A Mid-Week Concert Preview, SOOpfest 2 Updates, And A New Spaceship Opening Video!!

Before we begin this post, I wanted to note that former Havadder frontman Jason Roy's obituary was finally posted on SooToday on Monday, noting that he suddenly passed away at home on July 30th. Jason (who often went by Jay) is survived by his sisters, stepmother, and many others in his extended family. The obituary details his sense of humour, many friendships, love of music, and his musical talents (including songwriting), though it doesn't mention his local bands by name. Jason's battle with addiction is also touched upon, and in that respect, the family would appreciate donations by e-transfer or cheque to Save Our Young Adults in his name/memory. Cremation has taken place at O'Sullivan Funeral Home, and while there were no public services, a celebration of life is reportedly planned for a later date. This was well written and helped explain Jason's positive impact on so many, so give it a read above! R.I.P. Jay!

Today's post otherwise has new live video from a local band, info on a publically advertised house party concert, and leading off, here's a mid-week concert preview. Prolific local acoustic classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison's summer arrangement at The Mike Case Memorial Stage outside of The Trading Post TONIGHT! This will technically be Tym's second concert appearance of the week, as he took part in the aforementioned Save Our Young Adults walk for National Overdose Awareness Day at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion on Monday, but between his own lack of public promotion and the somber nature of the event, I hesitate to cover it as a concert, as that's not really the point. Kudos to Tym for supporting a great cause though, drug and alcohol addiction is always worthy to advocate the fight against! Tonight's Trading Post show is the penultimate gig in Tym's seasonal run there unless it gets extended.

Regardless, the Mike Case Stage is only open seasonally, so time is ticking if you want to see Tym at this outdoor Great Northern Road stage! You can check out his hard rocking covers tonight from 6:30-8:30 PM with no cover charge or age limit. 9&10 News has a better forecast for tonight than last week, with partly cloudy skies becoming clear during Tym's sets, and temperatures expected to hover around 21°. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Tym live!

Next up, here's some info on the planned second SOOpfest benefit concert! Local promoters Underground Events SSM hosted the first at a private residence on July 24th as charity drive/fundraiser for the Ken Brown Recovery Home, the $onny Vybe$ memorial, and the Soup Kitchen, and just eight weeks + one day later, they're rolling it back for the same charities. The show will again take place at an unspecified private locale ("ask a punk" for the address, lack of advertised punk bands acknowledged), and because it's not a static named location like Unnecessary Noise or the former Mellow D's Underground, I won't call it as a full public concert here, though it is publically advertised. Just ask those connected to the event for the address! This will also be a backyard potluck barbecue, similar to in July. Only one act (rap collective Fvcksxvad) are returning from last month, while party metal trio The Apocalypse Afterparty, folk singer/guitarist Gimiiwan Ikwe, ...

...Peasant Poetry (featuring Case's Music drum instructor Jamie Talbot), and a mystery project named So Many Bees are also scheduled. Unspecified guests will also be present, as will an open mic/jam element. A very varied lineup is in store for SOOpfest II, though I do wonder, wouldn't a benefit concert like this raise more good for the intended charities if it was a truly public event at an permanent venue with an address that can be posted on social media? In any event, visit the above links (and/or "ask a punk") for more details on SOOpfest II later this month!

Finally for today, we go to a bandmate of SOOpfest promoter Mikhal Muto, namely his ASDP colleague Ralph Barber's space/hard rock duo The Spaceship Opening! It only took 18 days, but third video of their full set at Blaster Powerhouse on August 1st was uploaded to their Facebook page on Sunday, and it sees them playing "a fresh song" that is "something new and on the spot". Like their "Everybody's Gonna Pay" video before, this is an instrumental with Andrew facing Ralph with his back to the live audience. It's a solid driving hard rocker, but presumably because it was improvised, they noted that "(we'll) probably never play this again". In that case, good thing it was filmed, so give it a watch below!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Salem Trials) & Videos From Maddy's Mighty Mutts' Family Fun Day!!

With this being the quietest concert weekend in a month or so, we have some extra time to tick some more items off of our backlog, so here's a new news post on this Friday afternoon, and it includes new videos and related updates from a recent fundraiser event. However, leading off is a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT of a very heavy persuasion for next month!

In the newest concert announcement from local promoters Undergound Events SSM, Ottawa deathcore quintet Salem Trials will make their local debut on Saturday, September 26th at Blaster Powerhouse! A brutal and intense batch of original songs will be in store next month from this very heavy group, who definitely caught my attention from the off, so keep their gig at the former Soo Blaster in mind! Another Ottawa-based quintet (metalcore band The Jenova Projekt) will play Sault Ste. Marie for the first time next month, and while not ad relentless, they have an appealing hard-edged sound that reminds me a bit of Demiricous on some songs, and it will be good to have them on stage here also! Local support will come by way of space/hard rock duo The Spaceship Opening (more on them soon) and sporadically seen party metal trio The Apocalypse Afterparty, featuring promoter Mikhal Muto on bass.

