LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Tym Morrison & Soundcheck), Plus More Recent Updates

February 2017 is now in the rear view mirror, so let's tackle March with a new news/concert preview post! Barring the potential rush of late notice shows, this is a quiet weekend for hard rock fans, and for the record, we'll be covering Sunday's K-Man & The 45s post on Saturday in all likelihood, with this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post coming in between, either tonight or tomorrow. Now, let's kick things off with LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, some on SHORT NOTICE!

With March now commenced, we'll add local acoustic hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison's next slate of Gliss Steak & Seafood concerts to our band links, including matinee concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY, plus an extra nighttime show at The Barrelhouse Wine & Whiskey THIS SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice on those three, we waited for Facebook confirmation of the shows as usual, which came a couple of days ago. SATURDAY'S Barrelhouse show will mark Tym's third show at the downtown tapas restaurant since debuting there last month, but his Gliss shows will march unabated into the spring, with this weekend's gigs also joining presumed & likely concerts at The Quality Inn's house restaurant on March 10th & 11th, 17th & 18th, and 24th & 25th, as well as March 31st & April 1st, as the two months straddle that weekend. Sounds like a solid and busy month of gigs, so don't miss Tym's unplugged cover favourites on the above dates!

All of this month's Gliss shows (including TOMORROW & SATURDAY'S) have no announced cover charges or age limits, though keep in mind their host venue, and they're all 6:00 PM events, while his Barrelhouse show on SATURDAY is presumably 19+, takes place at 10:00 PM, and also has no cover. For more details on this weekend's shows, click here & here or visit the above links, and for a preview, here's Tym live!

Next up, local 1980s-themed cover hard rock band Soundcheck will return to The Rednecks Saloon for their St. Patrick's Day party on Friday, March 17th! Announced on unusually early notice for one of Terry & Steven's bands, this will mark their first show for the former Nameus since rocking The Rockstar Bar last month, and to fit the holiday theme, expect drink specials, green beer, and even hot dogs for the occasion! The Facebook event page (from members' promotional company Twin City Sound) also notes that Soundcheck have "a new addition to our band", implying that they're expanding to a quartet, but unless the band launches a Facebook page or indicates their identity on a personal Facebook page, we may have to wait two weeks for the reveal. Given Steven Flint's multi-instrumental talents and ease of moving to them, the implied new member isn't necessarily a second guitarist, but we'll let you know if we hear anything!

No word yet on a potential Saturday the 18th booking at Rednecks, but as for Soundcheck, expect a 10:00 PM start time and 19+ age limit, and while there isn't an announced cover charge, bring cash in case there's special holiday admission fees and/or to partake in the refreshments. Check the above links for current details on this St. Patrick's Day bash, and stay tuned for possible updates on Soundcheck's teased "new addition"!

Also today, here's a very delayed new video from local alternative/hard rock trio The Din, courtesy of their Facebook page from two weeks ago! Apologies for the wait in getting this on here, especially as it commemorates a milestone for The Din, as they surpassed 500 fans on Facebook last month! The video features drummer Brandan Glew noting to Mike and Tammy that he watched a Star Trek episode about alternate dimensions where there are slightly different copies of everyone, as they wonder how things would be different in the band if they were in such a dimension. This leads to two different clips of The Din with members swapping (Brandon on vocals, Mike on guitar, and Tammy on drums, then Tammy on vocals, Brandan on guitar, and Mike on drums), plus the real band's reactions. Without giving anything away as to how the alternate Dins sound, this is a cute video that showcases everyone outside of their usual roles, and one variant comes across better than the other!

Just as an aside, did they miss the boat by not showcasing an evil alternate version of The Din where everyone's wearing goatees? Now 535 likes strong, The Din are showing no signs of slowing down, so check out their newest Facebook video below, and stay tuned for much more from them!

Finally for today, I wanted to acknowledge on there that Ancaster-based record store chain Sunrise Records have announced that they are moving into at least 70 current HMV locations once they close by the end of next month, which has led to speculation that Sunrise is taking over the local HMV's place at Station Mall. In articles from both The Sault Star & SooToday, mall officials would neither confirm nor deny that Sunrise Records are opening up there, but if you ask me, they'd have denied it if they weren't at least talking. This would make sense if it happens, as that location at the Sears end of the mall has had a music store since Music World moved there in the late 1990s, so we'll have to see what happens! For what it's worth, write-ups on Sunrise Records indicate that they sell albums from local musicians, plus a fair amount of vinyl records, and they encourage HMV employees to apply to work at new Sunrise branches. In the meantime, what is known is that HMV's liquidation sales are now 30-50% off, as per their website, so keep the increasing deals in mind!

In one last somewhat related note, novelty gift store chain Spencer's Gifts (which is opening at Station Mall in the coming months) is obviously not taking over the HMV location. Spencer's is actually opening in the corridor between Sportchek and Roots, and if it's not opening in the former Bluenotes location, it's opening near it. They do sell band merchandise though, so keep them in mind when Spencer's finally opens! That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's"Where Are The New Albums?" post next! Thanks everyone!