LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Mike Haggith & The Big Finish Band And Separate Wayz) & More Weekend Concert Previews!!

For today's second post, we're keeping our weekend concert preview train rolling with more hard rock-featured concerts in the Twin Saults and area over the next two days, including SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS! Due to the amount of shows, our preview of Tym Morrison's Sunday matinee gig will be in our next news post. Now, let's pick things up for preview post #2 with those newly announced shows in Sault Ontario this weekend!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Separate Wayz will return to The Esquire Club for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, these shows were first announced late last week via the venue's 2026 concert calendar on their Facebook page, in their return to hosting bands after their annual summer break, though I couldn't immediately fit these two into a post. Note that the poster actually credits TOMORROW & SATURDAY'S shows to their sister band Soundcheck (who are playing there in November and December), but Separate Wayz frontwoman Nicole Thibodeau confirmed in a comment reply that this weekend's shows are actually for that band, and the marquee board there also says "Separate Waze" now. Presumably, this will mark the Esquire Club debut of Dan Beaupre on bass, though of the two bands, only Soundcheck have directly confirmed him by name in their own marketing.

No idea if Soundcheck singer/guitarist Travis Sharpe will be present as a guest, but the concerts are specifically being advertised for Separate Wayz. TOMORROW & SATURDAY'S shows are 19+ and at 9:30 PM with no cover charge. See above for more details, and for a preview, here's a new video of them live! This appears to be from the two bands' "epic crossover" weekend at The Esquire Club in April, and features Soundcheck and Nicole (or Separate Wayz and Travis) covering Alannah Myles' "Black Velvet". I wish this was longer than 66 seconds, as it's a strong performance with a good angle and high video quality, so give it a watch below, and don't miss Separate Wayz back there TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT!

Next up, fresh off of tonight's Downtown Street Party, local/Barrie alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith (with The Big Finish Band in tow) will make a rare jaunt to St. Joseph Island on SATURDAY NIGHT when they open for Tottenham pop rock trio Dorene at The Hilton Beach Community Hall! Again, apologies for the short notice, Mike only confirmed his involvement in this show on his Facebook page this past Friday. As Northern Vibe Festival fans know, this would be an hour's drive southeast of the Soo (give or take ongoing Highway 17 construction), but instead of hanging a right to Richards Landing at the turnoff, everyone is going left to Hilton Beach, where this concert takes place on SATURDAY at 3050 Hilton Road. The reason for the rural scheduling is that Dorene are currently on their Village Tour, which sees them exclusively playing shows in small towns and communities.

Dorene aren't a hard rock act, but they have a lively original sound with power pop influences, and it would be interesting to hear how they go over in a more intimate, rural locale, let alone with Mike & crew in tow (Mike sounded very optimistic about returning to St. Joseph Island, but if he has ever played a concert there prior, it's news to me). SATURDAY'S concert is at 7:00 PM, it is all ages, and there is a $10 cover. If you'll already be on St. Joe or are up for the drive east, keep this unique concert in mind on SATURDAY, so see above for more details, and here's Mike & The Big Finish Band live!

Moving to shows that did have advance notice, Iron Mountain, Michigan classic/hard rock cover quintet Oz will return to The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Eight long months after Oz last made the trek east for shows at the Soo Kewadin, this weekend's shows will likely be the last for Ryan, Kevin, Joe, Todd, and Dave at The Rapids Lounge before the long-teased renovations and re-opening next year (bands are scheduled to play there through at least Halloween). Hopefully Oz deliver a solid pair of hard rocking concerts for classic rock fans in the EUP this weekend, so keep these shows in mind if these are up your alley! These are 9:00 PM start times with 21+ age limits and no cover charges. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and for a preview, here's Oz live!