While The A.A. missed out on the most recent rap show at Blaster, this will put them in slightly closer musical range to let their double bassed, guitar-devoid brand of music find a receptive audience! This all ages concert will have doors opening at 8:30 PM, and advance tickets will be on sale soon at The Rad Zone and via the local openers for $25 (the door charge will jump to $30). Sounds like a brutal concert to me, and it trends heavier the longer it goes, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details!

Next up, some videos from last week's Maddy's Mighty Mutts Family Fun Day concert at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion have made their way online! Though the exact lineup order was never released, between 9 and 11 acts graced the stage for this dog rescue charity fundraiser on this Wednesday (which is still odd timing to me, especially given its 8 hour runtime). You can see some of what took place that day on the Facebook event page, where promoter Paige Dennie posted videos of four acts there on the "Discussion" thread. The earliest of her videos is of local hard rock quartet 5 Dollar Bribe covering Wheatus' "Teenage Dirtbag", though the video only runs for 35 seconds and was shot vertically (sadly, all of Paige's videos are vertical and short). I'll be honest, I hate "Teenage Dirtbag", but 5 Dollar Bribe play it well from what I can detect, and Jayce's vocals don't wear on me like on the original, so that much is of note! Give their video a watch below!

I wanted to note re: 5 Dollar Bribe too that local classic/hard rock cover band Separate Wayz shared a "Story" on Facebook of 5DB playing during their soundcheck. Why was Separate Wayz present when they weren't playing? Well, singer Nicole Thibodeau was the "friend" (friends?) teased to be guesting with TNT (Soundcheck's Terry Eaton n' Travis Sharpe, the former also in Separate Wayz) here, and Separate Wayz also posted a "Story" of her and TNT covering "Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac at the Family Fun Day. Alas, "Stories" self-destruct after one or two viewings, and are short/vertical videos anyway, so all I can do is tell you about them, but hopefully TNT went over well under the tent! Terry and Travis would perform more with Nicole this past weekend on the road, and I'll talk about that in an upcoming post. Travis was also teased in some event marketing to be guesting with Bone Yard 225 frontman Greg "The Ranting Rockstar" Simpson on this day, but he does not factor into Paige's video from Greg's set.

While being shot vertically doesn't matter for a solo musician, Paige's video runs for only 11 seconds, and it features Greg's slowed down cover of Kiss' "Rock & Roll All Nite", which is a staple of Bone Yard's "uncorked" sets, and The Bearded Lounge's concerts prior. We don't hear much, but if you like Greg's laid back take on this Kiss staple, you'll like what was filmed, as seen below!

Also filmed for the event page was (former?) Dodge This singer/guitarist Jason Taillefer, who had his keyboard ready again here, and Paige filmed him covering Coldplay's "The Scientist" for 21 seconds. Like with "Teenage Dirtbag", I must confess that I don't like Coldplay at all, but Jason at least sings this a little deeper and more matter-of-factly, and he is a talented multi-instrumentalist, as Phatstick fans will be well aware! The last of Paige's videos comes from this concert's co-headliner, namely former Haggith/Eclipse frontman Curtis McKenzie (Bone Yard 225 played last on this evening). Paige filmed him covering Collective Soul's "December", but for one reason or another, this 21 seconds-long instrumental clip can't be embedded on external websites, even though everything else in the post from that day can be. Facebook has been iffier lately re: videos randomly being unembeddable, even with no copyrighted music, so yeah, it's something to juggle at present.

What we hear sounds good, but again, no singing. Embedded below is a video of Curt at the Family Fun Day, but this was actually uploaded by Beck's Bar's Facebook page, with a hard-coded caption slapped on it in post-production to hype Curtis' matinee concert there this past Sunday. Obviously, the caption limits my ability to relevantly use it for concert preview purposes around here, but on this video (also of him covering "December" from a closer vantage point), we do get more of an actual verse with singing, and while I do think Curtis should lower his voice a tad, it's well done for what was filmed! Give it a watch below, and see more from Family Fun Day above!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for another likely news post later today! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Quite Frankly), The Go Skate Day Concert Preview, And Epic Rush Concert Videos!!

Let's close out this weekend's known hard rock concert previews tonight, along with new videos from a recent tribute band concert, so here's what you should know for this late Friday night post!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Quite Frankly will return to The Water Tower Pub for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the band quietly announced the show on their Facebook page on June 2nd and it slipped us by until this week. Last seen on May 1st at Beck's Bar, this will be Quite Frankly's first Water Tower Pub stop in two months. This talented group should have another wide array of entertaining rocking covers in store for central fans TOMORROW, so keep this one-nighter in mind if it piques your interest! The Water Tower Pub never hosts the same band on consecutive nights, and as such, funk rock cover band The Rhythm Junction are playing there tonight (replacing the cancelled Yuk Yuk's comedy night). Linsaey, Frank, Harley, and Joe take the stage TOMORROW at 8:00 PM with a 19+ age limit and no cover. See above for more details, and for a preview, here's Quite Frankly live at The Water Tower Pub!

