Thursday, October 3, 2024

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (HeadFirst & Curtis McKenzie) And Weekend Concert Previews!!

Another busy concert weekend is upon us, with today's post covering SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS and most announced hard rock/punk shows in Sault Ontario this weekend! Preview post #2 (likely hitting the site by tomorrow morning) will cover Tym Morrison's Saturday matinee and Sault Michigan dates. Here's what you should know to kick off October's concert slate!

Former Haggith/Eclipse frontman Curtis McKenzie will return to The Dive Gastro Pub for another "Think It Over Thursday" gig TONIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, The Dive only confirmed Curt's gig TONIGHT in this Facebook video hyping up this week's musicians and food/drink specials. This will be Curtis' first show at the former Low & Slow in two weeks, and it's no secret that he likes playing there (and they like having him, even on late notice). Hopefully Curt's acoustic hard and alternative rock covers go over swimmingly again at The Dive TONIGHT, and if you missed his show there two weeks ago, click here to see his full setlist! As usual for "Think It Over Thursday" shows regardless of headliner, TONIGHT'S festivities are at 7:00 PM with a 19+ age limit and no announced cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Curtis live a few years ago!

Next up, local hard rock quintet HeadFirst will reportedly return to the stage TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT when they rock Jay's Piston Broke Pub! Again, apologies for the short notice, these dates were only announced on the venue's Facebook page yesterday. Surprisingly, HeadFirst have been silent on social media since before their most recent gigs at Reggie's Place almost a month ago, which may be slightly worrying for some fans. That said, if Jay's is promoting them as playing TOMORROW & SATURDAY, then they must be, and at least two band members shared the post announcing the gigs on their personal Facebook accounts! These will be HeadFirst's... first shows at or near Jay's since their set at last month's ARCH Run, and hopefully they will provide some fine opportunities to hear their classic tinged hard rock covers and select originals in the west end audience!

TOMORROW & SATURDAY'S shows are 19+ affairs with no cover charges and 9:30 PM start times. See above for more details on this weekend's late notice return to the stage, and for a preview, here's HeadFirst live!

With the late notice shows out of the way, I would normally look at a Friday-only gig next, but I'm going to deviate from procedure slightly this week due to a venue change. As advertised on their website's concert calendar, local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 were scheduled to play separate one-nighters this weekend, with TOMORROW'S concert being an "uncorked" affair at The Water Tower Pub (who host different acts nightly) and SATURDAY'S being at Shooters Downstairs Lounge (who have only booked bands on Saturdays all year due to their Friday DJ nights). However, tomorrow's show has quietly been moved to Reggie's Place for unannounced reasons, and will presumably now be a normal plugged-in electric gig as a result. This was first announced by Reggie's Facebook page on Sunday, and Bone Yard corroborated the Friday venue change on their Facebook page yesterday. Hopefully all is well with The Water Tower Pub, but fans now have double the chances to see your local 225 in full power!

Greg, Alex, and Warren last rocked Reggie's two weeks ago, while they have surprisingly not played at Shooters since April, dropping out of a planned Saturday nighter last month. As Bone Yard 225 are booked at Shooters on Saturday, country rock veterans Tex Riviera & The Ride will be playing at Reggie's that night. The guys' southern fried rock covers can be enjoyed (perhaps with their shot?) at both venues at 9:30 PM with 19+ age limits and no cover charges. Visit the above links for more on Bone Yard's two downtown and fully corked shows this weekend, and here they are live!

Finally for this preview post, here's the aforementioned Friday-only concert, as Waterloo, Ontario pop punk quintet Among Legends will debut on a local stage when they headline at Soo Blaster TOMORROW NIGHT! As advertised on bulletin boards in town since July, this is the penultimate stop on Among Legends' western Canada tour, and will see Among Legends play cuts from their 2022 debut CD "Take Good Care". Genre fans will get a solid array of catchy and well composed modern punk, so definitely give Among Legends a spin to see what you think before making plans to stop by Soo Blaster tomorrow night! Local support will come by way of thrash metal trio The BAG in their first show since opening for The Devil's Sons on Monday, though they have oddly not promoted either show on their Facebook group. While obviously not a punk band, The BAG should get the energy levels onto a good high to start the night tomorrow!

If you want an (unembeddable and vertical) teaser of this set, attendee Jordan Dubois posted a "Reel" there of them playing a "tasty jam" at the Sylo-headlined all-local show at Soo Blaster in August. By necessity of "Reels", it's a very short and restricted video, but give it a look above, as what we see/hear is promisingly heavy! Another presentation by promoter Mikhal Muto, Tickets cost $15 in advance (at this link or at Soo Blaster) and $20 at the door for this 8:00 PM and likely 19+ concert. Visit the above links for more on this punk and metal double header tomorrow, and for a preview, here's Among Legends live!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post and more concert previews next! Thanks everyone!

No comments: