LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Tarnished), More Weekend Concert Previews, And New Videos!!

Here's weekend concert preview post #2 for this busy weekend in the Twin Saults and area! Along with previously known gigs, we have a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, and new videos from two of the local bands in question, so here's what you should know!

Sault Michigan classic/hard rock cover band Tarnished will return to The Lakeside Lounge at Bay Mills Resort & Casino in Brimley on SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, this show was only announced via the casino's Facebook page on Wednesday, confirming that their schedule of bands at their new-ish acoustic-leaning lounge are indeed going beyond August. SATURDAY'S concert will be Tarnished's first at Bay Mills in two weeks (albeit a one-nighter due to the new karaoke nights there on Fridays), but they have played since in both St. Ignace and downstate in Cheboygan, reportedly playing on a pirate ship in Mullett Lake this past Saturday. For the life of me, I can't find details on this event (even though it wasn't local, I'd have at least mentioned it here had someone said more), but hopefully it was a swashbuckling good time! Like Tarnished's summer shows at The Lakeside Lounge, SATURDAY's gig will be in acoustic two-man-band form.

As such, don't look for Chris & Ron, who only play their electric gigs, but they should be present for Tarnished's St. Ignace show next weekend. This concert is a 21+ affair at 8:00 PM on SATURDAY with no cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's a video of Alex & Josh at The Lakeside Lounge back in June! Quietly uploaded to Bay Mills' Facebook page during the show, the vertical video sees half of Tarnished covering Don Henley's "Dirty Laundry" for 26 seconds. Interesting choice that doesn't really suit their background beyond Tarnished leaning to the 1980s covers lately, but Alex's singing is an improvement to me, so check out this new unplugged video from Bay Mills Resort & Casino below!

Next up, let's head north to Ontario, but an hour east of the Soo to Bruce Mines, where local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 will be the featured band for day #1 of this year's Central Algoma Exhibition (a.k.a. the Bruce Mines Fall Fair) TOMORROW NIGHT! Two nights removed from their special midweek Beck's gig with Spencer Pine, "the dirty three" will close out the opening night of the fair, playing immediately after the demolition derby at 6:30 PM, so a start time is not known (the intent may be so you have to see the derby prior). The bulk of the exhibition activities are on Saturday and Sunday, including a classic rock/country-leaning concert on Saturday featuring Sault Ste. Marie cover bands Sunday & The Broken Hearts, Whiskey Hippy, Out & Out Country, The Cloud Bandits, and Evinrude(?!), so be sure to visit the fair's Facebook page's AI-generated posters and schedules for the full itinerary and non-musical event listings.

Tomorrow's Bone Yard show (complete with on-site beer garden and food vendors) will have a $10 gate fee for admission to the fair/demolition derby, but the concert will have a separate $30 ticket price. This may seem steep, but included is admission to Saturday's concert, so keep that in mind! Fun little change of pace for Greg, Alex, and Warren, so if you're up for the drive east for the car smashing action, you'll get some southern fried hard rock as the nightcap! See above for much more on the Bruce Mines Fall Fair, and here's your local 225 live (videos with Spencer are coming soon!)

Now back in Sault Ste. Marie, Hamilton-based Led Zeppelin tribute band Led By Zeppelin will make their local debut on SATURDAY NIGHT at The Sault Community Theatre Centre! This show comes exactly eight weeks to the day from a different Led Zeppelin tribute band (London's Zed) serving as the featured headliners at Rotaryfest Stage 1, so Zeppelin fans will get a quality encore if so desired! I'm not one to compare tribute bands against each other, and Led By Zeppelin have a handicap in this regard, as the members don't attempt to dress like Robert, Jimmy, John Paul, or John. Musically, they nail the Zeppelin sound well, so don't miss out what should be a fun concert for classic hard rock fans on Saturday! All of the action goes down at White Pines Collegiate's on-site theater on Saturday night at 8:00 PM, and tickets are on sale for $61.02 (adults), $49.72 (seniors 65+ and students 16-25), and $27.12 (kids 15 and under).

Most center section seats have sold in the first eight rows, but left/right section seats and further back seats in the center are still readily available. The price point compared to Rotaryfest (free) will be a concern for many, but the former Kiwanis Theatre is a fancier, high quality indoor venue, so keep that in mind. Buy tickets online at this link, at the door, or at the Station Mall box office, see above for more details, and here's Led By Zeppelin live!

Finally for weekend concert preview post #2, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations will return to Gateway Casino for one night only on SATURDAY NIGHT! Two weeks removed from their most recent gigs at Reggie's Place, this will be Valerie, Joe, Pierre, and Tony's first stop at the Bay Street casino in over a month. This veteran group should have lots of entertaining classic and hard rock covers in store, so don't miss out if this is up your alley on Saturday! Gateway Casino gigs are all Saturday nighters at 8:00 PM regardless of band, with a 19+ age limit and no cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's a new video of them live at Reggie's late last month! This was filmed by prolific local concert attendee and supporter Audrey Marshall for her personal Facebook page, with half of the band sharing it separately to their Facebook group afterwards.

