LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (HeadF1rst & Bone Yard 225) And Weekend Concert Previews!!

December is now in full swing, so why not beat the winter blues and the heavy snow this week by occupying a venue? There's enough hard rock concerts in the Soo area to warrant extending our previews to a second post, so this weekend's Tym Morrison shows will be previewed next. Here's what you should know to start this weekend off right, including a pair of SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!

Local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 will return to The Water Tower Pub for another "uncorked" concert on SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, this show was only announced via the band's Facebook page yesterday, and it is newly listed on their website's concert calendar too, along a handful of extra shows to end 2025 with! Also newly confirmed there are returns to Beck's Bar on Saturday, December 13th (a regular nighttime concert) and once more on Sunday, December 14th (an acoustic matinee, and thusly their last "uncorked" gig of the year), before they debut at... The Full Throttle Saloon on Friday, December 19th? If you're unfamiliar, the Full Throttle Saloon is the rebranded Primavera Hall at 256 Wellington Street West (not far from the Eagles Club), and just had their grand opening last week.

The Primavera Hall came up as a concert host very sporadically in the 2010s, but the saloon has been ramping up concert and events bookings in recent weeks, and they do still have the buffet! It will be interesting to see how Bone Yard go over in Steelton in a couple weeks, but before then, their first unplugged gig at The Water Tower Pub since October goes down on SATURDAY! That show is at 8:00 PM, the Beck's shows are at 9:00 & 3:00 PM respectively, the Full Throttle show is at 9:30 PM, all have 19+ age limits, and none have an announced cover charge. Visit the above links for more details on your local 225's last bar gigs of 2025, and here they are live!

Next up, local hard rock quintet HeadF1rst will return to Shooters Downstairs Lounge for one night only on SATURDAY NIGHT themselves! Again, apologies for the short notice, this concert was first announced via the venue's December events calendar on Facebook on Tuesday, in which HeadF1rst's show is the only concert booked all month. As you may have noticed, Shooters have severely dialed back on hosting bands in 2025, with HeadF1rst really being the only band of note to play there since the spring, last rocking out there after game 7 of the World Series last month. No word on why HeadF1rst seem to be the only band that Shooters has anymore, but it'll be good to see their mix of hard rocking originals and old school-leaning covers on stage again on SATURDAY! Like Bone Yard 225, they were last seen at Toystock this past weekend. Note that Shooters' calendar posting hint at various holiday surprises given that we're in the Christmas season.

If any will arise to coincide with SATURDAY's concert, I don't know, but they do go all out for promotions when it comes to karaoke and dance party nights and what have you! Red, Rainey, Liam, Claire, and Anthony take the stage on SATURDAY at 9:30 PM with a 19+ age limit and no announced cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, and here's HeadF1rst live!

Also this weekend, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Silent 9 have a previously announced concert TOMORROW NIGHT, which will see them headline  the Searchmont Ski Runners' holiday mixer at The Rockstar Bar! While the band considers this a "private event" on their website's calendar, the Ski Runners are publically advertising the mixer on social media. This isn't the first time that the Ski Runners have booked Silent 9 for a fundraiser at The Rockstar Bar that technically wasn't private, as they headlined their fall social in October 2023. Hopefully there's a great turnout to help their youth skiing program, and with the weather we've gotten this week, the skiing conditions shouldn't suffer this year! Note that The Rockstar Bar hinted at re-opening to regular nightclub service soon on Facebook in the past week, meaning that we could see bands playing there again there in 2026 beyond one-off corporate bookings like this.

Given the fundraising aims, this is a ticketed concert that will run you $35 (on sale at this link and presumably at the door), but advance ticket sales get you entries for a draw for Searchmont passes. This is a 19+ event, and a 7:30 PM start time is advertised. Visit the above links for more on the S.S.R.'s holiday mixer, and here's Silent 9 live!

We'll close today's preview post by heading south to Sault Michigan, where local hard rock quartet Unfortunate Sun will take over The Rapids Lounge at the local Kewadin Casino TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Last seen for their second annual "Drinksgiving bash" in Hessel (and in the Soo on Halloween night at The Merch), this will be the Fake Chow successors' first concert weekend at The Rapids Lounge since back in May. If you like a wide array of heavier-leaning rock covers, you won't want to miss out on Skip, Jody, Tony, and Jason's cover slates tomorrow and on Saturday, so don't miss out on all of the action this weekend! Whether you're placing bets on them kicking ass or not (I don't endorse gambling on the SMS), this weekend's concerts go down at 9:00 PM each night with no announced cover charges, and you must be 21 or older to attend. Note that the poster implies that "The Tony Rogers Band" is opening for Unfortunate Sun this weekend, a rarity for their gigs alone.

That would imply that their bassist (formerly of Clownsack, Shift, et al.) has launched an eponymous side project. I have not seen this corroborated anywhere else, let alone what Tony's band would be playing, but keep that in mind! Visit the above links for more on Unforunate Sun's Rapids Lounge stops this weekend, and here they are live!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for our Tym Morrison previews and more on the SMS tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (HeadF1rst), New Videos, And Sault Michigan Updates!!

Tonight's post came together somewhat out of necessity due to a surprise SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, so that is rounded off with some new videos and shorter notes, so here's what you should know!

