LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Soundcheck) & Labour Day Weekend Concert Previews!!

Despite this being the Labour Day long weekend, it's quiet for hard rock/punk concerts in the Twin Saults and EUP, so barring a surprise show announcement, our weekend previews fit in only one post! Note that Double Jack are playing at the soon-to-close Rapids Lounge at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino this weekend, and I don't mean the former Exit 808, as the Bay City-area classic rock cover band of the same name (who the local band changed their name over) are playing there this weekend. Confusing, but good to see the original Double Jack making their way north! 

We'll start our previews in Sault Ontario with SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, as local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will take the stage at Reggie's Place TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, these shows first came to my attention via personal Facebook postings, and neither the band nor venue have publically advertised the gigs on social media. This weekend's shows will be Soundcheck's first there with their new bassist, as Sidekicks/ex-Double Down bassist Dan Beaupre has joined the group, replacing the now-retired Jim Michaud. I have not seen a 100% confirmation that Dan has also joined their sister band Separate Wayz (whose lineup is 75% identical), but it seems quite likely given how often they play "epic crossover" dates. Of course, this also reunites Dan with his old Hollow bandmate Terry Eaton, so fans of that 1990s group should like that!

Dan was present at their last two weekends at Jay's Piston Broke Pub too. Note that AI-generated artwork on personal accounts is referring to the band as "Soundcheck 7.3", but if they have tacked a Bone Yard 225-esque number onto their name, there hasn't been a public confirmation yet. Dan is a solid and experienced rock bassist who should fit Soundcheck (and Separate Wayz?) like a glove, so welcome him to the fold TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT if you haven't yet! Both shows are at 9:30 PM with 19+ age limits and no cover charges. See above for more details, and here's Soundcheck live!

Next up, let's head to The Art Hub At Spring (technically at 504 Queen Street East) TOMORROW NIGHT, where local hard rock quartet The Reeves and space/hard rock duo The Spaceship Opening will join forces to open for Saskatoon indie rock quartet Autopilot! In something that completely slipped me by when this show was announced, this is actually a sequel to a concert from last fall, as Autopilot and The Spaceship Opening played at Piecing It Together Shows' pop-up venue on Wellington Street West in November, which I didn't cover here because I couldn't verify The Spaceship Opening's genre at the time (that may have been the final hard rock-included concert from the former Dryer Fire). 10 months later, they're rolling it back at a different downtown locale, but this time with The Reeves as a second opener, in what they referred to on their Facebook page as "our 2nd show" (did their debut at Toystock this past November go badly or did it just get forgotten?)

Regardless, their new originals should pair well with Andrew & Ralph's minimalist hard rock before Autopilot's distinct indie/alternative sound hits the stage! Promoted by Hails frontman Brenton Ellis as part of his slate of events and art exhibits at The Art Hub this month, this stop on Autopilot's Name That Tour! 2026 is an ALL AGES concert at 6:00 PM tomorrow, and admission is $15 or "pay what you can", which is down from last fall's $20 door charge (though it did have $15 advance tickets). Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's The Reeves live!

Now to Michigan's Eastern Upper Peninsula for the back half of our long weekend previews, and we'll start an hour south in St. Ignace, where Sault Ste. Marie classic/hard rock cover quartet Tarnished will take the stage TOMORROW EVENING for the penultimate night of the town's Music By The Bay concert series at American Legion Park! This annual seasonal run of outdoor concerts daily from June-September wraps up with Nancy Kelel there on Sunday, but Tarnished are back once more before the fall truly begins, having last played at the park at the end of July. Presumably the full band with Chris and Ron in tow after they missed the band's acoustic Bay Mills Casino show last week, you can enjoy Tarnished's old school-leaning rocking covers tomorrow from 7:00-8:30 pm, and this is absolutely an all ages concert with no cover charge. If you can't make it, the guys will be at The Driftwood Sports Bar there in two weeks!

Weather-wise, 9&10 News is calling for 68-70° temperatures (20-21° Celsius) tomorrow evening with sunny skies, which sounds like a perfectly cromulent way to end the season if you like outdoor concerts. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Tarnished live!

Finally(?) for this weekend's previews, we'll head to The Islander Bar in nearby Hessel, where local hard rock cover trio Nate's Chow will play their third post-renaming show TOMORROW NIGHT! Fans may recall seeing Jody, Brett, and Jason debut the former Unfortunate Sun's new name and Skip-less lineup at The Islander Bar last month, with a late notice gig downstate in Alanson in the interim. That show went well, complete with a bachelorette party concurrent with the concert, and now Nate's Chow are back home in the UP, so expect a fun night of hard rocking covers tomorrow! Unless The Islander Bar has had heavy renovations, I wouldn't believe how it's depicted in the AI-generated poster. "Nates Chow" (someone forgot the apostrophe in the prompt) are on tomorrow at 8:00 PM with a 21+ age limit and no cover. See above for more details, and for a preview, here's our first live video of Nate's Chow in concert!

Filmed by an uncredited attendee at last month's Hessel concert and posted to their Facebook page, this sees the band covering The Barenaked Ladies' "The Old Apartment" with Jody on lead vocals, and it's always neat seeing a Sault Michigan area band covering Canadian content! The audio is somewhat muffled, and the video is only 30 seconds long, but the performance isn't bad at all, and Jody's singing suits the original track, so give it a watch below, and don't miss the guys back at The Islander tomorrow night! 

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

A Mid-Week Concert Preview, SOOpfest 2 Updates, And A New Spaceship Opening Video!!

