This Weekend's Hard Rock & Punk Concert Previews!!

After a quiet week for news and updates on the site, we're back with a busy weekend concert preview slate, and as of this writing, all are previously announced gigs to boot! In fact, we'll start with an unusually busy Thursday night slate for metal/punk concerts in the Soo , so here's what you should know for tonight and beyond! (Our preview of Sunday night's Anvil concert will hit the site in our next news post to give it a closer look.)

We'll start at The Grand Gardens North, where a handful of local music acts will join forces for a special fundraiser concert TONIGHT! As some of you may know already, local realtor & mother Shelby Kerns was recently diagnosed with brain cancer, and to fund specialized treatments out of town, this special event will help cover costs for her and her family, including partner Cory Murchison of Skeyes of Seven & Sense of Truth fame. For the occasion, there will be raffle and door prizes and a pasta dinner, so be sure to visit the official Facebook event page for full details on the non-musical events. Previously announced musical performers will include local Tool tribute band Parabol in a rare set outside of The Rockstar Bar, while their frontman will front the eponymous John Barber Band tonight as well. Who else is in the band, are they a one off, and will they take inspiration from John's past local hard bands? We'll find out tonight!

A third music act was quietly confirmed on the event page on May 22nd, namely the Tidal Records duo of Shannon Moan & Frank Deresti, who will play an acoustic set after supper. Nice way to ease into things, and they're both talented musicians in their own right! Tickets are $30 at Exit Realty Lake Superior at 207 Northern Avenue or through their employees, while you can donate $20 or more to show support without attending, which will get you a door prize entry. The event starts at 5:00 PM, and has no stated age limit. It's great to see everyone showing their support for Shelby and family at this time of need, so see above for full details, and here's Parabol live!

Next up, fan-favourite Montreal ska punk band K-Man & The 45s will make their seventh local concert appearance in the last 6 years TONIGHT! Before we get too far, just a heads-up to some late changes that broke on the Facebook event page earlier this week, including the move of the concert from The Rockstar Bar to The New American Pub. Promoters (Choose) Maxx Entertainment revealed that the show was forced to move on short notice due to a scheduling conflict with a celebration of life at The Rockstar Bar, which is totally understandable, and our condolences go out to the deceased's family & friends. Of course, The New A isn't foreign territory for K-Man & The 45s, as they've played there thrice before, including in March 2017, so regulars of their sets won't be out of place! However, the opening act has been replaced, apparently due to budgetary concerns at the smaller venue, despite The New A's K-Man shows having local bands open in the past.

As such, local punk quartet The Cover-Up are out (hopefully we see them back soon), but Planet Smashers bassist Dave "Smasher" Cooper will now be the surprise opening act, bringing him back to the Soo after the full band last played here in 2005. How will Dave sound as a solo artist? Be at The New A TONIGHT to find out! A $10 cover charge is in effect for this 19+ concert, which has a 10:00 PM start time. Changes aside, this should be a great time for ska-punk fans, and The 45s are well known for their wild live shows and Ska-Mones tribute, so see above for current details, and here they are live!



Moving to shows on the regular weekend schedule, we'll next address the ongoing weekly acoustic concerts from veteran hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison, who will play his first full concert weekend of June 2019 TOMORROW & SATURDAY at Gliss Restaurant, sandwiching his latest nighttime show at The Roadhouse Bar & Grill TOMORROW NIGHT! Another busy month lies ahead, and you can take in Tym's extensive live setlist at the Spring Street restaurant for these two evenings, but if you like your live music at a full nighttime timeslot, head to the east end tomorrow night for his first of two Roadhouse gigs this month. Fans should get a solid sampling of Tym's skill and fan favourite nature this weekend, so keep all three gigs in mind! The Gliss shows are 6:00 PM matinees with no stated age limit, the Roadhouse show is 19+ at 10:00 PM, and none have a cover charge. Visit the Facebook event pages linked here and here for more details, and here's Tym live!



Finally for today's previews (Anvil are coming in our next post), we'll head to Reggie's West, where local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck are advertised to return for solo headlining concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! While not newly promoted by the band on their Facebook page, These shows are listed on their 2019 concert calendar, though it is worth noting that the band has not newly promoted them online, and that the Sault Music Newsletter Facebook page lists The Bearded Lounge as playing at The Reggievelt this weekend instead, possibly as 5:00 PM matinees before Soundcheck hit the stage. If we hear any clarification either way, we'll let you know, but we'll treat these as Soundcheck shows taking place unless otherwise stated. A busy concert slate for Soundcheck should prove to see them firing on all cylinders as they kick off a new month, so don't miss out on their hard rocking covers in the west end this weekend!

