Dragonfly Run, Wax Mannequin, And The Fixer Concert Previews!!

(Updated on Sunday at 12:38 AM) Let's finally wrap up this weekend's concert previews after five posts on this very busy penultimate weekend of the summer months! Just as a reminder following yesterday's ARCH Run preview, I will not be taking sides or elaborating on the schism between the Dragonfly Run and Jay's Piston Broke Pub (leading to the launch of today's ARCH Run), but if you want to read the Dragonfly Run's side of the issues, click here. Regardless of what happened between both sides, both are benefits for the Algoma Regional Community Hospice and any support that we can give ARCH is more than welcomed, no matter how you do it!

Now, TOMORROW'S motorcycle rally/concert is the annual Dragonfly Run (rebranded from the Ride For ARCH last year), which has moved from Jay's to The Grand Gardens on Great Northern Road, which is also the homebase of Toystock (both events share common organizers). This event will feature a motorcycle rally starting and ending at The Grand Gardens from 1:00 PM onwards, while there will be family friendly activities, vendors, a silent auction, and games inside and outside throughout the day, plus a pasta buffet, so be sure to visit The Dragonfly Run Facebook page for complete non-musical details! In terms of bands playing tomorrow, all will be inside The Grand Gardens a'la Toystock, and while there will only be three bands, all have 90 minute sets so you'll get to see more of them than you otherwise might at a community festival! Veteran classic rock quartet Mid Life Crysis have been bumped up as headliners at 7:30 PM.

As such, local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 now have the middle set at 5:00 PM. In their second charity motorcycle-related concert in a four day span (following the Cruisin' The Dub bike show on Thursday), Bone Yard should be in good spirits to cap off a busy stretch in terms of getting the new look Dragonfly Run put together, and hopefully they rock the house as only they can! Alt-rock band The Haze (who played one of their first sets at last year's Dragonfly Run under their old name Skinbox) will kick off the day's musical program at 2:00 PM. Entry is by donation to this ALL AGES event, unless pledging to take part in the motorcycle rally, and things run in person at The Grand Gardens from around 1:00-9:00 PM aside from the rally registration beginning at 11:00 AM. The bands will be indoors, but for the sake of the outdoor activities, the forecast has 24-27° temperatures with sunny-mostly sunny weather and no chance of precipitation.

It sure looks like Greg, Alex, Warren, and crew have got a great event in store for the community, be you a rider, music fan, or just want to enjoy some family entertainment, and ARCH is extremely deserving of any help that you can give it, so consider biking down to The Grand Gardens for the second Dragonfly Run tomorrow! Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Bone Yard 225 live!

Next up, there's more SMS-amenable concert action taking place TOMORROW NIGHT at two downtown venues, and we'll start at Soo Blaster, where two female-fronted metal bands from out west will make their local concert debuts! Thunder Bay gothic metal quartet The Fixer are the headliners here, and with their dark but melodic brand of original material getting some decent buzz so far in the 2020s, they should leave a strong impression on local fans tomorrow! Joining them on tour and in the Soo tomorrow is Winnipeg metal quartet Indigo, whose sound is a touch heavier with some harsher screaming thrown into the mix, so don't bypass them at Soo Blaster either! Your local support here are death/thrash metal trio Pillory in their Soo Blaster debut, their first show in Sault Ste. Marie proper since 2019, and just their second show of 2024 following their long awaited reunion. Not everyone was able to travel to Leeburn last month, so hopefully Pillory get many heads banging as they continue their reintroduction to local fans tomorrow night!

Another concert brought to us by promoter Mikhal Muto (fresh off his Southern Ontario road trip with Hails), this stop on The Fixer's Love & Misfortune tour is ALL AGES with an 8:00 PM start time, and admission is $15 in advance at this link or $20 at the door. Metalheads will definitely be curious to check out this concert, even on a work/school night, so visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's The Fixer live!

Finally as we wrap up one of the busiest non-Rotaryfest concert weekends I've ever previewed, we'll head to The Whisky Barrel, where Hamilton "weird folk art punk" solo act Wax Mannequin will play the Soo for the second time in under three weeks TOMORROW NIGHT! While definitely not a regular occurrence, the conceit of a touring band playing here twice in both directions on a tour is not unheard of, and this is an example of that, with Chris Adeney bringing his creative hybrid of indie rock subgenres with some punk and metal sounds back to a local stage eighteen days after returning here for a public show at "Adrian's house". Despite this show being at a formal venue, it is a smaller deal, with just Wax Mannequin playing, but it is FREE (though tips are welcome!). It is a 19+ affair and it also starts at 8:00 PM. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and for a preview, here's Wax Mannequin live in Sault Ste. Marie earlier this month!

Uploaded by promoters Piecing It Together Shows to the event page (nice to see a public embeddable video as opposed to a "Story"), this minute-long, square-dimensioned video from the outdoor show at "Adrian's house" features Wax Mannequin playing their original song "Sick Boy", which has quite evocative lyrics as Chris plays along to a backing track. The audio quality is great, and it's a shame that more videos from the show weren't uploaded (not counting vanishing "Stories"), but if you liked what you saw on August 7th, or want to see what the fuss is about, head to The Whisky Barrel on Gore Street tomorrow night as Chris makes his way back home!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Blood Opera, The Damn Truth, The Fixer, And Sylo!!)

