LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (The Northwest & Bookclub), Plus Two Inactive Band Notes!!

We're back with a new news post on this Monday morning, and it's half devoted to LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS and half to bands newly moved to our inactive band links. Here's what you should know!

As is usual for LopLops Lounge (at least in years not ravaged by a pandemic), the Queen Street East nightclub is ramping up their concert slate for the holiday season, partly due to their 20th anniversary and recently announced grand re-opening on a more regular pre-pandemic schedule. These include six newly announced dates in December plus the previously announced Fuller reunion concert on the 28th ($20 tickets are now on sale on Eventbrite!). Of these new shows, two fit the SMS' genre range, starting with online page-less alternative/punk cover quintet Bookclub, who will headline at LopLops on Friday, December 15th! Barring an interim show announcement, this will be Bookclub's first show since frontman Mikey Hawdon's pre-wedding party at Soo Blaster earlier this month, and will be an encore to the Christmas show that they shared with The Wyld Stallyns at LopLops in December 2022.

If a second band (The Stallyns or otherwise) are announced or added for the show next month, we'll let you know, but current Facebook advertising only credits Bookclub. That show was Bookclub's second period, so with a year of gigs since, things should be bigger and better for them on the 15th next month! Tickets run for the oddly specific price of $18 (plus online processing fees if bought on Eventbrite), while 10 person "party ticket" packages are available for $180 that also include (presumably alcoholic) drinks. Things start at the early-ish time of 8:00 PM and this is obviously a 19+ event. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details!

Next up, the other SMS-amenable LopLops show taking place next month will see local indie punk quintet The Northwest return to the stage on Friday, December 22nd! This will surprisingly be The Northwest's first public concert since the Go North Music Festival in Richards Landing in July, and their first in city limits since May. While I don't know why they've been so quiet in 2023, hopefully they deliver a solid night of original favourites as they mark their 10th anniversary together! No word on why all of LopLops' advertising omits the "The" tacked onto The Northwest's name in 2021, but note that the band proper has yet to publically acknowledge this show on their Facebook page. Similarly, personal Facebook postings do indicate that a known local band will be opening for them on December 22nd, but their identity has not been publically confirmed online by them, The Northwest, or the venue at press time.

Both this and the Bookclub show above are 19+ affairs with 8:00 PM start times, but The Northwest show will be a cheaper night out, with $10 tickets (plus the usual added fees) available at this link, and another "party ticket" deal with included drinks available for $100 for a party of 10. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and see above for much more on LopLops' packed concert calendar next month!

We'll close today with two bands moved to our inactive band links, starting with local Foo Fighters tribute band The Soo Fighters, who have went over one year since their last public activity, last being seen opening for Metallica tribute band Sandman at Soo Blaster in October of last year. After playing two gigs in the fall of 2017, frontman Jules Cote (and his Dave Grohl wig) resurrected The Soo Fighters with a series of new lineups starting in the fall of 2019, with guitarist Wes Greco joining him throughout alongside three different rhythm sections, also later adding backing vocalist Nicole Ambeault. Revival era-concerts also included J.D. Pearce's final Halloween party at The Rockstar Bar in 2019, the 2021 & 2022 Northern Vibe Festivals, and a Rockstar Bar return for Halloween 2021 with their then-sister band Lockdown.

Given the nature of The Soo Fighters, they could theoretically pop up again at any time (especially around Halloween), but it does seem like Jules & Nicole have put more focus on his current pop rock cover bands like Bourbon Blue and Nicky & The Southpaws, not to mention final bassist & drummer Mitch Sirie & Johnny Belanger's work in Handsome Sandwich & The Bear Hunters. Still, despite frequent lineup changes (I counted twelve band members across their seven publically advertised gigs), The Soo Fighters always had a crowd-friendly grasp on Foo Fighters classics, so hopefully we see them again down the line, and R.I.P., Chris!

Finally, the other band moved to our inactive link is local classic metal/hard rock cover trio The Nostalgic Band, who have reportedly dissolved, as per bassist Randy "Dutch" Vanderploeg on their Facebook group two weeks ago. Dutch explained that he and drummer Chet Dziergas left the group, but I'll refrain from elaborating here other than nothing that there were personal differences. Originally named Nostalgia, this group reunited Dutch with his old Caveman Morrison bandmate Tym Morrison (in his first full band project in seven years), and proceeded to play a number of gigs on the weekend nightclub circuit between May and September, last seen at Reggie's midway through that month. Despite announcing gigs into 2024 at three different venues, including a weekly jam night series at Reggie's, all of their announced bookings from late September onward were abruptly cancelled.

While Dutch suggested that the group be taken down due to their breakup (he was one to delete Facebook pages of bands that he fronted after they disbanded), Tym leaving the group up may be a sign that he wants to keep it going in some form, but that's just speculation on my part. The Nostalgic Band were a solid group with seemingly good chemistry, and I can only hope that things aren't as bad as they seemed between the guys. Stay tuned for more from Tym, Dutch, and Chet when/if it comes out, and for more news and notes on the site this week! Thanks everyone!