A New Local Punk Band, Crush Updates, And More Recent News & Notes!!

As we wrap up the busiest month (for post count) in the 19+ year history of the SMS, here's one more news post for the end of August before we go into autumn, and it includes updates from an EUP hard rock band, clarifications on who played a recent all-day charity concert, and some assorted shorter updates, but we'll lead off with a debuting supergroup that will be intriguing for many local punk and hard rock fans! Here's what you should know!

We have a new local punk band to add to our links, and they are Dead II Society! While their Facebook page was only launched yesterday, they were one of the two mystery bands announced for October's Punk Rock Fiesta at The Rockstar Bar (we are still waiting for details on The Baby Rails). Self-described as "an outlaw punk rock (band) specializing in loud, high energy, foot-stomping songs", their lyrics are planned to revolve around members' personal lives, health, and relationships. The band features former Garden of Bedlam/Changing Lanes singer/guitarist Erik "Buzz" Boissineau alongside former Northwest/Terminal guitarist Mike Yakasovich, veteran local bassist Andrew Torgerson (most recently seen down south in The Epifats and Grant Boyer's backing band), and Billy Bastards drummer Charlie Yanni (he will be pulling double duty with both bands on October 3rd).

Dead II Society are working on original music for major streaming services and Bandcamp, and your first teaser is this video featuring an instrumental track and silent footage of the guys meeting up and jamming. Their first single and full-length video (presumably both for this song) premiere on September 16th, 2½ weeks before their Punk Rock Fiesta debut. Sadly, the video is both vertical and black & white, aspects that I hope don't translate to what we get in two weeks, but it's great to see this promising band full of established names making their debut shortly, and it'll be interesting to hear how Buzz's long-teased original punk songs turn out! See more from them above and below, and stay tuned for updates!

Next up, let's bolt across the border to Sault Michigan for the latest updates from local hard rock trio Crush! It's been a few months since we last talked about Tarnished's original-heavy splinter group, who haven't played a local concert in over four months (or downstate since May), but they haven't been completely idle. After jokey posts, AI-generated memes, and more love for Big Boy restaurants over the summer, they have announced two tour dates for September on their Facebook page, one being a show on Friday at Bemo's Bar in Bay City (3½ hours south of here, outside of Saginaw). Best of luck on the road trip for sure! The other gig is technically outside of our coverage range (an hour's drive from the Soo), but it will be their closest show since April at The Merch, and it will see Alex, Josh, and Iggy open for their friends in Rose City metal band Tribe989 at Bates Corner Bar & Grill in Gould City on Thursday, September 24th.

Hannahville "rez metal" band Ghidora (who Heavy Lies The Crown fans will know well) are also playing this show 90 minutes west of the Soo. If you can make the drive to western Mackinac County, this show may be of note, and despite Gould City being pretty small, they can book big names at Bates Corner (Buckcherry played there earlier this month!) Click here for details on the Gould City concert. Lastly, they posted this short teaser video for the Bay City show on Friday, with Iggy promoting it from an... unexpected place, while the caption at the end notes that Crush have been busy in the studio recently working on original material. Hopefully we hear more soon, so get Crushed above and below, and I hope next month's shows go well!

Also today, here's some clarification of the lineup for Maddy's Mighty Mutts Family Fun Day at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion in Sault Ontario on August 5th! The advertising for the event had conflicting details on who was and wasn't playing, but organizer Paige Dennie listed off performers in a personal Facebook post shared to Maddy's Facebook page the next day to thank everyone for volunteering. Ten acts ended up playing the Wednesday outdoor-ish concert under the big tent, with this AI-generated poster being accurate to the final bill aside from omitting Tex Riviera & The Relix Ride for one reason or another (not only did they play, they were up first!). The acts that dropped out (both for unannounced reasons) were solo musicians Arin Karki and Leslie Cook, with Tym Morrison being a last minute replacement for one of them. Of note, Jason Taillefer's sister Kelly guested for part of his solo set, which was implied to be keyboard-heavy.

Paige noted that 5 Dollar Bribe donated their drum kit and PA system for the day's full band's to use, which was nice of them, while TNT singer/guitarist Travis Sharpe helped with sound and managing set changes, and Bone Yard 225 were the headliners. It does sound like things went well, and Paige was very appreciative of everyone helping out, both from the concert aspect and towards supporting the dog rescue charity itself, so visit the above links for more on what went down four weeks ago!

Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items from the last while, and as usual for our short-form story blocks, these are in alphabetical order by artist or company name:

 

• A memorial concert for late local musician Dale Corcoran will be held at the resurgent Rockstar Bar on Saturday, September 19th! Proceeds will go to his widow Clare for her own recent expenses, and the show is implied to largely be an informal and unrehearsed jam featuring friends and former bandmates rather than something with firmly scheduled and advertised bands (though I'd assume that we'll see members of Tex Riviera & The Ride). Could we see throwbacks to his local metal and hard rock work of the 1980s? Tickets cost $20 + processing fees at this link, and I do hope that this celebration of life is a huge hit across the board!
• I apologize for missing this among our backlog clearout, but a demonstration named Navigating the Modern Music Business As An Independent Artist was held at The Art Hub At Spring this past Tuesday. Hosted by local musician and manager Ryan St. Pierre of The Lonely Listeners Club and the upstart music management program Lisinin, the program was to promote his work and help encourage independent artists to explore today's music industry and better network in music communities. All are definitely good plans to help aspiring musicians in their career, so click here for more on what went down last week, and what Ryan continues working on!
• The performance order for the aforementioned Punk Rock Fiesta at The Rockstar Bar on October 3rd has been unveiled via this poster shared on the Punk Canada Facebook group two weeks ago! The running order is mostly what you'd expect given band notoriety, with everyone but headliners Random Killing having a half hour timeslot (the debuting Baby Rails lead off at 6:30 PM), but local crossover thrash trio Hails will surprisingly get the 10:30 PM co-headlining slot over the Billys and Fist Magnet reunions. This will be a huge show no matter when bands are on, so visit the above links for more on what to expect in just over a month!

 

That's all for tonight, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the SMS next month! Thanks everyone!

A Newly Discovered Mike Haggith Performance Video, ASDP Updates, And More!!

Before we begin this post, I wanted to apologize for a missed concert in our weekend concert previews, as local classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison played at the Fraternal Order of Eagles Club's summer barbecue party/open house yesterday. Click here for details on the all ages festivities. It's been a while since Tym has played a regular nighttime show at Aerie #3991, and while he didn't plug his involvement on his solo project's Facebook group, I do apologize for missing what looked like a fun event! I'd have covered it had I known! Now, here's some new videos and related updates from three acts who played at a major concert festival this weekend!

While we await the teased full-set video from his Northern Vibe Festival return yesterday, local/Barrie alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith has a new long-form video to check out, but not from his own channels. When I was getting the link for his 2024 Northern Vibe video for our festival preview post last week, I stumbled across a 30+ minute acoustic set that he recorded for Underscored Sound, a acoustic performance-based webseries that records VH1 Storytellers-style sets from artists at the Canadian Musicians Co-operative headquarters in Barrie, in association with LiveBarrie and Alex Ciprian Media. Artists pay to appear and receive high quality copies of their sets in multiple formats. Mike was the 10th performer in season 1 of this series back in August 2024, with all five songs later being uploaded as separate videos (plus some vertical "Shorts") to the Underscored YouTube channel if you're so inclined.

I don't recall Mike mentioning his Underscored appearance at all, possibly because it was aimed towards Barrie and Southern Ontario at a time when we were focused on Northern Vibe and summer concerts here, but better late than never! The performance begins with Mike introducing himself and setting up his backstory, before introducing his first song "MorningStar" from 2020's "If Ever Comes The Day". He follows that up by tackling "Of Cars & Criminals" from 2015's "The Warinside", which is mildly surprising as it A. predates his modern Thompson/Barrie output, and B. was cut from The Din's live album "Technically Live" two+ years prior. Mike then reflects on his personal life and how it influenced his next song, "Back Away Slowly" (also from "If Ever Comes The Day"), followed by the title track of his 2021 album "Bridges". This acoustic showcase ends with "Brand New Day" from his not-yet-released 2025 album "Frequent Flyer".

The reason why there's only five songs is also why I compared it to VH1 Storytellers and not MTV Unplugged, as Mike outlines the personal inspiration and stories behind each song performed here, and Mike is candid about his life and the events that informed his music! The Soo does come up for the first few introductions. There's no interviewer or host, just Mike talking to the viewer, and the audio and video quality is excellent, including three different stationary camera angles. Really good stuff, even two years late, so fans of Mike's acoustic work will want to check out his Underscored set below!

Next up, we do have a public video to share from the Northern Vibe Festival in nearby Ophir this weekend! I'm expecting more in due course, especially with many musicians only coming back on the grid from the Poplardale Road bush today, but the festival went off without any weather-related glitches, and thank goodness for that! A festival representative filmed this video of Timmins pop punk band Saving Bambi covering Joan Jett & The Blackhearts' "Bad Reputation" on the rebuilt Forest Stage for their Facebook page. Alas, it's 39 seconds long and vertical (why accentuate the lawn like this when you can flip the phone sideways?), and this cover may be a slightly obvious pick for an all-female punk band, but what we do hear is lively and well performed, and it's great to see the Forest Stage looking refurbished and strong after the 2025 storm. Give Saving Bambi's video a watch below, and stay tuned for more from the festival when it goes live!