Local hard rock quintet HeadF1rst will return to the stage TONIGHT at Shooters Downstairs Lounge as post-game entertainment after game 7 of the World Series! I apologize for the short notice, this show was only announced on the venue's Facebook page at 12:22 PM today. This may look like it came together on late notice to take advantage of the Toronto Blue Jays/Los Angeles Dodgers series going the distance, but guitarist Rainey Rancourt plugged it on his personal Facebook page on Wednesday, before we knew there would even be a game 7. In any event, HeadF1rst have not publically corroborated this booking on their Facebook page whatsoever. Shooters in general has really dialed back on hosting live bands this year, with HeadF1rst really being the only band of any genre to play there since the spring, so they're ideal to head back to Dennis Street to cap off the World Series in style TONIGHT!

This is a 19+ concert with no cover charge starting immediately after the World Series game ends, which is a bit of a leap of faith given how long game 3 went (18 innings running until about 3:00 AM). Assuming things aren't delayed like that again, HeadF1rst should take the stage between 10:30 and 11:30 PM given how games in the rest of the series have ended so far. In other words, this will be a shorter (but later) concert compared to a normal HeadF1rst gig, but fingers crossed that the Blue Jays can win the World Series TONIGHT to start the hard rock action on the right foot! Visit the above links for more details, and here's HeadF1rst live!

Next up, remember how I mentioned at the end of yesterday's post that a biography on local blackened doom metal band Woods of Ypres and frontman David Gold is now being written? Well, it got featured on CBC News Windsor yesterday, and the piece is now on YouTube! Posted to the book's YouTube channel (that has to be a first for here), this of course comes from the CBC affiliate of Woods of Ypres' initial hometown. David later moved the band to Toronto and then home to the Soo, but we haven't had a dedicated local CBC affiliate in over 20 years. The 2 minute piece by CBC's Dalson Chen reflects on how the forest off of Ypres Avenue in Windsor inspired the band's name, and how the band's legacy has grown among fans since David's passing in 2011. Author J. James and Glenn Fricker of Spectre Sound Studios (who worked on both of the band's first two albums) were both interviewed here.

We also hear from David's mom Esther Gold, who has been the strongest champion of her son's music career since, and accepted their Juno Award win in 2013 on his behalf. I like the paintings of him behind her for her interview clips! If the book is getting attention on the CBC, then you know things are really in motion for it, and while I'd have included more live performance video of the band, it's worth checking out for fans. Give it a watch below, and stay tuned for more on Deepest Roots: The Woods Of Ypres Story!

Also today, let's look at a new concert video from a more recent local extreme metal band, namely death/thrash metal trio Pillory from their album release party at Soo Blaster last month! This was uploaded to drummer Bret Shuttleworth's YouTube channel earlier this week, and it is their first video on Bret's channel with bassist Devon Lucier after their recording from July's Insurrection show was uploaded as audio only due to poor camera placement. Bret also said to "give a warm welcome to our new bassist" as this was his first channel appearance on video, though Devon was previously in Pillory briefly in 2014. At the release party, Pillory played every song from their new full-length album in order, followed by their cover of Sepultura's "Territory", but that cover and the final two originals did not make the cut for YouTube due to "an undiagnosed error with (Bret's) phone". In order, what can we see?

The video features "The Angst Of Existence", "Abhorred Apprehension", "The Curse of Eternal Sickness", "Wasting", "Sculptor of Cadavers", "The Passing", and "Specimen of Egotism". Bret's phone was set up from a stationary locale on the floor, capturing a good if somewhat tight angle of the guys in action, and with no pesky strobe lighting to blur out this time. I'll hold comment on the songs pending our review of "Old Soul" early next year, but the brutality is off the charts, so check out (most of) Pillory's release party set below, and stay tuned for more from them!

Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items from the last while (this time, all from Sault Michigan and the E.U.P.), and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist name:

 

• I have moved local groove/thrash metal band Buddy Repperton & The Camaros to our inactive band links. The group last posted on their Facebook page in October of last year (itself their only post since mid-2023) when frontman David Waite noted his return to singing metal, only to blow out his voice. I don't assume that's why The Camaros haven't posted anything in over a year, but this band had a lot of promise for true original metal in the E.U.P., and hopefully we hear more from David, Doug, Brett, Jason, and Dennis in due course, in this band or otherwise!
• Regarding tonight's Exit 808 show at The Back Bay Grill & Games at Bay Mills Resort & Casino in Brimley, they finally confirmed on their Facebook page earlier today that Molly Escherich will indeed be guesting with them on vocals, while Project 906 guitarist Joe Jenkins will also pop up tonight, as will a bassist named Brad, with other impromptu guests also possible. I have no idea who Brad is, let alone if he and Joe were replacing anyone in Exit 808 outright, but hopefully every performer involved delivered well for the post-Halloween "Fright Night On The Bay"!
• Speaking of Joe and Project 906, their Halloween concert at Huck's Pub & Grill in Rudyard last night went ahead with hand drummer Brian Duford playing the standard drumkit in place of Jason VanLuven, who was double booked with Unfortunate Sun at The Merch. They also welcomed young local guitarist Garrett Howland (son of former Steelhead guitarist Mark Howland) to play with them for a set, which reportedly went well! Visit the band's Facebook page to see photos from the gig, including what costumes that some members of 906 were wearing!

