LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Bone Yard, Generations, Soundcheck, And Tym Morrison) & Weekend Concert Previews!!

To cap off another month at the SMS, we have our first weekend concert previews for March 2024 on this Leap Day, mostly comprised of SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS! A new video is also tucked in, but due to the amount of shows this weekend, I'm holding our previews of the Oz concerts in Sault Michigan for tomorrow's post. Here's what you should know to bring March in like a lion!

Joining his previously announced gig at Misty's Fifties on SATURDAY, local classic/hard rock solo musician Tym Morrison will return to Tazzi's Bar & Restaurant TOMORROW NIGHT as well! Apologies for the short notice, this show was only announced via its Facebook event page on Monday. For a second straight week, Tym will be playing the same two venues on identical days of the week, so if you'd rather see him downtown at the Queen Street East nightclub or in the west end at the Second Line West mainstay, you know where to be TOMORROW and/or Saturday! Note that his show at Misty's Fifties is technically the next one in his bi-weekly arrangement there, though they did book him last Saturday in what was originally supposed to be an off week. These shows are both 19+ affairs with no announced cover charges, and while TOMORROW'S return to Tazzi's is at 8:00 PM, his Misty's shows are always 4:00 PM matinees. Click here and see above for more details, and for a preview, here's Tym live!

Next up, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to Jay's Piston Broke Pub TOMORROW NIGHT for their second annual 1980s-themed party! Again, apologies for the short notice, we first heard about this show via Jay's Facebook page this past Saturday. As we saw earlier this year with the return of a Hawaiian party (also featuring Soundcheck), Jay's is no stranger to booking special themed concerts during the winter, so hopefully there's sizeable crowd TOMORROW! For the occasion, 1980s-themed costumes are encouraged (there will be a costume contest), and one assumes that Soundcheck will have sets full of covers leaning towards songs from that decade, so don't miss out on all of the '80s action! Singer/guitarist Cameron Oliver will be back TOMORROW after missing their Esquire Club gig on the 17th while on vacation, and Soundcheck (minus Cameron) are hosting the Thursday jam night tonight as usual.

However, Soundcheck are not playing at Jay's on Saturday night, though drummer Glen Thomas will still be performing there with his other active live band, classic country cover band Out & Out Country. If you're curious, Jay's is trying a western themed night on Saturday like the '80s party. Soundcheck are on at 9:30 PM TOMORROW, there's no announced cover charge, and it is a 19+ event. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Soundcheck live!

Also this weekend, fellow local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations will return to the stage with shows TOMORROW NIGHT at The Water Tower Pub and SATURDAY NIGHT at Shooters Downstairs Lounge! Apologies again for the short notice, drummer Tony Santoro quietly announced both on the band's Facebook group on February 11th when thanking everyone for seeing them at Jay's that weekend. Generations have been playing very sporadically this winter, so whether you're more inclined to see them TOMORROW centrally or SATURDAY downtown, you have options to see Valerie, the Tonys, and Pierre back on stage with their old school rock cover attack! The split bookings are due to The Water Tower Pub traditionally hosting different nightly acts (I haven't heard who's playing there on Saturday) and Shooters now hosting DJ nights on Fridays. Expect an 8:00 PM start time TOMORROW NIGHT and 9:30 PM on SATURDAY NIGHT.

Both shows are 19+ events with no announced cover charges. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's a new video of Generations live at Jay's on February 9th! Filmed/uploaded by Tony Santoro's wife Dawn for the band's Facebook group, it features Generations covering the Janis Joplin version of Roger Miller's "Me & Bobby McGee", and given Valerie's vocal abilities and Janis Joplin fandom, this is a 100% natural cover choice! Unfortunately, it was shot vertically (which also highlights how quiet the floor was at this point in the night), but it is solidly performed overall, so check it out for yourself below!

Finally for today, here's previews of shows that had advance notice that I was able to catch, as local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard will return to The Esquire Club for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Relatively rare stops at the Second Line West nightclub for Greg, Alex, and Warren, these are Bone Yard's only scheduled concerts at The Esquire Club in the first half of 2024, having last played there over the New Year's weekend. Hopefully this weekend's shows get another strong turnout for their classic and southern hard rock cover slate, so don't miss out on all of the action, possibly with merchandise and their shot too? While we're on the subject, the band confirmed in a comment on their Facebook page's post from this past Sunday that they will be back at The Water Tower Pub on Friday, April 5th, so if you've missed them there, keep that show in mind as well! It will likely be unplugged as usual for that venue.

We also await a likely schedule posting for the rest of March on Bone Yard's end, so stay tuned for word on their next dates. This weekend's Esquire Club shows have 9:30 PM start times, the likely "uncorked" show at The Water Tower Pub next month will be at 8:00 PM, and expect 19+ age limits and no cover charges across the board. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Bone Yard live!

That's all for today, but look for our Oz previews and more on the site next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Hails) & Big Updates From Double Jack!!

