Big Wreck & Inner City Surfers Concert Video Showcase!!

Today's post is devoted to recent concert videos from the ever prolific Christopher Paci's YouTube channel, as I've put off his videos from last month's Big Wreck and Inner City Surfers concerts for far too long! We'll work our way backwards chronologically by starting with the Big Wreck show at The Machine Shop on November 21 (I apologize for the delay), where Chris filmed eight videos, though none were of Daniel Greaves' opening set. Two of the videos were of opening London pop rock quartet Texas King playing "You" and covering Post Malone's "Chemical", and while I wouldn't say Texas King lean heavier, they showed clear talent and energy in their videos, so don't bypass them! As for the headlining Toronto hard rock quartet, Chris shot Big Wreck playing "The Oaf (My Luck Is Wasted)", "Blown Wide Open", "Hey Mama", "Albatross", "That Song", and as embedded below, both "In Fair Light" & "I Digress" to kick off their set. This video in particular has gotten some strong positive reactions!

The sound quality both at The Machine Shop (from Mike Blair's 705Live Sound Co.) and Chris' camera collide nicely on these videos, as filmed at a good vantage point to capture the whole stage plus the sizeable crowd, so Big Wreck and Thornley fans will be right at home with these videos, so be sure to check them out above & below!

The rest of today's videos come from The Inner City Surfers' reunion gig on November 4th at Soo Blaster, where they and three other bands featuring drummer Mikey Hawdon joined forces to support his then-upcoming wedding. Despite taking place back on November 3rd, Christopher only uploaded these videos to YouTube last week, so I'm still relatively timely to cover them here as a result! Like at the Big Wreck show, Chris did not film the first band here, namely the one-off reunion of Toronto-based Ramones/Joan Jett tribute band The Merves, but he got everyone else from this event. Regarding The Surfers, Chris filmed five videos from their first public set in four years, including their opening cover of Stompin' Tom Connors' "Algoma 69" with bassist Brad "Example" Lacell on lead vocals (plus the "William Tell Overture" opening), plus their original songs "Get High" & "Booze N' Doobs".

Chris also captured their cover of The Beastie Boys' "(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party!)" with Mikey on vocals and AMY/DC's Dean Glover filling in on drums. Embedded below is their set-closer "The Quest", complete with the late-song integration of Corey Hart's "Sunglasses At Night". After covering Brad's live-stream of their entire set earlier this week, it is good to see video of the band in action from the front (Brad is quite well dressed for the occasion!), and while attendee hands and cameras can get in the road, the quality is solid on these videos overall. Check them out for yourselves above & below!

Chris also filmed four videos of Toronto-based AC/DC tribute band AMY/DC, featuring Mikey on guitar and the aforementioned Dean Glover on drums, plus Mikey's Merves bandmate Amy Zucchetto on vocals. Here, you can see them cover "You Shook Me All Night Long", "Highway To Hell", "Sin City", and as embedded below, "It's A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock N' Roll". I am not 100% positive given the video quality, but is that The Wyld Stallyns' own Josh Norling playing saxophone in lieu of the bagpipe parts? Very strong covers of AC/DC classics by Amy and crew here, if with shakier video on average, so give these a watch above & below as well!

Finally, Chris filmed Mikey fronting his online page-less local alternative rock/punk cover quintet Bookclub playing three songs on this night, namely Vampire Weekend's "A-Punk", Men Without Hats' "Pop Goes The World", and as embedded below, Tom Petty's "You Wreck Me". A little further from the stage than he would be later in the night, but you get a better view of the setup for this special concert, if still a little blurry, and Bookclub have a good handle on these covers that you don't hear many other local bands cover nowadays! Give them a look for yourselves above & below!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews on the site next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Generations) & The First Half Of This Weekend's Hard Rock Concert Previews!!

