LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Project 906), Cory Marks Concert Videos, And An Inactive Band Note!!

One more SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT has fell into my lap, so to fill out a surprise Saturday evening post, we have new videos from a big recent concert and a solo project newly moved to our inactive links, so here's what you should know on all fronts!

Sault Michigan hard/blues rock cover quintet Project 906 will return to the stage TONIGHT at The Strongs Tavern in nearby Eckerman! Apologies for the short notice, the band first announced this one-night-only gig on their Facebook page on Sunday, but it slipped past me before our last two weekend concert preview posts went live. After taking a three month break from the stage (characterized by the band as "some much needed time off"), this will be 906's first show since rocking Hulbert Happy Hour in early March, with the band last playing at The Strongs Tavern at the end of February. Of course, this belatedly kicks off their annual "#summerof906", so more shows should be announced in due course, but since we last heard from Project 906 at The Strongs, they completed renovations in the spring, so hopefully things look as good as the rock will sound TONIGHT! Billy, Joe, Dustin, Jason, and Brian will take the stage TONIGHT at 8:00 PM with a 21+ age limit and no cover charge, as usual.

If you've missed the guys in recent months, and/or are up for the hour's drive west, don't miss out on their summer season kickoff! Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview of TONIGHT'S opening #summerof906 event, here's Project 906 live!

Next up, let's head north to Sault Ontario for some new videos from the Cory Marks concert at The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre on June 11th! Last week, Cory uploaded a highlight video from the event to his Facebook page, where he highly praised the concert, which included a sold-out meet & greet session, and some fans driving 8+ hours to see it. Cory called the the Bushplane Museum's hangar "a dream concert setting for me", and if you weren't there, the hangar doors were open with the stage was set up inside, allowing for outside light to get inside and for some nice views while the North Bay country/hard rock musician rocked out. The highlight video (set to the studio version of his song "Are You With Me?") features clips of Cory at the meet-and-greet, including of him playing acoustic for VIP fans, before we see footage of the proper concert.

Good thing that we knew ahead of time where this was, as the video only has fleeting glimpses of bushplanes, which is a testament in a way to how well everyone got the hangar looking like a concert venue for more than just local bands! I would prefer hearing raw audio from the concert, but miraculously, Facebook didn't content match the studio track, so I can embed it below!

If you do want to see raw audio from the concert proper, good news, as Mike Blair's 705Live Sound Co. were on hand to take care of sound for Cory and crew, and a video of them playing "Blame It On The Double" was posted to 705Live's Facebook page! Mike doesn't do the "pan the camera up from the soundboard" thing this time, FYI. Alas, the video only runs for 46 seconds, but it does let us get more of a view of where exactly in the Bushplane Museum that the concert was set up at (and where the VIP pre-show area was). Of note, Cory actually grabs someone's cell phone from the crowd to film things mid-song, which would be neat for that fan! What Mike shot looks and sounds good, so if you like Cory's southern fried hard rock, you can relive a snippet of this high production concert for yourself below, and we'll let you know if Cory returns to the Soo for a fifth straight year in 2027!

Finally, I have a local metal act to move to our inactive band links, namely local goregrind solo project Crucify The Whore. We have heard no public updates from C.T.W. since 2024, with their final album "Bummer" being released on Bandcamp that July, and more recent updates from their owned-and-operated indie label Blood Shed Productions dried up by the spring of 2025. Active since 2012 and led by singer/guitarist Tyler "Ringsnaps" Gibson, C.T.W. became one of the more unique underground sights among extreme metal fans of the early-mid 2010s, releasing lots of studio material online and at concerts, including many of the final Oddfellows Hall concerts, plus various private & house party events. Updates from C.T.W. (let alone Blood Shed) really tailed off after the pandemic, even for a one-man project, which wasn't helped by their Facebook pages being taken down, if not by Tyler's own hand.

C.T.W. were really a critic-proof act, as a one-man goregrind band with such explicit imagery, pig squealing vocals, extremely short song lengths, a drum machine, and an ardent "I play what I want to play" ethos made it difficult to look at them in comparison with most contemporary bands. I still believe that all of the early-mid 2010s Blood Shed 1-2 man bands had the collective talent to make a great five-piece death metal band, but Tyler did what he wanted and kept this project going for a strong length of time, with fun crowd reactions and a solid skill set as a guitarist & producer. Hopefully we hear more from him and the label down the road! That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes next week! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Separate Wayz, Stones At The Alter, And Greg Simpson), Plus The Cory Marks Concert Preview!!