 

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Tym Morrison & HeadF1rst) And Weekend Concert Previews!!

Let's dive into another weekend of local hard rock concert previews, but due to the amount, we'll hold tomorrow's BookcluB/Forever Seger and Sunday's Bone Yard 225-headlined car show for our next post. Here's what you should know, including LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, some on SHORT NOTICE!

Local hard rock quintet HeadF1rst have a busy weekend ahead that will see them rock Reggie's Place TONIGHT and Shooters Downstairs Lounge TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, these shows were respectively first announced on the venues' Facebook pages on Sunday and Tuesday. Fresh off of opening for Woodhawk last week, these will be HeadF1rst's... first headlining dates in a local bar since rocking Beck's in June. The split booking is likely due to Shooters only hosting bands on SATURDAYS, but regardless of their live band scheduling, we haven't seen bands rocking the Dennis Street nightclub since April, coincidentally when HeadF1rst wrapped up their mini-residency with themed menu items and whatnot. Meanwhile, TONIGHT'S Reggie's gig will be the guys' first there this year, so if you've missed Red, Rainey, Liam, Claire, and Anthony at either downtown venue, don't miss out this weekend!

If you're curious, the band playing at Reggie's tomorrow is Traces (no relation to the former Sault Michigan metal band), who are basically classic rock veterans RPM minus guitarist/vocalist Dino Mazzuca. Both of HeadF1rst's shows this weekend are at 9:30 PM with 19+ age limits and no cover charges. It's great to see Shooters hosting live bands again after an unannounced summer break, and HeadF1rst should be primed to rock there and Reggie's after long breaks from both bars, so visit the above links for more details, and here they are live!

Next up, prolific local classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison has a busy Saturday ahead TOMORROW, as while we knew about his scheduled matinee gig at Misty's Fifties, he is also scheduled to return to The Fraternal Order Of Eagles Club TOMORROW NIGHT as well! Again, apologies for the short notice, the Eagles show was a late addition to his batch Facebook event page for shows at the Wellington Street West venue, as was another new show there on Saturday, October 4th. Meanwhile, now that we have shows from other acts listed that late in the timeline, we can also add Tym's upcoming Aerie #3991 gigs through the end of the year as well, so don't bypass Tym there for Saturday nighters on November 15th & 29th and then to end the year for their New Year's Eve party on Wednesday, December 31st. Keep all of these new dates in mind if you'll be in the Steelton area or like the Eagles Club with your unplugged rock! 

After skipping a Saturday matinee gig there last week, Tym will return to Misty's on Second Line West nightclub tomorrow afternoon (and next Saturday as well), so he'll be quite busy as he juggles two distinct concerts in one day! He'll be at Misty's Fifties TOMORROW at 4:00 PM before rocking The Eagles Club at 8:00 PM, with neither show having an advertised cover charge. Click here and visit the above links for these and much more on Tym's busy solo calendar to end 2025, and here he is live!

Now let's move into shows that had lots of advance notice, starting with classic/hard rock cover quartet Double Down's third show since the end of their summer break, which goes down TONIGHT at The Water Tower Pub! Last seen at the Great Northern Road venue at the end of June, fans who missed the Syrettes & Ric last week at Jay's should be eager to welcome the guys back to the weekend bar grind tomorrow, especially with their teased new setlist additions! After missing last weekend's shows due to injury, bassist Dan Beaupre will again be absent tomorrow, so they have recruited Mid Life Crysis bassist Lori Reinholtz to fill in the for the night. Lori has sat in for Dan before, back in March at Jay's Piston Broke Pub when his second gig after joining Double Down was double booked with a Sidekicks concert that same night. It's good to see Lori helping out tonight, so keep her in mind amidst the rock cover action!

Time will tell if Dan will be back in time for their next public gig, at Beck's Bar next Saturday. Tonight's Water Tower Pub show is at 8:00 PM with no cover charge and a 19+ age limit. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's a brand new video of Double Down at Jay's last week! Uploaded on Sunday (exact gig unclear), this features the guys and guest bassist Alex White covering Badfinger's "No Matter What" with Joel Syrette on lead vocals. The lighting is very dark so I can't really comment on how things look, but the cover is sound with strong bass from Alex, and you don't hear Badfinger covered often locally as it is, so give it a look below!

In a brief detour to the E.U.P., fans can check out Sault Michigan hard rock cover quartet Unfortunate Sun in their return to the stage TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT at The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino! While this will be their first nightclub gig in almost two months (last seen at Huck's in Rudyard in late July), I must profusely apologize for missing their most recent gig, as the Fake Chow successors headed to Trout Lake (an hour southwest of the Soo) on August 31st to headline an outdoor matinee concert coinciding with that day's Shytee Creek Lucky Bridge Walk. How that slipped through the cracks, especially as at a regional community festival, is beyond me, but apologies again, and I hope Unfortunate Sun got a great reception in Trout Lake! They had a relatively quiet summer, but hopefully tonight and tomorrow's St. Ignace shows kick off the fall slate on the right foot!

You can check out Skip, Jody, Tony, and Jason's array of hard rocking covers at The Northern Pines Lounge tonight & tomorrow night at 9:00 PM with 21+ age limits and no announced cover charges. Visit the above links for more details, apologies again for missing the Shytee Creek Bridge Walk on here, and for a preview, here's Unfortunate Sun live!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Sentiment Dissolve) & More Weekend Concert Previews!!

