LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Northern Vibe Festival) & Banned Concert Previews!!

With another busy weekend on the schedule, let's dive into this new batch of concert previews! To spread things out, Saturday's newly announced A Dire Setback concert, and existing Soundcheck show, will both be profiled in tomorrow's post, so don't worry, they are coming! Also, just as a clarification, we chose not to preview last week's Wyld Stallyns concert at Northern Superior Breweries based on it's advertised status as an "after-work party", in case it was truly geared to employees and their contacts. Hopefully it went well though! Now, let's dive into announced concert previews with a Friday component, starting with big SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!

The full band schedule for this year's fourth annual Northern Vibe Festival was finally announced last week, so what should you know regarding the Hempfest successor event's band lineups TOMORROW & SATURDAY? Firstly, apologies for the short notice, we don't call concerts on here without knowing the day that bands are playing on, but we had acknowledged scheduled performers when publicized. Returning to the familiar outdoor confines of the Poplardale Road location in nearby Ophir, this three day event (there's no bands on Sunday) will once again unite music lovers for a full weekend of musical entertainment, vendors, food and drinks, buskers, and general merriment, and with a nearby beach and lots of campground, there's lots of ways to enjoy yourself in Ophir over the coming days! Click here for full non-musical details! Of course, there are two stages this weekend, including the DJ-centric River (or Beach) Stage, which will harbour such familiar faces as DJs Hakan Loob, Manskirt, Dub Selectah, and Spruceau at varying points this weekend, among many others.

For the first time in festival history, there will be punk bands on both days' musical lineups on the band-centric Forest Stage, so what should you look for there to start TOMORROW NIGHT? Our source for the lineups is the festival website, as the poster above doesn't list every band. The headliners at 11:00 PM are Toronto funk/jazz collective The Accolades, while online page-less local punk quartet The Cover-Up will make their Northern Vibe Festival debut in the 9:00 PM co-headlining slot. Prominent local indie rock artist Jesse Merineau and his solo band will hit the stage at 7:00 PM, while an act named The Marshall McDunners will open at 6:00 PM. I may be wildly off base, but I believe this is a new or one-off local band, and the group name may give away some member identities. Tickets are $90 for the full festival (I don't see an option for one day Friday admission), and can be bought at Planetary Pride, The Vape Escape, or at this link, and presumably at the gate.

Abbreviated but talent-stacked lineup to kick off the Northern Vibe Festival IV, with some punk to spare via The Cover-Up, so don't miss out on all of the action TOMORROW NIGHT! Unfortunately, I don't know of a public video of The Cover-Up to preview things with, but to be fair, they don't have an online page of their own to post any onto yet.

SATURDAY's stacked all-day lineup will be headlined by eight-piece Toronto soul/Latin group The Achromatics at 11:00 PM, while Niagara Falls prog/improve rock quartet The Road Waves will return to our area as co-headliners at 9:00 PM. Toronto ska/reggae quartet The Classy Wrecks are scheduled for 7:00 PM, while local indie/alternative quartet Id Iota are the day's only heavier-leaning band (and highest placed local act) at 5:00 PM. Newer local surf rock quartet The Dynowaves have the 3:30 PM timeslot, as preceded by Ottawa folk project Jack Pine & The Fire at 2:00 PM. A special set from Renegade Derbakeh and local beatboxer Killabeatz inspired by the Syrian refugee film Songs of the Departed is scheduled for 12:30 PM, in conjunction with or followed by a community drum circle (attendees are encouraged to jump in and bring their own drums.) Finally, local/Toronto folk/country artist Kylie Precepa is opening on SATURDAY at 11:30 AM.

Also, just a reminder that local funk/hard rock/improv favourites Gianni Gagoots dropped out of this year's Northern Vibe Fest after their second dissolution earlier this summer. Admission remains $90 for the full weekend at the above links and locales, but there is a one day Saturday pass for $60, which you can buy online at this link and likely elsewhere. While still not a metal or punk hotbed, The Northern Vibe Festival has another excellent lineup of creative musicians from all over the map TOMORROW & SATURDAY, so if the ticket price and road trip are doable, don't miss out on the Northern Vibe action! Here's Id Iota live!



Finally for today's concert preview post, we'll take a trip south to St. Ignace, Michigan, where Kinross classic/hard rock veterans Banned will return to The Northern Pines Lounge for concerts at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino branch TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! While frontman Alex Traynor continues to expand his solo acoustic repertoire (click here for his solo schedule at the St. Ignace Kewadin), Banned are keeping busy, so fans of Alex and company's electric sound aren't left in the lurch! In fact, they just played The Northern Pines Lounge two weeks ago, so fans will be getting a sooner-than-usual encore of weekend cover action over these two nights. As usual for Banned's Kewadin lounge stops, expect 9:00 PM start times, no announced cover charges, and 21+ age limits. Visit the official Facebook event pages linked here & here for more details, and here's Banned live!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for our A Dire Setback and Soundcheck previews tomorrow, with more! Thanks everyone!