Finally, here's some updates from the subject of this month's album review from this morning (and another Northern Vibe act), local ska punk quartet ASDP! Apologies for only mentioning these after the fact (out of town or not), but checking Instagram is still not second nature for me, and the band still doesn't have Facebook. Last week, Mikhal, Tucker, William, and Ralph took their first ever road trip for shows out west, when they headlined at Shooters Bar in Kenora on August 21st, before heading to Winnipeg to play at the Sargent Skate Jam at the Sargent Skatepark the next day. Click here for more info and the posters of both concerts. As far as I can tell, an AI-generated skateboarding amplifier did not headline the Skate Jam, but it did feature Winnipeg punk quartet Shit Happens, who you may recall from headlining at the still-closed Distraction in March 2024. I do apologize again for not mentioning these at the time, but I hope the gigs went well, especially given the 12+ hour drive to Kenora alone!

A public video from their westward trip has surfaced though, but not from the band proper. 90 minutes east of Kenora, the guys stopped in Dryden, where they met the Christian musician Mr. World Peace at a 7-Eleven there (the idea of Northern Ontario having 7-Elevens still surprises me). The short & vertical video sees him and ASDP members doing a "World! Peace!" call & response in the parking lot. Kudos to both Mr. World Peace and ASDP for giving each other some exposure, so check this clip out below, and stay tuned for more from ASDP on the SMS likely next month!

That's all for now, but will we have one more post before August is done? Stay tuned either way, and thanks everyone!

ASDP - "Atom Bombs & Lemonade" EP Review!!

It's now time for our 206th monthly CD review at The Sault Metal Scene, and this month, we're continuing filing through our new album backlog in chronological release order via local ska punk band ASDP's debut EP "Atom Bombs & Lemonade"! Independently released exclusively to their Bandcamp page on December 17th, the "crackrocksteady" band is represented here by Agnosticism frontman/Apocalypse Afterparty bassist Mikhal "Châ" Muto on vocals & guitar, With Gunfire/ex-Stoned To Deaf bassist William "Glistening Williard" Wardlaw, and Spaceship Opening drummer "Just" Ralph Barber. This album was recorded before Tucker Lidstone joined on second guitar, but it does feature a number of guest musicians, including Golden Scoundrels/ex-Shit Liver frontman Josh Penno on backing vocals and a guest verse, Cole Speers as a backing vocalist on "Party Song", ...

...a lead guitarist credited as "Keagles", Mason Mahoney as a narrator, and Floor Between Us frontman Colin Gasparelli on trumpet. Aside from Ralph's Spaceship Opening bandmate Andrew MacDonald being credited for engineering, the band didn't give production details in the liner notes. Adam Smith Death Parade recorded 10 songs for this album last year, but three of the songs are covers that are only available on the paid download, and as they're sprinkled throughout the track order there, they are not considered to be bonus tracks. If you want to hear them, then buy "Atom Bombs & Lemonade" for $7 on Bandcamp in mp3 format! Otherwise, you can hear the album's seven songs as free streams there too, but those three covers eat up 11+ minutes of the 26 minute runtime.

Let's kick off this A.S.D.P. album review with its opening song, "Taller Ants"! Lyrically about still wanting to live the hard-drinking punk lifestyle despite the process getting harder with time, things open with a phone message from someone angry at "Andrew" about borrowed items still owed. The song itself (the only one here what William co-wrote) has a suitably bouncy ska punk riff. A fairly steady song without much in the way of tempo changes, there are no empty moments, and it interestingly ends with a guitar solo (if that's "Keagles", he did well!). The production wasn't crystal clear, but the ska action wasn't bad to start! Next is "Bay Of Pigs", which is the only one of the seven original songs here to crack 3 minutes in length. It is this song where ASDP got the name of the EP, and the lyrics speak to views of a bleak future, using the Bay of Pigs fiasco in a metaphorical sense.

Opening with a 30 seconds-long spoken word sample about fascism, this is a rougher edged song that, while still having a ska essence, feels more lo-fi and crust punk-influenced. To a point, I feel like Mikhal was over-exaggerating his singing for effect, and should have kept things simpler. This is the song with Josh Penno's guest verse, and it's cool hearing him scream on a new original song, if not for too long! Strong bass and drums here too, but the song got messier and noisier, so I did think the song started stronger than it finished. Third on paid copies is the first of the paid buyer-exclusive covers, namely "One Dead Cop" by the legendary New York crust punk band Leftover Crack. The ASDP version gets two spoken word sections (from someone who sounds jarringly like John Wayne), and is otherwise a shorter and tighter cover that keeps the same progression and style of the original.

