Cross Dog & Half Past Concert Previews, Plus More Updates!!

In today's SMS post, we are finishing off this weekend's hard rock concert previews with two big downtown shows tomorrow night, along with updates from a prominent local band & a new live video with some familiar faces, so here's what you should know!

We'll pick up our weekend concert previews TOMORROW NIGHT, when Peterborough hardcore punk trio Cross Dog will return to the Soo for a special headlining concert in the basement of Discover The Canvas Studio at 317 Wellington Street West! Featuring ex-Fuller/Lion Ride/et al. bassist Mark Rand and his wife Tracy Ashenden on vocals, this will be Cross Dog's first local concert since their appearances at 2018 & 2019's Oh!No festivals in Leeburn, and their first public concert in Sault Ste. Marie proper since opening for The Dayglo Abortions at the former Roosevelt Hotel in 2013. Now, another homecoming for Mark should be a big deal, but be advised that as of 6:17 PM, their tour bus broke down outside of Sudbury, and they were waiting on a mechanic scheduled to fix it tomorrow morning. Hopefully things are repaired in short order so that tomorrow's local date goes off without a hitch, but we'll let you know if something changes!

Local openers will include online page-less indie punk quartet Honest Work (last seen when they debuted at Fuller's reunion concert in December) and new local hardcore quintet The Sault Side Squad (in their third public concert), so come early for these newer supergroups! Doors open for tomorrow's public festivities at 7:30 PM with admission of $15 through local openers and $20 at the door, and there is no stated age limit. It will be great to see Cross Dog's furious and no-guitar originals back in town tomorrow, let alone in the basement of a tattoo parlor, so visit the above links for more details, and here's Cross Dog live!

Lastly for known hard rock concerts this weekend, let's head to Soo Blaster, where local hard rock quartet Half Past will have their biggest headlining date since their comeback TOMORROW NIGHT! Metalheads may have last seen Half Past among the openers for Selias at the same venue two weeks ago, but this will see Half Past at the top of the bill, with their proficient modern hard rock covers sure to fill the big Soo Blaster stage tomorrow! They'll even be selling their own band t-shirts tomorrow, which is a neat sign for fans! Bullet Train frontman Cory Murchison (billed as "Cory Daniel" like when he opened for Fort Creek two years ago) will open with an acoustic set, so if you like the former Sense of Truth and Skeyes of Seven singer/guitarist's extensive local career, he should have a solid block of unplugged tunes to kick things off!

This ALL AGES concert takes place tomorrow night at 8:00 PM, and admission is $10 in advance at this link, at the venue, or through performers directly, though you will have to pay $12 at the door if you didn't get yours beforehand. Fans of modern hard rock won't want to miss out on all of the action at Soo Blaster tomorrow night, especially given the scope for Half Past, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here they are live!

Also today, here's some updates on the aforementioned Fort Creek, so what is the southern hard rock band up to nowadays! After unveiling a new band logo in May (which you can now buy official t-shirts with it on), they spent much of the summer working behind the scenes, only posting optimistic teasers about future activity. On September 1st, they revealed on their Facebook page that they were "wrapping up final vocals on our first release", namely an acoustic version of a song named "One For The Road". No updates followed until October 1st, when Fort Creek announced the addition of former Role Models/PROV3RB5 drummer Phil Greco to their lineup, replacing the already departed Anthony Fabiano. The guys talked up his skill set and professionalism, and he is a solid drummer that would be an asset to a long-term band, so it'll be interesting to hear how he factors in! We may not hear him immediately on the acoustic version of "One For The Road", granted, but we'll let you know when their new songs surface.

Fort Creek also posted the new band photo above of Phil alongside Justin, Shane, and Bill standing outside of a truck, but it remains to be seen how they'll handle their bassist vacancy (Robin "Bones" Lee left along with Tony last year). It's been a long and often quiet year for Fort Creek, but hopefully these recent updates are a positive sign, so visit the above links for more from their camp!

We'll close with a new video from (former?) Wyld Stallyns frontman Rob Speers' solo acoustic concert at The Dive Gastro Pub this past Saturday! For the record, it was indoors, so clearly the "Patio Play" conceit is done for the season. Uploaded to The Dive's Facebook page, this is our first public video look at Rob's solo concerts since he began them in earnest, and while this isn't a hard rock or metal cover, I did want to mention it today because Rob's playing with most of Handsome Sandwich here! For this cover, he was joined by singer Taylor Emlaw, guitarist Jesse Cook (Rob's old Elements and Wyld Stallyns bandmate), and bassist Rafael Medina, while the guest hand drummer appears to be local classic rock/country singer/guitarist Jeremy Logan Newman. Handsome Speerwich (how's that for a hybrid name?) are seen in this 24 seconds long clip covering Marcy Playground's "Sex & Candy".

Never a song I loved, but this group cover exudes with good vibes in what we see, and it's fun seeing everyone jamming like this! Check it out below, and look for more acoustic concerts at The Dive to come this fall!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Agnosticism & Cross Dog), Plus Selias Concert Opener Videos!!

For our first post of October 2024, we're looking at some videos from a big recent concert and a pair of LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for later this month, so here's what you should know!

