LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Tripod The Dog & Soundcheck), Concert Cancellations, And Much More!!

Before we get into today's post, just a heads up on two more concert cancellations for later this month. First, the planned Jack Russell's Great White acoustic show at The Dreammakers Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino next Friday has been cancelled outright "after meeting with Tribal health professionals", which appears to be how Kewadin explains shows called off due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic & related rises in positive case counts. No word on why they're not trying to reschedule it, but it is a shame to lose an intriguing hair metal show like this, and hopefully either version of Great White comes back down the line! All tickets will be refunded, contact kewadinboxoffice@saulttribe.net if you have any extra concerns. Meanwhile, in Sault Ontario, the Glambition fundraiser for Pauline's Place next Saturday at the Bushplane Museum has been postponed a month to December 18th.

As per this SooToday article yesterday, the date change was "due to unforeseen circumstances", though they did not elaborate on if COVID was part of the reasoning or not. Tickets bought for next Saturday will be honoured next month, but refunds are available on request. While the postponement pushes Glambition out of Hunger & Homelessness Awareness Week, it will now be seasonal reflecting Christmas for the homeless community, which is a great idea! All other aspects of the event will be unchanged, though aside from The Apocalypse Afterparty, a performer list is not public yet anyway. Stay tuned for Glambition updates as they roll in!

Now, today's post is mostly comprised of new videos, but it appears that I can't escape SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS this weekend, as we have four more to take note of in the west end, so let's start there, as local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to Reggie's West TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! I apologize for the short notice, Soundcheck only announced these shows via their Facebook event page this morning, as recently usual for their non-Esquire Club gigs. Fans may have seen Soundcheck at Reggie's West last night too as hosts of their weekly open mic night (which is they only sporadically promoted online), but TONIGHT & TOMORROW'S shows will be their first proper concerts at The Reggievelt since Halloween weekend. Despite the late notice, their brand of hard rocking covers should go over fine with attendees this weekend!

TONIGHT & TOMORROW'S shows have 9:00 PM start times, no cover charges, and 19+ age limits, but vaccine passports are mandatory to attend, and please respect and follow any social distancing and public health guidelines. See above for more details, and for a preview, here's a brand new video of Soundcheck live at The Esquire Club last week! Posted to their Facebook page on Sunday, this features the guys covering The Black Keys' "Lonely Boy" with guitarist Cameron Oliver on lead vocals. Honestly, I hate this song, but Soundcheck do liven it up a fair amount compared to the original, and the recording quality is solid! Give it a look below, and don't miss these shows!

Next up, veteran local alternative hard rock trio Tripod The Dog will play their first concerts of the pandemic when they return to The Esquire Club TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice, we only heard about these gigs via bassist John Amendola's Facebook event page late last night (remember, Tripod The Dog have not launched any social media accounts to reflect their 2018-present activity, and their 2000s Facebook group is not administrated by current members). Note that John only refers to the band as "Tripod" on the event page, no word on if he's just using the common short form or if the band actually changed their name. Tripod The Dog had last been seen on stage at the same venue in February 2020 before the pandemic ground their live schedule to a halt, but after 21 months, they're back and ready to roll, and hopefully their pace of concerts isn't as sporadic as it was in 2019!

Yes, they are back in our active band links too. You can see Mark and the Amendolas TONIGHT & TOMORROW at 10:00 PM with 19+ age limits and no announced cover charges, but please respect any and all social distancing and public health measures at The Esquire Club, and you must show your vaccine passport to get in the building. See above for more details, and here's a classic Tripod (The Dog) original!

Finally, I have regrettably moved local punk quartet The Inner City Surfers to our inactive band links. After previously falling inactive in 2013, The Surfers reunited for a highly successful show at LopLops Lounge on August 3rd, 2019, and followed that up by hitting the studio to record three new songs, but only one ("Excess Express") has seen a public release to date, and the pandemic stopped plans to hold a Toronto reunion gig last year as well. The band proper has not updated their Facebook page since wishing fans a happy Halloween last year by way of a Poison parody, so we're well past our standard one year mark. Given their further music commitments and half the band currently living out of town, activity seems to be a bonus when everyone's available, and hopefully they'll return when the time is right, especially given the pandemic! However, I hate to end a Surfers topic on a low note.

Instead, here's a new video from when bassist Brad "Example" Lacell was recently in town, featuring him, frontman Dustin Jones, and Dustin's daughter/frequent guest performer Jett covering the late great John Prine's song "Angel of Montgomery"! Uploaded to Jett's YouTube channel on November 3rd, this is obviously a huge departure musically from The Surfers, but the entire band are huge fans of John Prine, and it's nice to see Dustin & Brad playing together again, if acoustically. The audio quality isn't crystal clear, but everyone performs well, and Jett's developing a strong voice herself, so give their cover a watch below!

Unless there's another hard rock band with short notice gigs this weekend, that's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site this weekend! Thanks everyone!