Lo-fi production aside, you do get some context as to why Mikhal and crew have the sound that they do, so if you're not familiar with Leftover Crack, you will connect some dots here. The guitar riff is sure catchy, and the screaming is sure impassioned near the end, so this is a worthy incentive for the $7 price tag! Next on any version of the EP is "Prelude To The Sacred Rat", which is a 38 seconds-long intro to the following song "Rat Hymn", and honestly, I'd have just combined them as one (relatively) long song, as they clearly are meant to be heard back to back. The slower intro with screamed vocals leads into a wordy and politically charged song about how we are the metaphorical rats in the sewer fighting fascism, capitalism, and inequality (note the Shit Liver and "Booze N' Doobs" references!). More than any other so far, this song leans heavily into hardcore punk, so this will be an easy mosh pit instigator live.

The sing-along choruses are honestly the song's low point, as they feel low energy and melancholy compared to the ferocity around them, but largely, this song is among my highlights for the punk intensity and driving guitar work, even if the prelude was separate! Song #5 (free)/#6 (paid) is "Grunt", which is another anti-capitalist song, with lyrics about the class divide and the perceived aims for the higher income bracket to get rid of those with a lower income. While it starts with a "ska break", it rolls along well from "Rat Hymn" as another hardcore punk-influenced song with a crust influence, with Mikhal unleashing some of his heaviest and most aggressive vocals yet here, and he and William play off each other nicely. The darker breakdown with guttural vocals late is well done here too, and for my metalhead sensibilities, this is easily a highlight of this EP! Is that Keagles on the ending solo again? 

Paid buyers of "Atom Bombs & Lemonade" get the second cover next, that being "Kill Yer Parents" by the Pennsylvania ska-core band No Cash. This cover is fairly identical to the original, if played slightly slower, though the instrumentation does feel more filled out. As a pure song, I prefer this to the first cover, and it has more of a varied structure and dynamic guitar playing while still delivering the ska goods and some suitable crust punk anger, and the performances under the production quality are sound! We next get to "Party Song", which is basically a retreat into community and singing revolutionary and folk songs that talk back/down to one's oppressors. If any song here feels like it probably should have been written for Mikhal's dormant folk punk solo project Agnosticism, it's this one, as it's a blistering 100 seconds-long acoustic number featuring guest performer Cole Speers.

Mikhal plays banjo, washboard, and cajon on this largely solo track, and while I do prefer ASDP's full-band, aggressive songs, this gets the job done for Agnosticism fans, and Mikhal doesn't let his foot off the gas musically or lyrically despite the short length! Free copies of the EP end with its last original and shortest song "Pantry Fiends", a 33 seconds-long number that appears to be a brief memorial to the musician Sam Sadowski of the San Francisco folk punk project Closet Fiends. A bass-heavy number while it lasts, it had potential as a fuller song had they chose to expand it (especially thanks to Ralph's drumming), but it serves its intended purpose! If you paid the $7, "Atom Bombs & Lemonade" ends with a cover of "Wait Around" by the Chicago crust folk band The Suburbanists, which is the only 4+ minute song on the full album. The ASDP cover has a fuller sound than the original, and has the most of Colin's trumpet work.

The more collaborative sound helps add more of a ska punk flavour here, and it strikes me as something that would go over well live for singing along while also having some faster moshing potential. Maybe a little over-long compared to prior songs here, but it's a faithful cover when compared to the original. Fun closer regardless! Overall, what are my final thoughts on ASDP's debut EP? If you can get past the lo-fi production quality, you'll find a solid collection of varying punk subgenres here! This feels more like the fully realized band that I think Agnosticism was hinting at, but with more of a ska punk influence, if not as much as one as some of their branding would suggest. The "crackrocksteady" descriptor is not new to ASDP, and while their take seems to favour the noise and crust punk angle more often than not, the ska bounce and liveliness is definitely there when called upon. 

Mikhal let his emotions and frustrations out strongly on vocals, William's bass work did exactly what it needed to do, and Ralph's drumming was a steady highlight. For the guest performances, they could sometimes be hard to identify, but the collaborative nature is nothing new if you're familiar with ASDP live. The biggest issue for me was the rough production quality, but I do understand that Mikhal likes the lo-fi DIY folk punk aesthetic, and I know they weren't going for pristine here. Your mileage may vary, of course! Beyond that, I did prefer the heavier, hardcore punk-leaning songs, the guitar solos should have been placed earlier in songs when utilized, and the lackadaisical choruses on "Rat Hymn" weren't ideal, If you are more right-leaning politically, you may want to tread lightly for some of these lyrics too, but folk punk and crust punk aren't subgenres known for holding back.

ASDP's first studio EP is a good debut that leans well into Mikhal's prior output as a singer/guitarist, and while I do wish that they had a stronger social media presence beyond Instagram (how are they not on Facebook yet?), there's some solid music to be had for crust and ska punk fans, so buy/stream the EP at the above links! I hope you guys liked this month's album review, and after a two month spell in Sault Ontario, we're returning to the EUP next month when we kick off the fall with a look at St. Ignace, Michigan deathcore band Heavy Lies The Crown's most recent EP "Notions", as we finally begin reviewing local metal, hard rock, and punk albums from 2026! Thanks everyone, and look for more news this week!

