LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (BookcluB), Without Compromise Updates, And Much More!!

Before we begin this post, I wanted to offer our deepest condolences to the family & friends of veteran local musician Paul Leclair, who passed away yesterday of complications from cancer at the age of 74, as per numerous personal Facebook postings. While not a hard rock or metal musician, Paul will be familiar to many from his work as singer/guitarist in local bands like Midway, Moonshadow, and (most recently) Dorian Grey, who played classic rock at local venues for over a decade and were gigging as recently as last summer. For many years, Paul was the secretary-treasurer and vice president of the American Federation of Musicians, Local 276, and was a key asset in helping local musicians of many stripes to work through business, contract, and insurance dealings, as well as to get work visas put together to be able to perform/tour in the United States. He was occasionally referenced in SMS posts via his union work.

While I never had the honour of meeting Paul, we were briefly slated to judge a battle of the bands together alongside Soundcheck's Terry Eaton at the former Rednecks Saloon (Nicolet Tavern) way back in February 2015, but it was cancelled when the larger VM Radio Battle of the Bands was scheduled to begin less than two weeks later. He was a good and very knowledgeable person who helped so many local artists over the years through the union, and he will definitely be missed. R.I.P. Paul!

Today's post otherwise catches us up on some recent news, but first, here's a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, as local alternative/punk cover band BookcluB will rock The Machine Shop TOMORROW NIGHT when they open for online page-less local Tragically Hip cover band The Luxury as part of the Bon Soo Winter Carnival! Apologies for the short notice, we first learned of this show late last week via Bon Soo social media advertising. Modern day concerts outside of the opening ceremonies at Bon Soo rarely cross our radar, but this is an exception, and this special mid-week concert is reportedly being held "to show our appreciation" to Bon Soo supporters. This will be BookcluB's second publically advertised gig of 2026 (last seen at The Kiln last month), but you may have seen frontman Mikey Hawdon and bassist Dustin Jones playing outside of The Machine Shop as Dos Amigos this past weekend!

Alas, I only heard about this outdoor gig via a Facebook "story" (one of the posts that vanish from that strip on your news feed after being viewed once or twice), so here we are. I wish bands wouldn't rely on "Stories" (a couple have been posting new videos as "Stories" that are impossible for me to link to in posts), but I do apologize for missing that here. You can see the full BookcluB experience with their fan friendly and unique range of covers TOMORROW NIGHT! Note that the picture attached to the band's Facebook post plugging TOMORROW'S show includes guitarist Brandon Ruch, who moved out of town last fall, so I don't 100% know if they just used an old band photo or if he is actually returning to the Soo for this gig. As for The Luxury (featuring Tripod The Dog, Billy Bastards, Redefined, Sidekicks, and Late Shift alumni) they deliver a faithful and talented take on Hip classics from the 1980s and 1990s, so don't bypass them!

While tickets were reportedly briefly on sale early, TOMORROW'S indoor show will be FREE with a Bon Soo button ($12) or jacket tag ($8), and if you don't have one yet, they will be on sale at Mill Square if you come out. This is an all ages show at 8:00 PM. Should be a fun mix of covers (especially for Tragically Hip fans) TOMORROW at Bon Soo, so visit the above links for more details, and here's BookcluB live!

Finally for today, here's a band we haven't talked about in way too long on here, namely local rap metal project Without Compromise! I admittedly slacked in covering them for months on end, and I apologize for that, but it didn't help that project leader (and former Winkstinger guitarist) Jason Ladouceur quietly left Facebook last year. However, Jason is still working on Without Compromise, and has continued uploading music for the former Less Than Zero to its Bandlab page and YouTube channel! A lot of his newer music and art has been along the lines of the evolution of intelligence and consciousness, and he has seemed to embrace AI as tech, so keep that in mind. In listening to Jason's newest material, the music is getting more varied, with metal songs mixed in symphonic and electronic elements, and while his vocals are still a work in progress (and sometimes buried in production), he is applying them in different roles and methods of singing.

