Rotaryfest Second Stage Previews!!

It's now time to begin previewing this weekend's metal and hard rock concerts, and part of that is thanks to this year's Rotaryfest, as a few hard rock-leaning bands will grace both the main & second stages this year! However, to spread things out a bit, we'll break the previews up, so the main stage previews for tomorrow & Saturday will come tomorrow afternoon in all likelihood. Today's post focuses on the Second Stage lineup, but first, just a reminder that TONIGHT'S Rotaryfest main stage entertainment included blues quartet Five Below Zero, jazz nine-piece band James Case & The Aces, classic rockers Midlife Crisis, jazz quintet The Bob Jenkins Band, and classic rock cover band Route 69. No metal to speak of there (Midlife Crisis were likely the closest), but I bet things went awesomely for the first night! The rest of our main stage previews are coming tomorrow (plus Tym Morrison's weekend concerts), but first, let's touch on tomorrow's Second Stage lineup in this preview post!

As expected, the Tenaris Second Stage returns to Queen Street East outside of The Grand Theater TOMORROW & SATURDAY for two days full of original local and out of town indie bands, and after a year's absence of heavier music, we are getting a couple of heavier bands this year, starting with the return of local hard rock quartet Sailor's Tongue! After a three year breakup, the band led by veteran local musician Kyle McKey (Stillbroke, Full Circle, etc.) will be the co-headliners for tomorrow's Second Stage entertainment at 8:30 PM with a set full of their old school sounding hard rock originals, and knowing how prominent they got locally in the early-mid 2000s, they'll be sure to impress! Their lineup tomorrow will include Kyle on vocals & guitar alongside his brother Dean on drums and former Turner Up bassist Jeff Brown (all returning from their classic lineup), while the second guitar position will be filled by Liam Seymour in place of Blake Jackson, who currently lives in Toronto. Liam may be familiar from his performances with Adam Gualtieri at Superior Heights, and you can see his work at this location for a preview of his talents, which are definitely there! My source for the band's current lineup is Kyle's personal Facebook page.

Sailor's Tongue will play at 8:30 PM tomorrow night, directly before Juno nominated Ottawa indie rock quartet Hollerado plays their headlining set at the outdoor Queen Street stage. The remaining bands include local rockers (and 2010 Second Stage veterans) The Craig West Band at 7:30 PM, the recently returned indie rock quintet The Tenagens at 6:30 PM, and local solo artist Joseph Kargiannakis opening the stage at 5:30 PM (remember, the Friday schedule is usually shorter than the Saturday schedule for the second stage.) For full details on the Second Stage lineup, click here and the above links! There's definitely a lot of talent present tomorrow, including some well played indie rock from Hollerado, another sure to be proficient set from The Tenagens (good to see them back), and much more, so keep these bands in mind for tomorrow's FREE & ALL AGES schedule! And for Sailor's Tongue, they'll definitely be good to see back on the local stage, and though I can't say if their return will last beyond Rotaryfest, hopefully their hard rocking originals go over really well tomorrow night! No videos exist publically of Sailor's Tongue that I can find, but click here to check out some of their studio original songs!

The Saturday lineup at the Rotaryfest Second Stage will be headlined by the return of local metal quartet Garden of Bedlam to our local summer festival! They were the last metal band at the Second Stage before last year, and now they're the last band for the second time in three years, so prepare for a hard hitting set of metal originals from them in their first show in two months! Their set will take place at 10:00 PM on Saturday, and they'll be preceded by local blues/roots trio Al Wood & The Woodsmen at 9:00 PM , with British Columbia folk/indie quintet Shred Kelly playing at 8:00 PM at the highest placed out of town band that night. New southern rock band Paul D & The Double Down (featuring Southern Fried Band alumni) will play at 7:00 PM, and they'll be preceded by North Bay alternative/folk trio The Faraway Neighbours at 6:00 PM, local solo artist Kelly McGillivray at 5:00 PM, local roots rockers Frank Deresti & The Lake Effect, at 4:00 PM, folk/country standouts Porter at 3:00 PM at 3:00 PM, and prolific local musician Cody MacMillan (now of The Moves, Just Chillin', & The Vig) opening up the Saturday festivities at 2:00 PM. Like tomorrow's schedule, this will be a FREE & ALL AGES event. For full Saturday lineup details, check the above links!

There's definitely lots of talented bands playing on Saturday at the Second Stage (including 3 bands returning from last year), and though the early bands are definitely indie & roots-leaning in genre, local music lovers shoudn't wanna miss any of the action, so check out the bands above! For Garden of Bedlam, they'll be on their A-games (especially with the Anvil show coming up next week), so expect an awesome set from them on Saturday night at 10:00 PM! For a preview, here's their opening song from their 2010 Rotaryfest set, and I'll see you guys there!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for the rest of our Rotaryfest previews (and possibly more?) tomorrow! Thanks everyone!