LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (B.A. Johnston), Tym Morrison Concert Preview, And More!!

Here's a new news post that will somehow beat the long delayed rain in the forecast! It includes some new videos and updates from projects on both sides of the border, a mid-week concert preview for tonight, and leading off, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, so here's what you should know!

Hamilton outsider folk/punk solo musician B.A. Johnston will return to Sault Ste. Marie for a headlining concert on Thursday, August 25th at... The Legion Bar?! This isn't a permanent venue, it's the downstairs space at The Marconi Cultural Event Centre at 450 Albert Street West set up as the temporary home base for the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 25, with their current building on Great Northern Road being demolished and rebuilt (details here). The Legion has hosted heavier concerts very sporadically, so this isn't completely out of line (let alone past events inside The Marconi Club), but definitely keep the relatively unique venue in mind in three weeks! B.A. Johnston previously played here at the former Cafe Natura in 2015 and at The New A in 2019, and if you saw him then, expected more irreverent, self-deprecating, and unpredictable acoustic punk originals for his third go-around in the Soo!

Instrumental surf rock trio The Dynowaves will open in their return to the stage after dropping out of Rotaryfest and (ironically) Marconi Meets World last month due to a member's major health emergency. Good to see everyone back! Tickets for this 19+ show run for $12 (up from $10 in 2019) and are available at The Marconi Club's office, while there is an 8:30 PM start time for the openers. Should be a fun and unpredictable concert, especially if you know what you're in for with B.A., so visit the official Facebook event page for more details!

Next up, here's a mid-week concert preview, as local classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison is scheduled to return to The Mike Case Memorial Stage outside of The Trading Post TONIGHT! After not advertising his presumed show there last week with a Facebook event page, tonight's got one, so his weekly arrangement at the outdoor stage, there seems alive and well... weather permitting. Many of you will be well aware of the bad Environment Canada weather reports for today that promised heavy rain, thunderstorms, and even risk of an isolated tornado. We've dodged most of the early projections, but 9&10 News says that there will be thunderstorms and showers s during Tym's projected showtime tonight (7:00-9:00 PM), so if you are at all concerned about this concert's prospects, keep tabs on Tym's personal and music pages on Facebook to see if it is indeed called off.

If the rain holds off or if Tym does brave the elements, this will be an all ages event with no cover charge, and 9&10 are calling for 22-24° temperatures this evening. Fingers crossed that Tym's brand of entertaining classic and hard rock covers goes down as planned tonight, but if not, there's always next week... weather permitting! Visit the above links for more details, and here's Tym live!

Also today, here's the latest from local folk punk/extreme metal musician Chase Wigmore's Facebook page! As of late, Chase has been working on a new studio album (according to him, one that is "actually worth listening to"), and on June 30th, he posted two songs from it as singles on his Bandcamp page, including the planned first song "Supervillain" and the fifth, "You're Dead". He noted that one song took 29 hours to complete and the other took 2½ hours, hinting that you should try and guess which is which. I'll hold comment on the songs for now pending our likely review of this album, but it will please fans of his recent metal recordings moreso than his folk punk fans. Chase also updated fans as to the progress of his book "Ars Cithara" on how to play guitar, and posted this image of quite the multi-tracked song he has in the works, so definitely check him out on Facebook for his latest updates on all fronts!

Before we move on, there is one new video that he posted there last week, and it's of him doing a falsetto vocal/guitar mash-up of Judy Garland's "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" and, believe it or not, "Suicide Is Painless", the theme song of M*A*S*H (movie and TV show alike). If you're not familiar with the original movie, the song had lyrics & was sung in the film. Filmed in monochrome with Chase heavily in shadow, then inverted in post, the mash-up is sure interesting, with two songs you'd never connect beyond being songs from movies, and while his frenetic guitar work is excellent as usual, the vocal style will not be to everyone's taste. Check it out for yourself below, and stay tuned for much more from Chase soon!

We'll close today with some more recent updates from St. Ignace, Michigan metalcore quintet Heavy Lies The Crown's Facebook page! First, they posted this video on July 30th of them hyping their show opening for Nagazi in Battle Creek on Friday, featuring band members saying the names of other bands playing the show while hanging out, as intercut with shots of a beat up classic Lincoln car, all as set to their song "A Hell Bound Heart". Good promotion for the show, but you kinda have to be in southwest Michigan to appreciate it given the road trip this requires. From there, content mostly revolved around their show in Gaylord at Summerbash, posting two short-by-design "Reels" videos on Sunday, followed by calling Summerbash "the wildest show we have ever put on & been a part of". High praise for sure, especially for the closest they've ever came to a local gig! Pictures of the aftermath to Ted's pedals and their Iggy duck mask also went up.

The only video from Gaylord to be posted that wasn't a Reel (re: longer than five seconds) is this one from the end of their nightime & outdoor set, and you can tell everyone's having fun, with Brandon well at ease on the mic (and crystal clear compared to the band), while Christian T. has some funny dance moves! Not every band can get someone rocking out while standing on an amplifier, so kudos there! 81 seconds isn't a huge length of time, but compared to the Reels, it's an eternity, so check it out below!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!