YouTube Channel Profile Series: Nostalgic Band

After a delay largely due to a stacked round of weekend concert previews, here's this month's YouTube Channel Profile, as we again spotlight a randomly selected YouTube channel whose content is at least half devoted to local metal, hard rock, or punk musicians/concerts! For our last post in this series of the summer, we're looking at the channel of an all-too-brief cover rock band from three years ago that had a lot of promise and in-built chemistry, so here's what you should know! 

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Nostalgic Band (http://youtube.com/@nostalgicband)

Owner: A member of 2023 classic/hard rock cover trio The Nostalgic Band, exact identity unclear (possibly Randy, as he was credited for editing videos in the descriptions)

Channel Timeline: Launched on June 9th, 2023; Videos posted that day, three days later, and on August 1st of that year

Channel Summary: This is the only surviving online source for official content from The Nostalgic Band (f.k.a. Nostalgia), and features three live concert videos of the short-lived group, who featured former Caveman Morrison singer/guitarist Tym Morrison, former Browbeat frontman Randy "Dutch" Vanderploeg on bass, and former Nikkfitt drummer Chet Dziergas (note that Randy was in Caveman Morrison from 2012-2013, and he was also a Nikkfitt alum, albeit not when Chet was in that band). 

Why You Should Watch: If you liked The Nostalgic Band during their few mid-2023 concert dates, or have missed any of the members on stage in a band since (Tym's frequent acoustic concerts acknowledged), this will be absolutely worth checking out! This group had talent and chemistry, as fans of late-era Caveman Morrison will know, and it's a shame that things ended the way that they did that September. Note that the band's Facebook group was sadly taken down after their breakup, which Randy was wont to do when any of his prior bands folded. You can, however, see some extra footage of this group via this episode of Randy's Rides, his motorcycle-riding webseries.

 Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:

 

Nostalgic Band Promo: The first and most popular video here comes from The Nostalgic Band's live debut at Reggie's Place on May 26th, 2023, which features minute-or-so long clips of them covering Metallica's "Enter Sandman", The Romantics' "Talking In Your Sleep", Starship's "We Built This City", The Scorpions' "Rock You Like A Hurricane", Ozzy Osbourne's "Bark At The Moon", The Cars' "My Best Friend's Girl", Loverboy's "Working For The Weekend", Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train", and The Cars' "Good Times Roll", with Randy on lead vocals for the Cars covers. While I'd prefer full songs, and the camera is way too zoomed out (making Reggie's look cavernous around the band), this is a good sampling of what The Nostalgic Band had in store, and it was good seeing Tym front a band again, even with short hair!

 

 

I DON'T KNOW cover by The NOSTALGIC band: In a sign that Ozzy Osbourne covers were popular for Tym, Randy, and Chet in this band, their other Reggie's video sees them cover "I Don't Know" at another Reggie's concert just two weeks later. Edited by Randy in post-production to include zooms into the stage and individual band members, this is a sound cover that shows off everyone's musical abilities well, even if Chet's head is largely obscured at this angle. The video quality isn't super crisp, but it is nice to see everyone in fuller frame, let alone a full video from a public concert!

 

 

Nostalgtic Band Live at the Ranch July 29 2023: In their final and longest upload, we get 37 minutes of the guys at a private outdoor event at "The Ranch" in July 2023, which was (as far as I can recall) cross-posted to their Facebook group before it was taken down. While edited to remove between-song breaks in post-production, the video features their full covers of Deep Purple's "Highway Star", Metallica's "Enter Sandman", Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'", Styx's "Too Much Time On My Hands", Bryan Adams' "Summer Of '69", Kiss' "Rock & Roll All Nite", Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Bad Moon Rising", "Bark At The Moon", and Whitesnake's "Slide It In". Despite fuzzy video quality and a somewhat sterile feeling without crowd reactions between songs, these covers are strongly performed with good enthusiasm and vocals from Tym, and it's a shame that The Nostalgtic (sic) Band didn't last longer than four months, but hopefully we see the guys down the line!

 

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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! This series returns (hopefully on time moreso) next month at around September 26th, but stay tuned next for this month's CD review! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERS (Fefe Dobson & Greg Simpson), One More Weekend Concert Preview, And New Videos!!

On this Friday night, let's wrap up what might be the last mega busy concert weekend until Halloween season, with a couple of linked unpl... "uncorked" concerts ahead (one a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT), along with another big new show and some newly found live concert videos. With all of that now outlined, here's what you should know!