Before we begin this first weekend concert preview post on another busy weekend, just a heads up for fans of 705Live Sound Co. on Facebook that local funk/hard rock cover band The Wyld Stallyns reportedly played at the Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre tonight opening for no less than My Son The Hurricane. From what I have gathered from M.S.T.H.'s social media accounts, this was a private event, hence why I never heard about it, let alone covered it here, but kudos to whoever put this event on to get Danno & crew home for a private booking, and hopefully they and The Stallyns had a blast! Now to the first half of this weekend's concert previews, starting with SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations will return to the stage for concerts at Jay's Piston Broke Pub TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, these shows were only announced on their Facebook group on Saturday. After skipping the Halloween weekend, the Jus' Chillin successors will be take stage at the former Reggie's West for their first shows there in almost a month. Hopefully their old school and varied mix of covers find a strong audience at Jay's TOMORROW & SATURDAY! Like with their Esquire Club shows two weeks ago, Generations' concert on SATURDAY NIGHT takes place the same day as The Soo's Got Talent (the finals, in this case), but singer Valerie Powley's judging commitments will not conflict with the concert as the finals begin at 6:30 PM and will end with time for Valerie to drive to the west end for the Generations concert once again, so don't worry!

Look for our Soo's Got Talent finals preview on the site tomorrow! As for Generations' Jay's concerts, they take place TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT at 9:30 PM with 19+ age limits and no cover charges. See above for more details, and here's Generations live!

Next up, let's move to shows that had advance notice, starting with the arguable main event of this weekend, as local punk quartet The Inner City Surfers will reunite for a special concert at Soo Blaster TOMORROW NIGHT! The impetus for this, their first gig in four years, is that drummer Mikey Hawdon and his fiancee Ali Rainone are getting married, with tomorrow's well-hyped concert serving as a public stag & doe of sorts, with the public welcomed to buy tickets to come see what could be the last Surfers gig for a while (Brad living out of town being a key reason why). A reunion this big deserves a big stage like Soo Blaster, and hopefully The Surfers deliver another knockout blow of their classic punk originals tomorrow at 12:00 AM! All three opening bands will feature Mikey on guitar, including co-headlining Toronto-based AC/DC tribute band AMY/DC in their local debut. Great to see Mikey bring them to town at last, hopefully it won't be the only time!

Preceding AMY/DC's female-fronted high voltage rock n' roll, online page-less local alternative/hard rock cover quintet Bookclub (featuring the three local Surfers in mostly shuffled roles) will take the stage at 9:45 PM, and more on their LopLops show next month soon. The openers tomorrow are the one-off reunion of Mikey & AMY/DC singer Amy Zuccheto's early-mid 2010s Toronto-based Ramones/Joan Jett tribute band The Merves, in their first local gig in over eight years. Also featuring Mikey's old Fairmounts bandmates, it will be very neat to see The Merves' two-pronged cover attack back on a local stage, so be there at 9:00 PM for their show-opening set! This 19+ event has a $30 cover charge at the door unless you bought $25 advance tickets at The Rad Zone, Case's Music, Long & McQuade, Soo Blaster, or through Mikey directly (in-person or via e-transfer.)

If you've been a fan of The Inner City Surfers from their 2000s heyday onward, let alone Mikey's eclectic musical career in the Soo and the GTA, this will be a huge concert, and who knows when we'll see most of these bands on a local stage again, so don't miss out on all of the action tomorrow at Soo Blaster! Visit the above links for more details, congratulations to Mikey & Ali on their upcoming nuptials, and for a preview, here's The Inner City Surfers live at their last show to date in 2019!

We'll close this preview post by heading north to The Water Tower Pub, where newer local classic/hard rock cover quartet Silent 9 will take the stage for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT! Last seen at The Water Tower Pub two months ago, this should be a fine opportunity to hear their strongly performed and fan friendly brand of covers, so don't miss Jess, Ryan, Paul, and Steve at this central venue tomorrow! Remember that The Water Tower Pub traditionally hosts different acts on Fridays and Saturdays, with the acoustic show from Bone Yard there on Saturday night to be previewed on the SMS tomorrow. Silent 9 take the stage there tomorrow at 8:00 PM with a 19+ age limit and no cover charge. For a preview, here's a brand new video from their Halloween party at The Esquire Club on Saturday night, courtesy of their Facebook page, where they covered Michael Jackson's "Thriller"!

The (mercifully horizontal) video features a well done rocked-up cover that makes good use of Jess Amadio's voice, but it is a shame that the video is only 45 seconds long. The description notes that the band was supposed to be dressed like The Addams Family, and while Jess is clearly Wednesday Addams, the rest of the band's characters are more ambiguous, if not with the theme at all. Good close angle too (if sharp), so check out Silent 9 on Saturday below, and don't miss them out of costume tomorrow!

