The Queen: It's A Kinda Magic Preview, Recent Concert Fallout, And More Updates!!

Before we begin this post, just a heads up that the Led By Zeppelin concert at The Sault Community Theatre Centre has been rescheduled for Saturday, January 30th, exactly 20 weeks after the original September 12th date was cancelled the day of the show (the band has since confirmed on their Facebook group that guitarist Kelsey Irwin was admitted to Sault Area Hospital that day with a kidney infection). All tickets for the September 12th event will be honoured in January if not refunded, and click here to buy tickets anew. Glad to hear that Kelsey is on the mend, and hopefully there's a solid turnout in four months! Now, here's a concert preview, recent concert details, and some more assorted notes!

We'll start today with a mid-week concert preview, as Australia's own touring tribute favourites Queen: It's A Kinda Magic will return to the aforementioned Sault Community Theatre Centre TOMORROW NIGHT! While the most recent Queen tribute concert here was the England-based Majesty at The Machine Shop in March, tomorrow's headliners are the best known locally, as Queen: It's A Kinda Magic have previously played at the former Kiwanis Theatre three times, including in May of last year. Post-pandemic, QIAKM have been a reliable draw at White Pines with their proficient take on the Queen back catalogue with presentation to match, and despite the mid-week timing, hopefully they deliver another kinda magic tomorrow! This show takes place at 7:30 PM, and tickets are on sale at this link, at the Station Mall box office, and presumably at the door for $75 (adults).

Kids 13 and under will cost $45 each. Warren and crew always draw good numbers here, but there are still tickets available from the 11th row and back (center section) and the second row and back (left and right sections), with no gallery seating once again. If you love Queen's diverse and often heavy range of classic singles, don't miss out on tomorrow's action, so visit the above links for more details, and here's Queen: It's A Kinda Magic live!

Next up, let's clarify some missing aspects of the third and final Downtown Street Party on Queen Street East from September 17th between Dennis and Gore Street! Organizers never specified exactly who was playing on which of the two stages and where, but based on photos from the City of Sault Ste. Marie's Facebook page and personal videos, I can confirm that the de facto "Dennis Street Stage" was in front of the THRIVE Child Development Center at 126 Queen, across from CINTAS. That's where country singer/guitarists Brian Tremblay & Jeffrey Wright played, as well as headlining jazz cover band The Hustle Brothers, who must have been moved there late, as frontman Jay Case had signalled in a personal Facebook comment that they'd be on the Gore Street Stage instead. Speaking of the "Gore Street Stage", that was located in front of Second Hand World, and featured Mike Haggith & The Big Finish Band with "Just" Tom Peer opening, like last month.

In media that I am able to see from the street party, there was no third act at the corner of Queen & Tancred ("and more!" or otherwise). If you know where to look, you'll see some good quality video and photos of the musicians and the varied family entertainment, though as best as I can tell, all of the videos are on personal accounts, not public pages. Big Finish Band guitarist Chris Nielsen had a fun time from what I saw though! See above for more on what is public from this month's street party!

Now, let's look at some of the fallout from the Dale Corcoran tribute concert at The Rockstar Bar on September 19th! We didn't cover the event as a formal concert here because there was no official band lineup (things were implied to be jam/freeform heavy), but bandmates of his from groups ranging from the heavier 1980s bands Riggy Zomba and Vandyl to the country-leaning Southern Guns & Hillbilly Heartbreakers performed in Dale's memory. Crank Sound Distribution was on hand for this well attended event, which was loaded with familiar faces to local music fans of the era. A number of personal postings have media from the night, but embedded below is a video shot by Headrush bassist John Amendola for his band's Facebook group of musicians that night covering Deep Purple's "Perfect Strangers". It's rare hearing 1980s Deep Purple on a local stage, so kudos to all involved for not going with an obvious pick!

Clearly, John didn't know who everyone was on stage for this song, which goes along with the loose jam night feelings, but there was a lot of praise for the singer, who nailed this song!  Good stuff, and I'm sure Dale would have been proud of all of his friends and old bandmates coming together like this, so give the Deep Purple cover a watch below!

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

• Despite announcing that they'd be hosting five final shows back in July, local concert promoters Piecing It Together Shows' reported last concert took place this past Thursday at Broers Jansen, headlined by Indiana alt-country musician Jess Jones. While the finality isn't mentioned on their Facebook page, the former Dryer Fire confirmed it in a Facebook "Story". If the other three teased farewell concerts were indeed cancelled, it is unfortunate, but best of luck to Nicole in the move and whatever comes their way next!
• Toronto hardcore punk legends Random Killing have dropped out of this Saturday's Punk Rock Fiesta concert at the aforementioned Rockstar Bar. On the Facebook event page yesterday, the band revealed that guitarist John Hajdu is recovering from severe pneumonia, and they failed in attempts to secure a short-notice fill-in guitarist for this weekend. Promoter/PROD guitarist Christian Foisy confirmed that Random Killing will return for the planned second Punk Rock Fiesta next year, and Random Killing merchandise will still be on sale on Saturday. Our best thoughts go out to John as he recovers, and hopefully we see Drool and crew back in 2027!
• In the newest video on their Instagram page (which I am unable to embed here), Sault Michigan/Grand Rapids classical metal band Theatre of Night teased that there are "good things to come for the holiday season...", while showing off keyboardist Craig Harrison's tracking computer setup with an instrumental solo in the background. The caption didn't need to be hard-coded on top of the video, but what are Theatre of Night teasing? They have a new Michigan-based singer and bassist, so a Christmas tour seems likely, but could new studio material be coming as well? Stay tuned!

