LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Bone Yard 225), A Surprise Band Breakup, And More Recent Updates!!

Before we begin this post, we have a concert cancellation to take note of, as Barrie-based AC/DC tribute band Hells Bells are no longer headlining at the Sault Community Theatre Centre on April 10th "due to unforeseen circumstances", as per the S.C.T.C.'s Facebook page on March 4th. No word on if low ticket sales are those circumstances, but the White Pines theater was a big jump from their 2010s nightclub gigs here. Hopefully Hells Bells try again here down the road! Refunds for tickets already bought are available at point of purchase. Now, here's some updates on a local musician's newest studio material, fallout from a big recent show, a surprise band breakup, and leading off, a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!

Local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 will go "uncorked" for a special St. Patrick's Day concert TOMORROW NIGHT at... Smitty's?! Apologies for the short notice, this concert was first announced on the band's Facebook page on Friday, March 6th, but I didn't hear about it until last week. Yes, the new chain restaurant in the former Aurora's/Thali building at 384 McNabb Street will be hosting a live band, which is surprising in & of itself, but this won't be the first concert held there, as Smokehouse frontman Michael Yurich was booked there last month. While that show was electric, Bone Yard's debut there TOMORROW will not be, a'la their Water Tower Pub, Gateway Casino, and Beck's matinee gigs. With St. Patrick's Day being on a Tuesday this year, fewer bars are hosting live bands on the actual day, so if you want to wear your best green attire and drink some green beer with some ("uncorked") hard rock, come to Smitty's TOMORROW! The weather will be better!

Beyond your local 225's presence and the sale of adult beverages (including green beer), there will reportedly be some level of giveaways for the occasion. TOMORROW'S central concert takes place at an early 6:00-10:00 PM timeslot, there's no cover, and as that this is Smitty's Family Restaurant, I don't believe there is an age limit, but use common sense given the seasonality. Visit the above links for more on TOMORROW'S luck of the Irish, and for a preview, here's Greg, Alex, and Warren live!

Next up, here's some very surprising news that broke yesterday, as local classic/hard rock cover quartet Double Down have announced that they are disbanding, as per their Facebook page. A reason for the decision was not announced, other than to say that "it was definitely not easy" and that "we cannot carry on as (Double Down) without any one of us", though I will note that they did survive two lineup replacements and Dan's 6 month absence already. They did apologize to local venues for having to cancel scheduled bookings, including March 28th at The Water Tower Pub, which is the only one that had been publically announced at press time. A staple of the bar cover circuit since their live debut in April 2023, Double Down memorably played at Rotaryfest Stage 1 in 2023 & 2024 (closing the latter year), and they were known for their guest-friendly and Cancon-laden live sets.

Double Down had just played shows on Friday and Saturday at Jay's Piston Broke Pub alongside guest singer Jack Alisat, which makes things even more surprising (I even saw personal Facebook posts implying that she could be joining the band), but I hope things are amicable regardless of what exactly was discussed this weekend. They were a talented band regardless of lineup, and a welcome sight over the past three years, and hopefully we hear more from Joel, Beej, Dan, Ric, Adam, and Brad in the future!

Also today, have you been wondering where videos from last month's Trews concert at The Machine Shop have been? Honestly, I haven't found any public videos from the concert yet, but some media surrounding it has surfaced! Longtime SooToday contributor Donna Hopper returned to cover the show for this article, which features 20 colour photos from February 25th, including 13 of the headlining Nova Scotia hard rock band and 7 of openers Eddy & The Dirty Boys. Donna noted that The Trews' tour bus broke down in Dryden between dates, and that they endured highway closures due to inclement weather (readers of this post on March 16th may relate to that!) before finally making it to the Soo on schedule, and she also revealed a selection of the songs played by The Trews three weeks ago. Solid work with some predictably strong pictures, so give everything a look at this link!

While I have yet to find public videos from the show itself, Trews frontman Colin MacDonald was interviewed earlier that day from the Soo for the news piece below that aired on CTV News Northern Ontario! Conducted by anchor/former Sault Ste. Marie city councillor Tony Ryma, the interview sees Colin talking about how the tour is going, the tour bus & weather issues, their long work together, and their Ontario connections (two band members are actually from Northern Ontario originally). Effective promotion with a regional bent from the former MCTV, and longer than I assumed, so if you missed the piece on channel 2/11, give it a watch below!

Let's close today with the latest from local hard rock solo musician Mike McCleary, so how did 2026 start for him? On February 28th, he revealed on his Facebook page that the first single for his next solo album has been recorded and was in the mixing process at that time. Progress was steady, and he hoped to give details "in the near future". The album proper will have 8 songs touching on a variety of topics, and he is still working with Swedish indie label Rexius Records on the final product. We've heard nothing new since, but Mike did post a new teaser video from the recording sessions on Facebook in December, which features 29 seconds of guitar soloing with orchestral dynamics, as filmed from tracking computer monitors. It is obviously way too soon to comment, but if you liked Mike's heavier sounds, you should take to this sample! Give the new video a watch below, and stay tuned for more Mike when it rolls in!

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

Local Metal/Hard Rock Video Showcase!!

After escaping another busy weekend concert preview run, we have a new news post for your Saturday morning, and it mostly covers new videos relating to local artists and concerts, with related information therein. With all of that laid out, here's what you should know!