The 64 seconds long video sees Generations covering "Your Daddy Don't Know" by the early 1980s Canadian hard rock band Toronto. Solid choice that definitely suits Valerie's vocal range, and it's a good, lively performance, though I do wish Audrey had filmed for longer than 64 seconds. Give it a watch below, and look for much more from Generations on Saturday!

That's all for now, but we'll conclude our weekend concert previews with Nate's Chow and Tym Morrison next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Soundcheck & Curtis McKenzie) And Weekend Concert Previews!!

Time got away from me yesterday, so between that and arguably the last mega-busy concert weekend of the summer, we'll push this month's YouTube Channel Profile up slightly to dive into what will be at least four posts with weekend concert previews as we wrap up August 2026! Today's previews look at shows from bands in Sault Ontario playing shows tomorrow in some form or fashion, but we'll start with SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!

Former Project 421/Eclipse frontman Curtis McKenzie will reportedly return to The Dive Gastro Pub for one night only TONIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, Curt only announced this show via his Facebook page on Monday, and as increasingly usual, The Dive has not corroborated this gig on their Facebook page at press time. Last seen at Beck's earlier this month, fans were last able to see Curtis at the former Low & Slow in early July, and hopefully there's a decent crowd at The Dive TONIGHT for his unplugged hard rock and grunge covers once again despite the few days' notice! While not firmly stated, this should be a "Patio Play" gig based on the recent Thursday gigs that The Dive did actually promote, so weather-wise, 9&10 News is calling for clear skies with 13-15° temperatures TONIGHT. The show begins at 9:30 PM with no cover, so see above for more details, and here's Curtis live!

Next up, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will reportedly rock Jay's Piston Broke Pub for a second straight week TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice, I only learned of these bookings via personal Facebook postings on Wednesday, and Jay's has not newly confirmed the shows (this AI-generated poster was made by the venue for prior bookings). The band has dropped out of their planned Friday-only Water Tower Pub concert for unannounced reasons, with his weekend's apparent return to Jay's being Soundcheck's second pair of concerts since announcing the retirement of bassist Jim Michaud, but they nor their sister band Separate Wayz have confirmed if Jim has been replaced yet or not. You can find out for yourself who (if anyone) is on bass at Jay's TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! These shows are not "epic crossovers" with Separate Wayz, but Nicole will be back with Terry, Johnny, and *insert bassist here* (and Travis?) next month.

For what it's worth, I believe I have identified former Korner Monsters guitarist Rusty Barrel as the synth player seen in some prior live photos. Rusty guested with former Soundcheck singer/guitarist Cameron Oliver on cajon at many of his final local gigs before moving to the USA, and he also played cajon for TNT (Travis & Terry's acoustic side project) during their Nicole-bolstered set at Maddy's Mighty Mutts' Family Fun Day earlier this month. As best as I can tell, he is a guest performer regardless of band name (he didn't make the Chapleau trip), but it's good to fill in that blank! TOMORROW & SATURDAY's concerts are at 9:30 PM with 19+ age limits and no cover. See above for more details, and here's Soundcheck live!

Now to shows that did have advance notice, and we'll start with local acoustic punk duo Dos Amigos, who will kick off a busy end-of-summer weekend with shows at Thomson Farms Cider & Winery TODAY and at The Whisky Barrel TOMORROW NIGHT! Doubling these up here because they're both standard concerts, just at two very different locales, with Mikey & Dustin first heading north to the Third Line West cider mill, farm, and winery for another evening of acoustic punk covers outdoors this evening, though the end of summer doesn't necessarily mean the end of shows there for 2026, as Thomson Farms will remain open through the end of October. The BookcluB side project will then head downtown tomorrow night for a concert at The Whisky Barrel on Gore Street, marking their first stop at this Irish pub since early last month, so if this is better located or timed, keep this show in mind for tomorrow!

Our preview of Saturday's Prince Fest will be in our third weekend concert preview post, as Northern Vibe will be next given that its Friday lineup begins sooner than the cover bands that night in city limits. This evening's Thomson Farms show is at 6:00 PM (9&10 News has light clouds and temperatures of 16-19° during the three hour showtime on the patio), while tomorrow's Whisky Barrel concert is at 8:00 PM indoors. The former is all ages, the latter is not, and neither has an announced cover charge. See above for more details on stages #1-2 of their busy weekend, and here's Dos Amigos live!

Finally for weekend concert preview post #1, we'll head to Reggie's Place, where local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations will take the stage TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! For as experienced and frequently seen as Generations are, these will surprisingly be their first Reggie's concerts since July of last year, and thusly their first stops at this Queen Street East staple with new guitarist Joe Miller (who hasn't played at Reggie's in way longer than that). Hopefully there's a solid turnout tomorrow and Saturday for their old school rock favourites, and the band has teased maybe debuting some new songs in their sets this weekend! Both shows are at 9:30 PM with 19+ age limits and no cover. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's a new video of Generations live at The Water Tower Pub last month! This was shared to their Facebook group via Joe's personal Facebook page.

