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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (B.A. Johnston), Tym Morrison Concert Preview, And More!!

Here's a new news post that will somehow beat the long delayed rain in the forecast! It includes some new videos and updates from projects on both sides of the border, a mid-week concert preview for tonight, and leading off, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, so here's what you should know!

Hamilton outsider folk/punk solo musician B.A. Johnston will return to Sault Ste. Marie for a headlining concert on Thursday, August 25th at... The Legion Bar?! This isn't a permanent venue, it's the downstairs space at The Marconi Cultural Event Centre at 450 Albert Street West set up as the temporary home base for the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 25, with their current building on Great Northern Road being demolished and rebuilt (details here). The Legion has hosted heavier concerts very sporadically, so this isn't completely out of line (let alone past events inside The Marconi Club), but definitely keep the relatively unique venue in mind in three weeks! B.A. Johnston previously played here at the former Cafe Natura in 2015 and at The New A in 2019, and if you saw him then, expected more irreverent, self-deprecating, and unpredictable acoustic punk originals for his third go-around in the Soo!

Instrumental surf rock trio The Dynowaves will open in their return to the stage after dropping out of Rotaryfest and (ironically) Marconi Meets World last month due to a member's major health emergency. Good to see everyone back! Tickets for this 19+ show run for $12 (up from $10 in 2019) and are available at The Marconi Club's office, while there is an 8:30 PM start time for the openers. Should be a fun and unpredictable concert, especially if you know what you're in for with B.A., so visit the official Facebook event page for more details!

Next up, here's a mid-week concert preview, as local classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison is scheduled to return to The Mike Case Memorial Stage outside of The Trading Post TONIGHT! After not advertising his presumed show there last week with a Facebook event page, tonight's got one, so his weekly arrangement at the outdoor stage, there seems alive and well... weather permitting. Many of you will be well aware of the bad Environment Canada weather reports for today that promised heavy rain, thunderstorms, and even risk of an isolated tornado. We've dodged most of the early projections, but 9&10 News says that there will be thunderstorms and showers s during Tym's projected showtime tonight (7:00-9:00 PM), so if you are at all concerned about this concert's prospects, keep tabs on Tym's personal and music pages on Facebook to see if it is indeed called off.

If the rain holds off or if Tym does brave the elements, this will be an all ages event with no cover charge, and 9&10 are calling for 22-24° temperatures this evening. Fingers crossed that Tym's brand of entertaining classic and hard rock covers goes down as planned tonight, but if not, there's always next week... weather permitting! Visit the above links for more details, and here's Tym live!

Also today, here's the latest from local folk punk/extreme metal musician Chase Wigmore's Facebook page! As of late, Chase has been working on a new studio album (according to him, one that is "actually worth listening to"), and on June 30th, he posted two songs from it as singles on his Bandcamp page, including the planned first song "Supervillain" and the fifth, "You're Dead". He noted that one song took 29 hours to complete and the other took 2½ hours, hinting that you should try and guess which is which. I'll hold comment on the songs for now pending our likely review of this album, but it will please fans of his recent metal recordings moreso than his folk punk fans. Chase also updated fans as to the progress of his book "Ars Cithara" on how to play guitar, and posted this image of quite the multi-tracked song he has in the works, so definitely check him out on Facebook for his latest updates on all fronts!

Before we move on, there is one new video that he posted there last week, and it's of him doing a falsetto vocal/guitar mash-up of Judy Garland's "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" and, believe it or not, "Suicide Is Painless", the theme song of M*A*S*H (movie and TV show alike). If you're not familiar with the original movie, the song had lyrics & was sung in the film. Filmed in monochrome with Chase heavily in shadow, then inverted in post, the mash-up is sure interesting, with two songs you'd never connect beyond being songs from movies, and while his frenetic guitar work is excellent as usual, the vocal style will not be to everyone's taste. Check it out for yourself below, and stay tuned for much more from Chase soon!