Tonight's post wraps up this weekend's hard rock concert previews, but to lead off, we have a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT that should pique the interest of readers who like death metal, so here's what you should know!

Extreme metal fans may want to make a point of heading to Jay's Piston Broke Pub on Victoria Day, as two Southern Ontario-based death metal bands will be making their local concert debuts there on Monday, May 19th! Your headliners on this night are London progressive death metal quartet Sentiment Dissolve, a newer group who bring a highly technical sound with a catchy groove and brutal riffs to the table, and their EP "The Orwellian Dream" is quite promising for genre fans, so don't miss out at the former Roosevelt Hotel next month! Co-headlining next month are Brantford technical/deathcore band A Tyrant's Lament, who bring their own pounding and aggressive brand of death metal to the table, and while rawer on average, they will punish nicely at Jay's! Two local support bands will take the stage on Victoria Day, including death/thrash metal trio Pillory in their second show of the year and first stop at Jay's since their revival.

Always good to see Robert, Blair, and Bret back at it, and don't miss them at "The Pit" at Soo Blaster next week! Also playing at both next week's and next month's metal shows are metal trio The BAG, who have been making many fans in recent months with their rollicking metal originals and covers, and hopefully they start the night off right at Jay's next month! Presented by London's Sick Set Dude Promotions, this 19+ concert begins at 8:00 PM and has tickets running for $10 in advance (presumably through the local openers and at Jay's) or $15 at the door. Nice little throwback here to the halcyon days of The Roosevelt Hotel being a metal hotbed, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details on this concert!

Next up, let's continue this weekend's hard rock concert previews with three Saturday nighters, and we'll start with local classic/hard rock cover quartet Silent 9, who will make their debut at Northern Superior Brewing Co.'s on-site Tap Room TOMORROW NIGHT! Concerts at the 50 Pim Street brewery/nightclub that cross our radar are far from common, especially as they lean towards solo and acoustic performers from what I've seen, so it is neat to see Silent 9 taking their show to the Tap Room tomorrow, and hopefully their upbeat mix of classic and hard rock covers find a strong audience of Northern Superior patrons and existing fans alike! This concert has a relatively early timeframe of 8:00-11:00 PM, a 19+ age limit, and no announced cover charge, and if you want to see Jess, Ryan, Paul, and Steve in action, they don't have an advertised public gig after this for almost a month. See above for more details, and for a preview of tomorrow's Tap Room action, here's Silent 9 live!

Also this weekend, local hard rock quintet HeadFirst will return to Shooters Downstairs Lounge for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT! This is the third and final concert (so far?) in HeadFirst's collaboration with the Dennis Street nightclub that sees the show proper accompanied by drink specials, custom menu items themed after the band and their songs, while merchandise will also be on sale, complete with discounts if you wear their gear... but that's not all! HeadFirst announced on their Facebook page yesterday that "we are filming some music video clips at the bar" and they were looking for extras for what they are filming. One assumes it's just performance footage with a lively audience, presumably for the lead single of their upcoming album "Road Trippin'", but more should come to light tomorrow! Remember, "Road Trippin'" is released in three weeks at the release party at Soo Blaster.

As usual for HeadFirst's three-night(?) residency at Shooters, tomorrow's show has a 9:30 PM start time, 19+ age limit, and no announced cover charge. Whether this is it or not for these special HeadFirst concerts, come on down tomorrow for a fun evening of hard rocking originals and proficient covers from this fast-rising young group, so visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's HeadFirst live!

Finally for this weekend's known hard rock concert previews, let's head across the river to St. Ignace, Michigan, where Sault Ste. Marie hard rock/classic metal quartet Tarnished will debut at the Driftwood Sports Bar at 590 North State Street TOMORROW NIGHT! This "special performance" continues the long-running St. Ignace waterfront nightclub's initial recent run of live musicians, and will be Tarnished's first show since rocking The Merch last week. Fans of 1980s metal and hard rock will find a lot to like from Alex, Josh, Chris, and Ron's covers, perhaps with some originals sprinkled in for good measure, and hopefully Mackinac County fans pack the house for this rare Tarnished stop at a St. Ignace venue outside of the Kewadin umbrella! This one-nighter has a 9:00 PM start time tomorrow with no announced cover charge, and you must be 21 or older to attend. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Tarnished live!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Bone Yard 225) & The HeadFirst Concert Preview!!

Today's post will see us finally wrap up this busy weekend concert preview run, but leading off are lots of LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for the coming months, so here's what you should know on this Saturday morning!

Local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 have announced their concert schedule for the spring months via their website's concert calendar! Greg, Alex, and Warren are taking the rest of this month off from public dates, with only a private anniversary party being listed for tonight, while their next public show will be on the road, as they'll head 90 minutes east to Thessalon for an "uncorked" gig at their curling club during their mixed bonspiel on Saturday, April 5th. It's rare when they play acoustic gigs outside of Gateway Casino and The Water Tower Pub, so keep that in mind if you're in the area next month! Most of the local dates will see Bone Yard return to Reggie's Place, so you can enjoy "the dirty three" for full weekends on April 11th-12th and 18th-19th (the Easter long weekend), and then on May 2nd-3rd, 16th-17th (the Victoria Day long weekend), and 30th-31st. Reggie's has definitely proven to be their favourite venue in recent months, so you have lots of chances ahead to see them on stage there!

