Halloween Night Concert Previews!!

As it turns out, this weekend is scheduled advantageously for Halloween, as October 31st is a Friday, a.k.a. tomorrow! Even still, some venues are hosting Halloween-themed concerts on Saturday as well based on band or venue preference. Today's first weekend concert preview post will focus on hard rock shows taking place tomorrow proper, and we'll dive into the honestly busier Saturday slate tomorrow, as well as Peril's St. Ignace Kewadin gigs. Here's what you should know to kick off the spookiest weekend of the year!

We'll start with the only hard rock show of consequence in Sault Ontario on Halloween night TOMORROW (though there are definitely other concerts concurrently from general classic or pop rock bands), and it takes place at Beck's Bar in a rare deviation from their Friday DJ/dance party nights. Your headliners are the debuting & online page-less local Pearl Jam tribute band Even Flow, who will reportedly feature ex-Garden of Bedlam drummer Derek Turner alongside former Sense Of Truth/Parabol guitarist Steve Myers and a musician named Cameron Brock (as far as I can tell), but we await further public confirmation of them and their lineup. Pearl Jam aren't often covered locally, so it'll be interesting to hear how this band handles the grunge legends! New (and also online page-less) local party rock quartet The Barbarians will join them tomorrow, so if you've liked former Elements/Wyld Stallyns frontman Rob Speers' recent solo work, keep that in mind!

In a late confirmation via Beck's Facebook page, Sylo frontman Eli Russell will return home from university as the opening act. His solo material leans more to indie rock than his band work, but it'll be good to see him back in the Soo for Halloween! Costumes are absolutely encouraged tomorrow, with prizes to be awarded for the best makeup, most creative, and best duo/couples costume, while Tarot card reader Stephanie Poitras will be on hand as well. This concert has a 9:00 PM start time, a 19+ age limit, and no announced cover. Visit the above links for more details, and no preview videos yet!

The rest of today's previews take us to Halloween night concerts TOMORROW in Michigan's Eastern Upper Peninsula, and we'll start at The Driftwood Sports Bar in St. Ignace, where local hard rock/classic metal quartet Tarnished will set up shop for their Halloween night party! Part of the guys' expansion of gigs in St. Ignace beyond the Kewadin Casino umbrella (they've played four different venues there this year), this will be their first gig there since last month's Richard Crane Memorial Truck Show weekend. As you might expect, this one-nighter is a full-on Halloween party, with a mystery grand prize for the best costume, hourly prize giveaways,"thrilling vibes, haunted music, and dancing till dawn". Maybe you can do the latter, but Alex, Josh, Chris, and Ron are blocked from 9:30 PM-1:00 AM for this 21+ concert, which has no announced cover charge. Visit the above links for more details!

For a preview, here's a rare live video of the band's current lineup from their Facebook page, but there's a reason this got filmed. As you may remember, Tarnished played at The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino this past weekend, and were rocking out after Saturday night's Trixter-headlined Spirit Of 1989 concert at The Dreammaker's Theater. Among the fans to stop by after the big show was one its performers, namely Jake Curtis Allard, the guitarist of Pretty Boy Floyd, and he actually guested on vocals with Tarnished for a cover of The Scorpions' "Rock You Like A Hurricane". Definitely impromptu, as evidenced by how Jake got the lyrics, but a fun bonus for hair metal fans, so give it a watch below!

Making our way north, fans in Rudyard will get Halloween concert action of the hard rock variety TOMORROW as well, as local hard/blues rock quintet Project 421 will take the stage at Huck's Pub & Grill for their October 31st festivities! Last seen in Hulbert Township four weeks ago as the post-poker run musical entertainment, this will surprisingly be 906's first show at Huck's all year, and what a way to end that gap by rocking out with their Halloween best for what should be a packed and eclectic night! As you might expect, there will be a costume contest at Huck's, with prizes to be awarded for the best overall costume, funniest costume, and best couples costume, so come dressed to impress! Project 906's fan friendly brand of hard rock covers are up at 9:00 PM with a 21+ age limit and no cover. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Project 906 live at The Islander Bar in Hessel for Halloween in 2022!

We'll close this preview post in Sault Ste. Marie, where local hard rock cover quartet Unfortunate Sun will headline The Merchant's Bar's Halloween party TOMORROW NIGHT! Now, before we get too far into this preview, note that drummer Jason VanLuven is a member of both Unfortunate Sun and Project 906, but neither band has confirmed whether they'll have a guest or fill-in drummer or not. Project 906 had recruited Exit 808's Jackie Moon to fill in for Jason when they played in Kinross last month, and they have played shows with just hand drummer Brian Duford on percussion in the past, and while I believe Unfortunate Sun (and Fake Chow before them) tend to get priority for these conflicts, I have no idea which of the two bands Jason will be playing with. Tomorrow's Halloween party at The Merch will be Unfortunate Sun's first show since rocking the St. Ignace Kewadin in mid-September, and their first show in the Soo (or the Merch) since the spring.

The Merch rarely promotes bands playing there on social media, but their Facebook event page confirms that there will be drink specials and prizes on offer. including for best costume, so expect a fun night of spooky music and good vibes tomorrow! "The hottest band in Sleepy Hollow" will take the stage at 9:00 PM with a 21+ age limit and no announced cover charge. Hard rock fans will have a lot to like in the Soo tomorrow, let alone Rudyard and St. Ignace, so visit the above links for more on this trifecta of local band-headlined Halloween parties in the E.U.P., and here's Unfortunate Sun live!

That's all for now, but stay tuned in our next post for our previews of this weekend's Peril, Bone Yard 22, Tym Morrison, and Generations concerts! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Bone Yard 225 & Even Flow) And Sole Aggressors Updates!!

Before we kick off another round of hard rock weekend concert previews, here's some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for the spooky season festivities ahead and updates from a talented but defunct(?) local band, so here's what you should know on this rainy Wednesday night!