 

I won't pretend to understand the artistic ethos of Without Compromise in the past year, but there is definitely talent on display, and Jason can still shred when the song calls for it! He has seemed to play down the rap aspect (at least for his own vocals) in his newest songs, but note that his song "Todayz" seems to include an AI model of Eminem rapping. There's promising music to check out here, so dig through their Bandlab and YouTube content above to see what he's been up to, and here's one of Without Compromise's newer uploaded songs, "In The Darkness"!

 

 

That's all for now, but stay tuned for much more on the site in the coming days! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Project 906 & Even Flow) And More Recent Updates!!

Before we get too far today, we have another missed concert to acknowledge on the site, from Saturday, February 7th in Sault Michigan, albeit one that had no public advertising that I can find. On that night, local hard rock bands About:Blank and Crush joined forces at The Savoy Nightclub, and for a show that About:Blank plugged after the fact on Facebook & thanked attendees for coming out to, why didn't either band mention it on their public pages? Especially as it was both bands' first gig of 2026, though Crush haven't even posted on their Facebook page in over a month. I do apologize for not covering this show on here, but alas, it's hard to when no one publically advertises it online, especially from the Ontario side of the border. However, About:Blank did post two new videos to their Facebook page from Saturday's show of them playing their original songs "Hearse", and as embedded below, "Unheard", so what can we glean from them?

The video quality of these videos isn't the greatest (the vertical orientation and The Savoy's lighting don't help), but the performances are solid and have a good energy that fans of Parker's past work with Tarnished will appreciate! Note that this set appeared to be as a duo following Nathan Webber's departure last month (I knew Nathan isn't in Crush, cold bug-induced error, sorry Alex), and hopefully the guys find the right guitarist and/or bassist to refill their ranks soon! Check out Parker & Kade rocking out at The Savoy above and below, and apologies again! I'd have happily promoted this show had someone said something publically!

Today's post otherwise features updates from a rising young metal band and some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, and we'll an hour west in Eckerman, where local blues/hard rock cover quintet Project 906 will play The Strongs Tavern for the first time this year on Saturday, February 28th! The band just announced this concert earlier today via their Facebook page when thanking everyone for seeing them in Cedarville last night, and it will mark their first show at The Strongs Tavern since July, an unusually long wait given that they historically play there often, especially compared to other regional hard rock bands. Hopefully the guys deliver a fun batch of rocking covers for fans out in Eckerman to end the month! If you're wondering, the picture is from the Cedarville show, but I don't know if hand drummer Brian Duford missed the gig, was just not present for the photo, or if he was one of the Snowsfest Bigfoot mascots in disguise.

If things go identically to 906's prior Strongs concerts, this will be a 21+ event with no announced cover charge and an 8:00 PM start time. Visit the above links for more news and updates from Project 906!

We'll head north to Sault Ontario for the back half of this post, starting with one more new show announcement, as new local Pearl Jam tribute band Even Flow will play their second concert on Friday, March 27th at Soo Blaster! Coming almost five months after Even Flow debuted on Halloween at Beck's Bar, you know that the guys have high aspirations when they're already headlining a larger venue like this, and while public media of them performing isn't on social media yet, the talent is certainly there! And yes, their singer is indeed Barbarians/ex-Wyld Stallyns frontman Rob Speers, as per personal Facebook postings (the band's bio doesn't give his last name). Also featuring Papa Fogals Chair and Odd Man Out alumni, this grunge and alternative tribute goes down at 8:00 PM on March 27th, it will presumably be all ages, and advance tickets cost $10 at this link or through band members. See above for more details on this event!

Finally, here's the latest from local metalcore duo Hollow Sky, and while they just resurfaced for their first Facebook page update since June of last year, observant fans may have noticed recent activity on streaming services attributed to them. In December, an album named "Echoes Fade Slowly" by a band named Hollow Sky surfaced on major streaming platforms, and the local band's Linktree page kicks to this album on YouTube Music. The three red flags here were A. the genre (indie/pop rock), B. the singer (female), and C. the online footprint (minimal, I have suspicions that this Hollow Sky is AI-generated). I reached out to the local band to tell them about this so they can address the links and attribution as needed, and they confirmed that they are 100% not behind "Echoes Fade Slowly". I fear that this isn't the only time that such a name/credit issue will crop up on streaming, so be observant!