That's all for now on this busy weekend, but we'll resume our hard rock concert previews next by looking at this weekend's Scarkazm and Bone Yard shows, plus the finals of The Soo's Got Talent! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Inner City Surfers) & Mike McCleary Updates!!

Two topic post on the SMS on this Sunday morning, but we're leading off with a huge LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for later this fall, and punk fans of the 2000s and beyond will absolutely want to mark this one on their calendars, so here's what you should know!

If you're a fan of veteran local punk musician Mikey Hawdon, then you may want to head to Soo Blaster on Friday, November 3rd, as multiple past/present bands of his will take the stage on this night! This concert is being put on as "a pre-wedding rock n' roll party" in the lead up to his upcoming marriage to his fiance Ali Rainone, and despite the seemingly personal trappings, it is 100% a concert that the public can buy tickets for, not a stag & doe intended for friends/family only. Your headliners on this night are local punk quartet The Inner City Surfers in a one-off reunion, marking their Soo Blaster debut, their first gig in over four years, and just their second concert set in the past decade. The Facebook event page somewhat worryingly says that this may be The Surfers' "last show for quite some time" (remember, Brad lives out of town), but whether this proves true or not, it'll be awesome to welcome these local punk legends back after way too long!

Their set is scheduled to take place at 12:00 AM, so strap yourselves in! Co-headlining this event are Toronto-based AC/DC tribute band AMY/DC, who Mikey himself is a guitarist in, and remains a band member despite his move back home (they just don't play live as often). AMY/DC proper have never played here, but you will recognize frontwoman Amy Zuccheto (a.k.a. Amy Gabba; more on her in a bit) from multiple local concerts in the 2010s, and from this Mikey & His Uke cover of "Shoot To Thrill". Should be fun to see AMY/DC in town, and a female-fronted AC/DC tribute band is definitely unique for the Soo! Before their 10:45 PM set, Mikey's current online page-less alternative/hard rock cover quartet Bookclub will take the stage for a set at 9:45 PM, and it will be interesting to hear how their generally more mainstream setlist goes over with the punk-leaning crowd on November 3rd!

The openers will be a one-off reunion of Mikey & Amy's old Toronto-based Ramones/Joan Jett tribute band The Merves, who were active from 2010-2015, playing local dates five times in that span. Note that this is not the same band as Mikey & Amy's later Ramones/Joan Jett tribute The Gabba Heys, who played here in 2018 (the two bands had different rhythm sections and social media pages). Regardless of name, it's been a minute since Mikey channeled his inner Joey Ramone on a local stage, so be there nice and early for this tribute action! Note that The Merves also featured Mikey's old Fairmounts bandmates, so if you miss that band, keep that angle in mind too. This 19+ concert has a 9:00 PM start time on November 3rd, and tickets will run for $25 in advance or $30 at the door. Advance tickets will be on sale at The Rad Zone, Case's Music, Long & McQuade, and Soo Blaster.

This will be an absolutely massive night for local punk fans, and the Surfers reunion alone would be reason enough for many to come to Soo Blaster, let alone Mikey playing four sets with different bands in one night! Given the Surfers' reputation from their 2000s heyday, who knows what will happen when Dustin, Dave, Brad, and Mikey take the stage, so do not miss this show when it comes around! Visit the above links for more details!

We'll close today with a different local guitarist named Mike, namely hard rock solo musician Mike McCleary, so what's new from his camp? On Thursday, he revealed on his Facebook page that he has decided to indefinitely focus on instrumental music rather than material with him on lead vocals, after realizing that "that's where my true passion is", and he has more freedom & creativity when he focuses on music over lyrics. Mike knows better than any of us what is most comfortable for him, I just hope that his pre-2023 back catalog isn't delisted forever, as he has (had?) good songs with vocals! Mike did also suggest that he'd be willing to do backup vocals in a live band when/if he joins one, though note that he hasn't been in a proper band yet due to anxiety about playing live (he stated this on Facebook in July). In terms of new media of him playing guitar, we do have a new video to check out, so what is there to see here?

Nothing, it's just a black screen, but the 52 seconds-long clip is from an instrumental song he's working on that is inspired by horror movies that he was watching. What we hear is promisingly heavy and has a good melodic base to it, plus some room to show off a bit of soloing, so fans of Mike's heavier material will enjoy the teaser below!

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