Beck's Bar have announced their Halloween weekend concert slate via their Facebook page, and for a second time in three weeks, they'll host a concert on the usually DJ/dance party-only Friday, seeing as it is Halloween proper this year! The October 31st concert will be headlined by a debuting local Pearl Jam tribute band named Even Flow, and while I have yet to find a public social media page or posting about this group, public Facebook shares of this poster indicate that former Garden of Bedlam drummer Derek Turner will be behind the kit, possibly joined by a new-to-me musician named Cameron Brock. We'll let you know when more is publically known, but a locally based tribute to the grunge/alternative legends would be neat to see! The openers on Halloween are new (and online page-less) local rock cover quartet The Barbarians, who debuted at The Northern Vibe Festival this year.

Featuring ex-Elements/Wyld Stallyns frontman Rob Speers, Handsome Sandwich's Taylor Emlaw & Rafael Medina, and Boat Dads drummer Kevin Harrison, I still don't know what range of music that The Barbarians play in relation to Rob's solo shows and past bands, but you can find out next Friday! Costumes are absolutely encouraged, with prizes being offered for best makeup, best duo, and most creative, while Tarot card reader Stephanie Poitras will also be on hand. No cover charge is announced for this 19+ concert, which begins at 9:00 PM.

Meanwhile, Halloween will extend to Saturday, November 1st, with the spooky themes, costume contests, and Tarot readings in effect that day as well, and for the occasion, southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 will return to the former Vibe Lounge as that night's headline band! This show has not (yet?) been announced on their website's concert calendar, but it comes just two weeks after they last rocked Beck's, albeit for a full weekend with an "uncorked" Sunday matinee (Out & Out Country have the honours on November 2nd). Good to see Greg, Alex, and Warren back for another night of rocking covers and originals in the west end, so don't put your costumes away yet, as there's more Halloween fun to be had a day late! We already knew about Tym Morrison's matinee concert next Saturday, and remember, he isn't "opening" for Bone Yard, he and they have two separate four hour concert blocks spaced two hours apart.

Like with The Barbarians and Even Flow on Halloween proper, your local 225 kick off their evening at 9:00 PM next Saturday with a 19+ age limit and no cover charge. Sounds like Beck's has a lot going on for Halloween weekend, so definitely visit the above links for more on what's in the cards there!

Next up, let's take a look at some updates from the now-defunct Sault Michigan punk trio The Sole Aggressors... or are they? In their last post on their Facebook page to date, singer/guitarist Brett Siesel thanked their friends, family, and supporters throughout their run, and "although this chapter has reached its conclusion, we have not". The 2023 LSSU Battle of the Bands winners are now calling this "our indefinite hiatus", and Brett teased that they have an "album coming soon". If they have entered the studio in any fashion, I haven't seen reference to it, but given that an indefinite hiatus can last anywhere from a few weeks to forever (let alone that they called their house party gig in August their "farewell show"), I'm not inclined to move them back to our active links at this juncture. After all, they're far from the only local band to end activity when members leave the area for college, but it's always cool to see bands reunite afterwards!

While we're on the subject, let's end this post with one of the last two full concert set videos from their YouTube channel! Today, we'll look at "The Shamrock Show" at Three One Three On Ashmun in March, where Brett, Calvin, and Isaac joined (in their Sault Ste. Marie debuts) The Sky Pilots and About:Blank for a St. Patrick's Day weekend blast of hard rock and punk action. The 52 minute set features The Sole Aggressors playing (in order) "Kill Thy Neighbour", "Burning Down", "Teenage Guide", "Humans Aren't Ordinary Monkeys", "Time To Commercialize!", "False Hope", "Heil Artificiality", "Fool", "State Of The World", "Kill A Celebrity", "Ventilation", "Fast Punk For Fast Food", "Melted Plastic", "Tale Of An American Hero", "Reject", "Down By The Bay", and "Hypocrite", followed by a new original song named "The Same Individualist", and in a rarity at this stage, a cover of Black Flag's "Six Pack".

While this gives us our fullest look at The Sole Aggressors' original catalogue yet, the visuals don't start off ideal, but if you hang on past the first four songs, the filmer does move the camera so that Brett's head isn't cut off and Calvin isn't entirely hidden behind him from this vantage point. That one stage light can be a little bright regardless, but the upbeat and fast punk action is well recorded at the former Back Door here, so if you miss The Sole Aggressors or missed out on their gigs on both sides of the border, give this full set upload a watch for yourselves below!

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

More Of This Weekend's Hard Rock Concert Previews!!

Let's continue covering this weekend's hard rock concert slate by looking at most of this weekend's proper concerts, Bone Yard 225 excepted (check the post below this one for details on their Reggie's dates). Remember, as Halloween was last night, some venues and bands are holding belated Halloween events tonight and/or tomorrow night, but others are not visibly doing so. Due to the amount of shows, I'm holding tomorrow's multi-band concert in Brimley, Michigan and the Rust tribute concert in Sault Ontario for our next post, so look for those then! Now, here's what you should know as the weekend continues, starting in Sault Michigan!

Local hard rock sextet Exit 808 will return to the local stage when they headline The Merchants Bar's Halloween party TONIGHT! This will actually be Exit 808's second Halloween concert this year, following a road trip to Bergland (5 hours west of the Soo) for the Bergland Bay Bar's holiday festivities this past Saturday, which appears to have went well for them! Surprisingly, this talented group took October off from local dates, so if you've missed Exit 808 since their Three One Three fundraiser event in late September, don't bypass tonight's Halloween show! It's worth noting that the tags in their most recent Facebook page plug of this event don't include singer Dillion Semasky, guitarist Will Robbins, or bassist Myke Young, rather Drew Collister from the Ishpeming rock band No Expectations, former fill-in bassist Blaze Beairl, and Soundworks Productions owner Warren Woeste.