For our last post of the month, we're tackling some big recent updates before we dive into weekend concert previews once again, including a lot of updates/changes from a newer local hard rock band, and first, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next month. Here's what you should know!

Local punk trio Hails will play their first concert of 2024 when they headline at The Distraction on Sunday, March 17th! Announced via their official Facebook event page (yes, the band finally has a Facebook page of their own), this will be their first 100% public concert since releasing their debut EP "Rock And Rolls" in July of last year. Physical print runs of the EP were teased last year, as have been upcycled band merchandise, so will fans be able to buy some Ha!ls CDs, tapes, and/or shirts next month? Head to the former Big Guns Barbershop on East Street to find out! Brent, Mikhal, and Keeghan will be joined on this night by Shane "DJ Seith" Erickson, who is definitely an off-the-board pick for a punk band opener, but Seith is a very talented & established name who has been known to mix some heavier tunes into his DJ sets, so don't be late for him in a few weeks either! This all ages concert has doors opening at 6:00 PM, so don't let the scheduling on a work/school night scare you off of coming out.

As usual for shows at The Distraction, this has a "$5 or pay-what-you-can" entry model. It's great seeing more rising original music at this new downtown venue, and hopefully there's a big crowd on the 17th when Hails skid out of the scrapyard to rip it hard once again! Visit the above links for more details, and stay tuned for more from Ha!ls!

Next up, here's some big and surprising updates from Sault Michigan hard rock band Double Jack, starting with the reveal that they have changed their name to Exit 808, as per their Facebook page yesterday. Other than saying that they have "undergone a little makeover", a reason for the new name was not announced, but as far as I know, there is no real Exit 808 for them to take the name from, unlike with the former Highway 63 (perhaps they're calling out drum machines? I don't know). Aside from that, they have quietly parted ways with bassist Isaac Royer, though again, they have not publically given a reason for his exit. Iggy's departure is definitely a surprise, given that he and guitarist Nathan Webber both left Tarnished and then co-founded Double Jack last year, but hopefully things are somewhat amicable, and that we see him back at it soon! Exit 808 are looking for a new permanent bassist, so message them at this link for more details.

As announced before the name change (but not on the SMS yet), Exit 808's next gig will see them play outside of the Soo for the first time this Saturday when they head downstate to Alpena for the Rock Recovery Battle of the Bands, where they will compete against a wide-ranging group of Northern Michigan bands, including the aforementioned Tarnished and Manistique hard rock cover duo Fyrbird. $500 and studio recording time await the winners, and while the former Double Jack did outpoint Tarnished for third place at the LSSU battle here in November, that was with the band's original lineup, of which only Nathan and drummer Jackie Moon remain. Regarding their open bassist slot, they have enlisted Blaze Beairl (the 14 year old son of new frontwoman Amy Beach) to fill in for the battle, but he is not playing with the band permanently, partly as he's more of a drummer.

Presumably, him being just 14 years old would also complicate nightclub gigs. I'm not familiar with Blaze musically, but given his musical parents, I wouldn't be shocked to hear his name again in the near future! In any event, best of luck to Exit 808 and Tarnished on their 2 hour road trip on Saturday, and hopefully they do the Soo proud at the Alpena Events Complex! Lastly for the Exit 808 updates, Amy had uploaded a bunch of videos from their headlining debut at The Merchants Bar last month in a batch post to her personal Facebook page at the time, but she only figured out how to share them to the band's Facebook page yesterday. Six videos from The Merch were uploaded here, including Nathan's guitar solo from Steppenwolf's "Born To Be Wild", a guitar solo by new guitarist Alex Zimmerman, an original jam with Alex playing lead, and three fuller songs.

Those are covers of the Marilyn Manson version of The Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)", Kiss' "Rock & Roll All Nite", and as embedded below, the Eva Under Fire version of Journey's "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)". Amy was candid about this set not being perfect and somewhat rushed to get a full night's setlist ready, but everyone sounds good, and it's nice hearing some songs that are better suited to Amy's vocal range than in the initial videos from this concert! The overly red lighting is still more of a concern than the band is. See much more from Exit 808 on Facebook, and check out them and Isaac rocking out in the videos linked above & below, and good luck again at the battle on Saturday!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews on the site next! Thanks everyone!

Sell This! - "Empires Everywhere" EP Review!!

It's now time for our 176th monthly CD review at The Sault Metal Scene! Unfortunately, as local rapper Bold Noize's August 2023 debut punk album "God Save Me" has not been re-released in full on streaming services, I have had to change plans for this month, and if "God Save Me" does pop up down the road, a review of it will be as an archive release, not a new one where a review would be given priority. Still, hopefully Tristan re-posts it, as I was curious to review it! Instead, this month's review will be of new-ish local/Winnipeg classical metal project Sell This!' EP "Empires Everywhere", which was independently released on January 13th at its CD release party at The Distraction. The third studio effort and fourth release total from Sell This! (but first since singer/cellist Pete Mozarowski moved back to the Soo), "Empires Everywhere" only credits Pete for musical contributions on the final product.

