LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Tym Morrison) & Spades GT Updates!!

Today's SMS post is devoted to two topics, including lots of recent updates from a prominent local metal band, but to kick things off on this Saturday morning, here's a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!

Local classic/hard rock solo artist Tym Morrison will make his apparent solo debut at Misty's Fifties TODAY for a matinee gig! Apologies for the short notice, Tym only announced this show via its Facebook event page on Monday, with the venue first mentioning is one week ago. Misty's Fifties is a long-standing bar & restaurant at 658 Second Line West (beside the west end Pharmasave at the corner of Goulais Avenue) with a 1950s pop culture theme, as you may have guessed. The venue has never came up in our past concert previews, as musicians there have tended to lean towards older classic rock or country, but The Bearded Lounge (a.k.a. Bone Yard minus Warren) played there in 2018 before we rolled them into our full coverage, and I believe Misty's Fifties leans towards smaller or acoustic acts due to its relatively small size (let alone that most acts play in a 4:00 PM matinee time slot, Tym TODAY included.)

We haven't seen the former Caveman Morrison/Nostalgic Band frontman in concert since his seasonal Mike Case Memorial Stage run ended in September, so if you've missed his unplugged hard rock covers, head deeper into the west end TODAY! This is a 19+ event at 4:00 PM with no announced cover charge. Visit the above links for more details on Tym's Misty's debut, and here he is live!

Let's dedicate the rest of today's post to local/Barrie crossover thrash band Spades GT, who we haven't covered new activity from in over two months, so what are the former Jack Spades up to at the moment? In this recap "Reel" from October, we hear a little bit from their appearance on Sum 41 bassist Jason "Cone" McCaslin's radio show Cone's Cave on 94.9 The Rock in Oshawa, which also features some brief video clips of the band, audio of their song "Sewer City Radio", drummer Tyler Reiner giving an on-air plug for the show, and guitarist Daniel Horton thanking Cone for the recognition. Nice to get a little taste of what local FM listeners couldn't, unless they knew to hear the livestream! "Sewer City Radio" even found its way onto The Plowzone Radio Show on Ozcat Radio in San Francisco in October as well, so the guys are definitely making the rounds and getting some deserved exposure beyond the GTA!

Their last show of that month saw them and multiple other bands open for Random Killing at In Crust We Trust #12 at The Atria in Oshawa on October 26th. The guys recapped the events of that concert with this "Reel" (as always, unembeddable externally) featuring the guys hanging out at the hotel pre-show, mingling with fellow performers and attendees, and checking out some of the bands. Frontman J.D. Pearce got into the Halloween spirit for his attire, almost meeting his Spades and Frightlight looks halfway! Yes, Spades GT are seen performing, but only briefly and never with the raw audio. The video quality looks good, I wonder how much raw (and perhaps horizontal?) footage they're sitting on from In Crust We Trust #12? Another "Reel" was posted on Halloween featuring J.D. jokingly jumping out of a closet in the hotel room in an attempted scare tactic.

Also from that event is this "Reel" with Daniel & Tyler taking a picture with fans in cowboy hats, joking that this was a "punk & country crossover". On October 22nd, Tyler and his dad (Anvil drummer Robb Reiner) were both interviewed by Richard Varty of The Simcoe Scene as promotion for their joint show in Barrie last month. On the Spades GT end of things, Tyler is asked about the inspiration and themes of the "Sewer City Radio" album, how he approaches the drum patterns in their songs, the surprising inspiration for most of his drumming, Spades GT's approach to their sound/album, and some fantasy/hypothetical topics, among others. Good article that gives interesting insight into how father and son both look at drumming in rock bands, so give it a look at this link! The Anvil show (and other upcoming dates) were hyped in this "Reel" featuring concert posters, and in this "Reel", a llama was even showing its fandom!

We'll have more from Spades GT from November 6th onward in an upcoming post, but we're getting caught up as to what the guys are doing in the GTA, and look for a busy year from them in 2024! That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site next week! Thanks everyone!