We'll close today with some more recent updates from St. Ignace, Michigan metalcore quintet Heavy Lies The Crown's Facebook page! First, they posted this video on July 30th of them hyping their show opening for Nagazi in Battle Creek on Friday, featuring band members saying the names of other bands playing the show while hanging out, as intercut with shots of a beat up classic Lincoln car, all as set to their song "A Hell Bound Heart". Good promotion for the show, but you kinda have to be in southwest Michigan to appreciate it given the road trip this requires. From there, content mostly revolved around their show in Gaylord at Summerbash, posting two short-by-design "Reels" videos on Sunday, followed by calling Summerbash "the wildest show we have ever put on & been a part of". High praise for sure, especially for the closest they've ever came to a local gig! Pictures of the aftermath to Ted's pedals and their Iggy duck mask also went up.

The only video from Gaylord to be posted that wasn't a Reel (re: longer than five seconds) is this one from the end of their nightime & outdoor set, and you can tell everyone's having fun, with Brandon well at ease on the mic (and crystal clear compared to the band), while Christian T. has some funny dance moves! Not every band can get someone rocking out while standing on an amplifier, so kudos there! 81 seconds isn't a huge length of time, but compared to the Reels, it's an eternity, so check it out below!

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

Marconi Meets World & Tym Morrison Concert Previews, Plus A Couple Of Inactive Band Notes!!

(Updated at 9:16 PM) After a brief return to regular posts on the SMS yesterday, we are temporarily back in the concert preview grind today as there are a couple of mid-week hard rock shows to take note of! The backlog of recent stories will still get a bit of relief via some band link updates, but here's what you should know for your concert-going plans!

As recently usual, local acoustic hard rock musician Tym Morrison will (weather permitting) play another solo concert TOMORROW at The Mike Case Memorial Stage at The Trading Post as part of his summer season arrangement there! These Wednesday evening gigs seem to be going well for the prolific singer/guitarist, and hopefully Tym has lots more unplugged classic and hard rock favourites in store! Yes, I am well aware of Tym's Shooters shows later this month, we'll have more on those in this weekend's concert previews. Tomorrow's concert has a 7:00 PM start time, no cover charge, and no age limit, but be advised that 9&10 News is calling for light rain tomorrow during showtime. If the forecast is accurate, the thunderstorms will cease beforehand, but the rain alone may put the brakes on things. For now, visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Tym live!

Next up, local funk/hard rock band The Wyld Stallyns will perform at the huge Marconi Meets World festival outside of The Marconi Cultural Events Center at 450 Albert Street West THIS THURSDAY! Of course, Marconi Meets World will unite multiple cultures for themed days of live entertainment, cultural heritage, and family activities this weekend, so be sure to visit the official Facebook page for full details on the daily events! The Stallyns will be the only hard rock-leaning band this year, and they're certainly no stranger to outdoor festival events in 2022, so hopefully Christina, Rob, Jesse, and Derek (and Alex?) have a good & rocking show on Thursday! As you can see in the schedule, The Wyld Stallyns are the openers at 5:15 PM on the Tenaris Main Stage, where musical performers will exclusively play (the Culture Stage is for cultural & indigenous performers). Artists include headlining country musician Brendan Hodgson at 9:15 PM, ...

...folk/roots band Unorganized Township at 8:00 PM, and new indie/blues rock cover trio All The Tired Horses at 6:30 PM, with Friday and Saturday's lineups themed around First Nations and Italian cultures and having music lineups in kind (also, Thursday's top two acts will pull double duty on other nights). Note that surf rock trio The Dynowaves were originally supposed to play at 9:15 PM with Brendan later (and on Friday too), but they were knocked out for the same health-related issue that forced them out of Rotaryfest. Tickets were once on sale for Marconi Meets World, but due to increased community support & sponsorship, the festival is now FREE for all attendees all weekend long, so definitely keep everything in mind extra now that tickets are not required!. Yes, this is ALL AGES, and Thursday's events start at 2:00 PM, earlier still on later days.