You can buy this album on CD via Sell This' Bandcamp page for $10, but Pete opted to make digital mp3 copies of the album 100% free there (not even on a "name your price" model). Still, consider buying it on CD to support his work! With five songs running for 29 minutes in length, let's begin our first review of an album release from the year 2024!

This EP begins with its shortest song "Paint A Picture", which sets the tone with a droning drum beat and some distortion-heavy cello playing from Pete, who sings with an ominous intent, though the lyrics on offer are brief and relatively open for interpretation, especially given this project's political/activism leanings on prior albums. Compared to his better known hardcore punk-leaning output with RedD Monkey, this has more of a doom/noise style that will appeal to genre fans, but for me, the cello overpowers everything else too much. Second up is "We Fight Ourselves", which runs for 8:50, and it's not even the longest song on offer! The lyrics are more plentiful and specific here, with Pete singing about how we're basically fighting with ourselves rather than at the system, and how frustrated he is at the perceived "self-annihilation" while trying to rise against oppressors (he sings it better than I sum it up).

This song is much more substantial and varied than "Paint A Picture", and features some of Pete's best vocal work yet in this project (listen to his prior Sell This! albums to compare), with more confident shouting and clean vocals that do call Trent Reznor to mind more than it did in Winnipeg. Given Pete's obvious background as a classical musician, he puts that to good use in terms of breaking this song into distinct chunks, with the first half being a pounding industrial metal song before bridging with some spare cello work before gradually bringing the metal back with purpose. Definitely a highlight of the EP that shows off Pete's compositional abilities and increasing confidence as a vocalist without getting too repetitive, and I'd point new listeners to this song to hear Sell This! before other tracks!

The mid-point of "Empires Everywhere" comes on "TastyHandMeat", a comparatively short instrumental. This has more of a techno basis for its melody and composition, and while it's catchy enough, your ear is moreso drawn to Pete's high pitched cello playing overtop of the beat. Honestly, at first, this didn't do much for me, but the longer it went, the more I liked it, as that melody gave this song a mildly eerie sci-fi overtone. If he was trying to emulate a theremin here, I think he succeeded! Not an improvement on "We Fight Ourselves", but it sure grabs you as it goes! The penultimate song on this EP is "Fetish-Symptom", which runs for over 9 minutes, but like the preceding track, this is also an instrumental. This song is a slow builder from the off, with a steady low cello riff slowly getting added to with ominous percussion and more cello lines, but after about 4 minutes, the low riff drops out completely.

This continue building and building as cello parts take precedence or fall back, with the last 3 minutes featuring more rapid and intense playing, but the song ends very abruptly and I've never liked when songs do that out of nowhere. "Fetish-Symptom" sets a dark mood that I appreciate, but it goes way too long for my liking, especially with how the percussion is basically one slow, deliberate pattern every 6 seconds or so. I'd have amped up the drumming and chopped the song down greatly, but it's atmospheric qualities are noted! Sell This!'s first local EP ends with "It's Not Alright", which is basically a response to someone whose actions don't line up with their words (this is open for interpretation but I took it as based on one's stances on sociopolitical issues). Another song that makes use of drawn out, ominous overtones and structure, Pete's vocals return here and he tries to unleash some passioned screaming here.

If any song on the EP feels like one that could have been adapted to RedD Monkey, it'd be this one, but I'd have sped it up a lot and leaned into the anger of the lyrics more than we actually got on the final product. This is an improvement to end things with, but it feels a little too experimental and dark compared to what worked before. So, what are my final thoughts on Sell This' new EP? While inconsistent for what I like, it's definitely an improvement on what I heard from this project before Pete moved back home! His cello skill is never in doubt, but he is a more confident and forceful singer than we saw on prior albums, and he's putting things to relatively unique use here on industrial metal with socially charged lyrics, so he immediately stands out from the pack. If that's Pete drumming, he largely adds to the songs there, and the songs on offer are all unique & stand out from each other, for better or worse.

"We Fight Ourselves" is as ideal of a song as you can get for Sell This! (remarkably so given its length), and I increasingly liked "TastyHandMeat", so those are my recommendations, but there are things that I'd address. The cello can be overbearing on the opener, "Fetish-Symptom" was way too long and way too limited for percussion, and the production quality is definitely not where it could be for the displayed genres, though he has came a long way, especially compared to his past local band work.

