LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Toystock XI!!)

The eleventh annual Toystock goes down on Sunday, November 24th, and the official lineup was just revealed yesterday on the event's Facebook page! Held annually since 2012 (with a pandemic hiatus in 2020 & 2021), Toystock is the annual Christmas Cheer benefit concert event spearheaded by veteran local musician Greg Simpson, where attendees donate new/gently used toys, cash, unused gift cards, and cold weather clothing items to see ten bands in ten hours, and it's become something of an unofficial winter Rotaryfest given its similar performers in many years! Of course, lots of family activities, visits from Santa & Mrs. Claus, open bar/restaurant, and more will be in effect as usual, so visit the official website for full and ongoing non-musical details. As has been the case since 2015, Toystock XI will be held at The Grand Gardens at The Grand Gardens at 1324 Great Northern Road, though this year, Toystock will take place before the American Thanksgiving.

Each year, ten local music acts donate their time to perform at Toystock, and the "ten bands in ten hours" conceit is back in full force, including five new acts and five returning ones, so who all is playing next month? As expected, the headliners at 9:00 PM are local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 in their record tenth appearance at Toystock (only missing 2013 when Greg played with other bands of his instead) and their first year since tacking "225" onto their name. Yes, we'll have more on their three shows this weekend on the site soon! Local alternative rock quartet The Haze (who played last year's Toystock under their original name Skinbox) will surprisingly get the co-headlining slot at 8:00 PM. Playing before them at 7:00 PM are The Associates, the online page-less blues quartet who you may have seen at Rotaryfest Stage 2 back in July, and who also feature Bone Yard bassist Warren Reville in their ranks, so Friday Night Blues-goers will approve!

It's worth noting that, while not named for Long & McQuade, the members of The Associates are all staff or instructors at the MacDonald Avenue music store, continuing an annual trend of Toystock booking a band comprised of students or staff of a local music store/school since 2013. Classic rock cover veterans Mid Life Crysis will (believe it or not) be making their Toystock debuts on the 24th at 6:00 PM, while pop rock cover standouts Bourbon Blue will make their third straight Toystock appearance at 5:00 PM. In a change of pace, Mark "DJ Dark Mark" Millington (who has worked with Greg/Maxx Entertainment in various events for the past decade) will mix some tunes in the 4:00 PM timeslot, and it'll be interesting to hear how he goes over next month! Local punk trio Redundant will play their first show since last year's Toystock (and third set at Toystock overall) at 3:00 PM.

No word on why Redundant have been so quiet in recent years, with this being just their third show of any kind since the pandemic began, but hopefully Justin, Andrew, and Rick have a great return (again) next month! Local/Barrie alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith and his Big Finish Band will make their Toystock debut at 2:00 PM, though Mike & Brandan played at this event back in 2016 with The Din. Good to see Mike booking another local date this year, and yes, we'll have more on The Soo's Got Talent soon! Acoustic acts will open the day at Toystock XI, including Soundcheck singer/guitarist Cameron Oliver (who also played solo country covers at Toystock in 2019) at 1:00 PM, and veteran local blues rock musician Doug Cousineau at 12:00 PM in his solo Toystock debut. Conspicuous by their absence this year are Soundcheck proper, ending a streak of five consecutive appearances at this event.

Toystock is, as always, an ALL AGES event with plenty of kid-friendly activities in store, so consider bringing the family to kick off the Christmas season right next month! It's great to see Greg and crew bringing Toystock back into its second decade, and hopefully they have another great turnout for attenance and for donations to Christmas Cheer to help those in need at a difficult time. Definitely visit the above links for more details on all of the action at The Grand Gardens next month, and stay tuned for more news and notes on the site soon! Thanks everyone!