LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Bone Yard 225) & Most Of This Weekend's Hard Rock Concert Previews!!

In today's post, we've diving into most of this weekend's hard rock concert previews! As a rule, the Easter weekend isn't a big one for themed events and whatnot (it moving around each year acknowledged), but this year, March is going out like a lion with lots of concerts, including on Good Friday, so fans (especially cover-amenable ones) have a lot to like! Due to the amount of shows, we'll hold the Saturday-only gigs from Double Down and Tym Morrison for tomorrow's news post. Now, here's what you should know alongside some new videos and some linked LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!

Following their previously announced Reggie's Place concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT, local southern hard rock cover trio Bone Yard 225 have announced two more dates for next month, which will see them return to Shooters Downstairs Lounge on Saturday, April 20th (yes, 4/20) before returning to Gateway Casino one week later for another unplugged "uncorked" gig one week later on April 27th! Everything else on their new website's updated calendar was either already announced or a Thursday jam night at Reggie's (yes, including tonight). Keep both new dates in mind, especially as the Shooters show is their only currently scheduled April non-jam night gig to be plugged in as normal! Of course, you can ring in Easter with the guys at Reggie's on this "triple header" weekend, and if you're curious, a list of songs that they play live is now on their website!

Notably, Bone Yard also have original songs named "Fuck" and "Gypsy Spell" in their ever-growing repertoire, joining "F.A.F.O.". This weekend's and next month's new shows are all 19+ affairs with no announced cover charges, and all except the gig at Shooters (at 9:30 PM) start at 9:00 PM. Visit the above links for more on Bone Yard 225's shows this weekend and beyond, and for a preview, here's Bone Yard live!

Next up, we'll head west to Jay's Piston Broke Pub, where local hard rock quintet HeadFirst will return to the stage TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Last seen (publically) at The Water Tower Pub four weeks ago and at Jay's in early February, hopefully this weekend's shows will be successes with good turnouts for this fast rising young group, so don't miss out on all of the action on Korah Road tomorrow and/or Saturday! This weekend's shows have 9:00 PM start times, no cover charges, and 19+ age limits. See above for more details, and for a preview, here's some new videos of HeadFirst live earlier this month! While quiet for the last few weeks, they did play a private gig for a stag & doe on March 16th, and they got permission to post three videos from it in a batch post on their Facebook page! Embedded below is a sideways video of them playing an unidentified bluesy song, perhaps an original?

Another video here is cover of Alice Cooper's "School's Out" featuring ex-Electric Church frontman Spencer Pine on guest guitar (really nice to see him again), but it's shorter and vertical, so only Spencer is seen in full on camera. The last video is a 6 second clip of what appears to be a stag & doe game, and I'll let you gauge what's going on for yourself there. What we see & hear isn't too long (and why was the main video uploaded sideways?), but HeadFirst seemed to have a good time at this event, so give their videos a look above & below in advance of their weekend back at Jay's!

Also this weekend (and also in the west end), you can check out classic/hard rock cover veterans Soundcheck live at The Esquire Club TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Fresh off of their late notice gig at The Water Tower Pub last week, we thankfully knew about this weekend's shows in advance via The Esquire Club's concert calendar for early 2024, so there's the public word that may not come from Soundcheck's camp until maybe tomorrow. This is the third straight month to see Soundcheck (no space) rock the Second Line West venue's stage, and will see the return there of singer/guitarist Cameron Oliver after he missed their February 17th show while out of town, though of course, they're playing without him as jam night hosts at Jay's tonight. Soundcheck won't be back at The Esquire Club until the Victoria Day long weekend, so don't miss out on their hard rocking and crowd-friendly covers on this long weekend! 

Tomorrow & Saturday's Esquire gigs have 9:00 PM start times, 19+ age limits, and no cover charges. Visit the above links for more on Soundcheck's shows this weekend, and for a preview, here they are live!

Finally for today's previews, let's head across to The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino, where Traverse City metal trio Scarkazm will return for shows TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Be advised that Scarkazm have not newly promoted these shows in recent weeks, but the shows were confirmed on their Facebook page last month, and are listed on Kewadin's entertainment page (erroneously dating the shows as being on the 29th and 31st acknowledged). While not Scarkazm's first E.U.P. dates of 2024, they are their first in the Soo, and hopefully Adam, Dave, and Jeff give local fans something to talk about with their hard hitting covers and originals once again this weekend! Tomorrow & Saturday's shows are at 9:00 PM with no cover charges and 21+ age limits. Visit the official Facebook event pages linked here & here for more details, and for a preview, here's Scarkazm live last year!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for our Double Down & Tym Morrison previews (and more) on the site next! Thanks everyone!