RedD Monkey fans may be left hanging a bit by the genre jump here, but if Sell This! keep at it, they'll easily carve a deserved local niche by giving fans something that we truly don't have in the scene, and I do recommend checking out "Empires Everywhere" to see what Pete has in store at the above links! I hope you guys liked this month's CD review, but what album are we looking at next? For the first time since 2022, I honestly do not know at this point. While our new album release backlog is not quite empty (Convergence's "Dead & Dreaming" came out on January 1st), that review is coming in April due to our six month anti-bias buffer period between reviews of albums from the same band. As such, unless something brand new drops in March, we'll dip into the archives for the first time in well over a year. What album, I can't say yet, but in the past, I would give preference to albums from artists playing live next month.

Barring that, I tended to look towards a high profile unreviewed metal, hard rock, or punk album, so use those hints however you see fit! That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site soon, plus this weekend's concert previews tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

YouTube Channel Profile Series: justfrenchie's Channel

It's now time for this month's YouTube Channel Profile! This monthly feature series looks at 1-3 YouTube channels whose uploads are at least half made up of videos featuring local metal, hard rock, and/or punk musicians and/or concerts, in order to spotlight and showcase what's posted there and encourage you guys to view/subscribe. For our second randomly selected profile of 2024, we're heading back to the late 2000s for a prominent local punk band, so here's what you should know!

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justfrenchie's Channel (http://www.youtube.com/justfrenchie)

Owner: Redundant singer/guitarist Justin "Frenchie" Langlois, also known for fronting The Scary Uncles and playing guitar in Fitswitch, among other projects

Channel Timeline: Launched on December 19th, 2007; Videos uploaded from February 2008 until December 2010

Channel Summary: The de facto official YouTube channel for 2007-2010 local punk band The Scary Uncles, Justin uploaded two live concert videos, two jam session performances, and an audio track of them here. The only video not credited to the band is of Justin playing a solo cover on vocals & acoustic guitar.

Why You Should Watch: This is worth a watch for fans of Justin's local band work over the past 15 years, and not just fans who remember The Scary Uncles, as they always shared many sonic similarities with Redundant, so you can make links to see where things began! Note that this channel has not actively been used since The Scary Uncles disbanded.

 Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:

The Scary Uncles - Should've known: Four performance videos of The Scary Uncles in 2008 were uploaded to Justin's channel, including two from a concert at The Other Place (f.k.a. GLOW) on Gore Street where they covered The Ramones' "Blitzkrieg Bop" (with Justin's ex-Fitswitch bandmate J.D. Pearce on guest vocals) and Green Day's "Christie Road". The audio quality is really rough on those, but you'll get more out of their jam session clips featuring original songs, namely "Cripple" and (as embedded below) "Should've Known", which was later adopted by Redundant and appeared on their 2018 EP. These videos feature Justin alongside his future Redundant bandmate Andrew "Scary" MacDonald on bass and Mark Mullin on drums. Solid performances with nice clear visuals for 16 year old YouTube videos, so fans should take to these easier for audio & video quality than the concert uploads!

Justin - Paper Lanterns acoustic: By far the most popular video on Justin's channel, over 15,000 people have watched his unplugged cover of Green Day's "Paper Lanterns" (which, like "Christie Road", is another song from Green Day's pre-"Dookie" releases). Featuring Winnie-The-Pooh among his captivated audience, Justin nails this cover despite the acoustic trappings, and I'm sure it translated well to live concerts at the time! Note the dim lighting and background hiss, which aren't dealbreakers for watching this cover, but remember that this was uploaded to YouTube in November 2008.

Labatt 50 - The Scary Uncles: In one of The Scary Uncles' last public acts, Justin posted the studio version of their original song "Labatt 50" to his channel in December 2010. This was claimed to be from "their new album", which I don't believe ever came out, but Redundant fans will know this song under its new name "What Will You Do", which was also released on Redundant's EP in 2018. The song is accompanied by a slideshow of pictures of Justin, Andrew, and Mark during their heyday. The Scary Uncles' version of this song is more or less the same as "What Will You Do", but it is played slightly faster and Justin's voice is definitely higher than it would become. It's definitely interesting to hear the original version, and it's a shame that The Scary Uncles didn't realize their full potential, but at least Justin & Andrew got there moreso with Redundant!

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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! This series will return on or around March 26th when we look at another randomly selected channel, and this time, we'll look at inactive local/Ottawa hard rock band Bad Chug's channel, featuring assorted performance clips from their Ottawa-based years. Look for that next month, and for more news and this month's CD review in the coming days! Thanks everyone!

News & Updates From Treble Charger, Mikey & His Uke, Handsome Sandwich, And Far From Fine!!

Let's tackle some big recent news and notes on this Saturday morning for a punk-leaning post focusing on some notable Sault Ontario bands. With all of that said, here's what you should know!