Next up, here's this weekend's last known hard rock concert preview, and it takes us to Queen Elizabeth Park outside of the John Rhodes Centre, where Go Skateboarding Day returns on SUNDAY! After promoters Underground Events SSM's planned debut as hosts of this event last year were severely impaired by heavy rain, I am pleased to report that 9&10 News is calling for sunny skies on Sunday with temperatures ranging from 16-19°, with no likelihood of rain, so Mikhal "Cha" Muto finally gets to put on the Go Skate Day he intended last year! Sponsors and vendors will be on site at the skatepark, and skaters of all ages & skill levels are encouraged to come down to hit the ramps and rails, play games, have fun, and of course, listen to live music! After last year's program was abruptly moved to a private event with late replacement bands, Mikhal has secured six acts this year, the largest Go Skate Day lineup in a decade, so who all can you expect on Sunday afternoon?

The presented lineup order lists the apparent headliners as Half Scoundies (Josh and Todd from The Golden Scoundrels) in an acoustic folk/bluegrass set. Preceding them are this year's two returning acts from Tidal Records-era Go Skate Days, including Shane "DJ Seith" Erickson with his fan favourite turntable mixes, as well as party metal trio The Apocalypse Afterparty (featuring Mikhal on bass). Fast-rising teenage hard rock quartet 5 Dollar Bribe will make their multi-band/outdoor debut on Sunday, preceded by Mikhal's ska punk trio A.S.D.P., who were a late addition to last year's private Go Skate Day rainout concert. Local jazz/EDM solo artist Mario "Yecharo" Kwan is listed last for this year's bill, and while he is a bit of a wild card, he does appear on Underground Events SSM's compilation album. Nicely varied lineup for sure, and the weather should hold up for the duration!

Admission is FREE whether you are skating or not, and this is definitely an all ages event, with bands presumably set up on top of the big ramp at the skatepark like they were under Tidal's supervision. Things seem to be shaping up well on musical and logistical fronts this year, and hopefully things go well at the skatepark on Sunday! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's The Apocalypse Afterparty live!

Let's close today with videos from last week's Epic Rush concert at The Full Throttle Saloon! Like at the Crazy Babies show there, a representative of the venue was filming videos for their Facebook page, but unfortunately, they were all shot vertically. We do get some longer videos this time though (all run for at least 3:45), and they include the former Rust playing the Rush classics "Time Stand Still", "Freewill", and as embedded below, "Red Barchetta". Notably, the latter cover was filmed from the back corner of the stage, giving us a unique angle of the proceedings, especially to really show off drummer Eric Kuthy channelling the late Neil Peart with gusto, but his playing comes off very loud as a result. I do wish that more fans were on the floor close to the band, let alone that the house lighting was at least darkened, but Rush fans got their fill from this talented Sudbury-based trio, so check out all three videos!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Peril, Tarnished, And Go Skateboarding Day!!)

Tonight's news post gives us some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, including a big returning Sault Ontario event later this month and some intriguing concerts in the E.U.P. in the coming months. Here's what you should know!

The annual local Go Skateboarding Day concert returns to Queen Elizabeth Park outside of the John Rhodes Center on Sunday, June 21st! After nine prior installments (eight with live music) were held by Tidal Records from 2014-2019 and 2022-2024, local promoter and musician Mikhal Muto inherited the reins of this annual event last year, only for Go Skate Day to be rained out as intended, the first time that the local version was ever called off for a reason other than the pandemic. An indoor skateboarding event at Prince Township was held on short notice, with a partial lineup of bands playing a private event afterwards, but weather permitting, the original format of Go Skate Day is back for 2026 via Mikhal's new promotional agency Underground Events SSM. This includes all-ages and free skateboarding for all skill levels from 12:00-5:00 PM, plus skate games and giveaways from sponsors.

For the first time since 2016, the local Go Skateboarding Day concert will have six advertised acts atop the half-pipe at the skate park, and while the performance order isn't clear from the Facebook event page, there will be two (kinda three) returning acts. Local party metal trio The Apocalypse Afterparty (who played in 2024) and Shane "DJ Seith" Erickson (who played in 2015 and 2016) are back, while ska punk trio A.S.D.P. will play their first John Rhodes Centre gig on the 21st, though they (and DJ Seith) played at last year's private fill-in event. Go Skate Day newcomers will include Half Scoundies (Josh & Todd from folk/bluegrass quartet The Golden Scoundrels going acoustic), new local hard rock quartet 5 Dollar Bribe (in their first ever public multi-band concert), and local jazz/EDM solo musician Mario "Yecharo" Kwon, who is on Underground Events SSM's compilation album.

