LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Tarnished & HeadFirst) & Our Victoria Day Long Weekend Concert Previews (Part 1!!)

A stacked slate of concerts is upon us, largely thanks to this being the Victoria Day long weekend in Sault Ontario (or the May 2-4 long weekend, if you prefer), so I will have to break up this weekend's hard rock/punk concert previews into two posts. This one will look at bands playing tomorrow night in some description and/or SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, while the Saturday or Sunday-only concerts from Blood Opera, Bone Yard 225, Hails, and Double Down will be covered tomorrow, so everything is on tap (barring anything on even lesser notice). Now, here's what you should know to start the long weekend!

Local hard rock quintet HeadFirst will return to Reggie's Place for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, these shows were announced on their Facebook page on Monday during their latest concert schedule drop, and rather than wait to cover all of it at once, I opted to break up the late notice gigs from the rest so as to not lengthen this weekend's concert previews more than they already are. Two weeks before they return to Reggie's for a one-nighter on the 31st, they will have Reggie's locked up for the next two nights, and yes, they will be releasing their debut studio original song and music video for "Don't Care, Don't Mind" on SATURDAY as well! In fact, their concert calendar image calls SATURDAY's concert the "release party", which may be overhype for a song/video posting, but in case they have other frills, don't miss out on HeadFirst on night #2 this weekend, let alone TOMORROW NIGHT!

You can take in HeadFirst's classic-leaning slate of hard rock covers and select originals TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT at 9:30 PM, these are 19+ events, and neither has an announced cover charge. This will be a big weekend for Red, Raine, Liam, Claire, and Anthony, so don't miss HeadFirst at Reggie's this weekend, and here they are live!

Next up, let's take a brief detour to Sault Michigan for another SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (albeit not on a long weekend for them), as local hard rock/classic metal band Tarnished will return to The Merchant's Bar for one night only on SATURDAY NIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice, the band only announced this show via their Facebook page last week, and true to The Merch's usual form, they have not plugged it on social media. Last seen at The Merch via an even-later-notice show in December, SATURDAY's concert will be Tarnished's first plugged in local gig since February, and will be their first non-acoustic show with Josh Fair not on drums since 2021. For this concert, the rhythm section of fellow local hard rock cover band Rhythm & Brews (bassist Chris Leask and drummer Ron Suchey) will guest with Tarnished, so that'll be an interesting mash-up!

While Josh has been playing electric guitar in recent Tarnished media, note that he was Tarnished's bassist when they had a separate drummer in the past, and current bassist Parker Talentino can play guitar too (plus, bands playing with two bassists is not unheard of. One's playing in Sault Ontario on SATURDAY also!) Is this a one-off for Josh to return to a stringed electric instrument, or is he leaving the kit for good? Time will tell, but come see Tarnished Rhythm (how's that for a hybrid name?) at The Merch on SATURDAY NIGHT! Expect a 1980s-leaning set and "some surprises" from everyone at 9:00 PM, with no cover charge and a 21+ age limit. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Tarnished live!

Now let's head back to Sault Ontario for two bands making the most of the Victoria Day long weekend with two shows, starting with local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations, who will double up with concerts at The Water Tower Pub TOMORROW NIGHT and at Gateway Casino on SATURDAY NIGHT! With the former venue booking different nightly bands (we'll preview Double Down's Saturday nighter there tomorrow) and the latter only hosting bands on Saturdays, it's good to see Generations fill in the gap by playing at two different locales this weekend, with the Gateway Casino show on Saturday notably being their debut there. Whether you're up for some hard rocking classic rock favourites centrally or downtown, you have options this weekend, so don't miss out at either venue if you can help it! Both shows have 19+ age limits and no announced cover charge, and they start at 8:00 & 9:00 PM respectively. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Generations live!

Finally for this preview post, fellow local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck are advertised to return to The Esquire Club for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! As you may recall, Soundcheck were the late notice replacements for classic rock veterans Mustang Heart at this venue last weekend, so at the time, I floated the possibility that the two bands traded bookings given that Soundcheck had been scheduled for the May 2-4 weekend since The Esquire Club posted this schedule back in January, let alone that they don't typically host the same band on consecutive weekends. As of this writing, I have not seen anything to confirm that Soundcheck aren't playing at the Second Line West nightclub again this weekend, but I will let you know if they aren't playing here again so soon! Soundcheck will be hosting jam night at Jay's tonight as usual though.

Assuming that Soundcheck are back here this weekend, expect 9:00 PM start times, 19+ age limits, and no cover charges, and hopefully Terry, Cameron, Jim, and Glen have a solid weekend of classic and hard rock favourites for west end fans tomorrow and Saturday if still true! See above for more details, and here's Soundcheck live!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for our Blood Opera, Bone Yard 225, Hails, and Double Down previews on the site next! Thanks everyone!