LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Offspring/Sum 41), Doreen Concert Preview, And Last Month's Poll Results!!

After a quiet weekend with personal matters, we are back with a big news post on this Monday evening, so what's below to check out? The results of last month's poll, a mid-week concert preview, and leading off, here's a huge LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for later this fall!

California punk legends The Offspring and Ajax, Ontario punk quintet Sum 41 will join forces for a huge concert at GFL Memorial Gardens on Tuesday, November 19th! This will be the first ever local date for The Offspring, who will be very familiar to punk fans and rock radio loyalists from hit songs like "Self Esteem", "Gone Away", "Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)", and many others, and with a new album on the way, it'll be awesome to have Dexter and company at the Gardens this fall with plenty of classic songs to go around! As for Sum 41, it has been 15 years since we last saw them on a local stage, following their Roberta Bondar Pavilion headlining concert in September 2004, and with familiar songs like "Fat Lip", "Still Waiting", and "Screaming Bloody Murder", their return to the Soo should be welcomed by punk and metal fans alike this fall! Note that this will be their first local stop with Gob's Tom Thacker on rhythm guitar (though we've seen Gob here twice since), as well as with Frank Zummo on drums in place of Steve Jocz.

English alternative rock trio Dinosaur Pile-Up will open in their own Soo debut, and while not really a punk band, their aggressive grunge-tinged sound should set the tone well in November! An Invictus Entertainment Group production brought to you by Rock 101, this ALL AGES concert has tickets running for $98 for most seats, aside from upper back bowl seating which runs for $76, with VIP packages to be announced, and they go on sale THIS FRIDAY at 10:00 AM. The ticket prices are a little steep, but I sincerely hope this stacked show does well, so visit the official Facebook event page and this press release for more details!

Next up, here's our preview of another special Tuesday night concert, as Edmonton art punk quartet Doreen will make their local concert debut TOMORROW NIGHT when they rock Dryer Fire's temporary location on Bruce Street! An ecletic and diverse extension of the punk rock sound, Doreen's indie/garage-influenced sound should fit in just fine at this venue, so don't miss this exciting group tomorrow to see what they bring to the table! Local experimental musician Chase Wigmore will bring his unplugged alt-folk attack to Dryer Fire as the opening act, and fans will surely know that his intense, unique, folk/punk originals will be a sight to behold tomorrow, so don't be late for this one either! As usual for Dryer Fire, this is an ALL AGES concert at 7:00 PM, and there will be a $10 cover charge. The weekday scheduling is unfortunate, but the music speaks for itself, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and in lieu of a live video of Doreen (I shockingly can't find one), here's the title track of their new album!



Finally for today, here's the final results from our poll that launched on the site on July 18th, where we posed this question to you guys: What was your favourite local metal, hard rock, or punk concert in the first half of 2019? Only 12 votes were cast, which isn't a great number, but at least they were spread out among a bunch of notable shows that were included, and no one voted "Other"! Here are the final results!

The Killer Dwarfs & Re:Born at Soo Blaster on April 27th (4 votes, 33¼%)
Dopethrone & AlgomA at The New American Pub on May 20th (3 votes, 25%)
Joni Radford Memorial at The Algonquin Hotel on March 2nd (2 votes, 17%)
Anvil, Striker, and Jack Spades at Soo Blaster on June 9th (1 vote, 8¼%)
The Tea Party at The Machine Shop on March 27th (1 vote, 8¼%)
Parabol & The Elements at The Rockstar Bar on March 23rd (1 vote, 8¼%)
White Cowbell Oklahoma at LopLops Lounge on January 26th (0 votes)
Rotopsy & Awokest at The New American Pub on February 26th (0 votes)
OZbourne at The Canadian Nightclub on March 23rd (0 votes)
Destroyer at The Canadian Nightclub on March 30th (0 votes)
West of Hell & Expain at The New American Pub on April 17th (0 votes)
Dave Evans & Hells Bells at The Rockstar Bar on May 4th (0 votes)
K-Man & The 45s at The New American Pub on June 6th (0 votes)
Go Skate Day at Queen Elizabeth Park on June 21st (0 votes)
Monster Truck at Soo Blaster on June 28th (0 votes)
Other (0 votes)

What do you guys think? Well, in terms of the shows with no votes, I am most surprised that White Cowbell Oklahoma, Dave Evans, K-Man & The 45s, and Monster Truck didn't get any attention, as all had high profile touring headliners with either proven local success or high existing clout elsewhere, but alas, it is all in who votes! By contrast, Anvil and The Tea Party both had local supporters in the past month among out voters, as if Parabol & The Elements' tribute show double-header in March, which is very encouraging! The Joni Radford memorial concert made the top 3, which is wonderful to see after so many of her friends and colleagues came together for this two-floor bash in March, but I am a little surprised it didn't get a few more votes. Dopethrone's well received doom metal concert in May placed second, as no doubt helped by AlgomA & Shit Liver's long awaited returns, but the mildly surprising winner was The Killer Dwarfs' headlining show at Soo Blaster!

