LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (The Rock Orchestra & Riverside Stasis), Fefe Dobson Concert Fallout, And More!!

Before we settle into weekend concert preview mode for the Thanksgiving long weekend, here's a packed news post on this early Thursday morning, including some assorted shorter updates, known videos from a recent concert, and leading off, two nearby LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS that are notable in different ways, so here's what you should know!

Local alt-hard rock band Riverside Stasis and acoustic punk cover duo Dos Amigos will join forces for a special outdoor concert on Friday, October 16th at The Canopy on top of Village Media headquarters! The rooftop space at 298 Queen Street East has been used sparingly as a live concert venue this year, notably at last month's second Downtown Street Party, where Dos Amigos' sister band BookcluB already played a headlining set. Next Friday's show will be the premiere of Village Sessions, a rooftop concert series that is implied to not be returning until 2027 (it will be mid-October next week, after all), but it will be a platform for originals-focused local headlining bands, and the corner of Queen and Bruce will be closed to accommodate the concert. In fact, this concert will have two hosts, namely long-time Rotaryfest Stage 1 MC Andrew Stuetz and Pat Mackan, who is the administrator of the Musicians page on Village Media's social media network Spaces.

After taking September off from the stage, Riverside Stasis will be fresh off of playing two concerts this Friday (more details in our weekend concert previews), while Dos Amigos remain busy even if their social media accounts don't (they recently played a private gig at a retirement home, believe it or not), and this will be a fun change of pace before it gets too cold for practical outdoor gigs! This is obviously free and all ages next week, and is expected to run from 7:00-10:00 PM. Hopefully the weather cooperates to give the Village Sessions pilot a fair shot, so visit the above links and Andrew's SooToday article for more details on all of next week's rooftop action!

Next up, the first major SMS-amenable concert at GFL Memorial Gardens for 2027 has been announced for Tuesday, May 11th, but the headliners aren't a major original touring band. Rather, they are The Rock Orchestra, a touring classical group who reinterprets rock and metal songs in epic orchestral and gothic fashion, complete with a dark candlelit stage show and suitable costuming to match, including instrumental performers in makeup and skull masks. The only equitable band to really hit the area is Sault Michigan's Theatre of Night, but they're a metal band with orchestral flourish and a Christmas theme in live performance, whereas The Rock Orchestra are a full-on touring orchestra who just happen to cover bands like Metallica, System of a Down, Evanescence, and The Cranberries (generally with a female singer if not instrumental). They do have a cover album too, with some very creative takes to check out.

The Rock Orchestra have played in Sudbury before to a positive reception, and it will be very interesting to see how they go over in seven months, but there's plenty of time to build anticipation, and videos of their shows will really show what they have to offer better than I can in text! Tickets for this all ages & 7:30 PM concert go on sale on Friday at 1:00 PM at this link or at the arena box office, but the ticket prices aren't being released until sales begin. Visit the above links for much more on The Rock Orchestra's Sault Ste. Marie debut, and stay tuned for more details!

Also today, I have put this off long enough, as there are a few videos on Facebook from the free Fefe Dobson concert at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion last month! Alas, multiple videos from the show were only shared as "Stories" (including at least one of local openers Silent 9 and one from the City of Sault Ste. Marie Facebook page that featured a shot of the line of fans), so I obviously can't link to those here. The Vivid Arts Festival headlining event was a hit based on fan reports on social media, and while multiple videos were posted online on personal accounts, the only page that I have seen permanent public videos shared on is the aforementioned City of Sault Ste. Marie Facebook page. One is actually of Toronto pop rock cover band Goodnight Sunrise's opening set, while the other has clips from Fefe's set. Unfortunately, the City opted to upload both as vertical highlight reel videos with dubbed over stock pop music instead.

Why not let us actually hear raw audio from a well attended concert? I think most fans would rather have heard "Bye Bye Boyfriend" or "Stuttering" rather than Giulio Cercato's "Dance On" while out of context clips of the concert were played. The only positive is that Facebook somehow didn't content match the audio, so I can embed it here. Give it a watch below, and see more from the concert at the above links! 

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

 

