Here's a stacked news post on this Monday night that features a surprise kinda-sorta album release 2+ years in the making, but let's lead off with three big LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for the next few months!
Local southern hard rock cover trio Bone Yard 225 will make their Soo Blaster debut for a one-night-only event on Saturday, February 22nd! You do occasionally see covers-leaning rock bands headlining at Soo Blaster, as seen from past gigs from bands like Half Past and Fort Creek, so such a booking is usually a sign that they have big plans and upward momentum locally, and that is definitely the case for your local 225. Of course, the guys have three studio original songs now, they recently got a lengthy interview on The Borderline, and they have big plans for shows locally and afar in 2025, so hitting the big Soo Blaster stage should be a good stop as they continue their late-period rise! No word on any specific frills given the larger venue, but expect merchandise and their infamous "Bone Yard shot". This show has a 9:00 PM start time, 19+ age limit, and no announced cover charge. Visit the above links for more on Bone Yard's big show ahead!
Next up, Winnipeg folk punk band Greg Rekus & The Inside Job will make their second local concert appearance when they return to The Distraction on Saturday, March 8th! Fans may recall seeing Greg and crew at the former barbershop in May of last year, but when they return next month, this show will take place downstairs in their basement venue space The Stellar Door, which has hosted all of The Distraction's concerts since the summer (I know that the Ripcordz show downstairs was a huge hit, but the upstairs barbershop space is unique and I hope it gets used for concerts again!) Unlike last year, The Inside Job are not the advertised headliners, with new and online page-less local space rock duo The Spaceship Opening (featuring former Redundant bassist Andrew MacDonald) getting top billing. We still don't know a lot about this band, but in case nothing is posted online prior, you can learn more next month! Local folk punk solo project Agnosticism (led by this show's promoter Mikhal Muto) will open in their first concert of the new year.
Kicking off the proceedings is Tucker Lidstone, an acoustic folk singer/songwriter who you may have seen at The Distraction opening for former(?) Sylo frontman Eli Russell and playing at last fall's Sewing In Solidarity event, but this is the first time that he's crossed our radar on a heavier/punk show. Doors open at 7:00 PM for this all ages basement event, and admission is $15 (up from $10 last year) or "pay what you can". Greg & The Inside Job should deliver a solid set of folk punk amongst this diverse array of local talent, so don't miss out on all of the action at The Stellar Door next month, and visit the above links for more details!
Also newly confirmed is the long awaited return of Victoria, British Columbia hardcore punk legends The Dayglo Abortions to Sault Ste. Marie when they rock the aforementioned Soo Blaster on Thursday, May 8th! This will be the Cretin and company's first local date since headlining at Soo Blaster in May of 2023, following two well received gigs at the former Roosevelt Hotel in the early 2010s and many in prior decades, though the Soo's half-own Spades GT have opened for The Dayglos in Southern Ontario in the interim. Should be good to have their ferocious old school punk attack on home soil once again, so don't miss out in spite of the work/school night scheduling! Two touring bands are joining The Dayglo Abortions on their cross-Canada spring tour, including Vancouver-based "west coast skacore" quintet Dirtnap and Prince Edward Island folk punk band The Devil's Punchbowl, both making their local debuts.
Hardcore punk fans will find Dirtnap to be closer spiritually to Dayglo, but there's a diverse array of punk stylings here, which will be kicked off by local hardcore punk/crossover thrash quartet Hails in a rare Soo Blaster appearance. This will be a huge feather in their cap, so don't miss their fast and intense originals in May either! Doors open at 6:30 PM for this all ages concert, and tickets will run $20 in advance (presumably in time on Soo Blaster's website and through Ha!ls members) or $25 at the door. For reference, the advance ticket price is identical to 2023, but the door charge this year is actually $5 less. Hardcore punk fans will not want to miss this huge concert in three months, so see above for more details!
Finally, here's a surprise, as inactive local hard rock quartet The Uncanny Valley have posted what would have been their debut album on YouTube! As you may recall, this young group were working on an album from at least late 2020 onward, and included their song "Stuck In Rotation" on the "Clusterfolk" compilation album
in 2022, but public activity dried up after that fall aside from posting a belated music video for "The Village" in June 2023. The 40 minute album was uploaded to their YouTube channel on January 29th, in both a single video format and as 11 individual songs. The upload order of the individual songs on the channel is is not accurate to the order on the full video, so the songs in presented order are "Onto The Path/Where Do I Go?", "The Uncanny Valley", "Middleman", "Something To Believe In", "This Love Is Psychedelic", "The Oracle", "The Village", "Glowin'", "Fumblin' Through", and "Wastin' Time".
Their early original "Sweet Like Sugar" didn't make the cut, nor did "Stuck In Rotation", though the Clusterfolk compilation has the latter in full studio splendour. No idea if the band's logo was intended to be the cover art right along, for the record. This obviously isn't the ideal release method for what Adrian, Matt, Brenden, and Dylan had in mind in the early 2020s, but even 2+ years after they fell inactive, I'm glad that these songs finally saw the light of day! Nice slices of psychedelic and classic rock-tinged original material with solid melodies, and while not a proper paid album, do check it out on YouTube above and below to support what The Uncanny Valley worked on in their heyday!
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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