Let's dive into what is an interesting weekend for hard rock fans in terms of live music! Due to the amount of shows, we'll hold our previews of of the previously announced Bone Yard 225 and Epic Rush concerts this weekend for our next post. Here's what you should know, starting with SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for this weekend!

Bone Yard 225 frontman Greg Simpson will bring his "Ranting Rockstar" acoustic solo concert back to The Dive Gastro Pub for a "Think It Over Thursday" concert TONIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, this show was only announced via the venue's Facebook page on Tuesday. While there may have been an assumption that Greg's solo debut at The Dive was a stopgap measure for him to keep playing while Bone Yard were still on their spring break, the band proper is back, so perhaps we will see Greg back sans Alex & Warren for more "uncorked" gigs beyond TONIGHT! Regardless, if you like your local 225 (or the former Bearded Lounge), you'll be right at home with Greg's unplugged southern and hard rock covers, though if you want the full band back, they'll be at Beck's tomorrow (preview forthcoming). TONIGHT's show will definitely be in "The Naughty Corner", as Greg's show last month was.

Expect a 9:00 PM start time, 19+ age limit, and no cover charge at the former Low & Slow TONIGHT, so visit the above links for more details on Greg's third solo show of 2026, and here he is live at The Dive!

Next up, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Separate Wayz will hit up Reggie's Place for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice, these shows were only announced via the band's Facebook page on Monday (note that the venue has not corroborated this booking on their own Facebook page at press time). While fans last saw their sister band Soundcheck two weeks ago at Jay's and a month ago at Reggie's, these will be the first Separate Wayz-branded concerts with Nicole present since April, when they played a standalone gig at Jay's and an "epic crossover" weekend at The Esquire Club with Soundcheck. Surprisingly, I can't find record of Separate Wayz playing at Reggie's since their debut last year, so if you're an existing fan or are curious to see how Soundcheck sound with a female singer, keep TOMORROW & SATURDAY'S shows in mind! No word on when we'll see Soundcheck back on stage, but we'll let you know.

As usual for weekend cover action at Reggie's, TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT's concerts are at 9:30 PM with no cover charges and 19+ age limits. See the above links for more details on Separate Wayz' Reggie's debuts, and for a preview, here they are live!

Also newly announced for this weekend is the headlining debut of new local hard rock quartet Stones At The Alter, who will play a special outdoor concert on SATURDAY NIGHT outside of the aforementioned Dive Gastro Pub! Apologies again for the short notice, this show was only announced by the venue's Facebook page on Sunday, though note that the band's Facebook group has not seen any updates in over a month. The Doo & The Boyos side project will set up shop outside of the former Low & Slow on SATURDAY to take advantage of that day's Sault Ste. Marie Festival of Beer, the annual LopLops Lounge-promoted event that returns to The Downtown Plaza, which is just down the road. Note that I don't know if Beerfest will have their own music lineup at the Plaza (they did last year), but we'll let you know if something comes out late. Hopefully S@TA can fit their full setup on The Dive's patio!

Note that Curtis McKenzie had advertised playing at The Dive on Saturday himself (in an announcement that slipped us by last month), but he blamed a "double booking accident (by) the venue" for the mixup. We'll let you know when he'll be back there soon! This rare plugged-in "Patio Play" gig will be an 8:00 PM nightcap at The Dive with a 19+ age limit and no cover. 9&10 News is calling for a high of 20° on Saturday with a low of 9°, and while we're too soon to see an hourly forecast, be advised that the chance of rain on Saturday in general is about 50/50 at present. Visit the above links for more details, and we'll let you know when Stones At The Alter videos surface!

Finally for this preview post, it's TONIGHT'S main event, as North Bay country/hard rock musician Cory Marks will return to The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre for a headlining concert! While promotion calls this the "first concert ever" at the Bushplane Museum (Cory himself says as much in this promotional video), that isn't true, as multiple locals-only shows have happened there, not to mention Cory's acoustic concert last year for Hope Air Day. However, for a high scale, high production concert, this is uncharted territory for the 50 Pim Street venue, and tickets are selling well for Cory's genre hybrid sound, which we last saw in a full band, electric splendour at The Machine Shop in 2023 & 2024. He has had charting singles on US rock radio, and some very high profile guest spots, so if you like hard rock and/or country, there will be something for you! In a late confirmation, former Northwest bandmates Greg Callaghan & Mike Yakasovich will open tonight in an acoustic set.

