LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Fort Creek) & Most Of This Weekend's Hard Rock Concert Previews!!

They say that March comes in like a lion & and goes out like a lamb, and while that may not be a 100% accurate for local hard rock concerts, there are enough to warrant splitting this weekend's concert previews into two posts! As such, our preview of Saturday night's Leash concert will be in tomorrow's news post, and yes, this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post will be slotted in somewhere in the short term. Now, let's start with SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!

Local southern hard rock quintet Fort Creek will return to Jay's Piston Broke Pub for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the band only announced these shows this past Friday on their Facebook page. Last seen at the same venue in January, Fort Creek have been spending the past month+ working in studio, presumably on their long gestating debut EP. They acknowledged on their Facebook page last week that "we've had a few minor setbacks", but they also noted that "we owe (these concerts) to each and every one of you that support us", so look for some hard rocking covers and likely originals at the former Rosie TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! You can rock out with Justin, Shane, Bill, Robin, and Tony TOMORROW & SATURDAY at 9:30 PM with no cover, and these are 19+ events. See above for details, and here's Fort Creek live!

Next up, let's look at some shows this weekend that had more than a week's notice, starting with local metal trio The BAG's return to The Esquire Club for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT! Replacing Mid Life Crysis on the venue's concert calendar for unannounced reasons, tomorrow's show will be The BAG's first of the year, last seen at both The Esquire Club and Reggie's Place in December. Should be another prime opportunity for Spencer, Austin, and Bradley to deliver the goods in both covers and originals alike, so if you want something a little heavier on this side of the border, a trip to this Second Line West venue should do the trick! Tomorrow's concert is indeed a one-nighter, as according to the venue's Facebook page, The Esquire Club is actually closing early on Saturday for an employee appreciation event that night. Hopefully that goes well, it's nice to see staff get some appreciation like this!

As usual for The BAG's Esquire Club shows, tomorrow's gig should have a 19+ age limit, no cover charge, and a 9:00 PM start time. Clearly The BAG are getting good responses to keep getting bookings at The Esquire Club (not traditionally a metal haven), so come on out tomorrow to see what they have up their sleeves! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here are The BAG live!

Now let's take a quick detour to Sault Michigan, where local hard rock quartet Tarnished will return to their home turf with shows at The Rapids Lounge at the local Kewadin Casino branch TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! These had advance notice via Kewadin's entertainment page, and we covered them at the time. While fans in the E.U.P. have only been waiting a month to see Tarnished live again following their Rapids Lounge dates in early February, they haven't been idle in the interim, hitting the road for concerts in Grand Rapids and Toledo, Ohio in the ensuing weeks. Both appear to have went well, and hopefully they made lots of fans down south last month!  A good reception from Yooper faithful should await Tarnished tomorrow & Saturday night, so don't miss out on all of the action! Tomorrow's and Saturday's shows have 9:00 PM start times, 21+ age limits, and no cover charges, as usual for Kewadin's lounges.

I can't embed this as a preview video as it was posted in a comment on Tarnished's Facebook page on February 17th, but a 17 second clip was posted by attendee Gerald de Boer from an outdoor gig at Hulbert House Bed & Breakfast in August 2021 (if accurately dated, one of this lineup's first sets), featuring a seemingly impromptu introduction by "Hooligan Joe". Vertically shot and not that long, but a fun look at how a Tarnished concert may kick off, so check it out on their Facebook page, and for a preview of this weekend's Rapids Lounge shows, here's a fuller live video!

Finally for today's previews, we'll head back to Sault Ontario, where local southern hard rock cover trio Bone Yard will play a rare Water Tower Pub gig on SATURDAY NIGHT! This Great Northern Road venue only sporadically hosts hard rock-leaning bands, so if you're in the central part of town and want to enjoy some southern fried classic and hard rock covers, don't bypass this one-nighter! No word on if Bone Yard still have t-shirts to sell, but their Facebook page has been hyping up "the Bone Yard shot", which appears to be a heavy duty shot of liquor that they've concocted, and if you can "survive" drinking it, you'll get a sticker for your accomplishment. That's a new one as local bands go! Remember, The Water Tower Pub traditionally hosts separate acts on Fridays and Saturdays rather than doubling up like most other cover band-friendly nightclubs in town, but I have not heard what artist or band is playing there tomorrow night.

Water Tower Pub shows have an earlier 8:00 PM start time, a 19+ age limit, and no cover charge. Visit the above links for more details on Bone Yard's show on Saturday, stay tuned for updates on their recent studio teasers, and here they are live in a recent concert!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for our Leash preview and more on the site next! Thanks everyone!