I hope to cover last night's Cory Marks concert livestream on the SMS soon (I have to, given that they have a 30 day lifespan now!), but to promote the event, the North Bay country/hard rock musician actually got interviewed on CTV News Northern Ontario on Tuesday! If you missed that night's newscast on cable/satellite (or channel 2 OTA), CTV News' YouTube channel uploaded the segment, which was anchored by Tony Ryma, who was a former Sault Ste. Marie city councillor before moving to Sudbury to work on the former MCTV News there. The interview is more about Hope Air, the remote health care access charity that put on the local concert last night at the Bushplane Museum (on Hope Air Day, of course). Only the last question was directly about the concert, which Cory (who recorded the interview in Sturgeon Falls) revealed there was "a pop up acoustic set". Maybe that helps explain why this didn't get a lot of promotion as a concert?

While Hope Air Day is understandably prioritized over Cory's music (though I guess he played a Hope Air Day concert in Timmins last year too), promotion for both on local network television would have been huge, and hopefully eyeballs watching CTV News Northern Ontario on Tuesday made the point to come downtown for the free concert! Check out the full interview segment below, and stay tuned for more public content from Cory's acoustic show last night, livestream or otherwise!

Next up, remember how local/Barrie alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith was tapped to sing "O Canada" at a couple of Barrie Baycats baseball games last summer, only for rain delays to get in the road? As you may recall, Mike did successfully sing the national anthem on June 13th, but that game was rained out after a few pitches, before Mike eventually did the honours at a game that went ahead in full on August 1st, and I surprisingly never talked about that on here. You can watch that particular Intercounty Baseball League game (which saw Barrie beat the Welland Jackfish 5-4) at this link, and Mike is introduced 6:05 into the livestream. It was a fine rendition, Mike put his voice to quality use on a big stage (well, diamond), but there were some audio dropouts after he finished, so there's an awkward silence on the video that likely wasn't there at Athletic Kulture Stadium. Kudos to the Baycats for bringing Mike back after Mother Nature got in the way!

Incidentally, the Baycats won the IBL championship last fall, so belated congratulations from afar on their playoff success! They also beat Welland in the finals, and the two teams also faced off on Thursday for another game where Mike was the anthem singer! Dressed even fancier this time, Mike's performance is just as good as his two stints last season, but in this game (full livestream here), the audio doesn't drop out after he's done singing, so we can hear the P.A. announcer's copy about Mike at the end. While the Jackfish got their revenge by beating Barrie 4-3, hopefully a good time was had by all in attendance! Mike uploaded just the anthem from Thursday's game to his Facebook page, so give it a watch below!

Also today, here's our first public videos of local hard rock quartet Sylo's current lineup! The band debuted new second guitarist Owen Middleton when they opened for Derev at Soo Blaster on May 23rd (itself their first show since Eli left for university last fall), and they posted two brief videos from their set to their Instagram page in the following days. Unfortunately, both are vertical (not even square), but you have to be used to Instagram video limitations on that platform. The band has promised that "full length footage (is) coming up soon", implying that longer videos are coming to a platform that will host them, but I haven't seen it anywhere obvious yet. One of the videos focuses on Owen playing during their cover of Black Sabbath's "War Pigs" with drummer Jakob Fice-Lesage "switching up in the middle of the set", as noted via on-screen text. I don't think that the text was needed, but viral content creation, I know. 

The purpose is to make light of Jakob's change in fills, and Owen got a good laugh, but hopefully we see fuller video of this cover soon! Embedded below is Sylo playing their original song "War Times", and while I wish this was the full song and not shot vertically (you see very little of Owen and Jakob here), it's a strong performance of Sylo's earliest and best known original song! Good stuff, but hopefully we do see the long-form videos that Sylo teased. Give these two Instagram clips a watch above & below!

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Finally for today, newer local industrial metal solo project The Realignment Project posted four more lyric videos from their sophomore EP "The Frustration Sessions" onto their YouTube channel last month! One is for "Static" (which Matt had teased in a Facebook "Reel" in April), but "Minor Outburst", "Fireside", and "Stupid" also got the lyric video treatment. There is not (currently?) a lyric video for the closing song "Medicated (A Spade Is A Spade)", but remember that two songs from their debut EP "Afterthought" didn't get lyric videos either. I'll hold comment on the songs until our review of "The Frustration Sessions" in August, but give these new industrial rock songs a listen (with lyrics) above & below!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Rhythm & Brews), A New Local Band, And New Videos!!

As we continue to catch up on news and notes from last month, today's post includes new video discoveries from both sides of the border, LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for later this month, and leading off, a new addition to our Sault Ontario band links, so here's what you should know!

We have a new local metal band to add to our links, namely Hollow Sky! This is the new project from former Uncanny Valley bassist Adam Fahrer, who also played in country musician Brendan Hodgson's backing band. Primarily credited now on guitar, Adam is joined by singer Liam Tallon, who you may recognize from competing in the Soo Youth Songwriting Contest in 2017 and later via recording hard rock material at Tidal Records in 2018, project unclear, but you can sample what he was doing at this link. Hollow Sky publically launched via their Facebook page on December 2nd, and haven't posted there since December 4th, but they did release their first studio original that day, named "The Spiral". They said that the song can be streamed on "all platforms", those being Spotify, Apple Music, and Deezer (all handily linked via DistroKid), plus YouTube, Amazon Music, and Boomplay.