While their acoustic exploits largely haven't crossed our radar, Greg does cover some punk in his solo dates, so hopefully the set things off on the right foot! This concert takes place in the hangar proper tonight at 7:30 PM (running until 10:00), it is all ages, and limited general admission tickets cost $40 at the door. Online sales have ended, and VIP passes (which get fans an early acoustic set from Cory at 6:30 PM among other perks) have completely sold out. Food trucks will be on site tonight too, as they are every Thursday this summer. Click here and visit the above links for more on what should be a big night for the Bushplane Museum and fans of Cory's, and here he is live!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for our Bone Yard 225 and Epic Rush previews (and more) next! Thanks everyone!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Soundcheck, Bookclub, And Generations), And Weekend Concert Previews!!

Another concert weekend is upon us, if not with much going on tonight for hard rock/punk fans, but we do have LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS to address, some on SHORT NOTICE! Due to the amount of shows this weekend, our preview of Sunday night's Matthew Good concert will hit the site tomorrow. Now, here's what you should know for your Saturday concert plans (and beyond in one case!)

Local alternative/punk cover supergroup Bookclub will return to the Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre TOMORROW as the headline musical performers for this year's Great Lakes Outdoor Show! Apologies for the short notice, we only heard above Bookclub's involvement via Facebook advertising earlier this week, complicated by Bookclub's continued lack of an online page to publically promote shows with. While an outdoors expo might not seem like a traditional event for a concert, Bookclub are no strangers to playing at community events and festivals, and hopefully their unique retro covers fins a receptive audience TOMORROW! Folk/pop singer/guitarist Matthew James (who you may have seen last year at Rotaryfest Stage 2) will open the proceedings. While this concert is taking place as part of the Great Lakes Outdoor Show, it is being treated as its own event with its own separate admission fee.

The Outdoor Show is an all ages event with $10 passes for the weekend (including the band-less Sunday program), and while doors open at 10:00 AM, the concert proper is at 5:00 PM. The concert proper is also $10 and does not require Outdoor Show tickets to attend, but $20 packages that get you entry to both are also available. It'll be interesting to see how Bookclub and Mathhew Matthew do as a post-show attraction rather than mid-show entertainment, but the talent is definitely there, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Bookclub live!

Next up, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to Shooters Downstairs Lounge for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice, the band only announced this show via their Facebook page on Tuesday, and at press time, Shooters have not confirmed the booking on social media. After an off week (Thursday jam nights at Jay's aside), Soundcheck are back for a traditional concert on SATURDAY, which will be their first show at the Dennis Street nightclub since the winter, and it may serve as the lead-out entertainment following Shooters' showing of game 2 of the Soo Greyhounds' second round playoff series against the Saginaw Spirit, assuming that Shooters keeps with their recent trend of showing the road games on the TVs there (the game is in Saginaw). Hockey or not, Soundcheck's mix of classic and hard rock hits will find a receptive audience TOMORROW!

This show has a 9:30 PM start time (possibly later if the Hounds game dictates), no cover charge, and a 19+ age limit. If you can't make it, Soundcheck have a full weekend at Jay's next week, and of course, they are hosting jam night there on Thursday as usual if you want to count that. See above for more details, and for a preview, here's Soundcheck live!

Also this weekend, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations will celebrate their one year anniversary when they rock The Water Tower Pub for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT, but they will also make their first ever stop at Gateway Casino on Saturday, May 18th! The latter show was newly announced by drummer Tony Santoro on their Facebook group on Tuesday, and it's good to see Valerie, the Tonys, and Pierre spreading their wings to a new (to them) venue, so don't miss them at Sault Ontario's casino over the Victoria Day long weekend! Before then, the band will rock The Water Tower Pub as previously announced tomorrow, marking one year since they succeeded Jus' Chillin, so head to the central nightclub for lots of classic and hard rock cover favourites! This is a one-nighter as is standard for The Water Tower Pub, with classic rock trio The Sidekicks playing there tonight. 

Tomorrow's Water Tower Pub show is at 8:00 PM, next month's Gateway Casino show is at 9:00 PM, both are 19+ events, and neither has an announced cover charge. Visit the above links for more on Generations' upcoming concerts, and for a preview, here they are live!

