LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Dustin Jones & The Rising Tide, Northwest, And Chase Wigmore), Plus Other Notes!!

Things have picked up as of late for stories, and with lots of shows to preview this weekend, we're going to have at least 5 straight days of new posts on the SMS, and this is day #2! We're focusing primarily on LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS today, plus some new video postings related to one of these performers, so here's what you should know in chronological order!

Local alt-folk/metal solo artist Chase Wigmore will apparently be playing a solo set at Soo Blaster's second Indie Music Showcase on November 30th (or, one week from Friday!) Though not listed on official event advertising yet, Chase has played around with that by Photoshopping the poster and claiming that "Special Guests" are his new band, and that "TBA" is a separate act following them. In reality, Chase has been sharing new songs to his Facebook page credited to "Chase & The Bastards", implying that he has launched a full solo band of that name, but we don't know much about them beyond his involvement. His set will be at 8:00 PM, and he will be opening for the reunited veteran rock trio Wishbone (nice to see Dennis & company back!) and The Blackmagic Bluegrass Band, a new supergroup featuring members of Tex & The Ride and A Band Named Soo, who will apparently play both originals and rock covers in a bluegrass style. Intriguing shades of Hayseed Dixie there!

Co-presented by prolific local drummer Anthony Fabiano, this 19+ concert will mark the first Soo Blaster concert featuring a metal act, and it has a $5 cover charge. It'll be interesting to see how the second Indie Music Showcase does at this new-ish Queen Street East sports bar, so visit the above links for more details, and stay tuned at post's end for Chase's new songs!

Next up, here's two concerts for next month at LopLops Lounge, both courtesy of promoters/local indie label Tidal Records, starting with the long awaited Northwest EP release party on Saturday, December 22nd! As first quietly teased on their Facebook page two months ago, the indie/punk quintet will indeed release their second CD "Songs From 2015-2017" in just over a month's time, in what is already looking like a bigger and splashier release than their 2014 debut got. While details are slim as of yet regarding the release formats, price, and track listing, the first 50 attendees in the door will get a free download code for the EP, so if that piques your interest, don't be late! Local indie rock quartet K.I.C.K. will play their first concert in over a year as the opening act, following months of studio sessions, medical mishaps, and work commitments. It'll be great to have the Keep It Cool Kids back on stage themselves, so there's all the more reason to come early next month for all of the talent on display!

A cover charge was not announced, let alone the EP cost, but bring $10 just in case, as $5 for each makes sense. This is a 19+ show, and a 9:00 PM start time is advertised. Indie punk fans won't want to miss Northwest finally wrap up the lengthy album process with a big holiday season party, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and stay tuned for updates on the show and album when they roll in!

Lastly for this batch of new shows, fans can check out local/Toronto Celtic punk quartet Dustin Jones & The Rising Tide as they return to the stage for a headlining joint at LopLops Lounge on Friday, December 28th! Though they have played live since in Thessalon, this will be The Tide's first local concert appearance since their very rainy set at Rotaryfest Stage 1 in July, and their first where everyone is under a roof since March. It's seemingly rarer and rarer to see Dustin and company on stage, so don't bypass this post-Christmas opportunity, especially given their recent studio sessions! The poster (as shared on the band's Facebook page) confirms that Lake Effect drummer Chris Johns will be back behind the drumkit, while Barn Board Trio guitarist Liam Seymour is also pictured in the fold. The Tide are still listed as a quartet with Mikey on drums on Facebook, but is this a belated new lineup confirmation? Local country/pop duo The Steeletown Girls (featuring ex-Din guitarist Tammy Hill) will open this concert, in what should be an intriguing style clash, so definitely give them a look as well!

Also promoted by Tidal Records, this 19+ concert has a $10 cover charge, and a likely 10:00 PM start time. With the holiday season still ongoing then, this would be a fun way to help send 2018 off with a bang, so visit the above links for current details! (Yes, I am also aware of the cover band concert that Tidal is hosting on Friday, December 21st, but all advertising for it that I've seen is via personal Facebook accounts, so I am waiting for public confirmation before covering it here. Stay tuned!)

Finally, let's tackle those new Chase Wigmore songs, as he posted four new videos onto his Facebook page on Sunday featuring new original material, so what should you know there? Three are audio tracks credited to "Chase & The Bastards", including a reworking of his previously pulled original "Psychic Driving" and new tracks named "Scabies" (an experimental folk/punk number) and "Running Out Of Beer" (an eclectic song that reminds me of outlaw country meets Daniel Johnston, if that makes any sense.) Very creative overall, and never boring, hopefully we hear and learn more about the full band! Embedded below is "A Story About A Kid Named Todd (Episode 1: The Art of Busking)", a 26 minute video of Chase playing largely continuously, which is very impressive alone! As described on his new Wix website, this is a lengthy conceptual piece about "adventure, desperation, madness and beyond" that has only been selectively performed in the past.