Quite an eclectic lineup of musicians (I never would have connected the Scoundrels... er, Scoundies with extreme sports) will be on hand, but of course, Mother Nature is very much a factor as to if Go Skate Day 2026 will occur as planned, and part of me is surprised that it took until 2025 for one to be impaired due to weather. I do hope that everything goes off without a hitch for Mikhal and crew this time, so visit the above links for more on all of the action one week from Sunday!

Next up, Traverse City, Michigan classic metal trio Peril have announced their concert calendar through September via new schedule images on their Facebook page! We knew about their car show-weekend gigs in St. Ignace on the 26th and 27th, but when else will Jeff, Howard, and Brooks be rocking a stage within an hour of the Soo? Their next shows in our coverage area will be on Friday, July 10th and Saturday, July 11th at The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino, and they will be rocking out after the Steve Earle concert at The Dreammakers Theater on the 11th, so if you wanna keep the party going, head to the lounge afterwards! In August, they have two shows in St. Ignace, but not at Kewadin Casino. They'll instead set up shop at American Legion Park for one-nighters on Thursday, August 6th and Friday, August 21st as part of the Music By The Bay concert series!

 

Those are outdoor shows (bands play under a canopy at the park), and while these are rare non-Kewadin gigs for Peril in our neck of the woods, they have played at the Music By The Bay series before, weather permitting. Hopefully things go well for the guys in all six of their regional concerts this summer! The Kewadin dates next month are at 9:00 PM with 21+ age limits, the St. Ignace outdoor shows run from 7:00-8:30 PM with no age limits, and none have a cover charge. Visit the above links for more on this hard rocking veteran group's regional shows ahead!

 

Finally for this post, we'll stay in St. Ignace, where local classic/hard rock cover quartet Tarnished will return for some non-Kewadin shows of their own in a few months! They too will return to American Legion Park for St. Ignace's Music By The Bay series on Friday, July 31st and Saturday, September 5th, with the latter falling over the Labour Day long weekend (they'll actually be the penultimate band of this series for 2026). As best as I can tell, Tarnished and Peril are the only heavier-leaning bands playing Music By The Bay shows this year, but there are other familiar names that you can see on the daily schedule at this link. Alex, Josh, Chris, and Ron will make another hour's drive south on Friday, September 18th when they rock The Driftwood Sports Bar again, this time during the Richard Crane Memorial Truck Show weekend! You may recall seeing Tarnished play three different locales during this event last year.

 

No word on if they'll be similarly busy in 2026, but if you love big rigs and transports, this truck show will be up your alley, and kudos to The Driftwood for capitalizing on all of these vehicle shows in St. Ignace by booking bands during them! We'll address the band playing there on Thursday, September 17th in an upcoming post. Like with Peril, the Music By The Bay shows are at 7:00 PM with no age limit or cover charge (weather permitting), while the Driftwood concert during the truck show weekend is at 9:00 Pm and will be 21+. See above for more on Tarnished's Mackinac County shows ahead, and look for weekend concert previews and our next Defunct Local Band Profile on the SMS in the coming days! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Cory Marks), A New Addition To Our Band Links, And More Updates!!

Let's catch up on some Sault Ontario odds and ends on this Tuesday night, including a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, promotion for another upcoming show, and some other updates, but leading off, here's a long overdue addition to our band links & full coverage!

We have a new-ish band to add to our Sault Ontario band links, and they are the no-longer-online-pageless The Spaceship Opening! Despite debuting on stage in September 2024, they only launched a social media presence (their new Facebook page) over the weekend. Described in promotion for past gigs as "east end rock & roll" and "space rock", The Spaceship Opening are a two-man-band featuring former Redundant/Fitswitch bassist Andrew MacDonald alongside A.S.D.P. drummer Ralph Barber, and in videos publically shared so far, neither sings at all. Over the past 18 months, you may recall seeing The Spaceship Opening sharing the stage with touring acts like The Space Wizards and Greg Rekus & The Inside Job, while they also opened for Mike Haggith's "Under A Moonlit Sky" show last fall, and most recently played at the "Not A Leap Year Party" concert in "Mellow D's Basement" on Saturday, alongside other public and private events.

Two videos are on their Facebook page, one being this short and black-and-white clip from an unspecified venue, while embedded below is four minutes of them playing at the still-closed Distraction last year, and while this one is in colour, it was shot vertically. Unless you've seen them live already, their early descriptors didn't give their sound away, and they have way more of an AlgomA-esque sludge/doom essence than I would have assumed. If you were expecting The Spaceship Opening to be similar to Andrew's past local bands, you may be surprised! Distorted and low (if not all that spacey), I can see why they've attracted fans with their minimalist rock compositions so far, so check things out from them above and below!

