This Weekend's Sault Ontario Hard Rock Concert Previews, Including Rotaryfest!!

A big weekend is upon us for the local concert calendar, as this year's Rotaryfest will unite plenty of local cover bands to the stage at Clergue Park! Though not the only hard rock shows this weekend, we'll get to one extra in Sault Ontario in a bit, and our preview of Sunday's Music & Art Dockside Festival featuring The Bottom Line will come in our next news post, so don't worry, that's not forgotten! This year's installment of Sault Ontario's summer festival occurs from TODAY through Saturday, and for all of the details on this year's wide ranging family activities and events, visit the official Rotaryfest website and this year's program at this link and via the hard copy that came in last week's copy of the Sault This Week! Sadly, this year's music schedule has been pared down from past years, with the Friday lineup at Clergue Park being slashed in length from past years, and the Second Stage being put on hiatus for 2014, but there's still lots of action from this year's 19 bands, and if you enjoyed past main stage lineups, you'll be glad to know that 12 of last year's bands are back for encores!

We'll start by acknowledging TONIGHT'S lineup, which like past years, has an abbreviated lineup, an emphasis on jazz bands, and has no acts that'd fit for SMS coverage. Tonight's acts include headlining classic rock band Coverfly at 9:45 PM, with new jazz quintet The Jaztecs co-headlining at 8:30 PM, returning jazz veterans The Bob Jenkins Band (who have played the last 15 Rotaryfests) at 7:15 PM, and new local country band Crossroad opening at 6:00 PM. Talented lineup, so don't miss these bands if you love these genres!

TOMORROW'S abbreviated Friday lineup also starts at 6:00 PM, but it has one extra band and runs an hour or so longer, and there's lots of familiar faces! Headlining the Friday lineup once again are local country rock quartet Thin Ice (with special guests) at 10:00 PM, whIle classic rock quintet Mustang Heart will also return to co-headline at 9:00 PM. Two hard rock bands are on tomorrow's bill, including local party/hard rock trio Stiffler's Mom (tomorrow's only band that didn't play last year's Rotaryfest) at 8:00 PM, and local hard rock standouts Beaumont Avenue (still credited in the program under their old Suicide Kings moniker) at 7:00 PM, and both should have their own diverse cover sets to entertain fans with! For reference, this will be Stiffler's Mom's first Rotaryfest set since their reunion, while Beaumont Avenue will likely be playing as a quartet tomorrow, after featuring guest bassist Brandon Uhl last year.

Tomorrow's opening band will be local pop rock cover quartet KT, Kyle, and The Pocket at 6:00 PM, which might be the closest fans will get to a Sailor's Tongue show this year based on their lineup, so keep that angle in mind! Like tonight, tomorrow's stage lineup is FREE & ALL AGES, and there's some very talented bands to check out, so don't miss tomorrow's lineup, and keep the early evening in mind for hard rock! For a preview, here's Stiffler's Mom covering Ozzy Osbourne live at Toystock!



In a brief detour to a non-Rotaryfest event, Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison will continue his ongoing weekly concert arrangement at The Harp Bar & Grill TOMORROW with another solo concert/hosted jam night! Entering his 33rd straight week at the former Madison's Pub, this will be the second weekend out of three where he's only playing on the Friday rather than the Saturday, but unlike the UFC screening two weeks ago, it's not yet public why he's not playing this Saturday (likely an outside booking, we'll let you know if we hear anything!) Either way, Tym's got some solid hard rock cover action going down tomorrow night at The Harp, so if you're not completely satiated from Rotaryfest's stage, go see Tym! Is it strange that he hasn't played Rotaryfest recently, especially given his cover knowledge? There's no announced cover charge tomorrow, you must be 19 to attend, and Tym should be on at around 10:00 PM. For a preview, here he is covering Journey at The Harp last year!



Heading back to Rotaryfest to close this preview post, the stage lineup at Clergue Park THIS SATURDAY is both the longest, most varied (with 4 new bands), and has the most hard rock bands, with this year's out of town tribute headliner being Toronto based Led Zeppelin tribute band Michael White & The White! An acclaimed tribute that's been active since 1979, Michael and his band provide an authentic and very strong version of Led Zeppelin's classic material, so don't miss their set at 10:15 PM on Saturday! Co-headlining are local hard rock cover quartet Griphook, who will end a three month hiatus to rock Rotaryfest for a second straight year at 9:00 PM, so get ready for their entertaining set! Presumably one-off Tom Petty/Stevie Nicks tribute sextet Free Falling will play at 8:00 PM, preceded by country cover favourites Summer Thunder at 7:00 PM, and a trio of returning classic rock bands (Spyder's Web, Mid Life Crysis, and Obsession) at 6:00, 5:00, and 4:00 PM.

A pair of all-female bands (and Rotaryfest newcomers) will play on Saturday afternoon too, with hard rock quartet The Danger Cats playing a rare all-cover set at 3:00 PM, so come early for their exciting sound, especially if you missed them on Tuesday! A mysterious new quintet named Domina (information hopefully forthcoming) will play at 2:00 PM, while R&B veterans The Reptiles will open on Saturday at 1:00 PM. Nice and diverse lineup, with lots of entertaining styles to go around, so keep Saturday in mind too, and remember, FREE & ALL AGES! For a preview, here's Michael White & The White playing Led Zeppelin classics in 2012!



That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news soon, plus another punk band feature, and this month's poll! Thanks everyone!