Peterborough hardcore punk trio Cross Dog will make their long awaited return to the Soo on Saturday, October 12th when they set up shop in the basement of Discover The Canvas Studio at 317 Wellington Street West! Yes, this show is taking place in a tattoo parlor's basement, which should lend itself to be an interesting locale! Featuring veteran local punk/metal bassist Mark Rand (last seen locally at last year's Fuller reunion concert) and his wife Tracy Ashenden on vocals, this will be Cross Dog's first local concert appearance since the final Oh!No festival in Leeburn in 2019, and their first public show in Sault Ste. Marie city limits since 2013. Either way, it's been way too long to hear Cross Dog's ferocious and guitar-devoid sound close to home, and hopefully everything goes swimmingly in the basement next Saturday! Local openers (both online page-less) include indie punk quartet Honest Work and new local metal supergroup The Sault Side Squad.

Honest Work united Nebraska Arms & Rising Tide alumni to debut at the aforementioned Fuller reunion concert, but have not been seen since despite their promising and experienced lineup. Meanwhile, The Sault Side Squad just opened for Selias at Soo Blaster and this is just their third public concert, and second in the Soo proper, so don't miss either group on the 12th! Doors open at 7:30 PM for this Thanksgiving long weekend concert, which has no stated age limit and $15 advance tickets (contact the local openers for details) and a $20 door charge. With or without Cross Dog, Mark doesn't return home for concerts too often, so hopefully there's a huge turnout next Saturday, and visit the above links for more details!

Next up, another online page-less (Instagram aside) punk act will return to the stage later this month, as folk punk solo project Agnosticism will return to The Distraction on Thursday, October 17th for a special mixed-genre event in their Stellar Door basement space! No word on why this show will be downstairs, for the record, but I believe it will be the first all-local show at The Stellar Door. On this night, the headliner will actually be Shane "DJ Seith" Erickson with his fan favourite blend of turntable mixes, while young local comedy rock band The Floor Between Us (led by 2022 Soo's Got Talent finalist Colin Gasparelli) will also be performing in a couple of weeks. Of course, Agnosticism is the solo project of prolific local punk guitartist/promoter Mikhal Muto, and will be making their first advertised public concert appearance since opening for the newly renamed The Haze upstairs at The Distraction in June, believe it or not.

It's good to see Mikhal break out his acoustic guitar again after a few months of focusing on electric band gigs and promotion, and it'll be interesting to see how this widely varying genre lineup goes over later this month! While it is on a work/school night for many, this show has an early 7:00 PM start time, it is ALL AGES, and admission is $10 or "pay what you can". Visit the official Facebook event page for more details on the action under The Distraction later this month!

Also, here's some fallout from Saturday night's Selias-headlined concert at Soo Blaster, starting with new local tech death metal band Bardo, who have finally clarified their lineup on their Facebook page! As previously known, frontman/Heavy North Entertainment promoter Tyler St. Amour is joined here by his brother Travis on drums and Christopher Neveau on guitar, reuniting three former bandmates in March Into Regression in the process. The second guitarist from their prior teaser videos is Christopher Brown, who I am not familiar with from prior local bands, but the lineup on their Facebook page actually lists him on bass now, and true to that, Tyler (who primarily played bass in prior local bands) appeared to just sing/growl on Saturday. Interestingly, the Facebook lineup also lists Danielle Roberts as a singer too, but in what capacity? The Them successors did post a live video from the Selias show onto their Facebook page, but she is nowhere to be found.

The 8 seconds-long video (cross-posted from Instagram) primarily focuses on Tyler growling while Travis drums, and is accompanied by post-production effects of the moon. I can confirm that Danielle was standing on the far right in a video shared on personal Facebook accounts, but she was not singing in that clip. My guess is that she's a backing/clean singer, but we await longer/more videos to verify this unless you were at Soo Blaster on Saturday. Regardless, the video is way too short and has unusual dimensions, but it's a promising glimpse of something brutal for metalheads, so check our Bardo briefly below!

Finally, here's a video from local hard rock quartet Half Past's set at the Selias concert, which sees them covering System Of A Down's "Toxicity"! Courtesy of their Facebook page, this fan-shot video sees the filmer head from the floor in front of the stage to beside the stage very early on, so prepare to see a lot of bassist Arthur Lacasse's back at this angle (frontman Jordan Rains is often obscured as a result). The audio is a little muffled, but the camera was definitely good quality, and this cover is strongly done across the board! Give it a watch below, and don't miss Half Past back at Soo Blaster as headliners on Saturday the 12th! Tickets are on sale at the venue, through band members, and at this link!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Nostalgic Band), The Sparrow Blue Concert Preview, And Inactive Band Notes!!

Here's a new news post to check out on this rainy Monday evening, and it includes notes on two bands moved out of our active links, a mid-week concert preview, and leading off, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next week, so let's get things rolling!

Local classic metal trio The Nostalgic Band will return to Jay's Piston Broke Pub for one night only on Friday, September 22nd! Announced a few days after their recent array of fall-winter gigs that we covered on the SMS this past Friday, this will be Tym, Dutch, and Chet's first show at the former Reggie's West in almost a month, and it should prove to be another quality opportunity to take in their old school metal and hard rock covers, so don't miss out! No word on why they're not playing on Saturday the 23rd. It is also worth noting that The Nostalgic Band will give a kick at the can at being jam night hosts at Reggie's Place this Thursday, as per this Facebook event page, with a presumably similar format as the Soundcheck-hosted jam nights at Jay's where audience members are encouraged to perform on stage, with or without the house band. The guys certainly have the chops & setlist ready!

Remember that we don't treat jam nights as "concerts" due to their unpredictability by design, but if you like such events as a spectator or possible participant, keep this Thursday's festivities in mind! As for next Friday's show at Jay's, expect a 9:30 PM start time, 19+ age limit, and no cover charge. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details!