If you love Chase's acoustic alt-folk concerts and material, this is a must watch, and it's very cool to see him seamlessly perform so naturally and casually like this, though it'll be old hat if you see him live often. With his vocal, guitar, and lyrical versatility, and his irreverent storytelling, this is bound to entertain, and hopefully Episode 2 isn't far off (or perhaps an album?) Give it a look below, and hear more above!



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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Soundcheck), And This Weekend's Concert Previews!!

(Updated at 5:22 PM) I know things have been slow on the site lately, but so has news from the local hard rock, metal, and punk spectrums. Hopefully this weekend concert preview post will help, as there's a solid amount of concerts to take, so let's start with SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck are advertised to return to The Esquire Club for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, these shows were only announced earlier this week on SooToday's events calendar courtesy of the venue, and the band proper has not publically acknowledged them on their Facebook page at press time (they hadn't for their shows two weeks ago either.) After splitting their last weekend across two venues, the Mourning Wood successors will return to this popular west end nightclub TOMORROW & SATURDAY for the first time in three weeks with another weekend of hard rocking covers, so keep Soundcheck's new gigs in mind for some solid and familiar action this weekend! As usual for their Esquire Club stops, TOMORROW & SATURDAY's shows are 10:00 PM affairs with no announced cover charge and a 19+ age limit. See above for more details, and no public videos of theirs yet!

Next up, we'll move to previously announced concerts, starting with the ever-prolific Tym Morrison's ongoing weekly concert arrangement at Gliss Steak & Seafood, which continues for yet another week TOMORROW & SATURDAY! Fresh off of his short notice Monday-Wednesday returns to Mark's Breakfast Plus, Tym will play his fourth & fifth shows in six days this weekend, and should have another stacked slate of classic and hard rock covers ready for Gliss patrons and fans alike tomorrow and Saturday, so keep these downtown matinees in mind as usual! As is standard for Tym's supper-time concerts at this restaurant, expect 6:00 PM start times tomorrow and on Saturday, and while these shows do not have announced age limits or cover charges, mind the locale. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Tym live!

Also this weekend, Sault Michigan fans can take in a pair of shows from Sault Michigan blues/hard rock quartet Project 906, including shows TOMORROW NIGHT at Bird's Eye Outfitters, and then a trip west to Hulbert Happy Hour in Hulbert Township THIS SATURDAY NIGHT! As announced last week, these will give fans their first chance to see Project 906 on a solo stage since their Hulbert debut in March, having solely stuck to multi-band showcases and competitions at The Superior Cafe in the interim. Tomorrow's Soo show is a relatively rare headlining concert in their hometown, and while logic would dictate that The Superior Cafe would be the host venue compared to it's hunting/outdoor store on the same complex, all band and venue advertising says that the show will be in Bird's Eye, so the cafe proper must be geared more to smaller or unplugged acts. Venue advertising indicates that a duo act named Brian & Keith will be opening for 906 tomorrow, and while I don't know much about them, I believe they've played at here before.

The Hulbert Happy Hour show on Saturday appears to be a standard stop for this well traveled hard rock group, so if you're out that direction, keep that show in mind too! Tomorrow's stop on the former Golanka's Bar location has a 7:00 PM start time and no announced age limit or cover charge, while Saturday's Hulbert show is at 9:00 PM with no cover and a 21+ age limit. Click here and visit the above links for more details, I've added Bird's Eye Outfitters and The Superior Cafe to our Sault Michigan venue links, and here's Project 906 live in concert earlier this year!



Lastly for known hard rock shows this weekend, fans of Sault Ontario indie/hard rock quartet Id Iota can see them back on stage THIS SATURDAY NIGHT when they take part in the Indie Spring concert at LopLops Lounge! As memorably hyped in this Facebook video where Id Iota summoned "Father Spring", this concert will mark Id Iota's third local concert appearance with their current lineup, and with new songs from their forthcoming full length album expected, look for more good times from this fan favourite quartet on Saturday! Id Iota will play support to Sudbury garage rock band The Almighty Rhombus, who are touring in support of their brand new EP "Swish", and with their lively, upbeat brand of rock music, they'll be a fine fit at LopLops this weekend too! Also playing support is local drone/noise rock trio Pointless (featuring Treble Charger's Bill Priddle and Id Iota's Dustin Goodall), who should deliver in their own unique way on Saturday as well, so don't be late for their set!