After a couple of quiet days due to some prior engagements, I am back with a stacked post on the SMS on this Sunday afternoon, 100% devoted to LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS in Sault Ste. Marie in the next two+ months! Here's what you should know in chronological order!

In a type of all-local event that we haven't seen a lot of in the Soo in the 2020s, six original-leaning local acts (many heavier in nature) will join forces for a concert at Soo Blaster on Sunday, August 18th! Curiously, the headliners of this show are local hard rock band Sylo, who we have not heard from publically since their return from hiatus in February, dropping out of the Hazytones show in the interim. It is worth noting that the former Raincourt privatized their Instagram page and seemingly parted ways with bassist Owen Dearing (now absent from their listed lineup there). I don't know if Eli or Alder are taking over on bass or if they're looking for a new hire, but hopefully Sylo's return in two weeks goes over well, and that everything's alright with Owen! A healthy roster of local openers includes punk trio (quartet?) Vanity First, metal trio The BAG, comedy rock band The Floor Between Us, and two solo singer/guitarists.

These include prolific local folk punk/extreme metal musician Chase Wigmore (last seen at a Distraction show in February with many common musicians) and outsider/anti-folk musician Shae Tull. This show will be ALL AGES, it has a flat $10 admission fee at the door (no advance ticket sales of any kind), and doors open at 8:00 PM. This could be a late night for many given that the concert is on a work/school night, but if you want to see six talented local music acts in one stage (let alone that none of them played at Rotaryfest), keep the action in two weeks in mind! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details!

Next up, there's more heavy action one week later at Soo Blaster via two touring (and female-fronted) bands rocking Sault Ste. Marie on Sunday, August 25th, including headlining Thunder Bay gothic metal quartet The Fixer! An outfit who have been decently active out west in the 2020s so far, fans of bands like New Years Day will find a lot to like from their melodic hard rock originals, so don't miss out on The Fixer's Soo debut in three weeks! Winnipeg-based metal quartet Indigo will open here, and their sound is more aggressive with harsher Pantera-esque vocals at their heights, so they should turn a few heads at Soo Blaster as well! Further signalling that they are back for good, local death/thrash metal trio Pillory will open in their second public gig of 2024 and first show in Sault Ste. Marie city limits in almost five years. Hopefully there's much more to come from Robert, Blair, and Bret in the near future!

Announced on personal Facebook pages last month before going 100% public in recent days, tickets will run for $15 in advance at the venue or $20 at the door (online sales have not begun at press time) This show will also be ALL AGES, and while it's another 8:00 PM show on a work/school night, there are half as many bands as the previous week. Metal fans should definitely look into this concert for some hard hitting music later this month, so visit the above links for more details!

Also coming to Soo Blaster is Montreal classic/hard rock quartet The Damn Truth, who will rock Sault Ste. Marie for the first time on Tuesday, September 17th! A 1960s-inspired group who infuse a few different styles into their high energy and melodic originals, singer Lee-La Baum's husky Janis Joplin-esque vocals definitely help them stand out from the pack, and it'll be interesting to see how The Damn Truth go over this fall! In a mild surprise, local alt-punk trio A Dire Setback will open next month, in their first show in the Soo since opening for The Ripcordz in September of last year! Yes, they'll be back at the Northern Vibe Festival later this month, but Chris, Matt, and Nick don't play all that often anymore, so if you've missed their intense punk originals and select covers, be at Soo Blaster next month! The official poster suggests that "other acts" are to be announced, but at press time, it's hard to find any social media press for this show.

I literally only heard about this one because I was on Soo Blaster's ticket page seeing if the Fixer concert above had the online sale link up yet, but hopefully the local press ramps up soon. I don't even know if A Dire Setback's own Live705 are putting this on! In any event, tickets are $20 at this link or $25 at the door, this again starts at 8:00 PM, and unlike the shows above, I can't immediately confirm if this will be all ages or 19+. If Sunday isn't ideal scheduling for many, Tuesday really isn't, but hopefully there's a solid turnout for this array of live original rock music next month, and see above for more details!

Finally for this all-Sault Ontario concert post, Toronto "dead metal/zombie glam" band Blood Opera will return for a headlining concert on Saturday, October 19th at  The Queen of Hearts Club above Shooters Downstairs Lounge! As you may recall, Blood Opera were the after-party headliners at the Steel City CollectorCon in May, and clearly they had a strong reception for their highly theatrical and violent horror movie-inspired stage show, as organizers Steel City Events are bringing them back five months later to do the honours in closing out the Steel City NerdCon that weekend! Very similar event, a pop culture/comic convention featuring dozens of vendors and artists from the Soo and beyond, and preliminary details on that day's festivities at the Quattro Hotel (the NerdCon proper) and The Queen Of Hearts Club (this concert and the karaoke/card game tournament pre-party on Friday the 18th) can be found at this link.

Notably, the Facebook advertising also lists Blood Opera as part of the NerdCon proper at Quattro (no idea in what capacity yet), while Steel City Events are looking for one or two local opening bands for the 19th. Message them above or via Vintage Games & Junque's Facebook page if you/your band are interested! For reference, the openers in May were The Apocalypse Afterparty. No word yet on admission details, but in May, it was a 19+ concert with a 9:00 PM start time and $20 admission, though there were CollectorCon ticket packages that included free admission to see Blood Opera if purchased. There's a lot to learn, but Blood Opera aren't to be missed, so visit the above links for initial details!

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