The guys will bring their "sermon" back to The Coulson Entertainment Center in Sudbury on April 25th-26th, in effective reschedulings of their planned Sudbury gigs in January due to electrical upgrades. Obviously not local dates, but your local 225 do enjoy their biannual Sudbury road trip and have made many fans out there, so don't forget about them too! Bone Yard 225's next public "uncorked" date in the Soo will see them return to The Water Tower Pub for one night only on Saturday, May 10th, so keep their return to this popular central venue in mind for next month if you want to enjoy their lighter side! They are not scheduled elsewhere on Friday, May 9th. The last new date will see the guys debut at the Downtown Plaza for an outdoor show on Saturday, May 24th which will serve as a promo party for the Dragonfly Run, the ARCH benefit motorcycle rally with attached concert that Bone Yard put on & heavily support every year.

Specific details are forthcoming, but a promotional event to get the word out for the Dragonfly Run is a good idea, and given that the plaza is an outdoor-ish venue, hopefully the weather holds up in two months! We await specifics on a start time, full lineup, and admission fee for that event, but it will definitely be all ages. The Reggie's shows are all at 9:30 PM, the Water Tower Pub concert is at 8:00 PM, those are 19+ events, and none have an announced cover charge. To wrap up today's Bone Yard 225 updates, they appear to be spending most of this month working in studio, with this picture of singer/drummer Greg Simpson playing drums at their jam space on Thursday, with "new tunes being churned out", and Greg confirmed that they are in the midst of "studio time" in this "Reel" the previous day. Good to see Bone Yard staying busy this month, so definitely keep posted for more on their next original music and their April-May concerts!

Finally for today's post, let's wrap up this weekend's hard rock concert previews with local hard rock quintet HeadFirst's return to Shooters Downstairs Lounge for one night only TONIGHT! This is the second in an (at least) three show run of Saturday nighters at the Dennis Street nightclub where everyone is going all out for the occasion, with Shooters selling themed drinks and menu items that are only being sold during HeadFirst concerts, discounted drinks if you wear official band merchandise, and teased new songs from their upcoming "project". Fresh off of opening for Selias at Soo Blaster last night, hopefully Red, Raine, Liam, Claire, and Anthony rock the house tonight with their fun and hard hitting originals and covers! The series will also see HeadFirst rock Shooters on April 12th, with more themed dates allegedly to be announced. In terms of St. Patrick's Day themes this weekend, Shooters' DJ night yesterday was full of them.

Given that HeadFirst proper are the raison d'etre for tonight's themes, I'm not seeing much in the way of green/Irish frills for this concert, but inquire within if you're hoping for green beer and such. The raw|lust|hot rock band takes the stage tonight at 9:30 PM with a 19+ age limit and no announced cover charge. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details on tonight's concert, and for a preview, here's HeadFirst live!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (HeadFirst), A New Local Metal Project, And More!!

Here's a new news post for you guys on this Wednesday evening, and it includes a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for the spring, our first look at a new local band, and leading off, an even newer band to check out (with EP!), so with all of that said, here's what you should know!

We have a new solo project to add to our Sault Ontario band links, namely The Realignment Project! This marks the return to original local music of former Dirty Virgin drummer and Riverin frontman Matt Hicks, who we last covered on the SMS in an active band when Riverin posted their last updates in 2014. The Realignment Project hew much closer to Riverin than Matt's better known glam metal band, as they are an industrial metal act. Historically, that's something we never had much of locally, so they immediately stand out from that alone! Matt launched an Instagram page for T.R.P. last month, which has teaser images, AI art, and some short videos, many of which promoting the fact that they released their debut EP "Afterthought" on January 29th! You can buy it on Bandcamp on a "name your price" model, and they also now have a YouTube channel featuring lyric videos for four of the EP's six songs, only omitting "Finger On The Trigger" and "Synthetic".

As this is a brand new album on sale, this will be this month's CD review at the SMS, ending our two month spell of archive album reviews, so while I won't give thoughts on The Realignment Project's music yet, check back in the next week or so. That said, it's great to see Matt back working on new music, and if you were following Riverin in their heyday, you'll definitely want to check out The Realignment Project to hear similar and more fully realized material, so do so at the above links, and here's the lyric video for the EP's opening song "Broken Machine"!

Next up, here's that LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, as local hard rock quintet HeadFirst have announced a mini-residency of sorts at Shooters Downstairs Lounge that will see them rock the Dennis Street nightclub for three+ upcoming Saturday night gigs! We already knew about their planned shows on March 1st and April 12th via Shooters' own advertising, but the new date will be on Saturday, March 15th, though no word on if it will have any St. Patrick's Day tie-ins. However, these three concerts will be themed across the board, as Shooters will be offering official HeadFirst-branded cocktails, shots, and food items that will only be on sale during these concerts, so click here and here for details on each drink. Fun idea, especially as this is beyond just one themed shot, so keep all of this in mind if you're hungry or thirsty when seeing HeadFirst at Shooters! Red, Raine, Liam, Claire, and Anthony allegedly have "more dates to come" at Shooters, so keep tabs with the band on social media for more concert details as they roll in.