The 2+ minute video sees Generations covering most of The Headpins' "Don't It Make Ya Feel", which is some welcomed hard rockin' Cancon that Valerie sings with gusto, and while the song isn't fully captured via this stationary camera, at least it's horizontal. There is a couple blocking our view of Pierre and Tony, but they're enjoying their evening at a provided table, so I blame the camera placement. Still a solid cover, so give it a watch below, and see more from Generations at Reggie's this weekend!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for our extended Northern Vibe Festival preview next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Generations & Greg Simpson) And New Videos!!

Today's post is half devoted to wrapping up our look at a local musician's recent original music output, but first, here's some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, one on SHORT NOTICE!

Despite the cancellation of his planned Beck's Bar matinee gig tomorrow, you can still see Bone Yard 225 frontman Greg "The Ranting Rockstar" Simpson live this weekend, as he will be rocking The Dive Gastro Pub with a solo acoustic concert TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, Greg only announced this gig via his personal Facebook page earlier this evening, and at press time, The Dive has not corroborated this booking. As per Greg's post about the "uncorked" concert TOMORROW, this concert will be indoors in "the naughty corner" rather than on the patio, but regardless, if you like Bone Yard's acoustic concerts and enjoyed Greg's past solo dates (at The Dive or otherwise), keep TOMORROW'S concert in mind for some more entertsaining southern and hard rock covers! The Ranting Rockstar takes the stage at the former Low & Slow TOMORROW at 9:30 PM with a 19+ age limit and no announced cover charge. See above for more details, and here's Greg live earlier this month!

Next up, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations will return to Gateway Casino for one night only (as usual there) on Saturday, September 12th! Drummer Tony Santoro newly announced this show on their Facebook group on Monday, and it marks their first show at the downtown casino since early August. Generations have been taking a few weeks off from the stage this month, aside from some fill-in gigs by Pierre and Tony, so if you've missed their, Valerie, and Joe's tried and tested batch of old school covers, go check them out next month (and this fall!) We already knew about their Reggie's Place gigs next weekend, so look for more in next week's round of weekend concert previews. The Gateway Casino show in three weeks is at 8:00 PM with a 19+ age limit and no cover charge. See above for more details, and look for more from Generations on the SMS next week!

Finally for this post, let's conclude our look at Tym Morrison's recent original solo music from his YouTube channel! Six songs (with videos) were left to look at after our all-Tym post, and in this case,  all six songs/videos here reference socio-political issues and opinions that may be seen as divisive, so I won't comment on the bulk of the lyrics or views here (this isn't that kind of site). Also, remember that Tym uses some AI-generated imagery in his videos, but he wrote and sang every part of the actual songs, give or take some spoken word sections from included videos. All uploaded 2-3 weeks ago, the oldest of the six videos is for "The Harvest", referencing the joyous harvests as seen in the Bible, but the video imagery gets heavier than the song, let's say. Musically, it showcases his guitar skills well, but it's deceptively laid back and mid-tempo. Next is "Save The World", which is about his view on vaccines, and that's all I'll say there.

The song itself is livelier and a little heavier with fuller guitar riffs but it can be a tad repetitive structurally. Lyrically, the next song ("The Right Side Of History") is very much on the same track for its messaging and video content. Musically, it is the heaviest of the three songs yet with strong guitar soloing and energetic, melodic singing, so fans of his older metal material will enjoy the instrumental aspect! "Declassified" focuses on Tym's take on political corruption and declassifying government documents, and this song has an Iced Earth vibe to it at points (if that's fair) with well programmed percussion and good melodies. "The Calm Before The Storm", is about child trafficking, and it goes from there. In terms of the music, it's an intense 1980s-inspired metal song that old Hollow and Carbon Black fans will like on that basis.

The last of the six songs is "COVID-19", and you can guess what that song is about from the title. Tym's vocals come off a little like early-1990s Dave Mustaine with how he approaches the verses here, and while not his fastest or most freewheeling original, it gets the job done as a composition. Tym's songwriting and vocal abilities are definitely present across these songs, but all deal with political, social, or public health content that I really don't want to get into here, so just keep that in mind whether you'd be inclined to agree with the viewpoints or not. Give them a listen/watch above if you want, and that's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the SMS this weekend as our backlog shrinks down! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (5 Dollar Bribe) & The Rest Of This Weekend's Concert Previews!!

Here's the likely final post for this busy stretch of weekend concert previews! Just as a late note, The Sault Star's Brian Kelly published this article about tomorrow's WestFest II at Anna Marinelli Park, which notes extra details on vendors, the official setlist times for the four acts, and remarks from co-promoter Ronan Provenzano about the hopes and expectations for this festival. Good read, especially if you're invested in the Jamestown and Steelton development, so give it a read above! Now, here's what you should know for this weekend's other hard rock-leaning concerts, starting with a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!