At least far as this song goes, Hollow Sky are very promising with a modern metalcore sound including strong clean vocals and some djent influence in the guitar riffs, and the production quality is pretty good too! Again, we haven't heard anything from their camp in over a month, but give Hollow Sky's first song a listen below, and look for more from them this year!

Next up, here's some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for later this month, as Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Rhythm & Brews will return to The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino on Friday, January 27th & Saturday, January 28th! These come courtesy of Kewadin's entertainment page, and mark the only hard rock-leaning shows at the St. Ignace Kewadin this month. These shows will be Rhythm & Brews' first in three months, last seen rocking the Soo Kewadin branch over the Halloween weekend, though given their infrequent usage of their Facebook page, something definitely could have been missed since then. Hopefully Brandon, the Chris', and Ron deliver another entertaining weekend of fan favourite rock covers for fans in a few weeks! Expect 9:00 PM start times, 21+ age limits, and no cover charges. Visit the above links for more details!

Let's make our way back north now, starting with a stop in Sault Michigan for a much belated video from the Pop Evil concert at The Dreammakers Theatre at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino in March of last year! This was actually uploaded to the Muskegon hard rock band's Facebook page right after the show took place, as filmed by videographer Matt Akana from what appears to be the end of their set. The video was uniquely shot on stage with the camera generally pointing towards the audience, with Matt weaving his way through the band while frontman Leigh Kakaty thanks the crowd (admittedly, what he says is hard to hear). Sadly, this was shot vertically, and a film grain was added to it in post-production that doesn't seem entirely necessary, but this is a neat look at a side of major local concerts that you don't always see, and the crowd was definitely receptive, so give this Pop Evil video from their Sault Ste. Marie date last year a watch below!

We'll end things back in Sault Ontario for a video promoting last year's tenth annual Toystock! In advance of the annual Christmas Cheer charity concert at The Grand Gardens on November 26th, Toystock got some deserved hype from CTV News Northern Ontario during their evening newscast, with anchor and former Sault Ste. Marie city councillor Tony Ryma interviewing promoter/Bone Yard frontman Greg Simpson on air! If you missed this on the former MCTV at the time, never fear, as Greg posted the 2+ minute segment to Toystock's Facebook page, and it is embedded below. In the interview, Tony asks Greg about how Toystock came together, the format for this year, how much help families do need in the Soo at this time of year, and about the family friendly aspects of the event. During the interview, we even see some video footage from a prior installment, rather Toystock VIII in 2019, which CTV was there for!

At the time, Jairus Patterson had led this news piece to cover parts of the event, but we only briefly saw a bit of Kaitlyn Parr's set in it. Four years later, the new interview features her set again, but now joined by Brendan Hodgson, Soundcheck, their frontman Cameron Oliver, and the Case's Music instructors' band. That constitutes five of the first six acts in 2019, with only The Jeff & Jeff Show not included in the 2023 interview footage, so kudos for the local CTV crew for staying as long as they did! It'd be nice to see the raw footage, but good on CTV for digging these up to back up some very nice promotion for this year's Toystock, and check it out below!

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

Ontario COVID-19 Restriction Update, New Videos, And More Assorted News & Notes!!

We're back with a new news post on this chilly Sunday afternoon, and it includes a new live concert video, some assorted updates, and more local hard rock musician exposure in a popular YouTube series! Before we get to topics about music, here's what you should know about a major news story and what it means for live music in Ontario in the short term.

We might as well start today with the province of Ontario's re-opening plans following the roll-back of restrictions on January 5th due to the highly contagious omicron wave of COVID-19, which put concerts to a screeching halt once again. In a news conference on Thursday, Premier Doug Ford revealed that the current modified Stage 2 restrictions will remain in place until this coming Friday. Starting then, the re-imposed restrictions will be incrementally scaled back at three week intervals, but specifically regarding concerts, venues & nightclubs can re-open with 50% capacity as of Friday, and will be lifted outright on February 21st (Family Day). All remaining capacity and gathering limits will be removed on March 14th, bringing us back to where we were to end 2021, though these are all subject to change if COVID case counts warrant a reversal. Vaccine passports and indoor masking requirements remain mandatory until further notice.

Read more about the provincial re-opening plans at this link or via your favourite provincial news outlet. As we learned following the end of the three full lockdowns in June 2020, February 2021, and June 2021, there are some musicians and venues who will eagerly book shows with capacity limits, so we should start to see limited concert announcements perhaps in time for Saturday the 29th, but we'll keep you guys posted no matter what. Fingers crossed that case counts and vaccination rates allow for no more COVID restrictions in Ontario, and stay safe out there!

Next up, here's a new live video of Sault Michigan hard/blues rock quartet Project 906 live at The Strongs Tavern in November, as uploaded to their Facebook page at the time! Notable as their first publically posted video featuring new drummer Odin Osogwin, the guys are playing their new original "Girls That Bleed" here. Between the side-stage camera angle, overly bright stage lighting, muffled vocals, and placement of the band members (you can barely see Dustin), this isn't an optimal look at the band, but the song does have a harder edge and good melody, so fans will definitely wanna check out the new Project 906 video below, and don't miss them in Hulbert next month!