Before we begin this post, I wanted to note that former Havadder frontman Jason Roy's obituary was finally posted on SooToday on Monday, noting that he suddenly passed away at home on July 30th. Jason (who often went by Jay) is survived by his sisters, stepmother, and many others in his extended family. The obituary details his sense of humour, many friendships, love of music, and his musical talents (including songwriting), though it doesn't mention his local bands by name. Jason's battle with addiction is also touched upon, and in that respect, the family would appreciate donations by e-transfer or cheque to Save Our Young Adults in his name/memory. Cremation has taken place at O'Sullivan Funeral Home, and while there were no public services, a celebration of life is reportedly planned for a later date. This was well written and helped explain Jason's positive impact on so many, so give it a read above! R.I.P. Jay!

Today's post otherwise has new live video from a local band, info on a publically advertised house party concert, and leading off, here's a mid-week concert preview. Prolific local acoustic classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison's summer arrangement at The Mike Case Memorial Stage outside of The Trading Post TONIGHT! This will technically be Tym's second concert appearance of the week, as he took part in the aforementioned Save Our Young Adults walk for National Overdose Awareness Day at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion on Monday, but between his own lack of public promotion and the somber nature of the event, I hesitate to cover it as a concert, as that's not really the point. Kudos to Tym for supporting a great cause though, drug and alcohol addiction is always worthy to advocate the fight against! Tonight's Trading Post show is the penultimate gig in Tym's seasonal run there unless it gets extended.

Regardless, the Mike Case Stage is only open seasonally, so time is ticking if you want to see Tym at this outdoor Great Northern Road stage! You can check out his hard rocking covers tonight from 6:30-8:30 PM with no cover charge or age limit. 9&10 News has a better forecast for tonight than last week, with partly cloudy skies becoming clear during Tym's sets, and temperatures expected to hover around 21°. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Tym live!

Next up, here's some info on the planned second SOOpfest benefit concert! Local promoters Underground Events SSM hosted the first at a private residence on July 24th as charity drive/fundraiser for the Ken Brown Recovery Home, the $onny Vybe$ memorial, and the Soup Kitchen, and just eight weeks + one day later, they're rolling it back for the same charities. The show will again take place at an unspecified private locale ("ask a punk" for the address, lack of advertised punk bands acknowledged), and because it's not a static named location like Unnecessary Noise or the former Mellow D's Underground, I won't call it as a full public concert here, though it is publically advertised. Just ask those connected to the event for the address! This will also be a backyard potluck barbecue, similar to in July. Only one act (rap collective Fvcksxvad) are returning from last month, while party metal trio The Apocalypse Afterparty, folk singer/guitarist Gimiiwan Ikwe, ...

...Peasant Poetry (featuring Case's Music drum instructor Jamie Talbot), and a mystery project named So Many Bees are also scheduled. Unspecified guests will also be present, as will an open mic/jam element. A very varied lineup is in store for SOOpfest II, though I do wonder, wouldn't a benefit concert like this raise more good for the intended charities if it was a truly public event at an permanent venue with an address that can be posted on social media? In any event, visit the above links (and/or "ask a punk") for more details on SOOpfest II later this month!

Finally for today, we go to a bandmate of SOOpfest promoter Mikhal Muto, namely his ASDP colleague Ralph Barber's space/hard rock duo The Spaceship Opening! It only took 18 days, but third video of their full set at Blaster Powerhouse on August 1st was uploaded to their Facebook page on Sunday, and it sees them playing "a fresh song" that is "something new and on the spot". Like their "Everybody's Gonna Pay" video before, this is an instrumental with Andrew facing Ralph with his back to the live audience. It's a solid driving hard rocker, but presumably because it was improvised, they noted that "(we'll) probably never play this again". In that case, good thing it was filmed, so give it a watch below!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Ethereal Tomb), Soundcheck/Separate Wayz Updates, And New Videos!!

I think our backlog is sufficiently addressed enough where we don't have to post twice a day regularly (famous last words), but there's still stuff to cover, new and old alike! For this post, we have new live videos, recent updates from a local weekend cover staple, and leading off, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, so here's what you should know on this Tuesday morning!

Barrie doom metal trio Ethereal Tomb will return to Sault Ste. Marie for a "DIY garage show" on Monday, September 28th at Unnecessary Noise! Remember, this is the house party venue at a private residence that began being used as a location for select Underground Events SSM concerts this year, so while the address is not publically listed, the show is being publically marketed as a normal concert event at a specific venue otherwise. Fans may recall seeing promoter Mikhal Muto bring Ethereal Tomb to the former Soo Blaster in July of last year, and while this is a smaller scale event, their brand of "Turtle Island street metal" should deliver the sludgy intensity for local fans next month! The local openers will be really varied from the extreme metal to cap off the evening, including ska punk quartet ASDP (fronted by Mikhal, who opened last year's Ethereal Tomb show while still a member of Hails) and young hard rock quartet 5 Dollar Bribe.

This all ages concert has a 6:00 PM start time, admission is $10 or "pay what you can", and as this is at Unnecessary Noise, "ask a punk" for the address (though note that ASDP are the only punk band on this particular bill). Definitely a talented spread of sounds to be had at Unnecessary Noise late next month, so visit the above links for more details!

