LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Nameless) & The First Of This Weekend's Concert Previews!!

Another busy concert weekend is upon us for hard rock fans in the Twin Saults and area! As such, our previews of this Saturday's HeadFirst, Silent 9, and Tarnished shows will be in tomorrow's post. Also, if you were curious about the publically advertised folk/bluegrass concert being opened by folk punk solo project Agnosticism on Saturday, that's taking place in Golden Scoundrels/ex-Shit Liver frontman Josh Penno's kitchen, and the address is only being given on request (as the event page says, "ask a punk"). We don't fully cover shows without a public address, but keep it in mind for your Saturday plans! Now, here's what you should know to start the weekend off, including a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!

Sault Michigan hard rock quintet The Nameless will return to the stage on SATURDAY NIGHT at The Merchants Bar! Apologies for the short notice, this gig was only publically announced via the band's Facebook page earlier today, but the band noted that they had "just over a week for prep". We hadn't heard from The Nameless since they headlined The Merch's New Year's Eve party, so it will be good to see their lively and crowd-pleasing brand of rock covers back at it after a four month break! However, SATURDAY's concert will be sans drummer Justin Lawless for publically unannounced reasons, but The Nameless have recruited Dirty Musky drummer Jamie Costner to fill in for the night. Jamie elaborated on her personal Facebook page (said post was publically shared by the band) that she had to learn 35 songs in 12 days, and that "it’s important to do something terrifying once in a while" (she really isn't wrong there.)

Kudos to Jamie for stepping on just over a week's/12 days' notice, and hopefully she and The Nameless knock it out of the park at The Merch on SATURDAY (and that all is well with Justin!). This one-night-only concert has a 9:00 PM start time, no announced cover charge, and a 21+ age limit. Visit the above links for more details, and here's The Nameless live!

Next up, let's take a brief detour to Sault Ontario by heading to Reggie's Place, where local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 will take the stage TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! The guys opted to take the past month+ off from the live stage in order to focus on writing/recording original material and for "getting prepared for an extremely busy spring, summer, and fall", so these will be their first "sermons" since playing at Reggie's on March 1st, aside from a Thessalon road trip last week. Good to see Greg, Alex, and Warren back at it, and hopefully this weekend's shows are hits for fans of their old school hard and southern rock covers (and originals!). Your local 225 take the stage at 9:30 PM tomorrow and Saturday with 19+ age limits and no cover charges. See above for more details, and here's Bone Yard live!

Back in Sault Michigan, let's next look at the return of Iron Mountain, Michigan classic/hard rock cover quintet Oz, who will rock The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! These are effectively the rescheduling of the planned Valentine's Day weekend shows that Oz were to have played at the Soo Kewadin, only to get called off after a ransomware attack forced all Kewadin Casino locations to close for over two weeks. Oz quickly announced their April return though, so fans of heavier-leaning classic rock will find a lot to like this weekend from this skilled and experienced Western U.P. outfit! Given the February cancellation, these are Oz's first local dates since December of last year. As usual for Kewadin concerts, expect 9:00 PM start times, no cover charges, and 21+ age limits this weekend. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Oz live!

Finally for this preview post, we'll head to Brimley, where local hard/blues rock quartet Project 906 will make their way back to The Back Bay Grill & Games at Bay Mills Resort & Casino for one night only on SATURDAY NIGHT! This has been a long time coming for 906, having last rocked The Back Bay Grill in 2023, so if you've missed them at Bay Mills in the past 18 months, come on down to "your perfect up north retreat" in two days' time! Local fans last saw Project 906 (sans a vacationing Billy Bernier) at the Musicians Unite fundraiser for guitarist Joe Jenkins' wife Mary Jo in the Soo on March 22nd, which we will have more fallout from on the SMS in the coming days, but their most recent gig with Billy on vocals was in Strongs on March 1st. Should be a good time for fans of hard rock cover favourites, so don't miss out on all of the action in Brimley on Saturday night!

Note that frequent guest hand drummer Brian Duford hinted that he will be there too in the comments for Project 906's most recent Facebook page plug of this show. Saturday's concert is at 9:00 PM with a 21+ age limit and no announced cover charge. Visit the above links for more details on this concert, and for a preview, here's 906 live!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more weekend concert previews on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

Musicians Unite Fallout & Videos (Part 1!!)

This has fallen through the cracks for way too long now, so let's talk about fallout from the Musicians Unite benefit concert at Bird's Eye Outfitters on March 22nd! Held in honour of Project 906 guitarist Joe Jenkins' wife Mary Jo in order to raise money for her and her family during her ongoing battle with breast cancer, you can read more about all that happened last month in this personal Facebook post by co-promoter & Exit 808 singer Amy Beach (which has been shared publically by some of the bands). Over $5,000 was raised for the Jenkins family on this night, and Bird's Eye was packed all day, so it's awesome to see the support from Sault Michiganders and the E.U.P. at this trying time! I initially had planned to cross the border for it, but the whole tariff/trade war thing came up and I didn't want to risk any hiked up duty payments at customs for whatever I happened to buy. Amy's post also includes 50 photos from the concert, so what is there to see?

