LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Toystock VII & Theatre Of Night!!)

Today's post is full of the Christmas spirit, though out of early necessity, as we have some big LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS to touch on on this snowy Wednesday evening! We also have some videos to address regarding one half of these concert announcements, so here's what you should know!

The lineup for the seventh annual Toystock charity concert has been unveiled via promoters (Choose) Maxx Entertainment's Facebook page earlier today, so what should you know? Returning to the Grand Gardens North for it's fourth straight year on Sunday, November 25th, the format is very similar to past years, with 10 bands in 10 hours playing for the Christmas Cheer cause, and with admission via new/gently used toy, non-perishable food, or money donations, hopefully lots of good will come of Toystock VII next month! One assumes that the Stuff-A-Bus, family vendors, and Santa & Mrs. Claus will be back too, but the poster doesn't go into those specifics. Unusually for Toystock, this year's event primarily features returning bands from past years, where prior installments mostly had newcomers, so who all can you see this year? Two hard rock bands are on the bill, namely local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck (who also played last year) and acoustic hard rock/jam trio The Wyld Stallyns in their Toystock debut, though Rob & Jesse played with The Elements 2 years ago.

If the order on the poster is accurate, local country cover quartet Bone Yard will headline at 9:00 PM on November 25th, in their fifth straight Toystock set and sixth overall (each event records.) Soundcheck appear to be at 8:00 PM, while classic rock veterans Obsession will play Toystock for the third time and first since 2013 at 7:00 PM. New local acoustic quartet Chunks of Manh will being their tuba-infused sound to Toystock for the first time at 6:00 PM, with local country musician Brendan Hodgson also debuting at this event at 5:00 PM. Classic rock fan favourites The Algo Rhythms will make their third Toystock appearance in four years at 4:00 PM, while a Case's Music student group will play Toystock for a third straight year at 3:00 PM. The Wyld Stallyns are at 2:00 PM, and "Jeff & Friends" are advertised for 1:00 PM, and while I am not 100% positive, I believe this refers to country artist/local radio DJ Jeff McNeice, who also played last year in Jeff & Jeff.

Finally, the 12:00 PM opening set belongs to Bone Yard's acoustic country duo side project The Bearded Lounge, who also played last year. Though 2018's bill is more centered around returning bands than ever before, it's great to see so many performers jumping on board to help Christmas Cheer, and might Soundcheck drummer Glen Thomas donate another drumkit to a lucky young attendee? This is an ALL AGES event that will surely help kick off the holiday season in fine form, so visit the above links for more details!

Next up, the dates for Sault Michigan classical metal band Theatre of Night's second Christmas tour have been announced, so where can you see them over the holidays? Locally speaking, they will end the tour in the E.U.P., including a return to the Pickford United Methodist Church on Friday, December 14th, where they ended last year's tour at. This still may seem like an atypical venue, but remember that Theatre of Night specialize in metal versions of Christmas carols, more often biblical/nativity ones, so they fit that way. This year's tour will end on Saturday, December 15th in Sault Ste. Marie, but they're moving on up from The Soo Theater last year to The Dreammaker's Theater at Kewadin Casino in two months! It's rare when a local band headlines at this venue (as opposed to The Rapids Lounge), so expect a grand orchestral night there for your holiday entertainment! The tour will begin with four shows in the Lower Peninsula next month, similarly to their tour kickoff dates last year.

Those dates include two at the Blanchard Wesleyan Church (a half hour west of Mount Pleasant) from November 9th-10th, and two at The Foundry in Zeeland (just outside of Holland) from November 30th-December 1st, so keep those in mind if you'll be in Central Michigan then. The local dates in December are ALL AGES events with 6:00 & 7:00 PM start times respectively, and while the Pickford church show has no advertised admission fee, stay tuned for word on the Kewadin gig. It's great to see another run of Christmas concerts from this talented local outfit, so visit the Facebook event pages linked here for more details! We'll close today's post with some new videos from Theatre of Night, starting with this live video filmed by keyboardist Craig Harrison for their Facebook group on October 6th, where guitarist Steve Giles is playing guitar alongside an uncredited performer playing "drums" on an iPad application. Nice and heavy, if brief and not seasonal, but worth a watch for fans!

Embedded below is another live video, this time posted on their Facebook page the previous day, which features Steve and Craig playing what they called a "random ambient jam". Filmed similarly to the other clip in a vertical angle, this doesn't have the same heavy qualities, but it's effectively done and shows Steve & Craig's skill nicely! Give these videos a look above and below, and stay tuned for more from Theatre of Night soon!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates on the site soon, including weekend concert previews if any hard rock shows surface! Thanks everyone!