Friday, December 6, 2024

More Weekend Concert Previews & A New Mike Haggith Live-Stream!!

Later than I would have liked to get this post up, but here's the second half of this weekend's hard rock concert previews, along with a new video from a recent concert event, so here's what you should know on this Friday night!

We'll start at The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino, where Iron Mountain classic/hard rock cover quintet Oz will return for two more local dates TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! This will be this talented veteran act's first regional stop since rocking the Soo Kewadin back in March, so if you've missed Oz's proficient and melodic brand of heavier-leaning classic rock covers in recent months, brave the snow by heading to the casino this weekend! Obviously, safe travels to Oz and their crew on the trip east as well, especially from a Canadian who isn't 100% sure of the U.P. highway conditions.  As usual for concerts at Kewadin Casino's on-site lounges, tonight and tomorrow's shows have 21+ age limits, no announced cover charges, and 9:00 PM start times. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details on Oz's local shows this weekend, and for a preview, here they are live!

Next up, let's head to Sault Ontario to wrap up this weekend's hard rock concert previews, and we're ending by resolving a bit of confusion about who's playing at Shooters Downstairs Lounge TOMORROW NIGHT! Remember, they host DJ nights on Fridays now. Back on October 15th, local hard rock quintet HeadFirst... first announced that they were booked at Shooters tomorrow night via this concert calendar on their Facebook page, but nothing followed about the gig over the next month & a half, partially due to their own busy activity behind the scenes. Then on November 13th, local classic/hard rock quartet Generations announced on their Facebook group that they were booked at Shooters tomorrow, something which I admittedly should have caught the date conflict of at the time, but I did make note of it on the site in our post on Wednesday. It did seem like Generations had replaced HeadFirst, but that's not the case!

As best as I can gather, HeadFirst initially booked December 7th at Shooters, but somewhere along the line, wires got crossed, and Generations were also booked on December 7th. Despite their quiet social media activity in recent months, HeadFirst never dropped out of tomorrow's gig. Rather than cancel/postpone one of the two bands, Shooters is opting for the rare double header tomorrow night, with HeadFirst getting the night timeslot as planned, while Generations will instead open the day's music slate with a 6:00 PM matinee of sorts (early nightfall at this time of year acknowledged). Remember, on times like this where two bands have full four-set gigs back to back, I wouldn't say Generations are "opening" for HeadFirst, as both are playing their usual time for a show on the weekend covers circuit. Notably, tomorrow will mark Generations' first show since October, so be early to welcome them back!

Both of tomorrow's back-to-back rock concerts at Shooters have 19+ age limits and no cover charges, with HeadFirst going on at 10:00 PM. Eight hours of rock cover action from both the talented veteran presence of Generations and the rising newer attack of HeadFirst (complete with a few originals of their own), so whether you want to see one or both groups, don't miss out on the double header on Dennis Street tomorrow! Visit the above links for more details on these shows, and for a preview, here's both HeadFirst and Generations live!

Finally, let's close this post with the latest live-stream from local/Barrie alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith's YouTube channel! For his apparent final full-band show of 2024, he and his old Din bandmate Brandan Glew returned to Toystock, this time via Mike headlining solo with support from The Big Finish Band, so what all did they play at The Grand Gardens last month? In order, the ten song set included "Brand New Day", "Back Away Slowly""I Really Hope This Gets To You", "No Love", "Hot & Cold", "If Ever Comes The Day", "An Act Of Strength", a cover of The Din's "Missing", "The Nature Of The Times", and "All The Best". If you're curious, this set included four of the six songs played during their intermission set at The Soo's Got Talent finals two days prior (as seen in this live-stream), excepting "Carousel" and "Twist Of Fate". Once again, Mike is just singing and not playing anything, with no major instrument role changes mid-set.

Decent quality with good and bright lighting inside The Grand Gardens, and everyone is on form to realize Mike's original music for a festive audience and for a wonderful cause! I'd have centered the camera moreso than what they did, given that Chris is often cut off on the left where Matt is playing beside lots of empty space in the video. Good stuff to end Mike's 2024 concert calendar, so check out their full Toystock live-stream below!

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

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