Finally for today's previews, you can also check out local classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison's continuation of his bi-weekly run at Misty's Fifties TOMORROW! His first of two April matinee gigs at the venerable Second Line West nightclub/restaurant in this current arrangement, tomorrow's show does not fall on a major holiday weekend, so expect a standard block of well produced acoustic rock hits from the former Caveman Morrison frontman tomorrow! If you can't make it, Tym returns to Misty's on April 27th, and the series is advertised to continue once every two weeks until the end of June. Tomorrow's matinee concert has a 4:00 PM start time, it's presumably a 19+ event given the locale, and there is no announced cover charge. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Tym live in concert last year!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for our Matthew Good preview and more next! Thanks everyone!

New Year's Eve Weekend Concert Previews!!

On this wet Thursday evening, let's look at this weekend's hard rock concert previews, all with ample advance notice, and all factoring in New Year's Eve into their plans! Here's what you should know!

We'll start at The Northern Pines Lounge at the Kewadin Casino in nearby St. Ignace, Michigan, where Traverse City classic metal trio Peril will end their 2022 concert calendar with shows TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! After a busy year for both Peril and their sister band Scarkazm with numerous gigs at Kewadin, this should be a prime chance to check out Jeff, Adam, and Brooks' hard rocking old school covers, in their first E.U.P. stops since rocking the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin in August. No word on holiday frills on Saturday for New Year's Eve, but ringing in 2023 is very much a part of the advertising for that night's concert, so if you want to end the year on a heavy note, Yooper readers know where to go! Both tomorrow's and Saturday's shows have 21+ age limits, no cover charges, and 9:00 PM start times. Visit the official Facebook event page & the above links for more details, and here's Peril live in concert!

Next up, we'll head north to Sault Ontario with a solid range of New Year's Eve options for heavier music tastes, but let's start with the arguable biggest show of the weekend, as local funk/hard rock cover sextet The Wyld Stallyns will take the stage THIS SATURDAY NIGHT at The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre as the local openers for Toronto "brasshop" favourites My Son The Hurricane! The Stallyns have had quite a busy year at traditional nightclubs and community events alike, but this rare support slot should provide them with a huge platform to show their varied setlist and heavier cuts, so don't be late on Saturday! My Son The Hurricane (featuring former Redefined/Rising Tide drummer Danno O'Shea) are certainly no strangers to the Soo, having played here twice already in 2022, and multiple times in years past, and their eclectic mix of funk and dance rock should be a fun way to end the year!

No word on seasonal frills beyond the headliners' presence, but this is a licensed 19+ event at the Bushplane Museum, and it's the culmination of pandemic-altered plans for My Son The Hurricane to play in town on December 31st since 2020. Presented by LopLops Lounge, tickets run for $64.67 at this link, and doors open at 8:00 PM. The scope, holiday tie-in, and headliners alone will make this must-see for many, but The Wyld Stallyns will bring the heavy (if mixed with other funk covers) to kick off the night, so don't miss out! Visit the above links for more details, and here are The Stallyns live in concert earlier this year!

Also taking place THIS SATURDAY NIGHT is local southern hard rock quintet Fort Creek's first ever gig at The Water Tower Pub for that venue's own New Year's Eve party! Last seen headlining their "Christmas blowout" at Soo Blaster three weeks ago, Saturday will prove to be another high profile event for Fort Creek and their hard & heavy covers (and new originals), but in very different ways. The Water Tower Pub are absolutely going all out for New Year's Eve, with their event having $60 admission, but included in that price are an appetizer buffet, midnight toast, and party favours, so expect all of those frills if you're weighing our December 31st options. New Year's Eve room packages at the Great Northern Road venue's attacked inn are also available, click here for details. Advance tickets are on sale at The Water Tower Inn's reception desk, and presumably at the door, while this show is obviously 19+, and has a likely start time of 8:00 PM.

Between this and My Son The Hurricane/The Wyld Stallyns, $60+ tickets will scare many off, but remember what you're paying for in both cases, and at least The Water Tower Pub are open as to what they're providing on Saturday, so hopefully lots of revelers come out to send 2022 off and rock out with Fort Creek, especially in their debut there! Visit the above links for more details, and here's Fort Creek live!

Finally for known hard rock concerts this weekend is local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck's own New Year's Eve show, which takes place at Shooters Downstairs Lounge on SATURDAY NIGHT! Thursday jams nights aside, this will be Soundcheck's first concert since playing at Jay's Piston Broke Pub this past Friday, but unlike that show, Saturday's New Year's Eve party has had plenty of advance notice on both the band's and venue's fronts! Soundcheck have played often at Shooters this year to positive audiences, so they should be a fine choice to send 2022 out at the Dennis Street nightclub with their old school hard rocking covers! Expect some type of New Year's frills, as this show will have a cover charge, but only $5, so if you want a much cheaper option than the Sault Ontario shows above, here you go! There will be a 19+ age limit as usual, and the festivities have a later run time of 9:00 PM-3:00 AM.

