LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Soundcheck & Scarkazm), Weekend Concert Previews, And More!!

Another weekend is upon us for concert previews, including ones with attached SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS! The post also ends with clarification on a scheduled event that I don't think is taking place on Saturday night, and if you're wondering, our preview of Tym Morrison's late notice matinee show on Sunday will topline our next formal news post. Now, here's what you should know!

We'll start in St. Ignace, Michigan, where Traverse City metal trio Scarkazm will return to the stage for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT, and...TONIGHT(?!) at The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino branch! Apologies for the short notice on TONIGHT's show, the band only confirmed the added day on their Facebook page on Monday, but Kewadin had confirmed that Scarkazm were pulling a rare triple header via the official Facebook event page launched last month. The rare triple booking at The Northern Pines Lounge appears to be as a tie-in with the Labatt Blue UP Pond Hockey Championships, which take place this weekend at nearby Chain Lake, which is in Moran Township 10 minutes south of the St. Ignace Kewadin. Full details on the tournament proper can be found at this link, and Scarkazm are playing TONIGHT to coincide with the meet & greet held at the casino.

Of course, their previously announced shows tomorrow & Saturday night will be more normal affairs, so don't miss out on  Dave, Adam, and Jeff's hard hitting covers & select originals TONIGHT or then! Admission for all three shows is free (I don't believe tournament registration or tickets are required to just go to the lounge as normal), these are all 21+ events, and all have 9:00 PM start times. Visit the above links for more details, apologies again for the late notice TONIGHT, and here's Scarkazm live!

Next up, Sault Ontario classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to Shooters Downstairs Lounge for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice, neither the band nor venue have plugged these shows on their respective Facebook pages at press time, and I only heard that they were a thing via drummer Glen Thomas' personal Facebook page earlier this week. Their first gigs at Shooters since adding bassist Jim Michaud to the fold, TOMORROW & SATURDAY's concerts follow their usual open mic/jam night hosting duties at Jay's Piston Broke Pub tonight. Despite the lack of online notice from public sources, hopefully Soundcheck's partying brand of classic and hard rock covers (and some country) goes over well on Dennis Street once again this weekend! As usual for Soundcheck there, expect 8:00 PM start times, no cover, and 19+ age limits. See above for more details, and here's Soundcheck live!

Next up, we'll look at some hard rock shows this weekend that did have advance notice, starting with southern hard rock cover trio Bone Yard's return to Jay's Piston Broke Pub for shows TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Bone Yard and Soundcheck basically traded venues this weekend, as Soundcheck had been the Friday-Saturday band at Jay's last week, while Bone Yard rocked Shooters, so keep that in mind whether you're up for a downtown or west end trip. Last seen at the former Reggie's West at the end of January, this weekend's shows should prove to be another chance for Bone Yard to deliver their down & dirty brand of hard edged and classic covers for their fans (a.k.a. Boneheads), so don't miss out on Greg, Alex, and Warren in action tomorrow and/or Saturday! These have 9:30 PM start times with 19+ age limits and no cover, and limited band t-shirts will be on sale. See above for more details, and here's Bone Yard live!

Finally for today, I wanted to acknowledge a Sault Ontario concert announced for this Saturday night that I have serious doubts about the status of. Last fall, Ravencore drummer/ex-Brutally Fatal frontman Austin "Jayrald Micky" McCrae announced plans to hold a tribute concert/celebration of life for his brother Matthew Nadon, who passed away suddenly on August 27th at just 24 years old (read his obituary at this link). I'm not familiar with Matthew as a musician, but he was learning bass at one point, and he definitely had many friends in & out of the scene, so a tribute show does make sense. Original plans were to host it at Shooters in late November before being delayed to this weekend for unannounced reasons. Advertising for the event had Ravencore (in just their second ever live concert set) playing alongside No Filter (the new noise rock band from AlgomA/Bad Back alum Jamie Vincent), though neither have online pages to promote this show.

A personal Facebook posting noted that Chase Wigmore was also slated to play this event, but regardless, it doesn't look like the tribute show is happening. As noted above, Soundcheck are playing at Shooters on SATURDAY, there have been no posts on the Facebook event page since the date change, and Shooters haven't plugged it whatsoever on their own Facebook page (nor has their new upstairs sister venue The Queen Of Hearts Club, and I thought of that possibility initially). Given the nature of this event, you'd hope that it at least gets rescheduled, assuming it was called off, so we'll keep you guys posted when and if we hear anything about it, stay tuned for more news on the site shortly, and R.I.P. Matthew!