While John Bullman was the official photographer, these attached photos are Amy's, and include shots of attendees and performers alike, and there's a lot of quality shots from her camera from bell to bell! In terms of videos, let's start with headlining Marquette hard rock cover band Spun (featuring frequent Exit 808 guest bassist Bob Libick), who live-streamed two vertical videos from their set to their Facebook page. Now, I want to preface this by noting that Facebook will now be removing live-streamed videos from accounts after 30 days in an effort to declutter storage and improve program efficiency (source here). Pages/users will then have a 90 day window to either re-post it as a normal video or "Reel", or save it to their hard drive before it is permanently deleted (one six month postponement will also be allowed). This was announced before Musicians Unite, so I don't know if Spun intended for these to be short-term content or not, but watch them while you can!

I get where Facebook is coming from, as the amount of uploaded videos never ends, but that's a lot of videos that are doomed, so hopefully not all of them are unceremoniously deleted! In any event, Spun's videos (which should be live until around April 21st barring a permanent re-upload) feature a rocked-up cover of Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues" and, as embedded below, Guns N' Roses' "Sweet Child O Mine" featuring Amy on guest vocals. Sadly, both videos are vertical, and the filmer was behind attendees in both clips, but both covers are solid, and Amy's voice holds up well for this GNR classic, so check both videos out (while you can?) above and below!

Co-headlining Elmira hard rock band Driving Dawn didn't post videos of their own from Musicians United, but attendee Miranda Bigger got some really good pictures of their set that you can see on the band's Facebook page and/or this link. Acoustic filler sets aside, the aforementioned Exit 808 closed things as far as local bands went, and in terms of their lineup, they were joined at Bird's Eye by the aforementioned Joe Jenkins and Bob Libick as guests on guitar and bass. while Amy's 10 year old niece Stella even joined them on bass for at least one song! Regardless of whether he's officially on guitar or bass now, Amy's son Blaze Beairl was not in attendance, and while I didn't see an official statement as to why, he was on the road with Heavy Lies The Crown that weekend, drumming with them at Cabin Fever Fest 2 in Oscoda the previous day. We'll have more on H.L.T.C.'s March activity soon!

A handful of videos from the show were shared in this batch post of John Bullman's photos that was posted to Exit 808's Facebook page, and one video is of their set, where they were joined by another guest musician, namely Molly Escherich, who fronted The Other Guys to victory at last year's LSSU Battle of the Bands, and was one of three between-set guest acoustic musicians on this night. The 50 seconds-long clip sees Exit 808, Molly, Joe, and Bob covering Evanescence's "Bring Me To Life", with Amy sitting out to allow Molly to handle lead vocals (co-singer Dillon Semasky did the Paul McCoy parts). I have no idea why this video is so skinny (even if you like vertical videos), but everyone performs well on this hard rock staple! Molly does come across a little nervous, but her vocals suit the cover nicely, and remember, she is 13 years old. Good stuff all around, so check out Exit 808 & crew below!

We'll touch on media and fallout from the earlier three local bands and the acoustic performers in an upcoming post, but I'm glad to finally get coverage rolling from Musicians Unite, and our continued best wishes are with Mary Jo and the Jenkins family as he continues her cancer battle! That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Who Made Who & Pet Retina), Convergence Updates, And More!!

Before we begin this post, I wanted to apologize for missing a late notice concert in this past weekend's concert previews, as local classic/hard rock solo musician Tym Morrison played at The Dive Gastro Pub on Saturday night, replacing acoustic rock duo Dodge This. A reason for the late lineup change wasn't publically announced by the venue or musicians, but Tym only launched the Facebook event page for the gig earlier that day at 1:03 PM, so it must have fell into place late. Hopefully Tym's show went well, apologies again, and hopefully we see Dodge This back out there soon!

Now, today's post otherwise has LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for the coming months, updates from a local metal band, and some new original material, but let's start with the new shows, as Victoria, British Columbia noise rock/synth duo Pet Retina and drummer Max Patterson's solo project i.o will both return to the Soo on Monday, May 26th at The Art Hub At Spring! These two creative acts last came here to rock The March Street Stage (which, like the Art Hub, is technically on Queen Street) in May of last year, but their return just over a year later will actually be as support bands for local outsider folk musician Shae Tull, as this show is the release party for her new album "Statues Of Teeth On Every Street Corner", which came out digitally last month. No word on if there will be physical copies, but hopefully Shae gets a strong response to the new material at the show and in general!

Noise rock fans will take to Pet Retina and i.o in their opening sets, so don't be late for all of this diverse action next month! The first SMS-amenable concert booking of 2025 for Piecing It Together Shows (née Dryer Fire), doors open for this all ages concert at 7:00 PM, and tickets run for $15 at this link (at the door, admission is via a "pay what you can" model). Visit the official Facebook event page for more details on this intriguing concert!

