LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Handsome Sandwich), A Mid-Week Concert Preview, And Much More!!

I'm pushing this month's Defunct Local Band Profile back another day, as there's a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS to address, plus an existing mid-week show to preview, and big updates on a very familiar local concert venue. Here's what you should know!

Local alternative/punk quartet Handsome Sandwich will rock The Roberta Bondar Pavilion TOMORROW NIGHT during the City of Sault Ste. Marie's Summer Concert Series! Apologies for the short notice, this concert was only announced via this poster on their Facebook page on Wednesday. TOMORROW's timeslot was the only vacancy on the concert series' schedule (Brian T & The Sinister Hearts replacing Mustang Heart last week aside), and the new date has not been listed at press time, but it is good to see Handsome Sandwich step in, even with limited notice, so look for a fun set or two of hard rock-tinged alternative music! As usual for the Summer Concert Series, TOMORROW'S show has a 7:00 PM start time, no cover, and no age limit, and again, they're under the tent, so weather shouldn't be an issue. See above for more details, and here's a new Facebook video of them!

Filmed at a private gig at Bell's Point Beach in Goulais River on July 3rd, this features Taylor, Jesse, Mitch, and Johnny playing an original song (slated to be the first single from their forthcoming debut album "Lettuce"), and while the title wasn't given in text or after the song, the title seems to be "Bet It Off" or something similar. Pending our likely album review, I'll hold comment on the song, but the video is well formed with lots of varied angles, which helps alleviate the vertical orientation! Give it a watch below, and don't miss Handsome Sandwich at The Pavillion TOMORROW!

Next up, let's preview another mid-week show while we're in the business, as prolific local classic/hard rock solo artist Tym Morrison will continue his ongoing weekly concert arrangement at The Mike Case Memorial Stage outside of The Trading Post on WEDNESDAY NIGHT! No big changes to note from what I can tell for Tym's latest show there, so fans of his vast setlist of classic and hard rock covers should find a lot to like from his vocal & guitar talents on Wednesday! The musical action takes place at 7:00 PM at The Mike Case Stage once again on Wednesday with no cover charge or age limits, and while the weather forecast will be sunny, 9&10 News is calling for temperatures of 18-19°, and hopefully that's warm enough! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and for a preview, here's Tym live a couple of years back!

Finally, you may have seen posts since May regarding the fate of The Oddfellows Hall at 124 Dennis Street, which was a popular venue for all ages concerts from at least the 1990s through the mid-2010s. While the local Independent Order of Odd Fellows branch's website was rarely updated, the hall proper closed its doors permanently at some point in the past three years, and was put up for sale in May. You can read its posting on Realtor.ca here, and it's being brokered by James Caicco of Century 21 for a sale price of $199,999. It might not be on the market for much longer though, as an offer has been placed to buy The Oddfellows Hall to turn it into a youth hub, as per this SooToday article by David Helwig. If plans go through, the building would offer services for 12-25 year olds relating to health, counselling, food security, housing & income, cultural & LGBTQ2+ support, and anti-human trafficking.

This proposal was given to City Hall earlier today, with the City Council being asked to contribute funds to improve the site, and Youth Wellness Hubs Ontario are on board to support operating funds & site upgrades. If an agreement isn't finalized, they will look elsewhere for a location. At least as far as metal/punk-leaning concerts go, The Oddfellows Hall was last booked for that purpose in June 2017, when Heavy North Entertainment hosted Ruptured Birth, Thekillingfield, and locals The Bear Hunters & Twistory there, with later known bookings either being cancelled or not concerts (like Joni Radford's celebration of life in January 2019). In my inquiries between 2018 and the onset of the pandemic, local promoters told me hall rentals were either too expensive or more expensive, so make of that what you will. Truth be told, a youth hub is about as good an idea as I can think of to repurpose The Oddfellows Hall!

The idea of a deep-pocketed knight in shining armor arriving to make it a full-time venue is probably unrealistic, so giving it a community purpose that will actually help people and the downtown core is way better than tearing it down. Being right near the bus terminal, Station Mall, and so forth makes it a very accessible location, and hopefully the youth hub plans take hold! One assumes concerts wouldn't be part of the plans there given all of the proposed features, but hey, I'll let you know if I'm wrong! Keep tabs with local news media to see if the Oddfellows site does indeed become a youth hub, and stay tuned for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile (at long last) tomorrow! Thanks everyone!