This has been a quiet year for concerts as we come out of the pandemic control measures, but it's good to see a solid slate of hard rock action in the Twin Saults on Saturday for your New Year's Eve partying needs, so visit Soundcheck's Facebook event page and the above links for more details, and here's Soundcheck live at Shooters!

That's all for today, but unless there's late notice shows, I'll next see you guys on Saturday for our annual year-in-review post! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Wyld Stallyns) & The Soo's Got Talent 2022 Finals Recap (Part 2!!)

Two topic post today, including the continuation of our coverage of a major local competition (that'll need a third post to complete), but first, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for (literally) the end of the year!

Local funk/hard rock cover band The Wyld Stallyns will open for fan favourite Toronto funk/dance collective My Son The Hurricane when they return to Sault Ste. Marie on Saturday, December 31st at The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre! The Wyld Stallyns confirmed their involvement on their Facebook page yesterday, and are listed on this promotional image. A rare appearance for The Stallyns in a support slot for a touring act in city limits, one has to assume that Josh Norling will be present to match M.S.T.H.'s horn section-laden brand of "brasshop", so look for The Wyld Stallyns to set the tone well with their lively and fan friendly brand of covers at year's end! Still featuring former Rising Tide/Redefined drummer Danno O'Shea in their ranks, this will be My Son The Hurricane's third local date of the year, after previously rocking the Bushplane Museum in April and LopLops Lounge in September, following numerous prior gigs here.

Hopefully there won't be a need for the fire department to be called down again like that one time (you had to be there), and that any smoke and heat comes the natural way from their set! I am unsure if LopLops are promoting this one too (they did for the first two 2022 dates), but tickets run for $64.67 at this link, and there is an 8:00 PM start time. No word on in-person availability and a possible age limit, let alone any New Year's Eve frills, but the Saturday timing for that holiday is quite fitting. Visit the above links for more details on what should be a fun & funky way to end the year!

Next up, let's finally continue our look at The Soo's Got Talent's final round coverage from October 21st at Soo Blaster! For our coverage of each finalist's first song and the guest performances, click here or scroll down to our post from Sunday. All six finalists performed a second song for the judges' evaluation that night in the exact same performance order, with the twist being that they sung with Handsome Sandwich (minus Taylor) backing them up! It's not clear from the videos (again filmed by Passion Video Productions) if the songs were limited to things that the band knew already or if they learned them for the finals, and/or if these happened to be judges' picks like in prior years, but props to Jesse, Mitch, Rafael, and Johnny for giving some live instrumental heft! The first full-band performance had Nanette Garcia & Handsome Sandwich covering Patti Smith's classic rock staple "Because The Night".

Nanette does come off a little unsteady here, perhaps not as familiar with this song as others she did in the competiton, but she carries it well, so give her second final round song a watch below!

Next on the 21st was singer/guitarist Colin Gasparelli, who did play acoustic guitar for his song here (as a result, Jesse Cook sat this one out). The theory that the finalists were limited to songs that Handsome Sandwich knew already may be accurate here, as Colin goes way off board for his second song, a cover of "When A Hero Cries" by German power metal band Edguy. The song is slightly re-arranged, but still, very unexpected! "When A Hero Cries" is a ballad, so it better fits Colin's wheelhouse than most Edguy songs, and while I don't think it's the right fit for his vocal range, he puts his all into it and you can tell. Check out Colin & Handsome Sandwich below!

We'll close this post with the third performer in the finals, namely Xavier Pelletier LeBoeuf, who joined Handsome Sandwich (with Jesse back) for a cover of Pink's "Raise Your Glass". Xavier even gave each judge a glass before the song began for them to raise, so points for thinking outside the box! Of the first half of the finalists, Xavier fit in the best with Handsome Sandwich for cover choice and on-stage comfort, and while she did have some shakiness on the choruses, you could be believed if you thought she was their singer for a second. Give their cover a look below!

We'll tackle Ali, Amanda, and M.J.'s final performances with Handsome Sandwich (plus the final results) in an upcoming post, but with weekend concert previews and this month's Defunct Local Band Profile ahead, we may not finish everything off until the weekend. Stay tuned in any event, and weekend concert previews are next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Bone Yard, Fort Creek, And Soundcheck), Weekend Concert Previews, And More!!