Next up, let's touch on some recent news and notes from local classic/hard rock cover band Separate Wayz, who have technically been quiet this month as a local concern, but they've been busy in informal and out-of-town ways. On August 8th, a stripped down acoustic version of the band made the 3½ hour drive to Sudbury to perform at Her Northern Voice, a week-long concert festival honouring female singers, with Nicole, Terry, and frequent guest guitarist Travis Sharpe (Terry's Soundcheck/TNT bandmate) performing there at the Grace Hartman Amphitheatre. This is basically why Nicole guested with TNT at the Maddy's Mighty Mutts Family Fun Day here a couple days prior, as it served as a local teaser and warmup. Separate Wayz (+ Travis) played on the penultimate Saturday lineup, where they technically opened for Susan Aglukark, though they were part of the free matinee block before ticketed admission was enforced for the closing acts.

For what it's worth, the Sunday the 9th concert at Her Northern Voice featured a set by Lime frontwoman "Miss" Madii Schomogyi in the identical 2:00 PM timeslot, while Sudbury psychedelic hard rock band The Dirty Mystics (who debuted at The Northern Vibe Festival in 2024) also played that day. Celebrating women in the arts (not just singers) is a fantastic idea, and it's great that so many local and non-local ladies were able to rock Sudbury that weekend! Among various "sneak peaks" (sic), a video from promoters The Sudbury Performance Group was posted on Facebook of Nicole, Terry, and Travis covering The Weeknd's "Blinded By The Light", though it is unfortunately vertical and only 30 seconds long. The side-stage vantage point is sure unique. if not supremely indicative of where they were, but they sounded good here! Nicole also just hit the road again with Soundcheck (Jim & Johnny included) for an "epic crossover" gig.

The five-piece combined band headlined at the Gold Rush National Drag Race in Chapleau (this time 3½ hours north of here) on Saturday, but media and teasers from that trip north did not follow on either band's page. There is big lineup news concerning both groups that I'll touch on in this weekend's concert previews, as Soundcheck have late notice gigs this weekend (with or without this band member, I don't yet know), but visit the above links for more on Separate Wayz & Travis (or Soundcheck & Nicole), and here's the live video from Her Northern Voice!

We'll close this post with some new videos from local space/hard rock duo The Spaceship Opening! As you may recall, the "east end rock n' roll" act (featuring ASDP drummer Ralph Barber) played their first public gig of 2026 at an all-locals concert at Blaster Powerhouse on August 1st, and they began uploading official videos of their set to their Facebook page last week. The guys plan to "post the whole show in bits", and they clearly meant it when they said "the whole show in bits", as the first video features just Andrew and Ralph setting up before their first song! Embedded below is their first song from this set, an original named "Everyone's Gotta Pay", and at press time, they have not uploaded any more songs, videos, and/or bits from the set. This is an instrumental hard rocker that Andrew plays virtually the entire time while facing Ralph with his back to the audience, but the video was filmed side-stage, so it doesn't hurt the home viewer experience.

You don't see a lot of videos from the former Soo Blaster shot like this, so it gives a unique look at the action! I hope this is a fair comparison, but I was reminded a bit musically of Helmet from this performance, and while there were no vocals, it has a spark and a catchy groove, so give it a look below, and hopefully more official videos of this Spaceship Opening set surface!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for a busy slate of mid-week concert previews and more on the SMS soon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Salem Trials) & Videos From Maddy's Mighty Mutts' Family Fun Day!!

With this being the quietest concert weekend in a month or so, we have some extra time to tick some more items off of our backlog, so here's a new news post on this Friday afternoon, and it includes new videos and related updates from a recent fundraiser event. However, leading off is a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT of a very heavy persuasion for next month!

In the newest concert announcement from local promoters Undergound Events SSM, Ottawa deathcore quintet Salem Trials will make their local debut on Saturday, September 26th at Blaster Powerhouse! A brutal and intense batch of original songs will be in store next month from this very heavy group, who definitely caught my attention from the off, so keep their gig at the former Soo Blaster in mind! Another Ottawa-based quintet (metalcore band The Jenova Projekt) will play Sault Ste. Marie for the first time next month, and while not ad relentless, they have an appealing hard-edged sound that reminds me a bit of Demiricous on some songs, and it will be good to have them on stage here also! Local support will come by way of space/hard rock duo The Spaceship Opening (more on them soon) and sporadically seen party metal trio The Apocalypse Afterparty, featuring promoter Mikhal Muto on bass.

While The A.A. missed out on the most recent rap show at Blaster, this will put them in slightly closer musical range to let their double bassed, guitar-devoid brand of music find a receptive audience! This all ages concert will have doors opening at 8:30 PM, and advance tickets will be on sale soon at The Rad Zone and via the local openers for $25 (the door charge will jump to $30). Sounds like a brutal concert to me, and it trends heavier the longer it goes, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details!

Next up, some videos from last week's Maddy's Mighty Mutts Family Fun Day concert at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion have made their way online! Though the exact lineup order was never released, between 9 and 11 acts graced the stage for this dog rescue charity fundraiser on this Wednesday (which is still odd timing to me, especially given its 8 hour runtime). You can see some of what took place that day on the Facebook event page, where promoter Paige Dennie posted videos of four acts there on the "Discussion" thread. The earliest of her videos is of local hard rock quartet 5 Dollar Bribe covering Wheatus' "Teenage Dirtbag", though the video only runs for 35 seconds and was shot vertically (sadly, all of Paige's videos are vertical and short). I'll be honest, I hate "Teenage Dirtbag", but 5 Dollar Bribe play it well from what I can detect, and Jayce's vocals don't wear on me like on the original, so that much is of note! Give their video a watch below!