 

That's all for now, but stay tuned for this month's YouTube Channel Profile next! Thanks everyone!

The Ethereal Tomb & Tym Morrison Concert Previews, New Reeves Videos, And More!!

(Updated at 6:40 PM) Before we begin this post, I wanted to apologize for a short notice concert that we missed in our previews, as Sault Michigan classic/hard rock cover quartet Tarnished returned to St. Ignace for a set outside of The Little Bear East Arena & Community Center last night! The reason for the last minute announcement (only made yesterday morning on their Facebook page) was the meet & greet prior to today's Trek The Mighty Mac, an annual off-road vehicle parade crossing the Mackinac Bridge. Multiple bands played last night, though there was no formal announcement of them from promoters. Despite the late notice, hopefully the guys had a fun show last night, and we'd have happily covered it had it even had a day's notice!

Now, today's post looks at some assorted recent updates, new videos of a band in studio, and leading off, two previews of upcoming concerts, starting with local classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison's return to Beck's Bar as this week's Sunday matinee performer there TOMORROW! While not a regular sight at the former Vibe Lounge, Tym last played the Sunday matinee slot there in mid-August, and this will be the third straight week where he has played a matinee gig on this day of the week, following two consecutive Reggie's Place dates. As usual for Beck's, they are hosting their weekly euchre tournament tomorrow during the concert proper, so hopefully Tym's hard rocking covers prove to be a fitting soundtrack whether you're playing or just want to enjoy the music! As usual for Beck's Sunday matinee timeslot, tomorrow's concert is at 3:00 PM with a 19+ age limit and no cover.

If you can't make it tomorrow for this particular show, Tym's next Sunday matinee gig will be at Reggie's in two weeks. Visit the Facebook event page for more details on the unplugged hard and classic rock covers ahead, and for a preview, here's Tym live!

Next up, we end this batch of concert preview with the return of Barrie doom metal trio Ethereal Tomb, who will headline a "DIY garage show" on MONDAY NIGHT at Unnecessary Noise! Remember, this is the house party venue used for multiple Underground Events SSM concerts this year, but the address remains private, so if you want the address, "ask a punk" (though note that only one punk band is scheduled on Monday). Ethereal Tomb previously played at what's now Blaster Powerhouse in July of last year, and while the scale of their return is definitely lower, their sludgy brand of "Turtle Island street metal" should melt faces at Unnecessary Noise, so keep this in mind if you can swing the work/school night action! Local support will come by way of ska/crust punk quartet ASDP (led by promoter Mikhal "Cha" Muto) and young hard rock quartet 5 Dollar Bribe in their first public concert set in almost two months.

Neither are as heavy as what's to come, but there's a good array of styles to check out on Monday! This concert is all ages, has a 6:00 PM start time, and admission is $10 or "pay what you can". Sounds like a fun time, and you can sample the Unnecessary Noise concert experience by clicking here, so see above for more details, "ask a punk" (and/or members of 5 Dollar Bribe) for the address, and here's Ethereal Tomb live!

Also, here's some new videos of local hard rock quartet The Reeves' recent recording sessions at The Loft at The Algoma Conservatory of Music! After sharing photos of drummer Jeremy Ganuelas tracking "our first batch of songs" on their Facebook page on Tuesday, they shared two vertical videos from the sessions in progress, one featuring Jeremy drumming to an unspecified song while his bandmates observe in the studio. The longer of the two is embedded below, and it starts with an uncredited band member observing the view of the skyline and International Bridge before walking to the studio as Jeremy is in the booth again, and note that the camera is pointing down at his feet/the floor for the entire walk (not sure if that's to preserve some of the mystery of The Loft's layout or just where the camera was naturally pointed). Hopefully the sessions are going well, whether their teased album is still the end goal or not, so give these a watch above and below!

Finally for today, you may have seen this article on SooToday about new local funk/jazz fusion band Honey & Groove following their win at the Big Nickel Music Festival Battle of the Bands in Sudbury. While not a heavier group, their lineup features Lime frontwoman "Miss" Madii Schomogyi, River Fools/ex-Sylo frontman Eli Russell on drums, and Maynard Hayes bandmates Nathan Snider and Gabrielle Abulencia on guitar, alongside new-to-me bassist Zach Smith. That's a stacked lineup of young local talent, and congratulations to them on winning that battle of the bands (I wish we could get one to successfully take place here though!). I partly bring Honey & Groove up because I don't know if their existence means anything negative towards the future of Maynard Hayes, but the local hard rock quartet has been publically inactive since January, when they released "No Security" on major streaming services.

It's worth noting that Maynard Hayes don't have social media accounts outside of the limited Instagram, and their 2026 hiatus may have a lot to do with drummer David Peredun's move to Southern Ontario, though he remains active in Convergence (at least in studio). If they were linked on the SMS (Instagram-only bands are not), I wouldn't be classifying them as inactive for a few months, but hopefully Damon and crew aren't done yet, and give Honey & Groove a look above, as they have a good and lively sound that has impressed here and afar! That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and features on the SMS next week! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Project 906 & Peril), Crush Updates, And More News & Notes!!

