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!
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