A busy weekend lies ahead if you're a fan of classic and hard rock cover bands, so let's dive into this weekend's concert previews on this Friday morning, largely comprised of SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, plus one new video! Here's what you should know!

Local southern hard rock quintet Fort Creek will return to Reggie's West for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the band only announced the show via their Facebook page yesterday, something they did acknowledge was due to bassist Robin "Bones" Lee (who apparently designs their show posters) being busy lately. TOMORROW'S one night only gig will be Fort Creek's first since rocking the downtown Reggie's two weeks ago, but west end fans have had a surprisingly long wait, with the band last appearing at the former Rosie in March. Compared to recent gigs, this appears to be more of a stripped down affair, with no advertised opening act TOMORROW, nor any big hype towards their upcoming EP, but as seemingly usual, there will be merchandise giveaways again. You can take in Fort Creek's hard rocking covers TOMORROW at 8:00 PM with no cover charge and a 19+ age limit. See above for more details, and here's Fort Creek live!

Next up, fellow local southern hard rock band Bone Yard will return to Shooters Downstairs Lounge for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT, before hitting The Rockstar Bar for a previously advertised concert on SATURDAY NIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice on the Shooters date, it was only announced via its Facebook event page on Wednesday. The odd situation of them playing separate venues is likely due to The Rockstar Bar only currently booking live music on Saturdays, and clearly Bone Yard wanted to play somewhere TOMORROW too, hence the venue split and the later announcement for Shooters. Bone Yard will now have played at Shooters in three straight weekends, while Saturday's show will be their first at The Algonquin Hotel in over a month. Greg, Alex, and Warren should have lots of southern tinged classic and hard rock covers in store for fans at both venues this weekend, so don't miss out!

Both TOMORROW'S Shooters concert and Saturday's Rockstar Bar gig have 8:00 PM start times, 19+ age limits, and no cover charges. Visit the above links and the Rockstar Bar show's Facebook event page for more details, and for a preview, here's some a brand new live-streamed Facebook video of Bone Yard covering The Beatles' "Come Together" at Shooters this past Saturday! The vertical angle and low framerate are unfortunate, as is the lack of fans close to the stage, but the guys handle this Beatles standby very well, and the audio quality holds up, so check it out below, and look for more at Shooters Downstairs Lounge TOMORROW!

Also this weekend, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to Reggie's Place on Queen Street East TOMORROW for one night only, before heading down to the aforementioned Shooters Downstairs Lounge on SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies again for the short notice on both of these dates, I only learned about them earlier this week via drummer Glen Thomas' personal Facebook page (the band has since posted a Facebook event page for the Shooters gig but have yet to do so for Reggie's). Shooters only booked bands on SATURDAYS initially, so that much isn't shocking for Soundcheck, but with Bone Yard pulling a single nighter there TOMORROW, it looks like a similar situation for Soundcheck wanting to play two nights this weekend, no matter where. Fans will have just seen Soundcheck at the downtown Reggie's last weekend, while they last rocked Shooters three weeks ago.

Hopefully Terry, Cameron, Paul(?), and Glen have a great weekend despite the late notice for both TOMORROW & SATURDAY's concerts, and look for lots of classic and hard rock covers, plus a bit of country regardless! Both have 8:00 PM start times, no cover charges, and 19+ age limits. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Soundcheck live!

Finally for this weekend's currently known hard rock concert previews, here's one that definitely had advance notice, as local acoustic hard rock quartet The Wyld Stallyns will be among the entertainment at Gore Street charity grocery store Grocer 4 Good's "Come As You Are Gala" at The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Center THIS SATURDAY NIGHT! A special event to honour and thank staff, volunteers, and supporters of Grocer 4 Good (which provides groceries to the downtown core and helps the disabled and delayed with employment opportunities), Saturday night's festivities will include dinner and concessions from local restaurants, a silent auction table, and a cash bar, while the title of the event is apt, as attendees are encouraged to wear whatever they like (pajamas and full costumes are fair game!) Musically speaking, The Wyld Stallyns will be playing in the back half of the gala after dinner wraps up alongside a country band led by Daryl Seabrook.

As well, singer Juliana Regan will perform during dinner proper, so there will be live music earlier in the evening too! Saturday's festivities are absolutely all ages, they begin at 6:00 PM, and while the gala does have ticket prices of $40 ($300 for a party/table of 8), remember what all you're getting & supporting by attending. You can buy yours online at this link and presumably at the door. This should be a great event to support Grocer 4 Good's suitably very good work, and The Stallyns' diverse & often heavy cover attack should provide a fun diversion at the Bushlane Museum to help end the evening! See above for details, and here are The Wyld Stallyns live!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile on the site next! Thanks everyone!

