LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Double Down & HeadFirst) And This Weekend's Hard Rock Concert Previews!!

Before we begin this weekend concert preview post, just a heads up that Sault Michigan hard rock band Exit 808's planned concert on Saturday at The Well Diggers Watering Hole & Feed Lot in Kinross has been cancelled, as per the band's Facebook page yesterday. A reason for the cancellation wasn't announced, but the band pointed to this being the venue's call, even though Well Diggers plugged it on Facebook as recently as Monday morning. The new lineup's local debut will now be at The Merch in the Soo in two weeks, but hopefully nothing too bad happened with Well Diggers this week, and that we see Exit 808 rocking out there in the future!

Now to concert previews and LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, some on SHORT NOTICE, starting with Sault Ontario hard rock quintet HeadFirst making their Esquire Club debuts (debute?) TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the band first announced these dates on their Facebook page on Tuesday. These shows were originally scheduled to belong to local classic rock veterans Mustang Heart, as per the venue's concert calendar for the first half of 2024, but Mustang Heart are unable to play shows for at least the next month, including Rotaryfest(!) due to "a health issue within our band", as per their Facebook page. Prior references to guitarist Lorenzo Fabbri recovering from shoulder surgery have been taken down, so I don't know if this is (still) what they mean, but hopefully they return healthy when able! Kudos to HeadFirst for stepping in TOMORROW & SATURDAY, and hopefully their hard rocking covers and select originals win over a new-ish audience in the west end!

Yes, I am well aware of their recent judging turn at a local karaoke competition, we'll discuss that in an upcoming post. HeadFirst will be on TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT at 9:30 PM, both shows have no cover charge, and they are obviously 19+ events. Visit the above links for more on this weekend's Esquire Club debuts, and here's HeadFirst live!

Next up, let's jump ahead briefly, as local classic/hard rock cover quartet Double Down will return to Reggie's Place for concerts on Friday, June 21st and Saturday, June 22nd! Our source is the band's Facebook page earlier today, and the venue has yet to publically confirm the bookings on social media. While not taking the stage this weekend, their upcoming Reggie's shows will be their first since rocking The Water Tower Pub over the Victoria Day weekend, and their first at Reggie's since early last month. Of course, these will also be Double Down's fourth and fifth shows with new guitarist Beej Syrette, so if you have missed their prior shows since he came on board, keep next week's in mind, and while there are no videos of the current lineup yet, this Facebook photo lists bands that they currently cover! Next weekend's shows have 9:30 PM start times, 19+ age limits, and no cover charges. Visit the above links for more details on Double Down's Reggie's return!

Now let's head back to this weekend's currently known hard rock concert previews, and we'll resume things with week #3 of local classic/hard rock solo musician Tym Morrison's dual weekly arrangements for this summer, as he'll be back at The Mike Case Memorial Stage outside of The Trading Post TOMORROW NIGHT and at Misty's Fifties on SATURDAY! Whether your schedule prefers either day, or if you'd rather be inside or outside, you have options for Tym's stacked setlist and proficient guitar and vocal abilities this weekend, so hopefully he draws a solid crowd at both of these westerly venues this weekend! The Trading Post show tomorrow is an all ages & 7:00 PM event as usual, while his Misty's shows are all 4:00 PM matinees and presumably 19+, while neither have an announced cover charge. Weather-wise, we thankfully got all of the rain out of the way!

9&10 News is calling for sunny conditions with temperatures at around 15° tomorrow, so most readers will get a better weather report for Tym's concert tomorrow than last week's! Visit the official Facebook event pages linked here and here for more details, and for a preview, here's Tym live!

Finally, let's head downtown for this year's Queen Street Cruise, where local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 will return as musical entertainment for a seventh straight year (and first since tacking on the 225) TOMORROW NIGHT & SATURDAY! After moving from GFL Memorial Gardens' parking lot last year to the larger and construction-free Roberta Bondar Pavilion, the Cruise will again set up shop under the tent and along Foster Drive for the Show N' Shine car show proper, but the classic car cruise is back down Queen along with the other family entertainment this weekend, so visit the official website for full non-musical details! Bone Yard will be performing tomorrow night at 6:30 PM during/after the cruise at the Pavilion, while Saturday's gig is a 12:30 PM matinee during the car show. Admission is free all weekend for spectators, but registrants for the car show would obviously have had to pay to participate in that regard.

The big tent at the Pavilion obviously protects against bad weather for the concert alone, but like with Tym Morrison's Mike Case Stage gig, expect sunny weather tomorrow night during the Cruise proper, with temperatures from 12-16°. Saturday, the current forecast is calling for mostly cloudy weather, but it'll be warmer with a projected high of 20°, so the car show should go off without a hitch! Visit the above links for more details on Bone Yard 225's concerts and/or the Queen Street Cruise, and for a preview, here's Bone Yard live at the Cruise!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes in the days ahead! Thanks everyone!