Here's a new news post to check out on this Friday evening, and it's mostly focused on Michigan and the Eastern Upper Peninsula, so here's what you should know, starting with LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!

Traverse City classic metal trio Peril will return to The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino for the presumed final times on Friday and Saturday, October 9th & 10th! The shows were quietly announced via Kewadin's entertainment page this month, and these could be the last heavier-leaning concerts before the casino begins their massive renovations to The Rapids Lounge, with a new sports bar scheduled to open on/near that location next year. It's not a long weekend for Yoopers then, but if you want to rock out with a Jeff Hudson band one more time at The Rapids Lounge as we know it, keep things in mind for in two weeks! Next month's shows are 21+ affairs with no announced cover charges and 9:00 PM start times. If you're curious, Kewadin lists Rapids Lounge bookings through at least Halloween (soul/R&B cover band NuCorp), but is that it? We'll let you know when more details are announced!

Next up, let's head over to Rudyard, where local blues/hard rock cover quintet Project 906 will return to Huck's Pub & Grill as the headliners of their Halloween party on Saturday, October 31st! The #summerof906 ended quietly with no publically announced shows (or updates in general) since their set at the Barge Bash in Cedarville early last month, but this will be their first show at Huck's since the Summerfest weekend in July. Halloween is always a key date for bands to get, and Project 906 also got the honours last year (when October 31st was a Friday), so why not get another expertly timed return booking? Along with the usual spooky frills for Halloween night, and Project 906's established and fan favourite hard rock covers, there will be a costume contest, with yet-to-be-announced prizes going to the best overall, funniest, and best couples' costumes, similarly to last year's party.

Billy, Joe, Dustin, Jason, and Brian will take the stage at 8:00 PM on Halloween, this will have a 21+ age limit, and there is no announced cover charge. Where Project 906 have been lately, I don't know, but we at least have a date ahead, and on a fitting weekend in many respects, so visit the above links for more details on the spooktacular night ahead! 

Also today, here's a few updates from local hard rock trio Crush's Facebook page! As you may recall, Crush (who play out of town gigs more frequently than their sister band Tarnished) hit the road for Gould City yesterday to open for Tribe989 at Bates Corner Bar & Grill. The guys were hyping this up like it was a local gig, and for some readers, it will have been, as Gould City is a 90 minute drive west of the Soo, which is a half hour past our coverage range. Towns like Paradise, Newberry, and Gould City are beyond the one hour mark from Sault Ste. Marie, hence why we don't cover anything in those towns full bore, but they do put on some big events at Bates Corner, and yesterday's show was outdoors, even! You may recall seeing this outdoor stage with the eight poles on each side in past Tarnished and Crush media. Hopefully the concert (also featuring Hannahville metal band Ghidora) was a hit all around!

To plug the impending concert, bassist Isaac Royer (a.k.a. "Igman" here) filmed this vertical video of him, Alex, and Josh en route to Gould City, but they were running "way late" as of 5:50 PM due to construction en route. I can't tell where they exactly were when Iggy was filming, but hopefully they made it in time for the regular soundcheck, and they still plugged the show as best they could! Give the video a watch below, and hopefully we see Crush within an hour of the Soo before too long!

Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items (including some from Sault Ontario!) from the last little while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist or venue name:

 

• Sault Ontario hard rock/metal trio The BAG will headline a private concert on Friday, October 30th! The Devil's Night show will be held "at Dirtbag's" (message performers if you want to know where that is, let alone who Dirtbag is), and will feature The BAG's first announced concert set in over four months, alongside Hails, ASDP, and With Gunfire. While the show will have "pay what you can" admission, we historically don't cover private or house party concerts with no public address unless it's a repeat named location like Unnecessary Noise. It does sound like fun though, so visit the above links if you want to inquire further!
• A devastating fire caused severe damage at Snow's Bar & Grill in Cedarville, Michigan on September 9th, as covered in this St. Ignace News article by Erich Doerr, featuring photos of the bar during the blaze and after it was put out. Needless to say, Snow's as we know it was destroyed, and it's way too soon to know what the next steps are there, but owner Amy Salter confirmed on their Facebook page that they have insurance, and that process is ongoing. Snow's was sporadically featured here from hosting hard rock cover band concerts, most recently the aforementioned Project 906 in February. Our best wishes go out to Amy and her family and staff at this time!
• New Sault Ontario hard rock/blues trio Stones & Crows had special guests for their concert at Beck's Bar on August 27th, as per photos from the show on their Facebook page. Big Finish Band/Drifters drummer Brandan Glew took Tony's spot behind the drumkit for at least one song, while someone only credited as "Bongo Boy" joined in for at least that same song with Brandan, and you can guess what he was playing. Fun to see some guests like this, and we'll let you know when Stones & Crows announce their first fall date!

 

That's all for now, but stay tuned for concert previews and more in our next news post! Thanks everyone! 

The Aneurysm/Bloodshots Concert Preview, Plus New Concert Videos & Tarnished Updates!!

