LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (The Dayglo Abortions & Soundcheck), Plus More Recent Updates!!

Third post in two days, as there are LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS to take note of on this busy St. Patrick's Day weekend, two on SHORT NOTICE! Rounding things out are some shorter items, so here's what you should know!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will reportedly return to The Esquire Club for concerts TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! I profusely apologize for the short notice, the band has not promoted these shows on their Facebook page (sadly not that unexpected), with the venue's Facebook page only first announcing them last night. That said, these dates were originally advertised to be featuring bassist Jim Michaud's old band Obsession by them and the venue alike, so the possibility that Soundcheck took on Obsession's announced 2023 bookings (schedules permitting) is noted, and if so, keep an eye on March 31st & April 1st at Shooters next. TONIGHT & TOMORROW'S concerts are definitely St. Patrick's Day themed, with The Esquire Club revealing that there will be free pool TONIGHT, drink and wings specials, green-dyed beer, and porketta TOMORROW before Soundcheck's nighttime concert.

Also, the Gael Force pipe & drum band will bring some Irish music flair to both porketta and, in a downscaled form, as rare openers for Soundcheck TONIGHT, so keep that in mind for your seasonal entertainment despite the late notice! Expect a 9:00 PM start time TONIGHT (9:30 PM TOMORROW), no cover charges, and 19+ age limits. Visit the above links for more details on Soundcheck's newest entertaining classic & hard rock cover-filled weekend, and here they are live at The Esquire Club!

Next up, a big hardcore punk show was announced last night, as Victoria, British Columbia hardcore punk legends The Dayglo Abortions and Toronto hardcore punk veterans Random Killing will return to Sault Ste. Marie on Friday, May 19th at Soo Blaster! While a mid-2010s return was once teased, this show will mark the first Dayglo Abortions show here since they headlined at the former Roosevelt Hotel back in September of 2013, so if you've missed the Cretin and crew's intense, well travelled brand of old school punk rock, this will be more than well waited by genre fans! As for Random Killing (fronted by Saultite Andrew Kiteley), we've seen them twice since then via gigs at The Rockstar Bar, most recently in July 2019, so while they're fresher in fans' minds, it's still been too long to see Mr. Magoo in a mohawk dotted around a concert venue, and their explosive hardcore punk originals should be well received in two months as well in this hardcore homecoming!

Vancouver garage/noise trio Motorama will also come along for this tour in their local debut, and while Motorama take more of a genre hybrid approach, they have more than enough punk attitude and aggression to fit in on this tour, so don't bypass them on May 19th! Local alt-punk trio A Dire Setback will open this one in a rare pandemic-era live set within city limits,  and this should be a good chance to see what Chris, Matt, and Nick have been up to in studio if you missed their festival and benefit gigs in the last two years! With 2010s Dayglo/Random Killing promoter J.D. Pearce moved out of town, promotional duties have fallen to A Dire Setback's own company Live705 in their first announced booking since the pandemic began, and hopefully this is just the first of many more shows to come from them, so make this one a success to encourage more bookings!

No word on the potential Tangents concert that Live705 floated earlier this year though. This stop on The Dayglo Abortions' Upside Down Tour is a 19+ event with an 8:00 PM start time, and admission will be $20 in advance at this link or $30 at the door (for reference, the 2019 Random Killing show was $15 in advance or $20 at the door, so add in The Dayglos and the value is more than justified). Many a local punk fan has been waiting for a touring concert like this, so do not miss out on all of the action at Soo Blaster in two months, and visit the above links for more details!

Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist name:

• Local alt-hard rock quintet Handsome Sandwich's second advance single for their debut album "Deconstructed" was released to "all streaming services" (if by "all", you mean Apple Music, Amazon Music, Spotify, and Tidal) on Wednesday, so head to any of the four to hear "Better Off" in all of its studio splendor! A planned music video for the song has been delayed due to "complications", as per a comment reply on their post on their Facebook page about the single release. I'll hold comment on the song pending our album review this summer, but give "Better Off" a listen, and stay tuned for the video release!
• New-ish local noise punk duo No Funeral's self-titled debut album got a surprise review by Jeff Sorley of the indie/punk music website That's Good Enough For Me last week, which is as much about telling us who they aren't (as in, not other bands named No Funeral) as it is about the album contents. No rating, he just says "it's pretty good", but hey, I'm sure Jamie & Connor will take that! Give it a read above!
• Local indie/punk quintet The Northwest will play their first ever Southern Ontario gig on Tuesday, April 4th when they headline at The Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto! This concert is part of the venue's Nu-Music Night series, where rising bands take the stage on a Tuesday night for a free show, with The Northwest being joined here by Napanee ska punk band Master Nate & The Reprobates, Windsor rock quartet Two Years Apart, and Niagara Falls indie rock band Real Kevin. Keep this in mind if you're near the GTA, click here for details, and best of luck on the road!
   

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes in the coming days! Thanks everyone!