Weather-wise (as this is an outdoor event, the main stage is beside the Marconi Club proper), 9&10 News is currently calling for mostly sunny weather in the 22° range but that is two days out, so keep tabs on the forecast just in case. Marconi Meets World sounds extremely ambitious, but a weekend full of family entertainment and cultural awareness should be a winner for many, especially if weather behaves itself, so don't miss out on all of the action, including The Stallyns and crew on Thursday, and visit the above links for more complete details! Here's The Wyld Stallyns live!

Finally, we have a couple of Sault Ontario bands to move to our inactive band links, both featuring local metal guitarist Brendan Christie, namely his classic metal quartet Late & Loud and his progressive metal duo Kraken Mara. Both bands have passed our one year inactivity threshold, Late & Loud since releasing their "Late & Legends" score album in April 2021, and Kraken Mara since posting their EPs on their website in the early summer of last year (they look like they're on sale but neither progresses past entering an e-mail address). After being active off & on from 2010-2014 (with a further reunion gig in 2019), Late & Loud's members launched the Dungeons & Dragons podcast Late & Legends in 2020, whose score compositions by Brendan & Jonathan Tiberi led to the aforementioned new album, and while a follow-up is certainly possible, there's been no public hints that a second Late & Loud/Legends album is in the works.

As for Kraken Mara, their original run from 2015-2018 was curtailed when Brendan left to work overseas. They came back in 2021 with ambitious plans and new videos towards two EPs named "Press Start" & "Game Over", but social media updates were never plentiful even then, despite the EPs seemingly being done. Hopefully both bands resurface when the time is right, both are too talented to not get more from eventually, but best of luck to Brendan, Jonathan, Benn, Josh, and Jake no matter what! That's all for today, but stay tuned for some long-awaited Rotaryfest fallout & videos tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Marconi Meets World) & A New Video!!

Let's kick off a new week at the SMS with another news post, and while we do have a new live concert video to round things out with, it's mostly devoted to a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT attached to a huge community festival taking place next month! Here's what you should know!

Local acoustic hard rock quartet The Wyld Stallyns will be among the stacked & diverse lineup of musical entertainment at the Marconi Meets World festival taking place outside of The Marconi Cultural Events Center at 450 Albert Street West from Thursday, July 21st to Saturday, July 23rd! Announced back in March with the first lineup details following last month, Marconi Meets World is a special three day event to help expand cultural heritage in the Jamestown area and community, in collaboration with the Missanabie Cree First Nation and the local Elettra Marconi & Guglielmo Marconi Societies, and it looks like The Marconi Club is going all out to make this a big deal! The schedule calls for Thursday the 21st to be focused around cultural celebrations, Friday the 22nd on indigenous celebrations, and Saturday the 23rd on an Italian festival, and there will be vendors, refreshments, and family friendly activites throughout.

What we don't have yet is a full schedule for the bands, but unlike the Northern Vibe Festival last year, organizers have detailed some of the daily lineups. Three out of town touring acts will make up the indigenous celebration lineup on July 22nd, including former Junkhouse/Blackie & The Rodeo Kings frontman Tom Wilson (who plays blues & folk rock solo), Juno winning Toronto folk band Digging Roots, and Sudbury/Toronto roots/folk artist Mimi O'Bonsawin. The Italian fest on July 23rd will be headlined by local pop rock cover band The Killer Hooks alongside Brampton pianist/accordionist Carmen Spada and veteran local classic rock duo Frankly Speaking. The remaining local acts are allegedly playing on the all-local Thursday lineup or on Saturday, not Friday, but dates are largely not out yet. However, Wyld Stallyns singer/guitarist Rob Speers confirmed to me in a Facebook conversation that they will be playing on Thursday the 21st, so we know that much!