Let's cover some recent news and videos in tonight's post from both sides of the border, but first, here's a special mid-week concert preview!

We'll begin today with a special mid-week concert preview, as Winnipeg-based Nirvana tribute band Aneurysm and their sister "nu grunge punk n' roll" band The Bloodshots will both debut at Beck's Bar on WEDNESDAY NIGHT! While we have welcomed a Nirvana tribute here before (Like A Pisces a decade ago), that was a Pixo Control one-off, where this Wednesday's concert has far more in common with the Crush/Pyramid Theorem show at Reggie's in 2022. There and here, an original touring band is doubling up as a tribute band, with the latter being the headliner and the primary focus in promotion. Aneurysm deliver the goods for fans of early 1990s grunge, but don't bypass The Bloodshots, as their hard to categorize and melodic yet in-your-face original attack will set the tone before they channel their inner Kurt, Krist, and Dave! It is a shame that this is a work/school night, but alas, we can't control tour routing.

Wednesday night's concert is a 19+ affair at Beck's, with a 9:00 PM start time and a $10 cover charge. If you can swing coming out, this will be a fun time for grunge and alt-rock fans, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and with public Aneurysm videos hard to come by (I recommend crawling personal accounts), here's The Bloodshots live!

Next up, let's stay with Beck's Bar's Facebook page to look at their own videos from the Bone Yard 225/Spencer Pine concert there on September 9th! A Wednesday nighter itself, you can see more videos from this special collaborative jam on Bone Yard's Facebook page, but Beck's got three of them, though two are sub-40 seconds long, and alas, all three are vertical. One is of an instrumental jam, while another sees them covering Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble's "Pride & Joy" with Spencer on vocals, with (by far) the longest of the three being a slower instrumental jam session. For some reason, both instrumental clips have unnecessary text captions slapped on them, but the videos capture a fun and unique night for your local 225 as they welcomed Stones & Crows' frontman for a jam, and Becky sure enjoyed the results, so give them a watch above! Unfortunately, Beck's content matched the audio to themselves, so I can't embed the videos here.

Now let's head to Michigan for some new videos from recent concerts, and we'll start with Manistique hard rock cover duo Fyrbird's concert at The Driftwood Sports Bar in St. Ignace this past Thursday! The venue's Facebook page shared this video of Jamie and Rikk covering Bob Dylan's "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" (seemingly the Guns N' Roses version) during this Richard Crane Memorial Truck Show weekend event. Alas, this video is vertical, filmed distantly from the stage (at least zoom in a bit!), and only 14 seconds long, but they get a decent sound out of this slow cover despite being a two man band. Check it out below, and hopefully we see Fyrbird back soon!

We'll close today with the latest from local classic/hard rock cover quartet Tarnished, who also played at The Driftwood on Saturday, and we'll save the bar's video of Tarnished for our next preview of one of their local gigs. Their busy truck show weekend there was lightened a bit though, as their planned Kingston Kitchen show on Saturday night was cancelled, as per the band's Facebook page just 14 minutes prior to showtime. A reason for the cancellation wasn't announced, but hopefully all is well in their camp (let alone the restaurant), and we'll let you know when Alex, Josh, Chris, and Ron make their next hour's trip to St. Ignace! I don't know when we'll see Tarnished within an hour of the Soo next, but they will be hitting the road for Engadine (90 minutes west of here) on Friday, October 30th for a pre-Halloween party at The Pine Bar! Click here for the AI-generated poster for that on-the-road gig.

Finally, remember how Tarnished played on an alleged pirate ship for a matinee concert in Mullett Lake near Cheboygan on September 5th? Well, a video was shared to the band's Facebook page via bassist Chris Leask's personal Facebook page! It was bizarrely hard to find details on this event (which looks reminiscent of the Government Bay Barge Bash in Cedarville), but Tarnished were playing on a pirate ship replica that matches one used at the Cheboygan Pirate Invasion festival in May. I wish the filmer had zoomed in, as the ship is distant to a point where I can't make out most of the band, but this cover of AC/DC's "You Shook Me All Night Long" sounds good for the 48 seconds we get, so give it a watch below!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Tarnished & Downtown Street Party #3!!)

A surprisingly busy weekend (perhaps the last really busy one for hard rock concerts before Halloween) is upon us, so we'll have to break up this weekend's previews into three posts! This one looks at SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS and/or concerts taking place later today, while our previews of this weekend's Fefe Dobson, Oz, Dorene/Mike Haggith, and Separate Wayz concerts will be in our next post, and Tym Morrison's Sunday matinee show will be in a news post following. Here's what you should know as we enter the weekend concert preview fray once again! 

While we still don't know have the complete schedules and locations, we basically have to call it, as the third and final Downtown Street Party on Queen Street East (featuring Mike Haggith & The Big Finish Band) goes down TONIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, I was waiting to hear a firm public announcement from Mike or You Belong SSM as to whether they'd be performing on the Dennis Street Stage or the Gore Street Stage, but such an announcement was not made before yesterday. In any event, this will be the last Downtown Street Party from the City of Sault Ste. Marie for 2026, and will feature loads of family entertainment at the western end of Queen Street East (bus terminal to Ernie's), including food and drink vendors, games, Queen Street businesses open en route, an outdoor vendor market at Queen & Tancred, and much more, so click here for full non-musical details!