Fresh off of their set at Maddy's Mighty Mutts' Family Fun Day on Wednesday (more on that event soon), young local hard rock quartet 5 Dollar Bribe will return to Jay's Piston Broke Pub for one night only TONIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, this show was first announced via this AI generated weekly schedule image on Jay's Facebook page on Saturday, with the band only confirming it themselves on Wednesday. Last seen at Jay's (well, outside of it) during last month's ARCH Run, this talented and quickly rising quartet should have another fun night of covers in store TONIGHT, so keep this one in mind if you need some late notice hard rock! This is a one-nighter due to or resulting in tomorrow's concert from classic rock quartet Doo & The Boyos (no word on if their sister band Stones At The Alter will take over a set again or not). While all of 5 Dollar Bribe are under 19, this show will otherwise be 19+.

TONIGHT'S festivities are at 9:30 PM with no cover charge as usual for the former Reggie's West. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's another new video of 5 Dollar Bribe's headlining gig at Blaster Powerhouse this past weekend! Uploaded to their Facebook page on Tuesday, this otherwise plugged-in cover of Silverchair's "No Association" features guitarist Tyler Greely on acoustic guitar after he broke a string on his electric guitar (as noted with a caption at the start). Still a well done cover for 1990s grunge fans, if not the whole song, and I am impressed that they don't default to "Tomorrow" for Silverchair cover choices, so give it a watch below, and don't miss them at Jay's TONIGHT!

Next up, let's head to the eighth annual Algoma Tree Services community meet & greet and barbecue, which goes down TOMORROW at 1424 Havilland Shores Drive in Goulais River once again! In this summer staple where Algoma Tree Services gives back to and celebrates with locals for their support over the past year, they're bringing the same lineup as they have had since 2024 tomorrow. Local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 are headlining at 7:00 PM (fresh off of the Maddy's Mighty Mutts Family Fun Day themselves), while classic rock quintet Angry Joe & The Growlers will again kick off the festivities at 1:30 PM in an event that they have played at for years before Bone Yard got in on it (Soundcheck were the headliners prior to 2024). Both bands have four hour nightclub-esque blocks tomorrow, so The Growlers aren't really "opening", but if you like one/both bands, you'll get your fill!

Proceeds of the barbecue go to the Kiwanis Club's childrens operations, and there will be a bonfire on site as well. The meet & greet/concert proper is FREE & ALL AGES, and as this is outdoors, temperatures will run for 16-21° with mostly cloudy skies clearing up as Angry Joe & them are rocking out, and things should be clear for your local 225's entire set. Kudos to both bands for supporting Algoma Tree Services once again, and hopefully there's a decent turnout once again for the food, music, information, and more! Visit the above links for more details, and here's Bone Yard live!

Also this weekend, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations will return to The Water Tower Pub for one night only on SATURDAY NIGHT! One week removed from their return to the stage at Gateway Casino after a month+ break, fans will have last seen Valerie, Joe, Pierre, and Tony at this Great Northern Road venue on June 27th. If you're up for a night of classic and hard rock cover favourites from this experienced foursome, you can do far worse than come out on Saturday, though be advised that they aren't scheduled for more concerts until they return to Reggie's in three weeks. As usual for The Water Tower Pub, they don't book the same band on consecutive nights, and tonight's performer there is North Channel Sound singer/guitarist Greg Cull as a solo act. Saturday's Generations concert is at 8:00 PM with a 19+ age limit and no cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Generations live earlier this year!

Finally for this weekend's previews, another performer at the Maddy's Mighty Mutts Family Fun Day is hitting the stage for another concert this weekend, as former Haggith/Eclipse singer/guitarist Curtis McKenzie will return to Beck's Bar as their matinee performer on SUNDAY! I erroneously thought this was a short notice gig briefly, forgetting that Curt actually announced this show on his Facebook page back in May, as well as his Sunday matinee there in October. This will be your first chance to see Curtis at the former Vibe Lounge this year, having last played at Beck's in November 2025, and hopefully his grunge and hard rock covers find another willing audience on Sunday during Beck's weekly euchre tournament! As usual for matinee gigs here, this is a 3:00 PM concert on Sunday with a 19+ age limit and no cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Curt live!

That's all for now, but with our weekend concert previews likely done for the week, look for the clear-out of our backlog to resume in earnest over the weekend! Thanks everyone!

The Rest Of This Weekend's Hard Rock/Punk Concert Previews!!

As promised, here's the rest of this weekend's known hard rock concert previews as we plunge deeper into the Civic Holiday long weekend for many (but not all) readers on the Ontario side of the border. Mercifully, all of today's shows had prior advance notice, but one was postponed a day, so here's what else you should know to end July!

We'll start at Gateway Casino TOMORROW NIGHT, where local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations will end their recent break! After members spent last month working on other projects and bands (including a one-off Jus' Chillin reunion), tomorrow's show will be Generations' first at Sault Ontario's downtown casino in almost two months. Hopefully this one-nighter delivers more of the classic and hard rock goodness for fans of Valerie, Joe, Pierre, and Tony's tried-and-tested brand of rock covers, so keep this show in mind for your (long?) weekend plans! If you can't make it tomorrow, Generations will return to The Water Tower Pub next week. Tomorrow's concert takes place at the casino at 8:00 PM with a 19+ age limit and no announced cover charge. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and for a preview, here's Generations live in concert a few months ago!

