LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Double Down, Soundcheck, And Tym Morrison) And Weekend Concert Previews!!

We're still a week out from Rotaryfest, but this weekend is proving to be quite a busy one itself, so this weekend's hard rock concert previews are being broken up into two posts. As such, the Go North Music Festival, Handsome Sandwich, and Project 906 (all previously announced as taking place on Saturday) will be covered in our next post, while the late notice and Friday gigs are in this one. Let's lead off with a bunch of LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (some on SHORT NOTICE), as well as some new live videos of two bands playing this weekend!

Local classic/hard rock cover solo musician Tym Morrison will pick up his acoustic guitar and return to The Mike Case Memorial Stage outside of The Trading Post TOMORROW NIGHT and every Friday of this and next month! Apologies for the short notice on TOMORROW'S show, it was only announced via the Facebook event page for all eight Trading Post gigs. Of course, long-time followers of Tym's solo career will know that weekly arrangements at a non-typical concert venue are nothing new for him, and he has done this at the Mike Case Memorial Stage a few times now, most recently via a (more or less) weekly series last year that took place on Wednesday evenings from June to September (when The Trading Post closes for the season). Having 2023's on Fridays will be better for most schedule-wise, and hopefully there's a decent turnout and weather for Tym TOMORROW, next Friday, and on the 21st, 28th, and beyond!

Like in past instances of a regular weekly series, I'll wait to add Tym's August dates until closer to, and be advised that his September dates last year got short notice announcements at best. You can see the Nostalgia frontman TOMORROW and on the other dates at 7:00 PM with no age limits or cover charges. As the Mike Case Stage is outdoors, 9&10 News is calling for partly cloudy weather at 22°, which is a good start for this summer series! Visit the above links for more on all eight of Tym's trading post gigs this summer (so far?), and here he is live!

Next up, newer local classic/hard rock cover quartet Double Down will return to Jay's Piston Broke Pub TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice, the band only announced these shows via their Facebook page on Monday. One week out from their Rotaryfest Stage 1 debut, this new supergroup of That's Chester, Mojo, Mustang Heart, and 100 Gran alumni will play their first shows at the former Reggie's West since their first gigs there last month. With a talented lineup at their disposal, hopefully the guys deliver a strong weekend of hard rocking classics TOMORROW & SATURDAY! These are 19+ events with 9:30 PM start times and no cover charges. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's two new videos of Double Down live at Jay's their last time out on June 10th! Bassist Brad Stephen uploaded these to his YouTube channel last month, his first videos there in 3+ years.

An uncredited attendee filmed them (horizontally!) covering Mack Rice's "Mustang Sally" (with guitarist Adam King on vocals) and, as embedded below, Sugarloaf's "Green-Eyed Lady" with frontman Joel Syrette singing lead. Both of these songs are 6+ minutes long, so you get a nice sense of Double Down's range and talent as they jam through these, and the dark lighting is actually accentuated rather well once things come on for the songs themselves. Good stuff, so check these out above & below, and don't miss Double Down back at Jay's TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT!

Also this weekend, fellow local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will headline this year's 45th annual Goulais River Community Days on SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies again for the short notice, Soundcheck only confirmed their involvement on their Facebook page earlier today, but "Sound Check" were advertised in festival promotions beforehand. This is nothing new for Soundcheck, having played at Community Days last year as well, but unlike last year's 19+ "adult dance" at 9:00 PM, this is advertised as a "family dance" at 6:00 PM on SATURDAY. It was confirmed that organizers do not have a liquor license for this year's festival, hence the change for Soundcheck's set, and you can read more about what is and isn't occurring on SATURDAY at the Goulais River Area Recreation & Events Facebook group. Music was also cut back, with only the returning 17 North (at noon) also playing that day.

I rarely promote concerts on the SMS on the basis of "you can drink beer!", as that shouldn't the point over the musicians at most gigs, but this may be a concern for some who are used to alcohol being available at Community Days, so keep that in mind. The music will still be rocking, of course! As best as I can gather, Soundcheck's set/the dance will occur at the Captain Tilley Community Centre at 592 ON-552 once again, though no word on if singer/guitarist Terry Eaton will resume his DJ duties from last year. Admission is $5 for most, $4 for seniors 65+, and free for kids 4 and under all weekend, but SATURDAY is the only day with advertised bands. See above for more details, and here's Soundcheck live!

We'll close this preview post with a show that did get advance notice, namely local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard's return to Shooters Downstairs Lounge TOMORROW NIGHT! While not newly promoted by the band this week, this will be Bone Yard's first Shooters gig since playing there for a full weekend just two weeks ago. Like Soundcheck, Bone Yard are not playing at Rotaryfest this year, and with their Sudbury road trip in two weeks, this may be as close as you get to seeing them again this month in the Soo, so consider heading down to the Dennis Street nightclub for all of the action tomorrow! A one-nighter due to or resulting in a video dance party at Shooters on Saturday, tomorrow's Bone Yard concert has a 19+ age limit, 9:00 PM start time, and no cover charge. Visit the Facebook event page for more details, and for a preview, here's some of Bone Yard's new live concert videos from their concerts this past weekend!

An attendee had cameras rolling for live-streamed videos at both their Jay's Piston Broke Pub show on Friday and Poutine Feast on Saturday (nothing at Jay's on Saturday though), with three videos at the former and four at the latter. I'll save the Poutine Feast ones for an upcoming post, but at Jay's, Bone Yard were filmed covering Van Halen's "Eruption" & The Kinks' "You Really Got Me" back to back, The Foo Fighters' "Monkey Wrench", and as embedded below, Wild Cherry's "Play That Funky Music". Vertical camera angle aside, these are well shot videos with good close views of Greg, Alex, and Warren playing some covers not filmed often at their gigs, and they sound good overall, so check these out for yourself!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for the rest of this weekend's hard rock concert previews next! Thanks everyone!