Finally, let's head back to Sault Ontario for this weekend's arguable main event, as Toronto pop rock/pop punk musician Fefe Dobson will make her local debut on SATURDAY NIGHT at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion! This concert is the main event of the second annual Vivid Art Festival taking place at various downtown locales from today through Sunday, and there's a lot of musical, film, visual, and performance art events going down (including a My Son The Hurricane show tomorrow night), so click here for full details on the Vivid events itinerary! 2000s MuchMusic fans will be curious to see Fefe Dobson on stage here with hit singles like "Bye Bye Boyfriend", "Ghost", and "Can't Breathe" in her back pocket, and especially her early catalogue crosses the pop punk line, so this should be a fun show for many! Joining her is Toronto pop rock duo Goodnight Sunrise (in their third local appearance).

In one of their first fall bookings for 2026, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Silent 9 will open on Saturday, and they're no stranger to big stages, so don't miss their set either! Saturday's concert is FREE (My Son The Hurricane tomorrow is too), this is absolutely all ages, and a 7:00 PM start time is advertised. As the Roberta Bondar Pavilion isn't a fully indoor venue, 9&10 News projects temperatures peaking at 16° and dropping as low as 10° by night's end, and while the tent is acknowledged, skies will be partly cloudy. Sounds like an agreeable night for live music, so visit the above links for more on this free Vivid Festival concert on Saturday, and here's Fefe live!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for our Tym Morrison preview and more on the SMS next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Tarnished & Downtown Street Party #3!!)

A surprisingly busy weekend (perhaps the last really busy one for hard rock concerts before Halloween) is upon us, so we'll have to break up this weekend's previews into three posts! This one looks at SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS and/or concerts taking place later today, while our previews of this weekend's Fefe Dobson, Oz, Dorene/Mike Haggith, and Separate Wayz concerts will be in our next post, and Tym Morrison's Sunday matinee show will be in a news post following. Here's what you should know as we enter the weekend concert preview fray once again! 

While we still don't know have the complete schedules and locations, we basically have to call it, as the third and final Downtown Street Party on Queen Street East (featuring Mike Haggith & The Big Finish Band) goes down TONIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, I was waiting to hear a firm public announcement from Mike or You Belong SSM as to whether they'd be performing on the Dennis Street Stage or the Gore Street Stage, but such an announcement was not made before yesterday. In any event, this will be the last Downtown Street Party from the City of Sault Ste. Marie for 2026, and will feature loads of family entertainment at the western end of Queen Street East (bus terminal to Ernie's), including food and drink vendors, games, Queen Street businesses open en route, an outdoor vendor market at Queen & Tancred, and much more, so click here for full non-musical details!

The "stages" at the this year's Downtown Street Parties have tended to have three acts apiece, but only five were announced last month, and without specifying the exact locations. Mike confirmed in a personal Facebook reply that he and The Big Finish Band will be headlining the Gore Street Stage at 9:00 PM, while Hustle Brothers frontman Jay Case did the same to confirm that the jazz cover quartet will be opening for Mike & crew at 8:00 PM. At press time, we do not know if all of the other three advertised acts (country solo musicians Brian Tremblay & Jeffrey Wright and Dustcovers frontman "Just" Tom Peer) will all be on the presumed Dennis Street Stage or not, but one would assume that one of them (or "and more!") will be the 7:00 PM opener at Queen & Gore, For what it's worth, Tom opened for Mike at last month's street party on The Canopy at Village Media, and Brian is signed to Mike's MorningStar Records, in case those are indicators.

Downtown Street Party #3 goes down from 6:30-11:00 PM TOMORROW, it is absolutely FREE & ALL AGES, and 9&10 News is calling for clear skies with temperatures ranging from 13-19°. This Downtown Street Party somewhat feels like an afterthought with the Vivid Art Fest, the Soo Greyhounds season opener block party, and more taking up similar outdoor events attention in the same timeframe, but these street parties are fun for families and music fans alike, and Mike and crew will have a solid way to prime the pump for their hour's road trip this weekend (more on that in our next preview post). Visit the above links for more on TOMORROW'S street party, and for a preview, here's Mike & The Big Finish Band live!

