LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Project 906), Cory Marks Concert Videos, And An Inactive Band Note!!

One more SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT has fell into my lap, so to fill out a surprise Saturday evening post, we have new videos from a big recent concert and a solo project newly moved to our inactive links, so here's what you should know on all fronts!

Sault Michigan hard/blues rock cover quintet Project 906 will return to the stage TONIGHT at The Strongs Tavern in nearby Eckerman! Apologies for the short notice, the band first announced this one-night-only gig on their Facebook page on Sunday, but it slipped past me before our last two weekend concert preview posts went live. After taking a three month break from the stage (characterized by the band as "some much needed time off"), this will be 906's first show since rocking Hulbert Happy Hour in early March, with the band last playing at The Strongs Tavern at the end of February. Of course, this belatedly kicks off their annual "#summerof906", so more shows should be announced in due course, but since we last heard from Project 906 at The Strongs, they completed renovations in the spring, so hopefully things look as good as the rock will sound TONIGHT! Billy, Joe, Dustin, Jason, and Brian will take the stage TONIGHT at 8:00 PM with a 21+ age limit and no cover charge, as usual.

If you've missed the guys in recent months, and/or are up for the hour's drive west, don't miss out on their summer season kickoff! Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview of TONIGHT'S opening #summerof906 event, here's Project 906 live!

Next up, let's head north to Sault Ontario for some new videos from the Cory Marks concert at The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre on June 11th! Last week, Cory uploaded a highlight video from the event to his Facebook page, where he highly praised the concert, which included a sold-out meet & greet session, and some fans driving 8+ hours to see it. Cory called the the Bushplane Museum's hangar "a dream concert setting for me", and if you weren't there, the hangar doors were open with the stage was set up inside, allowing for outside light to get inside and for some nice views while the North Bay country/hard rock musician rocked out. The highlight video (set to the studio version of his song "Are You With Me?") features clips of Cory at the meet-and-greet, including of him playing acoustic for VIP fans, before we see footage of the proper concert.

Good thing that we knew ahead of time where this was, as the video only has fleeting glimpses of bushplanes, which is a testament in a way to how well everyone got the hangar looking like a concert venue for more than just local bands! I would prefer hearing raw audio from the concert, but miraculously, Facebook didn't content match the studio track, so I can embed it below!

If you do want to see raw audio from the concert proper, good news, as Mike Blair's 705Live Sound Co. were on hand to take care of sound for Cory and crew, and a video of them playing "Blame It On The Double" was posted to 705Live's Facebook page! Mike doesn't do the "pan the camera up from the soundboard" thing this time, FYI. Alas, the video only runs for 46 seconds, but it does let us get more of a view of where exactly in the Bushplane Museum that the concert was set up at (and where the VIP pre-show area was). Of note, Cory actually grabs someone's cell phone from the crowd to film things mid-song, which would be neat for that fan! What Mike shot looks and sounds good, so if you like Cory's southern fried hard rock, you can relive a snippet of this high production concert for yourself below, and we'll let you know if Cory returns to the Soo for a fifth straight year in 2027!

Finally, I have a local metal act to move to our inactive band links, namely local goregrind solo project Crucify The Whore. We have heard no public updates from C.T.W. since 2024, with their final album "Bummer" being released on Bandcamp that July, and more recent updates from their owned-and-operated indie label Blood Shed Productions dried up by the spring of 2025. Active since 2012 and led by singer/guitarist Tyler "Ringsnaps" Gibson, C.T.W. became one of the more unique underground sights among extreme metal fans of the early-mid 2010s, releasing lots of studio material online and at concerts, including many of the final Oddfellows Hall concerts, plus various private & house party events. Updates from C.T.W. (let alone Blood Shed) really tailed off after the pandemic, even for a one-man project, which wasn't helped by their Facebook pages being taken down, if not by Tyler's own hand.

C.T.W. were really a critic-proof act, as a one-man goregrind band with such explicit imagery, pig squealing vocals, extremely short song lengths, a drum machine, and an ardent "I play what I want to play" ethos made it difficult to look at them in comparison with most contemporary bands. I still believe that all of the early-mid 2010s Blood Shed 1-2 man bands had the collective talent to make a great five-piece death metal band, but Tyler did what he wanted and kept this project going for a strong length of time, with fun crowd reactions and a solid skill set as a guitarist & producer. Hopefully we hear more from him and the label down the road! That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes next week! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Separate Wayz, Stones At The Alter, And Greg Simpson), Plus The Cory Marks Concert Preview!!

Let's dive into what is an interesting weekend for hard rock fans in terms of live music! Due to the amount of shows, we'll hold our previews of of the previously announced Bone Yard 225 and Epic Rush concerts this weekend for our next post. Here's what you should know, starting with SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for this weekend!

Bone Yard 225 frontman Greg Simpson will bring his "Ranting Rockstar" acoustic solo concert back to The Dive Gastro Pub for a "Think It Over Thursday" concert TONIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, this show was only announced via the venue's Facebook page on Tuesday. While there may have been an assumption that Greg's solo debut at The Dive was a stopgap measure for him to keep playing while Bone Yard were still on their spring break, the band proper is back, so perhaps we will see Greg back sans Alex & Warren for more "uncorked" gigs beyond TONIGHT! Regardless, if you like your local 225 (or the former Bearded Lounge), you'll be right at home with Greg's unplugged southern and hard rock covers, though if you want the full band back, they'll be at Beck's tomorrow (preview forthcoming). TONIGHT's show will definitely be in "The Naughty Corner", as Greg's show last month was.

Expect a 9:00 PM start time, 19+ age limit, and no cover charge at the former Low & Slow TONIGHT, so visit the above links for more details on Greg's third solo show of 2026, and here he is live at The Dive!