Next up, here's that LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, as North Bay country/hard rock musician Cory Marks will return to The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Center on Thursday, June 11th! The fourth time in as many years that Cory has performed a local date, this appears to be a full band show with a proper promotional push, unlike his most recent local gig (also at the Bushplane Museum), when he headlined the Hope Air Day charity event this past June with a solo acoustic performance that we didn't hear about until it was short notice. The Bushplane Museum is hyping this up by saying that "for the first time ever, we’re turning the hangar into a full-blown concert venue", and while multiple shows have taken place there in the past, they've tended to be all-local or supplemental to other events. Hopefully this show is a huge hit for Cory and the venue alike, so that more similarly scaled concerts can be considered!

No word on possible openers, but Silent 9 opened at Cory's Machine Shop shows in 2023 and 2024, and Matthew James opened last year's unplugged Hope Air Day concert. Doors open for this "hangar party" at 5:00 PM, there is no announced age limit, and tickets run for $40 (up fro $35 from Cory's last full-band show here) at this link, and $100 VIP passes are also available. Cory's hard rock and country crossover sound continues to garner fans and chart success, and fingers crossed that his fourth local concert is a smash this summer! Visit the above links for more details!

Also today, here's the first Facebook update from local progressive metal band Convergence in almost three months! Well, that's discounting "Stories", you may have seen one where "Johnny Cash" endorsed them, but they did not opt to separately upload that "Story" as its own video. The video below from Sunday features guitarist Jake Valois hyping their first show of the year, when they will be among the openers for Nashville death metal band Demon King and other touring groups at Soo Blaster on March 24th (three weeks from today!). Amusingly, Jake puts footage of the mobile video game Subway Surfers in an inset picture-in-picture window to try and discourage people from scrolling away, assuming you're watching the video on a vertical cell phone orientation, which may explain the captions. As the show is all ages, Jake suggests that the whole family come out to "Soo Blasters", even your grandma!

Tickets are on sale through the band for $15, and if you message him to get yours, he will make sure he gets it to you, so how simple is that? It's good to see some new shareable content from Convergence, and with their planned new album still in the works, hopefully 2026 proves to be a stacked year for them! Check out the new video below, and stay tuned for more from them!

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

 

• We don't cover open mic/jam nights as "concerts" here due to their in-built unpredictability, and even if the host crosses our radar, there's no guarantee that they'll perform if it's busy. That said, I did at least want to mention that local party metal trio The Apocalypse Afterparty are actually hosting Piecing It Together Shows' weekly jam night tonight at their seasonal pop-up locale at 331-A Wellington Street West, as per their Facebook page. The former Dryer Fire haven't booked formal concerts with SMS-amenable acts over their winter season, but hopefully Paul, Amanda, and Mikhal have a good turnout for tonight's open mic night!
• Winnipeg folk punk musician Greg Rekus (who fronted The Inside Job here twice in the past two years) has been added as a surprise opener for The BAG's album release party at Soo Blaster on April 18th, as per Underground Events SSM's Facebook page last week. This may seem odd for a metal concert with a local headliner, but promoter Mikhal Muto is an ardent folk punk fan, so I assume this was just good timing to get Greg a local booking when he'd be coming through on a spring tour run. Plus, this show already has a diverse lineup, as Mikhal's new ska punk band A.S.D.P. are also opening. Hopefully Greg sets things off on the right foot next month!
• In their own poster for new local Pearl Jam tribute band Even Flow's concert there on March 27th, Soo Blaster alternately list the venue name for the show as "SooBlaster / Blaster Power" and "Blaster Power House". I don't know if this is portending anything about a name change for the building/stage, but the Queen Street East entertainment complex has recently opened bowling lanes, laser tag, and arcade upgrades. Of course, the concert stage there had been branded as the Soo Lounge since opening in 2019, but if anything is clarified further, we'll let you know!

 

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the SMS in due course! Thanks everyone!

Not A Leap Year Party & Project 906 Previews, Plus Double Down & Tym Morrison Videos!!

As promised, here's the rest of this weekend's hard rock concert previews, and in case you were wondering, the late replacement band at The Esquire Club was covered in an update to yesterday's post below this one, Along with this weekend's remaining heavier shows, we also have new videos from acts not playing live imminently, so here's what you should know!

We'll start with in Michigan for this post, as Sault Ste. Marie blues/hard rock cover quintet Project 906 will play at The Strongs Tavern in Eckerman TOMORROW NIGHT! Historically a favourite venue for the 906 crew despite not playing a public concert there since July, tomorrow's show will be the first from Billy, Joe, Dustin, Jason, and Brian since rocking the Snowsfest weekend at Snow's Bar & Grill in Cedarville two weeks ago. Hopefully there's a solid crowd beating the winter blues in Eckerman tomorrow for Project 906's entertaining blend of hard rock covers, and there's lots of videos online to sample what they bring to the table! As usual for their trips an hour west to Eckerman, tomorrow's Strongs Tavern concert is an 8:00 PM affair with a 21+ age limit and no cover charge. Visit the above link for more details on Project 906's Strongs concert tomorrow night, and for a preview, here they are live last year!

