LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Soundcheck), Weekend Concert Previews, And More!!

Today's post is half devoted to weekend concert previews, one via SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS! Nice to have a few hard rock concerts to talk about again, if socially distanced ones, so let's start there, but also check out last month's poll results and a video from the winning topic below as well!

Fresh off of their St. Patrick's Day concert there on Wednesday, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to Reggie's West for a traditional (if pandemic-impaired) concert weekend TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the band only confirmed these dates via their Facebook event page earlier this evening. I'm not sure why they didn't just group TONIGHT & TOMORROW's shows in with Wednesday's for ease of promotion, given the run of three gigs in four days, but in any event, I'm sure the guys like that they're playing live more frequently again! Soundcheck's brand of classic and hard rock covers should entertain fans as usual TONIGHT & TOMORROW, so keep these shows in mind if you are able & willing! Like on Wednesday, these concerts have 7:30 PM start times, no cover charges, and 19+ age limits.

It goes without saying at this point, but please respect Reggie's West's social distancing regulations to ensure everyone's safety, be mindful of the capacity limits, and don't forget your mask. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Soundcheck live!

Next up, here's a preview of a concert that had lots of advance notice, as local hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison will play his second solo concert of 2021 THIS SUNDAY at Reggie's Place on Queen Street East as part of their Sunday matinee rotation! Fans may have seen Tym live at the original downtown Reggie's recently filling in with The Dorian Gray Band, but Sunday's show will be Tym's first as an acoustic solo performer since his post-lockdown return date there on February 21st. The afternoon timeslot remains atypical for a covers-centric hard rock artist locally, but Tym's extensive setlist and solid musicianship should be on display regardless! An early 3:00 PM start time is in effect, there are no announced cover charges, and again, be mindful of pandemic restrictions on capacity and social distancing. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Tym live!

Also, I wanted to close down last month's poll on the SMS, which posed this question: COVID-19 aside, what was the biggest local metal, hard rock, or punk news story of 2020? I'm going to forgo the usual write-up we have for monthly polls, because this poll only received three votes, one for Mike Haggith releasing his new album "If Ever Comes The Day", and two for Mikey Hawdon launching his quarantunes video series (now better known as Mikey & His Uke, more on that in a second.) Thanks to the three people who voted of course, and Mikey is a deserving winner given the reach of that series during a dicey time in 2020, but three votes is a dismayingly low number for a poll up for a month. With how the pandemic is going, I don't think we'll have to worry about posting new polls until 2022, with a retool perhaps in order.

That said, let's close with the aforementioned Mikey & His Uke series, which as you may recall, grew from veteran local punk musician Mikey Hawdon's daily solo vocal/ukelele covers to monthly guest star-laden full band performances filmed remotely. He still plays on his 'uke at the start, but the pretense is always dropped early on. We don't cover the new ones day to day because there's not much local about them (I don't think Mikey has moved back home yet, and the guest musicians are always far flung), but Wednesday's is different, as Mikey did recruit his Inner City Surfers bandmate Dustin Jones in this cover of The Pogues' "Streams of Whiskey"! Fitting song choice for St. Patrick's Day, obviously. Other guests here include five alumni of veteran Vancouver-based Celtic punk band The Real McKenzies, plus members of The Dreadnoughts, Nubs & Her Studs, and Old Man Markley.

Packed lineup of musicians on offer here, even including an accordion player, and this is a fun watch to see this talented array give a nice punk edge to St. Patrick's Day during a pandemic, especially with some musicians clearly getting more into the holiday's spirit visually! Give the newest Mikey & His Uke cover a watch below, and see much more at this link!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news on the site this weekend! Thanks everyone!