Also today, here's some more recent appearances on the YouTube series You Rock! with Thomas Christ, which Sault Ontario/Thompson, Manitoba alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith got good mileage & exposure out of in episodes #11-#15, but he was not in episode #16 from December 22nd. However, former No Arrow frontman Dann Pichette was (no doubt encouraged by his old bandmate Brad "Gortium85" Griffith), submitting his 2012 solo track "Swass" for a live review! You can check it out at the 2:26:48 mark (this episode is over 4 hours long). Beforehand, Thomas reads remarks from Dann about the inspiration of "Swass", and yeah, it's quite a description! Thomas compared the song to something he'd record under the influence, but he called it a fun track and said it was interesting, and you can tell that it intrigued him! Embedded below is episode #17 from December 29th.

Here, Dann submitted "Trial & Error" from No Arrow's unreleased album "Souls For Sale" (1:46:14), while the 3 hour episode ends with Mike Haggith's live cover of Prince & The Revolution's "Purple Rain" from his virtual CD release party in 2020. Thomas liked the lo-fi four track recording quality and punk energy of "Trial & Error", calling it "kick ass", while the "Purple Rain" cover was also praised for it's production values and professionalism. I have a feeling more local talent will get looked at by Thomas in 2022 episodes, but give his last two from 2021 a watch above & below!

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

 

• I have moved local hard rock band The Bridge Heads to our inactive band links, having not made a public post since new band photos appeared on their Facebook page in September 2020. Effectively the successors to Eclipse, this band launched in January of that year, and played just two concerts before the pandemic began. They did plan to press on as a trio after guitarist Daniel Horton moved out of town, but nothing really came of that. It's a shame The Bridge Heads didn't do more, but best of luck to Curtis, Daniel, and Caleb in their next moves, and R.I.P. Chris!
• Former Winkstinger guitarist Jason Ladouceur has moved back to the Soo and is looking for "someone to jam with" towards forming a heavy metal/rock band, specifically mentioning a drummer. It'd be great to see Jason back playing live again in the Soo, so message him at this link or via his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from last night for more details!
• Vanity guitarist Mikhal Muto posted on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group yesterday himself, looking for a "serious bassist to join a punk/alternative rock band" that plays originals and covers. The description heavily implies that he's looking for a new bassist for Vanity, and while they have not publically confirmed if Nick McClelland left the group, note that Vanity's Facebook page has not been updated in almost two months. We'll keep you guys posted when more comes out on Vanity, but message Mikhal at this link for more details on the bassist search!
  

 

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

New COVID-19 Pandemic Restrictions In Ontario, A Local Band's Return, And Much More!!

Here's our first proper news post of 2022, where we're diving into big updates on a local band's surprise reemergence, a bunch of recent shorter stories, and leading off, big details on an unwelcome return to days of pandemic's past for local music fans in Ontario. Here's what you should know!

Concerts in the province of Ontario as we know them are on hold again, as the provincial government has rolled back many of the loosened restrictions to fight the dramatically increasing number of COVID-19 cases in recent weeks due to the omicron variant, starting tomorrow. While we're not being fully locked down again (yet?), Ontario is returning to a modified version of the "Stage 2" of re-opening following the end of lockdown #3 in June 2020, which means that indoor gatherings are being restricted to five or fewer people again and indoor dining is also cancelled. Measures are in effect until at least January 26th, and for more on the new/restored restrictions, visit this SooToday article. Michigan has not followed suit with similar announcements, we'll keep you posted if they do. No previously announced local hard rock concerts were cancelled as a direct result of the restrictions, but be advised that the rescheduled Glambition fundraiser is only four days after the current end date.

This is all disappointing to hear, especially given how many Ontarians got vaccinated last year (I got the booster last month myself), but the omicron variant is getting to overwhelming numbers and is clearly very contagious even if you have had three shots. I don't want things rolled back, and I certainly don't want a fourth lockdown, but I also don't want people to get sick or worse. It is what it is, and I just hope that the new provincial measures do lead to a decline in COVID-19 case rates so that things can somewhat get back to normal sooner rather than later.

However, one immediate casualty is the apparently permanent closure of Pim Street hotel, restaurant, and concert venue The Canuck (née The Canadian Motor Hotel), as per their Facebook page yesterday. This news comes just seven months after Jim Brogno bought The Canadian from the Marrelli family and announced big plans for upgrades to the building, While this may seem like a rash decision for what we hope will be just three weeks of capacity limits and no indoor dining, I have no way of knowing how their books look, and maybe staff assumes things will be limited past the 26th. In any event, The Canuck did not resume hosting hard rock concerts last year, with the downstairs Canadian Nightclub not being used as a concert venue, and bands of other genres only played upstairs at The Upper Deck Bar & Grill. I'm not getting into any of the divisive reports about un-vaccinated gatherings there on the SMS.

I hope The Canuck/Canadian isn't closed forever, and that at least the Brognos sell to new owners, as it's a long established and well liked central spot for a meal, a drink, a room, and/or live music, and The Canadian Nightclub was the locale of many big concerts over the years, including my first 19+ show in 2008. Hopefully this isn't the absolute end, but best of luck to the staff as they make their next moves, and we'll keep you guys posted as more comes out on the Ontario restrictions!

