This Weekend's Hard Rock Concert Previews!!

It's now time to tackle another weekend of concert previews, straddling the end of one month and beginning of another! With news being slow at the moment, I've opted to include Sunday's Bloody Diamonds show in this post, which would typically be featured separately given that it's three days away, so don't look for it in our next post, it's in this one! And yes, we'll tackle any late notice shows if announced. Now, here's what you need to know in rough chronological order!

We'll start with longtime Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison, who will continue his weekly concert arrangement at Gliss Steak & Seafood with solo headlining dates TONIGHT, TOMORROW, and SATURDAY! After rocking both Gliss and The HD Sports Grill (the former Docks) last weekend, Tym will close out September and begin a new month at The Quality Inn's house restaurant for three more matinees, so if you're interested in some hard rocking acoustic covers, head downtown over the coming evenings! As usual for his long-term Gliss run, expect 6:00 PM start times, no announced cover charges, and no age limits, but remember that this is a sit-down formal restaurant, not a bar. Tym remains a very entertaining and prolific instrumentalist, so come down to Gliss for all of the action tonight or this weekend! For more details, visit the official Facebook event page, and for a preview, here's Tym live a few years back!



Next up, let's head to Sault Michigan, where local hard rock quartet 415E will rock The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Kewadin Casino TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! This union of Nixxon Dixxon, Highest of Fives, and Splitshot alumni will hit the stage for the first time in over a month, and the first time in the Soo since July for this weekend's concerts, and their hard rocking covers should attract another solid audience at The Rapids Lounge both nights! As is typical for Kewadin Casino's lounge concerts, there are no announced cover charges for these 9:00 PM shows, where you must be at least 21 to attend. If you miss this weekend's shows, 415E aren't advertised to return to The Rapids Lounge again this year (they will be in St. Ignace again in a few months though), so don't miss out on 415E's hard hitting shows this weekend! Here they are live in the Soo a few years back!

Also taking place this weekend, hair metal fans in Sault Ontario will want to head to The Rockstar Bar THIS SATURDAY NIGHT, as Southern Ontario-based Whitesnake tribute band Still of the Night will make their local debut! It's been over 5 years since the real Whitesnake headlined at Kewadin Casino, so if you've been craving more of the David Coverdale-led band's classic hits, Still of the Night should provide the next best thing on Saturday! Their self-description of "Canada's premier Whitesnake tribute" isn't given in vain, as they provide a faithful sounding and looking take on Whitesnake, so don't miss out on all of the action! Yes, I know it's during The Hair Scare, but how about some live hair metal? Tickets are $10 in advance at The Algonquin Hotel's front desk (no word on if they'll be pricier at the door), this is a 19+ event, and a 9:00 PM start time is announced. For more details, visit visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and stay tuned for updates, and here's Still of the Night rocking some Whitesnake live!



Finally for this preview post, Halifax/Toronto dark blues rock quartet Bloody Diamonds will make their local concert debut with a headlining concert at The New American Pub THIS SUNDAY NIGHT! Not to be confused with the more familiar Diemonds (also a female fronted hard rock band from Southern Ontario), Bloody Diamonds are in the midst of their Tough Love Tour of Canada, in support of the EP of the same name, and they should leave a good impression with their bluesy rock originals, so don't bypass them on Sunday! Local alternative hard rock trio The Din will make a rare appearance at The New A as openers, while the official Facebook event page has listed a second opening band as "to be announced" since being first publicized. No word on if there will be two opening acts or not, but this show hasn't gotten a lot of plugs online lately, possibly due to promoters Six, Two, Oh.'s focus on last night's Castle concert. In any event, this 19+ show has a $5 cover charge and a 9:00 PM start time. See above for more details, and here's Bloody Diamonds live last year in concert!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates soon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (K-Man & The 45s, Bloody Diamonds, And Banned), Plus Six, Two, Oh. Show Updates!!