Drew is indeed filling in for Dillion Semasky on vocals for unannounced reasons, but I can't confirm if Will and Myke will be absent too (note that I haven't seen Will referenced in new Exit 808 social media postings since August, and he doesn't have a personal Facebook page that he can be tagged with). We'll let you know if anything gets clarified, but hopefully Amy, Alex, Jackie, and crew can still deliver a fun night of hard rocking covers tonight at The Merch! There will be a costume contest with prizes tonight, so don't put your costumes away just yet! This show has a 21+ age limit, no cover charge, and a 9:00 PM start time. Visit the above links for more details on this show, and here's Exit 808 live!

Next up, both regional Kewadin Casino branches are having hard rock-leaning bands this weekend, though just to get this out of the way now, neither branch is tying in this weekend's concerts with Halloween. The casinos did their Halloween festivities at all locations this past weekend, so expect the status quo as we enter November. At The Rapids Lounge in Sault Ste. Marie, attendees TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT will be seeing local hard rock quartet Rhythm & Brews, who will be playing their first publically advertised shows since back in June. Featuring former Nixxon Dixxon bandmates Brandon Carr & Chris Hubbard alongside recent Tarnished rhythm section Chris Leask & Ron Suchey, this talented group will have lots of fan friendly hard rock covers ready to go this weekend, even if they still don't have public videos to preview their shows with! These dates are at 9:00 PM with 21+ age limits and no cover charges.

Meanwhile, The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin will play host to Traverse City metal trio Scarkazm TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Surprisingly, we haven't seen Scarkazm rock either Kewadin branch since the spring, so if you've missed Adam, Dave, and Jeff's hard hitting covers and originals, you'll definitely want to keep in mind that they're ending 2024 with the help of three concert weekends in the E.U.P.! They'll be at the Soo Kewadin over the Thanksgiving long weekend, and will return to St. Ignace in mid-December, so you have lots of chances if you can't come out tonight and/or tomorrow! Like with Rhythm & Brews in the Soo, tomorrow and Saturday's shows are 21+ affairs at 9:00 PM with no cover. Visit the above links for more details on both of Kewadin Casino's regional post-Halloween concerts, and for a preview, here's Scarkazm live earlier this year!

Finally for this preview post, we'll head back to Sault Ontario, where local classic/hard rock cover quartet Silent 9 will headline at The Esquire Club TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! Due to popular demand, the Second Line West venue opted to host Halloween parties this past Saturday and this weekend, but interestingly, they've opted to have the second Halloween party on the Saturday as well, not tonight. In other words, do not put away or throw out your costume just yet, as spooky season will be running until at least November 2nd in the west end this year! Yes, there will be one more costume contest with prizes tomorrow as well, while tonight's show appears to be the status quo more or less for Silent 9's diverse and often hard rocking cover slate, but there may be some costumes and Halloween frills tonight as well. You can see Jess, Ryan, Paul, and Steve in action tonight and tomorrow at 9:30 PM with 19+ age limits and no cover charges. See above for more details, and here they are live at The Esquire Club last year!

We'll cap off this weekend's concert previews with tomorrow's Rust and Dick Texas/Sole Aggressors shows on both sides of the border (and more?), so stay tuned then! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Bone Yard 225) & Halloween Concert Previews!!

Halloween is drawing near, so let's start this weekend's concert previews early, as October 31st is a Thursday (ie. tomorrow) this year! Because it's Halloween, some venues and bands are celebrating tomorrow despite being a work/school night, but because Friday and Saturday are closer on the calendar than Saturday the 26th was, and Halloween runs right into Friday, there are belated Halloween themed events happening this weekend as well. It'll all be simpler next year when October 31st is a Friday, but for now, enjoy the extended Halloween season while we have it! Due to the amount of shows, I'll cover Silent 9, Rust, and Sault Michigan/EUP events in the coming days. Of course, this doesn't count shows that don't quite cross our subgenre radar, like Bourbon Blue at Jay's Piston Broke Pub this weekend, Rob Speers at The Dive tomorrow, and the Hallows Haunts/Wawa Witches (both touring bands) at Mane St. Cafe & Lounge tomorrow.

We'll lead off tonight with SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, as local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 will play a triple header weekend at Reggie's Place TOMORROW NIGHT, FRIDAY, and SATURDAY! Apologies for the short notice, the band only announced the Halloween night show on their Facebook page on Monday, while Reggie's Facebook page later confirmed that they will indeed be playing there for the rest of the weekend. Your local 225 just played at Reggie's this past weekend, including a Halloween themed concert this past Saturday, but with the guys already planning to release their new single "Gypsy Spell" on major streaming services TOMORROW, why not throw a second Halloween concert together to give it a proper launch? This weekend's three new bookings mean that Bone Yard will have played five shows at Reggie's in an eight day span, so if you like them at this Queen Street East staple, strap in for more rocking tunes!

Like this past Saturday, cash prizes will be awarded TOMORROW for the best solo and couples costumes, so if you can swing coming out on a work/school night for Halloween proper, don't put your costumes away just yet! FRIDAY & SATURDAY NIGHT'S concerts appear to be standard non-seasonal fare for Greg, Alex, and Warren's southern and hard rock covers. All three shows are 9:30 PM affairs with no cover charges and 19+ age limits. See above for more details, and here's Bone Yard 225 live!

Next up, local metal trio The BAG will headline a special Halloween concert TOMORROW NIGHT outdoors at the Sault Downtown Plaza! This show alone is kinda surprising given how outdoor concerts this late in the year are not common whatsoever, and while the performance stage has a roof, this is still very much out in the elements. In fact, 9&10 News is calling for a 70% chance of rain tomorrow night, while temperatures will be sitting at around 12°. If you are at all concerned about the weather throwing a wrench into tomorrow's festivities, keep tabs with The BAG and plaza for further updates, but hopefully things pan out for The BAG's explosive and accessible brand of metal! Regarding the openers, we can now confirm some details on them via this Facebook event page, so who are The Funky Monks and Prodigal Phase? The former are indeed a Red Hot Chili Peppers tribute band, and they feature some familiar faces.