The "stages" at the this year's Downtown Street Parties have tended to have three acts apiece, but only five were announced last month, and without specifying the exact locations. Mike confirmed in a personal Facebook reply that he and The Big Finish Band will be headlining the Gore Street Stage at 9:00 PM, while Hustle Brothers frontman Jay Case did the same to confirm that the jazz cover quartet will be opening for Mike & crew at 8:00 PM. At press time, we do not know if all of the other three advertised acts (country solo musicians Brian Tremblay & Jeffrey Wright and Dustcovers frontman "Just" Tom Peer) will all be on the presumed Dennis Street Stage or not, but one would assume that one of them (or "and more!") will be the 7:00 PM opener at Queen & Gore, For what it's worth, Tom opened for Mike at last month's street party on The Canopy at Village Media, and Brian is signed to Mike's MorningStar Records, in case those are indicators.

Downtown Street Party #3 goes down from 6:30-11:00 PM TOMORROW, it is absolutely FREE & ALL AGES, and 9&10 News is calling for clear skies with temperatures ranging from 13-19°. This Downtown Street Party somewhat feels like an afterthought with the Vivid Art Fest, the Soo Greyhounds season opener block party, and more taking up similar outdoor events attention in the same timeframe, but these street parties are fun for families and music fans alike, and Mike and crew will have a solid way to prime the pump for their hour's road trip this weekend (more on that in our next preview post). Visit the above links for more on TOMORROW'S street party, and for a preview, here's Mike & The Big Finish Band live!

Next up, we'll head to Michigan, where local classic/hard rock cover quartet Tarnished have a busy weekend in St. Ignace during this weekend's Richard Crane Memorial Truck Show, which will see them play three shows in two days. We knew about two of the gigs already, but the first of them is a brand new confirmation, as the guys will rock The Little Bear East Arena & Community Center at 275 Marquette Street TOMORROW! Again, apologies for the short notice, Tarnished only confirmed this added gig on their Facebook page on Tuesday. Based on the St. Ignace city website, Tarnished will be among the "live music at (a) variety of downtown locations", and the schedule implies that musicians will be playing outdoors to go along with the truck show at multiple spots downtown. Hopefully things go well for the kinda-matinee TOMORROW before Alex, Josh, Chris, and Ron back their gear and take the two minute drive to The Driftwood Sports Bar at 590 North State Street TOMORROW NIGHT for their second concert of the evening!

Tarnished have played at The Driftwood before on similar weekends, so hopefully tomorrow night's previously announced gig is a hit! As for SATURDAY, the band already confirmed that they would return to Kingston Kitchen at 250 South State Street, so if the timing or Jamaican restaurant setting suit you better, keep the finale of their St. Ignace weekend in mind! TOMORROW'S Little Bear Arena show is at 5:00 PM and all ages, the Driftwood show afterwards is at 9:00 PM, Saturday's Kingston Kitchen show is at 8:00 PM, the latter two are 21+, and if outdoors TOMORROW from 5-8, 9&10 News is calling for mostly cloudy skies in the 60° (15° Celsius) range. See above for more details, and here's Tarnished live!

Finally for weekend concert preview post #1, this isn't all for Richard Crane Memorial Truck Show concert action this weekend at The Driftwood Sports Bar, as they'll play host to Manistique hard rock cover duo Fyrbird TONIGHT! Yes, tonight, it's at the end of the post because there's no short notice local gigs from them alongside it. While Fyrbird have dialed back on shows in our coverage range this year (shows in Gould City acknowledged), tonight's Driftwood gig will be Fyrbird's third this year, following shows this summer coinciding with the St. Ignace Car Show and Bronco The Mac. Hopefully this proves to be another entertaining night of live hard rock from Jamie and Rikk, with a packed house to boot! The Driftwood will host live DJs tomorrow, which has been common Friday procedure for their vehicle show weekends this year. Like with Tarnished on Saturday, tonight's Fyrbird show is at 9:00 PM, 21+, and has no cover.

It feels like 2026 has been ramped up in terms of concerts (genre irregardless) in St. Ignace to fully capitalize on car shows, but when your town gets a huge influx of tourists to both show off and see the vehicles, why not make the most of it? Tarnished and Fyrbird both deliver the hard rock goods in different ways, so consider seeing both TOMORROW and tonight as the truck show goes down! Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Fyrbird live at The Driftwood this summer!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for our Fefe Dobson, Oz, Dorene/Mike Haggith, and Separate Wayz previews next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Riverside Stasis & Tym Morrison), The Nate's Chow Concert Preview, And New Videos!!

Let's conclude this surprisingly busy weekend concert preview slate in tonight's post, including LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (one on SHORT NOTICE), but also here are videos from two recent concerts, so with all of that outlined, here's what you should know on this Friday night!

Fresh off of the end of his seasonal Mike Case Memorial Stage run for 2026, local classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison isn't resting on his laurels, as he will kick off a new series of Sunday matinee concerts at Reggie's Place THIS SUNDAY! Apologies for the short notice, Tym only announced this show in this batch Facebook event page on Monday, and Reggie's haven't been actively promoting musicians playing there recently on social media. This isn't a regular weekly or bi-weekly run, but Tym will kick things off with consecutive shows THIS SUNDAY and next Sunday the 20th, before playing there on October 11th (on the Thanksgiving long weekend) and October 25th (no word yet on if that show will have any Halloween themes). Tym is only blocked once each in the last two months of the year, namely on November 15th and December 13th, so keep all of these shows in mind if you're a fan!

