Rotaryfest Stage 1 & Tym Morrison Concert Previews!!

Normally, I don't start the weekend's concert previews until Thursday, but between a Wednesday evening show tonight and this year's Rotaryfest beginning tomorrow, let's kick things off a day early! This is a VERY busy concert weekend for Sault Ontario, after all, let alone the Sault Michigan-area shows also taking place! For preview post #1, we'll look at most of the Rotaryfest lineup, as well as unrelated solo dates from a familiar face, so here's what you should know!

We'll start this weekend's concert previews by looking at local classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison's busy stretch of three shows in four days, as he'll return to Gino's Fired Up Kitchen & Bar at 1076 Great Northern Road TONIGHT before continuing his weekly runs at The Mike Case Memorial Stage outside of The Trading Post on FRIDAY NIGHT and Misty's Fifties on SATURDAY! For one reason or another, Tym doesn't play at Rotaryfest, but fans will get lots of chances to see him in the next few days if they so choose, starting with his second Wednesday evening gig on Gino's large patio tonight before going fully outdoors at The Mike Case Stage on Friday. If you'd rather see his classic and hard rock cover attack fully indoors, his Misty's matinee on Saturday will do the trick, so keep the outdoors-ish action on Great Northern Road and on Second Line West in mind!

Tym is on at 6:30 PM tonight at Gino's, at 7:00 PM on Friday at The Trading Post, and 4:00 PM at Misty's Fifties. The latter is likely 19+, and none have an announced cover charge. 9&10 News projects that the weather tonight on the patio is expected to be mostly cloudy at 17°, while Friday's show will be much the same but warmer at around 25°, so keep the temperature difference in mind depending what your summer tastes are. Visit the official Facebook event pages linked here, here, and here for more details, and for a preview, here's Tym live in concert last year!

Next up, here's our extended preview of this year's Rotaryfest Stage 1 lineup, as the Sault's summer festival returns to Clergue Park for another packed weekend of family entertainment! Visit their website or read the official program from your mailbox last week for complete non-musical details. The familiar pop-up stage in front of the Centennial Library is back for its 22nd year, and there's hard rock-leaning bands on all three nights of the covers-leaning main stage, so who can you look for in the next few days! TOMORROW's opening night features four returning acts, including headlining local Abba tribute band Abba Soo at 9:30 PM, classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations at 8:00 PM, country singer/guitarist Brendan Hodgson (featuring Hollow Sky's Adam Fahrer in his backing band) at 7:00 PM, and nine-piece classic rock cover group Pegasus opening at 6:00 PM. Nice mix of sounds that should appeal to many attendees!

With four bands who festival-goers have seen at least once in the past two years (Brendan's back for a fourth straight year, even), you should get a solid show, and Generations will add some hard rock zest in their first Rotaryfest set with Tony Kajnar on guitar! As always, tomorrow's band lineup is FREE & ALL AGES, and the weather should hold up, as 9&10 News is projecting sunny-clear conditions with temperatures ranging from 16-21°. Visit the above links for more on the shorter Thursday bill, and for a preview, here's Generations live!

Six bands take the main stage on FRIDAY, and with heavier bookends, including classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck as the 10:20 PM headliners! This will be their third Rotaryfest set but first with singer/guitarist Cameron Oliver and bassist Jim Michaud, so look for a hard rocking selection of covers to end the night with, and likely a few country cuts too! The four interim bands on Friday (all Rotaryfest newbies) include rock cover quartet Westridge at 9:00 PM, debuting local Tragically Hip tribute band The Luxury (featuring Tripod The Dog and Parabol alumni) at 8:00 PM, new pop rock cover band (and Eight Seventies sister band) The Rhythm Junction at 7:00 PM, and veteran classic rock duo Frankly Speaking, who are playing their special message-driven themed set "Rock On To The Sound Of Change" at 6:00 PM. Opening at 5:00 PM is prolific local/Barrie alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith in his third straight year of solo original music on Stage 1!

Of course, this is a do-over in many respects after his freak knee dislocation mid-set last year, but Mike has hyped this set up as being bigger and better beyond that, so don't be late! His newly named backing band The Big Finish are back, now including new bassist Matt Fronzi and past guest vocalist Elly McWatters on rhythm guitar. Again, Friday's bill is FREE & ALL AGES, and like with Tym Morrison's Trading Post show that same evening, expect a high of 25° with mostly cloudy skies, though as it goes longer into the night, temperatures could drop into the teens. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Soundcheck live!

Lastly, the biggest lineup is on SATURDAY as usual, with ten acts playing Stage 1 that day, including closing local classic/hard rock cover quartet Double Down at 10:30 PM! In their second Rotaryfest, they've ascended to the coveted closing slot, and hopefully the guys (including new guitarist Beej Syrette) send everything out on a high with their hard rocking covers! This year's featured touring headliners are Southern Ontario-based Police/Sting tribute band Sound Of Sting, who will bring their faithful sounding and looking tribute to Saultites at 8:30 PM. Classic rock cover bands The Way Backs (in their festival debut) and the returning RPM will take the stage at 7:15 and 6:15 PM, preceded by alternative/punk cover sextet BookcluB at 5:15 PM in one of new guitarist Brandon Ruch's FOUR sets that day across Stages 1 and 2. In fact, he heads off to play with The Hollow Heads on Stage 2 right afterwards!

Classic rock veterans Flathead Ford play Stage 1 for a sixth time at 4:15 PM, while local classic/hard rock cover quartet Silent 9 make their festival debut at 3:15 as they continue their festival/private-only summer slate, so welcome them to Stage 1 on Saturday afternoon! Superior Heights Collegiate's new Mustang Sally-esque student rock band Steel Rock will play Rotaryfest for the first time at 2:15 PM, and according to the program, they cover everyone from The Foo Fighters to Foreigner, so it'll be interesting to see what the high schoolers have cooked up! The Northern Jazz Ensemble return for year #15 on Stage 1 at 1:15 PM, making them the only 7+ timers this year. Your opening band at 12:00 PM is pop rock cover quartet Lime, who will then jet off to Stage 2 as "Miss Madii" to play singer Madii Schomogyi's own original material.

Once again, Saturday's live music is FREE & ALL AGES! Weather-wise, it's too soon to have an idea of an hourly forecast, but 9&10 News is projecting partly cloudy skies with a high of 24° and a low of 14°, so a little cooler than Friday, but things can easily change closer to. With a mostly newer slate of bands this year (only four Stage 1 bands this year have played 3+ times in the past), things are shaping up to give a fun and varied array of live music, including just enough hard rock for genre fans, so absolutely visit the above links for more on this year's Stage 1 action at Clergue Park! For a preview, here's Double Down live at Rotaryfest last year!

That's all for today, but stay tuned as we continue this weekend's concert previews tomorrow! We are likely looking at the Sault Michigan/E.U.P. hard rock shows this weekend (Ace Frehley among them) next, with more from Sault Ontario upcoming. Thanks everyone!