Next up, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Separate Wayz will hit up Reggie's Place for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice, these shows were only announced via the band's Facebook page on Monday (note that the venue has not corroborated this booking on their own Facebook page at press time). While fans last saw their sister band Soundcheck two weeks ago at Jay's and a month ago at Reggie's, these will be the first Separate Wayz-branded concerts with Nicole present since April, when they played a standalone gig at Jay's and an "epic crossover" weekend at The Esquire Club with Soundcheck. Surprisingly, I can't find record of Separate Wayz playing at Reggie's since their debut last year, so if you're an existing fan or are curious to see how Soundcheck sound with a female singer, keep TOMORROW & SATURDAY'S shows in mind! No word on when we'll see Soundcheck back on stage, but we'll let you know.

As usual for weekend cover action at Reggie's, TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT's concerts are at 9:30 PM with no cover charges and 19+ age limits. See the above links for more details on Separate Wayz' Reggie's debuts, and for a preview, here they are live!

Also newly announced for this weekend is the headlining debut of new local hard rock quartet Stones At The Alter, who will play a special outdoor concert on SATURDAY NIGHT outside of the aforementioned Dive Gastro Pub! Apologies again for the short notice, this show was only announced by the venue's Facebook page on Sunday, though note that the band's Facebook group has not seen any updates in over a month. The Doo & The Boyos side project will set up shop outside of the former Low & Slow on SATURDAY to take advantage of that day's Sault Ste. Marie Festival of Beer, the annual LopLops Lounge-promoted event that returns to The Downtown Plaza, which is just down the road. Note that I don't know if Beerfest will have their own music lineup at the Plaza (they did last year), but we'll let you know if something comes out late. Hopefully S@TA can fit their full setup on The Dive's patio!

Note that Curtis McKenzie had advertised playing at The Dive on Saturday himself (in an announcement that slipped us by last month), but he blamed a "double booking accident (by) the venue" for the mixup. We'll let you know when he'll be back there soon! This rare plugged-in "Patio Play" gig will be an 8:00 PM nightcap at The Dive with a 19+ age limit and no cover. 9&10 News is calling for a high of 20° on Saturday with a low of 9°, and while we're too soon to see an hourly forecast, be advised that the chance of rain on Saturday in general is about 50/50 at present. Visit the above links for more details, and we'll let you know when Stones At The Alter videos surface!

Finally for this preview post, it's TONIGHT'S main event, as North Bay country/hard rock musician Cory Marks will return to The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre for a headlining concert! While promotion calls this the "first concert ever" at the Bushplane Museum (Cory himself says as much in this promotional video), that isn't true, as multiple locals-only shows have happened there, not to mention Cory's acoustic concert last year for Hope Air Day. However, for a high scale, high production concert, this is uncharted territory for the 50 Pim Street venue, and tickets are selling well for Cory's genre hybrid sound, which we last saw in a full band, electric splendour at The Machine Shop in 2023 & 2024. He has had charting singles on US rock radio, and some very high profile guest spots, so if you like hard rock and/or country, there will be something for you! In a late confirmation, former Northwest bandmates Greg Callaghan & Mike Yakasovich will open tonight in an acoustic set.

While their acoustic exploits largely haven't crossed our radar, Greg does cover some punk in his solo dates, so hopefully the set things off on the right foot! This concert takes place in the hangar proper tonight at 7:30 PM (running until 10:00), it is all ages, and limited general admission tickets cost $40 at the door. Online sales have ended, and VIP passes (which get fans an early acoustic set from Cory at 6:30 PM among other perks) have completely sold out. Food trucks will be on site tonight too, as they are every Thursday this summer. Click here and visit the above links for more on what should be a big night for the Bushplane Museum and fans of Cory's, and here he is live!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Cory Marks), A New Addition To Our Band Links, And More Updates!!

Let's catch up on some Sault Ontario odds and ends on this Tuesday night, including a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, promotion for another upcoming show, and some other updates, but leading off, here's a long overdue addition to our band links & full coverage!

We have a new-ish band to add to our Sault Ontario band links, and they are the no-longer-online-pageless The Spaceship Opening! Despite debuting on stage in September 2024, they only launched a social media presence (their new Facebook page) over the weekend. Described in promotion for past gigs as "east end rock & roll" and "space rock", The Spaceship Opening are a two-man-band featuring former Redundant/Fitswitch bassist Andrew MacDonald alongside A.S.D.P. drummer Ralph Barber, and in videos publically shared so far, neither sings at all. Over the past 18 months, you may recall seeing The Spaceship Opening sharing the stage with touring acts like The Space Wizards and Greg Rekus & The Inside Job, while they also opened for Mike Haggith's "Under A Moonlit Sky" show last fall, and most recently played at the "Not A Leap Year Party" concert in "Mellow D's Basement" on Saturday, alongside other public and private events.

Two videos are on their Facebook page, one being this short and black-and-white clip from an unspecified venue, while embedded below is four minutes of them playing at the still-closed Distraction last year, and while this one is in colour, it was shot vertically. Unless you've seen them live already, their early descriptors didn't give their sound away, and they have way more of an AlgomA-esque sludge/doom essence than I would have assumed. If you were expecting The Spaceship Opening to be similar to Andrew's past local bands, you may be surprised! Distorted and low (if not all that spacey), I can see why they've attracted fans with their minimalist rock compositions so far, so check things out from them above and below!

