LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Black Label Society & Matthew Good), Plus More Updates!!

Before we dive into this weekend's concert previews, here's a stacked local news post for your Wednesday night delectation, and it includes some assorted updates from the last while, and leading off, two big LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for both sides of the border! Here's what you should know!

Los Angeles groove metal quartet Black Label Society will make their local concert debut on Friday, March 13th when they headline at The Dreammakers Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino! Fronted by long-time Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Zakk Wylde, B.L.S. have forged a loyal following in the past two decades with well received songs like "Stillborn", "Parade of the Dead", "My Dying Time", and many others, and with their hard hitting, leather-clad brand of metal and Zakk's considerable guitar skill in tow, you know they'll melt many faces in the E.U.P., this coming spring! Tampa, Florida death metal legends Obituary will open in their own local debut, and they have 35 years of brutality to unleash here, including cuts from one of the best selling death metal albums of all time, 1992's "The End Complete." It's awesome to see the Tardy brothers and company on a local stage, so don't bypass their set either!

This stop on Black Label Society's North American Crusade Tour will be opened by Portland sludge/death metal quartet Lord Dying, whose own technical approach and aggressive material should provide a welcome appetizer in three months! I am unsure if there is a specific local promoter putting this on, but at press time, it's not credited to Allstar Promotions on social media. Tickets for this all ages, 7:00 PM concert run for a flat $27.50, as this is a standing room only concert without seats. They go on sale this Friday at 10:00 AM at this link, at 1-800-KEWADIN, and at the in-person box office, and visit the official Facebook event page for further details. I have had the privilege of seeing B.L.S. live in Detroit multiple times, and they are a great live band with loads of familiar originals, and with ticket prices like this, I hope this show does well so that more extreme metal hits the American side of the border down the line. Get your tickets on Friday, as this concert should sell quickly!

Next up, here's another big new show announcement for March 2020, and it's very surprising in different ways, as acclaimed Coquitlam, B.C. alternative rock musician and political activist Matthew Good will return to Sault Ontario on Thursday, March 26th at The Sault Community Theatre Center! This will be the former Matthew Good Band frontman's first local stop since his acoustic Speak Easy show here in October 2007, which had a.... mixed reception, to put it mildly. If you want to relive that story from both sides, click here, but I don't want to dredge up the ill feelings or take sides. I just hope that this concert is better received by both Matt and the audience alike! Of course, Matthew has multiple gold records in Canada from his later, more varied solo work like "Weapon" "Born Losers", and his new CD "Moving Walls", but he still plays many M.G.B. songs live, including such heavier classics as "Hello Time Bomb" & "Load Me Up". It'll be cool to see him and a full band again locally, a'la his 2005 show at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion and his prior Band gigs here, which I know went well!

Opening locally is Halifax pop musician Ria Mae, who has been gaining in prominence on the Canadian charts with singles like "Clothes Off" & "Bend", and she should provide an interesting genre contrast in March! Presented by SL Concerts, this all ages concert has a 7:30 PM start time, and tickets run for $44 plus fees and taxes. They also go on sale Friday morning, albeit at 10:45 AM, and can be bought at this link, at (705) 945-7299, and at the Station Mall's Community Theatre Box Office. In spite of the divisive back-and-forth in 2007, I'm glad to see Matthew coming back to the Soo after over 12 years, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details!

Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by business name:

• The merger of Northland Music and Thomas Walls School of Music into a local branch of the Long & McQuade music store chain will take place as soon as the spring at 647 MacDonald Avenue, the former home of Northshore Sports & Auto and Bazaar & Novelty. For now, both stores remain open with lessons and Long & McQuade stock availability, before they both formally merge into the larger east end location. Sounds like a great location for the expanded operations, so click here to check out SooToday's recent coverage of the merger and "new" store!
• The Rad Zone has found it's new home, as the local used record/video game/book/etc. store will move from The Wellington Square Mall in the new year to the old Foch Cleaners building at 721 Queen Street East, near Coch's Corner, as revealed in this Facebook video. A more central, downtown location without mall rent seems to make sense, and I hope Monk and company find continued success there! For now, The Rad Zone remains open at the mall, with continuing close-out sales throughout the holidays before they move, so click here for details on that front!
• Apologies for the delay in this making the site, but journalist & writer Ernest Skinner left SaultOnline in February for a new gig with Wawa-News.com, and his columns (Rock Talk included) went with him to the new site. Unfortunately, SaultOnline took down all of his old articles under any banner title afterward, but he has continued anew at Wawa-News.com with even more interviews with notable metal and hard rock musicians, plus Soo Greyhounds coverage. Click here to read his recent articles and interviews there, and the Rock Talk link on the SMS is updated as such!

 
That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews on the site next! Thanks everyone!