Next up, here's our preview of a special Tuesday night concert TOMORROW NIGHT, as St. Albert, Alberta hard rock band Sparrow Blue will make their local debut at Soo Blaster! This fast rising sextet have been turning heads with their classic rock-inspired yet hard edged original sound that they dub "real thick rock n' roll", and they should leave a strong first impression among local fans tomorrow, so don't bypass Sparrow Blue whatsoever! Local support will come by way of hard/alternative rock quintet Handsome Sandwich and their good friends in indie/alternative quartet Man Feelings (they opened for each other's album release concerts, after all), and it will be good to see them share the stage again! Sponsored by Session Cannabis,  this 19+ show has an advertised 7:00 PM start time running until 11:30 PM, which will hopefully be amenable to those of you with work or school on Wednesday!

Tickets are $10 in advance (plus tax/processing fees) at this link, with the door price jumping to $15. This should be a fun concert for hard and alternative rock fans, with the three bands on offer delivering a little something for most tastes, so definitely visit the official Facebook event page and the above links for more details, and here's Sparrow Blue live!

Also today, we have two local hard rock bands to move to our inactive band links, the first being veteran local hard rock/ska punk band Tripod The Dog. While their public silence online since reuniting may be explained by their lack of an updated online page (their Facebook group was ran by ex-guitarist Greg Beharriel), the band has not publically surfaced in any form since playing in The Esquire Club's Buckets, Bands, and Birds matinee concert series in May 2022. They were scheduled to return to that venue for two weekends last fall (note the G poking out of the tape on this schedule), but they quietly dropped out of those bookings. After a successful local run from the 1990s-2008 and a well received reunion set at Rotaryfest Stage 1 in 2018, frontman Mark Oliverio fully brought back Tripod The Dog on the weekend cover band circuit with a Rockstar Bar gig in April 2019, primarily playing there & at The Esquire Club.

The pandemic ate up a good chunk of their three years back, and Tripod weren't seen most weeks anyway, but it was nice to have them back on weekends when they had gigs, and hopefully we haven't heard the outright last from Mark and the Amendolas, let alone their many prior members!

Finally, the other band moved to our inactive links is young local hard rock band Sylo, better previously known as Raincourt. We have not heard any public updates from Sylo since they opened for Vanity First at a gig in Harmony Beach last July, with Sylo proper never having their own dedicated online presence beyond renaming their YouTube channel. In their original run as Raincourt since the fall of 2021, they were well publicized with two studio original songs, gigs at White Pines Collegiate and last year's Go Skateboarding Day, and this lengthy interview with original guitarist/namesake Raine Rancourt on The Boar's Nest with Don Lewis, but once Raine left the band at some point in June or July 2022, their social media presence dried up. Note that frontman Elijah Russell released a solo acoustic album named "The Late Great Eli Russell" on major streaming services last month, which turned out well for its genre!

I don't know what happened to Raincourt/Sylo after such a promising few months, possibly accentuated if you went to White Pines and saw them in both this band & The Pine Tones, and while losing Raine was a blow for fans, I was curious to see how Sylo would progress as a group. Raincourt's two original songs were promisingly heavy and didn't indicate that teenagers wrote them, so give them and their live videos a watch/listen above, and hopefully we hear more from Elijah, Raine, Owen, and Jakob soon! That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news on the site soon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Molten Imp, Slumshine, And Soundcheck), And Esquire Club Concert Details!!

Today's post was going to be totally different, but some interesting LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS dropped for the fall from two sources, namely Second Line West venue The Esquire Club and local promoters Dryer Fire! The former reflects The Esquire's return to proper nighttime weekend concerts from local cover bands after months of pandemic-influenced matinee gigs, while Dryer Fire have four currently announced shows for the fall at three different downtown venues. Genres vary wildly on both fronts, but here's what you should know on their hard rock/punk-featured gigs ahead!

We'll start with Dryer Fire, who have booked the recently revived art punk solo project Slumshine to open for British Columbia folk solo project Ghostly Hounds on Saturday, September 17th! This show will take place at Dryer Fire's temporary venue at 285 Wilson Street, with Nicole extending the lease there into October (more on the second fall show there in a bit). Slumshine just returned to the stage for the first time post-pandemic at the Sault Ste. Marie Museum this past weekend, but one presumes there won't be the same capacity restrictions at 285 Wilson on multiple fronts, so this could be the first chance many of you have to see Brent & his pink ski mask on a public stage in over 2 years! While Ghostly Hounds don't play punk up front, there are darker thematic elements on display, and they should entertain with their personal take on acoustic folk next month in their local debut!

This presumably all ages concert has $15 advance tickets that you can buy online at this link, while the door price jumps to $20. Regardless, doors open at 7:00 PM. Should be an entertaining show for fans of unplugged folk rock hitting multiple genres on the way, so keep this one in mind, and visit the official Facebook event page for more details! The next two Dryer Fire shows don't have hard rock or punk acts, but note that ex-Shit Liver frontman Josh Penno's solo folk project Penno Cash will open for Zachary Lucky at The Elks Hall on September 20th (details here).