We have some big news from local alternative hard rock band Handsome Sandwich, namely the addition of ex-Generations guitarist Brandon Ruch to their lineup. He's a solid guitarist, and is known to the band already via his graduating from Algoma University's music program alongside bassist Rafael Medina (click here for SooToday's article on that), so hopefully he fits in well! The announcement was made in this "Reel" on their Facebook page on Thursday where they otherwise thanked fans for seeing them on their recent tour dates out of town and for getting them to 1,000 Facebook followers. The "Reel" was shot by drummer Johnny Belanger, and also features input from Taylor and Rafael (who is "back" after missing their tour last month), but conspicuous by their absences are guitarists Jesse Cook and Mitch Sirie. Remember, Brandon had filled in for Mitch during their shows last month (as seen in this "Reel" from their impromptu jam night set).

That video aside, we haven't seen either guitarist in new official band materials since late last year, and the band hasn't 100% confirmed whether one/both of Mitch & Jesse have left or not, but we'll keep you posted if they say anything! Lastly from Handsome Sandwich, they were briefly spotlighted and plugged on the Ottawa internet radio station White Water Rocks following their show in Ottawa last month, and while we don't hear the band in any facet in the 8 minute clip posted at this link, it's a good bit of promotion, even if their name gets as much love as their music! Stay tuned for more from Handsome Sandwich when it rolls in!

Next up, I have a band to move to our inactive links on the SMS, namely local punk/hard rock quartet Far From Fine. While we're not at our typical one year inactivity threshold, guitarist Mitch Sirie revealed that "we're no longer a band" in a comment reply on a personal Facebook post on Monday by Northern Vibe Festival Forest Stage curator J.D. Pearce concerning the search for bands for this August's festivities in Ophir (click here for more details). I normally wouldn't go off of personal postings like this, but this may be all that we get re: an confirmation of their status, especially as the band has been dead silent on social media for the past 5+ months. In any event, a reason for their dissolution was not publically announced. Debuting as Ravencore at Toystock in 2022, Far From Fine united Suicide Kings and Gnaeus alumni for four high profile gigs last summer (Northern Vibe, Rotaryfest Stage 2, Lopstock, and opening for The Ripcordz).

I have no idea what happened to Far From Fine after such a big initial run of concerts, but if they had to only play five gigs, these aren't a bad five events to have sets at! Their album sessions from last spring did seem decently far along too, and hopefully those songs see a public release at some point. Given their existing talents and Mike & Mitch's prior Suicide Kings chemistry, their take on punk rock was definitely a welcome addition, but hopefully we see Mike, Matt, Austin, and Blair back at it soon, and don't miss Mitch with Handsome Sandwich(?) and The Bear Hunters!

Also today, here's a new promotional video for local/Toronto indie/punk veterans Treble Charger's reunion concert at The Machine Shop on March 7th! The 14 seconds-long clip was posted to the Algoma University music program's Facebook page on Wednesday, and features the band hyping up the Thursday nighter upstairs, with singer/guitarist Greig Nori even noting that we can "relive the '90s" at this show (granted, their biggest hits were in the early 2000s). Note that they're in The Loft at the Algoma Conservatory of Music for the video but the concert is 100% at The Machine Shop. Interestingly, their new rhythm section (bassist Frank Deresti & drummer David Peredun) are featured in the video, but whether this is a nod to the Algoma music program ties or if they're 100% band members for a larger reunion, I couldn't say at this point (I don't ever recall their 2010s session bassists/drummers featured like this though).

Not every video of this length will have this much stuff to say about it, but after all, Treble Charger are the biggest punk band that ever came from the Soo (even if they've only actually been based here since their reunion). Hopefully this concert is a huge hit for Greig, Bill, and crew, plus the Algoma music program, so click here to get your tickets, and check out the promotional video below!

Finally, let's cap off with the fourth song in Mikey & His Uke's thirtieth anniversary series of covers of Green Day's seminal album "Dookie"! Just six days out from the local punk standout's remotely filmed all-star cover of "Chump", track #4 from "Dookie" was uploaded to the project's YouTube channel on Thursday, this time a cover of "Longview", which is the first single from this album in track listing order. While Mikey (on guitar as usual and ukelele at first) is joined again by ex-Goldfinger drummer Darren Pfeiffer, this rendition has a different bassist (Pennywise's Randy Bradbury), so Andy Plafoot is not the house bassist for the "Dookie" project. Vocals here are provided by Tilt frontwoman Cynthia "Cinder Block" Morgan, marking the first female performer in these Green Day covers. The performance is pretty straightforward but fans of Green Day's will be happy with it, especially as a more popular single!

Lots of little Green Day nods throughout, plus allusions to watching TV given the lyrics/original video, and some good post production effects, so there's a lot to see (and yes, Darren is wearing another different hockey jersey for his clips). With new covers dropping 6-8 days apart now, look for Mikey & His Uke's cover of "Welcome To Paradise" likely dropping between Wednesday and Friday, and much more to follow, but for now, check out everyone tackling "Longview" below!

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

Saint Asonia/Black Stone Cherry & Tarnished Concert Previews, Plus New Videos!!

As promised, let's round out this weekend's hard rock concert previews today via the two Sault Michigan/E.U.P. hard rock concerts that we didn't preview in yesterday's post! To round things out, I do have some new videos of a prominent local band, so here's what you should know!