Next up, we'll head to Michigan, where local classic/hard rock cover quartet Tarnished have a busy weekend in St. Ignace during this weekend's Richard Crane Memorial Truck Show, which will see them play three shows in two days. We knew about two of the gigs already, but the first of them is a brand new confirmation, as the guys will rock The Little Bear East Arena & Community Center at 275 Marquette Street TOMORROW! Again, apologies for the short notice, Tarnished only confirmed this added gig on their Facebook page on Tuesday. Based on the St. Ignace city website, Tarnished will be among the "live music at (a) variety of downtown locations", and the schedule implies that musicians will be playing outdoors to go along with the truck show at multiple spots downtown. Hopefully things go well for the kinda-matinee TOMORROW before Alex, Josh, Chris, and Ron back their gear and take the two minute drive to The Driftwood Sports Bar at 590 North State Street TOMORROW NIGHT for their second concert of the evening!

Tarnished have played at The Driftwood before on similar weekends, so hopefully tomorrow night's previously announced gig is a hit! As for SATURDAY, the band already confirmed that they would return to Kingston Kitchen at 250 South State Street, so if the timing or Jamaican restaurant setting suit you better, keep the finale of their St. Ignace weekend in mind! TOMORROW'S Little Bear Arena show is at 5:00 PM and all ages, the Driftwood show afterwards is at 9:00 PM, Saturday's Kingston Kitchen show is at 8:00 PM, the latter two are 21+, and if outdoors TOMORROW from 5-8, 9&10 News is calling for mostly cloudy skies in the 60° (15° Celsius) range. See above for more details, and here's Tarnished live!

Finally for weekend concert preview post #1, this isn't all for Richard Crane Memorial Truck Show concert action this weekend at The Driftwood Sports Bar, as they'll play host to Manistique hard rock cover duo Fyrbird TONIGHT! Yes, tonight, it's at the end of the post because there's no short notice local gigs from them alongside it. While Fyrbird have dialed back on shows in our coverage range this year (shows in Gould City acknowledged), tonight's Driftwood gig will be Fyrbird's third this year, following shows this summer coinciding with the St. Ignace Car Show and Bronco The Mac. Hopefully this proves to be another entertaining night of live hard rock from Jamie and Rikk, with a packed house to boot! The Driftwood will host live DJs tomorrow, which has been common Friday procedure for their vehicle show weekends this year. Like with Tarnished on Saturday, tonight's Fyrbird show is at 9:00 PM, 21+, and has no cover.

It feels like 2026 has been ramped up in terms of concerts (genre irregardless) in St. Ignace to fully capitalize on car shows, but when your town gets a huge influx of tourists to both show off and see the vehicles, why not make the most of it? Tarnished and Fyrbird both deliver the hard rock goods in different ways, so consider seeing both TOMORROW and tonight as the truck show goes down! Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Fyrbird live at The Driftwood this summer!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for our Fefe Dobson, Oz, Dorene/Mike Haggith, and Separate Wayz previews next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Soundcheck, Headrush, And Silent 9), And A New Bone Yard 225 Video!!

Before we begin this post, just a heads up that Silent 9 (who are leading things off today as it is) do not appear to be playing at The Tap Room at Northern Superior Brewing Co. on Saturday anymore, as per the show's deletion from their website's concert calendar. It's possible that the date was a remnant of their Wolf Fest II booking last week, as that event was later in the year last year, but regardless, they're not playing there on Saturday. However, today's post has LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for later this year and a new video to check out, so here's what you should know!

The Esquire Club at 103 Second Line West has resumed hosting concerts on weekends after their annual summer break! After experimenting with week-by-week show announcements in the spring, they have posted a schedule through Christmas onto their Facebook page, albeit an AI generated one (note that none of the bands use the assigned logos). The fall band schedule started last week with Mid Life Crysis, and we'll address this weekend's band (it's not technically Soundcheck) in this weekend's concert previews, but the first of the non-short notice hard rock bookings is courtesy of classic/hard rock cover quartet Silent 9! In their only Esquire Club gigs for the rest of the year, they have secured the Thanksgiving long weekend, so you can see them there on Friday, October 9th and Saturday, October 10th. Still riding high on the success of Wolf Fest II (a shareable, non-"Story" video is coming soon), don't miss out on their west end gigs next month!