Other local acts playing on Thursday or Saturday include country musician Brendan Hodgson, instrumental folk rock trio The Dynowaves, acoustic roots/reggae band Unorganized Township, online page-less folk/indie band All The Tired Horses (featuring Treble Charger's Bill Priddle with Id Iota alumni), and new local indie duo Sainte Marie. We will let you know when full daily itineraries for those days publically turn up! Due to increased local sponsorship, ticket prices have dropped for Marconi Meets World compared to when they first went on sale, and they now run for $17.18 (for one day's admission to the kids zone only), $22.52 (daily general admission for students or seniors with ID), $27.87 (daily general admission for anyone aged 19-59), and a full three day pass for $108.82 (it costs more because you'll also get a festival t-shirt, lanyard, and other goodies.)

Buy your tickets online at this link, and inquire within about availability at The Marconi Club proper or at the door. This obviously all ages festival has daily start times of 10:00 AM, musical artist timeslots to be confirmed. Sounds like a very ambitious and well planned festival, and with so much re-opening and either returning or debuting anew this summer with pandemic restrictions largely ending, hopefully Marconi Meets World is a huge hit! The Stallyns are really the only hard rock respite scheduled, but their sound and cover selection should appeal to many attendees on July 21st, no matter who else is playing that day! Visit the official Facebook event page for full and continuing festival details!

Finally for today, here's one more new video from new local acoustic hard rock duo Short & Sweet's debut set at the Parabol concert at Soo Blaster last week, as uploaded to frontman Cory Murchison's YouTube channel on Friday! This time, he and Kyle covered Seether's "Save Today", which effectively translates to this live format, buoyed by Cory's strong vocals, so fans of his local band work should take to this cover! Give it a look below!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Joe's Weekend Warrior Fest & A Dire Setback), Soundcheck Preview, And Gliss Updates!!

Let's cap off this weekend's announced hard rock concert previews and more updates, but before we dive in, just a clarification on Tym Morrison's busy slate of solo concerts. His personal Facebook page was advertising shows at The Machine Shop yesterday and in St. Joseph Island on Sunday, bookending private gigs, but I have found no public promotion of these events, so I believe they're also private. If I'm wrong, I'll let you know, but look for his return to Gliss at it's new home soon! Now, let's dive into today's post with a pair of LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, one on SHORT NOTICE!

Local alt-punk trio A Dire Setback will make their Room 21 debut with a headlining concert there TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, this show was only announced via it's official Facebook event page on Tuesday, and we didn't preview it yesterday because it would have gotten buried under our Northern Vibe Festival coverage. After a month-long break from the stage following Rotaryfest Stage 2, A.D.S. have hyped "some changes" to their set and forthcoming debut album, so how will things sound for this high energy outfit? Head to the nightclub above Low & Slow to find out TOMORROW! Two more punk/alternative bands will open the proceedings, including fellow punk favourites Stegadeth, and the Room 21 return of Handsome Sandwich, with that "no genre" band hitting the stage for the first time since June. Solid lineup overall, and it's great to see this trio of trios joining forces before the summer season wraps up at this popular rising venue!

A late 11:00 PM start time is advertised for this 19+ concert, which has no announced cover charge, nor does it have an advertised "Sangria Saturday" theme (though whether punk pairs well with sangria may be up for debate.) This should be a fun night of punk rock action for local fans TOMORROW NIGHT, so head to Albert Street West for all of the action! Check the above links for more details, and here's A Dire Setback live!



Next up, we have one more new show that has lots of advance notice, as four local bands will join forces at The Marconi Club (also on Albert Street West) on Saturday, September 8th for Joe's Weekend Warrior Fest! Sponsored by Joe's Sports & Surplus and Sault Ontario radio station Country 104.3, this special event will commemorate the release of Northern Superior Brewing Company's new Weekend Warrior Wheat Ale, with a craft beer social, taste testing, food, and musical entertainment planned at the downtown event hall. A local concert at a beer launch is new for us, but it'll be interesting to hear how this event does for beer lovers and music fans alike! Despite the Q104 sponsorship, only one country band is on the bill in two weeks' time, with the advertised lineup featuring local indie/punk quintet Northwest, online page-less punk favourites The Cover-Up, blues/country standouts The Barn Board Trio, and indie rock artist Jesse Merineau with his solo band.