Next up, here's that LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, as North Bay country/hard rock musician Cory Marks will return to The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Center on Thursday, June 11th! The fourth time in as many years that Cory has performed a local date, this appears to be a full band show with a proper promotional push, unlike his most recent local gig (also at the Bushplane Museum), when he headlined the Hope Air Day charity event this past June with a solo acoustic performance that we didn't hear about until it was short notice. The Bushplane Museum is hyping this up by saying that "for the first time ever, we’re turning the hangar into a full-blown concert venue", and while multiple shows have taken place there in the past, they've tended to be all-local or supplemental to other events. Hopefully this show is a huge hit for Cory and the venue alike, so that more similarly scaled concerts can be considered!

No word on possible openers, but Silent 9 opened at Cory's Machine Shop shows in 2023 and 2024, and Matthew James opened last year's unplugged Hope Air Day concert. Doors open for this "hangar party" at 5:00 PM, there is no announced age limit, and tickets run for $40 (up fro $35 from Cory's last full-band show here) at this link, and $100 VIP passes are also available. Cory's hard rock and country crossover sound continues to garner fans and chart success, and fingers crossed that his fourth local concert is a smash this summer! Visit the above links for more details!

Also today, here's the first Facebook update from local progressive metal band Convergence in almost three months! Well, that's discounting "Stories", you may have seen one where "Johnny Cash" endorsed them, but they did not opt to separately upload that "Story" as its own video. The video below from Sunday features guitarist Jake Valois hyping their first show of the year, when they will be among the openers for Nashville death metal band Demon King and other touring groups at Soo Blaster on March 24th (three weeks from today!). Amusingly, Jake puts footage of the mobile video game Subway Surfers in an inset picture-in-picture window to try and discourage people from scrolling away, assuming you're watching the video on a vertical cell phone orientation, which may explain the captions. As the show is all ages, Jake suggests that the whole family come out to "Soo Blasters", even your grandma!

Tickets are on sale through the band for $15, and if you message him to get yours, he will make sure he gets it to you, so how simple is that? It's good to see some new shareable content from Convergence, and with their planned new album still in the works, hopefully 2026 proves to be a stacked year for them! Check out the new video below, and stay tuned for more from them!

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

 

• We don't cover open mic/jam nights as "concerts" here due to their in-built unpredictability, and even if the host crosses our radar, there's no guarantee that they'll perform if it's busy. That said, I did at least want to mention that local party metal trio The Apocalypse Afterparty are actually hosting Piecing It Together Shows' weekly jam night tonight at their seasonal pop-up locale at 331-A Wellington Street West, as per their Facebook page. The former Dryer Fire haven't booked formal concerts with SMS-amenable acts over their winter season, but hopefully Paul, Amanda, and Mikhal have a good turnout for tonight's open mic night!
• Winnipeg folk punk musician Greg Rekus (who fronted The Inside Job here twice in the past two years) has been added as a surprise opener for The BAG's album release party at Soo Blaster on April 18th, as per Underground Events SSM's Facebook page last week. This may seem odd for a metal concert with a local headliner, but promoter Mikhal Muto is an ardent folk punk fan, so I assume this was just good timing to get Greg a local booking when he'd be coming through on a spring tour run. Plus, this show already has a diverse lineup, as Mikhal's new ska punk band A.S.D.P. are also opening. Hopefully Greg sets things off on the right foot next month!
• In their own poster for new local Pearl Jam tribute band Even Flow's concert there on March 27th, Soo Blaster alternately list the venue name for the show as "SooBlaster / Blaster Power" and "Blaster Power House". I don't know if this is portending anything about a name change for the building/stage, but the Queen Street East entertainment complex has recently opened bowling lanes, laser tag, and arcade upgrades. Of course, the concert stage there had been branded as the Soo Lounge since opening in 2019, but if anything is clarified further, we'll let you know!

 

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the SMS in due course! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Wyld Stallyns) & The Soo's Got Talent 2022 Finals Recap (Part 2!!)

Two topic post today, including the continuation of our coverage of a major local competition (that'll need a third post to complete), but first, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for (literally) the end of the year!

Local funk/hard rock cover band The Wyld Stallyns will open for fan favourite Toronto funk/dance collective My Son The Hurricane when they return to Sault Ste. Marie on Saturday, December 31st at The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre! The Wyld Stallyns confirmed their involvement on their Facebook page yesterday, and are listed on this promotional image. A rare appearance for The Stallyns in a support slot for a touring act in city limits, one has to assume that Josh Norling will be present to match M.S.T.H.'s horn section-laden brand of "brasshop", so look for The Wyld Stallyns to set the tone well with their lively and fan friendly brand of covers at year's end! Still featuring former Rising Tide/Redefined drummer Danno O'Shea in their ranks, this will be My Son The Hurricane's third local date of the year, after previously rocking the Bushplane Museum in April and LopLops Lounge in September, following numerous prior gigs here.

Hopefully there won't be a need for the fire department to be called down again like that one time (you had to be there), and that any smoke and heat comes the natural way from their set! I am unsure if LopLops are promoting this one too (they did for the first two 2022 dates), but tickets run for $64.67 at this link, and there is an 8:00 PM start time. No word on in-person availability and a possible age limit, let alone any New Year's Eve frills, but the Saturday timing for that holiday is quite fitting. Visit the above links for more details on what should be a fun & funky way to end the year!

Next up, let's finally continue our look at The Soo's Got Talent's final round coverage from October 21st at Soo Blaster! For our coverage of each finalist's first song and the guest performances, click here or scroll down to our post from Sunday. All six finalists performed a second song for the judges' evaluation that night in the exact same performance order, with the twist being that they sung with Handsome Sandwich (minus Taylor) backing them up! It's not clear from the videos (again filmed by Passion Video Productions) if the songs were limited to things that the band knew already or if they learned them for the finals, and/or if these happened to be judges' picks like in prior years, but props to Jesse, Mitch, Rafael, and Johnny for giving some live instrumental heft! The first full-band performance had Nanette Garcia & Handsome Sandwich covering Patti Smith's classic rock staple "Because The Night".