In one more new Silent 9 show announcement, their website's concert calendar confirms that Silent 9 will return to Beck's Bar on Friday, October 30th! This has yet to be corroborated by the venue (it may not be until the week of), but the timing hints that this could be a Halloween-themed event. Of course, October 31st is a Saturday this year, but we'll let you know when/if confirmation is made about spooky goings regardless of day! Next month's Esquire Club shows are at 9:30 PM, Devil's Night at Beck's will be at 9:00 PM, all are 19+, and none of the three have age limits. See above for more on this fan-favourite cover hard rock band's October gigs!

Next up, we'll jump ahead one week at The Esquire Club, as local classic/hard rock cover quintet Headrush will return there for a weekend in all three months ahead! They'll rock the west end nightclub on October 16th & 17th, November 13th & 14th, and December 11th & 12th, giving fans of the Johns, Wes, Gino, and Frank lots of opportunities to see their 1980s-leaning cover attack in the last quarter of 2026. Given the venue's summer break, Headrush haven't played here since April, so consider welcoming them back in mid-October after six months away, but you have no shortages ahead! As with Silent 9's shows there next month, expect all six upcoming dates to have 19+ age limits, no cover charges, and 9:30 PM start times. See above for more details, and stay tuned for more Headrush updates when they roll in!

After October finishes out with bands that largely don't cross the hard rock line (the aforementioned Mid Life Crysis drew the Halloween weekend this year), local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck (no space) will pick things back up at The Esquire Club with scheduled weekends on November 6th-7th and December 18th-19th! Note that this weekend's shows are technically not Soundcheck, but a "separate" band will be playing then (details forthcoming). The November weekend will be Soundcheck's first at The Esquire with new bassist Dan Beaupre, while December's will be the venue's last concerts for 2026, as Christmas and Boxing Day are on a Friday & Saturday this year (as such, that may be a very quiet weekend locally but time will tell for other venues). Good to see Soundcheck (7.3?) getting some more publically advertised bookings this year!

At press time, neither Esquire Club weekend is branded as an "epic crossover" with their sister band Separate Wayz, but that doesn't mean that we won't see Nicole pop in as a guest singer either. Regardless, all four of Soundcheck's upcoming shows there are 19+ with 9:30 PM start times and no cover charges. See above for much more on all of the hard rock-leaning shows hitting The Esquire Club to end the year, and look for more from Terry, Travis, Dan, and Johnny (and Nicole) in both bands soon! 

Finally for today, here's a new video of local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 live at the Bruce Mines Fall Fair this past Friday! Live-streamed to their Facebook page (alas, so you have until around October 11th to see it before it is deleted), the video sees Greg, Alex, and Warren covering Van Halen's version of John Brim's "Ice Cream Man". Shot vertically (though at least zoomed out enough to show the full band on stage simultaneously), this is a fun cover for what we see, and the stage for this post-demolition derby concert looks huge, so give it a watch below while you can, and we'll have more from last week's Beck's show in an upcoming post!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews on the SMS next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Quite Frankly), New Videos, And Much More!!

Today's post got delayed due to some computer maintenance, but within, we have new videos, assorted shorter updates, and leading off, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next month!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Quite Frankly will return to DeMarco's Boots & Saddles Roadhouse in Prince Township on Saturday, October 3rd! Fans last saw this talented foursome at this deep-in-the-west end nightclub back in March, but they were active with multiple gigs in city limits through the summer, most recently at Gateway Casino in mid-August. The band did acknowledge that they are "taking a little break this September", so if you're up for the 20 minute drive west or will already be out that direction, keep their Boots & Saddles show in mind for early next month! Linsaey, Frank, Harley, and Joe will take the stage there on October 3rd at 8:00 PM, this is a 19+ concert, and there is no announced cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, and stay tuned for details on Quite Frankly's return to the Soo! 

