LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (K-Man & The 45s, Dopethrone, And Soundcheck), And More!!

Before we dive into some mid-week concert previews tomorrow, here's a stacked news post for your Sunday afternoon, and it includes a bunch of LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for the coming months, plus early details on a returning charity concert. Here's what you should know!

Montreal "slutch metal" quartet Dopethrone will make their local concert debut when they rock The New American Pub on Monday, May 20th (a.k.a. Victoria Day!) A prolific band whose sound combines elements of doom, sludge, and stoner metal, Dopethrone's slow, grinding, and bass-heavy brand of metal should find a strong audience later this spring at The New A, so be sure to check them out to see what they have in store in this stop on their Trans Canadian Tour! Local/St. Catharine's grindcore trio Shit Liver will play in their hometown for the first time in over a year when they take the stage on May 20th, and their explosive crust & grind originals will always be welcomed back by their Saultite faithful, so don't miss their return in two months! The other advertised band is actually local doom/sludge metal trio AlgomA, who will be making their first live appearance since the "Trading Faces" split release concert at The New A in October 2017. I'm not entirely sure why AlgomA took such a long stage hiatus, but it's great to see Boyd, Kevin, and Jamie back at it after a 19 month wait!

Promoted by AlgomA's own promotion agency Six, Two, Oh., this special Monday night concert has a $10 cover charge and a 19+ age limit, and a 9:00 PM start time is advertised. If you live grind and sludge metal, and can swing seeing a 19+ concert on a work/school night, this will be appointment viewing, so visit the official Facebook event page for full details on Dopethrone's Victoria Day show here!

Next up, this isn't all for touring Montreal bands in the Soo this year, as ska-punk fan favourites K-Man & The 45s will play their seventh local concert since 2013 on Thursday, June 6th when they rock The Rockstar Bar! After surprisingly not playing in Sault Ste. Marie at all last year, K-Man and company will finally return for their first show here since October 2017, and their first local gig at The Rockstar Bar since 2014. With a new album release to support, their high energy reggae & punk fusion sound will be welcomed by local fans at any time, and might there be a "Ska-Mones" segment again? The local support act will be online page-less punk quartet The Cover-Up in their first announced concert since the Joni Radford benefit, and they should add a strong compliment to the proceedings in June! For the first time in their local bookings, this year's K-Man & The 45s concert is promoted by (Choose) Maxx Entertainment as part of their working agreement with the venue.

This 19+ concert has doors open at 9:00 PM, and admission is $10 in advance or $15 at the door, with tickets available in advance at The Algonquin Hotel's front desk, one would assume. It is odd to see K-Man & The 45s playing here in the summer, especially after their annual run of fall gigs locally from 2013-2017, but with their reputation and talent, this show should be another hit, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details!

Lastly for today's new concerts, let's add a handful of summer concert weekends to our concert listings courtesy of local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck! With shows now listed on the site through July's Go North Music Festival, I'll roll in June and July local concert weekends from the Mourning Wood successors today, all as advertised on this 2019 concert calendar, so when can you see them then? Two concert weekends are booked in those months at Reggie's West, where Soundcheck will return on June 7th & 8th and then on July 5th & 6th. Meanwhile, they will return to The Esquire Club for concerts on June 28th & 29th and then on July 12th & 13th, so if you're in the west end of town, you have a few solid options to see Terry, Travis, Paul, and Glen this summer! Note that they will be playing a private function of some kind on July 27th, while we'll approach public shows from August and beyond in the future.

As usual for Soundcheck's concerts at these venues, expect 19+ age limits, no cover charges, and 10:00 PM-ish start times at all four dates. This veteran quartet delivers a fun set full of hard and classic rock hits at any of their concerts, and these should be no different, so visit the above links for more details, and look for them in the Soo next month at The Esquire Club!

Finally, here's some preliminary details regarding the fourth annual Sky's The Limit fundraiser concert, which takes place on Thursday, May 9th! Once again, this Algoma Family Services-promoted concert will return to help raise awareness and funds for mental health as part of Children's Mental Health Week, and youth performers will again donate their time for the cause! After three years at The Tech's auditorium, it's apparent closure has forced a venue shift for The Sky's The Limit IV, and it will now take place at the auditorium at Korah Collegiate & Vocational School at 636 Goulais Avenue. This won't be optimal if you don't live in the west end, but given the high involvement of students, it makes sense to bring it closer to what many of them know! Much like past headliners, this year's featured headliners are graduates from last year's support lineup, namely the pop rock quintet Lime, featuring recent alums of Mustang Sally.

Young pop singer Tianna Legacy will also return as a performer, but the remaining opening roster will be determined via private auditions for acts aged between 14 and 24 (not 29 this year) on April 17th & 18th, so visit the official Facebook event page for full details. The concert proper remains $5 or $20 for families of 5 or more, it's absolutely ALL AGES, and a 6:00 PM start time is advertised. I don't know if we'll see any hard rock or punk performers this year, let alone if it will be announced in advance, but stay tuned for updates, and see above for more details on how to attend or audition!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for some special mid-week concert previews and more tomorrow! Thanks everyone!