I wanted to note re: 5 Dollar Bribe too that local classic/hard rock cover band Separate Wayz shared a "Story" on Facebook of 5DB playing during their soundcheck. Why was Separate Wayz present when they weren't playing? Well, singer Nicole Thibodeau was the "friend" (friends?) teased to be guesting with TNT (Soundcheck's Terry Eaton n' Travis Sharpe, the former also in Separate Wayz) here, and Separate Wayz also posted a "Story" of her and TNT covering "Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac at the Family Fun Day. Alas, "Stories" self-destruct after one or two viewings, and are short/vertical videos anyway, so all I can do is tell you about them, but hopefully TNT went over well under the tent! Terry and Travis would perform more with Nicole this past weekend on the road, and I'll talk about that in an upcoming post. Travis was also teased in some event marketing to be guesting with Bone Yard 225 frontman Greg "The Ranting Rockstar" Simpson on this day, but he does not factor into Paige's video from Greg's set.

While being shot vertically doesn't matter for a solo musician, Paige's video runs for only 11 seconds, and it features Greg's slowed down cover of Kiss' "Rock & Roll All Nite", which is a staple of Bone Yard's "uncorked" sets, and The Bearded Lounge's concerts prior. We don't hear much, but if you like Greg's laid back take on this Kiss staple, you'll like what was filmed, as seen below!

Also filmed for the event page was (former?) Dodge This singer/guitarist Jason Taillefer, who had his keyboard ready again here, and Paige filmed him covering Coldplay's "The Scientist" for 21 seconds. Like with "Teenage Dirtbag", I must confess that I don't like Coldplay at all, but Jason at least sings this a little deeper and more matter-of-factly, and he is a talented multi-instrumentalist, as Phatstick fans will be well aware! The last of Paige's videos comes from this concert's co-headliner, namely former Haggith/Eclipse frontman Curtis McKenzie (Bone Yard 225 played last on this evening). Paige filmed him covering Collective Soul's "December", but for one reason or another, this 21 seconds-long instrumental clip can't be embedded on external websites, even though everything else in the post from that day can be. Facebook has been iffier lately re: videos randomly being unembeddable, even with no copyrighted music, so yeah, it's something to juggle at present.

What we hear sounds good, but again, no singing. Embedded below is a video of Curt at the Family Fun Day, but this was actually uploaded by Beck's Bar's Facebook page, with a hard-coded caption slapped on it in post-production to hype Curtis' matinee concert there this past Sunday. Obviously, the caption limits my ability to relevantly use it for concert preview purposes around here, but on this video (also of him covering "December" from a closer vantage point), we do get more of an actual verse with singing, and while I do think Curtis should lower his voice a tad, it's well done for what was filmed! Give it a watch below, and see more from Family Fun Day above!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for another likely news post later today! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Punk Rock Fiesta & The Reeves!!)

Before we look at a (somewhat thankfully) quieter batch of weekend concert previews, here's a news post devoted to two LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for the fall with touring headliners, one being particularly notable for its band reunions and implied status as a first annual punk festival, so here's what you should know on this Wednesday evening!

Local hard rock quartet The Reeves and space rock duo The Spaceship Opening will make their debuts at The Art Hub At Spring on Saturday, September 5th when they open for Saskatoon indie rock band Autopilot in their local debut! First teased on The Reeves' Facebook page last week, the headliners aren't a hard rock band, but if you like alternative and pop rock of the kind you used to see at LopLops, you'll take to Autopilot's melodic original sound with some unique flourishes (they even use a bow to play the guitar here and there!) For the local openers, this will be both bands' second show of the year, following The Reeves' set at Rotaryfest Stage 2 and The Spaceship Opening's Blaster Powerhouse gig at the start of the month, and they should set the tone well with their hard rock originals! Promoted by Hails frontman Brenton Ellis, this is far from his only collaboration with The Art Hub (actually located at 504 Queen Street East), so stay tuned for more on what he's cooking up there.

The first SMS-covered concert at The Art Hub At Spring since the Shae Tull/Pet Retina gig there in May 2025, this all ages concert on Autopilot's Name That Tour! will have doors opening at 6:00 PM, and admission will be $15 or "pay what you can". Sounds like an intriguing spread of sounds for fans of original rock music, if at a somewhat more intimate locale, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details!

Next up, Toronto hardcore punk legends Random Killing will return to the Soo for the first annual Punk Rock Fiesta on Saturday, October 3rd! Ostensibly intended as a major annual local hardcore punk concert, this is the brainchild of new local promoters BCDR Productions (BCDR = Bush Core Drunk Rock), led by former Destroilet guitarist Christian Foisy, who co-promoted the Fist Magnet/Room 206/Spigots concert in at Soo Blaster in December. That's where we last saw Random Killing in town (opening for The Dayglo Abortions in May 2023), but Punk Rock Fiesta will instead mark the grand return of a multi-band concert to The Algonquin Hotel for the first time since they paused hosting normal live bands in mid-2022 after some lean times there post-pandemic. We have seen the occasional Silent 9-headlined charity event there at The Rockstar Bar upstairs, but it is great to see them hosting a proper multi-band concert again after over 4 years! Here's hoping for some more!

As best as I can tell from the mildly conflicting marketing, this will be at The Rockstar Bar, not the downstairs Algonquin Pub (though some posts just say it'll be at The Algonquin Hotel). Of course, it will be great to welcome Random Killing and their Saultite frontman Andrew "Drool" Kiteley back to the Soo this fall, and they're no strangers to The Rockstar Bar (headlining there twice in the 2010s), so hopefully there's another packed turnout of punk fans for their intense original back catalogue! The performance order is not clear based on how the bands are ordered on both the official (not AI!) poster and the official Facebook event page, but there will be two more big band reunions here, including the return of 1990s hardcore punk staples Fist Magnet, who we last saw at the aforementioned Blaster show in December. No word if their lineup will be Garry, Andrew, Dave, Christian, and John again, but keep note of this set in less than two months!