Next up, let's move to some more positive topics, starting with the apparent rebirth of local metal/punk band Jack Spades, albeit in a new home! After 15 months of public silence, the band posted this picture on their Facebook page of a modified version of the classic Skates logo, coinciding with a name change to Spades GT. The band confirmed in November that they've relaunched out of frontman J.D. Pearce's current Barrie homebase (he moved out of town for work reasons in 2020) so does GT mean "Greater Toronto"? Inevitably, lineup alterations have followed, with the band enlisting Adaptive Reaction bassist Steve Lorenz and former Caym drummer Tyler Reiner (the son of Anvil's Robb Reiner) to replace Rob Speers & Johnny Belanger, both of whom are still in the Soo. As best as I can tell, guitarist Daniel Horton is still/back in the band, having moved to Barrie himself already.

Whether the band is moving forward as a four piece or keeping/replacing Tiffany isn't clear, but note that while she also moved out of town, it wasn't to Southern Ontario. In the November Facebook post, Spades GT revealed that there are "new tracks incoming", and their live debut under that name would be next month at Queens Hometown Pub in Barrie, but given the omicron variant, new restrictions, and uncertainty therein, I'd say that date is hopeful at best right now. Still, it's great to see (Jack) Spades continue on down south, and hopefully we hear lots of good stuff from them to come, with perhaps a return show up here when the time is right?

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:

 

• Tribute shirts for late local rock drummer Chris Thompson are in the works by his Frightlight bandmates J.D. Pearce & Kevin Powe, and pre-orders for them took place last month! Available as t-shirts for $20 or pull-over hoodies for $45, the artwork features a black & white image of Chris in his Frightlight outfit, as well as the names of his major local bands (the image shared on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group on December 10th was preliminary & does not have the final band listing). Proceeds from the sales go to the Thompson family, and e-transfer the money to johnnypints@gmail.com with name and size if you want one!
• The next Mike Haggith live-streamed concert will take place on Tuesday, January 25th at 7:30 PM on his Facebook page, and for a second straight episode, he'll be interviewing a local musician he hasn't played in a band with, namely Bad Chug guitarist and folk solo musician Jacob Quarrell! Mike has produced material of Jacob's, and he was tapped to be in Mike's solo band for his cancelled "If Ever Comes The Day" release concert in 2020, so there is definitely a mutual respect there. Make sure to tune in to the live-stream on Facebook in three weeks' time, especially as Mike's covering two share contest winner picks!
• SooToday contributor and veteran local musician Chris Belsito covered the vinyl re-release of defunct local punk band Room 206's album "2 Innies & 1 Outie" for this article last week! Though it incorrectly gives 1993 as the original tape's release year, the article does give a little more background info into Room 206's active run, and includes some photos, including one of Soolebrity Records head & bonus song performer Mikey Hawdon holding two copies at The Rad Zone. Give everything a look if you want above!
  

 

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Soundcheck), Ontario's Third COVID-19 Lockdown, And More!!

A new month is upon us, and it's already starting out to be newsworthy in a somewhat melancholy way, so that's leading things off, but there will be a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT and a new video to check out later on. Now, here's what you should know in the news!

 

As many of you will probably be aware by now, Ontario Premier Doug Ford will put the province into another mass lockdown phase starting Saturday at midnight due to rapidly rising COVID-19 cases. This is slated to run through the end of the month, and an extension into May or possible tightened restrictions would be on the table if case counts don't visibly improve. Click here or visit your preferred local/provincial news outlets for more details on these new measures. This won't be a complete lockdown on the level of the ones we went through from March-June of last year and in December-February, as schools are not slated to close, and non-essential retailers can remain open with a 25% capacity limit. However, this will wipe out indoor dining & nightclub service once again, consequently also calling off what little concerts in the Soo that were booked at traditional venues from April 3rd-30th.

The only scheduled hard rock concert in Sault Ontario that was publically announced in that timeframe was a planned matinee this Sunday at Reggie's Place from Tym Morrison, a show that would have been previewed on short notice in this post had the Premier not pulled the emergency brake. The Facebook event page for that concert has not been updated to reflect it's cancellation, but regardless, yesterday's announcement will have confirmed it's status. Of course, a third lockdown is not ideal for the local music scene, especially given that the Algoma District is still not doing as badly as Southern Ontario for cases, though numbers have slowly been adding up in this region (229 confirmed cases and 4 deaths as of this writing, source here.) Yes, vaccines are starting to roll out, but clearly not fast enough to stem the tide of this third wave, so hopefully these new measures will help.

Unless you were lucky enough to get a vaccine already, please take every recommended measure to keep yourself and others safe. Wear a face mask, be vigilant, wash your hands, practice social distancing, and stay home where possible. Hopefully this lockdown isn't lengthened or tightened, so that we can get back to somewhat more normal proceedings, especially with more vaccines eventually making their way here. We will get through this!