In terms of actual content by Liam and Adam, their new posting is of a cover-ish of the riff from "1. The Many Names Of God", a new song by Birmingham, Alabama progressive metalcore band Erra that isn't even coming out until Thursday. However, Erra posted the tabs for the main riff of the song on social media, encouraging fans to try to perform their own interpretation of the riff to guess how it will sound. The video (with Liam on guitar and Adam on bass) sure sounds good with a nice technical crunch, but it's a hypothetical teaser of another band's song. Check out Erra's new song when it drops later this week, and give Hollow Sky's interpretation a watch below!

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

Our Recap Of Brad Example's Afterparty Episode With Dustin Jones & Mikey Hawdon!!

As some readers may be aware, former Room 206 bassist/Role Models frontman bassist Brad "Example" Lacell has been hosting his own live-streamed interview/performance series on his YouTube channel named The Afterparty since 2024, where he jams and talks with musicians remotely from his current Atikokan homebase. Brad is among the local musicians who has gotten involved in the "DIY independent musician networking" community and has made friends and connections from far flung locales (some you'll recognize from Mike Haggith interviews and appearances), but Brad has done episodes with local talent before, like Frank Deresti and Jay Case. Brad's rootsier, country-inflected solo material largely doesn't cross our radar on its own, so that has kept me from covering Afterparty episodes in the past, but that changes today, as 3/4ths of The Inner City Surfers reunited last week!

This unites Brad with singer/guitarist Dustin Jones and drummer Mikey Hawdon (alas, no Dave) for a 58 minute acoustic jam, and despite the AI cover image, they were filmed remotely and not around a campfire with a bear in the lake behind them. In fact, Mikey & Dustin were together at Dustin's own Mission Control Studios, so things in familiar in that respect! The episode starts with Brad playing the late-era Surfers original "Excess Express", followed by "Been Done" from their debut self-titled "blue album". Brad hands things off to his old bandmates next, with Dustin starting with a solo rendition of "Screwed" from "Laughing On The Outside" (later re-recorded for their self-titled "black album"). After some light conversation, including pondering why Brad wasn't wearing a shirt, Mikey performs his first song, and rather than do a Surfers cut, he instead covered Sloppy Seconds' "Human Waste".

Remember, Mikey was the Inner City Surfers' drummer, though him switching instruments with Dustin was a common occurrence live. Afterwards, Brad returns for his first covers of the live-stream, specifically Sebadoh's "Rebound" and John Prine's "Souvenirs" (Brad is a massive John Prine fan and it shows in his solo music). We return to the Soo for the next songs, and in a surprise, the aforementioned Frank Deresti (of Lake Effect fame) joins in on mandolin for a rendition of "Father Time" from Dustin's inactive solo project Jonesy Land, which Frank collaborated with Dustin on in the first place. Mikey takes the spotlight next for "Clouds Float By", which is a more recent solo composition of his. The second half of the episode begins with Brad playing two more Surfers originals, including "Get High" from "Laughing On The Outside" and "Rollin'" from their oft-forgotten third album "Time To Travel On".

Dustin (and Frank) return to the forefront next for Dustin's first outside cover of the episode, namely The Commodores' "Easy", and it's definitely not the Faith No More cover given the presence of the second verse here. Mikey's next song actually is a collaboration with both Dustin and Frank, so finally, we can technically say that Dos Amigos played here, albeit with guest mandolin! This song was "Whole New Day", a song of Brad's from The Surfers' "Laughing On The Outside", and if you like that particular album, you'll like that Brad plays "TV" from it when he begins his last chunk of the stream! Brad's last song of the episode is "Backwards", one of the first songs that he and Dustin wrote for the "blue album". The episode closes with Mikey & Dustin (with Frank hopping back in midway through) covering Poison's deep cut "Look But You Can't Touch", followed by thank yous.

Not an interview series here, just an unplugged reunion of most of one of the Soo's biggest punk bands, and fans will like that eight of their songs were tackled here, albeit nothing that 100% originated on the "black album". While mostly an even split between the Soo and Atikokan, I would have liked to have seen Mikey involved a little more, as he only performed on four songs, but Dos Amigos proper did emerge in the back half! There were occasional flubs, and I do miss Brad's beard, but if you love The Inner City Surfers, check out this fun and loose Afterparty episode below, and see much more from Brad and various guests at this link! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Bone Yard 225), More Weekend Concert Previews, And Missed Concert Apologies!!