Next up, if you've missed a multi-band concert in Sault Ontario in recent months, this might fit the bill, as local promoters Underground Events SSM are hosting a "Not A Leap Year Party" TOMORROW NIGHT! While this is a house party concert (something I usually don't cover due to their not-usually-public nature), this is a publically advertised event on Bruce Street with an admission fee and 19+ age limit, and while they don't give the exact address, there will be balloons outside the locale so you know where to go! Specifically, the venue is being called "Mellow D's Basement", which is an allusion to the former pop-up venue Mellow D's Underground. Six acts will gather in said basement tomorrow, including new local ska punk trio A.S.D.P. (in their first concert set since releasing their debut album "Atom Bombs & Lemonade"), party metal trio The Apocalypse Afterparty, and online page-less space rock duo The Spaceship Opening (featuring A.S.D.P. drummer Ralph Barber).

As well, three solo acoustic acts will be playing tomorrow, namely Sylo frontman Eli Russell, folk singer/guitarist Gimiiwan Ikwe, and former Vanity First frontman Andrew Keith (Beggs). Promoted by A.S.D.P. frontman/Apocalypse Afterparty bassist Mikhal "Châ" Muto, this show has a $10 cover charge (or "suggested donation"), and doors open at 5:00 PM. An intriguing event for sure, especially as these six acts do not collectively update social media much, so come to Bruce Street tomorrow for all of the action, and look for the balloons! See above for more details, and here's The A.A. live!

Also today, let's talk about two acts that aren't playing this weekend, but have new videos to share, starting with classic/hard rock cover quartet Double Down! As you may recall, they played their first show with bassist Dan Beaupre in six months this past weekend at The Water Tower Pub, and while there are videos from the show on their Facebook page, both of them have guest performers. One is a cover of Traffic's "Dear Mr. Fantasy" (possibly the Big Sugar version) with guitarist Joel Syrette on vocals and RPM's Joseph Bertrand on drums in place of Ric Datson. Still a relatively original cover choice as local bands go, and the guys do a good job with it! Joseph shows his stuff well behind the kit too, and don't bypass RPM, they have developed a good following with their own classic rock covers! The other video is embedded below, and it features the return of Mid Life Crysis bassist Lori Reinholtz, who was Dan's "stunt double" for most of his absence.

Thanked for helping Double Down out with this Cameo video by musician/social media personality Joey Breaux, Lori did two songs last week as a guest singer, with the filmed one being Joan Jett & The Blackhearts' "I Hate Myself For Loving You" (yes, Ric was back on drums here). While both videos are sadly vertical and incomplete, they are unique in that guitarist Beej Syrette filmed them with a headcam while performing, so we got to see his direct point of view on both videos. The audio quality is kinda tinny on both, but you sure get a different view of everything this way, and it'd be interesting to see Beej (let alone other local musicians) do this more! Check both videos out!

Finally for today, let's talk about local hard rock/metal solo musician Tym Morrison, who is taking a break from concerts until at least late March while he heals up from a broken pinky finger. He's not staying musically idle though, as he has posted four original songs to his YouTube channel in the past two weeks! All have accompanying music videos featuring assorted linked video clips, though be advised that some feature apparent generative AI. One song is an instrumental metal song named "Moon Patrol" that you may remember as being planned for his unreleased second album. The other three seem to be new, and the only one to exceed two minutes is "Jesus Save Me", which leans heavily into his faith. It is a lyric video if you wanna sing along! The other two new tracks are secular, including a comedy rock song named "Liar Liar Pants On Fire", which is about who the title suggests!

Embedded below is his new metal instrumental "Frantic Delay". It's good to see some heavy new music from Tym, who gets to let loose on these tracks and shred to his standards (granted, I assume these all predate his broken finger), and his singing voice is put to good use on the two songs with lyrics! Note that only "Jesus Save Me" even cracks 2 minutes in length. Give Tym's new songs/videos a look above and below, and we'll let you know if he has more material to post before he returns to the stage!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for this month's YouTube Channel Profile next! 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 ALERTS (Headrush & A.S.D.P.), Unfortunate Sun Updates, And More!!

