Neighbour", "Fool", "State Of The World", "Kill A Celebrity", and "Down By The Bay". I didn't recognize any covers off hand, so if this was indeed all-original, kudos to the Sole Aggressors as they continue their growth, as they're developing well with a good ear for fast paced punk music! The guitar could stand to be a little louder, and the lighting could definitely stand to be not so green, but it's awesome to see a substantial punk band out of Sault Michigan for a change, and Brett, Calvin, and Isaac are gonna turn a lot of heads if they stick with it! See more from The Sole Aggressors (and more) tonight!

Now let's head north to Sault Ontario for this weekend's last known hard rock concert, and it's a big one for fans of progressive hard rock legends Rush, as the Sudbury-based Rust: A Tribute To Rush will make their local concert debut TONIGHT at Soo Blaster! While fans may have seen a separate Rush tribute band at Reggie's two years ago, Rust are a newer project by Alex & Eric Kuthy, who you may recognize from fellow Sudbury tribute band Just Leppard, who entertained hair metal fans locally in tour dates from 2019-2022. They know their way around 1980s rock, and from what I have seen of Rust in videos, they'll go Geddy, Alex, and Neil proud with a professional and technical sound that Rush fans won't want to miss, especially on the big Soo Blaster stage! As far as I can gather, there are no local openers tonight. You can buy tickets online at this link or at the door for $25 (less than Just Leppard's last show here.)

This appears to be a 19+ event, and everything starts at 8:30 PM. If you're a fan of Rush, you won't want to miss out on Rust's faithful tribute tonight, so visit the Facebook event page for more details, and here's Rust live!

Finally for today, let's address something that debuted during one of the Halloween concerts this weekend, namely local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225's second studio single "Gypsy Spell"! The guys launched the song with a late-notice Halloween concert at Reggie's Place, where it was played live, and it was released to major streaming services (ie. Amazon Music, Apple Music, Spotify, and YouTube) that afternoon. More of a loose dancier rock number with a bouncy riff, this song gives everyone in the band lots of time to showcase their talents, with Warren's bass really driving things along, and Greg's singing is at a full voiced enthusiasm, which works well! Fun track from your local 225, so give it a listen below!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post next! Thanks everyone!

More Of This Weekend's Hard Rock Concert Previews!!

Let's continue covering this weekend's hard rock concert slate by looking at most of this weekend's proper concerts, Bone Yard 225 excepted (check the post below this one for details on their Reggie's dates). Remember, as Halloween was last night, some venues and bands are holding belated Halloween events tonight and/or tomorrow night, but others are not visibly doing so. Due to the amount of shows, I'm holding tomorrow's multi-band concert in Brimley, Michigan and the Rust tribute concert in Sault Ontario for our next post, so look for those then! Now, here's what you should know as the weekend continues, starting in Sault Michigan!

Local hard rock sextet Exit 808 will return to the local stage when they headline The Merchants Bar's Halloween party TONIGHT! This will actually be Exit 808's second Halloween concert this year, following a road trip to Bergland (5 hours west of the Soo) for the Bergland Bay Bar's holiday festivities this past Saturday, which appears to have went well for them! Surprisingly, this talented group took October off from local dates, so if you've missed Exit 808 since their Three One Three fundraiser event in late September, don't bypass tonight's Halloween show! It's worth noting that the tags in their most recent Facebook page plug of this event don't include singer Dillion Semasky, guitarist Will Robbins, or bassist Myke Young, rather Drew Collister from the Ishpeming rock band No Expectations, former fill-in bassist Blaze Beairl, and Soundworks Productions owner Warren Woeste.

Drew is indeed filling in for Dillion Semasky on vocals for unannounced reasons, but I can't confirm if Will and Myke will be absent too (note that I haven't seen Will referenced in new Exit 808 social media postings since August, and he doesn't have a personal Facebook page that he can be tagged with). We'll let you know if anything gets clarified, but hopefully Amy, Alex, Jackie, and crew can still deliver a fun night of hard rocking covers tonight at The Merch! There will be a costume contest with prizes tonight, so don't put your costumes away just yet! This show has a 21+ age limit, no cover charge, and a 9:00 PM start time. Visit the above links for more details on this show, and here's Exit 808 live!