Next up, let's leap to The Esquire Club, who have announced a full band schedule through mid-December for weekend nighttime cover band action, and they first dip into primarily heavier waters on Friday, September 23rd & Saturday, September 24th when classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck make their return to this popular venue! Soundcheck were not part of the rotation for The Esquire Club's "Buckets, Bands, and Birds" matinee series earlier this year, so this will be their first set of concerts there since November 2021. Good to see Terry, Cameron, Paul/Rob, and Glen back at a relatively fresh venue, at least as far as recent bookings go, and hopefully their hard rocking covers find a strong audience there next month! Note that in a comment on the Facebook picture of the schedule, singer/guitarist Terry Eaton implied that Soundcheck were at least in talks to return there on November 4th & 5th as well, but are not listed to play those dates.

If the poster is any indication, pop rock cover quartet L!me will be playing that weekend instead, but we'll let you know if the poster is in error or not, especially as Soundcheck only have the one weekend booked there otherwise. Bands playing at The Esquire Club this fall are starting at 9:30 PM nightly with 19+ age limits and no cover charges. Visit the above links for more details, and look for more from Soundcheck soon!

We'll next head back downtown to 285 Wilson Street for the final of Dryer Fire's fall concert series (as of today, at least), where local industrial metal solo project Molten Imp will make their live concert debut on Friday, October 21st as one of the openers for Peterborough doom rapper Garbageface! Local fans will be no stranger to Garbageface from four regional concert appearances in the late 2010s at both Live705 events and at the former Oh!No festival in Leeburn, and his intense, distinctive brand of hip hop should be welcomed back by fans! Like in Garbageface's prior local stops, this is very much a mixed genre show, but how will Boyd Rendell present Molten Imp as a live act, both as a solo artist now and given the soundscapes he programs? It'll be interesting to find out! Yes, this is the show teased on Molten Imp's Facebook page, and will mark Boyd's first live concert set since AlgomA's final gig in 2019. 

The other scheduled performer on October 21st is Owen MK, a local "dark synth pop" artist who I've never heard of and can't find an online page for. I'll let you guys know if anything else surfaces, but Owen's presence adds to the genre free-for-all! Same as the Ghostly Hounds/Slumshine gig, expect no age limit, doors opening at 7:00 PM, $15 tickets at this link, and $20 door admission. Visit the above links for more details on this and other Dryer Fire-booked events hitting the Soo this fall!

Finally for today, let's take one more look at The Esquire Club's late 2022 concert schedule! First off, if you don't know who Buzzsaw Jaw (playing there next month and in December) are, I do know that they are the current band from former Stiffler's Mom bandmates Michael Davies & Jon Ferguson. Whether they play heavier songs on average or not, I don't know (I can't find an online page for them yet), but keep that band in mind! You may also have seen that local classic/hard rock cover quartet Obsession (now featuring Jess Amodio on vocals) are booked for two weekends ahead there, but the band already confirmed those dates on their website and we listed them already from there. Also, the poster clearly shows the weekends of October 7th-8th & November 18th-19th as having a replaced band with the original band name taped over, but a G is poking out from the November listing.

I may be wrong, but this does look like Tripod The Dog were originally booked for one/both weekends (Mark and crew had mainly been seen at The Esquire Club in the pandemic era), but according to the poster's Facebook caption, "one of the bands cancelled dates". If this was Tripod, hopefully nothing bad happened, and that we see them back on stage in due course! You'll note that the November 18th weekend gigs do have a replacement actively covered on the SMS, but we'll cover those shows in an upcoming post, as this one has been going on a bit long already. See above for much more from Dryer Fire & The Esquire Club, and that's all for today, but stay tuned for more on the site soon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Tarnished) & Weekend Concert Previews!!

With the Victoria Day long weekend (or May 2-4 weekend, if you prefer) almost upon us, let's dive into this weekend's concert previews! Not a packed number of concerts for hard rock acts this weekend, but there's a big show on Sunday to check out, and let's lead off with a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT in the E.U.P.!

Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Tarnished will return to the stage for a concert TONIGHT at The Brickyard Bar & Grill in nearby Rudyard! Apologies for the short notice, which Tarnished themselves acknowledged, but the venue actually announced the show back on May 3rd on their own Facebook page. In case you're unfamiliar, The Brickyard was better known as Dan's Place and occasionally hosted hard rock concerts into the mid-2010s, before re-opening with new name & ownership in 2019. After the usual pandemic hiatus, they have recently began hosting live music again on weekends, with Tarnished's show TONIGHT being their first since rocking the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino in March. No word on where they've been over the spring, but hopefully Alex, Nathan, Isaac, and Josh shake off any stage rust in time to rock The Brickyard TONIGHT!

This concert (located at 18794 South Tilson Road, a half hour southwest of the Soo) has an 8:00 PM start time, 21+ age limit, and no cover charge. Despite the late notice on the band's behalf, hopefully TONIGHT's concert is a hit at a relatively new-ish venue for Tarnished, and I'll definitely keep more of an eye on The Brickyard as the year progresses! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Tarnished live!

Next up, we'll move to previously announced concerts in Sault Ontario, starting with local ska/hard rock veterans Tripod The Dog's third and final stop in The Esquire Club's Buckets, Bands, and Birds series of Saturday matinee concerts TOMORROW! As regrettably missed for coverage on here at the time (apologies again), Tripod fans were able to see Mark and the Amendolas at this popular Second Line West nightclub on March 26th & April 16th, with tomorrow's show ending their run of monthly gigs here before the series concludes without a Tripod the Dog show in June, with regular nighttime weekend gigs expected to return in the fall, pandemic willing. In the Buckets, Bands, and Birds series, expect beer & buffalo wing specials if you go for such things, but remember that the matinee timing will be more amenable to supper-time anyway. Hopefully Tripod The Dog entertain with their well established rock hits tomorrow!

