LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Bone Yard & Soundcheck) And Weekend Concert Previews!!

Another weekend is upon us, and with May now in full swing, there's a decent amount of hard rock/punk concerts to check out in the Sault Ste. Marie area! So much so that there are too many for one post, so I'm moving Saturday night's Handsome Sandwich concert to tomorrow's post, so look for that then, and now, let's lead off our previews with SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS from two bands!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to Shooters Downstairs Lounge for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the band only announced these shows on their Facebook page this morning, and the venue has not confirmed them on their own Facebook page at press time. Last seen at Shooters early last month, these shows come fresh off of Soundcheck's usual jam night hosting duties at Jay's tonight, and their last traditional gigs (also at Jay's) last week, including the "Bring Back Summer" party that was on the Saturday only. TOMORROW & SATURDAY'S shows aren't their only Shooters commitments though, as Soundcheck have actually signed on as judges for Shooters' karaoke talent quest competition taking place from this Sunday through August 13th, with a $1,000 cash prize and a Las Vegas trip awaiting the winner. Click here for more details!

Interesting jump for Terry, Cameron, Jim, and Glen, but hopefully they have fun on Sunday nights this summer and discover some new talent in the process! If you'd rather see them with instruments in hand, playing some classic and hard rock covers for your delectation, be at Shooters TOMORROW and/or SATURDAY NIGHT! These shows have 19+ age limits, no cover charges, and 9:00 PM start times. See above for more details, and here's Soundcheck live at a private event last month!

Next up, local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard will return to Jay's Piston Broke Pub for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice, Bone Yard only announced these shows on their Facebook page on Monday, and the way they phrased the post ("Well well BoneHeads!!! What do ya know!!!") suggests that it was somewhat unexpected on their end too. Last seen at the same venue two weeks ago, the guys have been busy working on original music in studio since, as seen via this "Reel" of the guys checking out one of frontman Greg Simpson's drum tracks on a computer. What we hear sounds good, but are these sessions leading to an album of some kind? We'll keep you posted! Bone Yard also confirmed on Sunday that they will return to Sudbury for at least one show in July at The Coulson Entertainment Center, date(s) unclear, so keep that in mind if you're that far east.

If you're up for Bone Yard's brand of southern-fried classic and hard rock covers, consider a trip to the former Reggie's West TOMORROW and/or SATURDAY NIGHT! Expect 9:30 PM start times, no cover charges, and 19+ age limits both nights, while Bone Yard t-shirts and their shot will also be available. See above for more details, and here's Bone Yard live!

We'll next take a detour to the Eastern Upper Peninsula, as Manistique, Michigan hard rock duo Fyrbird will return to The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Announced with lots of advance notice on the band's and venue's ends, these will be their first gigs in our coverage range since rocking the Soo Kewadin three weeks ago, but of course, they do hit towns in the western parts of Chippewa and Mackinac County (plus venues in Luce County) more frequently, so do visit their Facebook group for their 2023 calendar. Jamie and Rikk should have a hard hitting weekend of covers in store for fans in St. Ignace both nights, so don't miss out on all of the action! Expect 21+ age limits, no cover charges, and 9:00 PM start times. See above for more details, and for a preview, here's two videos from Fyrbird's Friday nighter at The Rapids Lounge in Sault Ste. Marie last month!

These were live-streamed by frontman Jamie Hider's wife Shannon for her personal Facebook page and were subsequently shared to Fyrbird's Facebook group. One is a 26 second clip of a nice drum solo by Rikk Corwin, and the other (embedded below) sees the guys playing 10 minutes worth of music, including covers of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama" (joined in progress), Warren Zevon's "Werewolves of London", Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble's "Pride & Joy", and AC/DC's "Highway To Hell". The vertical camera angle is very unfortunate, especially with the lack of fans on the floor, but the covers come through well and have a good grit to them, so check them out for yourselves below!

Finally for today's previews, let's head back to Sault Ontario for the returning 11th annual edition of the Sault Ste. Marie Festival of Beer, which goes down THIS SATURDAY at the Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre! While not historically a concert hotbed, this year's installment will welcome three acts to the stage near the museum's main entrance, including online page-less alternative/punk quintet Bookclub, funk/hard rock cover sextet The Wyld Stallyns, and singer Gabrielle Dumas (now advertised as a solo act in place of her pop rock band The Hollow Heads for unannounced reasons). Nice varied selection that should have something for everyone on Saturday! Of course, you can expect beer at the Festival of Beer via 20 provincial craft breweries, plus other local vendors, so visit the above links and organizers LopLops Lounge's Facebook page for full non-musical details! Obviously given the theme, this is a 19+ event, and it runs on Saturday from 1:00-7:00 PM.

As such, if you're concerned about this conflicting with Handsome Sandwich's release party, don't worry! While musician timeslots are not out, Bookclub are the headliners with The Stallyns in the middle. Limited tickets are still available at this link for $38.15 ($35 in person at the Bushplane Museum), which may be steep, but remember what's being offered here, especially for the craft beer aficionado. Should be a fun time for beer fans, and with some solid local music to boot, so visit the above links for much more on the Festival of Beer, and here's Bookclub live!

 

That's all for today, but stay tuned for our Handsome Sandwich preview and more tomorrow! Thanks everyone!