Buckcherry & Alien To The Ignorant Concert Previews!!

Today's post is devoted to previews of two notable mid-week hard rock/metal concerts in Sault Ontario, one well over a year in the making, and the other featuring a lot of intrigue for it's cryptic locale and touring headliner, with both also featuring local openers we haven't seen in a long time. Here's what you should know!

The biggest Sault Ontario hard rock concert of the pandemic era will finally take place TOMORROW when Anaheim, California hard rock quintet Buckcherry will make their fourth local appearance (and first in this half of the Twin Saults) when they headline at Soo Blaster! This concert was originally scheduled to take place way back on May 13th, 2020 before everything went topsy turvy in March of last year, forcing a postponement to November 11th, and then ultimately to tomorrow night, but barring an imminent COVID outbreak, this show is taking place! Buckcherry are definitely in Canada and they have been touring across country all month, so fingers crossed! Well known rock radio staples from hit songs like "Sorry", "Lit Up", and "Everything", Buckcherry are touring in support of their new CD "Hellbound", so expect lots of familiar songs and new cuts in their first local stop since 2019's outdoor Kewadin Casino gig with Pop Evil, and before that, headlining Dreammakers Theater shows in 2011 & 2012.

This will also be Buckcherry's first local appearance since Billy Rowe replaced Kevin Roentgen on lead guitar last year. Amazingly, the local support acts remain unchanged since last spring, and they will include punk trio Redundant in their first public concert set since they opened for The Cancer Bats at Soo Blaster in August 2019, as far as I can gather. Obviously, it's great to see Justin, Andrew, and Rick back on stage after over two years, so don't be late for their familiar punk attack! The other opening band is local/Ottawa hard rock band Bad Chug in their long-delayed local concert debut, but they were previously active in Ottawa dating back to 2016! In case you're unfamiliar, their lineup features guitarist Aaron Desmoulin, bassist Kyle Dube (who was quietly re-added to their lineup anew), and drummer Matt D'Ettore, plus local folk singer/guitarist Jacob Quarrell as their newest member.

I'm not 100% sure if Jacob will play the same roles in Bad Chug (they credit him as "bender"), but readers may be familiar with his acoustic solo sets, previously under the project name Shit Creek Survivor. Bad Chug's mid-2010s Ottawa material had a solid carefree hard rock base, and it will be very interesting to see how they do in 2021 with in a new city, so find out first tomorrow night! Promoted by the Ottawa-based Diamond Mine Agency in their first major local booking with heavier bands, tickets are still available for $39.99 + taxes and service fees on Eventbrite, so click here to get yours online in advance! I presume you can also pay at the door, and yes, tickets bought for Buckcherry's 2020 dates will be accepted tomorrow. Everything starts at 8:00 PM, and unfortunately, this is a 19+ event. And as recently usual, attendees must show vaccine passports at the door to get into Soo Blaster.

Given the size and anticipation for this show, it's more important than ever that attending fans please mask up, follow social distancing guidelines at Soo Blaster, and use common sense to keep everyone safe, and thusly ensure that we get more concerts like this in the short term. Admittedly, I'm not a Buckcherry fan, but it's great to see that at least one of the COVID-postponed concerts is finally taking place, and hopefully Josh and crew deliver a fun set of up-tempo rock hits for fans tomorrow night, complete with local openers we haven't seen on a public stage at all in the 2020s! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and for a preview, here's Buckcherry live in Sault Michigan in 2019!

Finally for today, here's a special preview of a technically private concert taking place THIS THURSDAY NIGHT, but organizers are treating this as a public event, just with the venue being given out on request if you want to come out. The show in question will see Saskatchewan post-hardcore trio Alien To The Ignorant make their first ever local concert appearance when they headline at local party metal band The Apocalypse Afterparty's re-opened and relocated private venue Mellow D's Underground! Alien To The Ignorant's brutal hardcore sound and none-too-serious approach to their promotion should serve them well to attract an audience on Thursday, so don't miss out if you can come out on a work/school night! Local death metal quartet The Bear Hunters will play their first concert set in over two years on Thursday, which will also be their first live appearance since releasing their album "The Dead Testament" last fall, so hopefully they shake off the rust with their brutality!

And yes, The Apocalypse Afterparty themselves will perform in a rare live appearance that isn't purely a private house party, so what musical shenanigans will the Stanghettas be up to with their up-tempo brand of music? Be at Mellow D's Underground, wherever it is, to find out! There is no advertised cover charge for this concert, which has a thankfully early start time of 6:00 PM, and inquire with The Apocalypse Afterparty and/or Paul & Amanda for the address in case they never publicize it. Vaccine passports must be presented upon entry, and please use common sense re: social distancing. Visit the above links for more details, stay tuned for more updates, and here here's Alien To The Ignorant live!

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