Next up, the headline band for this year's Rotaryfest Stage 1 at Clergue Park on Saturday, July 19th has been announced, and unlike in recent years, you may know them from prior local headlining dates, namely Toronto-based AC/DC tribute band Who Made Who! High voltage rock n' roll fans may recall seeing Who Made Who last when they rocked the former Canadian Nightclub in November 2019, after previously playing at least four prior local gigs dating back to at least 2010. We've seen multiple different AC/DC tributes here in the past decade, but Who Made Who always delivered the goods in the past, and how does an outdoor nighttime concert on the big stage at Rotaryfest sound for their return after 5+ years? We await full confirmation of the Rotaryfest lineup on any stage, as applications for local bands are still ongoing until April 16th, so click here for details on how you can get consideration for 2025!

As per this SooToday press release, the full musical lineups for the Sault's summer festival will be released in "late May", which would beat last year's June unveiling if that holds. Who Made Who would likely take the stage on July 19th at 8:30 PM, with a local cover band closing out the night & festival at 10:30m if things are the way they were in eight of the past ten years. Rotaryfest is FREE & ALL AGES as usual. This has to be the heaviest touring headliner that Rotaryfest has ever had on the big Clergue Park stage, so definitely stay tuned for more updates on this year's stage lineups!

Finally, here's the latest from local progressive/djent metal band Convergence, starting with the long awaited confirmation of their newest member, as they have enlisted singer Stephen Gagnon-Ruscio into their lineup. Steve's biggest band role that I'm aware of is as co-lead vocalist in the local disco tribute band The Saturday Nights, but his tenor vocal range has been put to good use in multiple local stage productions, most notably when he played Frankie Valli in last year's production of Jersey Boys. That's a demanding role in & of itself, but how will he handle metal? Stephen actually joined Convergence as far back as December, as per this Sault Star article from Brian Kelly which focused on guitarist Brendan Christie's own Woodward Avenue Studios (née Yellow Room Studios), but elaborated on how they decided to add him to the group. The article is a good read, and Brendan does quality work for original artists!

As for Convergence at large, they are continuing the lead-up towards their live debut at The Pit at Soo Blaster on April 18th, and have continued posting "Reels" to their Facebook page to hype their preparation process for the concert (just a reminder, "Reels" are unembeddable on external websites). Four new ones have been posted since we last left off with Convergence on March 24th, with the March 25th "Reel" features what they call "more writing/arrangement shenanigans" where they're working through how many choruses that one of their songs should have. Four days later, guitarist Jake Valois revealed in this "Reel" that "the drums are tracked", their live setlist is finalized, tickets for The Pit are selling well, Steve is writing and helping finalize lyrics, and the band was planning to rehearse with their full live rig last week. On Sunday, that "Reel" saw the guys setting up their gear at the Algoma Conservatory of Music.

Their newest "Reel" from yesterday has Stephen jokingly (thank goodness) promoting Convergence's official cryptocurrency and also playing piano, before we see out first rehearsal video of the band in action as a four piece, albeit not for long. These "Reels" tend to end abruptly, and who knows what content they're leaving on the editing room floor, but it looks like progress is making its way up for Steve, Brendan, Jake, and David, and here's hoping their live debut is a hit! Visit the above links for more from Convergence, and that's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the SMS as this week continues! Thanks everyone!

Heavy Lies The Crown Updates From February 2025!!

For today's SMS post, let's return to the world of St. Ignace metalcore band Heavy Lies The Crown, so what have they been up to since we last left off with them in early February? Back on February 6th, the guys posted a "Reel" on their Facebook page of them playing at last August's second annual 2nd Street Music Festival in their hometown (the January "Reel" alluded to in our last H.L.T.C. post was not from that event, my apologies). Short, vertical, unembeddable, and dark, but it captures some ferocious energy while it lasts, and Brandon's vocals really come across as American Head Charge-y here! Later that day, the guys announced another new downstate gig, which would take them to Battle Creek (5 hours due south of the Soo) on March 22nd, where they and three other bands opened for Wisconsin groove metal band Squidhammer at Feed Them, a Michigan Metal Fest-promoted "heavy metal food drive" at The Music Factory there.

Attendees got discounts for bringing in non-perishable food items for the cause, which is great to see! The following day, Heavy (as Brandon often calls them in announcement videos) announced that they'd be returning to The Delft Theater in Escanaba on April 19th for "The Invasion Of 420" (well, the show will end on the 20th!) Eight bands are scheduled to take the stage for this one, including Hannahville metal band Ghidora, who played at the 2nd Street Festival last year. Keep an eye out for coverage of public fallout from these two shows soon! On February 8th, H.L.T.C. asked fans if they'd be interested in buying a "Rat King"-themed t-shirt, a'la their song of the game name, while two days later, they teased that they were working on a new single in studio. Over the next two days, they shared four new videos from their set at at Fight Breast Cancer With Music in Escanaba back in October, so what can you see from The Delft Theater therein?