A huge hit for hair metal diehards of all stripes, hopefully we're not waiting 20 years for The Dwarfs to come back to our area! Thanks to everyone for voting, and look for the six shows with votes (plus "Other") to return for our all-of-2019 poll on your favourite concerts early next year! That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Oh!No & Doreen!!)

Before we dive into this weekend's post (devoted to LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS), just a heads up that I learned of a trio of shows this coming weekend too late to cover on here before their weekend concert preview cycle. Between low advertising and my own personal schedule, they should have been on here well in advance (which I apologize for), so just to get a jump on things, visit the links here & here for info on two FREE Roberta Bondar Pavilion shows next week with hard rock content, and here for details on this year's Rudyard Musicians Festival, before we preview them on Thursday. Now, here's what you should know for those new shows!

Edmonton art punk quartet Doreen will make their local concert debut on Tuesday, August 20th when they headline at Dryer Fire on Bruce Street! Not your typical sound for a punk band, Doreen take a lot of inspiration from indie and garage rock, but they have a creative blend of styles, as seen on their new CD "Ruthless Severance", and they should be a fine fit at this temporary venue later this month! Local experimental musician Chase Wigmore (not playing as Awokest) will open with a set of his own irreverent, in-your-face original material, and it's always an experience seeing him live, so don't miss his set either on this special Tuesday nighter! Yes, we have a lot to discuss regarding him and Awokest, stay tuned for what we've missed as of late. This ALL AGES concert has a $10 cover charge and a luckily early start time of 7:00 PM. Visit the official Facebook event page for more on this show, and stay tuned for updates!

Next up, the full schedule for this year's third annual Oh!No concert festival at Robbie Adamson's church in nearby Leeburn was finally announced via their Facebook page on Wednesday, so what should you know in this regard? We announced the lineup for the September 6th-7th event on the SMS two months ago in this extended write-up, but as Oh!No III is a two night event, I waited to call these as a true LOCAL CONCERT ALERT until organizers Six, Two, Oh. confirmed each day's itinerary, and there are a few changes from what was announced in June. The band lineup on Friday, September 6th is a shorter nighttime affair, which will be toplined by Sudbury "party violence" quintet The Therapists, who are night #1's only touring attraction. Remaining performers will include rapper Kodex at 11:40 PM, punk/metal quintet Jack Spades at 11:00 PM, folk/pop musician Hannah Lindsay at 10:20 PM, punk trio Stegadeth at 9:40 PM, and alt-folk solo project Slumshine opening at 9:00 PM.

In case you didn't notice from the lineup reveal in June, Hannah Lindsay is a new addition to the bill, replacing Dusty Hazelwood for unannounced reasons, though note that everyone but drummer Mitchell Harris will still be present as a promoter or in other bands. As for Saturday, September 7th, the surprise headliners will be St. Catharines crossover thrash band Pisser at 1:00 AM, as preceded by Peterborough hardcore punk trio Cross Dog at 12:00 AM, Sudbury punk standouts Lightmares at 11:00 PM, Thunder Bay hardcore band Femur at 10:00 PM, and Montreal classic rock project Wrecker at 9:00 PM. Local drone rock trio Pointless (no longer billed as a Bill Priddle solo set) will be the only local act playing after dark via their 8:10 PM set, with Peterborough rapper Garbageface, Thunder Bay hardcore group Lord Hidetora & desert rockers The Franquilizers, and Toronto indie quartet Forest City Aurora playing at 7:30, 6:50, 6:10, and 5:30 PM respectively.

With two exceptions, earlier acts that day are all local, including surf rock band The Dynowaves at 5:00 PM, revived lo-fi punk project Telephone & Address at 4:30 PM, funk/hard rock quartet The Elements at 4:00 PM, and rapper Conika at 3:30 PM. The mystery band named The Angry Spells (who are on at 3:00 PM) actually aren't local, as their updated Facebook page reveals that they're a new side project of Beaver Slap vocalist Midge Beaver's, so if you were hoping to see them back this year, hopefully this new band will fill the void! Local hip hop duo Planet Rock will play at 2:30 PM, following Barrie punk quarter The Speed Humps at 2:00 PM, while the two local opening solo acts will be indie/folk musician Shae Tull at 1:30 PM and C.T.W. side project Malignant Neoplasm in a rare live set at 1:00 PM. As previously announced, tickets are $40 for both nights, and tickets are on sale at Case's Music, The Rad Zone, and at Dryer Fire.

Remember that camping on-site will be available for fans making the 45 minute trek to Leeburn, and this is a B.Y.O.B. event. It's great to finally have each night's schedule, and there's lots of hard rock and punk action to go around on both nights, so visit the above links for complete details on Oh!No III!That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile on the site next! Thanks everyone!