Before we begin today's news post, I wanted to profusely apologize for a missed concert last month, as Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Unfortunate Sun returned to Huck's Pub & Grill in Rudyard on January 17th. This was a 4:00 PM matinee concert for unannounced reasons (Unfortunate Sun's prior gig there in November was a normal nighttime booking), and while the band only promoted this Saturday nighter once on their Facebook page on the previous Monday, Huck's Facebook page had promoted it multiple times in the early weeks of last month. How this slipped me by, I don't know, but I hope the show was a hit for all involved despite the early start time, and we won't miss Unfortunate Sun's next shows (stay tuned on Thursday for our next weekend concert previews!) There was something newsworthy beyond last month's show being their first of 2026, as it was their final gig with ex-Shift bassist Tony Rogers, who "has decided to move on".

The band did not outline why Tony left otherwise, but things are definitely amicable, and they thanked him for "making playing music fun again and saving our band". Replacing Tony is his former Clownsack colleague Brett Blackwood, who was most recently seen in the 2023-2025 hard rock cover band Dirty Musky, and was among the past bassists in Unfortunate Sun's predecessor group Fake Chow. Brett's a talented artist and it will be good to see him back with familiar company, and we'll preview his debut gigs with Unfortunate Sun on the SMS in a couple of days!

Today's post otherwise has some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS and new videos from Sault Ontario, and we'll start with the "Not A Leap Year Party" on Saturday, February 28th! Now, this is a house party event on Bruce Steet that is not being held at a proper public venue, but this show is publically advertised, it will be 19+, and it has entry via a suggested donation of $10. The host location will even have balloons outside so you know where to go, so this isn't intended to be private or invite-only! More specifics can be seen via the poster, but they're calling the location "Mellow D's Basement" (yes, this is related to the former pop-up venue Mellow D's Underground). Six acts are scheduled at month's end, including three bands (new local ska punk trio A.S.D.P., party metal trio The Apocalypse Afterparty, and online page-less space rock duo The Spaceship Opening. Three solo acts will round out the night's festivities.

They are Sylo frontman Eli Russell, folk singer/guitarist Gimiiwan Ikwe, and former Vanity First frontman Andrew Beggs (a.k.a. Andrew Keith).  This show is being put on by A.S.D.P. frontman/Apocalypse Afterparty bassist Mikhal Muto's new agency Underground Events SSM, and doors will open at 5:00 PM. Intriguing event on multiple fronts, so visit the above links for more on this rare 100% public house party concert later this month!

Next up, here's one more new show announcement ahead, as local classic/hard rock cover quintet Headrush will return to The Full Throttle Saloon for one night only on Saturday, March 28th! Announced with lots of advance notice on Sunday, this follows the band's successful return to the former Primavera Hall two weeks ago, and you know things are going well for Headrush there when they're getting a publicized booking over a month away like this! Time will tell if we see the guys somewhere else before then, but if you've liked the 1980s-leaning range of well performed rock covers from this veteran group, you know when to see them in Steelton next! This will be a 9:00 PM concert with a 19+ age limit and no announced cover charge. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and while we're on the subject, we have a new video to share from their last Full Throttle Saloon gig last month!

Normally, I'd wait to share this until we had an imminent show of theirs to preview, but the focus is more on attendees rocking out than the band proper until the last third. Shared to Headrush's Facebook group by attendee Stacey Cleave, the 96 seconds-long and (sadly) vertical video was shot during their cover of Boston's "Foreplay/Long Time", with some female fans happily singing along. Not a bad rendition from what we hear, and Stacey got some good angles of the interior of the saloon with a strong and fun crowd enjoying the music, so give it a watch below!

Finally for today, this leads from our review last week of defunct local grunge/alt-rock trio No Arrow's long-awaited album "Souls For Sale", as frontman Dann Pichette has uploaded a few more songs to his YouTube channel in the past year that are credited to the band! Along with a free streaming copy of all 12 songs from the CD, Dann uploaded an extended 6+ minutes-long version of "Colderside Of The Sun", a cover of Bruce Springsteen's "I'm On Fire" from 2009 that Dann self-recorded, and two non-album originals named "Question Marked" and "Obliterator". The former was remotely recorded by Dann, former bassist Brad Griffith, and a drummer (likely not Joe Falco) credited as "GliTcH!?" circa 2014, and Dann remastered it for a re-upload on his channel last year. I have no idea how recent "Obliterator" is, but it's a slower and sludgier track compared to the more typically grungy "Question Marked".

 Of course, Dann has gotten involved in those "DIY independent musician showcase/networking" channels and communities in recent years from hosts like Thomas Christ and Frank Terzo, so his music (No Arrow or otherwise) has been getting a lot of diverse and far-flung attention as of late, perhaps spurring along the idea of posting these songs online, let alone finally releasing "Souls For Sale". No Arrow are defunct, but it's cool to see Dann bringing them back and giving them a new belated platform, and hopefully we hear more new/old music from him soon! Check out "Obliterator" below!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Hells Bells & Tym Morrison), More Concert Previews, And Recent Updates!!

Tonight's post wraps up this weekend's hard rock concert previews, with the major exception of Toystock, which gets an extended look on the SMS tomorrow! For now, we also have some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (one on SHORT NOTICE), plus recent updates, so here's what you should know! 