Before we begin this post, I wanted to apologize for a missed concert in last week's previews, as local classic/hard rock cover quartet Separate Wayz made their debut at Northern Superior Brewing Co.'s on-site Tap Room this past Saturday, a show that they only announced on social media the day prior. I profusely apologize for that slipping me by, especially on a very quiet weekend for hard rock-leaning concerts, but perhaps not as quiet as I knew! For the record, this was the band's first appearance with new Soundcheck drummer Johnny Amendola behind the kit, following Brent Royer's departure last month, and Separate Wayz have since said on Facebook to "stay tuned for epic crossovers", implying that Soundcheck's Travis Sharpe and Separate Wayz' Nicole Thibodeau could appear at each other's bands' shows (the two bands share an otherwise identical lineup.)

Otherwise, today's post is devoted to the rest of this weekend's known hard rock concert previews, including some SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, and we'll start with local acoustic classic/hard rock cover trio Dodge This, who will play their first second and third gigs of the year TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT at Jay's Piston Broke Pub! Apologies for the short notice, these shows were first announced via Jay's Facebook page (now with updated URL) on Monday. Last seen at The Water Tower Pub in mid-January, these Family Day long weekend gigs mark a rare instance for the July brothers and Jason, as Dodge This typically play one-nighters rather than double weekend bookings. Whether you wanna enjoy their old school hard rock and occasional country covers TONIGHT or on Valentine's Day TOMORROW, you have options! These are 19+ and 9:30 PM shows with no cover charge. See above for more details, and for a preview, here's Dodge This live!

Next up, we'll head to Beck's Bar, where local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 will set up shop TOMORROW NIGHT for the previously announced "stoplight party", and in a new confirmation, they will indeed return "uncorked" for the matinee there on SUNDAY! Again, apologies for the short notice on the SUNDAY matinee gig, that booking was first announced via Beck's Facebook page on Monday, but the fully electric gig tomorrow has gotten priority for promotion. Last seen at the former Vibe Lounge over the first weekend of the year, tomorrow's concert is a Valentine's Day-themed "stoplight party", where attendees are encouraged to wear stoplight-coloured clothing to signify your relationship status (green = single, red = taken, yellow = maybe/it's complicated). Wear the right colours and let the sparks fly, perhaps? Of course, if you prefer them acoustic, come out SUNDAY!

Saturday's concert from "the dirty three" is at 9:00 PM, the SUNDAY matinee is at 3:00 PM, both shows are 19+ affairs with no cover, and if you're curious, tomorrow's matinee at Beck's belongs to country musician Brendan Hodgson alongside guest singer Maddy Foggia (they aren't "opening" for Bone Yard, but you can hang out to see both concerts if you like). Visit the above links for more details on this concert, and for a preview, here's your local 225 live!

Finally for this preview post, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations will return to The Full Throttle Saloon on Wellington Street West TOMORROW NIGHT! The Jus' Chillin successors have gotten the Valentines Day honours at the former Primavera Hall, with this being the fourth show of 2026, alternating gigs between here and The Kiln to start the year so far. Their mix of old school covers should be a good soundtrack to February 14th, so hopefully there's a good turnout in Steelton for this one! Note that the Saloon have not corroborated this booking on Facebook, so I can't confirm if there will be any other seasonal ties for you lovebirds tomorrow, but the band been plugging it for weeks, and drummer Tony Santoro was promoting the idea that you can do dinner there before the concert on their Facebook group.

As usual for gigs at The Full Throttle Saloon, this long weekend concert takes place on Saturday at 9:30 PM and has no cover charge (the venue doesn't typically host the same band on consecutive nights, and they are hosting karaoke tomorrow). Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Generations live at the same locale!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Unfortunate Sun) And Most Of This Weekend's Hard Rock Concert Previews!!

After a quiet past weekend, we have a busier slate of shows on this President's/Family Day long weekend, aided by Valentine's Day being on Saturday this year! Due to the amount of hard rock-leaning shows this weekend, we'll address this weekend's previously announced Bone Yard 225 and Generations concerts in tomorrow's post. Now, here's what you should know, starting with a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT! 