• The Full Throttle Saloon has a new home, as they will make the four minute drive northwest from the former Primavera Hall to The Market Mall at 275 Second Line West! Owner Rosa Carello has reportedly leased space in the Cravings Diner location at the now-strip mall, but I'm not 100% sure what this means for Cravings (this SooToday article from last month indicated that that most of their staff were recently laid off due to financial difficulties). A grand re-opening is still to be announced, so we'll let you know when it is, let alone when concerts resume there!
• Over two years after Crooked Music closed, Sault Michigan finally has a new local music store, named Rockstars Music! Located at 212 Ashmun Street (beside Ozone of the North), they opened on September 13th, and offer gear for sale as well as studio recording space, instrument repair, and lessons on multiple instruments, with Tarnished/Crush frontman Alex Traynor and Nameless guitarist Mike East serving as instructors (as best as I can tell, Alex is the owner). No word on if they'll sell local CDs like Crooked/Grooves Music did, but it's great to see a new music store back in the EUP, so stop in weekdays from 11:00 AM-5:00 PM!
• In the wake of the passing of Canadian hard rock singer Sass Jordan last week, The Sault Star re-published the interview that Jeffrey Ougler conducted with her in August 2008 in advance of her last local appearance at the Bell Border Jam festival in Sault Ontario. The article erroneously dates the show to "the fall of 2008" and otherwise stripped out mentions of the now 18-year old event, but it's a good interview with Sass reflecting on the ups and downs of her career, whether she could have theoretically auditioned for Canadian Idol, and the future of the music industry. Kudos to the paper for reposting the interview, and R.I.P. Sass!

 

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Bone Yard 225) & Mid-Week Concert Previews!!

An unusually busy stretch of mid-week hard rock concert previews is upon us, so before the actual weekend concert previews begin in earnest, here's what you should know for hard rock concerts tonight and tomorrow, starting with a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!

Local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 will play a special "uncorked" concert TOMORROW at the old A&W at 121 Great Northern Road! Apologies for the short notice, the band never publically confirmed this booking on social media, but it is on their website's calendar and postings from members' personal accounts. The band isn't confirmed in the AI-generated poster for the event either, but Bone Yard are no strangers to playing charity car & bike shows at either A&W on Great Northern. Typically, they're booked for the Cruisin' The Dub car shows at the newer A&W down the highway, but the smaller and older A&W is typically used for motorcycle shows, and TOMORROW'S will be the annual August one in support of the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada. Expect raffle prizes, merchandise, and lots of bikes, with prizes also existing for bikers entering their rides, and click here for full details on the event.

In frontman Greg Simpson's first of two shows in the coming week (more on the second in a few days), your local 225's acoustic outdoor set takes place TOMORROW from 5:00-7:00 PM with no cover or age limit, but consider buying a Teen Burger, as $2 from each purchased TOMORROW will be donated directly to MS Canada. At press time, 9&10 News is calling for 23° temperatures with sunny skies. Kudos to "the dirty three" for supporting a wonderful charity again, and you know they like motorcycles, so visit the above links for more on the bike show, and here's Bone Yard live!

Next up, let's dive into two mid-week shows that did have advance notice, starting with the continuation of prolific local classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison's summer concert arrangement at The Mike Case Memorial Stage outside of The Trading Post TODAY! After this Wednesday evening gig at the outdoor stage at 1332 Great Northern Road, Tym will have just three shows left in this run for 2026, barring an added gig on another day of the week, so consider a run north for his unplugged hard rock covers and other hits! As usual for Tym's shows here, this is a 7:00 PM gig with no cover charge or age limit. 9&10 News is calling for similarly sunny conditions as Bone Yard 225's A&W bike show gig TOMORROW, but for Tym tonight, the temperature is projected to hover around 18°, which is cool for this outdoor series. Visit the official Facebook event page for more on today's concert (Tym's only publically advertised show for this week), and for a preview, here he is live!

Finally, let's look at this year's second Downtown Street Party TOMORROW on Queen Street East! As well promoted via You Belong SSM's Facebook page, tomorrow's festivities will be a double-length street party from Elgin Street all the way to Dennis Street, effectively combining last month's cancelled street party (from Elgin-Brock) with this month's Brock-Dennis event. Fingers crossed that there's no sudden forest fire smoke hazards again, but it will happen rain or shine otherwise! Non-musical activities from the cancelled party will be implemented tomorrow, like Nicole Does Trivia and a screening of Jaws 1 (both at the Downtown Plaza), along with lots of expected family entertainment, vendors, deals and promotions from Queen Street businesses, games, and even a rock climbing wall by the Gardens, so click here for much more on what to expect on this huge stretch of Queen!

While no musicians from last month's cancelled street party were booked tomorrow, there will be three stages of action, one more SMS-geared than the rest. Attendees will want to look up (way up!) towards the roof of Village Media headquarters at the corner of Queen & Bruce Street for a stacked lineup of musicians on "The Canopy", and the elevation alone will set this rare concert apart! Bands there tomorrow will include headlining alternative/punk cover sextet BookcluB at 9:30 PM, local/Barrie alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith (with his Big Finish Band presumably in tow) at 8:15 PM, and Dustcovers singer/guitarist "Just" Tom Peer opening at 7:00 PM. Timeslots are identical on the other two stages tomorrow, including a folk/blues lineup of Jay Case, The Preacher & His Jackleg Band, and Matthew James playing at the OLG Stage at the corner of Queen & March Street.