A poster floating around on personal Facebook accounts also lists Country 104.3 DJ Jeff McNiece as playing a solo set, but he's not publically advertised from what I've seen. Admission for this presumably 19+ event is $25, but remember that this includes the beer tasting and meal, while a 7:00 PM start time is advertised. The Weekend Warrior Fest sounds like a fun event to help launch it's namesake ale in style, and with some high profile punk bands providing some attitude within, so keep this concert in mind for next month! Visit Country 104.3's website for continuing coverage and updates!

We'll move back to this weekend's concert previews now, as local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck are returning to The Water Tower Pub for one night only TOMORROW! Fresh off of their set at last week's Ride For ARCH fundraiser and the preceding week's Wawa road trip, this will be their first trip to the Great Northern Road nightclub in about two months. Soundcheck's tried and tested brand of covers should get another solid reception tomorrow night, so don't miss out then! While we're on the subject, we should note that former Turner Up drummer Scott McLurg does appear to have replaced Steven Flint on drums with Soundcheck, which was quietly confirmed in recent months via personal Facebook postings, but was never publically stated online by the band. A reason for Steven's departure hasn't been announced, but things seem amicable, given that he filled in on bass with Soundcheck at The Esquire Club earlier this month. Hopefully we hear more from Steven musically in the future, but Scott's a solid fit!

As usual for Soundcheck's Water Tower Pub concerts, expect a 9:00 PM start time tomorrow, and a 19+ age limit, while there remains no announced cover charge. Classic and hard rock fans would be well served to head to The Water Tower Pub for all of the action tomorrow night, so visit the above links for more details, and here's Soundcheck live!



Finally, I wanted to touch on the recent closure of Gliss Steak & Seafood at The Quality Inn on Bay Street, as the site of Tym Morrison's weekly concert arrangement ended it's run at that location last month, with plans to move elsewhere announced then as well. While rumoured previously, Gliss management confirmed at the end of July that they were indeed moving the restaurant to the former Cesira's Italian Cuisine building this fall, ending a 2 year dormant period at the 133 Spring Street location. Renovations are ongoing at the new locale, and the target appears to see Gliss re-open next month, with Tym Morrison's weekly run there expected to resume at that same time. Meanwhile, the new restaurant taking Gliss' place at The Quality Inn is Johnny's Chophouse & Bar, which is a new upscale barbecue restaurant, though they do happen to still have steak and seafood on offer. You can check out it's menu here if you're so inclined, though I don't believe they've opened yet either.

I don't know if Johnny's opening is due to or the cause of Gliss leaving The Quality Inn, nor do I know if Johnny's will feature live musicians in any capacity, but I hope these moves are the best for the hotel's and Gliss' management, and we wish Johnny's the best on their upcoming launch! And no, the Derek Turner who co-owns Gliss is not the Derek Turner of Garden of Bedlam fame. Stay tuned for more on Gliss' relaunch and the resumption of Tym Morrison's weekly gigs there, and for more news and updates on the SMS next week! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Redundant & Mourning Wood), And The First Of This Weekend's Concert Previews!!

It's been 5 days since our last non-feature post at the SMS, surprisingly enough, so let's end that relatively dry spell now with the first half of the weekend's hard rock concert previews! We will touch on the Hells Bells, Sault Michigan-area, and potential late notice announcements either tonight or tomorrow, so stay tuned then, but for now, here's previews for an ongoing regular weekly engagement, and SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for TONIGHT and TOMORROW!