Local hard rock quartet Unfortunate Sun will return to Snow's Bar & Grill in Cedarville TOMORROW NIGHT as part of this weekend's Les Cheneaux Islands Snowsfest entertainment! Apologies for the short notice, the band only announced this show via their Facebook page yesterday, and the official festival advertising doesn't go into details about the scheduled live musicians in Cedarville and Hessel. Bon Soo doesn't have the entire regional spotlight for winter festivals in this part of the world this weekend, and hopefully Unfortunate Sun have a strong turnout at Snow's TOMORROW! This will be Unfortunate Sun's first gig at Snow's in over a year, and just their third gig with Brett Blackwood, which their latest AI poster says is their "exciting, new, high energy bass player that sounds OK". It's worth noting that TOMORROW's concert has an earlier start time of 7:00 PM, but there is a Snowsfest-tied reason for that.

Also starting at 7:00 PM at Snow's Bar is their annual stein hoisting contest, where contestants try to hold a full stein of beer with an outstretched arm for the longest time. Fun for revelers, so keep that in mind TOMORROW! Obviously, this is a 21+ event and it has no announced cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, here's Unfortunate Sun live, and stay tuned in a bit for our preview of who is playing there on Saturday!

Next up, let's make the half hour drive southwest to St. Ignace, where Traverse City classic metal trio Peril will take the stage TONIGHT, TOMORROW, and SATURDAY NIGHT at The Northern Pines Lounge at their Kewadin Casino! This rare triple header weekend is to coincide with the annual Labatt Blue UP Pond Hockey Championships at nearby Chain Lake, with the St. Ignace Kewadin hosting some official events. There will be lots of extra folks in Mackinac County for this busy long weekend thanks to Snowsfest and the pond hockey tournaments, and a Jeff Hudson-featured band is no stranger to playing in St. Ignace at this time, as Scarkazm got the pond hockey weekend honours last year. Hopefully Jeff, Howard, and Brooks deliver with their hard hitting rock covers as usual starting tonight! All three nights are 21+ with no announced cover charges and 9:00 PM start times. Visit the above links for more details on Peril's busy long weekend at the St. Ignace Kewadin, and here they are live last year!

Also this weekend, let's take a brief detour to Sault Ontario for a concert affiliated with another timely local festival, as local classic/hard rock cover quartet Silent 9 will return to The Machine Shop TOMORROW NIGHT to serve as musical entertainment at the Bon Soo Winter Carnival for a second straight year! Clearly, last year's Silent 9 show went well for Bon Soo to bring Jess, Ryan, Paul, and Steve back to help kick off the festival for another year, and hopefully things go smoothly at Mill Square! Perhaps Jess will dance on stage with Mr. Bon Soo again? This will also be Silent 9's first public concert of 2026, after focusing on private events as of late. Of course, visit the Bon Soo website to see what else is going on tomorrow at Mill Square to see what else is going on for vendors and family entertainment beyond the concert, as there's a lot to see and do! This is an all ages concert taking place at 8:30 PM.

Admission to tomorrow's concert is free with the purchase of a Bon Soo button ($12) or jacket tag ($8), which are on sale both at Mill Square and at various local merchants. Having one or the other will get you into pretty much every other official festival event, so it's a good investment! See above for more details on this concert and Bon Soo 2026, and for a preview, here's Silent 9 live at the festival last year!

Finally for this preview post, we'll come full circle back in Cedarville, Michigan, where Sault Ste. Marie blues/hard rock quintet Project 906 will rock Snow's Bar & Grill on SATURDAY NIGHT! This Valentines Day event will be 906's second show of the year and will serve as the nightcap for the penultimate day of this year's Les Cheneaux Islands Snowsfest festivities in Cedarville. Of course, drummer Jason VanLuven is also a member of Unfortunate Sun, so while Snow's is splitting the weekend for local cover hard rock bands, a familiar face will be behind the kit regardless! No word on potential Valentine's Day tie-ins given the scheduling. Billy, Joe, Dustin, Jason, and Brian take the stage at 7:00 PM on Saturday (in this case, the show is a lead-out to Saturday's annual fun run), and this is also a 19+ event with no cover charge. See above for more details, click here for the full non-musical itinerary for Snowsfest this weekend, and for a preview, here's Project 906 live!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for our Bone Yard and Generations previews (and more) next! Thanks everyone!

