LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Tym Morrison) & Weekend Concert Previews!!

An unusually busy concert weekend is upon us on Sault Ontario, but with a major festival returning, a preview is a must! Leading off are some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, one on SHORT NOTICE, so here's what you should know!!

Local hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison will play his second public concert since lockdown ended when he makes his debut at The Mike Case Memorial Stage at The Trading Post at 1332 Great Northern Road TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, this show was only announced via it's Facebook event page on Tuesday. Originally advertised as a patio gig before being adjusted to the proper outdoor stage beside The Big Moose Ice Cream Parlour, this will be Tym's first publically advertised solo concert since playing on Reggie's Place's patio on Canada Day, though this show has slightly more notice and more of a proper concert setting. The Mike Case Memorial Stage is a popular setting for live music in the summer months, if not typically of the heavier persuasion, so hopefully Tym's set goes well TOMORROW at 7:00 PM! There is no stated age limit or cover charge.

If you don't wanna drive all the way north down Great Northern Road, Tym has one more show to announce, as he will return to the aforementioned Reggie's Place on Queen Street East for one night only on Sunday, July 25th! No word on if this will be another patio gig or if it will be indoors, but he is scheduled for a four hour show that night at 7:00 PM, presumably 19+ with no cover charge as usual. Nice to see Tym back out there this month with his vast setlist, and while he's never on the Rotaryfest schedule, you can still see him live TOMORROW in the area! Click here & above for full details on both of his new dates, and here's Tym live in concert last year!

Next up, here's our extended preview of this year's Rotaryfest music lineup, as the Soo's annual summer festival is back in person after being held virtually last year! Due to pandemic restrictions (Ontario is only just entering Stage 3 this weekend), this year's in-person activities have been heavily reduced, with no midway and a focus on just live music, Ribfest, and a 50/50 draw (the "Take Your Pick" draw has been delayed to later in the year). For presumably this year only, Rotaryfest will move from Clergue Park to the former Lowe's/future Princess Auto plaza parking lot at the corner of Great Northern Road & Northern Avenue, in the half closer to Pennington's. As such, the festival will be a primarily drive-in event with restrictions enforced to ensure that everyone has a safe and suitably distant time, so mask up when you leave your vehicle and enjoy the music and ribs responsibly! Click here for full details on the layout, directions, and social distancing guidelines.

Regarding the music, there is no Second Stage this year, but original and cover acts alike will be on the SooToday Stage (effectively Stage 1), and similarly to drive-in movies, the music played by each band will be fed through FM transmitters, rather than risking a noise complaint outside of Lowe's Plaza. Make sure your vehicle has a working FM radio (or you at least have a portable radio on you) to pick up the required frequency, which will presumably be revealed upon entry. 15 artists are scheduled across all three nights, a lesser number than usual due to between-set sanitation and clean-up given the pandemic, but who all is playing this weekend?

Four acts will kick things off TONIGHT, with local acoustic hard rock quartet The Wyld Stallyns headlining at 10:00 PM in their Rotaryfest debut & second show of 2021. Good to see a heavier (if unplugged) band closing out night #1! Progressive rock sextet Machines Dream's new lineup will make their sixth Rotaryfest appearance and first on Stage 1 tonight at 8:30 PM, while their sister band Blues Harvest will reunite after eight years away to rock Rotaryfest for the fourth time (all previously on Stage 2) with a set at 7:00 PM, and their blues rock covers should go over well once again! Local blues/rockabilly quartet The Steeltown Playboys will make their festival debut to open today's festivities at 5:30 PM. Solid lineup of varied rock music to take in, so don't miss out! This is all ages (16+ to drive, naturally) with admission by donation. See above for more details, and here's The Wyld Stallyns live!

Tomorrow's lineup is devoid of primarily-hard rock bands, but two classic rock bands & Stage 1 mainstays will headline, namely Mid Life Crysis & Mustang Heart at 10:00 PM & 8:30 PM respectively. Both do have heavier covers in their extensive setlists, but note that Rotaryfest organizers are promoting their sets as being centered around the 1980s and Canadian classic rock each. If you like country, come early tomorrow for Strait Country (a one-off George Strait tribute band led by local singer Mark Tarantini) at 7:00 PM and the Rotaryfest debut of Brendan Hodgson at 5:30 PM. Same entry rules apply, so come tomorrow for loads of classic rock and/or country music!

As for SATURDAY, seven acts will hit the stage for the closing night, but with the pandemic, there is no touring headlining band. Your featured bands that night are southern rock cover quartet Bone Yard at 10:00 PM and classic rock veterans Obsession precede them at 8:30 PM, both of whom are very frequent Stage 1 performers, and both do cover hard rock in their wide setlists, so don't sleep on either band! Debuting local punk group Jonesy Land will hit the stage at 7:00 PM, with the non-Jaaskelainen members of The Rising Tide and Frank Deresti joining forces to play favourite tracks from frontman Dustin Jones' past local and Toronto band work. If you like The Tide, Inner City Surfers, or Conspirators, don't miss out, and look for Dustin's daughter Jett in a guest vocal spot! Veteran folk musician Greg MacLachlan will play his first solo Rotaryfest set since rocking Stage 2 eleven years ago at 5:30 PM.

Rising young hard rock quartet The Uncanny Valley will make their festival debut at 4:00 PM in their first public concert of the year and their first show since Brendan Bertrand replaced Adam Fahrer (now of Brendan Hodgson's backing band) on bass. Good to see this fast rising group back, hopefully they have more original songs ready to go! One-time Rotaryfest mainstays Spyder's Web will bring their classic rock cover set back to the festival for the first time since 2014 at 2:30 PM, while The Northern Jazz Ensemble will become the only band to play each of the last three in-person festivals when they open on Saturday afternoon at 1:00 PM. As before, Saturday's music is for all ages, and admission is by donation. Note that entry to the stage proper is from Great Northern Road only, specifically the road to the right of Pennington's, with the Northern Avenue entrance intended for Ribfest patrons, so be careful of how you enter the premises, especially if you usually come in the other way.

It's great to see Rotaryfest back, even in compromised-by-pandemic form, and hopefully everyone has a fun and safe time this weekend! I know there has been grumbling from potential attendees who don't have access to a vehicle, but hopefully carpooling and making use of the FM transmitter (which has a 1 km radius if you can find the signal) in the region will help. Visit the above links for complete details on Rotaryfest 2021, here's to a normal installment in 2022, here's The Uncanny Valley live, and stay tuned for more news and notes on the site soon! Thanks everyone!