A number of familiar faces will reportedly take the stage TONIGHT at a fundraiser concert at The Marconi Hall! Apologies for the short notice, public confirmation of the band lineup wasn't made until the past few days, so we held it for our previews.  The event is to help the Soo's own Jason Michaud with expenses related to his cancer battle and related travel, which is a nice gesture, and hopefully there's a great turnout TONIGHT to help Jason and his family out! Oddly, the band lineup has never been announced on the official Facebook event page, but a thread on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group by Jason's friend James White (The Elements, etc.) indicates who's playing. Given later comments relating to timeslot shifts, the lineup appears to be headlined by James' punk trio Redundant (in their first announced show since the summer) at 12:00 AM, classic metal trio Project 421 at 11:00 PM, and DJ Seith spinning turntable mies at 9:00 PM.

The early bands will include alternative hard rock trio Mike Haggith & The Din (in new guitarist Tammy Hill's live debut) at 8:00 PM, and the debuting Eclypse (who were to play at the postponed Speak Easy Battle this month, and are still awaiting public information on their identity & sound) opening at 7:00 PM. Solid lineup, and it's nice to see the bands coming together to help Jason out! Tickets are $25 for this ALL AGES fundraiser, which will include supper and a door prize ticket, and there will be a cash bar for 19+ attendees. Doors open at 5:00 PM with supper and bands apparently beginning at 7:00 PM, and tickets can be obtained by the phone numbers on the Facebook event page linked above, which also contain e-mails to send donations to the Michaud family if you can't attend, and I assume paying at the door would be accepted. Check the above links for more details! I don't know Jason, but fighting cancer at such a young age is just unfortunate, and hopefully he can beat this! It sounds like he has a good support team too!

And for the bands, you have an increasingly rare set by Redundant, Project 421's first show in about 2 months, the debut of The Din's new lineup, and Eclypse's live debut (anyone know anything on them?), so if the Musicians Wanted thread is still accurate, there should be some good and exciting entertainment for hard rock and punk fans TONIGHT at 450 Albert Street West, and for a great cause! Check the above links for more details, and here's lots of Redundant live footage!



Next up, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Mourning Wood will return to the stage TOMORROW NIGHT for a one-nighter at Reggie's West! Again, apologies for the short notice, we only heard about the show yesterday via drummer Glen Thomas' personal Facebook page. After a couple of weeks off from publically announced concerts (remember, the band doesn't publically promote most shows on Facebook), the guys are back at the former Roosevelt Hotel TOMORROW for the first time in over a month, so if you've missed Mourning Wood lately, here's your chance! Note that they are not playing there on Saturday, as Glen's personal posting noted that Mourning Wood are playing a private wedding gig that night at a different venue, so keep that in mind. There is no announced cover charge TOMORROW, you must be 19 or older to attend at Reggie's West, and everything should start at around 10:00 PM. For more details, visit the above links, and here they are at The Rednecks Saloon last month!



Finally for this preview post, we'll look at veteran local hard rock solo singer/guitarist Tym Morrison's acoustic shows this weekend, including his expected matinee returns to Gliss Steak & Seafood TONIGHT, TOMORROW, and SATURDAY, plus a one-nighter at The Harp Bar and Grill TOMORROW NIGHT! As his lengthy engagements at both venues march on (he's pushing two years at The Harp), fans of his unplugged hard rock covers should be right at home as usual for his four shows this weekend, so if you want to check out his sets at supper-time downtown, you're covered for the next three evenings, and his more typical nighttime gig at the former Madison's Pub should get a good turnout tomorrow as well! Note that he's not playing at The Harp on Saturday night due to their expected broadcast of the UFC 193 pay per view, but he should be playing there next Saturday.

All four of this weekend's gigs have no announced cover charges, the Gliss shows are at 6:00 PM with no announced age limits, and the Harp show has a 19+ age limit and a 10:00 PM start time. Click here & here for more details, and here's Tym live a few years back!



That's all for now, but stay tuned for more concert previews on this busy weekend next! Thanks everyone!