Defunct Local Band Profile Series: Garden Of Bedlam

Here is our second Defunct Local Band Profile of 2026, as we again spotlight a defunct or inactive band of Twin Sault's past, and as ever, this group was randomly selected from our links. Our first Sault Ontario profile of the year gives us one of the biggest homegrown metal bands of the past 20 years, so here's what you should know on them!

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Garden Of Bedlam

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Genre: Metal/Hard Rock

Lineup: (While it is fairly well known now that the late Chris Thompson drummed with Garden Of Bedlam briefly in 2007, the band's public launch came after he left)

Erik "Buzz" Boissineau (Barfly, Changing Lanes), vocals
Josh Belleau, guitar
Evan Belleau, bass
Derek Turner (Even Flow, Papa Fogals Chair), drums

Audio/Video: Garden Of Bedlam released a self-titled EP in 2009 followed by their full-length album "Everything Will Die" in 2011, both on CD. Despite the band's high profile, neither release is circulating on most major streaming services as of 2026, so the best place to hear their studio catalogue online is their Reverbnation page, though be advised that the 2009 EP is batched as one 15 minute file there. Numerous videos from the band & fans can be seen on YouTube, including via three different official YouTube channels and Josh's personal channel, and we shot videos of them often in their run for YouTube as well. Here's the music video for their 2009 song "The Truth Will Set You Free"!

Info/Analysis: The biggest active and regularly gigging local metal band of the early 2010s, Garden of Bedlam (named as an opposite of "Garden of Eden") debuted in early 2008 and quickly became a prominent sight on local stages over the next six years. Along with multiple headlining concerts, Garden of Bedlam opened for high profile touring bands like Kittie, Airbourne, Anvil, Fuck The Facts, Novembers Doom, and most prominently, Kiss, winning the honours to open their 2010 Essar Center concert at December 2009's Kiss Battle of the Bands. Two-time headliners of Rotaryfest Stage 2 in the early 2010s, Garden of Bedlam were also seen at multiple Hempfests & on the road in Sudbury and Quebec, and were very visible at charitable events and in local media interviews in their heyday. Band activity slowed to a crawl after 2013, only surfacing for a 2014 stag & doe and to headline Go Skateboarding Day in June 2015.

 

Despite promising to "see you soon" after their Go Skate Day set, no public updates on new band activity followed, and they amicably disbanded by 2016. Always a lively and very proficient band for modern hard rock fans with a heavier edge, Garden of Bedlam were a welcome sight on local stages via fan favourite original songs like "Shallow" and "New Rain", with Buzz's soaring melodic vocals gelling very well with the Belleau cousins and Derek throughout their run! Also, kudos to the guys for helping turn local fans on to Volbeat just before their mainstream breakthrough in this continent! Hopefully we will see the guys reunite at some point in the future, or at least get their albums on streaming platforms!

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I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profile! Next month in this series, we're not straying far in the alphabet or in scope, as our next randomly selected band will be inactive local progressive/death metal band Gates of Winter! Look for that on or around March 10th, and for weekend concert previews on the SMS next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Ozzy REbourne & Soundcheck), A Band Reunion, And More News & Notes!!

I hope everyone had a good Super Bowl Sunday! Here's a new news post to kick off the week, and it includes LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, confirmation of a band reunion, and some more recent updates, so let's get things rolling!

Just over a week after their surprise reunion gigs at Jay's Piston Broke Pub, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck have announced their return as a full time band, and they'll be back at the same venue on Friday, February 20th and Saturday, February 21st! In their first Facebook page post in over a year, they confirmed that founding singer/guitarist Terry Eaton and late-era bassist Jim Michaud are continuing in 2026, and will be joined again by Half Past drummer Johnny Amendola, who took over for Glen Thomas behind the kit last week, and of course, is also new to Terry & Jim's other current cover band Separate Wayz. The big reveal here is that singer/guitarist Cameron Oliver is finally making his long-delayed move to Nashville to further his solo career, so he isn't joining Soundcheck's full return (no word on if last week's shows were intended as a send-off for him.)