Nanette does come off a little unsteady here, perhaps not as familiar with this song as others she did in the competiton, but she carries it well, so give her second final round song a watch below!

Next on the 21st was singer/guitarist Colin Gasparelli, who did play acoustic guitar for his song here (as a result, Jesse Cook sat this one out). The theory that the finalists were limited to songs that Handsome Sandwich knew already may be accurate here, as Colin goes way off board for his second song, a cover of "When A Hero Cries" by German power metal band Edguy. The song is slightly re-arranged, but still, very unexpected! "When A Hero Cries" is a ballad, so it better fits Colin's wheelhouse than most Edguy songs, and while I don't think it's the right fit for his vocal range, he puts his all into it and you can tell. Check out Colin & Handsome Sandwich below!

We'll close this post with the third performer in the finals, namely Xavier Pelletier LeBoeuf, who joined Handsome Sandwich (with Jesse back) for a cover of Pink's "Raise Your Glass". Xavier even gave each judge a glass before the song began for them to raise, so points for thinking outside the box! Of the first half of the finalists, Xavier fit in the best with Handsome Sandwich for cover choice and on-stage comfort, and while she did have some shakiness on the choruses, you could be believed if you thought she was their singer for a second. Give their cover a look below!

We'll tackle Ali, Amanda, and M.J.'s final performances with Handsome Sandwich (plus the final results) in an upcoming post, but with weekend concert previews and this month's Defunct Local Band Profile ahead, we may not finish everything off until the weekend. Stay tuned in any event, and weekend concert previews are next! Thanks everyone!

Glambition Festival/Concert Preview, Plus New Videos!!

As promised, our weekend concert previews conclude today with an extended look at a very intriguing (if somewhat cryptic) community festival tomorrow, plus some new videos of relatively new band lineups to round things out with. Here's what you should know!

Local party metal duo The Apocalypse Afterparty will play their first public concert set of the year TOMORROW NIGHT when they take part in the oft-delayed Glambition fundraiser festival at The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre! Readers and interested parties may recall hearing about this event dating back to its original date on November 20th of last year, but pandemic capacity restrictions, COVID-19 case count rises, and unforeseen circumstances forced it to be postponed to December 18th, January 30th, April 23rd, and ultimately, tomorrow. Glambition is a benefit event for local youth homeless shelter Pauline's Place and in support of community togetherness, a very important idea as we start Pride Month, so the right intentions are present throughout, and kudos to the organizers for sticking with Glambition for six & a half months rather than just giving up on the idea! 

This is presented as multi-cultural community festival with musicians, singers, dancers, fashion shows, stand-up comedy, food/drink vendors, and a raffle of some kind, but organizers have surprisingly not listed a performance schedule on Facebook, let alone a list of the scheduled artists. Pauline's Place fundraising manager Karam Singh was quoted hyping Glambition in this SooToday article by new reporter Alex Flood, while Karam was also interviewed on ONNtv's First Local on Monday about Glambition, again without citing performers by name. Apocalypse Afterparty frontman Paul Stanghetta did tell me in a Facebook conversation that a young local jazz band was performing too, but unfortunately, that's all I've got. The A.A. have been hyping their involvement in Glambition right along though, and hopefully Paul & Amanda make some more fans at this diverse family-friendly festival tomorrow!

A 6:00 PM start time is in effect for this all ages event, and tickets run for $11.34 at this link. Door entry is presumably an option of capacity allows, but Glambition will reportedly be capped at 300 attendees, so get yours A.S.A.P. just in case. Despite the cryptic nature of the performer lineup, it is awesome to finally see Glambition going forward tomorrow night (assuming there's no sudden postponement again), and helping Pauline's Place is a wonderful idea, so don't miss out at the Bushplane Museum tomorrow! Visit the above links for more details, and here's The Apocalypse Afterparty live!

Next up, here's some new videos from both of Bear Hunters guitarist Mitch Sirie's newest local band projects, starting with the first publically posted clip of the expanded five-piece These Magnificent Tentacles lineup! Shot by Dryer Fire's Nicole Dyble at their Wilson Street open house last month (apologies again for missing that in our weekend concert previews at the time) and shared to the company's Facebook page on May 23rd, it was joined by a video of fellow performers The Dynowaves that same day, plus a short video of vendors at the open house. As for the T.M.T. video, it was uploaded in square dimensions, and it sees The Tentacles playing an instrumental piece for one minute, all looking very determined and serious in the moment (except maybe Brad, who's largely obscured by Steve at this angle). As such, this may not be an ideal look at the new lineup, but what we hear sounds promising enough!

Surprisingly doomy but still melodic piece that deviates well from their punk-leaning base of old, and it will be interesting to see how the guys progress throughout mid-late 2022! Give it a look below, and see more from Dryer Fire's open house above, and also keep tabs on their summer concert series, which is largely hard rock-devoid, but certainly not lacking in musical talent! Give Nicole some support and check them out!

Finally, here's two new jam session clips of local death metal band Exploring Detritus, as posted to their Facebook page on Wednesday and earlier today, though neither features Mitch, who hasn't been seen in any of their videos since he was announced as their singer/guitarist last month. Busy personal schedule, or have they not reported his exit yet? Click here to watch the former Kaepora Gaebora playing for a minute, but I'm actually embedding the shorter 30 second clip below, as guitarist/founder Dan Souliere is handling lead vocals in it, and he sounds suitably brutal while it lasts! We'll let you know if there's any clarification about their frontman status, but give these four-piece jam videos a watch above & below!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Rhythm And Brews & The Wyld Stallyns), The Tym Morrison Concert Preview, And More!!

