LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Rotaryfest Stage 2) And More Updates!!

Strike while the iron's hot, as they say, so let's wrap up our LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS concerning this year's Rotaryfest lineups, as well as some shorter recent updates to round things out. Here's what you should know!

As promised, here's what you should know about Rotaryfest's Stage 2 lineup for 2023! After a two year pandemic hiatus, the Second Stage returned to the Clergue Park stage beside the Art Gallery of Algoma last year with a new two night format, featuring the 2015-2019 Saturday lineup of original indie/alternative-leaning bands supplemented by a Friday Night Blues lineup curated by the Sault Blues Society. That appears to have went over well, as it's happening again in 2023! Like last year, there's no heavier bands playing on Friday, July 15th, with the expanded five band roster (revealed in this SooToday article) including the returning Rusty McCarthy Band (in Rusty's fourth topline appearance on Stage 2) at 8:30 PM, blues/rockabilly quartet The Steeltown Playboys (who played the drive-in Rotaryfest in 2021) at 7:30 PM, reunited local progressive rock band The Hyperion Effect (new to any Rotaryfest stage) at 6:30 PM, ...

...2022 Stage 1 performers All The Tired Horses (featuring Treble Charger's Bill Priddle) at 5:30 PM, and blues rock veterans Smokehouse (also returning from Stage 2 last year) at 4:30 PM. Should be a fine way to embrace the blues and support the Sault Blues Society, so consider checking that out if you like the sounds of this lineup!

As for the main lineup on Saturday, July 16th, eight acts will take the stage (down one from last year), and like on Stage 1, half of these bands are festival newcomers! Fresh off of their high profile album release, local alt-hard rock quintet Handsome Sandwich will headline Stage 2 at 8:30 PM in their second year on the bill, and it'll be good to see their momentum continue with a strong placement at Rotaryfest! Local progressive rock mainstays Machines Dream will co-headline at 7:30 PM, just over a month after the two bands perform at the Sault Community Theatre Centre for Soo Soundcheck. Counting their 2010 set as The Craig West Band, 2023 will mark Machines Dream's record sixth appearance on the Second Stage (seventh at Rotaryfest period counting 2021), so that'll be worth noting for fans! As well, it has since been revealed by Machines Dream that their original lineup is reuniting for gigs this summer, Rotaryfest included.

While not a metal band, Machines Dream are ultra talented, so don't miss them in July either! Young local indie rock band The Hollow Heads will return from last year for a set at 6:30 PM, while fellow Clusterfolk alums Distich will bring their folk/indie originals to Rotaryfest for the first time at 5:30 PM. Veteran local folk singer/songwriter M.D. Dunn will play his fourth Stage 2 set and first since 2018 at 4:30 PM, and the opening three acts are all Second Stage newcomers. Rising local folk musician Matthew James (who just moved here last year) gets the 3:30 PM slot, while veteran singer/guitarist Brian Tremblay will surprisingly make his first ever solo appearance at Rotaryfest at 2:30 PM. The opening band at 1:30 PM will actually be new local hard rock quartet Far From Fine (née Ravencore) in their first announced show of 2023, though you'll have seen 3/4ths of the band play Rotaryfest on both stages in the past.

As always, Stage 2 is FREE and ALL AGES, and this year's lineup has a nice balance of new faces and familiar standbys to take in, plus some heavier counterweights to bookend the proceedings! Weather permitting, this should be all be a fun time for local music fans, so visit the above links for more on Stage 2, Stage 1, and the rest of this year's Rotaryfest festivities!

We'll close today with some assorted recent updates, and as usul, these are in alphabetical order by artist name:

 

• In a clarification of their announced summer concert schedule, local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard (who are not playing Stage 1 this year) have confirmed that they will be subbing in for Soundcheck as hosts of the Thursday jam night at Jay's Piston Broke Pub in all three of the weekends that they're booked for this summer, now including June 29th and August 17th. Reasons for the switch were not announced, but if Soundcheck's okay with the breaks, hopefully fans and jammers will be too! In a comment reply in a personal Facebook share of the updated schedule, frontman Greg Simpson confirmed that they are not playing at Jay's next Saturday due to a private booking elsewhere.
• The aforementioned Far From Fine confirmed on their Facebook page yesterday that they are currently recording at Mission Control Studios, sharing a picture of drummer Austin "Mickey" McCrae laying a track down. This is presumably for the debut album that they have been teasing since the then-Ravencore mentioned said plans in this SooToday article after last year's Toystock. Definitely good to see and hear, so stay tuned for more from Far From Fine when it's announced!
• SooToday contributor Chris Belsito posted this article on May 18th in the wake of the latest Mikey & His Uke cover video (covering Nine Inch Nails' "Wish" with Tony Hawk on vocals), which confirms new details about the video. Tony's scenes were filmed in his San Diego hometown, and yes, that was Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor in a cameo! The man welding behind Mikey Hawdon in his scenes is actually Mikey's dad Ken, who is a steelworker, and Mikey has gotten to know Tony well through online chats around their four collaborations so far. Fun read, so check it out above!
  

 

That's all for now, but stay tuned for this month's YouTube Channel Profile on the site next! Thanks everyone!