Perhaps more surprisingly, local punk/country quintet The Billy Bastards will reunite for their first gig since the inaugural Northern Vibe Festival in 2015 on this night! The band had hinted at reunions off and on over the past decade among posthumous hype for t-shirts and their music on streaming services, but that picture of 4/5ths of the band together in May on their Facebook page must have been a good indicator! I will treat this as a one-off reunion unless otherwise confirmed, but it will be great to see their cowpunk originals back this fall! Local crossover thrash trio Hails will make their Rockstar Bar debut on this night, as will newer local punk quartet PROD ("punk rock overdose"), who debuted at the December punk reunion concert but hadn't been seen since. Featuring three members of the Fist Magnet reunion lineup, hopefully they have a big return in their own right after 9 months away!

The last two bands are debuting bands named Dead II Society and The Baby Rails, neither of which has an online page or public information yet. I believe I know who one of the bands is, based on an intriguing recent personal Facebook video, but if true, I don't even know which of the two bands they're supposed to be. Stay tuned for more updates! Punk Rock Fiesta goes down on October 9th at 6:00 PM, it is 19+, and tickets go on sale on Friday at The Rad Zone (I don't know if there will be availability online or through the local performers). This will be a must-attend concert for hardcore punk fans this fall, so visit the above links for current details, and stay tuned for weekend concert previews next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Prince Fest), The Next LSSU Battle Of The Bands, And New Videos!!

In what will be a productive day re: knocking items off of our backlog that began building up last month, we have another packed news post today, including new videos from two bands seen on stage together earlier this month, initial details on a returning annual battle of the bands, and leading off, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for a new regional festival. Here's what you should know on this warm Tuesday evening!

A debuting summer concert festival in Prince Township (20 minutes west of the Soo) named Prince Fest goes down on Saturday, August 29th, and it will be headlined by Toronto-based Kiss tribute band Destroyer! While this is being co-promoted by DeMarco's Boots & Saddles Roadhouse at 2667 Second Line West, Prince Fest will be an outdoor event in the adjacent baseball field at the corner of Second Line and Airport Road. Along with live music, advertising so far (the AI-generated posters linked here & here) indicates that there will also be local food and craft vendors, a beer garden, children's activities, at least one food truck, an on-site barbecue, a baseball tournament, and 3-on-3 basketball. More updates are sure to follow! Destroyer are by far the best known touring Kiss tribute to Sault Ste. Marie fans, having played here at least 6 times in the last 15 years, most recently at the former Soo Blaster in October 2023.

Good to see their faithful take on the Kiss back catalogue here again, if a little further west than you may expect! Local support will come by way of acoustic punk duo Dos Amigos and country rock solo musician Mike Robitaille, who has frequently played at the Boots & Saddles. Prince Fest is expected to run from 12:00-7:00 PM, it is absolutely all ages, and I have not seen any reference to a cover charge or ticket fee. 705Live Sound Co. will be on hand here too. Why not add one more community festival before the summer ends, and it's neat that one is happening so far west, so hopefully Prince Fest is a big hit at month's end! Visit the above links for more details!

Next up, get ready, as the fourth annual Lake Superior State University Battle of the Bands returns to Sault Michigan on Thursday, October 22nd! Now, the official advertising on LSSU's Arts Center's page erroneously lists this as the third annual battle there, even though this is 100% year 4 (The Sole Aggressors won in 2023, Molly & The Other Guys won in 2024, and The Dynamic Duo won last year), so hopefully that gets fixed in time for the Facebook promotion to begin. Thanks to generous sponsorship, this year's LSSU Battle will have the biggest prize purse yet, as after three years of $150 and $50 gift cards for first & second place, there will be prizes of $1,000, $500, and $250 for first-third place! If the same as the last two years, judges (primarily made up of LSSU faculty) will assess the competitors, who will each have 15 minute sets to compete this fall. The past three LSSU battles had six or seven acts apiece, though 2024 was once slated to have eight.

Video auditions are now being submitted at this link, and while last year's battle curiously only had solo artists and duos, the raised cash prizes should ensure a wider swath of artist submissions. We'll let you know when the official competitor lineup is announced, but could The Dynamic Duo attempt to repeat as champions where the prior winners didn't? Admission for general attendees will be $10 USD ($5 for kids 10 and under), and yes, this is a Thursday nighter, as the previous three LSSU Battles also were. Two EUP battles of the bands in a three month span with $1,000 top prizes ain't a raw deal, so visit the above links for more details, and click here to buy tickets!

We'll head back to Sault Ontario for the back half of today's post to look at some new videos, starting with the first 2026 concert videos from local space/hard rock duo The Spaceship Opening! On August 1st, Andrew and Ralph played their first show of the year when they opened for 5 Dollar Bribe at a multi-local band concert at Blaster Powerhouse, and they shared photos from it the next day to their Facebook page. While they teased that "videos (are coming) soon", only one has followed since, a video shot by an attendee named Kayla of them playing "a little ET cover". Whether they mean ET: The Extra Terrestrial or not, I can't identify the 22 seconds of music being played here, but the chugging riff sounds good, and being a duo, they are better framed for the vertical dimensions! I'd still have zoomed in a bit more though. Give this a look below, and hopefully The Spaceship Opening have more videos soon!

