Even More COVID-19 Coronavirus Concert Cancellations & Updates

Another day, another batch of COVID-19 updates, and the big one today (re: local concerts) is that Ontario Premier Doug Ford has declared a state of emergency in the province, and has declared that all restaurants, bars, and nightclubs must close through at least the end of March, save for drive-thru, take-out, and delivery services. Click here for more details on this front. This announcement will officially shut down all planned concerts in our calendar or otherwise this month, but given prior cancellations and postponements, we don't have much left to remove today. Due to the mass closures, the Tym Morrison concert at The Roadhouse Bar & Grill on March 27th is now cancelled, as is A Dire Setback's LopLops concert on March 28th, which was extra notable because it was planned to be the launch party for their self-titled debut CD. Regarding the album, A Dire Setback have since confirmed on their Facebook page that it will still be released on CDBaby on March 28th, with the release party being postponed to a later date.

No word as of yet on if the album will show up in physical storefronts on time, but given how fluid and volatile the coronavirus pandemic is, maybe they don't want to guarantee anything just yet. At least not all is lost in their camp, and our review of "A Dire Setback" at month's end is still on track! The evidence against it was mounting, but tomorrow's Slumshine concert at Home Bakehouse Bed & Breakfast was finally cancelled earlier today, as per it's Facebook event page. With Ontario and Michigan now closing any formal concert venues through at least March 31st, this puts the kibosh on local concerts of any genre (and likewise, our weekend concert previews) for at least two weeks, which will be very odd for many routines locally, but anything we can do to flatten the curve! As bands are all off stage right now, I won't announce any posts from bands plugging their own breaks "until further notice" here unless they have extra updates to report, as I fear I will sound like a broken record.

Looking onward to April, we can also confirm that Calgary stoner hard rock quartet Woodhawk have postponed their Violent Nature Canadian Tour, including their planned LopLops date on April 21st, as confirmed on the band's Facebook page and since corroborated by local promoters The Oh!No Collective. Very disappointing, but it's the safest thing for right now. That said, the April 10th weekend still has three out-of-town hard rock bands (Scarkazm, Sandman, and Just Heart) with scheduled concerts that have not visibly been cancelled or postponed. It's anyone's guess how different the pandemic will be in Ontario and Michigan come April 1st, but we will let you know whether these shows (and those beyond) take place or not. The big dominoes ahead are the First Jason concert on April 26th (attached to the Steel City Nostalgia Fair) and the Buckcherry concert in May, and while both are currently still scheduled, organizers of both events have confirmed on Facebook that they are absolutely monitoring the situation.

I was hoping today's post would have room for some non-coronavirus topics, but alas, this is understandably a major news story affecting everyone in the province, state, and elsewhere. Tomorrow, we will change the subject, if briefly, with last month's poll results and a new poll on the site, and there is more news coming that is not in any way dependent on COVID-19 (even a brand new local band!) We will close today on a lighter note, if still relevant to the major topic, as we look back on the postponed Black Label Society concert at The Dreammakers Theatre at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino from this past Friday. That show being called off may sting extra for local berserkers, as B.L.S. had already made it to the Soo on Friday and were already setting up for the concert before they got the word that they had to cancel. However, before they left, presenting sponsor Rock 101 filmed a short video for their Facebook page making light of the situation.

After catching a glimpse of the tour t-shirt, frontman Zakk Wylde and bassist John DeServio are seen on stage at the nearly empty Dreammakers Theater discussing the rest of their tour being "knocked out", before John guarantees to viewers that "we'll be back", and decrees that he'd also "like to knock something out too", and it may or may not be Zakk. Amusing clip for fans that helps alleviate some of the disappointment, especially when they came so close to the local finish line, so give it a look below, and we will have some non-COVID-19 material to discuss tomorrow, I promise! Thanks everyone!