We'll start with this weekend's main event for hard rock fans, as Toronto hard rock quartet Saint Asonia will make their first ever local concert appearance TOMORROW NIGHT at The Dreammakers Theatre at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino! As well promoted on Rock 101 in recent months, Saint Asonia's debut will mark frontman Adam Gontier's first time on a local stage since he and his old band Three Days Grace last played here in 2009. Along with a few 3DG hits and select covers, look for Saint Asonia's own hard hitting originals like "Better Place", "The Hunted", and "Devastate" during what should be an explosive set! Note that Saint Asonia's usual guitarist (Staind's Mike Mushok) is not part of this tour. Also playing tomorrow is Kentucky southern hard rock band Black Stone Cherry, in their first local concert appearance since 2006 (when they opened for Staind, incidentally), so they've been a very long time coming!

With rock radio hits like "In My Blood", "Again", and "White Trash Millionaire" in the eighteen years since , familiarity with B.S.C. will be much greater for this set, so hopefully they get a really strong reaction for their southern tinged rock & roll! Maryland hard rock quartet Any Given Sin will open the proceedings with their high energy, Shinedown-reminiscent brand of original material, so don't be late for their set tomorrow! This is the first major concert of 2024 from Allstar Promotions, and you can see brief promotional videos on their Facebook page featuring both Adam Gontier and Black Stone Cherry guitarist Ben Wells hyping up the show/ticket availability, which are definitely welcomed to get the word out, especially as both pronounced Sault Ste. Marie correctly! Tomorrow's all ages concert has an 8:00 PM start time, and third row tickets are still on sale in the left & right sections!

Center section tickets are all sold out in the first thirteen rows. Tickets run for $39.50 in rows C-J (left and right sections) and row N (center section only), while anything else left costs just $29.50. Buy your tickets at this link, at 1-800-KEWADIN, or at the in-person box office. I hope this show does well, as I greatly prefer Saint Asonia to modern Three Days Grace, and Black Stone Cherry have multiple catchy songs of their own, so definitely consider heading to Kewadin Casino for all of tomorrow night's action! Visit the Facebook event page for more details, and here's Saint Asonia live!

Lastly for known hard rock concerts in the Sault area this weekend, we'll take the 20 minute drive south to Kincheloe, where local classic metal/hard rock trio Tarnished will return to The Fraternal Order Of Orioles Nest TOMORROW NIGHT! This atypical venue brought in Tarnished for their New Year's Eve party last year, so clearly that went well for Alex, Parker, and Josh to get a call back for a standard concert less than two months later! Regardless of how normal the venue is for Tarnished fans, you can expect the same hard hitting and fan friendly covers and originals in Kincheloe tomorrow, so consider hitting the road for the Orioles Nest tomorrow for all of the action! This show takes place at Nest 311 (at 4916 West Curtis Street) at 8:00 PM, it has a 21+ age limit, and there is no announced cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Tarnished live!

Finally for today, here's some new videos of local blues/hard rock quartet Project 906, but not how you may expect to see them. Fans may recall that, when drummer Jason VanLuven had to miss a few shows last summer due to conflicts with his other band Fake Chow, they enlisted Paradise Excuse alum Brian Duford to fill in behind the kit. Well, that wasn't it for Brian playing with Project 906, as he has guested with the band since on shows that Jason was there for, albeit with Brian playing hand drums instead! Three videos from recent 906 shows have been uploaded to his YouTube channel, all ostensibly intended to focus on his performances moreso than the whole band. This one (likely from their Brimley VFW concert in November) has Brian and Project 906 playing an extended instrumental for their soundcheck, while this vertical clip is of his drum solo at The Strongs Tavern in Eckerman this past Saturday.

The latter clip is shot from the crowd, but the other two are drum-cam videos, including the one embedded below, which is the only one of everyone playing a proper cover song. In this video, also from The Strongs Tavern on Saturday, Project 906 and Brian covered The Who's "Eminence Front", albeit extended with some more jamming in the middle. Rare to see a Kenney Jones-era Who song covered locally, so kudos there! The venue lighting can impair the view sometimes, but this is certainly a unique concert video, and everyone performs well, including Brian, and he does add a looser vibe to Project 906 shows from what I've seen! Give Brian's videos a watch above & below!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for a new Sault Ontario-centric news post on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Tym Morrison) & Sault Ontario Hard Rock Weekend Concert Previews!!

For the last concert weekend of February 2024, we again have too many concerts for one post, so I'm bumping Sault Michigan/E.U.P. concerts to tomorrow's post, as the ones we currently know about (Saint Asonia/Black Stone Cherry and Tarnished) are both on Saturday. Don't worry, they are coming! Now, here's what you should know north of the border, starting with SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!