Glambition Festival/Concert Preview, Plus New Videos!!

As promised, our weekend concert previews conclude today with an extended look at a very intriguing (if somewhat cryptic) community festival tomorrow, plus some new videos of relatively new band lineups to round things out with. Here's what you should know!

Local party metal duo The Apocalypse Afterparty will play their first public concert set of the year TOMORROW NIGHT when they take part in the oft-delayed Glambition fundraiser festival at The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre! Readers and interested parties may recall hearing about this event dating back to its original date on November 20th of last year, but pandemic capacity restrictions, COVID-19 case count rises, and unforeseen circumstances forced it to be postponed to December 18th, January 30th, April 23rd, and ultimately, tomorrow. Glambition is a benefit event for local youth homeless shelter Pauline's Place and in support of community togetherness, a very important idea as we start Pride Month, so the right intentions are present throughout, and kudos to the organizers for sticking with Glambition for six & a half months rather than just giving up on the idea! 

This is presented as multi-cultural community festival with musicians, singers, dancers, fashion shows, stand-up comedy, food/drink vendors, and a raffle of some kind, but organizers have surprisingly not listed a performance schedule on Facebook, let alone a list of the scheduled artists. Pauline's Place fundraising manager Karam Singh was quoted hyping Glambition in this SooToday article by new reporter Alex Flood, while Karam was also interviewed on ONNtv's First Local on Monday about Glambition, again without citing performers by name. Apocalypse Afterparty frontman Paul Stanghetta did tell me in a Facebook conversation that a young local jazz band was performing too, but unfortunately, that's all I've got. The A.A. have been hyping their involvement in Glambition right along though, and hopefully Paul & Amanda make some more fans at this diverse family-friendly festival tomorrow!

A 6:00 PM start time is in effect for this all ages event, and tickets run for $11.34 at this link. Door entry is presumably an option of capacity allows, but Glambition will reportedly be capped at 300 attendees, so get yours A.S.A.P. just in case. Despite the cryptic nature of the performer lineup, it is awesome to finally see Glambition going forward tomorrow night (assuming there's no sudden postponement again), and helping Pauline's Place is a wonderful idea, so don't miss out at the Bushplane Museum tomorrow! Visit the above links for more details, and here's The Apocalypse Afterparty live!

Next up, here's some new videos from both of Bear Hunters guitarist Mitch Sirie's newest local band projects, starting with the first publically posted clip of the expanded five-piece These Magnificent Tentacles lineup! Shot by Dryer Fire's Nicole Dyble at their Wilson Street open house last month (apologies again for missing that in our weekend concert previews at the time) and shared to the company's Facebook page on May 23rd, it was joined by a video of fellow performers The Dynowaves that same day, plus a short video of vendors at the open house. As for the T.M.T. video, it was uploaded in square dimensions, and it sees The Tentacles playing an instrumental piece for one minute, all looking very determined and serious in the moment (except maybe Brad, who's largely obscured by Steve at this angle). As such, this may not be an ideal look at the new lineup, but what we hear sounds promising enough!

Surprisingly doomy but still melodic piece that deviates well from their punk-leaning base of old, and it will be interesting to see how the guys progress throughout mid-late 2022! Give it a look below, and see more from Dryer Fire's open house above, and also keep tabs on their summer concert series, which is largely hard rock-devoid, but certainly not lacking in musical talent! Give Nicole some support and check them out!

Finally, here's two new jam session clips of local death metal band Exploring Detritus, as posted to their Facebook page on Wednesday and earlier today, though neither features Mitch, who hasn't been seen in any of their videos since he was announced as their singer/guitarist last month. Busy personal schedule, or have they not reported his exit yet? Click here to watch the former Kaepora Gaebora playing for a minute, but I'm actually embedding the shorter 30 second clip below, as guitarist/founder Dan Souliere is handling lead vocals in it, and he sounds suitably brutal while it lasts! We'll let you know if there's any clarification about their frontman status, but give these four-piece jam videos a watch above & below!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's delayed "Where Are The New Albums?" post on the site next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Rhythm And Brews & The Wyld Stallyns), The Tym Morrison Concert Preview, And More!!

After a break for my 33rd birthday, we're back in business at the SMS with a new news post to kick off June 2022! Alongside a preview of a special Wednesday night concert tonight and some new live videos from just last week, we're kicking things off with LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS on both sides of the border, so here's what you should know!

