LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Soundcheck & The 16 Musicians Of Christmas) And A Full Concert Video!!

Before we begin this post, I wanted to apologize for a missed concert in this past weekend's concert previews, as Sault Michigan hard rock/classic metal band Tarnished played at The Merchants Bar this past Saturday night. The band only announced the show on their Facebook page at 3:04 PM that day, and true to their usual form, The Merch's Facebook page did not advertise this show in advance whatsoever. I profusely apologize for missing this show in our previews, but hopefully Alex, Parker, and Josh melted those faces as promised on Saturday, and I would have covered the gig on the site had it even had one day's notice!

Now, let's dive into some new videos and LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, and leading off with the latter, do you recall how LopLops Lounge in Sault Ontario used to host a "12 Musicians of Christmas" event every December from 2005-2018? Well, it's back, and has grown to 16 Musicians of Christmas for its return on Friday, December 29th! This event's past installments didn't immediately strike me as SMS-amenable, owing to LopLops' usual music range leaning to folk/indie artists, but this year's will have some familiar faces for punk fans, as Bookclub/ex-Inner City Surfers bandmates Dustin Jones & Mikey Hawdon are among this year's roster!  Dustin's ex-Rising Tide bandmates Liam Seymour & Chris Johns will also be taking part, as will Treble Charger/Pointless guitarist Bill Priddle, Wyld Stallyns saxophonist Josh Norling, and ex-Generations guitarist Brandon Ruch. Those seven artists alone is a stacked lineup!

The other nine Musicians of Christmas are Frank Deresti, Al Wood, Lindsay Pugh, Cliff Alloy, Shannon Moan, Juliana Regan, Hannah Lindsay, Andree-Ann Dechesne, and Chris Belsito, and the skill between them is also quite high! If past installments of The 12 Musicians of Christmas are anything to go by, musicians will get a three song mini-set of their very own where they will be backed up by select other performers scheduled for the evening, so expect lots of intriguing collaborations throughout. Despite being scheduled for after Christmas, this should be another fun holiday season attraction, so keep it in mind for later this month! This show has a 7:00 PM start time, 19+ age limit, and a high ticket price of $50 plus taxes/processing fees (a high entry fee is on par with past installments of this special event). and you can buy yours at this link or presumably at the door. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details on this special event!

Next up, remember how local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck were slated to play at the Delta Hotel's New Year's Eve party on Sunday, December 31st? Well, that has been cancelled for publically unannounced reasons, but fans need not worry, as they have been re-booked for Reggie's Place's New Year's Eve party instead! No word on other holiday frills for attendees who might want to stop by to ring in 2024, but while this will no doubt be less extravagant than what the Delta had planned, it will also be much cheaper at Reggie's than the Delta's $100 ticket price ($100 cheaper, in fact!), so general attendees who just want to rock out with Soundcheck can do so at Reggie's at month's/year's end! This new concert on the 31st has no cover charge, a 19+ age limit, and a presumed 9:00 PM start time. Visit the above links for more details, and look for more from Soundcheck soon!

We'll close today with our long overdue look at new Sault Michigan hardcore punk quartet The Sole Aggressors' live debut at Bird's Eye Outfitters on August 12th, as per their YouTube channel! Filmed on a stationary camera in front of the stage, this notably features their full lineup, as singer Henry Boucher was not present for their first place set at last month's LSSU Battle of the Bands. The 46 minute set features The Sole Aggressors opening with covers of Black Flag's "Drinking & Driving", "Jealous Again", and "Depression", before covering The Misfits' "Where Eagles Dare". They next played an original song named "Reject", and after covering The Ramones' "Blitzkrieg Bop", they tackled three more originals, namely "No Part", "Streets", and "Kill Thy Neighbour". The Sole Aggressors next covered Black Flag's "Six Pack", followed by another original named "Fool". Three final covers came next, including...

...The Dead Milkmen's "Punk Rock Girl", Minor Threat's "I Don't Wanna Hear It", and an encore of "Six Pack", before closing with an original named "State Of The World". Well recorded video that captures this talented young band well, and while Henry's vocals are not overly loud or rangy yet, the attitude and presence is there, and again, it's great seeing a punk band of any kind in Sault Michigan! Give their full concert video a watch below!

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