One is another "Reel" featuring more distant raw footage of Heavy Lies The Crown's set (Kaycee is completely obscured at this angle), and while solidly brutal, it is a short clip, let alone a horizontal video forcibly pillarboxed into vertical dimensions. Another "Reel" has photos from the gig, but the audio is the studio version of "Time Diffuser". The other two are actual embeddable videos, including this still-vertical clip of the guys improvising a section of music that night, with Blaze's drumming arguably being the star of the show there. Embedded below is the only horizontal clip of the four, and here, the camera is nicely zoomed in to capture the band rocking out, hopefully not burning anything to the ground despite the lyrics! While none of these are that long, it's good to see some more videos from the Escanaba show last fall (even if they all showed up six months later), so check these out above & below!

On February 10th, H.L.T.C. revealed that they now have official band logo stickers (clear and gold ones), and while not as big as they were hoping, to message them if you wanted any. Four days later, they also asked fans on Facebook what merchandise ideas in general that they had, and on February 20th, they again floated the possibility of expanding this year's 2nd Street Music Festival in St. Ignace to two days (one for local bands, one for metal bands that aren't necessarily local), and to offer suggestions for both categories. Also that day, they noted they were "working on some stuff" in this "Reel" featuring the monitor of a tracking computer, which would line up with their February 10th post hinting that they were working on a new single. Finally, here's a new video from singer Brandon West on February 22nd, where he lamented that musicians are treated like pirates nowadays.

Basically, bands are expected to do anything big now, but it costs money to tour and record and all that, while promoters are criticized for who they do/don't bring in when that costs too. It's not directly about Heavy Lies The Crown, but you get the sense that Brandon is talking from experience about his frustrations with expectations from certain fans and observers. No solutions are offered, beyond perhaps becoming a pirate, but you don't see a lot of local musicians vent like this, and it could be a good talking point, if not a reminder that this all isn't as easy at it seems. Check it out below!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Violet Scum), The Room 206/Inner City Surfers Concert Preview, And More!!

The news keeps on rolling, so let's get to a few assorted topics today along with the last (but not least) of this weekend's hard rock/punk concert previews, but first, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for readers in Sault Michigan and the E.U.P. next month!

Muskegon "weirdo punk" trio Violet Scum and new local punk trio About:Blank will join forces for a multi-band concert at Pickles Bar & Grill in nearby Brimley on Saturday, May 3rd! Announced yesterday via About:Blank frontman Parker Talentino's solo Facebook page, this is the latest event from local promoters Serious Business, whose last concert in February (also at Pickles) was About:Blank's live debut, albeit on an all-local bill. Good to see Parker, Nathan, and Kade back at it, and if you missed them at last month's Shamrock Show, why not drive out to Brimley next month? Violet Scum's mixed-genre lineup delivers a nice grunge-laden sound that will appeal to punk and alt-rock fans, and it will be neat to see them play up here for the first time next month! Grand Rapids experimental/synth project Dick Texas (who have played at two prior Serious Business shows, including at Pickles in November) are your headliners on May 3rd.

The show will be opened (in a mild surprise) by Sault Ontario outsider folk musician Shae Tull, marking a very rare instance of an a non-Touch Of Class artist from this side of the border playing in the E.U.P.. Who knows what the tariffs and trade war may mean for the idea of Shae playing a show across the river, but hopefully things go well, and that this is the start of more cross-border bookings from Serious Business! This 18+ show (presumably in the basement of Pickles once again) has a $10 cover charge, and doors open at 8:00 PM. Nice diverse mix of styles here, and it's good to see more original multi-band shows in Chippewa County, so see above for more details!

Next up, let's wrap up this weekend's concert previews with the arguable main event for Sault Ontario punk fans, as 1990s punk band Room 206 and 2000s punk standouts The Inner City Surfers will join forces for a reunion concert at Soo Blaster TONIGHT!  As you may recall, The Surfers last reunited in November 2023 as a fundraiser stag & doe for drummer Mikey Hawdon's then-upcoming wedding, and similarly, tonight's event will be another stag & doe, this time for the impending nuptials of Room 206/Bookclub drummer Allan Watson and his fiancee Audrey. Congratulations to the happy couple, and a public concert featuring some big band reunions is one hell of a way to celebrate! Inner City Surfers reunions are always big deals for local punk fans, but Room 206 haven't played a (known) public concert since the 2021 vinyl re-release of "2 Innies & An Outie", let alone for over a decade prior, so don't miss this one!

No word on the exact lineup for Room 206 beyond Allan, but he was joined by Mike Yorke and Surfers bassist Brad "Example" Lacell" on the album, and Brad's fellow Surfers bandmate Dave Bahun was also once in Room 206. Local alternative/punk cover sextet Bookclub (featuring Allan, Mikey, and Surfers frontman Dustin Jones) will open the proceedings, as they did in 2023, so there will be lots of familiar faces rocking out, especially given the size of Soo Blaster! Tickets run for $25 in advance through the performers, with the price jumping to $30 at the door. This is an ALL AGES concert, and Bookclub leads off at 9:00 PM sharp. This should be a huge night for local punk fans, let alone friends and family of Allan & Audrey, and given the decades since we last saw Room 206 and Brad not living in town anymore, who knows when we'll see them or The Surfers on stage again! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's The Surfers live!

Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items from the last little while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist or station name:

 

• There's a new on-air DJ/host on Classic Rock Sundays on 104.3 The Fox (and Rogers Radio's other rock stations carrying that format), as Adele Newton is now on air from 2:00-5:00 PM, as introduced here. This cuts into the prior 12:00-4:00 and 4:00-8:00 PM timeslots held by "Big" Kris Bawden and Lew MacDonald, but I need to listen to Classic Rock Sundays more fully to capture that day's current DJ rotation. Unlike other DJs and hosts on The Fox, Adele doesn't come from another market's rock station, rather Kitchener adult contemporary station CHYM 96.7. Tune in on Sunday to hear how Adele is doing on the former Q104!
• New local industrial metal solo act The Realignment Project revealed on their Facebook page on April 3rd that they are already mixing their second EP, and even shared the track listing for it via a photo of the songs written on a sheet of paper. The EP will be called "The Frustration Sessions" (no relation), and project leader Matt Hicks had earlier noted that he "never stopped writing while I was finishing "Afterthought", which is their debut EP from February. You can sample some of the at-home recording sessions in this Facebook "Reel" featuring heavy riffs and a keyboard line. Hopefully we hear more from T.R.P. soon, and it's good to see Matt keeping busy!
• In their newest video on their Facebook page (sadly also a "Reel"), local classic/hard rock cover quartet Silent 9 are seen covering Nickelback's "Rockstar" at The Esquire Club last month, and they were joined on stage for said cover by Fort Creek frontman Justin Grayson! I'm not a Nickelback fan, the blue lighting can overpower the view, and Justin's vocals are somewhat buried behind Jess' vocals, but this is well performed while the "Reel" lasts, so check it out above! Remember, "Reels" can't be embedded on external websites like this, nor played in background tabs, and are in permanently vertical dimensions.

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Dodge This & Generations) And More Weekend Concert Previews!!

As promised, let's continue this weekend's hard rock concert previews today, which focuses on covers-leaning acts in the Twin Saults, including LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, some on SHORT NOTICE. Here's what up you should know as this busy weekend continues, and Saturday's Inner City Surfers/Room 206 reunion concert preview is up in our next post!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations will return to The Water Tower Pub for one night only THIS SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the band only announced this show on their Facebook group on Tuesday (and no, it wasn't an April Fools joke). Last seen at Reggie's this past Saturday, this will be Valerie, the Tonys, and Pierre's first stop at the Great Northern Road nightclub since the end of February. Should be a good time for fans and patrons alike as Generations unleash another night of classic and hard rock cover favourites, so don't miss out on SATURDAY! Remember, The Water Tower Pub doesn't host the same band on both nights on a given weekend, and I don't immediately know who's playing there tomorrow. SATURDAY'S concert has an 8:00 PM start time, 19+ age limit, and no cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Generations live!

Next up, local classic/hard rock cover duo Dodge This will return to The Dive Gastro Pub for concerts THIS SATURDAY NIGHT and then on Saturday, April 26th! Again, apologies for the short notice on THIS SATURDAY's show, it was only announced via The Dive's April concert calendar on their Facebook page earlier this week (the band has not promoted either of their Dive shows this month on social media at press time). Fans may have seen Jason & Jamie at The Water Tower Pub last week, while SATURDAY's show will be their first at the former Low & Slow in about a month. Hopefully a strong crowd turns up at The Dive as Dodge This return to "The Naughty Corner" for these April-bookending Saturday nighters! Note that singer/guitarist Jason Taillefer is also playing a solo date at The Dive on (Think It Over) Thursday, April 17th, but I don't know if his solo sets diverge much from Dodge This.

You can see Dodge This on SATURDAY and three weeks later at 9:30 PM with 19+ age limits and no cover charges as usual. Visit the above links for more on Dodge This' latest dive into The Dive, and here they are in concert!

Now let's head to Sault Michigan, where Traverse City metal trio Scarkazm will return to The Rapids Lounge at the local Kewadin Casino TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Yooper fans just saw Adam, Dave, and Jeff rocking The Rapids Lounge two months ago, so a quick return will be welcomed by fans of their hard hitting originals and covers, so if you like some classic flavoured metal and hard rock tunes, you won't want to miss these touring favourites back at the Soo Kewadin this weekend! We await confirmation of Scarkazm's return to the E.U.P. after this weekend, we'll keep you posted when something is announced, let alone for their sister band Peril. Tomorrow & Saturday's concerts have no announced cover charges and 9:00 PM start times, and you must be 21 or older to attend. Visit the official Facebook event pages linked here & here for more details, and for a preview, here's Scarkazm live in concert last year!