Also, if you buy an official HeadFirst t-shirt, you'll also get a $5-off voucher for one of the drinks, which is a good bonus! In terms of their actual sets, the band will "occasionally be playing a few songs for our next project", with more details coming soon. By "project", are they just making their next CD/EP/album sound more mysterious, or is it something more/beyond just a new album? We'll keep you posted! All three Shooters shows so far have 9:30 PM start times, 19+ age limits, and no announced cover charges. Visit the above links for more details, but we're not quite done with the raw|lust|hot rockband, as they have been named as one of the local openers for the previously announced Selias concert as Soo Blaster on Friday, March 14th! This is via the official Facebook event page, which also confirms that local alt-punk trio A Dire Setback will open as well in their first gig of 2025. At least one more opening act is to be announced, we'll let you know when they are.

Note that Selias' local debut at the same venue in September featured seven opening bands, six being local. Tickets surprisingly aren't on sale for this show yet, but last fall's Selias concert ran for $15. So far, it does seem like next month's concert has more of a varied genre spread (neither A.D.S. nor HeadFirst are full "metal" bands), but with less than a month to go before showtime, hopefully Heavy North Entertainment gets everything in place for a great night of hard hitting music at Soo Blaster! See above for more on this event and HeadFirst's new Shooters dates!

Finally, let's cross the border to look at the first public videos of new Sault Michigan punk trio About:Blank! This union of Tarnished, Lift The Broken, and Midnight Logic alumni debuted at Serious Business' multi-band concert at Pickles Bar & Grill in Brimley on February 8th, and a bunch of photos from their set can be seen on their Facebook page, confirming that Parker Talentino is their vocalist and bassist. Two videos from that night can be seen on Facebook, both seeing About:Blank playing original songs, one being "Hearse". Despite being shot with the same camera and horizontal orientation, "Hearse" was crammed into a vertical portrait orientation with horrendous pillarboxing, and it was uploaded second (how did that happen?). As such, I've embedded the other song "Fix" below, but it is a lighter and more laid back punk number with a swinging vibe to it. "Hearse" is faster and more all-out, and has pseudo-rap vocals, no less!

It's just two songs so far, but About:Blank seem to be starting off promisingly, and the talent is definitely there! I will say that Parker's clean singing voice is better suited to "Fix", but I'll have to hear more to really judge how he fits in singing on electric material. Check out About:Blank's live debut below, and stay tuned for more from them soon!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more weekend concert preiews on the site next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (HeadFirst & Exit 808) And I-500 Weekend Concert Previews!!

With January coming to a close, let's wrap up the month and begin February at the same time with weekend concert previews! Due to the amount of shows this weekend, I'll hold this weekend's Bone Yard 225 and Curtis McKenzie shows for tomorrow's post. Now, here's what you should know, starting with LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, some on SHORT NOTICE!

Sault Michigan hard rock cover band Exit 808 will return to The Merchants Bar TONIGHT as entertainment during the West Spruce Street nightclub's participation in this year's International 500 snowmobile race's annual pub crawl! Apologies for the short notice, the band only confirmed this special Thursday nighter on their Facebook page last week. Last seen at The Merch around Halloween, this will be Exit 808's third public gig of 2025, and despite the late notice, things should be hopping TONIGHT as pub crawlers make their away to thirteen local bars and nightclubs, so if you want to participate in the action across the Soo TONIGHT, click here for more details on who and where is taking part! Thursdsy scheduling during the I-500 weekend aside, this seems to be a traditional concert, so look for more double vocalist-led hard rock covers at The Merch TONIGHT to kick off a very busy few days!

The only apparent hard rock-leaning concert during the pub crawl proper, TONIGHT'S Exit 808 show has a 21+ age limit, no cover charge, and a 9:00 PM start time. Visit the above links for more details on Exit 808's concert proper and the pub crawl TONIGHT, and for a preview, here they are live!

Next up, let's head north to Sault Ontario briefly, as local hard rock quintet HeadFirst will reportedly return to Shooters Downstairs Lounge THIS SATURDAY NIGHT, with returns also scheduled for Saturday, March 1st and April 12th! Again, apologies for the short notice on THIS SATURDAY's show, all three shows were only announced via the venue's Facebook page this morning, and HeadFirst themselves have not corroborated the bookings on their own social media at press time. Last seen at Shooters early last month, their show on SATURDAY will be their first local date of 2025, and third period following their trip to Sudbury earlier this month. Hopefully this proves to be a fun night of hard rocking covers and originals from this talented young group, and helps set their year off on the right foot! Remember, Shooters has hosted DJ nights on Fridays since the start of last year, so these are all one-nighters.

The Dennis Street nightclub has also teased having drink specials, "food features" (the kitchen will be open late), and promos/surprises of some kind, so keep all of that in mind on SATURDAY! These three shows are all 9:30 PM affairs with no cover charges and 19+ age limits. See above for more details, and for a preview, here's HeadFirst live!

