LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Stiffler's Mom & Tym Morrison), Weekend Concert Previews, And More!!

With New Year's special posts out of the way, let's dive into normal posts on this Friday morning, and we'll have two for you guys today! This month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post will be postponed until tomorrow so we can clear out some of our backlogged news items today, as we're very behind, but it is definitely coming! As for this post, we have LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for TONIGHT and later this month, weekend concert previews (given the New Year Eve shows, things are slower), and a few assorted notes, so here's what you need to know!

We'll start our first news post of 2015 with more new concerts from local hard rock solo artist Tym Morrison, who will continue his weekly acoustic concert run at The Harp Bar & Grill TONIGHT, and through the next 4 months too! Apologies for the short notice for this weekend, we were holding Tym's next shows for our weekend previews, and like in the past, we'll only put January dates into our concert listings this month to pace ourselves, given his Harp run's forecasted length. Actually, Tym's newly updated calendar on his website has been severely retracted from featuring weekend Harp shows nonstop until the 2020s to just May 1st, but whether that's the last current booking, the end of his Harp run, or just where he stopped in the update is to be determined. In any event, Tym will rock the former Madison's Pub TONIGHT (there's no show tomorrow due to The Harp's UFC 182 broadcast), but he'll be back with full Friday jam nights and Saturday solo gigs next weekend and on the 16th & 17th and on the 23rd & 24th!

Tym will also be at The Harp on Friday, January 30th, but like this weekend, there's no show on Saturday the 31st due to another UFC PPV. Each of this month's shows have no announced cover charge, 10:00 PM start times, and 19+ age limits. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! After a weekend off for the holidays, it's great to see Tym's successful run at The Harp enter it's second year, so keep TONIGHT'S acoustic show in mind, and here he is at The Service Grill!



Next up, here's another new concert confirmation, as local party/hard rock cover trio Stiffler's Mom will kick off their 2015 schedule with a one-night-only gig at The Rockstar Bar on Saturday, January 10th (or, next weekend!) Announced on their Facebook page on New Year's Eve, this will be the guys' first concert together in three months, and it continues their recent regular run of shows at this venue, having not played outside of The Rockstar Bar since Rotaryfest (not counting potential unannounced gigs.) Greg, Mike, and Jon always deliver a fun time when they hit the stage, and hopefully there's a sizeable crowd next Saturday to welcome them to the new year in style! No word though on why this is a one nighter, but there's probably a separate band playing that Friday. Next Saturday's show will be a 19+ affair with a likely 10:30 PM start time, and bring at least $5 for a cover just in case. For more details, visit the above links, and stay tuned for more from Stiffler's Mom in 2015!

Also today, here's one more weekend concert preview, as local hard rock quartet Beaumont Avenue will return to the stage for the second time over the holidays when they rock The Rockstar Bar TONIGHT as well! This will be the former Suicide Kings' first show of the year, their first gig at The Algonquin Hotel's upstairs venue in over 4 months, and will also be their last show until "the summer concert series" due to drummer Ben Boudreau heading back to school in Hamilton, but remember that most colleges end their spring semesters in April, so keep that month in mind! In any event, it's great to see the guys back for one more show over the Christmas break, so don't miss their high impact originals and entertaining covers one more time before their next few months off! Of course, if you really miss Beaumont Avenue, keep tabs on their Urawk karaoke series' 2015 return, also at The Rockstar Bar. A $5 cover charge is likely for this one night only gig at 10:00 PM, and you must be 19 to attend.

For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Hopefully Mike, Steven, Mitch, and Ben start 2015 on a high note with a great show TONIGHT, so don't miss it for some live hard rock (especially given Ben's return to school), and here's Beaumont Avenue live at The Rockstar Bar in 2013!



Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items from late last year, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by band, event, or venue name:

• According to this photo on their Instagram page, local concert venue LopLops Lounge temporarily closed after their "12 Musicians of Christmas" event on December 29th, but plan to re-open on January 23rd. While not stated there, personal Facebook posts indicate that the hiatus will be to undergo interior renovations. Hopefully everything goes great for the re-opening in three weeks!
• On Sunday, former Glitch drummer Mike Oakley uploaded a new live track of his old cover hard rock band Sneaky Pete covering The Red Hot Chili Peppers' "The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie" onto his Soundcloud page. Apparently recorded at a 2011 concert at The Rockstar Bar (as per Mike's personal Facebook page), it's a well recorded & performed cover, though I admittedly prefer older Chili Peppers material. Give it a listen above though, it's nice to hear more from the guys!
• Formal band packages & registration forms are now available at The Rad Zone for bands who have already reserved a spot in the Tidal Records Battle at The Canadian Nightclub in March, but if any bands don't claim their reserved packages, they'll be released to any band who wants to sign up. Promoter J.D. Pearce can also arrange a central pick-up at his place if that's more convenient. For full details, visit this battle's Facebook event page, and sign up A.S.A.P.!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for another new news post later today! Thanks everyone!