Finally for today, let's look at some new videos from the aforementioned 5 Dollar Bribe, who spent some time posting some non-concert videos to their Facebook page in late July and into this month that largely call to mind their pre-debut viral/comedy uploads on Instagram. To promote the aforementioned August 1st concert at the former Soo Blaster, drummer Chase Chapman starred in this video from July 28th where he demoed a kickflip, and had some help from "Jimbo Jenkins". Watch the video to find out who "Jimbo" is! Another video followed two days later that started with an attempted cover of the intro of Guns N' Roses' "Sweet Child O Mine" before abruptly phasing to waking up in a field where Jayce and Tyler were, and beyond plugging the Soo Blaster show, I'll let you decipher what happened next! The day of the show, they posted an episode of "Dwayne's World" (one guess as to what they're parodying) where Chase was a guest of Dwayne and Garth(?) to promote the band and concert. 

Always good to see homages to classic SNL, even if needlessly letterboxed into vertical dimensions despite being a square video! Lastly, on July 31st, they covered At The Drive-In's "Patterns Against User" with Jayce on lead vocals, though for one reason or another, I can't embed it here. The level of covers that 5 Dollar Bribe will source from is always impressive, especially for their age, and they have a good tight sound on this post-hardcore deep cut, even if the video quality itself is fairly blurry. As it's apparently unembeddable, here's the "Dwayne's World" video, but give all of 5 Dollar Bribe's new uploads a watch at the above links!

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

The Rest Of This Weekend's Hard Rock/Punk Concert Previews!!

As promised, here's the rest of this weekend's known hard rock concert previews as we plunge deeper into the Civic Holiday long weekend for many (but not all) readers on the Ontario side of the border. Mercifully, all of today's shows had prior advance notice, but one was postponed a day, so here's what else you should know to end July!

We'll start at Gateway Casino TOMORROW NIGHT, where local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations will end their recent break! After members spent last month working on other projects and bands (including a one-off Jus' Chillin reunion), tomorrow's show will be Generations' first at Sault Ontario's downtown casino in almost two months. Hopefully this one-nighter delivers more of the classic and hard rock goodness for fans of Valerie, Joe, Pierre, and Tony's tried-and-tested brand of rock covers, so keep this show in mind for your (long?) weekend plans! If you can't make it tomorrow, Generations will return to The Water Tower Pub next week. Tomorrow's concert takes place at the casino at 8:00 PM with a 19+ age limit and no announced cover charge. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and for a preview, here's Generations live in concert a few months ago!

Next up, if you crave some original music and/or multiple bands, you might want to head to Blaster Powerhouse TOMORROW NIGHT, where four local bands will join forces, including rising young hard rock quartet 5 Dollar Bribe as the headliners! Proving that their rapid ascent this year isn't a fluke, this skilled high school-aged group should have an intriguing array of covers (expected and unexpected alike) tomorrow, so keep this show in mind! Crossover thrash trio Hails will play their first show at the former Soo Blaster with their current lineup tomorrow, while veteran local punk supergroup The Gambit will play just their fourth show with this name and first since Rotaryfest two years ago tomorrow as well. Space/hard rock duo The Spaceship Opening will... open this concert in their first public gig of 2026, and this is definitely an interestingly varied lineup of newer and established names!

Promoted by former Ha!ls guitarist Mikhal Muto's own agency Underground Events SSM, this all ages concert begins tomorrow at 8:30 PM with no age limit, and admission is $20 at the door ("no tickets will be made for this one", so apologies to ticket stub collectors, alas). Despite a somewhat out-there poster (at least it's not AI!), this is shaping up to be a fun concert for punk fans, so visit the above links for more details, and here's a new video of 5 Dollar Bribe at the ARCH Run earlier this month! Uploaded to their Facebook page last week, this is their frequent live cover of The Atlanta Rhythm Section's "So Into You", albeit for just 34 seconds. Well played and relaxed, if not that heavy, so give it a watch for yourselves below!

Also this weekend, local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 will have the rare double header weekend TOMORROW NIGHT & SUNDAY at Beck's Bar! On the weekend that they release their new studio single "Welcome To The Shit Show" (more on that next week), tomorrow's concert is a regular plugged-in, full band concert for fans of "the dirty three" in their full splendour, so you'll be ending July on a loud and high note if you come to the former Vibe Lounge tomorrow! If you're curious, tomorrow's matinee performer (who isn't "opening" for Bone Yard) is new local singer/guitarist Stephen Biason, who plays from 3:00-7:00 PM. On Sunday, your local 225 will go "uncorked" for an acoustic matinee concert, which coincides with Beck's weekly euchre tournament on Sundays, so whether you play cards or not, you'll have a fitting soundtrack from Greg, Alex, and Warren! 

Tomorrow's nightcap is at 9:00 PM, the Sunday unpl... uncorked concert is also at 3:00 PM, both shows are 19+ affairs, and none have an age limit. Visit the above links for more details on Bone Yard's busy west end weekend, and for a preview, here they are live in concert last year!

Finally for these previews, we'll head south to Cedarville, Michigan for the annual Government Bay Barge Bash, but later than you may think, as it has been postponed from tomorrow to SUNDAY. As revealed via this AI-generated poster, organizers have decided to push the Barge Bash back a day due to the rainy weather forecast tomorrow. 9&10 News currently has rain forecasted for Cedarville in the 12:00 PM hour, but an even likelier chance for precipitation is spotted from the 4:00 PM hour onward, which would not be ideal for bands, let alone everyone else. Sunday's forecast is much better (sunny skies all day with 73-76° temperatures, 23-25° Celsius), and all bands are able to play the rain date, so adjust your schedules accordingly! The Les Cheneaux Islands Barge Bash will again feature bands playing on a literal barge floating in Government Bay off of East Hodeck Street, so if you want to boat or swim over for the music, you can! Click here for non-musical details.

