LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Vesperia, Of Tall Tales, AxMinister, And The River Jacks!!)

Before we begin, I wanted to apologize for yet another missed Mourning Wood concert, as the classic/hard rock trio played a short notice matinee concert at The New American Pub on Saturday night, as per their Facebook page that day. The alert came too late for us to slide it into a timely post, but it was their first New A set in two months. Had this show have had more advance notice, we'd have definitely plugged it here, but our apologies either way! Now, today's post is entirely devoted to LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, all from a newly announced concert series taking place over mid-2015, so here's what you need to know!

Local concert promoter J.D. Pearce has announced a summer concert series called The Gonqshow that will see at least 10 different concerts hit The Algonquin Pub over a four month span between May and September! The first time that he's announced such an ambitious long-term run at a venue since the short-lived Heavy Thursdays at The Rosie, most of these concerts will have $5 cover charges, and all will likely have local opening bands. You can get more details at the official Facebook event page, but the first Gonqshow date (barring any interim announcements) will see Calgary punk sextet The River Jacks make their local debut on Wednesday, May 20th! Taking place early in their cross-Canada tour, their up-tempo punk sound with a folk tinge and message should find an audience here next month, so keep this show in mind as the Gonqshow begins! For reference, The River Jacks have touring bands joining them across Canada, just not in the Soo.

Local openers are being sought for this and most other shows that J.D. has planned for The Gonqshow this year, so message him at this link or above if you want to open for The River Jacks next month! Unless later stated otherwise, this is a 19+ event with a $5 cover and a likely 10:00 PM start time. For more details, visit the above links! This should be a great way to kick off this series, so don't miss The River Jacks' folk/punk attack!

Two Saturday night events (on May 30th and June 27th) await a public announcement of who's playing them, but next among announced Algonquin Pub events in this series is a wildly diverse concert on Saturday, July 4th that will be headlined by masked Toronto thrash trio AxMinister in their local debut! Possibly familiar as well for sharing the stage with locals AlgomA at a Sudbury event in June, their gritty pounding thrash originals should also make lots of fans on the Fourth of July (the SMS' eighth birthday too!), so keep them in mind! When I said this was wildly diverse, I meant it, as Alberta pop punk quintet Calling All Captains will open in their own local debut, and while a far cry from AxMinister, their energetic alternative sound will be familiar for fans of bands like A Fall From Innocence, so they'll find a good response as well! Capping off the wide sound array will be local rapper Mikey Thomas, and fans of his Blood Shed sets will know his skill for that genre!

There's arguably a little something for everyone at this show, which will again likely be a 19+ affair with a 10:00 PM start time and a $5 cover charge, so check the above links for more details, and whether you love thrash, punk, rap, all, or some of the above, keep this show in mind for July!

Next on the Gonqshow slate is an Algonquin Pub concert on Saturday, July 18th that will see Sudbury hardcore punk quartet Of Tall Tales make their own local concert debut! Some readers may recognize them from sharing the stage with local bands at the last two Rock 'N Roar Battles of the Bands in Spanish (they and locals Beaumont Avenue both placed last year, earning opening slots at last August's Rock 'N Roar Festival), but this will be our first chance to see O.T.T. on a local stage. Their originals (which give me a Howard Jones-era Killswitch Engage vibe at times) should impress many local fans in July, so definitely check them out, especially for their Backstreet Boys cover! Local punk/metal quintet Jack Spades will be one of at least two local opening bands for this show, and message J.D. A.S.A.P. via the above links if you want to open for this show too!

Again, this show will have a $5 cover charge, 19+ age limit, and 10:00 PM start time unless stated otherwise, and we'll let you know if something is! It's great to see Of Tall Tales finally make their local debut, and they should leave a huge impression, so keep tabs on this show as more updates roll in! 

Lastly for today, we'll head to The Algonquin Pub on Thursday, July 23rd, where Toronto folk/death metal quartet Vesperia will make their local concert debut amidst the Gonqshow! Formerly known as Bolero and featuring Hallows Die drummer Dylan Gowan in their lineup, Vesperia's melodic extreme metal sound will definitely pique the interest of many metalheads, especially given their experienced and talented lineup, so do not bypass this one in July! For reference, Shit Liver are playing with both Vesperia & Hallows Die in Sudbury this Friday, click here for more details. Local openers are completely undetermined as of this writing, but again, if you want to open, message J.D. via the above links! Like the above shows, this one will likely have a $5 cover charge, a 19+ age limit, and a 10:00 PM start time unless stated otherwise. For more details, visit the above links, and definitely remember this show for some summertime metal brutality! Stay tuned for updates!

There are four more shows in August and September among the Gonqshow roster, which we'll touch on in an upcoming post to spread them out, but the above links will give you info on them before then! J.D.'s outdoing himself once again, so kudos for what should be a stacked summer concert season, and I'm sure he's not done yet! Stay tuned for more here and on Facebook to come, and for more news and notes as they roll in! Thanks everyone!