Next up, here's some new videos, and we'll start with a rare live clip of local ska/crust punk quartet ASDP, courtesy of their Instagram page! As best as I can tell, this comes from their set opening for Danger Box in early July at the private house party venue Unnecessary Noise, and it features Mikhal, Tucker, William, and Ralph covering No Cash's "Kill Yer Parents" (as seen on the paid copies of their debut album "Atom Bombs & Lemonade"). Filmed by "Brad Sux", the video is thankfully both horizontal and of the full song, while also giving us a good look at Unnecessary Noise and a clearly happy & engaged crowd. Honestly, to me, this song sounds better and more impactful live than with the lo-fi studio production. I know Mikhal likes that aesthetic, but if you want to hear Adam Smith Death Parade at full power with no fidelity limitations, live may be the way to do it. Unfortunately, I think ASDP turned off external embedding of their videos, so give it a look above!

Also today, here's a new video from Sault Michigan hard rock trio Crush's Facebook page! Before sharing photos from their downstate gig at Bemo's Bar in Bay City (which looked like it went over well), the guys posted a parody sitcom opening credits video themed after Friends, complete with the theme song. I won't spoil what happens, but it's a loose (if fountain-less) parody of the original intro, with the guys hamming it up in amusingly happy ways. One assumes that the teaser that they're actually working on a sitcom is in jest, but you never quite know with Crush, so give this a watch below!

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

 

• This is more punk-adjacent, but I thought I'd mention that The Speak Easy at Algoma University will be hosting "Panic! At The Drag Show" on Saturday night. While not a proper concert, it will feature local drag performers and an overall emo/scene theme, including a contest for the best dressed attendee and flash tattoos. If only we could get a reunion of The Crossed, Deter, or A Fall From Innocence to really top this off! See above for more on what should be an interesting theme night for drag fans and 2000s emo fans!
• Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Silent 9 have shared two different "Stories" on Facebook this week featuring videos of them at both Wolf Fests. The instantly vanishing videos included one of frontwoman Jess Amadio letting the fans sing the chorus of a song at last year's event, while the other saw them covering Walk The Moon's "Shut Up & Dance" at this past Saturday's Wolf Fest II. I really wish that these were permanent videos that I could link to and share here (let alone longer and not vertical at that), but keep an eye out if you see them pop up on your Facebook news feed! 
• Speaking of Wolf Fest, SooToday's James Hopkin was in attendance for Northern Superior Brewing Co,'s second-year fall festival at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion, posting this article about it on Sunday! While not a review of the bands, James noted the "party-like atmosphere", and included photos of the 49th Field Regiment band & The Hustle Brothers' sets among his event photos. The article also has interview remarks with Northern Superior co-owner Jeff DiCorpo, who was optimistic about that day's weather, noted that 3,800(!) people stopped by last year, and that he hopes to expand Wolf Fest to two days. Good article, so give it a read above!

 

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes in the coming days! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Dos Amigos), Plus New Mike Haggith & Reeves Videos!!

Before we begin this news post, just a heads up that yesterday's Led By Zeppelin concert at The Sault Community Theatre Centre was cancelled due to "a medical emergency" from one of the band members, as per guitarist Rob Micoli on their Facebook group. The band hopes to reschedule and come back here soon, and I assume you'd contact the SCTC for refunds at point of purchase (no idea if they will honour tickets bought for yesterday's show at the makeup date). Very disappointing news, but hopefully the band member gets well soon! Now, here's some new videos and related news and notes, starting with a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!

Local acoustic punk duo Dos Amigos will make their debut at Paint & Decor Studios at 826 Queen Street East on TUESDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, this show was first announced on the studio's Facebook page on September 1st, but a combination of this not being a typical local concert venue and Dos Amigos' own patchy-at-best social media promotion led me to only hear about it late last week. Band members did acknowledge it in Facebook "Stories", but it's not even on their Instagram page. Paint & Decor Studios (located at the former Mr. Sudz/Autoways building behind the Old Stone House) is a store first, but they have been ramping up their offerings since Benjamin Moore moved to the west end earlier this year, with craft nights & workshops, a cafe/bar, and other special events, one being a Taco Tuesday theme night. $18.98 reservations are required, but this includes tacos with custom toppings, and you can drink and paint too if so inclined.