Tym's unplugged hard rock cover action will take place THIS SUNDAY and the five Sundays to come in Reggie's 2:00-6:00 PM matinee block. All dates are 19+ with no announced cover charge. Matinees or not, Tym doesn't commonly play at band-frequented nightclubs as a solo act, so note the downtown action ahead in the last third of 2026, see above for more details, and for a preview of SUNDAY's show, here he is live!

Next up, here's a new show for next month from promoters Underground Events SSM, and if you want some newer original music to kick off the Thanksgiving long weekend, then you may want to come to Beck's Bar on Friday, October 9th. On this night four weeks from today, three bands will join forces, including alt-hard rock quartet Riverside Stasis, ska punk quartet ASDP (fronted by promoter Mikhal Muto), and newer local "diamond rock" band (and Doo & The Boyos side project) Stones At The Alter! The former two bands have been reasonably visible recently, ASDP's continued lack of social media beyond Instagram and Bandcamp acknowledged, but Stones At The Alter's presence is encouraging given how quiet they have been over the past four months, so hopefully things are going well behind the scenes for them! Remember, S@TA guitarist William Wardlaw is ASDP's bassist, so assuming nothing changed this summer, he'll have a busy night next month. 

This 19+ concert will have FREE admission (not even a "pay what you can" option) and a 9:00 PM start time. Sounds like an intriguing array of live music with originals and covers expected all night, and you can't beat that admission price, so keep the Thanksgiving weekend action at Beck's in mind, and visit the official Facebook event page for more details! 

We'll next head to the EUP to wrap up this weekend's hard rock concert previews, specifically local cover hard rock trio Nate's Chow at the annual Stalwart Agricultural Fair in Goetzville TOMORROW NIGHT! Two years removed from headlining "the biggest little fair in Michigan" under their old name Unfortunate Sun, the now Skip-less group will head back to Goetzville to cap off a weekend full of family entertainment and farm games/activities (Sault Ontario readers will see many parallels with last month's Laird Fair). Tomorrow is the closing day of the Stalwart Fair, so be sure to visit the official Facebook page for the full itinerary of what's going down in Goetzville prior to the show. Nate's Chow are hitting the outdoor stage at 8:00 PM (after the last draft horse pull) at the fairgrounds at 8081 East M-48. Admission to the fair is a flat $5 for the whole weekend, and this is definitely all ages.

9&10 News is calling for clear skies for most of the evening tomorrow in Goetzville with temperatures ranging from 58-65° (14-18° Celsius). Fall is definitely here! Visit the above links for more details, and here's a brand new live video from their Facebook page from their "end of summer bash" at The Islander Bar in Hessel this past Saturday! The clip sees the guys covering Limp Bizkit's "Break Stuff" with drummer Jason VanLuven on lead vocals. Interesting pick, and Jason's vocals may be gruffer than the song really needs, but it's an energetic and up tempo cover that I do wish was filmed for longer than 41 seconds. Give it a watch for yourselves below!

Finally, let's look at videos from Wednesday's Bone Yard 225 concert at the aforementioned Beck's Bar in Sault Ontario with Stones & Crows frontman Spencer Pine on guest guitar! After frontman Greg Simpson posted vertical videos on their Facebook page to promote that they're now booking 2027 concert dates and have some new band merchandise and t-shirts to sell, they headed to Beck's for the concert, where three official videos were shot, though sadly, two are A. vertical, and B. live-streams, so they will vanish from Facebook around October 9th given their current guidelines. As such, I won't embed either here, but give them a watch while you can! One is the last three minutes of a fast blues rock song with guitarist Alex D'Ettore on lead vocals that I cannot immediately identify (Alex's singing through this cell phone camera isn't super clear), while the other is a full take of "the dirty three" + Spencer covering Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers' "Running Down A Dream". Embedded below is the only proper video of the three.

The horizontal(!) video was uploaded on Thursday, and captures an 8+ minute extended jam version of The Jimi Hendrix Experience's "Little Wing" with Spencer on lead vocals. Good to see the guys letting Spencer sing a bit here, and the collaboration between him and Alex on guitar was a good idea, and they are clearly having fun shredding together! Spencer does seem overdressed compared to Bone Yard, but Becky's idea to bring him together with your local 225 worked out, and I just hope that there was a decent turnout given that this was literally "midweek mayhem". Give these videos a watch above and below, and there's more coming!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile next! Thanks everyone!

Wednesday Concert Previews, Plus Theatre Of Night & Headrush Updates!!

Before we begin this post, I wanted to apologize for a concert that missed our coverage, but the lone SMS-amenable band on the bill ended up dropping out. Fans of party metal trio The Apocalypse Afterparty are well accustomed by now to them being on the bill of otherwise-rap-only concerts at Blaster Powerhouse in the 2020s, and they were advertised to open for 94Fatso and Robbie G there on Friday (here's the poster). Between the band's lack of social media promotion and my own busy personal schedule, this fell through the cracks, which I do apologize for, but The AA did not play due to personal commitments (thank you to Paul for confirming.)