Staying in Sault Ontario for an event that did have advance notice, here's a special charitable event going down TOMORROW NIGHT, as local classic/hard rock cover quartet Silent 9 will headline the Alzheimer Society Sault Ste. Marie & Algoma District's 40th annual Making Memories Matter fundraiser at The Grand Gardens! Listed as a "private event" on the concert calendar on Silent 9's website, Making Memories Matter XL will see Silent 9 rocking the night away for a great cause, while attendees will also be able to take in a silent auction, cash bar, dinner, cocktails, and a "silent disco" (dancing to music played through headphones so as to not disrupt other events). This will be Silent 9's first publically attendable concert of 2025, beating their Bon Soo gig by a week, but it is a pricey one, as tickets are $60. Remember the charitable aims and all the included frills for that money though, let alone how bad Alzheimer's disease is.

This event starts no later than 5:30 PM (when cocktails are served), but Silent 9 give their start time at 9:00 PM on their website. Contact the Alzheimer's Society if you want advance ticket before tomorrow's festivities, and hopefully they and Silent 9 have a great night to help raise funds and awareness for Alzheimer's disease! See above for more details, and for a preview, here's Silent 9 live!

Finally for this post, we'll return to the aforementioned Merchants Bar in Sault Michigan, where local hard rock quartet Unfortunate Sun will round out the busy I-500 weekend with concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! While Exit 808 get the short notice honours at The Merch for TONIGHT'S pub crawl, this is obviously a very busy tourism weekend in Sault Ste. Marie, and The Merch definitely leans into it. Beyond the concerts, they're hosting the annual I-500 breakfast on Saturday morning, and I believe they will be showing the snowmobile race on TVs there if you'd rather tune in there as opposed to outdoors in the cold at the oval. The race starts at 10:00 AM and runs about eight hours, so Saturday's concert would effectively be an afterparty if you're so inclined (there are bands at Kewadin Casino too this weekend, where the closing ceremonies and awards and such are given out, but not hard rock ones). With the cancellation of their Cedarville show two weeks ago, these will be Unfortunate Sun's first shows of the year.

Hopefully the Fake Chow successors' hard rock cover attack goes over well with what should be sizeable crowds of locals and tourists alike for the I-500 weekend, so don't miss out on all of the action at The Merch! Like with Exit 808 TONIGHT, tomorrow and Saturday's shows are at 9:00 PM with 21+ age limits and no cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Unfortunate Sun live!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for our Bone Yard 225 & Curtis McKenzie previews and more next! Thanks everyone!

More Weekend Concert Previews & A New Mike Haggith Live-Stream!!

Later than I would have liked to get this post up, but here's the second half of this weekend's hard rock concert previews, along with a new video from a recent concert event, so here's what you should know on this Friday night!

We'll start at The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino, where Iron Mountain classic/hard rock cover quintet Oz will return for two more local dates TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! This will be this talented veteran act's first regional stop since rocking the Soo Kewadin back in March, so if you've missed Oz's proficient and melodic brand of heavier-leaning classic rock covers in recent months, brave the snow by heading to the casino this weekend! Obviously, safe travels to Oz and their crew on the trip east as well, especially from a Canadian who isn't 100% sure of the U.P. highway conditions.  As usual for concerts at Kewadin Casino's on-site lounges, tonight and tomorrow's shows have 21+ age limits, no announced cover charges, and 9:00 PM start times. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details on Oz's local shows this weekend, and for a preview, here they are live!

Next up, let's head to Sault Ontario to wrap up this weekend's hard rock concert previews, and we're ending by resolving a bit of confusion about who's playing at Shooters Downstairs Lounge TOMORROW NIGHT! Remember, they host DJ nights on Fridays now. Back on October 15th, local hard rock quintet HeadFirst... first announced that they were booked at Shooters tomorrow night via this concert calendar on their Facebook page, but nothing followed about the gig over the next month & a half, partially due to their own busy activity behind the scenes. Then on November 13th, local classic/hard rock quartet Generations announced on their Facebook group that they were booked at Shooters tomorrow, something which I admittedly should have caught the date conflict of at the time, but I did make note of it on the site in our post on Wednesday. It did seem like Generations had replaced HeadFirst, but that's not the case!

As best as I can gather, HeadFirst initially booked December 7th at Shooters, but somewhere along the line, wires got crossed, and Generations were also booked on December 7th. Despite their quiet social media activity in recent months, HeadFirst never dropped out of tomorrow's gig. Rather than cancel/postpone one of the two bands, Shooters is opting for the rare double header tomorrow night, with HeadFirst getting the night timeslot as planned, while Generations will instead open the day's music slate with a 6:00 PM matinee of sorts (early nightfall at this time of year acknowledged). Remember, on times like this where two bands have full four-set gigs back to back, I wouldn't say Generations are "opening" for HeadFirst, as both are playing their usual time for a show on the weekend covers circuit. Notably, tomorrow will mark Generations' first show since October, so be early to welcome them back!

Both of tomorrow's back-to-back rock concerts at Shooters have 19+ age limits and no cover charges, with HeadFirst going on at 10:00 PM. Eight hours of rock cover action from both the talented veteran presence of Generations and the rising newer attack of HeadFirst (complete with a few originals of their own), so whether you want to see one or both groups, don't miss out on the double header on Dennis Street tomorrow! Visit the above links for more details on these shows, and for a preview, here's both HeadFirst and Generations live!