The idea of including tunes with the tacos & good vibes feels very new, and a punk act isn't who my mind would do to first given the setting, but hopefully Mikey & Dustin continue their Wolf Fest (with BookcluB) momentum well on TUESDAY! This special event takes place at 5:30 PM at Paint & Decor Studios, and there is no stated age limit. It'll be interesting to see how this dip into the concert pool goes, but Dos Amigos' punk covers should be a good pair for a Taco TUESDAY! See above for more details, and here's the Amigos live!

Next up, local/Barrie alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith has posted a full multi-camera concert video from his and The Big Finish Band's Northern Vibe Festival set a couple weeks ago onto his YouTube channel! As he did in 2023 & 2024 (obviously not last year following the severe thunderstorm damage), Mike had multiple cameras set up to film the set from lots of angles, and then edited them together in post-production, but this time, he prefaced the 45 minutes-long set with an explanation of the technical difficulties that they ran into on Poplardale Road in Ophir on this Friday night. The set itself was already delayed a couple of hours due to power issues at the rebuilt Forest Stage, implying that they didn't begin their set until 10:00 PM (I don't know how else the sets were juggled otherwise, but they were initially the middle band before The Rhythm Junction and Sunday & The Broken Hearts at 10:00 & 9:00 PM). 

Mike acknowledged three big technical glitches during the off-the-grid festival, with the first one occurring following their first song, "The Best You Never Had", when their tuning pedals stopped working, leading to a four minute break between songs to get them working again. The gang resumed the set with covers of The Din's "Give Me A Reason" & "Missing", but at the end of Mike's own "Carousel", guitarist Chris Nielsen broke strings on his guitar, leading to technical issue #2. Mike's yet-to-be-recorded originals "I Really Hope This Gets To You" and "No Love" are next, but on the latter song, they lost power to the amplifiers for just over a minute (you can catch this at the 29:53 mark). Mike is not one to stop a song once it has begun, as anyone who saw him dislocate his knee at Rotaryfest in 2023 will be aware, so they kept going with an acapella vocal and drum performance, plus some amusing vocal harmonizing to replace the guitar between verses.

A fun way to keep thing going in spite of one more glitch, and props to Mike and crew for keeping things rolling in spite of everything in the bush last month! The set concluded with "Hot & Cold", "An Act Of Strength", and "MorningStar". The footage used includes full-set video of the whole stage (zoomed in late), a drumcam video of Brandan Glew, and some mobile footage of songs from midway through the set courtesy of Riverside Stasis/ex-Jack Spades bassist Rob Speers. Oddly, the colours are very washed out for the main video but often too deep for the drumcam, but the audio quality and editing are excellent, and it's great to see Mike & crew in good spirits on the big stage again, so watch the whole Northern Vibe set below!

Finally for today, here's the latest from newer local hard rock quartet The Reeves' Facebook page! The guys are fresh off of "our 2nd show" (again ignoring Toystock last year) at The Art Hub At Spring last week, and they posted a bunch of photos from the event to Facebook, as well as a video that was quickly deleted for unannounced reasons. No word on if it will resurface, but we do still have a video to share. Before their actual second concert (at Rotaryfest), the program had teased that their Stage 2 set would have songs from their planned 8-song debut album, and while they haven't firmly confirmed those plans on social media, they "started cooking up our first batch of songs" on Tuesday at The Loft at The Algoma Conservatory of Music. Interestingly, they were recording the new music with aforementioned Dos Amigos singer/guitarist Dustin Jones alongside Frank Deresti.

I say "interestingly" because they weren't at Dustin's own Mission Control Studios. A case of using the most professional location with the best producers, or will this only be for the vocal recording? In any event, a 25 seconds-long vertical video was uploaded featuring (I believe) guitarist Steve Edwards tracking vocals with Dustin at the controls. It's way too soon to be commenting on the song in progress, but it's good to see The Reeves quickly working in studio, so give this new video a watch below!