Next up, if you crave some original music and/or multiple bands, you might want to head to Blaster Powerhouse TOMORROW NIGHT, where four local bands will join forces, including rising young hard rock quartet 5 Dollar Bribe as the headliners! Proving that their rapid ascent this year isn't a fluke, this skilled high school-aged group should have an intriguing array of covers (expected and unexpected alike) tomorrow, so keep this show in mind! Crossover thrash trio Hails will play their first show at the former Soo Blaster with their current lineup tomorrow, while veteran local punk supergroup The Gambit will play just their fourth show with this name and first since Rotaryfest two years ago tomorrow as well. Space/hard rock duo The Spaceship Opening will... open this concert in their first public gig of 2026, and this is definitely an interestingly varied lineup of newer and established names!

Promoted by former Ha!ls guitarist Mikhal Muto's own agency Underground Events SSM, this all ages concert begins tomorrow at 8:30 PM with no age limit, and admission is $20 at the door ("no tickets will be made for this one", so apologies to ticket stub collectors, alas). Despite a somewhat out-there poster (at least it's not AI!), this is shaping up to be a fun concert for punk fans, so visit the above links for more details, and here's a new video of 5 Dollar Bribe at the ARCH Run earlier this month! Uploaded to their Facebook page last week, this is their frequent live cover of The Atlanta Rhythm Section's "So Into You", albeit for just 34 seconds. Well played and relaxed, if not that heavy, so give it a watch for yourselves below!

Also this weekend, local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 will have the rare double header weekend TOMORROW NIGHT & SUNDAY at Beck's Bar! On the weekend that they release their new studio single "Welcome To The Shit Show" (more on that next week), tomorrow's concert is a regular plugged-in, full band concert for fans of "the dirty three" in their full splendour, so you'll be ending July on a loud and high note if you come to the former Vibe Lounge tomorrow! If you're curious, tomorrow's matinee performer (who isn't "opening" for Bone Yard) is new local singer/guitarist Stephen Biason, who plays from 3:00-7:00 PM. On Sunday, your local 225 will go "uncorked" for an acoustic matinee concert, which coincides with Beck's weekly euchre tournament on Sundays, so whether you play cards or not, you'll have a fitting soundtrack from Greg, Alex, and Warren! 

Tomorrow's nightcap is at 9:00 PM, the Sunday unpl... uncorked concert is also at 3:00 PM, both shows are 19+ affairs, and none have an age limit. Visit the above links for more details on Bone Yard's busy west end weekend, and for a preview, here they are live in concert last year!

Finally for these previews, we'll head south to Cedarville, Michigan for the annual Government Bay Barge Bash, but later than you may think, as it has been postponed from tomorrow to SUNDAY. As revealed via this AI-generated poster, organizers have decided to push the Barge Bash back a day due to the rainy weather forecast tomorrow. 9&10 News currently has rain forecasted for Cedarville in the 12:00 PM hour, but an even likelier chance for precipitation is spotted from the 4:00 PM hour onward, which would not be ideal for bands, let alone everyone else. Sunday's forecast is much better (sunny skies all day with 73-76° temperatures, 23-25° Celsius), and all bands are able to play the rain date, so adjust your schedules accordingly! The Les Cheneaux Islands Barge Bash will again feature bands playing on a literal barge floating in Government Bay off of East Hodeck Street, so if you want to boat or swim over for the music, you can! Click here for non-musical details.

Sunday's headliners are hard rock cover quintet Project 906 (likely around 4:00-5:00 PM) alongside Cedarville rock veterans Shipheads On Shore (likely around 2:00-3:00 PM), and The Haske Brothers (now featuring prolific local singer/guitarist Mark Bowen!) kicking things off at noon, giving us a near identical lineup to last year. The Barge Bash is FREE & ALL AGES, though please drink responsibly, and be careful out on the water regardless. This is always a fun and very unique concert event on the EUP calendar, so visit the above links for more on Sunday's action, and here's Project 906 live!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Quite Frankly, Generations, And Viscera) And More Recent Updates!!

As my Rotaryfest review will be quite long, here's a news post to fill some time while that gets written, and it includes LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS and some other shorter updates, so here's what you should know!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations have announced their August concert calendar via their Facebook group this past Wednesday! After opting to take July off (with a Jus' Chillin reunion gig and Pierre playing with Mudfoot Mike & The Muckrakers at Rotaryfest Stage 2 in the interim), Generations will return to action on Saturday, August 1st at Gateway Casino, in their first concert there in almost two months, with said gig falling on the Civic Holiday long weekend for many. Valerie, Joe, Pierre, and Tony will pack their bags for The Water Tower Pub (the site of their most recent concert) on Saturday, August 8th for another one-nighter, and they'll end the month at Reggie's Place on Friday, August 28th & Saturday, August 29th. Surprisingly, these will be their first Reggie's stops in over a year (and thusly their first there with Joe Miller on guitar), so if you're a fan of this downtown staple, keep this full weekend in mind for your concert planning!