 

With that said, we do have a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT before the lockdown goes into effect, as local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will rock Reggie's West for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the band only announced this gig via their Facebook event page yesterday (it's unclear whether this is a last minute booking due to the lockdown or if this was already planned, just not publically promoted before now.) This will be Soundcheck's first concert since their run of three in four days at the same venue during St. Patrick's Day week, and their last until May(?), so if you want to see Terry, Cameron, Paul, and Glen's brand of classic and hard rock covers on Good Friday, be at The Reggievelt TOMORROW! A 7:30 PM start time is in effect for this 19+ show with no age limit. See above for more details, and here's Soundcheck live!

Finally for today, remember how local folk punk/extreme metal musician Chase Wigmore teased on his Facebook page last month that he is "almost finished with something that is on an entirely different level of magnitude than my normal work"? Well, the fruits of that labour were uploaded to his YouTube channel yesterday, namely a half hour piano composition named "The Symphonic Organism"! If considered an "album", there are no track listings given. Chase is a more accomplished guitarist, but his piano playing is lively and proficient, and it's great to see him expand his horizons like this! Give "The Symphonic Organism" a listen below!

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

COVID-19 Updates & Concert Cancellations, Plus A New Christmas Carol Cover!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and Boxing Day! We're back as we begin the dash towards the end of 2020, and given that most of this post is devoted to obvious recent news that goes beyond music,  I am projecting that we will have at least one more news post after this, likely on Tuesday, with our year-end retrospective post now pencilled in for New Year's Eve. With that said, here's what you should know regarding a certain major news story in Ontario, with a belated Christmas bonus at the end!

As is likely common knowledge by now for most readers, the province of Ontario entered a new lockdown yesterday due to rapidly increasing COVID-19 infection rates. The lockdown is projected to last for two weeks in Sault Ste. Marie and the rest of Northern Ontario, running through January 8th, while Southern Ontario will be under this order for four weeks, though these are subject to change pending how case totals look over the lockdown timeframe. Click here or visit your preferred local/provincial news sources for details, but the resulting closures and capacity restrictions will be very familiar from the lockdown we endured in Ontario from March-June. This news will not be welcomed by some, especially given that Sault Ste. Marie and the Algoma District are in code green, and have done a much better job at keeping case counts low than much of the province.

As of this writing, there have been 65 coronavirus cases reported here, and all but 3 are now resolved (source here), but of course, we want to keep the numbers low in the area and discourage travel to & from Southern Ontario for the time being. I know this can be frustrating, but at least this is only 2 weeks (we hope), and luckily, this didn't go into effect until after Christmas. Stay home, stay safe, stay vigilant, wear a mask, and use common sense! With all of that said, this news does affect what little of a concert calendar we had in the Soo. Specifically, this will cancel the Fort Creek-headlined New Year's Eve concert at Reggie's Place next week, though the guys are taking this in stride, and have teased on Facebook that they'll be spending the lockdown recording. We'll keep you posted on that! Also, Tym Morrison crammed in one more late notice gig at the same venue this past Wednesday before the holiday break & lockdown went into effect.

I profusely apologize for not covering that concert on the site proper, as it was announced on too late of notice (and with too few stories for us to fill out a post with) to plug it on the site, but it was covered on our Facebook page, and hopefully Tym put on a great show for downtown Reggie's patrons on Wednesday! Lastly, this isn't related to the Ontario lockdowns, but I have removed the previously announced Scarkazm concert at The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino on New Year's Eve from our concert calendar. That date was announced well before COVID was an immediate concern, and while Scarkazm have been playing limited live dates in recent months, the casino has yet to resume booking regular live acts at their on-site lounges. As such, there are no concerts whatsoever listed in our Sault Michigan concert calendar at present, but when we hear of a publically attendable hard rock/metal event there, we'll let you know!

We'll close today with a new video from local hard rock band Tarnished, specifically their cover of Chuck Berry's "Run Rudolph Run"! This was posted onto their Facebook page on Christmas Eve, and it is their "2020 holiday special", with everyone's parts filmed remotely (I can't confirm if this is due to convenience or social distancing) and combined afterwards in post production, with mixing & mastering by Ryan Nicklas. Despite everyone being apart for filming, drummer Gary Croad was still unable to appear, so the band gave a "shout out to Santa for letting us "borrow" one of his elves to fill in" for Gary in this video. The elf bears a striking resemblance to frontman Alex Traynor, does he not? This cover won't be new to anyone who saw Alex & Nathan cover it on Eagle 95.1 earlier this month, but of course, this is electric, has a full-ish band, and has lots of Christmasy accoutrements.

I will be honest, I'm not a fan of "Run Rudolph Run" (primarily for the somewhat illogical lyrics), but Tarnished turn in a fun and proficient version of this rock & roll carol, and it's well mixed and edited, so if you want the belated Christmas spirit, this may just provide it! Give it a watch below!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for our last news post of 2020 on Tuesday, if all goes according to plan! Thanks everyone!

Mikey Hawdon's Latest Quarantunes, Blood Shed Productions Updates, And More!!

Another work week ends today, and let's keep the consistent news rolling with the latest from a long-running extreme metal label, a new performance video, and to start, the latest from Mikey (Hawdon) & his uke! Matching his Global News piece on Monday, Mikey's "quarantune" videos will reportedly be spotlighted tonight on CTV News Northern Ontario's 6:00 PM broadcast! My source is Mikey's personal Facebook page, I don't imagine this is meant to be a surprise given the optics. Local readers can watch live on the former MCTV at 6:58 PM or so on channel 11 (Shaw Cable) or on it's channel number on Bell, with a likely internet link to the piece following, and I will discuss his appearance in an upcoming post. As for his daily ukelele covers, Mikey has posted three more onto his YouTube channel in as many days, including a solo cover of The Dukes of Hazzard theme song, plus a cover of The Wallflowers' "One Headlight" with guest musicians.