Local acoustic hard rock quartet The Wyld Stallyns will be among the musical entertainment at a "Come As You Are Gala" for downtown charity grocery store Grocer 4 Good on Saturday, June 11th at The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Center! This special community event is in support of the Gore Street establishment that helps provide groceries to downtown residents while also giving employment opportunities those with employment issues and developmental disabilities, so they definitely are grocers for good! The event proper is designed to celebrate and recognize staff, volunteers, and supporters of the store, and will feature catering and meals from local restaurants, a silent auction table, and a cash bar, so definitely visit the ticket page on Eventbrite for full non-musical details! The Wyld Stallyns and a country & western band led by Daryl Seabrook will supply musical entertainment that night, while singer and 2019 Soo's Got Talent runner-up Juliana Regan will perform during the dinner portion of the evening. 

A 6:00 PM start time is in effect for this all ages gala, which has tickets running for $40 (remember what all this includes and what cause it's supporting), and table reservations for 8 people cost $300. The Wyld Stallyns' set will definitely be in the back half of the gala once dinner wraps up, so don't expect them or Daryl & crew until at least 9:00 PM. This may seem very out of left field for The Stallyns, but they have played at the Bushplane Museum before (remember the Entomica fundraiser last summer?), and their sound is diverse enough to appeal to a wide array of fans, so look for more unplugged hard and classic rock covers next weekend, and see the above links for more on the gala!

Next up, let's head to the E.U.P., as Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Rhythm & Brews will return to The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino on Friday, July 8th & Saturday, July 9th! These are the only completely new hard rock concert announcements at the two local Kewadin Casino branch lounges through their most recent schedule extension through the end of July, with anything else SMS-friendly  already being announced by the bands in question. These will be the 415E sister band's first shows at the St. Ignace Kewadin since February, with Brandon, Chris, Brett, and Ron last being seen together in April at The Rapids Lounge in the Soo. While still very scant for public media of their shows, this supergroup of Nixxon Dixxon, Clownsack, and Monkey's Uncle alumni should have lots of solid covers in store next month! Expect 9:00 PM start times, no cover, and 21+ age limits, and see above for more details! 

Now let's head back to Sault Ontario for a special Wednesday evening concert preview, as local classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison will play his first Mike Case Memorial Stage concert of the season TONIGHT outside of The Trading Post! Given the days Tym usually plays on (even factoring in his weekly Thursday shows at Gliss pre-pandemic), the mid-week scheduling is odd, especially when today nor tomorrow is a holiday, but this could be a simple as The Trading Post wanting to start the summer months off on the right foot with live music at the start of June. If so, good sign for Tym and his extensive setlist of familiar covers to be called in right away, and if things remain steady (pandemic willing), we could be seeing much more of him at 1332 Great Northern Road through September! For now, tonight's show has a 7:00 PM start time (ending at 9:00), no age limit, and no cover charge.

As for the weather, 9&10 News is projecting things to be sunny with temperatures of 11-12°, and assuming the show isn't delayed past 9:25 PM, it will end before sunset, so conditions are very favourable (and much less humid than yesterday!) Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Tym live in 2020!

Finally for today, here's five new cover songs from local classic/hard rock cover band Soundcheck's between-guest songs during last week's jam night that they host at Reggie's West on Thursdays! Like with many of his prior Reggievelt jam gig videos on drummer Glen Thomas' YouTube channel, these were as a trio without singer/guitarist Cameron Oliver, while frequent fill-in bassist Rob Gilmar was also present in place of Paul Belair, both for unannounced reasons (at least online). The videos are covers of ZZ Top's "Tush", Bryan Adams' "Cuts Like A Knife", The Tragically Hip's "New Orleans Is Sinking", David Wilcox's "My Eyes Keep Me In Trouble", and as embedded below, Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead Or Alive". With Cameron absent, Terry Eaton naturally handles lead vocals here... except the Bon Jovi cover, with Rob singing lead instead, and he gets the job done well, especially compared to the real Bon Jovi in 2022!

Note that Glen again filmed these with a mounted aerial camera, and while these were apparently filmed for the benefit of a drum student of his, he was asked to post them publically. This may explain the heavy post-production lens flare in two corners of the screen, perhaps to direct visual focus onto the drumming, but I can't 100% say if that was the intent. Still solid covers for fans of Terry and Glen's extensive local music work, so give these videos a look for yourself above & below!

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