As is the case with other shows in The Esquire Club's Saturday matinee series, this concert has a 3:00 PM start time, no cover charge, and while a 19+ age limit would make sense given the locale, the early timing may be of note if you want to inquire within. Visit the above links for more details, and in lieu of a live video of Tripod the Dog, here's an original song of theirs!

Later on TOMORROW NIGHT, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to Shooters Downstairs Lounge for the second time in just over a week! After an atypical Friday nighter at the Dennis Street nightclub last week, fans and patrons alike will be able to see Terry, Cameron, Paul (or Rob?), and Glen in action once again with their diverse and often hard rocking brand of covers, so consider a downtown trip tomorrow for Souncheck's wide array of familiar tunes! Yes, Soundcheck also hosted their weekly Reggie's West open mic night yesterday, something we traditionally don't cover as a "concert" on here. Saturday's Shooters show has an 8:00 PM start time, no cover charge, and 19+ age limit, as usual for their 2022 shows at this venue. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Soundcheck live at Shooters!

Finally for this weekend, let's head to the Sault Community Theater Center, where Australian tribute band Queen: It's A Kinda Magic will finally take the stage THIS SUNDAY NIGHT! While not as prominently covered as Black Label Society's pandemic saga to get a local booking, Queen: It's A Kinda Magic have had multiple dates locked in at the former Kiwanis Theatre, initially in June 2020 before being pushed to June 2021, and ultimately this Sunday. Kudos to the band & their management for sticking with the Soo through all of the highs and lows of the pandemic, and hopefully nothing goes awry again beforehand! This stop on their current Canadian tour should provide an ample opportunity for Queen fans to see a very faithful tribute to Freddie, Brian, John, and Roger that has received numerous plaudits for their visual presentation and close take on Queen's unmistakable sound (specifically from their 1986 world tour), so come on down for all of the action!

Note that the S.C.T.C. advertising says that It's A Kinda Magic are "back by popular demand", presumably referencing the pandemic rescheduling, as I don't think they've played here. Tickets for this all ages show run for $62 (adults) or $33 (kids 12 and under), with $57 discounted rates for those in a group of 6, and I believe tickets held from the 2020 and 2021 dates will be honoured on Sunday. Ticket sales have been good for this one, with the closest seating available at press time being in the eighth row, so keep that in mind. Click here or visit the in-person box office at the Station Mall to get your tickets. Should be a great time for Queen fans, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Q.I.A.K.M. live!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Soundcheck & Tripod The Dog), Plus Exploring Detritus Updates!!

Another news post here on this Saturday morning, including big updates from a resurgent local death metal band, but let's lead off with two LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for the Victoria Day long weekend! Yes, one of these shows was moved out of yesterday's post due to last night's ultra short notice Wyld Stallyns concert, so let's pick up where we left off!

Local hard rock/ska trio Tripod The Dog will return to The Esquire Club as part of their Saturday matinee series on May 21st! This show was confirmed via the venue's Facebook page on Thursday, though note that the modern day Tripod The Dog do not have a known social media page to promote their shows with (their 2007-2008 Facebook group was not primarily administrated by any current members). This will be Tripod The Dog's third and final date in the Second Line West nightclub's four month series of Saturday matinee concerts, following shows on March 26th & April 16th, which I again apologize for missing for coverage at the time. Also known as Buckets, Bands, and Birds to tie into buffalo wing & drink specials on Saturdays, the series ends in June before The Esquire Club takes a summer break from live bands in advance of a projected return to Friday & Saturday night concerts in the fall, pandemic willing.

As with other shows in their Buckets, Bands, and Birds series, Tripod are on at 3:00 PM on May 21st, there is no announced cover charge, and while the timing may not immediately scream 19+, remember the locale. Hopefully Mark and company have another fun night of rock tunes in store for fans in the west end in two weeks' time, and visit the above links for more details!

Next up, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will also be in live concert action on Saturday, May 21st, specifically when they return to Shooters Downstairs Lounge! The band has not confirmed this date on their own Facebook page at press time, but Shooters did the honours via this Facebook event page on Wednesday as part of a slate of Saturday-only show announcements through early June. One of the first bands to play at Shooters in their 2022 expansion into live music bookings, Soundcheck's shows at the Dennis Street nightclub in March and last month were well received, and while I don't know if there's a firm agreement for them to play there once a month, keep their imminent return in mind, especially over the long weekend! This one-nighter has an 8:00 PM start time, no cover charge, and a 19+ age limit. Visit the above links for more details, and don't miss Soundcheck at Reggie's TONIGHT!

Finally, here's the latest from relaunched local death metal band Exploring Detritus, who have expanded to a quintet by adding some very familiar faces! First, the band announced on April 27th that they had enlisted Bear Hunters guitarist/Handsome Sandwich bassist Mitch Sirie as their new frontman, replacing the already departed Joey Graham. While Mitch is best known as an instrumentalist, his backing work with The Bear Hunters and his legendary vocals on "Squirrel Buddy" are well established, not to mention his singing from his defunct solo projects, so it'll be interesting to see how he handles things as a full time death metal vocalist! In the above statement, the band indicated that Mitch would handle bass with founder Dan Souliere moving back to guitar after temporarily covering bass in their post-reunion materials (Jeph Brown had also previously left), but that's not all!