Their lineup will include The Haze/ex-Gnaeus guitarist Brad Irwin, JFX Pedals founder Jordan Fresque, bassist(?) Ayako Makihara, and former Disciples of Rock/Half Past drummer Jamie Labreche. Prodigal Phase are a debuting cover rock trio featuring Jamie alongside former Dysfunkshunal Kemistry frontman Kevin Bouchard and ex-Scary Uncles/Fort Creek guitarist Matt Sibilo, though there's nothing else public about either band. Should be a fun mixed-genre night of music, weather permitting! This show is FREE & ALL AGES with a 7:00 PM start time running until 11:00 PM. Visit the above links for more details on this outdoor show at the Downtown Plaza, and here's The BAG live!

Finally for this all-Halloween concert preview post, we'll head to The Water Tower Pub, where local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations will headline that venue's Halloween party TOMORROW NIGHT! While their Gateway Casino show this past Saturday never had Halloween branding attached to it, tomorrow's concert absolutely does, with a 3D poster on The Water Tower Pub's Facebook page hyping the festivities. There will be a costume contest with "great prizes" and Halloween-themed food and drink specials for the occasion, so keep all of that in mind if you come out tomorrow, and have your costumes ready! No word on who is playing at the Great Northern Road nightclub on Friday and Saturday, but note that the November schedule for live musicians there has not been posted online as of this writing. Valerie, the Tonys, and Pierre take the stage tomorrow at 8:00 PM with a 19+ age limit and no cover charge.

Hopefully tomorrow's concert is a big hit for central concertgoers and Halloween revelers, so visit the above links for more details on Generations' Halloween party action, and for a preview, here they are live!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more weekend concert previews (including more belated Halloween action) next! Thanks everyone!

Piecing It Together Shows' Halloween Concert Review, Plus A New Concert Video!!

In this post, we have a review of a Halloween concert from this past weekend, and a video of a separate local show from that same night, so here's what you should know on this Monday evening!

Apologies for the delay in this making the site, but I (in a Calvin & Hobbes costume) was able to go to most of Piecing It Together Shows' Halloween concert a the Fraternal Order of Eagles club at 246 Wellington Street West on Saturday night! Just down the road from the Primavera Hall, the Eagles Club definitely felt like a tale of two venues when we first arrived, with the right half being where the concert was set up and the left being more where Eagles regulars were mingling at the bar and watching the Leafs game, but this got mixed up as the night progressed. Definitely didn't feel like a traditional concert venue (likely because it's not one), but kudos to the Eagles Club for hosting some P.I.T.S. events this year Unfortunately, we were running late for the concert and missed the opening set by local electro/synth musician Owen Kjiersdam, a.k.a. Owen MK, so I do apologize to him for not seeing him live!

Owen did post a brief clip of him (dressed as Jack Skellington) singing on Saturday night on his personal Facebook page, so seek that out if you're curious. It's at the end of a "Reel" that starts with video of him at The Soo's Got Talent's last week. From what little I heard, he was singing with confidence and enthusiasm, but it's not a long watch, so I don't know if things got as intense as the bands ahead in unfilmed portions of the night. I do think he does better when he leans more into how his studio material sounds, but hopefully we see Owen back out there soon!

The middle act last night was hardcore punk/crossover thrash quartet Hails, who unleashed an eleven song set of aggressive and fast-paced original music! With the non-Muto members in costume (albeit with items shed as the set wore on), Ha!ls tore through an eleven song set featuring originals like "Serf City" and "Such Desperate Joy" and a few songs carried over from frontman Brenton Ellis' acoustic solo project Slumshine like "BiPolaris" and "Sole Crusher", though surprisingly, nothing from their EP "Rock & Rolls" (despite it being on sale on CD and cassette). The guys were on brutal form on Saturday, with a very fast and heavy sound that pushes their earlier descriptions of being a skate punk band way to the backburner, with Brent full of confidence and honesty on vocals and bass, while Mikhal & Carmen Muto both shone on guitar with some impressive solos, and Keeghan McAllister kept up well on drums!

I do like how many songs had changes in structure and tempo that made you feel like the song was going to end, but it kept going while still feeling natural (I hope that made sense). The Vanity First side project delivered a brutal set for gathered fans, so don't bypass them if you like thrash metal!

Your headliners on Saturday were Toronto grunge/alternative trio Skoff in their local concert debut, and they definitely delivered a fun set to end the night with! You can see proof in my video of theirs, as a bunch of costumed fans hit the floor to dance and rock out mid-song (fan of the night is whoever was wearing the chicken mask!) It was often hard to hear the vocalist introducing songs, but they played tracks like "Cancel Culture", "F.A.F.O.", and "Let Me Out", sometimes using an old telephone headset as a microphone, which was neat!  While not a fully packed house, assembled fans definitely took to Skoff's aggressive, 1990s inspired sound, and the band was dressed up for the occasion, so everyone definitely had a good time to end the night. Skoff are still a relatively newer band, but their future is bright, and hopefully they come back to the Soo in the near future!

Overall, this was a fun concert and it's nice to see a multi-band show taking place for the Halloween season again! Hopefully there's more along these lines in 2025. You can see our photos and videos of Skoff and Hails (apologies again to Owen MK) at this link or at our Facebook page, but here's our videos of Ha!ls playing the Slunshine holdover "Pink Clouds Of Density" and Skoff playing an original that may be titled something like "Guess When I Die"! Let us know if you can help title it.

