LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Obsession & Bone Yard), Weekend Concert Previews, And More!!

Before we begin this early weekend concert preview post, here's a surprise concert cancellation, as Toronto metal legends Anvil's show at Soo Blaster on Saturday has been cancelled, as per this Facebook post from the venue, who cited "unforeseen circumstances" for the cancellation but didn't publically elaborate. Very disappointing, but Soo Blaster will refund tickets, and they are planning to announce a rescheduled date for the spring, so stay tuned on that front for sure! With an all-Northern Vibe Festival post dropping tomorrow, let's get an early jump on this weekend's hard rock concert previews, intertwined with some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!

Local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard will return to the public stage for a one-night-only concert at Shooters Downstairs Lounge THIS FRIDAY NIGHT, but along with that previously announced date, they'll also return to The Esquire Club for new shows on Friday, November 18th & Saturday, November 19th! Friday's concert will mark Bone Yard's first truly public concert (as in, not birthday parties, weddings, or anniversaries) since July 18th at the same venue, so if you've missed Greg, Alex, and Warren's hard hitting blend of classic covers at a regular nightclub, you know where to be on Friday! As for November's Esquire Club dates, they are in lieu of what appears to be Tripod The Dog dropping out of that weekend, and will see the current three-piece Bone Yard's first ever appearances at the Second Line West venue, having not taken part in their "Buckets, Bands, and Birds" matinee series earlier in the year.

Hopefully Bone Yard deliver a knockout punch or two when they return to The Esquire Club in three months! Those dates have 9:30 PM start times, no cover charges, and 19+ age limits, and while the same can mostly be said for their Shooters show this Friday, it starts at 8:00 PM. Also, the Saturday band this weekend is L!me. Visit the Shooters concert's Facebook event page and the above links for more details, and here's Bone Yard live!

Next up, here's a couple of other new shows for later this year, as local classic/hard rock cover quartet Obsession will return to Shooters Downstairs Lounge themselves for shows on Friday, November 18th & Saturday, November 19th! The band's website's schedule quietly confirmed both dates, as the venue haven't gotten that far ahead yet for Facebook event page promotion. As you may recall, Obsession surprisingly parted ways with frontwoman Valerie Powley and replaced her with Jessica Amadio (the guest back-up singer from Rotaryfest weekend) last month, and while the new look Obsession did play at Poohfest in White River this past weekend, their local debut with Jess on full lead vocals is currently slated for the fall, barring anything shorter notice beforehand. They'll be at The Esquire Club for two weekends first, but this full weekend booking at Shooters will be Obsession's first there since May.

Obsession's Facebook photos from Poohfest indicate that things went well for Jessica's full debut, but with months ahead, hopefully she and the guys are in full form with no rust when they make it back to the Dennis Street venue in November! As usual for Shooters gigs, expect 8:00 PM start times, 19+ age limits, and no cover charges. Visit the above links for more details, and don't miss Obsession at The Esquire Club over Halloween weekend!

Back to this weekend, let's head to the temporary Legion Bar downstairs at The Marconi Cultural Event Centre, where Hamilton outsider folk/punk musician B.A. Johnston will play his third local concert TOMORROW NIGHT! Fans may recall seeing B.A.'s humorous, unpredictable, "you-had-to-be-there" brand of punk rock at two different venues in 2015 and 2019, but tomorrow's concert will be in relatively unique confines, as The Legion Bar is a temporary space at The Marconi Club to basically host the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 25 while their proper home base on Great Northern Road is demolished and rebuilt. The Legion proper was scarcely highlighted on the SMS as a venue, but hopefully B.A Johnston leaves a positive mark there and that this leads to more concerts while the Legion Bar exists! Shortly before they head to Ophir for Northern Vibe (more on that tomorrow), local instrumental surf rock trio The Dynowaves will open this concert.

Fresh off of dropping out of Rotaryfest and (ironically) Marconi Meets World last month, hopefully The Dynowaves deliver a solid concert for fans in their return! Tickets for this all ages event run for $12 (up from $10 at The New A in 2019), and you can buy them at this link or at The Marconi Club during office hours. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and for a preview, here's a small sampling of the wild, hard-to-describe B.A. Johnston live experience from earlier this year!

We'll last trek south to Sault Michigan, where Madison, Wisconsin hard rock trio Sunspot will return to The Rapids Lounge at the local Kewadin Casino on FRIDAY & SATURDAY NIGHT! Like last year, Sunspot are crossing state lines to play during the Michigan Paranormal Convention (or MiParacon), which is the annual gathering for fans and supporters of everything related to aliens, ghosts, sasquatches, and anything in between, so click here for full details on the convention proper! Sunspot proper are an ideal band to be in town for MiParacon, with their own brand "weird Wisconsin rock anthems" inspired by a wide array of themes and often paranormal events, and their psychedelic and power pop influenced hard rock should be a perfect nightcap to convention attendees! No, you do not need to have a pass for MiParacon to see Sunspot at The Rapids Lounge, it's an adjacent event open to everyone whether you're at the convention or not.

As usual for Rapids Lounge gigs, this is a 21+ event with no cover charge and a 9:00 PM start time. Sunspot is not an easy band to sum up briefly, so definitely look them up and their very eclectic mix of original songs to see what they bring to the table, live and in studio! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Sunspot live at The Rapids Lounge last year! Uploaded to the band's YouTube channel last September (apologies for missing it then), this is one of the better quality live videos I've seen from the Soo Kewadin lounge, and this rendition of "I Don't Wanna Be A Ghost" is fun & lively with strong musicianship, so definitely check it out for yourself below, and don't miss them at the casino!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for our full Northern Vibe Festival preview (lack of a full band schedule acknowledged) tomorrow, with more news to follow over the weekend! Thanks everyone!