After a break for my 33rd birthday, we're back in business at the SMS with a new news post to kick off June 2022! Alongside a preview of a special Wednesday night concert tonight and some new live videos from just last week, we're kicking things off with LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS on both sides of the border, so here's what you should know!

Local acoustic hard rock quartet The Wyld Stallyns will be among the musical entertainment at a "Come As You Are Gala" for downtown charity grocery store Grocer 4 Good on Saturday, June 11th at The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Center! This special community event is in support of the Gore Street establishment that helps provide groceries to downtown residents while also giving employment opportunities those with employment issues and developmental disabilities, so they definitely are grocers for good! The event proper is designed to celebrate and recognize staff, volunteers, and supporters of the store, and will feature catering and meals from local restaurants, a silent auction table, and a cash bar, so definitely visit the ticket page on Eventbrite for full non-musical details! The Wyld Stallyns and a country & western band led by Daryl Seabrook will supply musical entertainment that night, while singer and 2019 Soo's Got Talent runner-up Juliana Regan will perform during the dinner portion of the evening. 

A 6:00 PM start time is in effect for this all ages gala, which has tickets running for $40 (remember what all this includes and what cause it's supporting), and table reservations for 8 people cost $300. The Wyld Stallyns' set will definitely be in the back half of the gala once dinner wraps up, so don't expect them or Daryl & crew until at least 9:00 PM. This may seem very out of left field for The Stallyns, but they have played at the Bushplane Museum before (remember the Entomica fundraiser last summer?), and their sound is diverse enough to appeal to a wide array of fans, so look for more unplugged hard and classic rock covers next weekend, and see the above links for more on the gala!

Next up, let's head to the E.U.P., as Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Rhythm & Brews will return to The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino on Friday, July 8th & Saturday, July 9th! These are the only completely new hard rock concert announcements at the two local Kewadin Casino branch lounges through their most recent schedule extension through the end of July, with anything else SMS-friendly  already being announced by the bands in question. These will be the 415E sister band's first shows at the St. Ignace Kewadin since February, with Brandon, Chris, Brett, and Ron last being seen together in April at The Rapids Lounge in the Soo. While still very scant for public media of their shows, this supergroup of Nixxon Dixxon, Clownsack, and Monkey's Uncle alumni should have lots of solid covers in store next month! Expect 9:00 PM start times, no cover, and 21+ age limits, and see above for more details! 

Now let's head back to Sault Ontario for a special Wednesday evening concert preview, as local classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison will play his first Mike Case Memorial Stage concert of the season TONIGHT outside of The Trading Post! Given the days Tym usually plays on (even factoring in his weekly Thursday shows at Gliss pre-pandemic), the mid-week scheduling is odd, especially when today nor tomorrow is a holiday, but this could be a simple as The Trading Post wanting to start the summer months off on the right foot with live music at the start of June. If so, good sign for Tym and his extensive setlist of familiar covers to be called in right away, and if things remain steady (pandemic willing), we could be seeing much more of him at 1332 Great Northern Road through September! For now, tonight's show has a 7:00 PM start time (ending at 9:00), no age limit, and no cover charge.

As for the weather, 9&10 News is projecting things to be sunny with temperatures of 11-12°, and assuming the show isn't delayed past 9:25 PM, it will end before sunset, so conditions are very favourable (and much less humid than yesterday!) Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Tym live in 2020!

Finally for today, here's five new cover songs from local classic/hard rock cover band Soundcheck's between-guest songs during last week's jam night that they host at Reggie's West on Thursdays! Like with many of his prior Reggievelt jam gig videos on drummer Glen Thomas' YouTube channel, these were as a trio without singer/guitarist Cameron Oliver, while frequent fill-in bassist Rob Gilmar was also present in place of Paul Belair, both for unannounced reasons (at least online). The videos are covers of ZZ Top's "Tush", Bryan Adams' "Cuts Like A Knife", The Tragically Hip's "New Orleans Is Sinking", David Wilcox's "My Eyes Keep Me In Trouble", and as embedded below, Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead Or Alive". With Cameron absent, Terry Eaton naturally handles lead vocals here... except the Bon Jovi cover, with Rob singing lead instead, and he gets the job done well, especially compared to the real Bon Jovi in 2022!

Note that Glen again filmed these with a mounted aerial camera, and while these were apparently filmed for the benefit of a drum student of his, he was asked to post them publically. This may explain the heavy post-production lens flare in two corners of the screen, perhaps to direct visual focus onto the drumming, but I can't 100% say if that was the intent. Still solid covers for fans of Terry and Glen's extensive local music work, so give these videos a look for yourself above & below!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Wyld Stallyns), Surprise New Album Announcements, And More!!

Bit of a surprise new post on this Friday, but if I wanted to cover a new LOCAL CONCERT ALERT before we were a week and under until it occurred, I had to get this out today. Along with this new event, we have the surprise announcement of new albums from an inactive group, and some assorted recent updates, so here's what you should know!

Local funk/hard rock cover quintet The Wyld Stallyns will headline a special fundraiser concert for the Entomica Insectarium at their current homebase at the Canadian Bushplane Heritage Center on Saturday, August 21st! Surprisingly only just announced on Wednesday given the scope and unique aspects of it, this is the first Bushplane Museum concert we've covered on the site since in over two years, but being attached to the Entomica bug lab is a new one for us. Entomica do great work in educating everyone about insects, and hopefully this "Let's 'Mis-Bee-Hive', Come Out & Jive" social will help the cause and entertain a local audience at this late(?) stage of the pandemic! The Wyld Stallyns (plural) will close the night at 11:00 PM as the only hard rock-leaning band on offer, but the lineup does have a mini-Rotaryfest feel to it, plus lots of food/drink vendors and kids entertainment, but who else can you expect next Saturday?