We'll close this post with a video from another Saturday night concert, albeit not a public one, as newer Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Dirty Musky posted a video of them at a private birthday party event at Three One Three On Ashmun onto their Facebook page! The video sees Dave, the Blackwoods, and Jamie covering White Zombie's "Thunder Kiss '65", which is awesome just in concept, as Rob/White Zombie isn't tackled much up here! Uploaded in funny vertical dimensions, the lighting isn't fantastic, but this is a well played and lively cover, though Dave's vocals could be a little grittier to better match the original. Check it out for yourselves below!

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

Halloween Night Concert Previews, Plus A Mini Soundcheck Concert Review!!

For our last news post of October 2023, let's preview the two known hard rock shows on Halloween night proper (unfortunately on a Tuesday this year), along with a mini-concert review and video from this past weekend, so here's what you should know!

We'll start at Shooters Downstairs Lounge, where their stacked lineup of Halloween events concludes with local funk/hard rock cover sextet The Wyld Stallyns taking the stage TOMORROW NIGHT! This Halloween night event will be nothing too new for the Speers' & company, having played at The Whisky Barrel over Halloween weekend last year, while their old sister band The Elements were a frequent sight at Halloween concerts in their heyday. Unless they played somewhere since and didn't advertise it, tomorrow's show will be be The Stallyns' first gig since playing at The Water Tower Pub early last month, and it will feature all of Shooters' Halloween frills, including drink specials, spooky decor, later kitchen hours and a costume contest. Gift cards await the attendees with the best overall costume, best couples costume, and best makeup, much like at the shows on the weekend.

Tonight's festivities are at 9:00 PM with a 19+ age limit and no cover charge. October 31st or not, tomorrow's concert will not be timed ideally for many, hence why it's good that Shooters had Soundcheck playing on Friday and Saturday for those who have work/school to worry about on Wednesday, but if you can brave the work week timing, The Wyld Stallyns' varied and often heavy covers should turn some heads for the occasion tomorrow night! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's The Stallyns live in concert last year!

Next up, five different acts will take the stage at The Art Hub At Spring for a rare post-pandemic multi-band Halloween concert TOMORROW NIGHT! Now, full disclosure that organizers are calling this a "private event", but the show is being publically advertised with a publically known venue, so the verbiage is intended to reflect that they want you to RSVP to attend rather than just waltz in as normal. Given that, I'll cover it on the SMS, but make sure you RSVP via the Facebook event page if you want to guarantee that they'll let you in. Five acts are scheduled to rock The Art Hub tomorrow, and if the poster order is any indication, local metal trio The BAG will headline the festivities. A mystery act named the Psychic Spies are listed before them, and while I don't know any 100% details on them/their sound, a possible sonic hint is that "psychic spies" are the first words sung in The Red Hot Chili Peppers' song "Californication". Could that be a red herring?

The middle band are new local rock quartet Skinbox (featuring Pixo Control, Gnaeus, and Stoned To Deaf alumni, plus recent Half Past drummer Jamie Labreche), who are actually putting this event on. Still no word on their sound/genres, we'll let you know when we hear anything! The other acts are solo musicians, including folk punk/emo act Agnosticism (who were supposed to play at the cancelled Goulais River Halloween concert on Saturday) and folk/pop singer/guitarist Hannah Lindsay, who you may recall seeing with The BAG and other acts at Lopstock in July. Costumes are encouraged for this Halloween night event, which has no announced age limit. It is a BYOB event starting at 9:30 PM, and while admission is free (RSVP notwithstanding), a tip jar will be present if you want to support the bands. Again, a Tuesday nighter will be tough for many, but to see lots of rising young talent, this is a very worthy event to attend!

The action takes place at 504 Queen Street East, but remember to RSVP if you want to attend! An event like this with a publically advertised venue but RSVPs to enter is not common for the Soo (at least as heavier concerts go), but hopefully the crowd is good and energetic on a work/school night for some spooky vibes and good music! Visit the above links for more details, and here's The BAG & Hannah live at Lopstock!

Finally, here's a surprise: a mini concert review! On Saturday, I took a friend to Shooters Downstairs Lounge so she could check out the Entomica bug lab exhibit as part of the Dennis Street nightclub's Halloween events, and we coincidentally happened to still be there at the start of local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck's concert that night! This was unplanned, I didn't have my proper concert camera, but while I was there, I captured a (horizontal!) video with my cell phone and took a picture, albeit far from the stage. I hate being that guy in everyone's road, especially when I wasn't in costume. We caught Soundcheck doing nine songs, three with Terry Eaton (complete with very cool animated mask) on vocals & the rest with Cameron Oliver singing lead, including renditions of Three Doors Down, ZZ Top, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and Tragically Hip songs.

Everyone was in costume, with drummer Glen Thomas especially dressed to the nines as an evil clown! What I heard sounded good and familiar for fans of their classic and hard rock cover array, plus a southern/country tinge (we last heard them do Eddie Rabbitt), though I will say that I do think Soundcheck should banter with the crowd more and introduce songs moreso, especially on a big weekend like this. Here's Soundcheck covering Bob Dylan's "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" with Cameron on vocals as their second song at Shooters on Saturday night!

That's all for now, but to end the month, look for our newest CD review on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

Halloween Concert Updates, A New Cover, And Much More!!

I have a new news post for your Sunday afternoon reading, and it covers a lot of recent ground via shorter stories that have came up in recent months, plus a new cover video and leading off, big updates on a multi-band event at month's end. Here's what you should know!

Remember how a Halloween concert was announced for Tuesday, October 31st at The Art Hub at Spring, but the lineup was only partially known? Well, the full lineup is now out via its Facebook event page and this poster! Local metal trio The BAG announced their involvement on their own, and we correctly inferred that new local rock quartet Skinbox were playing based on members being credited as hosting on the event page, but there will be three more acts. Two are solo acts, namely Vanity First/Hails guitarist Mikhal Muto's folk punk/emo solo project Agnosticism, as well as local folk/pop singer/guitarist Hannah Lindsay, who you may recall seeing alongside The BAG and eight other acts at Lopstock III in July. The fifth act is a mystery band named The Psychic Spies, who I can't find anything definitive on, but note that "psychic spies" are the first words uttered in The Red Hot Chili Peppers' song "Californication", so that could mean something (or nothing.)

