LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Banned & Tym Morrison), Plus Soo's Got Talent Videos!!

With an unusually quiet concert weekend giving us no announced hard rock shows this weekend (unless something on supremely short notice comes up), we'll press on with a new news post today, including more videos from an ongoing competition, and some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS on each side of the border! Here's what you should know!

Kinross, Michigan classic/hard rock trio Banned will return to The Runway Bar in Hessel for their Halloween party on October 26th (a.k.a. next Friday!) Note that Banned have not confirmed this show publically at press time, but The Runway Bar confirmed the event on their Facebook page this morning. This fan favourite band has been laying low since the E.U.P. Kewadin Casinos went "in a different direction" last month, with singer/guitarist Alex Traynor working on his burgeoning solo project and debut album in the interim (plus, ironically enough, a St. Ignace Kewadin solo gig.) Banned regularly play somewhere over the Halloween weekend, and they'll head to Hessel this year for their first gig there since February, so look for more hard rocking covers from Alex, Don, and Wayne next week! No word on seasonal frills and/or drink specials for the occasion, but I'd have to assume costumes are welcome. This should be a 10:00 PM event with a 21+ age limit and no cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, and stay tuned for more from Banned (and Alex?) as it rolls in!

Next up, Sault Ontario hard rock solo musician Tym Morrison announced a couple of new gigs via Facebook event pages yesterday, but unfortunately, neither are for this weekend. One is a stag & doe next week, and if you've followed the SMS for years, you'll know that we traditionally don't cover stag & doe-hosted concerts on here due to that kind of event's personal nature, lest strangers show up just to see the band. However, the other show is fully public, as Tym will return to the relaunched Harp Pub & Grill for one night only on Friday, November 2nd! While this is another big event as "live music begins" at The Harp, Tym is no stranger to the venue, as he played there frequently from their fall 2013 re-opening through March 2016, including on a Gliss-esque weekly arrangement for a time. It's great to see Tym back at the former Madison's Pub, so don't miss out early next month for more unplugged hard rock classics! A 9:00 PM start time is in effect for this 19+ gig, with no announced cover charge.

Visit the official Facebook event page for details on Tym's Harp return, and as for the resumption of his weekly Gliss Steak & Seafood run, Tym has hinted on his personal Facebook page that he'll be back playing there regularly next week, but I'm taking that with a grain of salt for now, given that Gliss have not formally signalled their re-opening date yet. We'll let you know when things resume for Tym's weekly arrangement at Gliss' new Spring Street home when things are firmly public!

Also, here's some more relevant video content from the ongoing Soo's Got Talent competition at The W.W. Baldwin Auditorium at The Tech, as there is a qualifying round video on the event's Facebook page featuring the aforementioned Tym Morrison! Apologies for the belated write-up on this video (well after Tym's elimination), but we didn't get widespread word on The Soo's Got Talent until the second round lead-up. I watched all of The Soo's Got Talent first round qualifier videos (available at this link), and only two have an overt link to our covered genres. One starts with then-Re:Born singer Robert Nevitt & guitarist Rick Atkins covering Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Simple Man" in their qualifying round performance from August (they were eliminated in the first round), though no word if they and the absent Randy Russon have a band in the works. Not a bad rendition of this southern rock classic! The other video is embedded below, and features 11 advancing acts from the qualifying round, so who and what can you see in this lengthy upload?

These performers are singers unless otherwise credited, with song covered in brackets where available. In performance order, you'll see Michaela Lynn ("A Million Dreams" from The Greatest Showman), Allie Bouchard (Sam Smith's "Stay With Me"), Daniella Brewer (Elle King's "Ex's & Oh's"), magician Darren Emond, juggler Kyle Hicks, pianist R.J. Renner (The Goo Goo Dolls' "Iris", I believe), Lori Bouchard (Patsy Cline's "Leavin' On Your Mind), Tym Morrison playing a newer original song, Bethany Pelletier (Rachel Platten's "Fight Song", same as round 1), The St. Mary's College Singers (Cyndi Lauper's "True Colours"), and Hope Connor (Judy Garland's "Somewhere Over The Rainbow".)  For reference sake, Michaela, Daniella, Darren, and Bethany are all still in the competition and will be competing tomorrow at The Tech as part of the third round, while Kyle, Tym, and Hope were eliminated after last week's second round.

Lots of talent to find here, especially if you're a fan of modern top 40 music, and Tym's performance is solid as well, so this video is worth a watch to see what you missed during the private auditions last month and/or the first round competition! Remember, the remaining 7 acts compete tomorrow, with all 7 returning for the finale, whether still in the competition or not, so visit the above links for complete details, and here's this batch of round 1 performers, with Tym Morrison's song at 21:25!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site in the coming days! Thanks everyone!