The classic and hard rock covers will be flowing at all four of these 19+ gigs, none of which have an announced cover charge, and while the first two are 8:00 PM shows, the Reggie's weekend starts at 9:30 PM. Good to see Generations back at it, so visit the above links for more details!

Next up, fellow local classic/hard rock cover quartet Quite Frankly will make their debut appearance at Outspoken Brewing on Friday, August 14th! Fresh off of their Rotaryfest debut on Friday (fallout forthcoming), this rare double header weekend for Linsaey, Frank, Harley, and Joe will see them kick things off at the 350 Queen Street East microbrewery and nightclub, which only infrequently hosts concerts. Street parties aside, we last caught wind of a hard rock or punk concert there when Dos Amigos played there in May of last year. It's an intimate spot that is arguably better suited to acoustic artists, but hopefully there's a strong turnout for Quite Frankly downtown next month! If you can't make that date, they will return to the aforementioned Gateway Casino the following night. The Outspoken show on the 14th is at 9:00 PM (only for two hours at that) with a 19+ age limit and no announced cover. Visit the above links for more on Quite Frankly's upcoming dates!

Also newly announced is a new fall date from Sault Michigan hardcore punk trio Viscera, who will return to the basement of Pizza Hut on Saturday, September 26th! Unlike recent shows at the 225 Ashmun Street restaurant space, this show is a presentation of Viscera's new in-house promotion agency Soo Tang Records, and like their Three One Three show next month, they are the advertised headliners. The concert will see Marquette "ghostcore" band Particle Thrower open in their local debut, returning the favour after Viscera open for them in Marquette on August 1st. Their sound and imagery lean heavily into the original Ghostbusters movie, at least so far, so that will be a fun pull beyond their hard hitting brand of metalcore in two months' time! At least one more band is to be announced. This concert has an 18+ age limit and a 7:00 PM start time, but admission fees have not been announced yet.

The increase in eclectic original concerts in the E.U.P. in the past year has been very welcomed, and Viscera are making solid waves with their brutal genre mix, so visit Viscera's Instagram page for more details on this intriguing concert, and to get details on how to get their debut EP on CD!

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

 

• In a minor spring cleaning note, these are songs recently seen in Facebook "Story" videos posted by band or venue that I was able to see, but alas, not feature here due to their self-destructing nature after one or two views: Bone Yard 225 covering The Marshall Tucker Band's "Can't You See" at their last "uncorked" gig at Beck's Bar, Silent 9 covering DNCE's "Cake By The Ocean" and Elton John's "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting" at The Esquire Club in May, and TNT (Travis Sharpe n' Terry Eaton) covering Dishwalla's "Counting Blue Cars" and Kim Mitchell's "Patio Lanterns" at Beck's last month. I strongly dislike "Stories", but these are setlist hints!
• If you're wondering who The Korner Monsters (the mystery band at this weekend's ARCH Run) are, they are actually a reunion of a local rock band from the 1990s featuring prolific local drummer and Rising Tide alum Chris Johns on guitar. Kudos to him for confirming some details about this band, but will anything extra public come out about them? Stay tuned for our preview of the ARCH Run later this week for more on the festivities in any event!
• New local alt-hard rock band Riverside Stasis will be parting ways with guitarist Liam Dinsmore following this weekend's ARCH Run and Blaster Powerhouse concerts, as per their Facebook page earlier today. A reason for Liam's impending exit wasn't announced, but things are 100% amicable, and it comes off to me like he's moving out of town, but don't take that as gospel. Liam had joined this new band alongside Raine & Anthony when HeadFirst disbanded earlier this year, and while not the loudest or most front-facing member of either band, he is a talented musician that will be an asset at whatever comes next! See him off in style this weekend!

 

That's all for now, but stay tuned for our Rotaryfest review and more on the site soon! Thanks everyone!

Saturday Hard Rock/Punk Concert Previews, Plus New Live Videos!!

Before we begin this post, I wanted to apologize for not being able to get About:Blank's late notice Art In The Park acoustic matinee set at Moloney's Alley today into a regular post, but alas, they only announced their involvement on their Facebook page this morning, and they were not on the AI poster promoting the music lineup there. I'd have happily covered it here had it had been announced even yesterday, but I did get the word out on our Facebook page, at least. From here, we leave Sault Michigan to cap off this weekend's hard rock concert previews in Sault Ontario, including new videos from two of the bands in question, so here's what you should know!