The band announced yesterday that Mitch's Bear Hunters bandmate Justin Lam had also joined on bass! Mitch will thusly move to guitar, giving the band three guitarists, not unlike The Northwest. Ultra fitting choice given Mitch & Justin's band history together and his own bass skills, so it'll be very interesting to see what becomes of Exploring Detritus 2.0! Now, the presence of half of The Bear Hunters in a different death metal band may give readers some concern as to the future of that band, but I'm not going to rush to call them inactive. Remember, most of their run has seen members doubled up in other projects like Handsome Sandwich, Jack Spades, The Suicide Kings, and Chronic Demonic, and while their activity has definitely slowed down in the 2020s, the pandemic is surely a factor. Unless there's a negative public statement about their status, they'll remain in our active band links until October, one year following their most recent concert.

Lastly from Exploring Detritus' Facebook page, they did post a new video not long after their final lineup update, but it doesn't feature Mitch, Justin, or even Dan. Instead, you'll see guitarist Ryan St. Pierre and drummer Anthony Boudreau jamming an original song for 46 seconds. Sounds promisingly heavy, if from a very tight camera angle, and while the guys are somewhat stiff while we see them, hopefully they'll loosen up more as things naturally progress. Check it out for yourself below, and get more updates from Exploring Detritus at the above links!

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

Mike Haggith Concert Preview, Heavy Lies The Crown Updates, And Much More!!

Before we begin today's post, I wanted to apologize for two missed concerts, as veteran local ska/hard rock trio Tripod The Dog played at The Esquire Club for Saturday matinee concerts on both March 26th & this past Saturday. I only belatedly heard about both shows via bassist John Amendola's personal Facebook page, as Tripod The Dog have not launched an updated social media page to promote their shows, but The Esquire Club's Facebook page did plug both back in February. I profusely apologize again, hopefully both shows were hits, and I will keep better tabs on The Esquire Club's Saturday matinee series in the future!

Today's post otherwise looks at some assorted recent notes and big updates from an E.U.P. band, but let's lead off today for a special Tuesday night concert preview for a Sault Ontario homecoming, as local/Thompson, Manitoba solo stalwart Mike Haggith will play his first Soo date in over two years TOMORROW NIGHT at the Mane St. Cafe on Queen Street East! While certainly visible to local fans with his live-streamed concerts and new albums, Mike hasn't graced a local stage since playing at Outspoken Brewing in August 2019 (partly due to the pandemic), so it'll be great to see the former Din frontman back in town tomorrow! While this solo acoustic gig is far smaller in scope than his cancelled CD release show in 2020, Mike will play both of his Thompson-era albums "If Ever Comes The Day" & "Bridges" in full tomorrow night, along with select older and newer cuts, so prepare for lots of songs you haven't heard in concert here before!

This show has no opening act, and is presumably on a Tuesday due to Mike's busy personal schedule, especially given his day job. This is a FREE & ALL AGES show with a 7:00 PM start time, and CD copies of his two newest albums will be on sale for $10 tomorrow at the Mane St. Cafe (right near Case's Music). It'll be great to have Mike back in the Soo, if only for one night, so fans of his extensive solo catalog who've missed seeing him live in the pandemic era will want to head downtown for all of the festivities tomorrow, and at least it'll end early on a work/school night! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Mike live!

Next up, here's the latest from St. Ignace, Michigan metalcore band Heavy Lies The Crown, who have finally announced their teased return show! Unfortunately, it will not be local, instead taking place 3½ hours downstate in Saginaw, which is mildly surprising given that a factor in the departure of 3/5ths of the band was distance, but if you followed H.L.T.C.'s pre-pandemic live schedule, booking shows downstate rather than in the E.U.P. isn't anything new. Heavy Lies The Crown will be one of six Michigan metal or punk bands on the lineup for The Rock Rebel Show at the Hamilton Street Pub on May 26th, and you may recognize some of the other bands from Lansing rock radio station Q106 's Music Mania tournament last month. Hopefully Brandon & Ted's first live concert in over two years is a hit next month, but how will they look? Well, they have indeed found a new bassist & drummer!

After announcing on their Facebook page last week that they were "back at full strength", they shared this photo featuring an unidentified drummer (so Brandon won't have to drum on the 26th after all!), while also throwing the idea out of playing a show in Gaylord, which is a 2 hour drive from the Soo, customs/bridge traffic permitting. Yesterday, this video was uploaded featuring slow motion grayscale clips of Brandon, Ted, the new drummer, and their new bassist, finishing by teasing that they will be "announcing shows soon". As of this writing, they have not identified the new members by name yet, and they do not appear to have added a new second guitarist to replace Nathan at the moment, but we'll let you know if they clarify anything (for what it's worth, I don't recognize the new guys). Of course, it's great to see Heavy Lies The Crown getting back into the full swing of things!

Even without their massive lineup overhaul earlier this year, the band has not played live since before the pandemic, but the two year break gave them time to record and release their full length album and get more confidence and studio time under their belt, and with just Brandon & Ted left from H.L.T.C. lineups of yore, stage rust won't be as much of an issue in Saginaw next month. Hopefully we'll see them north of the Mack at some point for local fans, but check out all of their new updates above! External embedding of the new lineup video is unavailable due to Facebook content matching the background music from the band's new album.