Before we begin this post, I wanted to apologize for a missed show on here, as local classic/hard rock quartet The 3 Day Millionaires apparently played at The Rockstar Bar on Friday (at least, I can't confirm if they played last night too.) The band and venue never confirmed the shows online publically, and I only heard about Friday's show via drummer Scott McLurg's personal Facebook page yesterday. Hopefully it was a great show, we'd have covered it had we known about it! Now, here's some concert updates, and first, some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS on both sides of the border! (Updated at 11:49 PM)

Kinross, Michigan classic/hard rock trio Banned will return to the annual Sugar Island Music Festival for sets on Friday, August 12th & Saturday, August 13th! No strangers to this annual local music festival after having played there annually in recent years, Banned will up things with two sets this year, which will see them play at 7:45 PM on the 12th and 8:30 PM on the 13th. As usual for the Sugar Island Festival, the lineup at large is comprised of folk and country bands, largely sans online pages, with many repeating from past years, including acts like 3-Zip, All Arms, 3½ Men, 2 ¢, and Frank Kieronski sharing the stage with Banned on both days. For the full schedule for both days (and Sunday the 14th), visit this link! However, note that Banned themselves have yet to confirm their involvement this year. As usual, admission is $10 for the whole weekend (no single day passes) via buttons that you can purchase at Grooves Music in the Soo, or at The Hilltop Bar, Ed's Bayview Store, and the Westshore Convenience Store on Sugar Island, and presumably at the gate.

Kids under 12 get in FREE with adult accompaniment, and click here for details on camping and other fees, plus directions to the festival grounds. It should be fun to see Banned back on familiar summer festival ground next month, so consider the trip east to Sugar Island in two weeks time for all of the action, and see above for full details!

Next up, we'll head north to Sault Ontario for a pair of newly announced September concerts from promoters Six, Two, Oh. at The New American Pub, starting with the return of Montreal ska punk favourites K-Man & The 45s, who will return to the Soo on Saturday, September 17th! Making their fourth fall concert appearance in Sault Ste. Marie in as many years, this will be K-Man & The 45s' second local concert at The New American, but this year, it has the added quirk of being in support of their new album! We're well accustomed to this fan friendly quintet's ska punk intensity by now, so make sure to bring extra cash to get your copy, and might we see a Ska-Mones set for good measure? Recently dormant local funk/hard rock quartet The Elements will reprise their 2015 role as openers for The 45s on September 17th, but unlike last year, a second local opening band may be added. Like the Bloody Diamonds show on the 2nd, this show has a $5 cover, 19+ age limit, and 9:00 PM start time. It's great to see K-Man & The 45s back in the Soo once again, so visit the official Facebook event page for full current information on their return!

Six, Two, Oh.'s other newly announced New A show in September will be headlined by Halifax/Toronto dark blues rock quartet Bloody Diamonds on Sunday, October 2nd! Not to be confused with the more locally familiar Diemonds (who are also a female fronted band from Southern Ontario), Bloody Diamonds are coming off the recent release of their "Tough Love" EP, and their catchy yet gloomy blend of blues and hard rock should be the right medicine for many fans at The New A in October! Local alternative hard rock trio The Din will open in one of their first post-CD release concerts (and a rare New A appearance), while at least one additional local band is to be announced. A $5 cover charge is in effect for this 19+ show, which will start at 9:00 PM on October 2nd. This should be a fun night of hard rocking action, so visit the official Facebook event page for current and upcoming details on this show!

Finally for today, here's some local opener details for two more upcoming Six, Two, Oh. shows at The New American Pub that we had announced on the site already, as confirmed on Facebook event pages in the last few days! One is the Debutaunt concert on August 9th (one week from Tuesday), which has quite the eclectic opener lineup to support the Edmonton pop punk band, as rapper Mikey Thomas & stand up comedian Shane McGuigan will open this show! I wouldn't have predicted either (and I'm not familiar with Shane at all), but it'll definitely be interesting to see how this merger of punk, rap, and comedy goes on August 9th! The other lineup addition is for the Big Brother-headlined show on Saturday, August 20th, as the aforementioned Elements will open in their first announced concert in four months, so welcome them back to the stage in three weeks time in their first of two upcoming ska punk shows at The New A! At least one more opener is to be announced for that show, so stay tuned for updates!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes next month! Thanks everyone!

Boxing Day Weekend Concert Previews!!

Merry Christmas to all of our readers, or Happy Holidays if you prefer! In our first of two posts on this Christmas day (auto-posted due to spending time with the family, of course!), we have the first of the Boxing Day weekend concert previews, and for the curious, we'll touch on the Highway 63 shows and the recent major Bon Soo concert announcement later today. Also, if you're curious, Tym Morrison is not playing at The Harp this weekend (at least, not according to his website), presumably for a holiday break, but we'll touch on his January shows soon! Now, here's what you should know regarding three different Boxing Day events TOMORROW NIGHT in Sault Ontario!