Finally, let's close this post with the latest live-stream from local/Barrie alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith's YouTube channel! For his apparent final full-band show of 2024, he and his old Din bandmate Brandan Glew returned to Toystock, this time via Mike headlining solo with support from The Big Finish Band, so what all did they play at The Grand Gardens last month? In order, the ten song set included "Brand New Day", "Back Away Slowly", "I Really Hope This Gets To You", "No Love", "Hot & Cold", "If Ever Comes The Day", "An Act Of Strength", a cover of The Din's "Missing", "The Nature Of The Times", and "All The Best". If you're curious, this set included four of the six songs played during their intermission set at The Soo's Got Talent finals two days prior (as seen in this live-stream), excepting "Carousel" and "Twist Of Fate". Once again, Mike is just singing and not playing anything, with no major instrument role changes mid-set.

Decent quality with good and bright lighting inside The Grand Gardens, and everyone is on form to realize Mike's original music for a festive audience and for a wonderful cause! I'd have centered the camera moreso than what they did, given that Chris is often cut off on the left where Matt is playing beside lots of empty space in the video. Good stuff to end Mike's 2024 concert calendar, so check out their full Toystock live-stream below!

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

A Concert Cancellation, Mikey & His Uke's Newest Covers, And More!!

I hope everyone is staying warm and off the roads on this very snowy Friday! Regarding this weekend's concert previews, the ones covered yesterday appear to be on as scheduled, but we do have a cancellation to note, as local hard rock quartet Half Past are not playing at Shooters Downstairs Lounge tomorrow, as per an update to their Facebook page's post about the concert this morning. A reason for the postponement was not announced, but Shooters itself is opening late today. The weather forecast could be to blame, I don't 100% know, but Half Past have promised that there is a "new date to come". Hopefully all is well with the guys, and we'll let you know when this show is re-booked! While there have been a few other announced concert cancellations (especially tonight), hard rock shows covered in yesterday's weekend concert preview post are not visibly affected. Keep tabs with the bands and venues for clarification on this weekend's shows!

Now, let's dive into a new video and more on this snow day, starting with the long awaited conclusion of local punk supergroup project Mikey & His Uke's 30th anniversary series of covers of Green Day's breakthrough album "Dookie"! It took almost two months after the previous cover to get the final song up, but the series is ending in style by tackling both the final credited song and the bonus track all in one video! For the last credited song, Bookclub frontman Mikey Hawdon (on guitar after dropping the ukelele pretense once again) is joined to play the deep cut "F.O.D." by Flatliners frontman Chris Cresswell, while Buck-O-Nine bassist Andy Plafoot handles bass for the eighth and final time here, and ex-Goldfinger drummer Darren Pfieffer returns to the kit as the house drummer of the "Dookie" series (and wearing a Toronto FC jersey for a change!) How is "F.O.D." filmed this time?

We get a little more variance visually here, as the softer acoustic opening verse is seen in monochrome, before going full colour when the song shifts into punk territory, though Chris continues playing acoustic guitar. Also, while Chris handles the opening, everyone else is seen either waiting patiently or setting up for their parts, which is cute! After "F.O.D." ends, we get to watch a sped up video of Mikey and his family putting together a jigsaw puzzle of the "Dookie" album cover while a caption scrolls across the screen thanking everyone for watching and supporting the series... but we're not done yet! The hidden bonus track on "Dookie" was "All By Myself", an acoustic song performed by drummer Tre Cool, and Mikey & His Uke didn't forget about that one! Here, Mikey takes on lead vocals and plays ukelele straight through for the only time in the "Dookie" series.

Guesting here are Vincent Hidalgo and Brad Magers from the Los Angeles punk band The Bronx and, more notably given how this cover was handled, their mariachi side project Mariachi El Bronx (and to that end, Brad is playing trumpet). No Darren here, nor any prior bassist. Two kids also join in banging pots on their heads, while Vincent plays guitar while lying on the floor. Nice little throwback to the early Mikey & His Uke covers here, with a Mexican twist, while "F.O.D." delivered the punk goods with solid vocals from Chris, so you get a good end to this lengthy series! Check both covers out below, and stay tuned for more from Mikey & His Uke!

Finally for today, I wanted to shine a spotlight on a local musician who needs help at a trying time (normally, I don't talk about musicians' personal lives here but I'll make an exception for stuff like this). As some of you may know, former Destroilet drummer Matt Waples was diagnosed with testicular cancer earlier this year that may have spread to his adrenal gland, and he is having surgery to remove the cancerous testicle next month as well as chemotherapy. He has launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise $8,100 to cover travel expenses to Toronto and back as well as to cover the donation of sperm to be frozen in the event that he decides to become a parent in the future. Matt's fight was covered in this Sault Star article by Jeffrey Ougler earlier this week, where he outlined his goals to start a fully fledged graphic design business (local musicians know Matt's work with Sonigraphix well from posters, logos, and merchandise).

The article has candid remarks about Matt's cancer and what he has been through this year, and he has been similarly open and honest on social media. As of this writing, $2,925 has been raised, and hopefully more comes in soon, especially given how rapidly things are changing with his condition. Matt's a good guy, a strong drummer, and a talented graphic artist, and I hope things work out optimally for his health so he can get back to living how he wants without pain and worry. Click here to read more on Matt's cancer battle and to help him reach his financial goals, and we all hope that he gets well soon! That's all for now, but stay tuned for this month's YouTube Channel Profile next! Thanks everyone!