We'll pick things back up at Beck's Bar TOMORROW NIGHT, and while Stones & Crows are debuting there tonight, Saturday belongs to Bone Yard 225, as the southern hard rock trio are playing a standard 9:00 PM nightcap concert and doubling up by going "uncorked" in the 3:00-7:00 PM matinee timeslot as well! The extended eight hour concert (with two hour gap) is so they can be the musical entertainment at the Biker Rights Organization's annual Shoot & Scoot motorcycle rally, which starts at the newer A&W on Great Northern Road and ends at Beck's (relocating from The Moose Lodge this year). Also at Beck's, attendees can expect a barbecue and concert action from "the dirty three", but visit the above links for what to expect at the rally, which does involve some field target shooting en route! Bone Yard have long been supporters of motorcycle riding and the B.R.O., and hopefully there's a good crowd for acoustic show #1 and plugged-in show #2!

Greg, Alex, and Warren's marathon day will have no cover charge for general attendees, and this is a 19+ event. Just two weeks removed from their last Beck's stop (which was their first electric gig in three months), hopefully things go smoothly for their southern fried hard rock originals and covers tomorrow, and that they use the 7:00-9:00 break wisely before recorking! Visit the above links for more details on your local 225's double concert and/or the Shoot & Scoot, and for a preview, here's a brand new live-streamed video of them live at the Queen Street Cruise last week! This comes from the outdoor waterfront portion of their Saturday gig during the car show (placed again near Montana's), and it features the guys covering Wild Cherry's "Play That Funky Music". It's a lively cover played in nice weather conditions, but the video is vertical, and it comes in midway through the first chorus.

Unfortunately, the band representative shot this video as a live-stream for their Facebook page, not a standard video, so as per Facebook's current guidelines, it will vanish from Facebook around July 20th unless they convert it to a regular video or re-upload it.  Give it a watch (while you can?) below, and click here for Greg's own highlight/behind the scenes video from the Cruise proper! No music there, but all of the band make appearances.

Next up, an intriguing package of newer and not-as-frequently seen local bands will join forces at Blaster Powerhouse TOMORROW NIGHT thanks to Underground Events SSM! Ska punk quartet A.S.D.P. (led by promoter Mikhal Muto) will play a rare headlining set tomorrow at the former Soo Blaster, while local metal trio The BAG will return to the site of their album release party in their first show since then tomorrow as the co-headliners, returning the favour after A.S.D.P. opened for them in April. Local alt-punk trio A Dire Setback will end a 15 month stage hiatus when they take the stage tomorrow themselves, and it's great to see them back after way too long! Opening tomorrow is the live debut of Riverside Stasis, the new band from Handsome Sandwich, Raincourt, HeadFirst, Jack Spades, and Stones & Crows alumni. The talent is certainly there, but how will things go for their first live concert set?

Admission is $15 via advance tickets from the performers or at The Rad Zone, but the price will jump to $20 at the door. This is an all ages event that will begin tomorrow night at 8:00 PM. Definitely a solid lineup of newer and established local talent that hard rock and punk fans won't want to bypass, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and in lieu of a publically embeddable video of A.S.D.P. (remember, their social media presence is slight), here's The BAG live at the same venue!

Finally for known hard rock concerts this weekend, we'll head north to The Water Tower Pub, where local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations will take the stage for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT! Last seen at Minelli's 75th anniversary festival this past weekend, this will effectively be a rescheduling of their cancelled April 18th show at The Water Tower Pub due to an unspecified family emergency. Exactly 10 weeks later, they're back, and hopefully there's lots of fun classic and hard rock favourites from Valerie, Joe, Pierre, and Tony once again! I do not know who is playing at this venue tonight, but tomorrow's show will be at 8:00 PM with a 19+ age limit and no cover charge. For a preview, we have some brand new videos of Generations live outside of The Marconi Hall for the Minelli's festival! Shared to the band's Facebook group in a batch post, the videos were shot by drummer Tony Santoro's wife Dawn.

She filmed them covering John Mellencamp's "Authority Song", Brandi Carlile's "The Story", Pat Benatar's "Hit Me With Your Best Shot", Bryan Adams' "Summer Of '69", and as embedded below, Nazareth's "Turn On Your Reciever". All have Valerie Powley on lead vocals except "Authority Song", which had Tony singing. While the videos are sadly all vertical (you don't have to accentuate the pavement like that when people aren't even standing there), the performances are sound, and this looks like a well staged event fitting a 75th anniversary! Visit the above links to see all of Dawn's videos, and turn on your receiver so you can check out the cover below!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for this month's YouTube Channel Profile next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Silent 9, Soundcheck, And Generations) & Weekend Concert Previews!!

Before we begin our latest round of weekend concert previews, just a heads up that the planned Dr. Feelgood concert at The Sault Community Theatre Centre has quietly been cancelled, as per the deletion of its ticket page from the S.C.T.C. website. I have not seen any public statement on a reason for the cancellation, but $61 adult tickets can't have encouraged sales, White Pines theater or not. Contact Miles Management or the local box office if you still haven't gotten a refund for purchased tickets. Dr. Feelgood deliver the goods for Motley Crue and hair metal fans, and hopefully they try here again!