Expect 19+ age limits, no cover, and a 10:00 PM start time to be in effect, as usual for Soundcheck's stops at the former Rosie. Visit the above links for more details on these shows, and here's Soundcheck live!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates (including our Anvil preview) on the site next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Parabol & Tripod The Dog), An Inactive Band Note, And New Videos!!

Let's tackle some more big news items on this Sunday evening, including some new live concert videos, a band being moved to our inactive links, and leading off, here's a pair of LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for the coming weeks!

Reunited ska-punk/alternative veterans Tripod The Dog will play their second show of the year on Saturday, May 25th at The Rockstar Bar! This show hasn't been publically announced online that I know of, but I first heard about it via the venue's physical marquee board last week, and remember that an updated online page controlled by current band members has not been launched yet. After successfully returning to the stage after a decade+ hiatus as a full-time band ended last month at the same venue, Tripod The Dog will bring their fan favourite blend of genres back for another go-around, and it will be great to see Mark Oliverio and company rock out once again! Hopefully more comes out on the new lineup online, especially if things are different compared to their Rotaryfest one-off last year. Expect a 10:00 PM-ish start time, 19+ age limit, and no cover charge on May 25th. See above for details when & if they roll in on this show and Tripod the Dog version 4.0!

Next up, a few familiar faces will hit The Grand Gardens North (the site of Toystock) on Thursday, June 6th for a special benefit concert in honour of Shelby Kerns, a local realtor, loving mother, and the partner of Skeyes of Seven/ex-Sense of Truth frontman Cory Murchison. Shelby was recently diagnosed with brain cancer and will be receiving specialized treatments out of town, so this fundraiser will help cover related costs for her and her family. The event proper will include a pasta dinner, raffles and prizes, and yes, live music, including local Tool tribute band Parabol in a rare non-Rockstar Bar set. It's great to see Parabol throwing their support behind Shelby at this diffcult time, and they should deliver a solid set of Tool hits for the occasion! Parabol frontman John Barber will also front a (one-off?) group known as The John Barber Band on this night, though no word as of yet regarding their lineup, sound, or similarities to his old bands like Redefined, Late Shift, and Fingerbone.

Also, no word on if Cory will guest with either band, but given that his relationship with Shelby, it'd definitely be a fitting sight! Tickets for this presumably all-ages benefit (at 5:00 PM) are $30 at Exit Realty Lake Superior at 207 Northern Avenue or through employees there, while you can also show your support and still be entered for the door prize if you can't make it by donating a $20 minimum. I don't know Shelby, but everything I've heard points to a friendly, generous, and caring woman, and I hope this benefit does everything it sets out to for the Kerns/Murchison clan!! Visit the official Facebook event page for details as they roll in!

Also today, I have moved local blues/hard rock trio Electric Church to our inactive band links due to a year's public inactivity. The band was last seen on stage at last year's Sky's The Limit fundraiser concert at The Tech, but they never publically promoted that event online, and hadn't posted on their Facebook page since the end of January 2018. First coming onto the SMS' radar in the lead-up to The Sky's The Limit I in 2016, Electric Church would grow in prominence from White Pines Collegiate gigs to proper concerts in Sault Ste. Marie through the end of 2017, including sets at a bunch of early Live705 concerts, that year's Go Skateboarding Day, K.I.C.K.'s CD release party, and opening slots for Kenny Wayne, Speaker, and Return For Refund, among others. However, recording sessions at Mission Control Studios for a debut album never reached their intended conclusion, despite optimistic teasers for big plans at the start of last year.

I don't know what happened to Electric Church, but they were a very promising band that gave a unique retro zest to many local concerts during their run! With a maturity beyond their years and an old school sensibility from their early Jimi Hendrix covers through to their original songs, it looked like the sky was indeed the limit (pun intended), but hopefully they're just lying low and will be seen again, as there's a lot of talent to go around in their ranks. Best of luck to Spencer, Elijah, and Beau in the interim!

We'll close today with some new videos from Kinross/Mount Pleasant hard rock singer/guitarist Alex Traynor's second "music for tips & coffee" matinee set at Biggby Coffee in Sault Michigan yesterday! These were uploaded to the coffee shop's Facebook page in the last couple of days, including one belated upload from last week of Alex covering Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble's "Pride and Joy". The distant from-the-side angle isn't great, and the video's short, but what you hear works out! The Saturday videos also include Alex playing "Pride and Joy" again, but this clip is longer, somewhat closer, and has some attendees dancing, which is a fun sight! Embedded below is Alex covering Warrant's "Uncle Tom's Cabin", which has a much better and longer view of Alex's performance, and he has a good handle of this hair metal classic! Hopefully he got lots of tips, but see how he did for yourself above & below, and stay tuned for more from Alex!



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