Local classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison will return to Tazzi's Pub & Restaurant TOMORROW NIGHT, before playing another acoustic matinee concert at Misty's Fifties on SATURDAY! Apologies for the short notice on both gigs, they were only announced via their respective Facebook event pages linked here and here yesterday. The current live venues du jour for Tym's acoustic solo act, TOMORROW's show at Tazzi's will be his first at the intimate Queen Street East venue since their fancy Valentine's dinner two weeks ago, and his first standard admission gig there of 2024.  Meanwhile, west end fans are already spoiled by Tym's recent announcement of a bi-weekly arrangement at Misty's Fifties, but this was supposed to be an off week in the rotation, so adding an extra show there on SATURDAY will hopefully keep the good vibes rolling for fans of his unplugged hard and classic rock hits!

These presumed 19+ concerts have no announced cover charges, and while TOMORROW'S gig at Tazzi's has an 8:00 PM start time, the SATURDAY matinee at Misty's takes place at 4:00 PM. Visit the above links for more on Tym's busy weekend of acoustic concerts, and here he is live!

Next up, here's some shows that had advance notice, starting with the return of local hard rock trio Sylo to the public concert stage TOMORROW NIGHT at The Distraction! After a year and a half's hiatus, this will be the former Raincourt's first live set since their headlining gig at Reggie's Place back in August 2022, though you may have seen frontman Eli Russell since with his solo project. This will also be their first live appearance since enlisting Alder Devries as their new second guitarist (replacing the long since departed Raine Rancourt), as per a quiet update to their Instagram page. I'm not familiar with Alder musically, but he is/was a White Pines Collegiate student (like his new bandmates), he has stage musical experience, and while he has a minor footprint online as a guitarist, much of his posts and media are either taken down or private. Hopefully he fits in well with Sylo tomorrow, and come on down to the East Street venue for a first look!

Local party metal trio The Apocalypse Afterparty will open in their first show of 2024, so be early for their upbeat guitar-less brand of hard hitting originals and covers! This all ages concert has doors opening at 5:00 PM tomorrow, and while admission is "pay what you can" as usual for The Distraction, $5 is suggested. Unless you saw Sylo's couple of mid-2022 gigs post name/lineup change, they'll be a bit of a mystery to many, but they're a talented young group, so definitely consider coming down to The Distraction for all of the festivities tomorrow night, complete with The A.A.'s intensity! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's one of Sylo's original songs from their first run!

Also this weekend, fans can see the aforementioned Raine Rancourt and his current hard rock band HeadFirst in that band's debut appearances at Jay's Piston Broke Pub TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Fresh off of their first Shooters concert this past Saturday, HeadFirst are going west (...young man) to the former Roosevelt Hotel/Reggie's West, where their classic-leaning array of rock covers should find a receptive audience across both nights! They will be back here at the end of March, if you can't make it this weekend or want an encore. As usual for concert at Jay's, both tomorrow's and Saturday's festivities begin at 9:30 PM, while these are both 19+ events, and neither has an announced cover charge. HeadFirst have showcased a strong maturity and diverse setlist, with a fun stage presence from Red to boot, so look for much more of the same from this fast rising band at Jay's this weekend! See above for more details, and here they are live at Shooters this past weekend!

Finally for today's previews, we'll head to The Water Tower Pub, where local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard will return for another unplugged concert on SATURDAY NIGHT! While their new jam session hosting run at Reggie's Place may have broken things up depending on how you view such events, their "uncorked" show at the Great Northern Road nightclub will be Bone Yard's second straight traditional concert in their acoustic format, following their Gateway Casino concert this past Saturday. If you're up for Bone Yard's stripped down brand of southern fried classic & hard rock covers, head to this popular & upscale northern venue on Saturday! As is traditional for The Water Tower Pub, this is a one nighter, as they host different musicians every night, with blues rockers Smokehouse playing there tomorrow instead. Saturday night's action begins at 8:00 PM, there's no cover charge, and you must be 19 or older to attend. See above for more details, and for a preview, here's Bone Yard live and uncorked a few months back!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for our Sault Michigan concert previews and more next! Thanks everyone!

R.I.P. Jeremey Salatuk

I'd like to offer our deepest condolences to the family and friends of veteran local rock guitarist Jeremey Salatuk, who just passed away, according to multiple personal Facebook postings. A frequently seen presence in the local music scene dating back to the 2000s, Jeremey may be best known from his work as lead guitarist in the long running original rock band Wishbone, notably appearing on their 2009 studio album "Making Wishes, Breaking Bones". He had also been seen in multiple cover hard rock bands in the past decade, with SMS readers likely recognizing Jeremey from stints with The 3 Day Millionaires, Lucky 13, and The Soo Fighters through 2017. Jeremey was also a part of the original hard rock band Route 69 in the 2000s, among other projects, and you can find multiple videos of him jamming with fellow local musicians on Facebook. I didn't know Jeremey well, but he was a very talented guitarist who could play just about anything that you threw at him!