Now, despite the event page being public, and The BAG confirming the event publically, why does the poster say "private event"? If it was truly "private", the event page and/or location wouldn't be publically viewable. As best as I can tell, that basically means that if you want to come, you have to RSVP, so message Skinbox members Steve Edwards, William Wardlaw, or Brad Irwin (ex-Gnaeus) if you want to attend! Their drummer is not credited as an event host. Costumes are encouraged as you'd expect, and while you have to RSVP, admission is free with a tip jar available to support the bands. See above for more details on this kinda-private-ish Halloween party at the end of the month!

Next up, here's a new cover song credited to defunct local grunge trio No Arrow! Uploaded to frontman Dann Pichette's YouTube channel, the description does give the year 2023, so if this is brand new, my feeling is that it was recorded to send off for consideration on You Rock! with Thomas Christ, which he has submitted back catalog material for. As such, I won't rush No Arrow back into our active band links, but last I heard, Dann doesn't live in town nowadays anyway. Despite the still image being from the music video for Basement Jaxx's "Where's Your Head At", the song is a cover of "Simian Fever" by the post-hardcore band Six Finger Satellite, complete with jokey intro. Whether this is indicative of a return (even if just in studio as a solo project) or not, I can't say, but this is an intense slice of 1990s noise rock and it's good to hear new material from Dann, so check it out below!

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

• I apologize for only discovering this article after the fact, but Jeffrey Ougler from The Sault Star made up this article to promote the Fall Of Earth show at The Queen Of Hearts Club, featuring interview remarks from Fall Of Earth frontman Alex Lye. In the article, Alex talks about his vocals, the Edmonton hybrid metal band's sound, the overall friendliness of the metal music community, and his stage presence, among other topics. While not hyper-local beyond the fact that they were playing here, it's a good read and hopefully it got some more fans to the show!
  
• In recent posts on their Facebook page, local southern hard rock quintet Fort Creek have acknowledged that they've been quiet in recent months, "but don't worry, it will all be worth it". The band is selling new t-shirts with an updated logo, and on September 19th, they strongly hinted that they were working on new studio material via this picture of a song being tracked on a computer, complete with a piece of paper that seems to hint at a 4:32-long new original song named "Battlefield". Is Fort Creek's long gestating debut album back in production, or are they just working on songs? Stay tuned for updates!
  
• As a bit of clarification from our recent coverage of local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations' upcoming concert slate, remember how they were scheduled to play at The Esquire Club on Friday and yesterday on the venue's fall calendar, but confirmed on their Facebook group that they were instead playing there this coming weekend? The switch does appear to have been a straight trade with The Steeltown Playboys, who The Esquire Club originally blocked for next weekend, but did indeed play there on Friday & yesterday. At least no one lost a booking here, and don't miss Generations at The Esquire Club later this week!
  
• The Inner City Surfers' reunion concert at Soo Blaster on November 3rd was promoted in this SooToday article by Chris Belsito on Wednesday, where drummer/event host Mikey Hawdon talked about the event's inspiration as an alternative to a traditional stag & doe (this is in support of his upcoming wedding). He also talked individually about all four bands playing this concert, all featuring Mikey himself on guitar or drums. Nothing too new to report here beyond the personal remarks, but it's good promotion for what will be a huge reunion concert, so check it out above!
  
• In another new SooToday article from August, Chris Belsito spotlighted online page-less punk/folk solo project Jonesy Land's new single and music video for "Old Man", where project leader Dustin Jones acknowledged the positive (and negative) responses he's heard for its debut album "Zoom - Out", the themes and inspirations behind "Old Man", working on the music video, and plans to play a live support concert for "Zoom - Out" with a full band this fall (I have heard nothing on this plan at press time otherwise). Good article for fans of Dustin's, so check it out also!
• On September 11th, Sault Michigan hard rock/metal band Tarnished announced a musician search to find a new lead guitarist & bassist to replace the departed Nathan Webber & Isaac Royer. Candidates must be determined & flexible, they have gigs lined up, and a new album is planned. It's unclear how tryouts have went so far, but they played in Toledo, Ohio on Saturday with frontman Alex Traynor's dad/ex-Banned bandmate Don filling in on drums (one assumes that Alex and Josh Fair handled guitar and bass or vice versa). Hopefully that gig went well, and if you're interested in trying out, contact Tarnished via their Facebook page!
   

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (The Wyld Stallyns & Soundcheck), Plus Silent 9 Updates!!

Today's post is mostly devoted to newly announced events at Shooters Downstairs Lounge, who unveiled announced a pile of upcoming concerts (primarily from cover bands) through early December via a series of Facebook event pages launched on Friday, so what should you know from these new dates, and a show missed from another band playing there? 

Not counting the Generations and Bone Yard shows on October 13th & 20th (which the bands in question already announced), the next new shows will see local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck return to the Dennis Street nightclub on Friday, October 27th & Saturday, October 28th! Yes, Shooters has been hosting DJs on Saturdays over the fall season, but it looks like they're pausing that experiment for one week, as two separate Facebook event pages (here and here) were posted for both nights. Based on the advertising, the split event pages appear to reflect a Halloween theme on Saturday the 28th, but this isn't the Halloween party at Shooters, details forthcoming. Last seen at Shooters a month ago, hopefully Soundcheck (one word) deliver the classic and hard rock goods to send out the month with, and one assumes that costumes are welcomed on the Saturday! That said, they're not done at Shooters for 2023 after that weekend.