Finally for weekend concert preview post #2, we'll head back to Sault Ontario, where local classic/hard rock cover musician Tym Morrison will return to Misty's Fifties for another acoustic matinee concert on SATURDAY! This is the seventh matinee gig that Tym will have played at the Second Line West nightclub in 2025 so far, and the continuation of his recent trend of playing twice a month at Misty's (like with Dodge This, he is bookending the month's Saturdays here). Tym's proficient talents and packed setlist should prove to be a solid soundtrack for rock fans in the west end on Saturday, so don't miss out if you want some earlier live music that day! Tym hits the stage at 4:00 PM with a 19+ age limit and no cover charge as usual. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details on Tym's Misty's return on Saturday, and for a preview, here he is live!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for our Room 206/Inner City Surfers preview and more on the site next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Tarnished, Double Down, And Curtis McKenzie), Plus Related Updates!!

A busy concert weekend is upon us, so we'll have to break up this weekend's hard rock/punk previews into two posts once again. As such, look for our previews of this weekend's Scarkazm, Tym Morrison, Generations, and Dodge This shows next, with Saturday's Room 206/Inner City Surfers concert rounding things out in a separate news post (possible late notice shows that I don't know about yet acknowledged). Stay tuned, but let's lead off with LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, all involving SHORT NOTICE ones for the next couple of nights, and in one case, shows well beyond, plus some other updates from two of the bands in question!

Former Eclipse/Project 421 frontman Curtis McKenzie will return to The Dive Gastro Pub for another "Think It Over Thursday" acoustic concert TONIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, Curt only announced this show via his Facebook page on Saturday, with The Dive's Facebook page only following suit yesterday via this concert calendar for the month. Fans of Curtis' hard and alternative rock covers last saw him at the former Low & Slow two weeks ago, and hopefully his return to "The Naughty Corner" will go smoothly TONIGHT, so keep things in mind then for both his music as well as The Dive's atmosphere! We'll touch on Dodge This' shows at The Dive this month in tomorrow's post. Curt's on TONIGHT at 9:30 PM with no cover and a 19+ age limit. Visit the above links for more details, and here he is live!

Next up, Sault Michigan hard rock/classic metal quartet Tarnished will return to The Merchants Bar for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice, the band only announced this show via its Facebook event page on Sunday, and The Merch rarely promotes concerts on social media. Last seen in Manistique three weeks ago, TOMORROW'S show will be Tarnished's first truly local date since playing at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino in early March, and will be their first in the Soo proper since rocking The Merch in January (three planned interim dates in the city were called off since). And notice above that I said "quartet", as Tarnished has finally confirmed via this official photo on the Facebook event page that Rhythm & Brews bandmates Chris Leask and Ron Suchey have indeed joined Tarnished as official, full-time band members, replacing the already departed Parker Talentino on bass and current guitarist Josh Fair on drums respectively.

Chris & Ron have been playing with Tarnished on the regular since August (albeit not at the LSSU Battle of the Bands), and had guested at a few prior 2024 dates when Josh was beginning his exodus from the drumkit, with Parker moving to rhythm guitar in such gigs before he left. Nice to finally get solid public online word that Chris & Ron aren't just session players, and while there is an age gap, their talents and chemistry are well known! You can see Tarnished rock The Merch TOMORROW at 9:00 PM with a 21+ age limit and no cover. See above for more details, and here's Tarnished live!

Finally for now, let's head back to Sault Ontario, where local classic/hard rock cover quartet Double Down have announced shows for TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT at Jay's Piston Broke Pub! Apologies again for the short notice, the band only announced these shows via their Facebook event page this past Friday. These will be Double Down's second and third shows with new bassist Dan Beaupre, following his debut at Jay's on Friday, March 7th (he missed the next day's gig due to being double booked with his other band The Sidekicks), so if you want to see what he brings to the table alongside the Syrettes and Ric, then TOMORROW & SATURDAY are your next chances! Beyond this weekend, Double Down have also announced a series of upcoming dates through the fall at two locations, including returns to Jay's on May 23rd-24th, June 6th-7th, and September 12th-13th, so click here for each booking's individual Facebook event page!

Elsewhere, the new Double Down lineup will debut at The Water Tower Pub for Friday nighters on May 2nd and June 27th, so if you want to enjoy some entertaining classic and hard rock favourites, you know where to go then! The September date there will be held for a later SMS post due to the distance and to not glut our concert listings with the same band in a clump at the end (also, are they taking July-August off?) The Jay's shows (TOMORROW & SATURDAY included) are at 9:30 PM, the Water Tower Pub shows start at 8:00 PM, and all are 19+ affairs with no announced cover charges. See above for more details, and for a preview, here's a brand new video from Double Down's Facebook page! Uploaded on Sunday, this sees the guys covering A Flock Of Seagulls' "I Ran (So Far Away)" in Dan's debut gig at Jay's last month.

Drummer Ric Datson sings lead on this cover, which is filmed across two cameras angled towards the stage, one pointing at the band from the right and one focused on Ric from the left. Mixed lighting, and Ric's tone of voice does need some adjusting here, but it's a well played tune, one of 15 new covers that the band learned with Dan as of March 30th, so it'll be interesting to hear more of them! Check it out for yourself below, and don't miss Double Down back at Jay's TOMORROW & SATURDAY!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more weekend concert previews on the site by tomorrow morning! Thanks everyone!