Replacing Cameron is original Soundcheck singer/guitarist Travis Sharpe, who was part of the former Nameus upon their debut in 2016 until he left the band in 2019, with Cameron replacing him at the time. Travis actually guested with Soundcheck in some capacity last week, which would be neat for late 2010s fans of theirs, let alone those familiar with Terry & Travis' long-standing work in bands like Carbon Black! It is good to see Soundcheck proper back after a year away, and with Terry, Jim, and Johnny also playing in Separate Wayz with singer Nicole Thibodeau, you're bound to see both bands a good amount in 2026! If you're wondering what became of The Guilty Party (the band featuring Terry, Jim, and ex-singer/drummer Brent Royer that formed last fall), it appears that Soundcheck's full reunion has replaced The Guilty Party, as that band's Facebook page has quietly been deleted.

Johnny had replaced Brent in both that band and Separate Wayz when Brent stepped down last month, but he never played a gig with either before Soundcheck reunited with him behind the kit. The Guilty Party only played a handful of gigs last fall, and you'll see Terry get his lead vocal turns with both Soundcheck and Separate Wayz, but I will miss the videos that were on The Guilty Party's page! Like last week at Jay's, expect Soundcheck's shows on the 20th and 21st to be 9:30 PM affairs with no cover charges and 19+ age limits. Visit the above links for more details on Soundcheck's official return! 

Next up, here's a mild surprise, as Detroit-based Ozzy Osbourne tribute band Crazy Babies (a.k.a. Ozzy REbourne) will make their local concert debut on Saturday, May 9th when they rock The Full Throttle Saloon! The first booking from a touring band at the former Primavera Hall, this was announced yesterday on the venue's Facebook page, but I have not seen confirmation of this booking on Crazy Babies' end. While we have seen an Ozzy-era Black Sabbath tribute band here before, one paying homage primarily to Ozzy's solo career will be really neat, and Ozzy REbourne definitely deliver the goods for fans of the pioneering British metal legend, so keep this spring-time show in mind! Local classic/hard rock cover quintet Headrush (no strangers to The Full Throttle Saloon) will open the proceedings in three months. Their 1980s-leaning batch of covers should ease fans into the metal!

This will be a 19+ event, and we await confirmation of a start time and ticket/admission fees, but call/contact the venue if you have any early questions. This should be a fun one, and I hope it does well to encourage more touring acts at this new-ish Steelton venue, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details!

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

 

• Sault Michigan hard rock/punk trio About:Blank have parted ways with guitarist Nathan Webber, as per their Facebook page on January 31st. A reason for his departure was not announced, but things are amicable, and they wish him well in his future endeavours. Nathan had previously missed About:Blank's set at the LSSU Battle of the Bands in October, but it's not clear how related that is to his permanent exit. Parker & Kade are looking for a new guitarist (and maybe a bassist, assuming that Parker could focus on guitar full time thusly), so message them above for details, and stay tuned for updates from both About:Blank when they roll in!
• In their first Facebook post in two years (they never even mentioned Toystock 2024 or dropping out of last year's Toystock there), Sault Ontario punk trio Redundant teased on New Years Eve that "we will definitely see you in 2026", with this cover photo hinting that "something big is coming", featuring artwork of some kind partially obscured behind torn paper. No word on what Justin, Rick, and their new bassist are specifically teasing, but we'll let you know when Redundant truly resurfaces this year!
• Waterloo hard rock quartet Sierra Pilot will be the openers for Pop Evil when they headline at The Machine Shop on April 12th, as per Pop Evil's own advertising! If the name is familiar, it's likely because former Spades GT guitarist Jay Sarrazin is an alum of theirs, but he left that band by early 2025. It will still be neat to see Sierra Pilot in town, and they have a solid and energetic sound that will help set the tone well before Pop Evil make their Sault Ontario debut! For unclear reasons, this tour's other opening band (Tampa hard rock group Kamenar) are not playing the Soo date, though note that this is the only scheduled gig in Canada.

 

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