Embedded below is today's cover, which sees Mikey cover Teenage Head's "Let's Shake" alongside his Gabba Heys bandmates Lucas Stagg & Cleave Anderson, though lead vocal duties are provided by Hamilton rockabilly/blues musician Ginger St. James. Fitting choice, given that Teenage Head are Hamilton punk icons! While running for only 77 seconds, this is a fun acoustic cover while it lasts, and Ginger's dog Chico adds a star quality too! Give it (and more) a watch above, below, and on MCTV tonight!

Next up, here's some overdue updates from local independent label Blood Shed Productions' Facebook page, as they have been staying busy during the quarantine! On May 4th, they announced that they had a "cpl (sic) new releases and some re-releases coming your way", and to inquire with the label about availability. All of these are projects featuring label founder Tyler Gibson and/or frequent collaborator Chase Wigmore, but you know how prolific they are. The advertised new material include a new full length release from Tyler's primary grindcore solo project Crucify the Whore entitled "P.C. Sells... But I Ain't Buyin'!", an eponymous solo album entitled "Instrumentally Unstable", a compilation called "BloodShred Vol. 1", and "episode 1" of Chase's "Stray Dog Howl", plus print runs of late 2010s material. Upcoming releases include "History of Shedding Blood Vol. 1" (featuring their early 2010s songs)" and a new Malignant Neoplasm release.

As well, they have new drum & bass releases in the works from Tyler's Alegendary project and a compilation of some kind. If you were hoping to hear the new C.T.W. studio album, then you are in luck, as it was released on Bandcamp on May 18th! "P.C. Sells... But I Ain't Buyin'!" is a slightly longer release in multiple aspects, as 8 of it's 18 songs exceed 2 minutes in length, and only one is under a minute long. Chase provides drum programming on the opening song "Crucified", while "Stab Alley" is a cover of a 2016 song from Tyler's dormant grind duo Rotopsy. Content-wise, C.T.W.'s polarizing one-man goregrind attack and pig squeal vocals will still not be for everyone, complete with song names I shouldn't reprint here, but Tyler's unapologetic grind attack retains a solid local following, and it's great to see him continuing his music during the pandemic! Get more information and hear the new tunes above, and also inquire about Blood Shed's new run of cassette tapes!

We'll close today with a new video from local/Thompson, Manitoba alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith's Facebook page on Tuesday, and unlike his usual video content during the pandemic, this one is not at his home. Mike was able to perform at the Rare Earth Greenery in Thompson, and can be seen here playing his original "Communique" inside a greenhouse. Some bongos and shakers can be heard being performed by someone, and a man can be seen playing harmonica (I think) outside the door, but I can't hear it if that's the case. Nice & unique rendition at a screwy time, so give it a watch below!



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

COVID-19 Updates For Local Concert Venues, Plus More Videos Of Mikey & His Uke!!

We're back with a news post on the site today, which goes in two paths, including proper updates on the early relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions in the Sault Ste. Marie area and what this means in the short term, plus some new videos from a prominent local musician who recently got a big media platform. Here's what you should know!

I wanted to begin today's post with the latest on the Ontario and Michigan shutdown orders and the status of concert venues in our area, specifically relating to Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer's announcement yesterday that bars and restaurants in the Upper Peninsula and much of Northern Michigan can start re-opening with precautions on Friday. Click here or visit your preferred state news source for full details on the announcement. Chippewa County only has 2 confirmed COVID-19 cases and no deaths, so it's easy to see why the Soo is part of the first sections of Michigan to start re-opening. If bars and restaurants choose to re-open on Friday, they must limit capacity to 50% and enforce social distancing guidelines and safety precautions. However, social gatherings are still limited to 10 or fewer people, and municipal governments can enforce stricter rules if necessary. That all said, what does this mean for concerts going forward?

As of late, our Sault Michigan concert calendar had been primarily centered around the local Kewadin Casinos and Tarnished's weekly matinees at Biggby Coffee, with some exceptions. Between such businesses having to run at half capacity in the near term, and the social gathering limitations, I would be surprised to see either rush into concerts as we know them, and Biggby have not addressed their imminent plans on Facebook at press time. Before yesterday's announcement, Kewadin had announced (after multiple prior delays) that they would be re-opening on June 1st, and Governor Whitmer did not directly cite casinos in the first wave of business re-openings, so that may hold true yet. Stay tuned to Kewadin Casino's online pages for further details, especially with three touring out of town bands (The Lows, Peril, and Tripp 'N' Dixie) still scheduled to play in Sault Ste. Marie and St. Ignace's lounges over the June 12th weekend, though I'd be very surprised if they occur as normal.