Veteran local entertainer Tim Murphy will do a host segment at 10:30 PM, heavily implied to be doing so in drag as Ms. Beehive (get it, "misbehave"?), which fits along with many of his other live stage and hosting work, so expect some humour here! Classic rock veterans Mustang Heart (who do cover hard rock on occasion) will take the stage at 9:30 PM, while local country musician Jeffrey Wright will hit the stage at 8:30 PM. If you're not familiar with Jeffrey, he only just launched his Facebook page last month, but he is a talented multimedia artist! The opening two acts get extended 90 minute timeslots, including Rotaryfest veterans The Northern Jazz Ensemble at 6:45 PM and the confusingly named Josh Norling Jazz Ensemble (led by the prolific Blues Harvest saxophonist) kicking things off at 5:00 PM. This is an all ages event with admission by a $5 minimum donation.

And as usual with the pandemic, please respect and follow any social distancing and public health guidelines being enforced at the Bushplane Museum/Entomica to ensure everyone's safety. Now that we're finally seeing some multi-band concerts in Sault Ontario at a scale reminiscent of what we saw locally before the pandemic, hopefully the "Let's 'Mis-Bee-Hive', Come Out & Jive" social fundraiser is a hit for all parties, and stay tuned for more in our next weekend concert previews! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, including on all of the vendors!

Next up, have you been waiting for details on Mike Haggith's next solo album release and new original material? Well, here's a swerve, as his defunct local power pop/hard rock trio The Din have announced a couple of posthumous album releases for later this year! After a series of surprise teasers on Thursday (the fifth anniversary of it's release), the band announced on their Facebook page that they will be re-releasing their debut mainline album "Give In To The Din" in a deluxe edition with eighteen tracks! For reference, the original 2016 release only had nine songs, so are these all rough demos of what made the cut, or are these properly unreleased, perhaps including songs only heard in live recordings? Time will tell! The second album will be called "Technically Live", and it will comprise their full set from the "Give In To The Din" CD release party at the auditorium at The Tech (the former St. Mary's/Lakeway Collegiate site) from August 12th, 2016!

Now, the latter isn't completely unheard material, as Shaw TV filmed The Din's set that night for the premiere episode of their OnStage series, where they played the entire "Give In To The Din" album, plus two non-album tracks (Mike's solo song "Of Cars & Criminals" & their unreleased original "Differences"), but a smattering of outside covers were not included in Shaw's broadcast. Will those be present on "Technically Live", and will the audio be proper soundboard recordings, or come from Shaw's cameras? Follow The Din on Facebook to get further updates as they roll in, and it's great to see Mike, Tammy, and Brandan have some more fuel in the tank!

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 their first Facebook page posting in 17 months, Sault Michigan hard rock quartet 415E shared a photo on July 20th of a drumkit & speakers with the caption "Time to jam". Them returning to activity at this stage of the pandemic makes sense, but guitarist Chris Hubbard & bassist Brett Blackwood debuted their very similar new band Rhythm & Brews at The Rapids Lounge earlier that same month, and that band hasn't posted online since July 3rd. Have Rhythm & Brews thrown in the towel already & reverted to the 415E name, or will both bands continue forward? Time will tell, but 415E are back in our active band links!
• Following my decision to drop the planned Defunct Local Band Profile on them earlier this week, I have removed mid-2000s all-female hard rock trio Apocrytha from our inactive band links due to a complete and utter lack of surviving public information on their official online accounts (re: just their MySpace page, whose photos all no longer work). Follow members' later bands like The Freshwater Sirens and The Danger Cats to hear what the ladies have been up to!
• Almost a year & a half after his prior search on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group, local guitarist, singer, and drummer Jayrald Micky is looking to join something and is "dying to jam and get back out there". He did note that he has stage experience, but I'm not familiar with public band work of his. Message him at this link or via his group post from Wednesday for more details!

 

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Din), Treble Charger Concert Videos, And More!!

With the peak of the summer season now in the rear view mirror, here's our first post of August, and it's full of recent concert videos, assorted updates, and to kick things off, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next month! With all of that said, here's what you should know!

Local alternative/hard rock trio The Din will return to The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Center on Sunday, September 10th as a featured musical act during this year's "Loud & Proud" family fun event to kick off the annual Pridefest! Of course, Pridefest is a festival celebrating, raising awareness for, and supporting LGBTQ people, and this family fun event next month will help jump-start everything with children's activities, special guests, local vendors, and more, so visit the official Facebook event page for current details! Fans may recognize the former Mike Haggith & The Din from one of the old Bushplane Musical Madness events in 2013, but that was back in their acid jam days, so keep their return with their current sound in mind during this great community event! Local actor, entertainer, and theatre director Tim Murphy will also perform on September 10th, though it's not clear whether he'll be singing, doing ventriloquism, one of his impersonations, or something else.

This is a FREE & ALL AGES community event, and it has an early run time from 12:00-4:00 PM on September 10th, so feel free to bring the kids! It's great to see The Din sign on to perform at this "Loud and Proud" event and show their pride in the process, so visit the official Facebook event page and the above links for more details on it and Pridefest, and stay tuned for more from The Din later this week!

Next up, here's the last batch of recent concert videos from Christopher Paci's excellent YouTube channel, as he was on hand for this past Thursday's Treble Charger return show at LopLops Lounge! Chris was hard at work with the camera for the local indie/punk veterans' set, filming eight songs across seven videos, and they include their songs "How She Died", "Brand New Low", "Where Is My Mind", "Drive", "Red", "American Psycho", and as embedded below, two songs from their latest CD "Detox", namely "Hole In Your Head" and "Hundred Million". If you thought there were a lot of fans in camera view for Chris' videos from Mike Mikus' farewell show, then prepare yourself for these, as this was a sold out concert and it easily shows. The camera can be jittery, and you can only really see band members' heads, but the audio's fine, and Treble Charger sounded great in their first public show in two years, so give Chris' videos from Thursday a look above & below, and stay tuned for more!