The guys will return to the lounge for one night only on Friday, December 1st in the last of the new Shooters announcements. The holiday season will be in full swing by then, so consider warming up with Soundcheck's rocking covers then! All three shows are 9:00 PM affairs with 19+ age limits and no cover charges. Visit the above links and the December 1st Facebook event page for more details on their three upcoming Shooters dates!

Next up, the Halloween party at Shooters will take place on Tuesday, October 31st when they welcome local funk/hard rock sextet The Wyld Stallyns to the stage! After rocking The Whisky Barrel over Halloween weekend last year (albeit without publically promoted Halloween ties), The Stallyns will topline a legit Halloween party with a costume contest, drink specials, late hours for the on-site kitchen, and more. Fans may recall their old sister band The Elements playing multiple Halloween events (often in themed sets), but hopefully The Wyld Stallyns' wide-ranging and fan-friendly covers find a willing audience to cap off the spooky season! Just a shame that Halloween is a Tuesday this year given many attendees' work and school hours. Also, The Stallyns will return to Shooters on Friday, November 10th for a standard concert, so if the Halloween trappings do nothing for you, keep that in mind for a traditional night out!

Like with Soundcheck, expect a 19+ age limit and 9:00 PM start time for both dates, and there is no announced cover charge for either, but have cash on hand on Halloween just in case. Visit the official Facebook event pages linked here & here for more details!

The other upcoming shows at Shooters are either already announced by the band in question (i.e. Bone Yard) or not from hard rock leaning bands (Lime on November 3rd), but I did want to bring up newer classic/hard rock cover quartet Silent 9, who return to Shooters on November 17th. You may have seen Facebook "stories" and posts in the past day that show them performing at The Rockstar Bar, a venue that hasn't hosted a public concert since June of last year, so what's going on? Well, despite not posting on their Facebook page in over two weeks, this distinct new band did indeed play at The Algonquin Hotel's dormant upstairs nightclub last night, in a show that was advertised on their website but not elsewhere. This was the Searchmont Ski Runners' fall social, which served as a fundraiser for the alpine ski racing non-profit group. Yes, this was publically attendable with $35 tickets.

I profusely apologize for missing this show on the SMS, but alas, I never thought to look on Silent 9's website for shows that Facebook never listed. The Rockstar Bar proper did not acknowledge the event either, having not announced any events in well over a year, and a teased re-opening in the spring did not occur as planned. One would assume that Algonquin Hotel staff would have announced a formal re-opening, so was the fall social a one-off booking? It seems like it, but we'll let you know when/if they truly announce that they're back. As for Silent 9, they did share one non-story video that you can watch on Facebook, and it's a 51 seconds-long montage of clips from their sets last night. The vertical camera angle and hacked up nature of the covers isn't ideal, but everyone sounds good in the video, and it is nice seeing The Rockstar Bar open again with a good sized crowd!

Everything looks about normal from how the venue looked pre-pandemic and during their 2021-2022 return, if only for a night. Don't miss Silent 9 at The Esquire Club over Halloween weekend, give their SSR fall social video a watch below, and apologies again to Steve!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Uncanny Valley) & Halloween Weekend Concert Previews!!

I promised a busy week to end October with, and I'm delivering, with this being our fifth post in as many days, and I hope to make it 6 tomorrow with this month's CD review! Before then, it's the Halloween weekend, and with concerts more amenable to happen at this stage of the pandemic, we have a decent amount of hard rock shows across both sides of the border to check out, including a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT! Barring anything else on late notice, here's what you should know!

Young local classic hard rock quartet The Uncanny Valley will make their Soo Blaster debut TOMORROW NIGHT when they play a special Halloween themed headlining concert there! Apologies for the short notice, the band only announced this show via their Facebook event page this past Friday. TOMORROW's concert will be The Uncanny Valley's third of 2021 and with their current lineup, and will give this rising group a chance to unleash their growing arsenal of original material on a spooky audience. It may be a tough task for them to sell out a venue the size of Soo Blaster, but this is a prime downtown locale for The Uncanny Valley to do their thing at, so consider coming out TOMORROW! Advertising does not confirm if there will be a costume contest of any kind or not, but you should definitely wear one if you attend, as if you're paying at the door, you will save $5 by coming in a costume!

Tickets are $15 in advance or for costumed attendees, $20 at the door if you aren't dressed up, and while this may seem steep to just see one band, remember that holiday frills are a given, and regardless, this is a larger venue with pandemic measures in place. Otherwise, this is a 19+ concert with a 10:00 PM start time, and contact/head down to Soo Blaster for advance tickets. And of course, vaccine passports are mandatory to attend this concert, and please use common sense & wear face masks where mandated to keep everyone safe. Visit the above links for more details, and here's The Uncanny Valley live earlier this year!

Next up, let's head to Michigan's Eastern Upper Peninsula for some previously announced Halloween weekend concerts, and we'll start at The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino, where Traverse City classic metal trio Peril will play their only E.U.P. dates of the year TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! While we have seen their sister band Scarkazm north of the Mack since, this will be Peril's first E.U.P. concert weekend since February 2020 for obvious pandemic-related reasons. Scarkazm are more frequently seen nowadays, but Jeff, Adam, and Brooks' brand of old school hard rock and metal classics are sure to bring in a solid crowd this weekend, so don't miss out on Peril this weekend, especially as they won't be back until next year! No special Halloween frills are in the band's advertising, but expect 9:00 PM start times, no cover charge, and a 21+ age limit, as is standard for Peril and Scarkazm's Kewadin bookings.

And as recently usual, please respect & follow any public health guidelines in place at the casino and/or lounge to ensure that everyone comes and goes safe & healthy. It's great to see Peril back in our neck of the woods after way too long away, and with or without costumes, hopefully tomorrow & Saturday night's concerts go off without a hitch! Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Peril live!