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

Defunct Local Band Profile Series: Mike Cliffe

After a weekend concert preview-induced delay, here is this month's Defunct Local Band Profile! This monhtly feature post looks at a defunct or inactive local metal, hard rock, or punk act (randomly selected from our band links), and this month gives us a prolific and familiar face who has a lot of music to his name and promoted by his podcasting and radio platforms, so with that said, here's what you should know!

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Mike Cliffe

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Genre: Classic/Funk/Hard Rock/Jazz

Lineup:

Mike Cliffe, all instruments

Audio/Video: A prolific original musician with online material dating back to at least the late 2000s, Mike has hundreds of original songs and collaborations on his Reverbnation page, and while that platform maddeningly doesn't display upload dates for songs, none are visibly recent. His YouTube channel also features "assorted Audiofumes and Randomoniumz" from his active period on social media, the vast majority featuring him performing in some capacity. Note that Mike does not perform in live concert settings (at least not formally) and has not released his solo music on major streaming platforms or physical media. Here's Mike playing his 2013 original composition "Dream Of Insomnia"!

Info/Analysis: A staple of our local band links since the SMS moved to Blogger in 2009, Mike Cliffe has been an active musically in various forms since then, though he always focused on studio collaborations and jamming over live performance, with only sporadic covers. Much of his work with other musicians has been via international and far-flung artists, often met via networking for Mike's podcast-turned-internet radio station Audiofumes, which remains active with a very eclectic playlist of genre-free music. Local collaborations have happened, including with prolific local rock drummer Glen Thomas in the early 2010s, while Mike is the father-in-law of Jupiter Marvelous frontman Anthony Marcello. Mike seems to be focusing on running Audiofumes more than his own music nowadays, but his guitar talents cross genre lines with a lot of technical flair and a good ear for melodies, and you do still hear his own music on the Audiofumes podcast!

It would be interesting to hear Mike compile even a compilation of his best solo material as a paid album release, but there's plenty of good songs of his to check out between Reverbnation and YouTube, like "Bad Regime", "In Equity", and "Dog's Breakfast" among many others. Give him a listen above, and check out Audiofumes for a wide array of underground music!

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I hope that you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profile! Next month in this series, our randomly selected inactive band is actually from another prolific local rock guitarist name Mike, specifically the inactive early-mid 2020s punk supergroup Mikey & His Uke! Look for that on or around October 10th, and for more news and notes on the SMS soon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Riverside Stasis & Tym Morrison), The Nate's Chow Concert Preview, And New Videos!!

Let's conclude this surprisingly busy weekend concert preview slate in tonight's post, including LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (one on SHORT NOTICE), but also here are videos from two recent concerts, so with all of that outlined, here's what you should know on this Friday night!

Fresh off of the end of his seasonal Mike Case Memorial Stage run for 2026, local classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison isn't resting on his laurels, as he will kick off a new series of Sunday matinee concerts at Reggie's Place THIS SUNDAY! Apologies for the short notice, Tym only announced this show in this batch Facebook event page on Monday, and Reggie's haven't been actively promoting musicians playing there recently on social media. This isn't a regular weekly or bi-weekly run, but Tym will kick things off with consecutive shows THIS SUNDAY and next Sunday the 20th, before playing there on October 11th (on the Thanksgiving long weekend) and October 25th (no word yet on if that show will have any Halloween themes). Tym is only blocked once each in the last two months of the year, namely on November 15th and December 13th, so keep all of these shows in mind if you're a fan!

Tym's unplugged hard rock cover action will take place THIS SUNDAY and the five Sundays to come in Reggie's 2:00-6:00 PM matinee block. All dates are 19+ with no announced cover charge. Matinees or not, Tym doesn't commonly play at band-frequented nightclubs as a solo act, so note the downtown action ahead in the last third of 2026, see above for more details, and for a preview of SUNDAY's show, here he is live!