Sunday's headliners are hard rock cover quintet Project 906 (likely around 4:00-5:00 PM) alongside Cedarville rock veterans Shipheads On Shore (likely around 2:00-3:00 PM), and The Haske Brothers (now featuring prolific local singer/guitarist Mark Bowen!) kicking things off at noon, giving us a near identical lineup to last year. The Barge Bash is FREE & ALL AGES, though please drink responsibly, and be careful out on the water regardless. This is always a fun and very unique concert event on the EUP calendar, so visit the above links for more on Sunday's action, and here's Project 906 live!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (5 Dollar Bribe & The Superior Whitefish Festival Battle Of The Bands!!)

We have a lot of stuff to get to on the SMS this month (July is our busiest month every year), so today's post is devoted to LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS of distinction, one on each side of the border, but we'll first head to Michigan for a returning battle of the bands later this month!

Local punk/hard rock trio About:Blank will be among the competitors at the second annual Superior Whitefish Festival Battle of the Bands on Saturday, July 25th in Brimley! As you may recall, this community festival returned after a decade's hiatus last year, with two distinct music events being held for 2025, including a "Music In The Park" concert and a battle of the bands. An official performer lineup for the former has yet to be announced, but it and the returning battle of the bands will take place again at the festival's stomping grounds opposite the Riverview Park & Campground at 12084 West Lakeshore Drive. This year's battle of the bands only features four advertised performers, none technically returnees from last year's battle (won by Crush), though About:Blank were Music In The Park performers last year. Dafter singer/guitarist Molly Escherich (on summer break from Interlochen) will also compete in the battle on the 25th, but in what form?

Last year, Molly fronted a variant of her 2024 LSSU Battle-winning live hard rock cover band Molly & The Other Guys, but according to her Facebook page's 2026 summer tour poster, she will be playing with a band named "The 8th Fire" (all of her other listed summer dates are solo acoustic concerts, including a Music In The Park set). No word on who is in The 8th Fire or if Molly & them will play her originals and/or similar covers to The Other Guys, but we'll let you know if we hear anything! Of course, About:Blank (sans then-guitarist Nathan Webber) played an acoustic set at last year's LSSU Battle, but with Jon Stone now on bass, will that help them make the podium a half hour southwest? Two other bands are advertised to be competing, including The Whole Shabang and Blood, Sweat, and Beers. The former name was used by a classic rock cover band that regularly played the former Rudyard Musicians Festival in the late 2010s, but is it the same band?

Note that The Whole Shabang (who did play Brimley concerts in the past) featured John Napoletano from the later masked metal band Stoned Ape Evolution. No word on who Blood, Sweat, and Beers are, but we'll let you know if anything comes out to answer these unanswered questions! Like last year, the Superior Whitefish Battle will award a $1,000 top prize, with $750, $500, and $250 awaiting the second-fourth place bands (and seeing as there's only four acts, everyone basically gets $250 for showing up). The battle is advertised to take place from 7:00 PM-12:00 AM, and About:Blank are reportedly playing from 8:00-9:00 PM with Molly at 10:00 PM, so if bands do have an hour apiece, that's abnormally long for a battle. It is definitely all ages, and if similarly set up to last year, it will be outdoors but with bands performing under a tent. I don't know if the battle will be judged by a fan vote, by an actual judges panel, or via another method.

There are still blanks to fill in re: this battle, but at least I heard about it before it happened this year! It still baffles me to an extent that battles of the bands have been thriving in the E.U.P. in the mid-2020s where Sault Ontario hasn't had any to successfully take place since before the pandemic, but clearly the Whitefish Festival and LSSU (more on year #4 of theirs soon?) have working formulas, and look at the payouts in Brimley again! Stay tuned for more on this battle and potential other music at the Whitefish Festival as the month continues, and visit the above links for more details! 

Finally for this post, we'll head north to Sault Ontario for another intriguing all-locals concert from Underground Events SSM on Saturday, August 1st at Blaster Powerhouse, this time headlined by fast-rising high school hard rock quartet 5 Dollar Bribe! Fresh off of their public multi-band concert debut at Go Skate Day, 5.D.B. will make their first ever appearance at the former Soo Blaster in four weeks, and hopefully they turn some heads with their talents and surprising cover choices! Also playing that night are hardcore punk/crossover thrash trio Hails in their first Blaster show with new guitarist Anthony Orazietti, and their first concert at an event promoted by Mikhal Muto since he left Ha!ls at the end of 2025. Good to see that there's no hard feelings! Veteran punk supergroup The Gambit (née The Sick Sons) will play an extremely rare live concert set on the 1st as well, marking their first live appearance since Rotaryfest Stage 2 in 2024 and only their fourth under this name.

While active as a recording act on Bandcamp last year, it will be good to see The Gambit on stage again! Opening this show are space/hard rock duo The Spaceship Opening (featuring Mikhal's A.S.D.P. bandmate Ralph Barber) in their first show of the year, so look for some interesting original content from him and Andrew to kick off the night! An 8:30 PM start time is advertised for this Civic Holiday long weekend concert, it is all ages, and this will have a flat door charge of $20 with no advance or online ticket sales. Looks like a fun night of punk and hard rock action for new and familiar faces alike, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and stay tuned for more news and notes on the SMS this week! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (The Sky Pilots), A New Local Band, And More Recent Updates!!