Further north but still in the States, fans can head to Sugar Island THIS SATURDAY NIGHT, where revived Sault Ste. Marie hard rock quartet 415E will return to The Hilltop Bar for a Halloween weekend concert of their own! Like Peril, we haven't seen 415E in concert locally since February 2020 (at the same venue in this case), and while guitarist Chris Hubbard and bassist Brett Blackwood did resurface with the debuting Rhythm & Brews a few months back, that band hasn't been heard from online since, with 415E resuming public activity afterwards. In any event, it's great to see 415E back after a lengthy break, and hopefully Dave, Chris, Brett, and Jason deliver a solid night of hard rocking covers for fans in Sugar Island on Devil's Night! This is unequivocally The Hilltop Bar's Halloween party, so costumes are encouraged, with a contest planned as well as drink specials & appetizers for the occasion.

This 19+ event has no announced cover charge (bring cash just in case), and while a start time of 7:00 PM is advertised with the costume contest winners being announced at 9:00 PM, I can't say for certain whether 415E proper will be playing that early or if they'll be after the winners are announced. Regardless, please respect and follow any and all social distancing and public health guidelines at The Hilltop Bar to ensure that every *one has a safe time on Saturday. Visit the official Facebook event page and the above links for more details, and here's 415E live in the 2010s!

Finally, let's head back to Sault Ontario for arguably the biggest hard rock-featured Halloween show of the weekend, if only because this one has two bands, namely new local pop rock cover quintet Lockdown and their sister band, Foo Fighters tribute quartet The Soo Fighters, who will hit The Rockstar Bar for their Halloween party on SATURDAY NIGHT! Both bands were last seen at The Northern Vibe Festival in August, which was the first show period for Lockdown and the debut of The Soo Fighters' new lineup, but that was in Ophir, so this will be the first time in Sault city limits on both fronts. Lockdown aren't a hard rock band, if videos from August are anything to go by, but 3 band members are in The Soo Fighters (and Nicole did some guest backing vocals for them too), so there's a lot of talented DNA between the two bands, and come early to get your hard rock fill via The Soos (hard to believe this is just their fifth show!)

Note that this is not J.D. Pearce's annual Halloween party, which was last held in 2019 due to the pandemic & his out of town work commitments, but given the locale and The Soo Fighters' involvement, this is the closest you're going to get to it this weekend! Expect a costume contest & the usual Halloween frills, with The Soo Fighters kicking things off at 10:00 PM. No cover charge is announced for this 19+ concert, but bring cash just in case, and vaccine passports are mandatory to attend, so use common sense once you enter! Solid music will abound at The Rockstar Bar on Saturday night, so visit the Facebook event page for more details, and here's The Soo Fighters live!

That's all for today, but barring some very late notice show announcements, stay tuned for this month's CD review next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Fort Creek), New Videos, And More!!

As you may have gathered by the lack of proper news posts yet this week, things remain slow for local metal, hard rock, and punk activity, which is very atypical for Halloween week (especially with Halloween on a Saturday this year.) Of course, this is not a normal year due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the provincial and state restrictions on nightclubs, and social distancing & closing time restrictions on the few places that are hosting live concerts. As such, we only have one pair of newly announced shows from the same band to cover here for SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (and for clarification, J.D. Pearce's annual Halloween Party at the Algonquin Hotel is not taking place.) I'm hopeful that 2021 will bring some more normalcy, but hopefully everyone can make the most of a screwy year and have some spooky fun in a way that keeps everyone safe this weekend, and if you bring the kids trick-or-treating, use common sense. Now, here are those new shows and a couple of new videos!

Local southern hard rock quintet Fort Creek will return to Reggie's Place on Queen Street East for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT, with the latter being the venue's Halloween party! Apologies for the short notice, these shows were only announced on the band's Facebook page on Saturday.  These will be Fort Creek's first dates since rocking Reggie's West two weeks ago, but fans at the re-opened downtown Reggie's will have waited four weeks for their brand of southern-tinged hard rock covers. TOMORROW'S show is business as usual (well, given the circumstances), but SATURDAY'S will indeed have a Halloween costume contest, with attending fans picking the best male and female costumes, plus the scariest costume. Keep all of that in mind on SATURDAY, but be advised that venue rules do not allow Halloween masks that cover the whole face (obviously, COVID face masks are still required.) As such, you may want to get creative if you are entering!

8:00 PM start times, 19+ age limits, and no announced cover charges are in effect for TOMORROW & SATURDAY's concerts, and despite the holiday weekend festivities, capacity limits are still in effect at Reggie's, and don't forget your face mask. Hopefully this weekend's shows are hits for Fort Creek, so see above for more details, and here they are live! Also, note that SooToday's entertainment page lists a band named "40 Creek" as playing a Johnny Cash tribute set on Saturday afternoon at The Moose Lodge. If this is a typo, Fort Creek haven't publicized it (we'll let you know if they do), but Forty Creek is a brand of domestic whiskey.

Next up, we'll close with a couple of new videos, including a new song from local hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison's YouTube channel! His first upload there since his last Motley Market live-stream on September 5th, and his first original song upload since the summer, this is for his song "Together In The End", a ballad about a couple forgiving each other for the sins of their past. Pretty song with a bit of Tym's usual guitar tricks before the bridge, but it can be a little repetitive in structure as it goes. Check this one out below!

Finally, here's a new audio cover from new local acoustic hard rock band The Isolation Sessions' Facebook page on Monday! Now featuring what appears to be their full quartet lineup (complete with Chris on a cajon or equivalent hand drum), this is a cover of Seether's "Plastic Man", and they even set the audio track to a slideshow of relevant images with lyrics. Nice and laid back rendition, but it would be nice to see a video with the full group. This works in the interim, so check it out below!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes when enough material for a post rolls in, and if all else fails, our next "Where Are The New Albums?" post could be bumped up to Sunday. Thanks everyone!