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 show name:

• If you've been following Sault Ontario metal radio show Metal Morpheus on The Borderline in recent weeks, you'll likely know that the series has continued airing reruns in the past month, hence why I haven't recapped any new episodes lately. No word on where Josh has been, but at least in this hiatus, reruns are still being regularly aired on Sunday nights and re-posted after the fact, unlike for most of their winter break. We'll let you know when/if first run Metal Morpheus episodes resume production!
• Vanity First guitarist Mikhal Muto posted again on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group last week, this time inquiring about jamming or writing with "younger punk musicians" around 17 years of age. He can also sing, and he's open to playing covers. What this means for Vanity First isn't clear, and while Mikhal is still listed on their lineup on their Facebook page, the band has not made any updates there in over a month. In any event, if you want to work with Mikhal in whatever's next, message him at this link or above!
  
• Local/Barrie punk/metal quartet Spades GT will return to the annual Spiderfest in Meyersburg on July 8th! Before the pandemic, the former Jack Spades frequently hit the road for this multi-day punk festival, but now from Barrie, it'll just be a 2½ hour drive. Spades GT are on the smaller Friday lineup without acts familiar to local concertgoers, but Saturday the 9th will see the likes of The Ripcordz & Random Killing, among many others. Hopefully the guys have a great time as usual at Spiderfest this summer!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Tripod The Dog & Soundcheck), Concert Cancellations, And Much More!!

Before we get into today's post, just a heads up on two more concert cancellations for later this month. First, the planned Jack Russell's Great White acoustic show at The Dreammakers Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino next Friday has been cancelled outright "after meeting with Tribal health professionals", which appears to be how Kewadin explains shows called off due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic & related rises in positive case counts. No word on why they're not trying to reschedule it, but it is a shame to lose an intriguing hair metal show like this, and hopefully either version of Great White comes back down the line! All tickets will be refunded, contact kewadinboxoffice@saulttribe.net if you have any extra concerns. Meanwhile, in Sault Ontario, the Glambition fundraiser for Pauline's Place next Saturday at the Bushplane Museum has been postponed a month to December 18th.

As per this SooToday article yesterday, the date change was "due to unforeseen circumstances", though they did not elaborate on if COVID was part of the reasoning or not. Tickets bought for next Saturday will be honoured next month, but refunds are available on request. While the postponement pushes Glambition out of Hunger & Homelessness Awareness Week, it will now be seasonal reflecting Christmas for the homeless community, which is a great idea! All other aspects of the event will be unchanged, though aside from The Apocalypse Afterparty, a performer list is not public yet anyway. Stay tuned for Glambition updates as they roll in!

Now, today's post is mostly comprised of new videos, but it appears that I can't escape SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS this weekend, as we have four more to take note of in the west end, so let's start there, as local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to Reggie's West TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! I apologize for the short notice, Soundcheck only announced these shows via their Facebook event page this morning, as recently usual for their non-Esquire Club gigs. Fans may have seen Soundcheck at Reggie's West last night too as hosts of their weekly open mic night (which is they only sporadically promoted online), but TONIGHT & TOMORROW'S shows will be their first proper concerts at The Reggievelt since Halloween weekend. Despite the late notice, their brand of hard rocking covers should go over fine with attendees this weekend!

TONIGHT & TOMORROW'S shows have 9:00 PM start times, no cover charges, and 19+ age limits, but vaccine passports are mandatory to attend, and please respect and follow any social distancing and public health guidelines. See above for more details, and for a preview, here's a brand new video of Soundcheck live at The Esquire Club last week! Posted to their Facebook page on Sunday, this features the guys covering The Black Keys' "Lonely Boy" with guitarist Cameron Oliver on lead vocals. Honestly, I hate this song, but Soundcheck do liven it up a fair amount compared to the original, and the recording quality is solid! Give it a look below, and don't miss these shows!

Next up, veteran local alternative hard rock trio Tripod The Dog will play their first concerts of the pandemic when they return to The Esquire Club TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice, we only heard about these gigs via bassist John Amendola's Facebook event page late last night (remember, Tripod The Dog have not launched any social media accounts to reflect their 2018-present activity, and their 2000s Facebook group is not administrated by current members). Note that John only refers to the band as "Tripod" on the event page, no word on if he's just using the common short form or if the band actually changed their name. Tripod The Dog had last been seen on stage at the same venue in February 2020 before the pandemic ground their live schedule to a halt, but after 21 months, they're back and ready to roll, and hopefully their pace of concerts isn't as sporadic as it was in 2019!

Yes, they are back in our active band links too. You can see Mark and the Amendolas TONIGHT & TOMORROW at 10:00 PM with 19+ age limits and no announced cover charges, but please respect any and all social distancing and public health measures at The Esquire Club, and you must show your vaccine passport to get in the building. See above for more details, and here's a classic Tripod (The Dog) original!

Finally, I have regrettably moved local punk quartet The Inner City Surfers to our inactive band links. After previously falling inactive in 2013, The Surfers reunited for a highly successful show at LopLops Lounge on August 3rd, 2019, and followed that up by hitting the studio to record three new songs, but only one ("Excess Express") has seen a public release to date, and the pandemic stopped plans to hold a Toronto reunion gig last year as well. The band proper has not updated their Facebook page since wishing fans a happy Halloween last year by way of a Poison parody, so we're well past our standard one year mark. Given their further music commitments and half the band currently living out of town, activity seems to be a bonus when everyone's available, and hopefully they'll return when the time is right, especially given the pandemic! However, I hate to end a Surfers topic on a low note.

Instead, here's a new video from when bassist Brad "Example" Lacell was recently in town, featuring him, frontman Dustin Jones, and Dustin's daughter/frequent guest performer Jett covering the late great John Prine's song "Angel of Montgomery"! Uploaded to Jett's YouTube channel on November 3rd, this is obviously a huge departure musically from The Surfers, but the entire band are huge fans of John Prine, and it's nice to see Dustin & Brad playing together again, if acoustically. The audio quality isn't crystal clear, but everyone performs well, and Jett's developing a strong voice herself, so give their cover a watch below!