Next up, here's a new show for next month from promoters Underground Events SSM, and if you want some newer original music to kick off the Thanksgiving long weekend, then you may want to come to Beck's Bar on Friday, October 9th. On this night four weeks from today, three bands will join forces, including alt-hard rock quartet Riverside Stasis, ska punk quartet ASDP (fronted by promoter Mikhal Muto), and newer local "diamond rock" band (and Doo & The Boyos side project) Stones At The Alter! The former two bands have been reasonably visible recently, ASDP's continued lack of social media beyond Instagram and Bandcamp acknowledged, but Stones At The Alter's presence is encouraging given how quiet they have been over the past four months, so hopefully things are going well behind the scenes for them! Remember, S@TA guitarist William Wardlaw is ASDP's bassist, so assuming nothing changed this summer, he'll have a busy night next month. 

This 19+ concert will have FREE admission (not even a "pay what you can" option) and a 9:00 PM start time. Sounds like an intriguing array of live music with originals and covers expected all night, and you can't beat that admission price, so keep the Thanksgiving weekend action at Beck's in mind, and visit the official Facebook event page for more details! 

We'll next head to the EUP to wrap up this weekend's hard rock concert previews, specifically local cover hard rock trio Nate's Chow at the annual Stalwart Agricultural Fair in Goetzville TOMORROW NIGHT! Two years removed from headlining "the biggest little fair in Michigan" under their old name Unfortunate Sun, the now Skip-less group will head back to Goetzville to cap off a weekend full of family entertainment and farm games/activities (Sault Ontario readers will see many parallels with last month's Laird Fair). Tomorrow is the closing day of the Stalwart Fair, so be sure to visit the official Facebook page for the full itinerary of what's going down in Goetzville prior to the show. Nate's Chow are hitting the outdoor stage at 8:00 PM (after the last draft horse pull) at the fairgrounds at 8081 East M-48. Admission to the fair is a flat $5 for the whole weekend, and this is definitely all ages.

9&10 News is calling for clear skies for most of the evening tomorrow in Goetzville with temperatures ranging from 58-65° (14-18° Celsius). Fall is definitely here! Visit the above links for more details, and here's a brand new live video from their Facebook page from their "end of summer bash" at The Islander Bar in Hessel this past Saturday! The clip sees the guys covering Limp Bizkit's "Break Stuff" with drummer Jason VanLuven on lead vocals. Interesting pick, and Jason's vocals may be gruffer than the song really needs, but it's an energetic and up tempo cover that I do wish was filmed for longer than 41 seconds. Give it a watch for yourselves below!

Finally, let's look at videos from Wednesday's Bone Yard 225 concert at the aforementioned Beck's Bar in Sault Ontario with Stones & Crows frontman Spencer Pine on guest guitar! After frontman Greg Simpson posted vertical videos on their Facebook page to promote that they're now booking 2027 concert dates and have some new band merchandise and t-shirts to sell, they headed to Beck's for the concert, where three official videos were shot, though sadly, two are A. vertical, and B. live-streams, so they will vanish from Facebook around October 9th given their current guidelines. As such, I won't embed either here, but give them a watch while you can! One is the last three minutes of a fast blues rock song with guitarist Alex D'Ettore on lead vocals that I cannot immediately identify (Alex's singing through this cell phone camera isn't super clear), while the other is a full take of "the dirty three" + Spencer covering Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers' "Running Down A Dream". Embedded below is the only proper video of the three.

The horizontal(!) video was uploaded on Thursday, and captures an 8+ minute extended jam version of The Jimi Hendrix Experience's "Little Wing" with Spencer on lead vocals. Good to see the guys letting Spencer sing a bit here, and the collaboration between him and Alex on guitar was a good idea, and they are clearly having fun shredding together! Spencer does seem overdressed compared to Bone Yard, but Becky's idea to bring him together with your local 225 worked out, and I just hope that there was a decent turnout given that this was literally "midweek mayhem". Give these videos a watch above and below, and there's more coming!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile next! Thanks everyone!