We'll begin our previews at The Rockstar Bar, who will host local/Toronto Celtic punk quartet Dustin Jones & The Rising Tide for one last time in 2014 TOMORROW NIGHT! Making their third local stop of the month (after sets at The Rankin Arena and at last week's Tidal Records Christmas show), this popular union of Inner City Surfers and Boot Hill Crooners alumni should be in fine form to deliver some post-Christmas original entertainment on Boxing Day, and perhaps some select covers? Speaking of which, Dustin's new local band The Cover-Up (featuring Lion Ride, Room 206, and Northwest alumni) have been named as late openers after numerous fan requests following their debut last weekend, so come early to take in their set! Also, I will note that a Rockstar Bar Facebook group post from Thin Ice frontman Nathan Albidone implies that the popular country cover band will be playing there on Friday, though it remains to be seen if that is incorrect, a matinee, or if both shows will occur simultaneously with one downstairs at The Algonquin Pub.

We'll let you guys know if we hear anything! In any event, this show will take place on Friday night at around 10:00 PM, you must be 19 to attend, and a $5 cover charge is likely. For more details, visit the above links! Dustin and the Tide's nicely blended mix of Celtic and folk rock with modern punk should be a holiday treat once again for punk fans, so be there TOMORROW, and here are the guys live a few years back!



Next up, we'll head to The Rednecks Saloon, where local hard rock quartet Beaumont Avenue will make their long awaited return to the stage TOMORROW NIGHT! The first of two shows over the holidays for the former Suicide Kings, we haven't seen Beaumont Avenue in concert since August due to drummer Ben Boudreau's out of town school commitments, and while fans could have seen the rest of the guys in the interim with Urawk, I know many miss their full original concert experience, so look for their own songs from their forthcoming debut CD and a solid cover base TOMORROW (and remember, they'll be at The Rockstar Bar next weekend too!) Their Boxing Day show tomorrow should start at around 10:00 PM, there is no cover charge, and you must be 19 to attend. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! It's great to see Mike, Steven, Mitch, and Ben back in the saddle together (and Ben back home in general), so don't miss the return of Beaumont Avenue, and here they are at Rotaryfest!

Finally for today's preview post is the "Bloody Boxing Day Basement Jam" from Blood Shed Productions, which will be the local goregrind label's last concert of the year, and though it is located at a house, the address is public, so feel free to come down! Partly planned to make up for a shortened private Boxing Day event last year, there have been lineup adjustments since we last plugged this show, including a band replacement, so who all is playing now? The headliner is local experimental singer/guitarist Chase Wigmore in his first set since leaving The Strange Coyotes (he'll be on at 11:00 PM), while Blood Shed death metal acts Brutally Fatal and Rotopsy will take the stage at 10:15 & 9:30 PM each. The 9:00 PM-ish slot was originally slated for the local return of The Apocalypse Afterparty, but they were quietly replaced on the lineup by the newer local metal trio Them last week for unannounced reasons. Disappointing for A.A. fans, but hopefully we see them back soon!

Remember, Them (who currently lack an online page) feature Bring The Misery, Infamous, and Revolution alumni, and are also among the bands at next year's Tidal Records Battle, so don't bypass them tomorrow night! Rotopsy bassist Tyler Gibson's grind solo project Crucify The Whore will take the stage at 8:00 PM, following a trio of Blood Shed rappers (Mikey Thomas, Rotopsy's Dylan "Legitly Logic" Taylor, and Tomgrindy's J.P. "Phat Boii" Archambault) at 7:30, 7:00, and 6:30 PM respectively. A rap set from Miracle Man was once originally scheduled for the show, and while it was also removed from the lineup for unannounced reasons, his alter-ego (Brutally Fatal frontman Austin McCrae) will open the basement jam with an acoustic set at 6:00 PM, perhaps channeling his Re-Born work? To be held in the basement of a home at 11 Hearst Street (near Trelawne and Grosvenor), this ALL AGES event has no announced age limits. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page!

This should be an entertaining show for Blood Shed, goregrind, and rap fans, and hopefully things go off without a hitch tomorrow night! Stay tuned for potential fallout as it comes in, particularly concerning how Them sound, and as a preview, here's a new Brutally Fatal video uploaded to the Blood Shed YouTube channel on Saturday! A rehearsal video shot that day featuring some text plugs for the Boxing Day show, it's simplistic and doesn't tell us much about the new song, but it gets the job done to promote the jam, so give it a look below, and see above for more info!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for the rest of our weekend previews, the big news regarding a show at Bon Soo in February, and much more to end the year! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (The Strange Coyotes, Griphook, And Banned), And More!!