Joining his previously announced Fraternal Order Of Eagles Club concert TOMORROW NIGHT, local classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison will also rock Misty's Fifties TOMORROW with a matinee gig prior! Apologies for the short notice, I had held off on adding Tym's end-of-year gigs to our listings when there weren't any other concerts of note to add to our listings, but I forgot to add them before tomorow's was short notice. In terms of Tym's lengthy relationship with Misty's, fans will be able to catch the former Caveman Morrison frontman at the Second Line West nightclub TOMORROW and then thrice next month (December 6th, 20th, and 27th), all also Saturday matinees. Busy end of year for Tym, so don't miss out on his final four Misty's gigs this year, not to mention tomorrow night's Eagles Club show, as he plays his final double header of 2025, so he'll be heading to Steelton after things wrap up at Misty's.

Tym ends 2025 back at The Eagles Club on New Year's Eve, for the record. TOMORROW'S and next month's Misty's shows are all 4:00 PM events, tomorrow night's show at Aerie #3991 is at 8:00 PM, the Misty's gigs are likely 19+, and none have an announced cover charge. Visit the official Facebook event pages linked here for more on Tym's year-end acoustic hard rock cover shows at both venues, and here he is live!

Next up, Barrie-based AC/DC tribute band Hells Bells will return to Sault Ste. Marie on Friday, April 10th at The Sault Community Theatre Centre! One of a handful of different AC/DC tribute bands to play here over the years, local fans will have last seen them as original AC/DC frontman Dave Evans' backing band in May 2019 at The Rockstar Bar, where they also played an opening set on their own accord, but they last played a full headlining date of their own here in 2015. Definitely moving up in the world to book the former Kiwanis Theater, and it will be interesting to see how big of a crowd packs White Pines for their brand of high voltage rock n' roll in the spring! This show has a 7:30 PM start time, it is definitely all ages, and tickets are now on sale for a flat $45.20 at this link, with all rows having seats available at press time. Visit the above links for more on Hells Bells' return next year!

Also, let's resume this weekend's hard rock concert previews by heading to Soo Blaster, where local party metal trio The Apocalypse Afterparty will once again be the rock outliers on an otherwise all-hip hop concert TOMORROW, this time headlined by Guelph rapper Robbie G! This is effectively the sequel to Robbie G's shows here in April and in 2023 that The A.A. also opened for, not to mention the Tech N9ne, Madchild, and Afroman shows where Robbie and the band's paths also crossed. Clearly, these rap bookings for The Apocalypse Afterparty are going well, and hopefully they carve out another solid niche and make some more cross-genre fans tomorrow night with the double bass attack! Paul, Amanda, and Mikhal remain unacknowledged on the Facebook event page despite ample social media promotion on personal accounts (clearly they are the "& more"), but former As It Stands/Sault Side Squad frontman Justin "Nadj" Pregent is hosting.

Also performing tomorrow are Southern Ontario rappers M For The Movement with Capital "A" Plus and Lumberjack Pat, local MC Bold Noize, unspecified rappers from No Filter Records, and KG Tha SunGod. This is an all ages concert taking place tomorrow at 8:00 PM, and base tickets are $20 at this link or at the door, with VIP packages also available. If you like rap, there will be a lot of strong MCs here dropping rhymes, with a bit of a rock chaser from The Apocalypse Afterparty, so visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's the band live!

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

 

• Sault Michigan hard rock trio (and Tarnished's all-original side project) Crush's most recent concert was out of town, as they opened for Tribe989 at Benet's Benefit Ride at the Bluegill Festival Pavilion in St. Helen (2 hours south of here) on November 8th. Not a lot was said about it on social media from what I found, but hopefully Crush and crew had a great show for the cause! 
• In a post on their Facebook page on Wednesday, The Algonquin Hotel's upstairs nightclub The Rockstar Bar revealed that they're looking for a DJ to work weekends there, and to send contact information if you're interested. Comments inquiring if the 864 Queen Street East venue was re-opening were not denied, so could we be seeing The Rockstar Bar opening to normal service for the first time since the summer of 2022? They spent the past 3+ years only hosting occasional private and ticketed events, as Silent 9 know well. This is encouraging news for sure, so we'll have to see what The Rockstar Bar has in store for 2026!
• I have replaced the link for 2012-2018 local hard rock quintet Skeyes of Seven from their (sadly) now deleted Facebook page to their still-up Bandmix page. Successors to the late 2000s hard rock band Sense of Truth, Skeyes of Seven had a lot of promise and solid original material, but only played five sporadic concerts. Don't miss Cory in Bullet Train or Alain & Johnny in Half Past nowadays though!

 

That's all for now, but stay tuned for our Toystock preview on the site next! Thanks everyone!