Next up, both regional Kewadin Casino branches are having hard rock-leaning bands this weekend, though just to get this out of the way now, neither branch is tying in this weekend's concerts with Halloween. The casinos did their Halloween festivities at all locations this past weekend, so expect the status quo as we enter November. At The Rapids Lounge in Sault Ste. Marie, attendees TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT will be seeing local hard rock quartet Rhythm & Brews, who will be playing their first publically advertised shows since back in June. Featuring former Nixxon Dixxon bandmates Brandon Carr & Chris Hubbard alongside recent Tarnished rhythm section Chris Leask & Ron Suchey, this talented group will have lots of fan friendly hard rock covers ready to go this weekend, even if they still don't have public videos to preview their shows with! These dates are at 9:00 PM with 21+ age limits and no cover charges.

Meanwhile, The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin will play host to Traverse City metal trio Scarkazm TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Surprisingly, we haven't seen Scarkazm rock either Kewadin branch since the spring, so if you've missed Adam, Dave, and Jeff's hard hitting covers and originals, you'll definitely want to keep in mind that they're ending 2024 with the help of three concert weekends in the E.U.P.! They'll be at the Soo Kewadin over the Thanksgiving long weekend, and will return to St. Ignace in mid-December, so you have lots of chances if you can't come out tonight and/or tomorrow! Like with Rhythm & Brews in the Soo, tomorrow and Saturday's shows are 21+ affairs at 9:00 PM with no cover. Visit the above links for more details on both of Kewadin Casino's regional post-Halloween concerts, and for a preview, here's Scarkazm live earlier this year!

Finally for this preview post, we'll head back to Sault Ontario, where local classic/hard rock cover quartet Silent 9 will headline at The Esquire Club TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! Due to popular demand, the Second Line West venue opted to host Halloween parties this past Saturday and this weekend, but interestingly, they've opted to have the second Halloween party on the Saturday as well, not tonight. In other words, do not put away or throw out your costume just yet, as spooky season will be running until at least November 2nd in the west end this year! Yes, there will be one more costume contest with prizes tomorrow as well, while tonight's show appears to be the status quo more or less for Silent 9's diverse and often hard rocking cover slate, but there may be some costumes and Halloween frills tonight as well. You can see Jess, Ryan, Paul, and Steve in action tonight and tomorrow at 9:30 PM with 19+ age limits and no cover charges. See above for more details, and here they are live at The Esquire Club last year!

We'll cap off this weekend's concert previews with tomorrow's Rust and Dick Texas/Sole Aggressors shows on both sides of the border (and more?), so stay tuned then! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Bone Yard 225) & Halloween Concert Previews!!

Halloween is drawing near, so let's start this weekend's concert previews early, as October 31st is a Thursday (ie. tomorrow) this year! Because it's Halloween, some venues and bands are celebrating tomorrow despite being a work/school night, but because Friday and Saturday are closer on the calendar than Saturday the 26th was, and Halloween runs right into Friday, there are belated Halloween themed events happening this weekend as well. It'll all be simpler next year when October 31st is a Friday, but for now, enjoy the extended Halloween season while we have it! Due to the amount of shows, I'll cover Silent 9, Rust, and Sault Michigan/EUP events in the coming days. Of course, this doesn't count shows that don't quite cross our subgenre radar, like Bourbon Blue at Jay's Piston Broke Pub this weekend, Rob Speers at The Dive tomorrow, and the Hallows Haunts/Wawa Witches (both touring bands) at Mane St. Cafe & Lounge tomorrow.