I hope everyone is having a good Easter Sunday! Whether you could call a new SMS post an Easter treat is debatable, but I do have a new news post to check out, including new videos and updates from two bands featuring Fitswitch alumni, LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for the E.U.P. next month, and leading off, a new addition to our Sault Ontario band links, so here's what you should know, whether you'd found your Easter eggs or not!

Fresh off of their live concert debut yesterday at Beck's Bar, we can now add new local hard rock quartet 5 Dollar Bribe to our active band links, as they have launched a Facebook page! They were already on Instagram and TikTok, but neither platform is as feature-rich and intentionally designed for usage as a formal band page. There's not much on their Facebook page yet, but a video of them covering 3 Doors Down's "Loser" at Beck's is floating around on personal Facebook accounts. While they have more unexpected band choices in their repertoire, how often to you see 3 Doors Down covers locally? It is a well done cover if you can find it, and R.I.P. Brad Arnold, of course. In terms of new public content, 5.D.B. did post some new "meet the band" images on Instagram where you can learn more about the members' favourite bands (Tyler pulls some real deep cuts!) and other roles.

Their only new video since we first spotlighted Five Dollar Bribe on the SMS is embedded below, where half of the band do a comedy sketch to promote the matinee gig at Beck's and a contest to win an official band t-shirt (had you liked and tagged the post on Instagram or TikTok, you'd have been entered for a chance). Fun for what it is, so give it a watch below, and we'll have more from 5 Dollar Bribe when it goes live!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Five Dollar Bribe (@5dollarbribe)

Next up, here are those LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, as Munising, Michigan classic/hard rock cover quintet The Sky Pilots will return to our area for concerts on Friday, May 29th and Saturday, May 30th at The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino! The only brand new hard rock-leaning shows announced in either regional Kewadin branch's entertainment pages through the next two months, these will be The Sky Pilots' first St. Ignace shows since early November, though I must profusely apologize, as they also returned to The Rapids Lounge in Sault Ste. Marie for concerts on March 13th and 14th, as per their Facebook page. I've gotta keep better tabs on The Sky Pilots, especially as they played in the E.U.P. five times last year, and they are fronted by former Electric Motor Fish/Swayze Train singer Melissa Strand, so I am sorry for missing last month's gigs, but I hope they were a huge hit!

Of note, last month's shows were actually the Pilots' first concerts of 2026, regardless of locale. Next month's shows do not fall on the Memorial Day long weekend, which is the week prior this year. As usual for Kewadin lounge gigs, these are at 9:00 PM with 21+ age limits and no cover charges. Visit the above links for more details on what should be a fun weekend of old school rocking covers from this talented U.P. band!

Also today, here's an update from a band that we haven't talked about on the SMS in months, namely Sault Ontario/Barrie crossover thrash band Spades GT! There is a reason why updates dried up from their camp, and while I have not seen an official public statement about what happened, what I would characterize as "sudden personal differences" arose in mid-December, and I'll leave it there pending 100% public word from the band about their future or lack thereof. Their last show (to date?) was at C.W. Coop's in Barrie on December 13th where they opened for Pale Horse Ritual, and what happened internally arose before they could post a recap video from that show or their November 14th gig with Anvil in Delhi. However, I did find something brand new that I'm surprised that the former Jack Spades never promoted, as they featured on a live album last year! Fans will know that Spades frequently travelled to Meyersburg in Southern Ontario for the annual Spiderfest, which is the basis of this Bandcamp-exclusive album.

The "name your price" album "Spiderfest 2024 RP001" was released on June 11th, and it features one live cut each (in performance order) from the 2024 festival lineup, with past local headliners Random Killing, The Ripcordz, and The Bunchofuckingoofs among the 23 included bands. This rendition of "Succubus" from 2023's "Sewer City Radio" features the band's summer 2024 lineup, including then-new guitarist Matthew Voros and the soon-to-depart James Roy Daley on bass. Strong (if quick) performance with really nice recording quality across the board, so give this punk compilation a listen above, and we'll let you know if Spades GT clarify their status publically!

We'll close today with new videos from local doom/sludge duo The Spaceship Opening's Facebook page! One of the videos features an off-camera Andrew MacDonald testing his new bass cab, and while the musicality of it is debatable, he is getting deep powerful bass out of it (ask what appears to be a burned out match midway through!) The other video is another live recording from the same concert seen in their first two official public videos (which is apparently "all we have" as of Friday). I did want to clarify as to what event their three performance videos actually came from, as the event took place before I could verify The Spaceship Opening's sound/genre. This was a fundraiser for the Sault Theatre Workshop on November 29th, where they and DJ Seith opened for comedy rock band The Floor Between Us, who also headlined a show there the previous day with a different opener lineup.

No word on who November 28th openers A.D.H.D. are, but that name alone will make it hard to look them up! Kudos to all involved for supporting the Sault Theatre Workshop and their programming, and you can see videos of The Floor Between Us that weekend on their new Facebook page! As for The Spaceship Opening, this video actually features Andrew on vocals, so they're not an instrumental-only band. It is a little faster and punkier than their prior two songs, but it's hard to get a sense for Andrew's vocal capabilities, as he sings in a relative monotone that, while well suited to alt-rock, may not show his full range. Not a bad drum-and-bass number, so give it a watch below, and stay tuned for more from Andrew & Ralph!

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