Promoted by Dustin Goodall via his recording studio Unsalted Audio (in a pseudo-revival of his old Unsalted Records agency), this concert has a $10 cover charge, 19+ age limit, and 9:00 PM start time. Indie rock fans should take to this show well, and with some hard rock and punk glimmers to boot, so visit the Facebook event page for more details, and here's Id Iota live!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for last month's poll results and our newest poll on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

Scarkazm Concert Previews, New Sault Michigan Videos, And Id Iota Updates!!

As promised, we're closing up this weekend's concert previews with one more pair of shows for fans in the E.U.P., but we also have some new Sault Michigan performers to touch on via new videos of theirs! Rounding things out is the latest from a prominent Sault Ontario band, so here's what you should know on this Friday afternoon!

We'll start with this weekend's remaining hard rock concert previews (barring another late notice confirmation), as Traverse City, Michigan metal trio Scarkazm will return to The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! While E.U.P. fans will have seen this fan favourite band live in St. Ignace in January, this will be Scarkazm's first concert weekend in the Soo since October of last year, so if you've been patiently waiting for a Rapids Lounge return in the last 6 months, here's your chance! Oddly, Scarkazm forgone their usual concert poster picture for this weekend in favour of this 9 second video of them live with pertinent details added in post. No audio, but it's something different for sure! As usual for Scarkazm's northern jaunts, tonight & tomorrow's shows are 21+ affairs with 9:00 PM start times and no announced cover charges. Visit the official Facebook event pages linked here & here for more details, and here's Scarkazm live!

Next up, here's some more new Sault Michigan videos, starting with a new clip from local classical metal project Theatre of Night that goes along with one we previously shared on here! Earlier this month, you may recall seeing a shared Facebook video of a "late night jam session". Well, it was uploaded to keyboardist Craig Harrison's YouTube channel around that same time, and there's some more context there! We now know that this jam session was held in Grand Rapids, and featured members of both Theatre of Night and Grand Rapids death metal veterans Flesh For The Beast, who do have a local tie of their own, as future Half A Man drummer Mikey Bishop played for them in the early 2000s during their run as Sadomasochism. Performer credits aren't given on YouTube, but I believe that the video features Theatre of Night's Steve Giles and Erik Sales jamming with Flesh For The Beast bassist Craig Riley (though I could be wildly off base.)

That said, a second 15 video from the same jam was also uploaded (and is embedded below), which looks like it features a different bassist who I absolutely can't identify. In any event, this new video sounds solid for it's short length, and might this be leading somewhere beyond an informal jam from members of the two bands? When I first saw this video this morning, it still had no views, so help boost it's totals by giving this Theatre of the Beast jam a look below, and stay tuned for more from their camp!



Also today, here's a new performance clip of Project 906 guitarist/Crooked Music instructor Joe Jenkins, as shared from his personal Facebook page to the local music store's Facebook page on Monday! This 39 second clip features Joe demonstrating a Peavey Wolfgang guitar that is/was available in-store, and Joe has some fun shredding on this clip, even calling then guitar "incredible". Solid performance for what it is, so check it out below, and don't miss Project 906 TOMORROW at The Superior Cafe's musician showcase!

 
We'll close today's post back in Sault Ontario, with the latest from local indie/alt-hard rock quartet Id Iota, starting with some new reveals regarding their May 19th concert at LopLops Lounge, via it's Facebook event page! This show is titled "Indie Spring", appears to be put on by guitarist/Pointless bassist Dustin Goodall's recording studio Unsalted Audio (sort of bringing back Unsalted Records as a result), and copies of headlining Sudbury garage rock band The Almighty Rhombus' new EP will be on sale. Crank Sound Distribution will even be on hand for the best sound possible! As expected, this is a 19+, 9:00 PM show, but the cover charge is $10, so keep that in mind. On April 14th, Id Iota revealed on their Facebook page that their forthcoming second studio album will have 11 songs, and that they were "getting busy again" on recording sessions, as "2 years (since releasing their "Maudlin Fair EP) is long enough."

To close, Id Iota shared this new video onto their Facebook page yesterday to hype the Indie Spring concert. The video features the guys reflecting on the changing of the seasons and what would be the best way to host a spring show, with new bassist Robert Sartini suggesting that they summon Father Spring, and then they do. I refuse to spoil how they summon Father Spring (or even who he is), but it's a funny and well edited commercial, especially thanks to the guys' reactions in the second half, so give it a look below!



That's all for today, but if all goes according to plan, stay tuned for this month's CD review on the site next! Thanks everyone!