Hopefully all is well with him, Mikhal, and Amanda, and that we see them back at it down the line, and I do hope that the rap concert was a big hit! Now to two mid-week concert previews as we fully emerge from the Labour Day long weekend, with some more news and notes in the back half, and we'll start with the always-prolific Tym Morrison, who is slated to conclude his annual Wednesday summer concert arrangement at The Mike Case Memorial Stage TOMORROW! Unless Tym's run is extended (it has been before), this is your last chance to see Tym's unplugged covers on the 1332 Great Northern Road outdoor stage for the 2026 season, so keep tomorrow's show in mind if you enjoy his unplugged classic and hard rock covers! As usual for his shows there this year, Tym will be on at 6:30 PM tomorrow with no cover charge or age limit.

9&10 News is calling for temperatures hovering around 20° tomorrow evening with clouds disappearing as the 2 hour show progresses, so things should be similar to last week. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, we'll have more on his new Reggie's show announcements later this week, and for  a preview, here's Tym live!

Next up, here's a special Wednesday night concert at Beck's Bar, as local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 will play their first fully-plugged-in public concert in Sault Ste. Marie in over a month TOMORROW NIGHT, but they won't be alone. For this one-off(?) concert named "Midweek Mayhem", they will welcome Stones & Crows/Jupiter Marvelous guitarist Spencer Pine in a brief reversion to Bone Yard's 2009-2021 form factor. Beck's owner Becky Sawyer was inspired to bring Spencer and your local 225 together after being impressed by Spencer's guitar skills during Stones & Crows concerts there, and given his and Alex's talents on the six string, this should be fun to see what they can cook up together alongside Greg and Warren! Implications in marketing have this being more of a freeform/jam night setup than a typical Bone Yard concert, but if you want their full three-piece shabang, check them out an hour east at the Bruce Mines Fall Fair this weekend, preview forthcoming.

In deference to this being a work/school night, tomorrow's concert runs from 8:00-11:00 PM, though the 19+ age limit and no cover charge remain as expected. It will be very interesting to hear how Spencer fits in with "the dirty three", especially if he is able to sing lead at all, so visit the official Facebook event page for more on Midweek Mayhem, and here's Bone Yard 225 (sans Spencer) live a couple of years back!

Also today, I wanted to acknowledge an event that local classic/hard rock cover quintet Headrush played at last month at Mulligan's Irish Pub. On August 22rd, the guys played their last summer gig for the year at the afterparty for the sixth annual Andy Buffone Memorial Golf Tournament, which is a fundraiser for Canadian Mental Health Association Algoma held at The Sault Golf Club at 1804 Queen Street East. Click here for SooToday's coverage of the tournament, who Andy Buffone was, and what funds raised here go towards at CMHA Algoma. While nominally held at Mulligan's (the golf club's on-site bar/restaurant), Headrush's concert was outside on the front lawn, and bassist John Amendola heavily implied on the band's Facebook group that they also played at this tournament last year, though they did not publically acknowledge their involvement at all in 2025.

I didn't cover this on the SMS last month because it wasn't open to the general public, just registered golfers and donors, but John praised the event well, from the start to the alleged end-of-night "shenanigans", so hopefully everything was a hit for a worthy organization like the CMHA! A video from the private gig was shared by John to their Facebook group, which sees Headrush playing the back half of their cover of April Wine's "Roller". Sadly, the video is both vertical and incomplete, but they were in solid shape on this big outdoor stage, and John Anderson was hitting the notes you expect on vocals, so give it a watch above! I can't embed it here, possibly due to John Amendola's video privacy settings.

Finally for today, let's head south to Sault Michigan for updates from local/Grand Rapids classical metal band Theatre of Night! While their Facebook updates have been slight since releasing "Christmas Night III" last year, they have been teasing that they might be returning to do another Christmas tour run this year after not playing shows last year. Their website has confirmed two new band members joining Craig, Steve, and Erik, including vocalist Aziza Poggi (replacing their most recent live singer Marquita Bernard) and bassist Alex Darwin (replacing Luke Bernard). Aziza is a Grand Rapids-based classically trained mezzo soprano singer with a strong background in Western Michigan, and while I can't find substantial details on Alex's musical background, he is pictured with a 5 string bass, which is usually a good talent indicator. A reason for the Bernards' departure wasn't announced, but all past live and studio singers with Theatre of Night are listed as "guest singers", regardless of if they were officially advertised as band members.

No, they did not credit Luke or fellow past instrumental members Greg Giles, Chris Webster, or Scott Andringa in the same way. German session vocalist and former full-band member Gaby Koss remains credited as a "featured singer", implying that she will turn up on some future studio material. While we await full band samples with Aziza & Alex, this Instagram-exclusive video from last week sees guitarist Steve Giles and drummer Erik Sales jamming "O Holy Night", which is an effective teaser of what's to come later in the year! I believe the band turned off external embedding on Instagram, so give it a watch above, and stay tuned for more from Theatre of Night soon, let alone on the SMS as the week continues! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Soundcheck) & Labour Day Weekend Concert Previews!!