Where Are The New Albums? April 2025 Update

It's now time for this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post! This monthly feature series lets us once again look at the currently public information on upcoming Sault Ontario metal, hard rock, and punk albums, CDs, and/or EPs from local musicians, in order to spotlight where they are at last word and when we might see them go on sale. This month's installment has one removed album due to its release last week (Fuller's "II"), but a newly announced hard rock album has kept the numbers steady! Three of this month's seven entries have updated information, as noted with their titles in italics. So, where are the new albums? Read on below to hopefully find out!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bullet Train's upcoming EPs

Rumoured Songs: "Atmosphere", "Illusions", "Profit", "Wayside"

Background: The current hard rock band from former Sense of Truth/Skeyes of Seven frontman Cory Murchsion and ex-Fort Creek bandmates Robin "Bones" Lee and Anthony Fabiano, Bullet Train have existed solely as a studio band so far, releasing four original songs recorded at their own home studio to their YouTube channel in 2024, all very much influenced by their take on current events. After a quiet summer due to "life's trials", Bullet Train resurfaced on their Facebook page on September 1st to reveal that they were working on two demo EPs, with the first one entering post-production as of the 9th, though it's not clear if their 2024 singles will be on them.

Current Release Status: No idea yet, especially as this band has no prior track record for releasing albums, though all three band members have experience writing and recording studio material to varying degrees. Bullet Train claimed on September 9th that a release date for EP #1 would be announced "in the upcoming weeks", a timeline not realized as of this writing. It'll be interesting to see how fast things come along for Bullet Train, so keep tabs on their Facebook page for further updates!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chase James Wigmore - The Chaotic Rite

Rumoured Songs: "The Cities Alive & It's Angry"

Background: Ever the prolific artist & songwriter, local folk punk/extreme metal musician Chase Wigmore has been working on an extensive rock opera for years (once claimed to be a 33 part work), originally named "A Story About A Kid Named Todd". Worked on in between his other unrelated solo albums, released for sale or otherwise, Chase posted a lengthy elaboration of the rock opera in 2022, now titled "The Chaotic Rite", outlining its concept, recording plans, and long-term release timeline. Clips of songs have surfaced on his Facebook page, as have full songs not explicitly tied to the album, as well as the final artwork. In more recent promotion, Chase has hinted that "The Chaotic Rite" might be his final solo album as part of aims to focus on his personal life more than his prolific original material. Regardless, the final product has been pared down to 25-30 minutes.

Current Release Status: Chase elaborated on Facebook last summer that the album was 95% done earlier this year when the files "got trapped on my desktop's hard drive", and he had been unable to procure a backup of the material or recover the files as of that post. In any event, three of the full songs uploaded to Facebook in the past year were clarified as not being planned for "The Chaotic Rite", but they could surface on a separate EP. Fingers crossed that Chase is able to save this album and put it out when able, especially given the years that he's put into the making of it!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Convergence - Gemini

Rumoured Songs: "Gemini", "In Bloom", "Breaking News", "It Ate The F&$%ing Moon", "Kraken Mara", "You Are Not Flesh"

Background: Just over a month after releasing their sophomore EP "Dead And Dreaming", local progressive metal band Convergence announced in February 2024 that EP #3 would be named "Gemini", with its cover artwork being released at the same time. Teaser clips of most songs from the EP have been posted on their Facebook page and their YouTube channel since May, with guitarist Brendan Christie revealing the names of five songs in a recent Facebook conversation, one named after the band's prior name Kraken Mara, though a new or renamed song named "You Are Not Flesh" was posted an advance single on Bandcamp in September. New drummer David Peredun will make his studio debut here. The band has spent most February hyping a crowdfunding campaign for a planned tour, though "Gemini" is not overtly tied to its marketing. Convergence have been working in studio recently with producer Dustin Goodall at Unsalted Audio, documenting the sessions in Facebook "Reels", while teasing the involvement of a singer named Steve, but it's not clear if this is all for "Gemini" or something else.

Current Release Status: No clue, and given the complexity of their music yet their independent studio trappings so far, that could bode a quick or lengthy timeline for "Gemini" to come out, depending on what angle you take. Since their modern studio cycle commenced in 2023, things have been relatively steady for Brendan and Jake as a recording act, and here's hoping that Convergence keep that up for their third offering! 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fort Creek's debut album

Rumoured Songs: "One For The Road"

Background: Background: Local southern/hard rock band Fort Creek have sporadically teased plans to record an EP since February 2020, but they wouldn't release any samples until almost two years later when they shared (now-deleted) clips of their original song "Hammer Down" on their Facebook page. The guys would play it regularly at concerts from June 2022-August 2023, and were working in studio throughout 2023, revealing that "it's coming along" in a Facebook post that March, and teasing new recording sessions following earlier "learning experiences" there that May. After the departure of bassist Robin "Bones" Lee and drummer Anthony Fabiano (both now of Bullet Train) in the fall of 2023, Fort Creek opted to abandon material recorded with them "as a show of good faith", and have been working on new material and rebuilding their studio over the past year. Now featuring Phil Greco on drums, their first single (the acoustic "One For The Road") was posted online in January, with the band confirming plans to now record a 10 song album at Jettison Studios prior to returning to live concerts.