We'll lead off tonight with SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, as local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 will play a triple header weekend at Reggie's Place TOMORROW NIGHT, FRIDAY, and SATURDAY! Apologies for the short notice, the band only announced the Halloween night show on their Facebook page on Monday, while Reggie's Facebook page later confirmed that they will indeed be playing there for the rest of the weekend. Your local 225 just played at Reggie's this past weekend, including a Halloween themed concert this past Saturday, but with the guys already planning to release their new single "Gypsy Spell" on major streaming services TOMORROW, why not throw a second Halloween concert together to give it a proper launch? This weekend's three new bookings mean that Bone Yard will have played five shows at Reggie's in an eight day span, so if you like them at this Queen Street East staple, strap in for more rocking tunes!

Like this past Saturday, cash prizes will be awarded TOMORROW for the best solo and couples costumes, so if you can swing coming out on a work/school night for Halloween proper, don't put your costumes away just yet! FRIDAY & SATURDAY NIGHT'S concerts appear to be standard non-seasonal fare for Greg, Alex, and Warren's southern and hard rock covers. All three shows are 9:30 PM affairs with no cover charges and 19+ age limits. See above for more details, and here's Bone Yard 225 live!

Next up, local metal trio The BAG will headline a special Halloween concert TOMORROW NIGHT outdoors at the Sault Downtown Plaza! This show alone is kinda surprising given how outdoor concerts this late in the year are not common whatsoever, and while the performance stage has a roof, this is still very much out in the elements. In fact, 9&10 News is calling for a 70% chance of rain tomorrow night, while temperatures will be sitting at around 12°. If you are at all concerned about the weather throwing a wrench into tomorrow's festivities, keep tabs with The BAG and plaza for further updates, but hopefully things pan out for The BAG's explosive and accessible brand of metal! Regarding the openers, we can now confirm some details on them via this Facebook event page, so who are The Funky Monks and Prodigal Phase? The former are indeed a Red Hot Chili Peppers tribute band, and they feature some familiar faces.

Their lineup will include The Haze/ex-Gnaeus guitarist Brad Irwin, JFX Pedals founder Jordan Fresque, bassist(?) Ayako Makihara, and former Disciples of Rock/Half Past drummer Jamie Labreche. Prodigal Phase are a debuting cover rock trio featuring Jamie alongside former Dysfunkshunal Kemistry frontman Kevin Bouchard and ex-Scary Uncles/Fort Creek guitarist Matt Sibilo, though there's nothing else public about either band. Should be a fun mixed-genre night of music, weather permitting! This show is FREE & ALL AGES with a 7:00 PM start time running until 11:00 PM. Visit the above links for more details on this outdoor show at the Downtown Plaza, and here's The BAG live!

Finally for this all-Halloween concert preview post, we'll head to The Water Tower Pub, where local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations will headline that venue's Halloween party TOMORROW NIGHT! While their Gateway Casino show this past Saturday never had Halloween branding attached to it, tomorrow's concert absolutely does, with a 3D poster on The Water Tower Pub's Facebook page hyping the festivities. There will be a costume contest with "great prizes" and Halloween-themed food and drink specials for the occasion, so keep all of that in mind if you come out tomorrow, and have your costumes ready! No word on who is playing at the Great Northern Road nightclub on Friday and Saturday, but note that the November schedule for live musicians there has not been posted online as of this writing. Valerie, the Tonys, and Pierre take the stage tomorrow at 8:00 PM with a 19+ age limit and no cover charge.

Hopefully tomorrow's concert is a big hit for central concertgoers and Halloween revelers, so visit the above links for more details on Generations' Halloween party action, and for a preview, here they are live!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more weekend concert previews (including more belated Halloween action) next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Mike Haggith) & The Soo's Got Talent Rounds #1 & 2 Recap!!

After first looking at the audition level of the fifth annual The Soo's Got Talent on Saturday, let's continue recapping what went down at Soo Blaster in this post, as the 23 acts who passed muster with the judges in September returned for the first elimination round on Wednesday, October 11th! On that night, six acts were eliminated either due to the judges' scores or not appearing for that day's competition, those being singers Elena Fera, Abiguale Lacroix, Elizabeth Budge, Sheena Matchett, and Abigail Joseph, plus "read rapper" Corey Marques. Sixteen other acts who performed that day moved on, though it was clarified on T.S.G.T.'s Facebook page that singer Chloe Tessier was the only "golden buzzer" recipient of the entire audition level, meaning that she was directly byed to the second elimination round on Friday, October 25th. First round action was highlighted in two recap videos posted to Facebook, so what can you see there?