Chris also filmed opening alt-punk quartet A Dire Setback playing two of their songs, namely their self-titled track and, as embedded below, "Catastrophe", so if you wanted to actually see the guys playing this song on Thursday (unlike in their soundcheck video where the camera fell over), here's your chance! These videos actually have better visuals than Treble Charger's, owing partly due to a smaller crowd on the floor prior to the headliners, though the camera sometimes pans upward a little too much during the performance. Still solid, and quite an event for A.D.S. to kick off, so give their videos a look above and below too!



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

• In some maintenance to our listings of Sault Ontario concert venues, we have moved Cafe Natura, Coch's Corner, The Grand Theater, The Harp Bar & Grill, The Moose Lodge, and The Speak Easy to our inactive venue links, as none has hosted a public hard rock/punk concert in the past year that we know of (open mic nights don't count.) All are still active venues, and hopefully some SMS-coverable shows return to each location down the road!
• Local power pop/hard rock quartet The Noochin' Lanterns have re-emerged in the past month by playing some outdoor pop-up concert sets, including at The Bellevue Park Bandshell on July 22nd (source here) and out at Harmony Beach on July 29th (source here.) Given their intentionally impromptu nature, we haven't been able to cover them here, but if this is a deliberate strategy to draw attention & word of mouth, hopefully it's working to their advantage! No word though on if recent Facebook page teasers involving jamming with guitarist Sarah Jackson mean that she's joined the band full time.
• Downtown bar and country-leaning concert venue Reggie's Place was damaged in a fire in the apartments above the building on Sunday, which you can read more about at this link. Thankfully, no one was hurt, but the fire forced evacuation of upstairs residents, and the bar will have to be closed a few days for repairs. The downtown Reggie's is best known to SMS readers as a frequent concert venue for Soundcheck and predecessor band Mourning Wood, though it's not yet known if the fire will impact any Soundcheck gigs there. Keep tabs with local news media for more on the fire!

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

The First Of This Weekend's Concert Previews, Including The Soo Zombie Walk!!

With the Halloween concert season fast approaching, let's touch on the first of this weekend's hard rock concert previews, including two joint events from an annual seasonal event for you brain eaters! Note that our preview of Saturday night's Ripcordz-headlined "Fed Up" split release party will come in our next post, along with likely late notice show announcements, so stay tuned for that! Now, here's what you should know for this weekend!

We'll start with local hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison, whose usual weekly concerts are advertised to continue this weekend, including matinees at Gliss Steak & Seafood TONIGHT, TOMORROW, and SATURDAY, and more typical nighttime shows at The Harp Bar & Grill TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! As is sometimes the case, these shows have yet to be confirmed via Facebook event pages, but all five are among the extensive concert listings on his website's calendar. As Tym's lengthy runs at the Quality Inn's restaurant and the former Madison's Pub march on, look for more entertaining hard rock renditions in an intimate setting at both venues this weekend, and if you're up for some unplugged action, you have lots of options this weekend! As usual, the Gliss shows are 6:00 PM events with no announced cover or age limits (but remember, it is a restaurant), and the Harp shows are at 10:00 PM with no announced cover, an a 19+ age limit. Check the above links for more details, and here's Tym live at The Harp!



Next up, let's head across the border to St. Ignace, Michigan, where Kinross classic/hard rock trio Banned are scheduled to rock The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! After taking the month of September off, this will be the second of four St. Ignace concert weekends from Banned in a five month span, and while they're certainly no strangers to their Kewadin branch, don't miss out on this weekend's concerts if you can't see them next month! And remember, Alex, Wayne, and Don's annual Halloween show will be at the Kewadin Casino in Manistique next weekend, so keep that in mind if you might be out there. Like Banned's past and future Kewadin Casino concerts, this weekend's concerts take place at 9:00 PM, there's no announced cover charge, and you must be 21 or older to attend. For more details, visit the above links, and here's Banned live earlier this year!



Heading back to Sault Ontario, let's touch on the seventh annual Soo Zombie Walk, which goes down THIS SATURDAY at The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre for a third straight year, and we'll see bands (the exact same bands, in fact) in both the daytime lineup and at the afterparty! As usual, bring your best zombie costumes for the annual brain-hungry walk downtown, which begins an hour later at 6:00 PM this year, but the pre-walk activities (including games, face painting, photos, contests, and vendors) have been cut down from 3 to 2 hours, with everything beginning at 4:00 PM. For full details on non-musical events and the downtown zombie walk itself, visit the official Facebook event page. This year's acts will include headlining local "blue Chinese metal crash punk" quartet Sykotyk Rampage (marking their fifth straight appearance at a Zombie Walk concert), reunited Sudbury unplugged hard rock band Aggressive Acoustic (fronted by ex-Sykotyk Rampage bassist Brian Cattapan, though we're unsure of the new lineup's composition), and Northwest guitarist Greg Callaghan (in his third straight Zombie Walk set.)