Current Release Status: Prior release timelines for their debut EP reflected their early 2020s lineup's material, and Justin, Shane, Bill, and Phil have largely kept things somewhat close to the vest prior to putting out "One For The Road". There are a lot of unknowns, especially given the 4+ years of production time and their decision to basically start over in 2023, and that this is a band that was primarily known for their work on the weekend cover circuit before their rhythm section left. It will be interesting to see how things develop, so stay tuned for updates!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Handsome Sandwich's first EP

Rumoured Songs: "Without You", "Partyfuel", "Change A Bit", "No Idea", "All Done Now"

Background: Before even releasing their full-length debut album "Deconstructed" in May 2023, local alternative/hard rock quintet Handsome Sandwich revealed that not all of their existing originals would be on that album, with plans to instead release them and some brand new songs on a forthcoming EP. In September of that year, they began recording this EP (which will reportedly have seven songs) at the Algoma Conservatory of Music, with bass & drum tracks completes that month, and then-guitarist Mitch Sirie was finishing his parts as of that December, with vocals still to go. At least five of the seven songs have had their names revealed in concert setlists. After only contributing to the packaging on "Deconstructed", bassist Rafael Medina will perform on this EP, and a "Reel" of him recording an unidentified song in studio was posted to the band's Facebook page. It's not clear if new guitarist Brandon Ruch will be involved on the EP in some fashion or not, but Wyld Stallyns saxophonist Josh Norling may appear again, as he guested with them to play "Partyfuel" at August's Northern Vibe Festival.

Current Release Status: To be determined, and while they're not recording this EP at the same place as "Deconstructed", note that the sessions for that album at Unsalted Audio wrapped up four months before the album release. An article about the band from The Sault Star in June noted that the seven new songs "will likely be released as singles", but whether this points to a change of release plans or is just an acknowledgement that they have seven individual singles to put out, I don't know. It will be interesting to see how things progress in the coming months!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Headfirst - "Road Trippin'"

Rumoured Songs: Unknown

Background: Three months after releasing their debut EP "Head Trauma" in July of last year, local hard rock quintet HeadFirst revealed on their Facebook page that they would be "stepping away from the live scene temporarily (in February and March) to continue to develop our music and projects", with unreleased new originals being played at concerts over the winter. While they would play shows in February & March anyway, they continued teasing their "next project" on social media, and said project was revealed last month as their first full-length album "Road Trippin'", which was produced by Treble Charger guitarist Bill Priddle and the aforementioned Dustin Goodall. The album will have nine songs, though aside from live performances, none have been teased in advance yet online.

Current Release Status: "Road Trippin'" is slated to be released on Saturday, May 3rd when HeadFirst headline this year's Steel City CollectorCon's pre-party at Soo Blaster, but the band hasn't revealed details on pricing, format, or the cover artwork yet (unless the poster and ticket design is a hint). It's good to see HeadFirst acting fast to get their sophomore effort out, and hopefully this album is a strong step forward musically and professionally! Stay tuned for more on "Road Trippin'" in the month ahead!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Spades GT's second full-length album

Rumoured Songs: "United"

Background: Long teasing plans to record their next album this year, local/Barrie crossover thrash band Spades GT did indeed begin recording sessions for their follow-up to 2023's "Sewer City Radio" on February 17th at Room 21 in Toronto with producer Kyle Marchant once again. Their fourth release total dating back to their original all-local run as Jack Spades, this will be Spades GT's first album with new second guitarist Matthew Voros. Teaser videos on their Facebook page included guitarist Daniel Horton tracking bass on at least one of the planned eight songs (the sessions took place after James Roy Daley's departure but a few weeks before Sean MacNab replaced him) and ex-guitarist Jay Sarrazin returning as a guest musician, while the video from the vocal sessions seemed to suggest that one song will be named "United" or "We Are United". The final sessions on February 22nd reportedly featured guest appearances and gang vocals, but teaser videos from that day were not shared online, so we don't know who else will pop up yet.

Current Release Status: The caption for the band's recap video/"Reel" for their most recent Toronto concert from last month indicates that the album will be released in July, though they have not put this in writing on social media since. If that month holds, it'll be a longer timeframe to see this album compared to "Sewer City Radio" (which came out three months after sessions wrapped), but good art takes time. There are many variables, and of course, the band now being based in Southern Ontario has its own plusses. In general, Spades are pretty open about their upcoming plans, so stay tuned in the coming months as they continue the promotion for the new album!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I hope you guys liked this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post! This series will return on or around May 2nd, while our next monthly feature post will likely be this month's Defunct Local Band Profile scheduled for one week from tomorrow. That's all for today, but stay tuned for this weekend's concert previews next! Thanks everyone!