Unless there's another hard rock band with short notice gigs this weekend, that's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site this weekend! Thanks everyone!

A New Local Band, Tarnished Concert Preview & Updates, And Much More!!

I've got another new news post for your guys on this Friday morning, and it's packed with a lot of shorter stories from the last little while, plus a concert preview and related updates, and leading off, a brand new addition to our band links! Here's what you should know!

We have a new local hard rock band to add to our active Sault Ontario band links, and they are named Dealing Without! Details are minimal on this band so far, but they have a promising lineup, including Isolation Sessions/ex-Half Past bandmates Jordan Rains and Arthur Lacasse on vocals & guitar respectively, alongside former Big Mistake guitarist Rick Atkins and ex-Fitswitch drummer Larry Mousseau. A bassist has not been brought on board yet, but Arthur had posted in the Musicians Wanted Facebook group yesterday looking for one (they do have a jam spot.) Message Art at this link or above for details! It's not yet clear if Dealing Without's existence will mean anything negative towards The Isolation Sessions' status, though note that they did post on Facebook as recently as January, and remember that their nature & inception were very tied into the pandemic.

Sonic inspirations with Half Past's final lineups will be easy to make re: Dealing Without, but time will tell how they truly look and sound. Will they jump in on the social distance-regulated concert scene where available, or will their live debut wait until things are more opened up? Time will tell, but this lineup has the chops! Stay tuned to their Facebook page for more updates on Dealing Without when they rolls in!

Next up, here's a rare weekend concert preview, as Sault Michigan hard rock band Tarnished (minus Nathan) will perform publically in Hulbert Township for the first time TOMORROW NIGHT at The Hulbert House Bed & Breakfast! A new venue for us, this bed & breakfast at 9920 South North Hulbert Road has hosted a few live bands in recent months, and hopefully will serve to be a solid venue for Alex & Josh's unplugged cover attack! If you're up for the hour-long drive west to Hulbert, this show has no announced age limit or cover charge, and a 9:00 PM start time. While we're on the subject, Tarnished will also be taking a rare road trip outside of our coverage range to Traverse City today for a show at The Workshop Brewing Company (details here), and will be appearing again on The Eagle 95.1 with Tim Ellis again at 9:10 AM today for the exclusive public debut of their new single "SDR&R"!

Pre-orders for the single will proceed after the interview, though availability of it beyond the FM dial is to be confirmed. Tarnished are definitely staying busy this weekend, so follow along with all of their upcoming activities on their Facebook page or above, and to preview tomorrow's Hulbert Happy Hour gig, here's Alex & Josh live!

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

 

• I have removed Sault Ontario death/trance metal solo project Black Cloud from our band links again due to the unfortunate deletion of their known online pages & media for unannounced reasons at some point in the last couple of months. Black Cloud had previously done this in late 2019, before returning with new pages that were updated from February-July of last year. Peytan has definite potential in extreme metal, and hopefully we see Black Cloud return (again) in some form again down the road!
• I have replaced the link for local goregrind solo project Crucify The Whore from their surprisingly deleted Facebook page to their Bandcamp page. As far as I can tell, C.T.W. are still active, as their other social media accounts are still up, and have been updated as recently as January, though it's worth noting that C.T.W.'s deleted page was previously Tyler's cybergrind project Malignant Neoplasm's page after the closure of their original page. Maybe it was taken down due to content flags, given their very polarizing imagery & subject matter? In any event, we'll let you know when Tyler has new music updates from any of his projects!
• Hard rock musician Mike McCleary has been moved to our inactive band links due to a year's inactivity, last being seen posting a single on Bandcamp in February 2020. A quickly prolific addition to our coverage, Mike released a number of digital albums to Bandcamp in the late 2010s, often dealing lyrically in his own mental health battles & national politics, but his public profile sharply decreased in 2019 due to personal concerns, including the deletion of his Facebook page & two of his more political albums. Mike's a talented guy, and hopefully he resumes his original music again in the future!
• Local post-punk duo Orange are "coming back, baby!", as per their Facebook page on Tuesday. Featuring Telephone & Address' Christopher Shoust on drums alongside Ohio-based guitarist Matt Zook, Orange initially reunited in 2014 for studio work and album plans, but aside from some Soundcloud postings, nothing came of it until their last proper public update in March 2015. Good to see Orange back after six years, and they are back in our active links!
  
• Last week, The Soo's Got Talent posted on their Facebook page to say that they're "looking into going virtual", and asked fans what they thought about the idea. We all know why the multi-week local talent competition didn't take place last fall, and with lingering uncertainty even with vaccines beginning to roll out, hosting the 2021 installment online may make sense to bring The Soo's Got Talent back in the near term. Stay tuned for updates!
  
• Veteran ska/hard rock trio Tripod The Dog have been moved to our inactive band links due to a year's inactivity. The fan favourite band has not been seen since rocking The Esquire Club on February 9th of last year, though the pandemic & their lack of a recent online page are both acknowledged. After a successful reunion set at Rotaryfest in 2018, frontman Mark Oliverio brought Tripod The Dog back full-time in 2019 on the local bar cover circuit, though gigs were spaced out moreso than other contemporaries. Hopefully we'll see Mark and the Amendolas back at it when concerts as normal can return!

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