LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Soundcheck) & Victoria Day Weekend Concert Previews!!

The Victoria Day (a.k.a. May 2-4) long weekend is drawing near, so let's preview most of this weekend's hard rock and punk concerts, though due to the amount, Sunday's Queen: It's A Kinda Magic concert will be previewed in our next news post. Here's what you should know, starting with SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to Jay's Piston Broke Pub for traditional concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the band only announced the shows on their Facebook page this afternoon, with the venue only following suit after Soundcheck first announced them. Yes, these shows follow their usual Thursday night hosting duties at the former Reggie's West tonight, but those are typically sans-Cameron and we've never treated them as concerts for our purposes due to their unpredictability by design. Fresh off of Esquire Club gigs last week, TOMORROW & SATURDAY'S shows will be Soundcheck's first standard concerts at Jay's since the Bring Back Summer party three weeks ago, and will be their first gigs since Jay's underwent a renovation of some type to the stage area, so it'll be interesting to see what's different compared to the old Rosie days!

For the record, no holiday/long weekend-related themes are suggested for TOMORROW and/or SATURDAY. These shows have no cover charges, 9:30 PM start times, and 19+ age limits as usual, so visit the above links for more details, and here's Soundcheck live!

Next up, we'll move to shows with advance notice, like the highly anticipated return of two legendary hardcore punk bands, as Victoria, British Columbia's own The Dayglo Abortions and Toronto mainstays Random Killing will make their respective Soo Blaster debuts TOMORROW NIGHT! Local fans have been waiting nearly a decade since the last Dayglo set in Sault Ste. Marie (September 2013 at what's now Jay's), so if you're up for another blast of old school punk from The Cretin and company, including cuts from their new album "Upside Down World", head downtown tomorrow! As for Random Killing and their Saultite frontman Andrew "Drool" Kiteley, we last saw them at The Rockstar Bar in July 2019, and it will be great to have them back for another hardcore homecoming of sorts tomorrow, with their own new album "Bring Out Your Dead" also fresh to deliver songs from to the Soo Blaster faithful! Vancouver garage/noise trio Motorama will make their local debut tomorrow as well.

Not a hardcore punk band, but they will help get things on the right foot with their hybrid sound! Local alt-punk trio A Dire Setback will play their first local date of 2023 as the openers in a rare Sault Ste. Marie set post-pandemic, and with usual Dayglo/Random Killing promoter J.D. Pearce moved out of town, their promotion company Live705 have reemerged to put this show on. Great to see A Dire Setback & Live705 back, and this should do well for them! This 19+ concert has an 8:00 PM start time and $20 tickets that you can buy at this link and at the door while available. Hopefully this is a huge show for all involved, so visit the Facebook event page for more details, and here are The Dayglo Abortions live!

Also, let's head a little further downtown to Shooters Downstairs Lounge, where local punk trio Vanity First will make their first appearances TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Following a one-off test of the conceit at Reggie's last month, these will be solo headlining dates akin to cover-centric bands who play on the weekend nightclub circuit, so expect lots of covers along with Andrew, Mikhal, and Keeghan's established originals this weekend! Nothing else too shocking to report for these gigs, but whether you're going to the Dayglos' concert or to see Vanity First tomorrow, punk fans will have a lot to like this weekend! These concerts have 9:00 PM start times, no announced cover charges, and 19+ age limits. Visit the official Facebook event pages linked here & here for more details on Vanity's Shooters debuts this weekend, and here they are live!

Finally, we'll head back up Queen Street East, let's next preview new local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations' gigs at Reggie's Place TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! This union of the final Jus' Chillin lineup and ex-Obsession singer Valerie Powley last took to the stage at The Esquire Club late last month, and they have gotten a good reception for their initial gigs this spring, so hopefully they set things off on the right foot on this holiday long weekend! If you can't make this weekend's shows, or would prefer to see them in the west end, Generations will be back at The Esquire Club next week. Tomorrow & Saturday's Generations concerts have 19+ age limits, no cover charges, and 9:00 PM start times. With the talent and skill level on display from Generations, classic and hard rock fans should find something to like here, so don't miss out at Reggie's this weekend, and here they are live!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes (and the Queen tribute preview) on the site shortly! Thanks everyone!