Weekend Concert Previews & A New Original Song!!

In a hard rock sense, the weekend before Christmas is fairly quiet as the SMS goes, which I wasn't expecting! Not a lot of shows from heavier bands, so barring a late notice confirmation, this weekend's previews will fit into one post! We'll round things out with _____, but here's what you should know for the next two nights!

We'll start at The Esquire Club, where local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will hit the stage TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Last seen here just under a month ago, this weekend's gigs will be Soundcheck's last ones on Second Line West before their reported breakup next month, which the band finally confirmed on their own Facebook page yesterday (they have not promoted this weekend's shows thusly but they've been referenced on members' personal Facebook pages and in the venue's advertising). After this weekend, Soundcheck have just three shows left (next weekend's have not been publically announced at press time), so if you wanna see Terry, Cameron, Jim, and Glen together on stage rocking out, keep tomorrow & Saturday's shows in mind! As usual, expect 9:30 PM start times, 19+ age limits, and no cover charges. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Soundcheck (no space) live!

Next up, let's head downtown, where local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 have a full weekend in store for fans TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT at Reggie's Place! With bookings next weekend and on New Year's Eve ahead like Soundcheck, Bone Yard have a busy end of December ongoing, with tomorrow & Saturday's shows being their second and third at Reggie's this month alone, before capping the year there on the 31st. It's good to see Greg, Alex, and Warren back in familiar confines this weekend, so if you want a full slate of plugged-in southern and hard rock covers (and likely a few originals), head to this Queen Street East mainstay this weekend! Like normal, expect tomorrow & Saturday night's shows to be 19+ affairs with no cover charge and 9:30 PM start times. Visit the above links for more on Bone Yard's pre-Christmas shows, and for a preview, here's your local 225 live!

Lastly for currently known hard rock concerts in the area this weekend, we'll head up to The Distraction on East Street, where crossover thrash/punk quartet Ha!ls and party metal trio The Apocalypse Afterparty will join forces on SATURDAY NIGHT! Both featuring Mikhal Muto in their respective lineups, this will be Hails' first show since Halloween and The A.A.'s first in five months, and both should unleash their live-ready brand of in-your-face original music on fans this weekend! Former(?) Sylo frontman Elijah Russell is home for the holidays after leaving for university this fall, so look for his own talented brand of acoustic singer/songwriter material to kick off the night! Note that metal trio The BAG were originally slated to play at this show, but were replaced by The Apocalypse Afterparty for publically unannounced reasons not long afterwards. Notably, this concert will be held at The Distraction's downstairs basement space The Stellar Door, which hosted the Total Chaos and Ripcordz shows this year and select all-local gigs earlier this year.

Saturday's festivities are ALL AGES with doors opening at 7:00 PM, and while general admission is $10, promoters are hosting a canned food drive for the occasion! For each non-perishable food item brought to the former barbershop on Saturday, your ticket price will be shaved by $1, for a maximum savings of $5 if you donate five items, If you want to save some cash while doing a good deed, why not?! Visit the above links for more on all of the action at The Distraction, and for a preview, here's Ha!ls live!

Finally for this post, here's a new song from... No Arrow? Yes, the 2005-2011 grunge/alternative rock band has resurfaced with a new-ish original track named "Question Marked", as posted onto frontman Dann Pichette's YouTube channel two months ago. In the description, Dann (who moved from the Soo a few years back) noted that this is "a re-recording of a rough demo (that was) recently revised and revived", and that it "was the last song (that) I originally recorded about 10 years ago" before opting to redo it. On the recording is former bassist Brad "Gortium85" Griffith (who later played with Dann in SBD and without him in bands like Bizotic), while the drummer is credited as "GliTcH!?" (if that is ex-No Arrow drummer Joe Falco, than the handle isn't familiar to me). The song proper feels like something that No Arrow would have played live and recorded in the late 2000s, with a grungy distortion that sub-genre fans will like!

The video proper has various questions and statements moving towards the camera while the song plays, but they're not the lyrics, nor are they in time with the song, but there is a relevance there. I wouldn't rush to add No Arrow back to our links as this seemed to be presented as just unfinished business rather than a remote comeback, but Dann and Brad have popped up a bunch in those "hang out and have the host review new indie music" webseries like Your Music Live, so keep that in mind. Check out No Arrow's new song for yourselves below!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site soon! Thanks everyone!