Just over a week after rocking The Dive, Bone Yard 225 frontman Greg Simpson will return to Beck's Bar for another acoustic matinee concert on SUNDAY! Apologies for the short notice, this show was only announced via Beck's weekly schedule announcement on their Facebook page on Monday, and remember that Greg doesn't have a social media page dedicated to his "Ranting Rockstar" persona/solo act where he can announce shows in advance. SUNDAY'S concert is effectively a re-booking of a briefly advertised show that Greg was supposed to play at Beck's this past Sunday, only to be replaced by Whiskey Hippy for unannounced reasons. Did Beck's err on the date, or did Greg legitimately withdraw/have to reschedule? Regardless, you have another block of "uncorked" southern and hard rock covers in store at the former Vibe Lounge to go along with the weekly euchre tournament!

The Ranting Rockstar will be on stage SUNDAY at 3:00 PM, this is a 19+ concert, and there is no announced cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, we'll have more from Greg this weekend in a bit, and for a preview, here he is live earlier this month!

Next up, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Silent 9 will play their second show of the fall on Friday, September 18th, when they open for Toronto pop rock musician Fefe Dobson in a FREE concert at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion! We'll have Wolf Fest details when someone firmly posts the lineup outside of "Stories". This show takes place during the third annual Vivid Art Festival (successor to the Summer Moon Festival), a yearly celebration of the arts and culture, and while full details are forthcoming, this concert is the main attraction this year. I could have swore that Fefe Dobson had played here previously, but you may recognize her for hit singles like "Bye Bye Boyfriend", "Don't Go (Girls & Boys)", and "Stuttering", and her early material frequently crossed the pop punk line, with many Avril Lavigne comparisons, for better or worse. If you watched MuchMusic frequently in the mid-late 2000s, this will be a huge throwback!

Also playing this date are Toronto pop rock duo Goodnight Sunrise, who you may recognize from last year's Poutine Feast and 2022's Northern Vibe Festival, and it'll be good to see them back in our area! Presented by Kiss 100.5 (a better fit than 104.3 The Fox when you consider her newer material), this is an ALL AGES and FREE concert at 7:00 PM in three weeks, and it should be a fun mix of pop and rock with (hopefully) agreeable temperatures, so visit the above links for more on this concert!

Next up, let's finish up this weekend's concert previews with a show that had lots of advance notice, as the aforementioned Greg Simpson will be joined by Alex & Warren for an "uncorked" concert with their southern/hard rock band Bone Yard 225 TOMORROW NIGHT at The Water Tower Pub! While all of their shows at this Great Northern Road venue are acoustic in spite of electric bands playing there often, this will cap off their summer season schedule ("end of summer" bash in Echo Bay next month acknowledged), and comes three weeks after their Algoma Tree Services gig, and almost three months after their last Water Tower Pub booking. Hopefully things go well for the guys tomorrow before Greg disembarks and heads west for his Beck's matinee on SUNDAY! If you're curious, the band who replaced Soundcheck tonight (due to them jumping to the full Jay's weekend) was North Channel Sound.

Tomorrow's show at The Water Tower Pub is at 8:00 PM with a 19+ age limit and no cover charge, and if you prefer seeing the guys in local nightclubs, this is your last (scheduled) chance for over a month, so don't bypass this one! See above for more details, and for a preview, I found three new videos of your local 225 at The Water Tower Pub in May 2024! These were shared in the comments of this photo on Bone Yard's Facebook page from earlier that day, and they were filmed by attendee Wanda Wanda. Alas, all three are short and (sadly) vertical, but they include the guys covering Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Simple Man" (with Alex on vocals), Pink Floyd's "Young Lust", and as embedded below, their staple cover of Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show's "The Cover Of 'Rolling Stone'", as it is the only video to exceed 46 seconds in length. Orientation and duration aside, these videos all suffer from deep/hazy blue lighting, but this isn't an isolated problem re: videos shot there.

If you have to shoot vertically, this was at least optimal to get all three guys in frame, even if Warren is very much in the background. The audio quality isn't bad from what we hear, and these are well handled covers, but you should expect nothing less from Bone Yard after over 15 years. Give Wanda's videos a watch above and below, and apologies for missing them for this long! Videos explicitly posted in/shared to comments can be tricky!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for this month's YouTube Channel Profile next! Thanks everyone!

Prince Fest, Tarnished, And The Nameless Weekend Concert Previews!!

Let's mow through most of the rest of this weekend's hard rock concert previews today, by looking at Saturday-only Sault Ontario gigs as well as hard rock shows in Michigan's Eastern Upper Peninsula, which is where we're leading off, so here's what you should know on this Friday morning! Previews of tomorrow's Bone Yard show and frontman Greg Simpson's Sunday matinee gig will be in our next news post.

Local classic/hard rock cover band Tarnished will return to Bay Mills Resort & Casino in Brimley TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT at their new(?) Lakeside Lounge! The last scheduled concerts of any kind for their summer slate there (as per this calendar), Tarnished confirmed on their Facebook page that these will be acoustic concerts featuring just singer/guitarist Alex Traynor and guitarist Josh Fair. This goes in line with the Lakeside Lounge's live music schedule, which has only scheduled solo artists and duos. We'll let you know when they return to the stage fully plugged in with Chris and Ron in tow, let alone with Isaac in Crush! You can enjoy their hard rocking acoustic covers this weekend in Brimley at 8:00 PM both nights with 21+ age limits and no cover, but for unclear reasons, Saturday's show is a half length affair ending at 10:00 PM rather than midnight. See above for more details, and here's Alex & Josh live!

Next up, local hard rock quartet The Nameless are advertised to rock The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! Last seen locally at the finale of the Hell To Paradise motorcycle rally elsewhere at the Soo Kewadin last month (with a road trip to Republic in the interim), The Nameless are getting their maiden bookings at The Rapids Lounge just in time, as it is closing this fall in advance of heavy renovations and the construction of a new sports bar opening at the Sault Ste. Marie branch next year. Bands are scheduled through at least the end of September, but of course, we'll let you know if The Rapids Lounge survives past then or closes early (for what it's worth, the band has not posted on their Facebook page in over two weeks). Assuming everything is a go, the hard rock cover action is at 9:00 PM tonight and tomorrow with 21+ age limits and no cover. See above for more details, and here's The Nameless live!

Now north to Sault Ontario, but 20 minutes down Second Line West, as the first annual Prince Fest takes place TOMORROW! To be held at the corner of Second Line and Airport Road in the baseball field adjacent to co-promoters DeMarco's Boots & Saddles Roadhouse, this festival is being well hyped across multiple AI-generated posters on social media, with vendors, family activities, food & drinks, kids entertainment, and on-site baseball and basketball tournaments, so be sure to visit the DeMarco's Facebook page for full non-musical details! The musical portion will be headlined at 9:00 PM by Toronto-based Kiss tribute band Destroyer, who have played here multiple times since the SMS launched (including at the former Soo Blaster three years ago), so it will be good to see their faithful and entertaining take on Kiss' classic catalogue again tomorrow night! Local acoustic punk cover duo Dos Amigos will play the middle set at 7:00 PM.

Capping off their busy weekend of three shows in three days, hopefully Dustin & Mikey have a solid audience west of the Soo tomorrow evening! Frequently seen Boots & Saddles performer Mike Robitaille will kick off the music with an acoustic country set at 5:00 PM, and both local openers are blocked for two hours apiece. While Prince Fest is an all ages event beginning at 12:00 PM, organizers have clarified that only the first five hours have free admission. The three musical acts will have a separate ticketed admission of $35, which is up $15 from Destroyer's show here in 2023, but remember that that wasn't part of a festival. Weather-wise, 9&10 News is calling for 19-23° temperatures during the band portion of Prince Fest and mostly cloudy skies, plus a slight chance of rain early in Destroyer's set. Keep tabs with your preferred weather forecasts for potential updates. It will be mostly cloudy in the afternoon too with a high of 24°.

Should be a fun time if you're out east or are up for a drive (if not quite as nice for sky conditions as The Northern Vibe Festival will get 90 minutes east), and between Destroyer's well known take on Kiss' hit singles, Dos Amigos' unplugged punk covers, and Mike's own talents, music fans will have a little something to like regardless of genre preference! Visit the above links for much more on what to expect outside of the Boots & Saddles on Sunday, and here's Destroyer live!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for our Bone Yard/Greg Simpson previews and more next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Northern Vibe Festival XI!!)

The full daily lineup for the band-centric Forest Stage at the eleventh annual Northern Vibe Festival was finally announced on their Facebook page this past Friday, so here's two big LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS! Apologies for the short notice, Northern Vibe routinely announces the full schedules on short notice, though at least they do it now, unlike in the early 2020s (note that the EDM/DJ-centric Roost River Stage lineups had not been posted at press time). After five years curated by former Frightlight/Jack Spades frontman J.D. Pearce, the curator baton of the Ophir-based concert festival was passed to Golden Scoundrels/ex-Shit Liver frontman Josh Penno, and luckily, the weather gods appear to be welcoming him, as the forecast looks much better this weekend than it did last year, when a severe thunderstorm wrecked the Forest Stage overnight, rendering it unusable on the Saturday and forcing a number of band dropouts.

The Forest Stage has been rebuilt, and organizers, staff, and vendors are ready, with Josh cobbling together a whopping sixteen acts this weekend, which is the most ever for a Forest Stage lineup post-pandemic (and no one has dropped out!). With all of that said, who all is rocking Poplardale Road at the old Hempfest stomping grounds this weekend?