This preview post will go into most of the weekend's hard rock shows, but due to the amount, I'll hold the Go Skateboarding Day and Quite Frankly concerts for our next post. Most of today's are SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, and we'll start at Jay's Piston Broke Pub, where local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the shows were only announced on the venue's Facebook page yesterday, creatively by sharing the AI-generated poster for their shows there last month, which didn't have date-specific details. Fresh off of their sister band Separate Wayz' shows at Reggie's last week, TOMORROW & SATURDAY'S concerts are not advertised to be "epic crossover" shows either, but as we saw last week, you never quite know when Nicole will turn up at a Soundcheck-only gig, and vice versa for Travis with Separate Wayz!

In the realm of Facebook "Story" videos, you may have seen one from their last show at Beck's Bar from that venue featuring Soundcheck covering Billy Squier's "Everybody Wants You" with Travis on vocals, but alas, "Story" videos disappear forever after being seen once or twice. Will they perform it again TOMORROW or SATURDAY? Find out at the former Reggie's West! These are 9:30 PM concerts with 19+ age limits and no cover charges. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Soundcheck live!

Next up, local classic/hard rock cover veterans Generations will play an hour-long set as part of Minelli's 75th anniversary Italian Celebration on SATURDAY! Again, apologies for the short notice, the band only confirmed their involvement via their Facebook group on Tuesday, and the schedule was only released yesterday. To celebrate 75 years of Minelli's as an Italian restaurant in the Soo (currently based out of The Marconi Multicultural Events Centre at 450 Albert Street West), this one day festival on SATURDAY will celebrate Minelli's and give back to the community, including vendors, games, raffles, kids activities, food and drinks, and of course, live music. Not counting the DJ playing that night, there is a four band matinee program on SATURDAY, with Generations co-headlining at 3:00 PM. Local country musician Matt Tarantini will be last up at 4:30 PM, with the Elettra Marconi Society Choir performing at 2:00 PM, and classic rock mainstays RPM kicking things off with a 2 hour block at 12:00 PM, so there's a lot for many tastes!

To be held in The Marconi Hall's parking lot from noon until 10:00 PM, this is a free & all ages event, but food and drink tickets will be on site if you're so inclined. 75 years is quite a milestone, so kudos to Julie and the rest of the family and staff for sticking with Minelli's for all these years, and hopefully Generations and the other musical performers set the right notes on SATURDAY! As the concert is outdoors, 9&10 News is calling for partly cloudy weather on SATURDAY with a high of 20° and a low of 7°, and rain is unlikely. Visit the official Facebook event page and the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Generations live!

Also this weekend, fellow local classic/hard rock cover quartet Silent 9 will head west to Runway Park to serve as musical entertainment at Throttle Fest on SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies again for the short notice, we knew that they were scheduled to play at Runway Park via their website's concert calendar, but firm confirmation about the event proper only crossed my radar this week. Surprisingly their only public show in city limits this summer (they're not playing at Rotaryfest), Silent 9 will help close out Throttle Fest, a drag racing & mud bog festival taking place at the 573 Airport Road dirt racing venue that is most famous in a concert context for hosting the Bell Border Jam festival in 2008. Along with racing to take part in and watch, there will be a food truck and beer tent on site, tattoos, on-site camping, and more, so click here for fuller details on what to expect! Silent 9 are scheduled to perform from 7:00-11:00 PM on SATURDAY NIGHT.

General admission is $40 unless you're racing in Throttle Fest events proper (kids 10 and under are free), and gates open for the day's swath of events at 7:30 AM on SATURDAY. Like with the Minelli's festival, the weather forecast currently looks good here as well. Silent 9 should get fans moving with some fun hard rock and general covers to cap off a busy program, so visit the above links for more on Throttle Fest, and here they are live!

Finally for this preview post, we'll close with one more special summer festival (albeit one whose band details weren't on short notice), as local southern rock trio Bone Yard 225 will return as the house band for the annual Queen Street Cruise TOMORROW & SATURDAY! "The Dirty Three" have long served as musical entertainment for this classic car throwback event, with the home base returning to The Roberta Bondar Pavilion all weekend long. As usual, tomorrow's program is headlined by the cruise proper, with your local 225 playing under the tent from 6:30 PM onward, while they will set up shop outside on the boardwalk proper by Montana's from 12:30 PM onward during the show n' shine car show, preceding the awards ceremony to close the weekend. Outside of their concert action, click here for the full weekend itinerary, including appearances by Cristy Lee from All Girls Garage, the Touch-A-Truck, and much more.

Admission is free for general attendees (see above if you intend on registering for the car show or cruise), this is absolutely an all ages event, and while the Saturday forecast is already noted above, tomorrow's forecast is calling for clear skies and temperatures of 13-16° when Greg, Alex, and Warren are slated to be performing, tent acknowledged. If you love classic cars, be you the owner of one or not, don't miss the Cruise this weekend, and if you've missed Bone Yard's full electric show in recent months, they'll be in full force downtown! See above for more details, and here's Bone Yard 22live!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for our Quite Frankly and Go Skate Day previews (and more) next! Thanks everyone!