Note that an advertised fourth performer, ex-Phlashback guitarist Terry Becker (brother of Sykotyk Rampage's Paul & Dirk Becker) has quietly been removed from event advertising for unannounced reasons, but hopefully nothing bad happened, it was encouraging to see him listed given his recent health issues! In a unique double booking, all three acts will head to Coch's Corner (in the former Foggy Notions building) later that night to take part in the sixth annual Zombie Walk afterparty, which returns to the site of it's 2010 & 2013 installments after spending last year at Wacky Wings and without live music. As you may know, Coch's Corner has been an acoustic-only venue since it moved to 708 Queen Street East, so to fit that and keep things simple given the double booking, both of Sykotyk Rampage's sets will be acoustic on Saturday, which will be interesting to hear! This will be their first set at the afterparty since 2012, while Aggressive Acoustic headlined the afterparty in their own right in 2013.

The Zombie Walk entertainment at 4:00 PM (and the walk proper) are both ALL AGES with admission via a canned good donation and $3 (kids under 10 only need the canned good), while the afterparty will be at 9:00 PM with $2 admission & a canned good, and it's definitely 19+ there. For more details, visit the above links and the afterparty's Facebook event page! It's great to see bands rocking out at the Soo Zombie Walk (and afterparty) again, so whether you'd rather see the bands in the day at the Bushplane Museum or at night at Coch's, especially if you also plan to hit the Ripcordz concert, you have options! For a preview, here's Sykotyk Rampage at last year's walk!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more weekend concert previews next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Soo Zombie Walk) & Integrated System Of Machines Updates!!

A new month is upon us, and before we know it, a new season will be too, so let's kick off September 2015 in style with a new news post on this Tuesday morning devoted to two topics: A major recent concert set by a returning local band, and a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next month, so here's what you should know!

The band lineup has been announced for next month's seventh annual Soo Zombie Walk, so what should you know for this year? Returning to The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre for a third straight year on Saturday, October 24th, the musical entertainment will once again rock out there prior to the walk itself, but things are now both later and condensed, with pre-walk activities taking place from 4:00-6:00 PM rather than 2:00-5:00 PM. The lineup will be familiar from last year though, with listed performers including local "blue Chinese metal crash punk" quartet Sykotyk Rampage headlining in their fifth straight Zombie Walk set, so look for more zombified originals from these crash favourites in their third show of the year! Sudbury unplugged hard rock band Aggressive Acoustic (fronted by ex-Sykotyk Rampage bassist Brian Cattapan) are listed as co-headlining, which is a bit of a surprise given that the band apparently parted ways in December, as per their Facebook page.

Have they reformed, will this be a solo performance by Brian, or is there an error? We'll let you know if we hear anything, but it'd be nice to see Brian back home again! Two local solo musicians will open things, including Northwest guitarist Greg Callaghan (in his third straight Zombie Walk set) and ex-Phlashback/Kick Start guitarist Terry Becker (brother of Sykotyk Rampage's Paul & Dirk Becker), which is awesome to see, especially given his recent health battles, so don't bypass his set! Other pre-walk activities will include zombie face painting, a photo booth, games & contests, local vendors and merchants, and more, so visit the official Facebook event page for full details on what to expect before the walk! Zombies will take to the streets for the walk at 6:00 PM, with prizes and the closing ceremony at 7:00 PM. Also, the 19+ afterparty will return to Coch's Corner after spending last year at Wacky Wings, but given the post-2012 shift of the main musical entertainment to the pre-show, don't expect much for live bands there beyond possible acoustic acts, though we did get a few there in 2013.

Admission is $3 + a canned food donation for attendees, while kids are FREE with a canned good, and check the above links for more details! It's great to see the Zombie Walk back, and at a slightly later time (and still on the week prior to Halloween) to boot, though local metal and punk fans may find themselves pulling double duty given that night's Ripcordz concert just down the road at The Algonquin Pub. Keep this fun annual family event in mind for your Halloween season plans, especially if you love Sykotyk Rampage and related bands, and stay tuned for updates!

We'll close today with some excellent new footage of the recently reunited Integrated System of Machines from their return show at July's P.O.D. concert at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino! Filmed by Wayne Kozeyah at W.K. Media and uploaded to his YouTube channel on Thursday, this follows earlier rough cut samples from the show that he uploaded, but none were labelled as being of the local epic metal quintet, hence why we didn't know about them at the time. Apparently the first time that Wayne and/or W.K. Media have been on hand to film a full concert set like this, three camera angles captured the show, including a drum-cam (possibly a GoPro) on Bart Rennels, giving a unique first person view to much of it! In order, the performed songs include "Screams", "Patterns", "Stays The Same", "I.S.O.M.", "The Writer", "Last Time", "Prison Farm", and a short song whose title isn't given. Long time fans should know that "Patterns", "The Writer", "Prison Farm", and the closer were not on their prior CD "Apocalyptic Vision", so give those an extra look!

Now, you may notice that frontman Orb Hearthstone indicated during between-song banter that they had a CD (and t-shirts) on sale during this show, and the songs they played during their set were on the album in order, so it looks like the current lineup re-recorded four songs from "Apocalyptic Vision", but as you can tell from this video, there are two major differences. Obviously, there's no keyboardist anymore (Craig Harrison didn't return and wasn't replaced for the reunion), and Orb's growling is far less utilized than in their original incarnation, which fans will notice when comparing the old studio versions of these songs ("I.S.O.M." aside, which didn't have growling originally.) I have no idea yet whether this CD is a fully packaged and pressed release, or just a loose demo like Elipzis and Half a Man distributed at concerts, but I would be very curious to hear these songs in studio form!

In any event, copies would likely be available at future concerts when announced, though no word on if Grooves Music would have stock of it. Of course, if the band had new online pages to plug their shows and recordings, that'd be an obvious plus, but no word on if a new online presence is imminent. The video itself is excellent, albeit without as many camera angle switches as it could have used, and the new I.S.O.M. lineup sounds great! Solid work all around, so give WK Media's full I.S.O.M. concert video a look below, and stay tuned for more from the guys when announced!



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