Despite this being the Labour Day long weekend, it's quiet for hard rock/punk concerts in the Twin Saults and EUP, so barring a surprise show announcement, our weekend previews fit in only one post! Note that Double Jack are playing at the soon-to-close Rapids Lounge at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino this weekend, and I don't mean the former Exit 808, as the Bay City-area classic rock cover band of the same name (who the local band changed their name over) are playing there this weekend. Confusing, but good to see the original Double Jack making their way north! 

We'll start our previews in Sault Ontario with SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, as local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will take the stage at Reggie's Place TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, these shows first came to my attention via personal Facebook postings, and neither the band nor venue have publically advertised the gigs on social media. This weekend's shows will be Soundcheck's first there with their new bassist, as Sidekicks/ex-Double Down bassist Dan Beaupre has joined the group, replacing the now-retired Jim Michaud. I have not seen a 100% confirmation that Dan has also joined their sister band Separate Wayz (whose lineup is 75% identical), but it seems quite likely given how often they play "epic crossover" dates. Of course, this also reunites Dan with his old Hollow bandmate Terry Eaton, so fans of that 1990s group should like that!

Dan was present at their last two weekends at Jay's Piston Broke Pub too. Note that AI-generated artwork on personal accounts is referring to the band as "Soundcheck 7.3", but if they have tacked a Bone Yard 225-esque number onto their name, there hasn't been a public confirmation yet. Dan is a solid and experienced rock bassist who should fit Soundcheck (and Separate Wayz?) like a glove, so welcome him to the fold TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT if you haven't yet! Both shows are at 9:30 PM with 19+ age limits and no cover charges. See above for more details, and here's Soundcheck live!

Next up, let's head to The Art Hub At Spring (technically at 504 Queen Street East) TOMORROW NIGHT, where local hard rock quartet The Reeves and space/hard rock duo The Spaceship Opening will join forces to open for Saskatoon indie rock quartet Autopilot! In something that completely slipped me by when this show was announced, this is actually a sequel to a concert from last fall, as Autopilot and The Spaceship Opening played at Piecing It Together Shows' pop-up venue on Wellington Street West in November, which I didn't cover here because I couldn't verify The Spaceship Opening's genre at the time (that may have been the final hard rock-included concert from the former Dryer Fire). 10 months later, they're rolling it back at a different downtown locale, but this time with The Reeves as a second opener, in what they referred to on their Facebook page as "our 2nd show" (did their debut at Toystock this past November go badly or did it just get forgotten?)

Regardless, their new originals should pair well with Andrew & Ralph's minimalist hard rock before Autopilot's distinct indie/alternative sound hits the stage! Promoted by Hails frontman Brenton Ellis as part of his slate of events and art exhibits at The Art Hub this month, this stop on Autopilot's Name That Tour! 2026 is an ALL AGES concert at 6:00 PM tomorrow, and admission is $15 or "pay what you can", which is down from last fall's $20 door charge (though it did have $15 advance tickets). Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's The Reeves live!

Now to Michigan's Eastern Upper Peninsula for the back half of our long weekend previews, and we'll start an hour south in St. Ignace, where Sault Ste. Marie classic/hard rock cover quartet Tarnished will take the stage TOMORROW EVENING for the penultimate night of the town's Music By The Bay concert series at American Legion Park! This annual seasonal run of outdoor concerts daily from June-September wraps up with Nancy Kelel there on Sunday, but Tarnished are back once more before the fall truly begins, having last played at the park at the end of July. Presumably the full band with Chris and Ron in tow after they missed the band's acoustic Bay Mills Casino show last week, you can enjoy Tarnished's old school-leaning rocking covers tomorrow from 7:00-8:30 pm, and this is absolutely an all ages concert with no cover charge. If you can't make it, the guys will be at The Driftwood Sports Bar there in two weeks!

Weather-wise, 9&10 News is calling for 68-70° temperatures (20-21° Celsius) tomorrow evening with sunny skies, which sounds like a perfectly cromulent way to end the season if you like outdoor concerts. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Tarnished live!

Finally(?) for this weekend's previews, we'll head to The Islander Bar in nearby Hessel, where local hard rock cover trio Nate's Chow will play their third post-renaming show TOMORROW NIGHT! Fans may recall seeing Jody, Brett, and Jason debut the former Unfortunate Sun's new name and Skip-less lineup at The Islander Bar last month, with a late notice gig downstate in Alanson in the interim. That show went well, complete with a bachelorette party concurrent with the concert, and now Nate's Chow are back home in the UP, so expect a fun night of hard rocking covers tomorrow! Unless The Islander Bar has had heavy renovations, I wouldn't believe how it's depicted in the AI-generated poster. "Nates Chow" (someone forgot the apostrophe in the prompt) are on tomorrow at 8:00 PM with a 21+ age limit and no cover. See above for more details, and for a preview, here's our first live video of Nate's Chow in concert!

Filmed by an uncredited attendee at last month's Hessel concert and posted to their Facebook page, this sees the band covering The Barenaked Ladies' "The Old Apartment" with Jody on lead vocals, and it's always neat seeing a Sault Michigan area band covering Canadian content! The audio is somewhat muffled, and the video is only 30 seconds long, but the performance isn't bad at all, and Jody's singing suits the original track, so give it a watch below, and don't miss the guys back at The Islander tomorrow night! 

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