Toystock X Concert Preview, Plus A New Video!!

Here is our extended preview of a major charity concert event returning TOMORROW, as Toystock returns for its tenth installment! Returning to The Grand Gardens on Great Northern Road for a seventh year and for its second year period since a 2020-2021 pandemic hiatus, this is an annual fundraiser concert for Christmas Cheer, with the conceit of 10 bands playing across 10 hours, all donating their time for the cause. Entry is via donation of new/gently used toys, non-perishable food items, or (if you prefer) cash, but there is no ticket/cover fee if you donate food or toys. At this time of year, helping families in need with donations to ensure that they have a happy and less stressful Christmas is a wonderful idea, so definitely give generously where possible if you're coming to Toystock X tomorrow! As usual, numerous family activities and non-musical entertainment can also be enjoyed during the day.

A children' play area, face painting, and more are to be expected to entertain the kids during this all ages event, and Santa Claus will be stopping by as well! Get full non-musical details at this link. Now to the music, and this year's headliners at 9:00 PM tomorrow are local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard in their third show in as many days and their record ninth Toystock set (only missing 2013). Frontman Greg Simpson promotes Toystock through his GS Entertainment (formerly [Choose] Maxx Entertainment) banner, and kudos to him for putting in so much work for Christmas Cheer and helping those in need since 2012! Bone Yard's southern fried classic and hard rock covers should end the evening with a bang, so stick around until the end to see them in action! Newer local pop rock cover band Bourbon Blue will co-headline Toystock X at 8:00 PM in their second year taking part in the festivities.

Bourbon Blue feature alumni of the inactive Soo Fighters, and while not as hard rock-focused as that tribute band, don't bypass them! One of two mystery debuting local rock bands will take the stage at 7:00 PM, named Headrush. Based on personal Facebook posts, I do know the bassist of this group, but I don't believe they've said anything publically about their lineup or sound, so I won't jump the gun in case they are intentionally waiting for showtime. Newer local rock quartet Skinbox (subgenres/set samples still not given online) will take to the stage at 6:00 PM, preceded by local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck at 5:00 PM in their fifth straight Toystock set, a record for a band not featuring event organizers in their lineup. Alas, drummer Glen Thomas will reportedly not be doing his annual drumkit giveaway this year, but don't miss their old school rock and country covers!

New local classic/hard rock quintet HeadFirst (not to be confused with the aforementioned Headrush) will take the stage at 4:00 PM in their third public concert set and first outside of Reggie's. With Raincourt and Them alumni in their talented young lineup, hopefully they make a good impression on attendees tomorrow! Reunited local punk trio Redundant will play their first concert set in two years tomorrow at 3:00 PM, which will also be their second Toystock set after first playing there in 2016. It's great to see Justin, Andrew, and Rick back on stage after way too long, and let's hope that this isn't a one-off return for them! The 2:00 PM band is tomorrow's other mystery debuting group, named Kickstart. In this case, I was told who'd be in the band via a Facebook e-mail, but again, their identities and sound are not publically posted at press time. Their lineup will be familiar to local rock music fans though!

We'll let you know more about Headrush and Kickstart after their sets and/or as things go public. A student band from Long & McQuade will continue the long string of music school student bands playing at Toystock, with their 1:00 PM set being the second straight here for Long & McQuade since they replaced Case's Music post-pandemic. Opening the festivities tomorrow afternoon is Wailing Aztecs alumna Kelly McGillivray in her solo debut at Toystock, but her old band The Algo Rhythms played here thrice from 2015-2018. All of this all ages action begins at noon tomorrow at The Grand Gardens, and attendance is FREE with a toy/food donation (unless you want to make a cash donation). This is a wonderful event for a great cause, so all credit goes to all of the organizers and bands donating their time to help those in need! See above for more details, and for a preview, here's a new video of Bone Yard live!

Filmed at their one-nighter at Shooters Downstairs Lounge last night, this features Bone Yard pulling a two-for-one for Pink Floyd fans, namely covers of "Wish You Were Here" & "Young Lust". Greg does start the former playing acoustic guitar rather than drums, which did give a brief preview of their acoustic show at Gateway Casino tonight in that way. Vertical camera angle aside (which I can't be too shocked by anymore), this live-streamed video from their Facebook page is well shot with good angles of Greg, Alex, and Warren in action, and they do know their way around classic Floyd, so give these a watch below, and don't miss them at Toystock tomorrow night!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site next week! Thanks everyone!