As promised, we're wrapping up this weekend's known hard rock concert previews today, along with clearing up some loose ends re: preview videos that I couldn't use yesterday, and some more recent updates, so here's what you should know on this mild Friday night!
We'll start in Sault Michigan, where Iron Mountain classic/hard rock cover quintet Oz will play their first local dates of 2026 TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT at The Rapids Lounge at the local Kewadin Casino! Last seen in the Soo over two months ago, this veteran outfit have proved to be a reliable favourite sight in their mid-2020s trips east, and hopefully tonight and tomorrow's shows provide more hard rocking classic hits from Ryan, Kevin, Joe, Todd, and Dave once again! And you know they put on a good live show, as Oz noted on their Facebook page that they brought two trailers with their gear and equipment! Tonight and tomorrow's concerts, as usual at The Rapids Lounge, are 9:00 PM affairs with no announced cover charges and 21+ age limits. Visit the Facebook event page for more details, and here's Oz live!
Next up, we'll wrap up this weekend's hard rock concert previews at The Water Tower Pub, where local classic/hard rock cover quartet Double Down will take the stage TOMORROW NIGHT! This show will feature the long awaited return of bassist Dan Beaupre for the first time since last summer, after taking a six month break for health matters and foreign travel, so if you've missed this local rock mainstay, don't be absent tomorrow! Double Down were last seen with fill-in bassist Lori Reinholtz at Beck's Bar last month, and they kicked off 2026 at The Water Tower Pub on January 3rd. Remember, this venue does not host bands on consecutive nights, and Generations are playing there tonight (more on them in a second). Tomorrow's show is at 8:00 PM with a 19+ age limit and no cover. See above for more details, and for a preview, here's a new video of Double Down (and Lori) live at Beck's last month!
This clip sees the band covering Our Lady Peace's "Starseed" with guitarist Beej Syrette on lead vocals, and it was uploaded three days after their initial batch of videos from that night. Alas, like with the prior three, this is both incomplete (75 seconds) and vertical, but it's a soundly handled cover that O.L.P. fans should like! I think that there are songs that suit Beej's vocal range better though. Give it a watch for yourselves below!
Also today, this extends from our weekend concert previews, as two of the bands playing this weekend have posted new live videos to their Facebook pages that I am unable to embed here, so I held discussion about them from yesterday's post so it didn't get overlong. Two are from local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations' Facebook group, where new guitarist Joe Miller posted videos from their Full Throttle Saloon gig this past Saturday! One is a cover of Sheryl Crow's "If It Makes You Happy", and the other appears to be the guitar solo from ZZ Top's "Tush". I'd have embedded the former here if able, but I can't embed either video externally, and I don't know whether that's a changed setting in the group or if that was Joe's call. Regardless, both are vertical and incomplete, seemingly filmed from a cell phone set down on the side of the stage. What we hear sounds good, but they aren't optimal in a few regards.
The other unembeddable video is from hard rock quintet HeadF1rst's Facebook page, and it's a highlight video compiled with InShot featuring three tiled windows of them playing at Beck's Bar last month, overlaid with post-production lighting effects and the Beck's logo. I can't embed the video here because Facebook content matched the backing music (the band's studio track "Stay For The Show"). I'd really prefer seeing the raw unedited live video with the music as performed that night, but at least it's an attempt to do something artistic with vertical cell phone videos! Give all three videos a watch above, and don't miss Generations tonight at The Water Tower Pub or HeadF1rst TOMORROW NIGHT at Beck's!
- A tribute concert in memory of late Rebel Priest/Glass Statues guitarist Ben Kemp-Reynolds (named Blitz Fest) will be held at The Rickshaw Theatre in Vancouver on Saturday, April 4th! Friends and former bandmates of Benny's, including Rebel Priest and reunions of The Lust Boys and Roadrash, will be on hand to perform songs from his B.C. bands & his own favourite artists. West Of Hell singer Chris "The Heathen" Valagao (who fronted that band at the former Roosevelt Hotel in 2012) will be the host of Blitz Fest. Not a local event, but it's great to see friends and colleagues putting on a proper memorial concert for Ben, so see above for more details!
- In clarification for the performers on local death/thrash metal trio Pillory's new full length album "Old Soul", their Bandcamp page confirms that 2015-2017 bassist Jordan Leach did indeed perform the low end on the final product, not his replacement Blair St. John or current bassist Devon Lucier. What's unsaid there is whether these are archival recordings from his stint in the band a decade ago or if he tracked his parts remotely in the past year (he lives and works out of country now). Regardless, it is neat to see Jordan in a new context again in local music! The album was recorded at Mission Control Studios with producer Dustin Jones.
- The Soo's Got Talent is looking for a band to perform at this fall's seventh annual installment, where they would perform a guest set during the semifinals and be the house band during the finals, backing up the last performers on their chosen covers. Handsome Sandwich (in 2022) and Mike Haggith & The Big Finish Band (2023-2024) did the honours previously, before T.S.G.T. went without a live band last fall during its "Soo Voxx" format change. This is a paid role and will garner wide exposure for the chosen group. If you're interested in more details, message The Soo's Got Talent at this link!
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