LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Oktoberfest) & New Concert Videos!!

Two topic news post to check out on this Saturday morning, including some new live concert videos, but let's lead off with big LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for next month regarding a notable fall event!

Local psychedelic hard rock quartet The Uncanny Valley and funk/hard rock cover band The Wyld Stallyns will both be on the lineup for this year's Oktoberfest outside of The Machine Shop on the weekend of October 14th-15th! Oktoberfest is not a foreign concept locally, as fans of LopLops' version from the 2010s will attest, but LopLops has only been open on a limited basis during the pandemic. Outspoken Brewing hosted their own pandemic-affected Oktoberfest last fall, and with life much more normal now than it was last year, things are scaled up to where Outspoken had always envisioned them, including a two day lineup for fans of live music, family entertainment, and yes, beer. German frills are to be expected, with Oktoberfest proper taking place once again at The Rink, which is the ice skating rink at the Canal District, transformed next month into a Munich biergarten. Click here for current non-musical details!

The Uncanny Valley are the headline act on Saturday, October 15th, rocking out at the 11:00 PM timeslot, so look for their old school hard rock attack then! Co-headlining that day at 9:00 PM are Bookclub, a new local band featuring all of the Inner City Surfers (except Brad Example) and former Room 206 drummer Al Watson. Despite the punk provenance, the description on the website says that Bookclub will be playing indie rock, covering acts like Devo and Weezer. Very interesting, seemingly leaning more to 1980s and 1990s acts from what I've gathered, it'll be interesting to hear how they sound! The Wyld Stallyns are playing on the 15th at 7:00 PM & on Friday, the 14th at 8:00 PM, with the description noting that the full lineup will be on hand, including guest saxophonist Josh Norling (they don't call him a guest, but he doesn't play every Stallyns gig). Hopefully they knock it out of the park both nights as usual!

Other local bands scheduled for Oktoberfest in three weeks include Friday headliners The Hustle Brothers covering classic soul & R&B music at 10:00 PM, new(?) traditional German band Nein German Guys both days (6:00 PM on Friday, 5:00 PM on Saturday), and classic rock cover duo Frankly Speaking on Saturday at 3:00 PM. Note that Friday's schedule of events is shorter and more focused around beer/partying (starting at 5:00 PM), while Saturday's has an extended afternoon block from 12:00 PM onward of family entertainment before getting back to brass tax. Tickets for Oktoberfest run for $45 for a single day or $70 for the full weekend, and can be bought at this link. Aside from the 12:00-5:00 PM block on Saturday, this is a 19+ event, but if you want to bring the kids when able, their tickets cost $5. Adult tickets also include an official Oktoberfest glass mug (stein, if you prefer) and a free 20 oz. draught.

Definitely a lot to take in for Oktoberfest's second go-around under Outspoken Brewing's curation, but fans of Oktoberfest, beer, and a good time should be up for all of that next month, and hopefully the weather holds up! Nicely varied lineup hitting both traditional and more contemporary boxes, so definitely visit the official Facebook event page and the above links for ongoing details on Oktoberfest 2022!

Finally for today, here's some new videos of a band known to plug shows on the promise of having a beer (or as they call it, a "wobbly pop"), namely classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck! Drummer Glen Thomas had the camera rolling for their Reggie's West jam night on Thursday the 15th, and he uploaded three guest jammer-free videos to his YouTube channel two days later. As usual for their jam night hosting duties, singer/guitarist Cameron Oliver was absent, but so was bassist Paul Belair (or Rob Gilmar, for that matter), with Terry and Glen instead enlisting Cory Valentine, a Toronto-based Saultite who has guested off and on with Soundcheck since at least 2019. The three videos include covers of Men At Work's "Who Can It Be Now?", The Tragically Hip's "New Orleans Is Sinking", and as embedded below, an extended "winging it" jam of Bryan Adams' "Run To You". 

The sharp corner angle with Cory & Terry at the extreme edges of the video frame isn't super ideal, but these are fun performances of these 1980s rock staples, and even as a three piece with a guest bassist as jam night hosts, you can see why Soundcheck draw in a crowd! Give these a watch above & below, and don't miss them tonight at The Esquire Club!

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