Also, EDM artists Flummoxx, Hippie Business, and Skeletune will perform at an outdoor stage near Outspoken Brewing, so if your musical interests lean in any of these three directions, you have lots of options on Queen tomorrow! Downtown Street Party #2 is FREE & ALL AGES with a 6:30-11:00 PM complete timeframe. 9&10 News has temperatures starting similarly to the Bone Yard 225 A&W gig TOMORROW, but dipping from 23° to 18° by night's end, and some clouds will arise. Hopefully things go smoothly for the City, attendees, vendors, and musicians alike for what should be a packed evening, including the rocking lineup on top of The Canopy! See above for more details, and for a preview, here's BookcluB live!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews and more on the SMS shortly! Thanks everyone! 

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Downtown Street Party #2) & A Video From Last Month's Sandman Show!!

For our ninth post already this month, this is a two topic post, starting with a big LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for later this month, and ending with a video from a recent tribute band concert here. Let's get things rolling!

Over one month after the City of Sault Ste. Marie's second Downtown Street Party on Thursday, July 16th was cancelled due to that day's severely poor air quality, they will host the planned third (now second) one on Thursday, August 20th! Originally scheduled to take place on a closed stretch of Queen Street East from Elgin to Dennis Street, they're basically doubling the size of this one to include the Brock-Elgin stretch that was gypped out of last month's street party, so this will virtually take place from the former BMO building all the way down to the bus terminal. Going along with this, they will try again for the Downtown Plaza aspects of last month's cancelled street party, including re-booking Nicole Does Trivia and the live screening of Jaws 1 there. Click here for full details on non-musical activities to expect on Queen Street two weeks from tomorrow (even a rock climbing wall!)

Musically speaking, there will actually be three "stages" for Street Party #2, but sadly, none of the acts on the 20th are ones who were scheduled for the cancelled street party last month (nor were any of them scheduled for Stage 1 at Rotaryfest that same day). One stage will be up... way up atop Village Media headquarters (a space they call "The Canopy"), which has sparingly hosted live bands in recent years, and this is where SMS readers will likely be most interested, as punk/alternative cover sextet BookcluB and local/Barrie alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith (presumably with The Big Finish Band) will be playing on the roof at 9:30 & 8:15 PM respectively! Opening on The Canopy is Dustcovers frontman "Just" Tom Peer with an acoustic set at 7:00 PM. This should be a fun and unique experience, Mike's high elevation day job acknowledged, so don't bypass this action in just over two weeks!

As for the other stages, they will try again re: having bands at the corner of Queen & March Streets (the cancelled Brock-Elgin street party would actually have been from March-Elgin), and that stage will be headlined by prolific local folk/blues musician Jay Case with support sets from blues singer/guitarist Josh "The Preacher" McNally and his Jackleg Band, as well as folk singer/guitarist Matthew James. The bonus third stage will basically be a reprise of Stage 3 from Rotaryfest, in that it will feature EDM artists/DJs, including Skeletune, Hippie Business, and Flummoxx (all set times are identical to The Canopy's). The EDM party goes down outside of Outspoken Brewing between Elgin and Bruce Street. Downtown Street Party #3 #2 runs from 6:30-11:00 PM on Thursday the 20th, and it is FREE & ALL AGES! The third and final Downtown Street Party for 2026 goes down on September 17th from Dennis-Gore Street, as the parties move west down Queen Street.

Unhealthy levels of forest fire smoke was an unexpected wrench in last month's plans that hopefully won't rear its ugly head again in two weeks, for Northwestern Ontario's sake, let alone wherever that air drifts! Otherwise, these street parties go ahead rain or shine, but still, I do hope that there's no rain to worry about after the two month wait for another one of these! With BookcluB and Mike Haggith's rooftop involvement, this is the most SMS-friendly of the three street party lineups too, so keep everything in mind in two weeks, and visit You Belong SSM's Facebook page for more details!

To close this post, let's look back at a video from one of the concerts that we are backlogged alone in terms of just covering videos from, namely the Sandman concert at The Full Throttle Saloon! The former Primavera Hall have been oddly quiet on social media since this show took place on July 25th, but Mike Blair's 705Live Sound Co. were on hand to man the soundboard for this hard-touring Toronto-based Metallica tribute band, and he did get a video for the 705Live Facebook page! FYI, despite running sound for Rotaryfest Stage 2, Mike didn't post any videos from Clergue Park. The Sandman video runs for 71 seconds of them playing "Enter Sandman" (complete with Rick jokingly mispronouncing "Sault"), and Mike makes effective use of the zoom lens to let us "walk up" to the stage from the soundboard!

It's always fun to see Sandman's faithful take on 1980s and early 1990s Metallica on a local stage, even if this concert's ticket prices were noticeably higher than past shows here, and the crowd looks decent from what is visible. Give Mike's Sandman video a watch below, and hopefully the Saloon proper shot something to upload when their social media break ends!

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