All performers are singers doing covers unless otherwise stated. In order, the first video features Rebekah Moran ("In My Dreams" from the Anastasia musical), singer/guitarist Jennifer Joseph (Little Big Town's "Girl Crush"), Owen "MK" Kjiersdam doing an apparent original song, Andrea Dantzer ("Wishing You Were Somewhere Here" from The Phantom Of The Opera), Madii Schomogyi (Hozier's "It Will Come Back"), singer/guitarist Arin Karki (Eric Clapton's unplugged version of "Layla"), and Kristina Sagrak (Abba's "Dancing Queen"). Nothing heavier in there for song choices, but there is definitely some clear talent to check out! The second video has some hard rock content and is thusly embedded below. It features Demoy MacSamuels singing an original song possibly named "No Regrets", Ricky Roy (The Killers' "Mr. Brightside"), Haley Alopaeus (Evanescence's "Bring Me To Life"), Robert Nevitt (AC/DC's "Ride On")...

...singer/guitarist Nicolette Rebello (The 4 Non Blondes' "What's Up?"), Rebecca Wabigwan (Adele's "Make You Feel My Love"), and singer/guitarist Celeste Burton playing an original song. Two advancing performers (magic act Mxsterious and singer Theo Ravihansa) went unfilmed for The Soo's Got Talent, and while reasons for their omissions weren't announced, remember that a couple of audition videos had to be uploaded in excerpts due to copyright flags. Good stuff in video #2 as well, with Robert delivering some sold pitched-down AC/DC in his clip, and Haley showed off a good voice doing Evanescence in hers, so give most of the round 2 qualifiers a watch for yourselves above & below!

As mentioned above, the second elimination round took place this past Friday, where we learned which twelve of the seventeen remaining contestants would be moving on. Owen MK, Rebecca Wabigwan, and Mxsterious were eliminated at this stage, while Andrea Dantzer and Theo Ravihansa were unable to attend on Friday and are now out of the competition. As of this writing, videos from the second round have not been posted on The Soo's Got Talent's Facebook page, but photos of all fifteen competing acts can be seen at this link. If you want to see how the final twelve performers do in the semifinals, you can find out on Friday, November 8th, but here's where the LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS come in, as Mike Haggith and his Big Finish Band will return as the house band for the semifinals and finals this year! This was hinted at during the finals last year, but Mike and crew will be back next Friday and two weeks later on November 22nd!

Like last year, the semifinals will feature Mike and crew (now including T.S.G.T. MC and 2023 runner-up Elly McWatters on rhythm guitar) as the halftime band in between the competitors, but on the 22nd, they will again provide backing instrumentation in some form or fashion for the remaining finalists on one or both of their songs. Everyone left in the field is a singer of some description, so things should fit cleanly next month, especially with Robert, Arin, and Haley all doing hard rock songs already, so they could fit extra well if they make the finals! It is also implied in the write-up for the above poster that there will be an audience save for a contestant eliminated by the judges next week, and you will get entries for a door prize if you vote thusly. The semifinals begin next Friday at 6:30 PM, and admission is $15 for adults and $10 for children. As best as I can tell, it will be more of the same for the finals on the 22nd.

If past years are any indication, 2023 T.S.G.T. winner Storm Rausch should get an invite to perform a guest song on the 22nd too, but their involvement has not been publically confirmed by organizers. Of course, best of luck to all twelve remaining competitiors next week, and hopefully they impress the judges (and audience) to stamp their finals tickets over the last weekend of November!  See above for more on what went down in the first two knockout rounds of The Soo's Got Talent V, and Halloween concert previews are on the way next! Thanks everyone!