Starting with TOMORROW'S shorter band lineup, the 10:00 PM headlining slot (in a mild surprise) will go to local funk rock cover quartet The Rhythm Junction, with their set following the annual fire lighting ceremony at 9:45 PM. Newer blues rock cover quintet Sunday & The Broken Hearts will co-headline at 9:00 PM, while tomorrow's only returning act plays at 8:00 PM, namely local/Barrie alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith (presumably alongside The Big Finish Band). Mike and crew have played each of the last three Northern Vibes, but they were among the acts who salvaged a set on plywood after the Forest Stage's destruction last year, so it will be good to see Mike's hard rocking originals back on the stage proper! Local blues singer/guitarist (and mayoral candidate!) Josh "The Preacher" McNally will take the stage alongside his Jackleg Band at 7:00 PM, while alternative hard rock band Riverside Stasis will open the festival at 6:00 PM.

Featuring members of HeadFirst and The Barbarians from last year's Northern Vibe, they're used to kicking off a local summer concert festival this year, having also done so at WestFest, and while Raine & Anthony got their set in before the storm really wreaked havoc, Tea and Rob will like being back on The Forest Stage proper! We'll detail admission specifics at post's end, but 9&10 News is calling for 13-20° temperatures and clear skies throughout the band program TOMORROW, and if you're arriving at the festival grounds early, the nice conditions will be present all day. Visit the above links for more on the Friday bill, and here's Mike Haggith & the gang live at Northern Vibe two years ago! You can guess why they didn't film last year's set.

Now to the larger SATURDAY lineup, and after splitting some touring acts on both days last time, this year's four touring acts are all backloaded on this day's bill, so hopefully the forecast holds up! Headlining at 10:00 PM is Flint, Michigan ska punk band The Write-Ups (the first American band to play at Northern Vibe), with this being their second local gig in a four month span. Things clearly went well at The Speak Easy for them to get a callback so soon, so don't miss out if you love ska punk original action! Josh Penno's own folk/country quartet The Golden Scoundrels will co-headline at 9:00 PM in their third straight year at Northern Vibe, with country singer/guitarist and former Way Backs frontman Jeffrey Wright kicking off the country nighttime block at 8:00 PM. All-female Timmins pop punk quartet Saving Bambi will make their local concert debut in Ophir on SATURDAY at 7:00 PM.

Newer Sudbury hard rock quartet Pressure Event will play our neck of the woods for the first time at 6:00 PM, preceded by local ska punk quartet ASDP (whose debut album will be reviewed on the SMS by Monday!) at 5:00 PM. Rappers take the Forest Stage for the two sets prior, including Sudbury MC Ronin705 (a late replacement artist at Northern Vibe in 2021) at 4:00 PM and local rap collective Soundsxvad at 3:00 PM, with the merger of Sound Syndrome and Fvcksxvad returning after playing the Friday bill last year. Like last year, there is a "bingo break" slotted in the SATURDAY afternoon (I don't know if last year's happened in spite of the Forest Stage damage or not), but this is dependent on volunteer availability. Have your dabbers ready just in case for 2:00 PM? Solo artists will kick off the music on day #2, including local/Peterborough folk singer/guitarist Michelle Moran at 1:00 PM.

The opening two acts will get half-length sets, including late addition & Steel Rock alum Darius McRae at 12:30 PM and a solo set by Josh credited as "Pen Pen Happy Fun Time" at 12:00 PM. Still don't quite get that name (I'd go with Quarter Scoundies myself). Following an expectedly calm forecast overnight, 9&10 News is calling for partly-to-mostly cloudy skies on SATURDAY with a high of 25° and a low of 16°, but this is going up too soon for an hourly forecast for the evening and beyond. Of note for campers, rain is expected on Sunday, but that is always the wake up/tear down day and has no scheduled bands. See above for more on the SATURDAY Forest Stage program, and for a preview, here's The Write-Ups live!

Outside of the bands, visit the festival's Facebook page or website for the full list of DJs playing on the Roost River Stage, even if the schedule isn't out (yet?) Notably, among the arts and culture vendors in Ophir this weekend will be magician Ryan McFarling, who was a scheduled Forest Stage performer in 2023 but was just present on the festival grounds for other years. Northern Vibe XI will have camping encouraged as usual, so click here for the ground rules re: what to expect if you're spending a night or two, and how to respect the space and prepare for being off the grid. Online ticket sales ended on Wednesday, and organizers can't guarantee availability of passes at gate, but this is a 19+ event, and early bird full-weekend passes had been on sale for $125, so keep that in mind re: what chancing admission on-site would cost. If you're up for a weekend rocking out in the bush, this will be a hell of a way to end the summer, so hopefully you have your tickets!

With weather forecasts on Katrina's, staff's, performers', and vendors' side, hopefully everything goes off without a hitch after last year's rather hitch-laden band schedules (too bad Avessel haven't came back for a drier second go-around yet), so visit the above links for full details on this year's Northern Vibe Festival and its band schedules TOMORROW & SATURDAY, and weekend concert previews for the Soo and EUP resume next! Thanks everyone!