Outside of music, Jeremey was a proud father to his two daughters, and he was a good and loyal friend to many in and out the local music community. We will have more on arrangements and such when they go public, but definitely keep the Salatuk family in your thoughts, and there's lots of video and media of his music to check out online. R.I.P. Jeremey!

HeadFirst Concert Review, Plus The Latest Mikey & His Uke Cover Videos!!

I hope everyone is having a good Family and/or Presidents' Day! This post leans more to readers who have Family Day off, specifically via a surprise Sault Ontario concert review and an ambitious new punk cover project, so here's what you should know!

For my first concert review of 2024, I went to see local hard rock quartet HeadFirst's solo headlining debut at Shooters Downstairs Lounge on Saturday night, also the first time that I've seen everyone except drummer Anthony Boudreau in concert. We saw the band's first two sets, in which HeadFirst covered multiple songs by Creedence Clearwater Revival and The Tragically Hip, along with songs by the likes of The Band, The Cranberries, Pink Floyd, Green Day, and... The Flobots? I did get the sense from the set contents that HeadFirst were backloading their heavier/metal-leaning songs for the end of the night, perhaps to appeal to a wider audience when things were busier early on. While pictured instrument roles were largely unchanged from their promotional materials, singer Red Jettison showed his multi-instrumental skills by playing guitar, bass, and keyboard on select songs, with bassist Claire Jeffrey took over lead vocals on three tracks.

Performance-wise, HeadFirst impressed with a strong talent base, with Raine Rancourt's lead guitar work & Liam Dinsmore's rhythm playing showing a lot of promise, and Anthony's drumming was as solid as fans should expect from his 2010s metal bands. As a pure frontman, Red exuded stage presence when he was just singing and not playing an instrument, which is instantly welcomed and will definitely help set HeadFirst apart locally! Much of that was negated when he was playing an instrument though. The rest of the band could be more animated too, but Raine & Anthony aside, they're new to me in local bands, so that should improve in time. On the songs with Claire singing lead, she did showcase a good voice, but I do think that they could pick songs better suited to her range, especially not The 4 Non Blondes' "What's Up", which I find to be exceedingly overplayed by local bands, even ironically.

Overall, HeadFirst have a strong talent base and old school-leaning set to attract an audience, and I know the best is yet to come from them, so be sure to see them live to see what they bring to the table, including this weekend at Jay's and back at Shooters on June 1st! While an official band photographer got some much better/closer pictures of them on Saturday for their Facebook page, you can check out mine at this link or via our Facebook page (I hate being that guy in everyone's road). I also got a video of HeadFirst covering The Arctic Monkeys' "Do I Wanna Know?", so check that out for yourselves below!

Next up, it's been a while (4+ months!) since we've seen new content from local punk supergroup project Mikey & His Uke, but there may be a good reason for that in progress. As you may know, February 1st of this year marked the 30th anniversary of the release of Green Day's breakthrough studio album "Dookie", which founder Mikey Hawdon has noted as being a highly influential release that was his gateway into not just punk music, but towards playing and writing music of his own. To honour "Dookie" and Green Day for the anniversary, Mikey plans to record and release all-star covers of every single song on this album, which will add up to fourteen covers when all is said and done (fifteen if Mikey & crew decide to tackle the bonus song "All By Myself"). Each song is being released in order of the album's track listing to the project's YouTube channel, and three have made their way there at press time, spaced 7-8 days apart each.

Given the circumstances of this being a wider project covering the same album by the same three-piece band, each of the songs (so far?) has the same three instrumentalists. Mikey is on guitar and (initially as always) ukelele here alongside Buck-O-Nine bassist Andy Plafoot and ex-Goldfinger drummer Darren Pfeiffer, both no strangers to Mikey & His Uke. Each of the "Dookie" covers will feature a guest singer, and on the first three songs (the deep cuts "Burnout", "Having A Blast", and "Chump"), the respective vocalists are Loved Ones/Falcon alum Dave Hause, Pulley singer Scott Radinsky, and Ataris frontman Kris Roe. The "Burnout" video is mostly in black & white, albeit with some post-production filters, with Darren wearing a Soo Greyhounds jersey for his footage (nice touch!) On "Having A Blast", things are in colour, and Scott is filmed singing in multiple unique locales and angles.

"Chump" is also in colour and is moreso a straightforward remotely performance clip. In all three, watch for nods to Green Day, plus more hockey jerseys from Darren, and a newly shot outro/Patreon plug at the end of each, featuring Mikey and his baby daughter. As a fan, I think my favourite of these is "Having A Blast" (it helps that I was already a Pulley fan), but all three are tightly performed covers that Green Day and Mikey & His Uke fans won't want to miss! If the release pattern of 7-8 days between videos continues, then look for "Longview" later this week, and look for the rest of "Dookie" to crop up into early May, but give "Burnout" and the rest (so far) a watch above and below!

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