Finally, there has been no comparable announcement from the Ontario government at press time regarding bars & nightclubs, though Premier Doug Ford had already announced that, as of today, stores with a street entrance can start re-opening with appropriate guidelines (source here.) As such, SMS-relevant retailers like The Rad Zone and Vintage Games N' Junque have started re-opening with a minimum capacity. If you choose to go out to a re-opened store this week, please use common sense to keep yourself and everyone else safe and coronavirus-free. We'll have more on the pandemic as it relates to bands and concerts when it rolls in!

Let's move into a happier topic to finish this post, specifically from Fairmounts frontman/Inner City Surfers drummer Mikey Hawdon, whose series of "Quarantunes" (a.k.a. "Mikey & His Uke" videos) are definitely gaining steam now that they are on YouTube! Yesterday, Mikey got some major attention on Global News at 5:30 PM, which you may have saw locally on channel 3 on Shaw Cable or 12.2 on an over-the-air antenna. The 2½ minute piece by long-time Global correspondent Susan Hay features Mikey talking about how he re-discovered his ukelele, the pandemic's impact on his day job, the spread of his quarantune videos, and their impact on him personally. No mention of his individual bands, but he does rep for home with a Greyhounds toque! This is a well done report that will hopefully get Mikey even more attention for this daily series, and while Global doesn't allow external embedding of their videos, click here to see the whole thing!

Since we last covered Mikey's quarantunes on Thursday, he had uploaded 5 more to YouTube and social media, all featuring special guests. These include covers of the WKRP In Cincinnati and Monkees theme songs, and three punk tracks, namely NOFX's "Eat The Meek", Screeching Weasel's "Hey Suburbia" (featuring ex-guitarist John "Jughead" Pierson), and as embedded below, the Joey Ramone version of Louis Armstrong's "What A Wonderful World". Fittingly, this video's guest musicians are Lucas Stagg & Amy "Gabba" Zuccheto, who played with Mikey in his Toronto-based Ramones tribute bands The Gabba Heys and/or The Merves, and all three share vocals. This is a nice optimistic rendition of this Joey Ramone classic, and his other new quarantunes are fun escapist listens during this stressful time for punk and classic TV fans, so give all of Mikey's past and present videos with his uke a watch above and below, and stay tuned for video #66!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

Toystock VIII Fallout & Videos (Part 1!)

After a delay of far too long (blame personal commitments and the holidays), it's time to finally look at fallout from this year's Toystock charity concert at The Grand Gardens North on Sunday, November 24th! Lots of local news services were in attendance for the eighth annual installment last month, including CTV Northern Ontario, who sent camera crews to the event for a 52 second piece on that day's local news, similarly to last year. The video proper features video of Kaitlyn Parr's set (albeit without audio of consequence), plus a brief interview with Toystock organizer Greg Simpson about Toystock's growth. While it's not a long feature, it's great to see MCTV give it any platform, so give it a look at the above links! SooToday's Darren Taylor was also on hand for this article on the festivities, featuring 12 photos from the afternoon, including four photos of L!me's set, one of Kaitlyn's, and seven of attendees and the donations. Shame he couldn't stay longer, but Darren got some nice shots!

The article proper features a similar but extended interview with Greg about Toystock, and it's great to see how much he enjoys giving back to the community and helping the less fortunate each year like this! Finally, SaultOnline's Megan Pounder was also in attendance for this article, which features 11 photos, mostly of the Stuff-A-Bus, though she did get one band photo (more them in a second.) She left most of the formal coverage for an attached YouTube video that presumably also got played on the ONNtv streaming channel. The video features lots of clips from Toystock in progress, as well as an interview with Greg's wife and co-organizer Kerry Simpson, and it's very informative while also giving a nice look at what was going on that afternoon. The only band featured in the piece or in the photos was the Case's Music Band, but in a surprise change from years' past, they were not made up of students there. Rather, this band was comprised of Case's Music instructors, all familiar to local music fans!

In fact, if you like local progressive rock quintet Machines Dream, this will have been extra exciting, as singer/bassist Craig West, guitarist Jake Rendell (on drums), and keyboardist Brian Holmes made up 3/4ths of this band, rounded out by Parabol guitarist Steve Myers. Judging by the performed cover in Megan's video (The Beatles' "Back In The USSR"), I imagine they didn't get too proggy at Toystock, but they definitely had the musical chops and experience to make their mark! The above news coverage didn't get into hard rock covers or bands, but we do have some footage of that ilk today, as power rock quartet Re:Born played at Toystock VIII and posted footage of the last six bands onto their Facebook page the following day! They weren't present for the opening four acts, but we will address more afternoon band footage in an upcoming post. We'll start with headlining country rock cover quartet Bone Yard, who Re:Born filmed covering April Wine's version of Hot Chocolate's "You Could Have Been A Lady"!

As previously filmed by Mike Caruso at Reggie's West on Halloween, this rendition is a welcomed classic hard rock sampler in their country-heavy repertoire, and the filmer has a nice central angle of Bone Yard in action, with solid use of the zoom lens. Give it a look below!



We'll close today with Re:Born's video of themselves in action on this night, wherein they play their original song/Project 421 carry-over "Running Away". With their cameraman playing on stage, the camera is stationary here, but the audio quality and angle work out just fine, and everyone plays to their strengths, with Blair's guitar work shining as usual, and Elly's getting more and more confident on the mic with every set. Check their clip out below, and stay tuned for much more from Toystock shortly!



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