For a second straight day, we have a short notice second post on the site, as like yesterday, there's a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for tonight that is linked to a public show from yesterday and is getting a fair amount of Facebook advertising! Also read on for full public LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for next weekend and some more assorted notes, so here's what you need to know, and check out lots of VM Radio updates (and the new Tuned episode) in the post below this one! (Updated at 9:24 PM)

Remember how Blood Shed Productions & Heavy North Entertainment hosted a publically advertised house party concert last night on Weldon Avenue? Well, that show was reportedly cut short due to a Foggy's-esque noise complaint and police visit, which cancelled plans for a Strange Coyotes headlining set and forced Rotopsy to only play one song. With that in mind, promoters are giving a short notice second try at this show TONIGHT at a different location, though still centrally located! Once scheduled to be held at an Oakbine Avenue location, the show was moved back to it's original 110 Pentagon Boulevard location for unannounced reasons on very short notice. Hopefully things go smoother for everyone tonight, despite the location jumbling! All performers except Telephone & Address and Mikey Thomas are back for tonight, which will definitely see The Strange Coyotes headlining in their first announced show since confirming their reunion, with Rotopsy, Crucify The Whore, Brutaly Fatal, and a "surprise special guest appearance" also teased.

The Facebook event page has current details for this show, which is ALL AGES, will start at 8:00 PM tonight, and will have no announced cover. Don't miss out if you love the Blood Shed, and hopefully they don't have similar issues tonight! For a preview, here's The Strange Coyotes live in January!

Next up, Kinross, Michigan hard/classic rock trio Banned have announced a surprise show for this Thursday, as they'll make their first ever advertised appearance at The Raber Bay Bar 'N Restaurant in nearby Goetzville! Our source is Banned's Facebook page yesterday, which added the show to their existing fall calendar. We've never plugged a show in Goetzville before, so in case you didn't know, Goetzville is a small Chippewa County community that's roughly an hour southeast of the Soo and 24 minutes east of Cedarville, and was among the areas of the E.U.P. added when we expanded our coverage range on the site two years ago. Given the Thursday setting, I'm unsure on if there's a special occasion to cause the booking, but it adds to a busy weekend for them, as Banned will be at The Runway Bar in Hessel (a half hour west of Goetzville) over the next two nights. A 9:00 PM start time is in effect on Thursday, you must be 21 to attend, and there's no announced cover charge. See above for more info, and stay tuned for updates on their Raber Bay Bar show!

Also in new show announcements, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Griphook will apparently return to the stage this Friday at The Rednecks Saloon! Though the band has yet to confirm this show online, the marquee board outside of the former Nicolet Tavern has advertised it for at least the last few days, and that has proven to be a reliable source for accurate show dates in the past. If this booking is still on, this will be Griphook's first concert set of the fall, and their first outside of Rotaryfest since playing at Rednecks in April, so if you've been missing Joel, Brian, Dan, and Tony in recent months, you'll want to mark this Friday's show down for a night of entertaining and often heavy covers! No word on why they're not playing on Saturday though, but the marquee at the saloon didn't list that day's entertainment. There's no announced cover charge on Friday, you must be 19 to attend, and there's a likely 10:00 PM start time in effect. For more details, visit the above links, and if we hear any changes, we'll let you know!

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

• A new instrumental song by the aforementioned Crucify The Whore was uploaded to their new Bandcamp page earlier this week, which fans will want to check out, but due to a name that some readers may find offensive, we won't post it here. Give it a listen if you want, and note that their other demos can also be streamed there!
• I've removed The Guitar Studio from our "Other Sault Michigan Links" section due to the expiry of their website and only substantial online page. Featuring prolific local guitarist Joey Beairl among it's staff, The Guitar Studio was notable for providing both music lessons and a summer rock camp that spawned real youth rock bands such as Tantrym Tyme, but online updates have been slow in recent years. If a new link turns up, we'll re-add them to our listings!
• Our congratulations go out to Sailor's Tongue frontman Kyle McKey, who will be inducted into the Great Northern Opry of the Northern Ontario Country Music Association tonight during their annual awards ceremony! Kyle joins fellow hard rock alum Ric Datson (That's Chester) among the dozens of regional country notables in the opry. If you've followed all of Kyle's music work in the area, you'll know this is very deserving, so congratulations once again, and click here for more info!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates in the next few days! Thanks everyone!