The 2025 Northern Vibe Festival Preview!!

The tenth annual Northern Vibe Festival kicks off TOMORROW NIGHT with another stacked lineup of local and touring musicians descending upon the old Hempfest grounds on Poplardale Road in Ophir, so here's our extended preview! This annual camping & concert festival once again sees vendors, activities, food & drinks, and more along with the live music, so be sure to visit the official website for this weekend's complete non-musical details! Once again, there are two distinct stages for Northern Vibe, with DJs and EDM artists performing on the Roost River Stage (click here for its schedule), while bands and solo musicians will set up shop on the Forest Stage once again, as curated by Spades GT frontman J.D. Pearce for a fifth straight year in his annual return to local concert promotion. 15 acts (up from 10 last year) will grace the Forest Stage between tomorrow and Saturday, so who all can you expect to see an hour east of the Soo this weekend?

Just to preface things: the official schedule (released unusually early on August 11th) was considered "tentative" at that point, but there has been no contradictory announcements to go against what was stated then. Five bands will perform tomorrow during the shorter opening day program, which will be headlined by the local debut of Sudbury-based Tool/A Perfect Circle tribute band Avessel at 10:00 PM. They have the chops, so welcome them to the Algoma District in style tomorrow night! New (and maybe one-off) jazz/standards group The Josh Norling Quartet will co-headline at 9:00 PM, while hard rock quintet HeadF1rst will be the only band from this year's Rotaryfest to pull the summer festival double at 8:00 PM. The Friday bill kicks off with an extended rap block, including the merged Fvcksxvad/Sound Syndrome supergroup SoundSxvad at 7:00 PM & The CSWS Crew at 6:00 PM.

Nice diverse array of music to check out tomorrow, including heavier stretches from Avessel and HeadF1rst to keep things rocking, so keep everything in mind if you'll be in Ophir for night #1 of Northern Vibe X! 9&10 News is calling for cloudy skies with temperature going from 26° down to 18° as the night progresses. Note that they are forecasting rain in the 11:00 PM hour, which may affect Avessel's set, but the forecast isn't projecting more than a 20% chance prior. Visit the above links for more on the Friday Forest Stage lineup, and here's Avessel live! 

The longer program on SATURDAY will feature ten bands, and your headliners this year are local Pink Floyd tribute band Dark Side Of The Soo, as the Bourbon Blue side project will build on their recent Beck's gig by closing Northern Vibe in prog rock style at 10:00 PM! Niagara Falls prog/improv rock band The Road Waves will return to Northern Vibe as the 9:00 PM co-headliners in their fourth Ophir appearance, while local alt-hard rock quartet Handsome Sandwich will become the only band to play all five years of this festival since the post-pandemic relaunch at 8:00 PM. This year's other two touring bands (both from Cornwall) take the stage prior, including hard rock quartet Don't Tell Sarah in their second straight year at Northern Vibe at 7:00 PM, and speed metal band Hellrager (featuring ex-Spades GT guitarist Jay Sarrazin) at 6:00 PM, returning for their own second year after dropping out last year.

Folk/country quartet The Golden Scoundrels (featuring fellow Spades alum and Handsome Sandwich drummer Johnny Belanger) will return for their second Forest Stage set at 5:00 PM, preceded by the first of two shows this weekend from local/Barrie alternative/hard rock musician Mike Haggith and his Big Finish Band at 4:00 PM, one year removed from their set that had professional cameras rolling. Will things get filmed thusly again? As revealed on Wednesday the 13th, the 3:00 PM band named The Barbarians are actually the new band fronted by ex-Elements/Wyld Stallyns singer/guitarist Rob Speers (replacing his originally announced solo set), and he will be joined by Handsome Sandwich bandmates Taylor Emlaw and Rafael Medina as well as Boat Dads drummer Kevin Harrison. They're described as a "party band", but what specifically do they play, especially compared to Rob's old bands?

Note that these three musicians have backed up Rob at some solo dates this year, but is this the start of a formal new band, or are The Barbarians a one-off? The 2:00 PM block is listed as "bingo break" on the schedule, and based on promotion since then, it appears to literally be a break in the schedule with no band. I haven't seen direct reference to bingo being played or scheduled elsewhere, but get your dabbers ready just in case! We'll let you know if something else is afoot then. The 1:00 PM set belongs to debuting local punk/hard rock quartet Spun Out (featuring Caveman Morrison and Half Past alumni), who were themselves late additions to the Forest Stage lineup, so come out to Ophir to hear how they sound! The Saturday bill will be lead off by "Benny's Acoustic Thing", which has yet to be elaborated on in official social media promotion. I believe I know who Benny is, but just in case, I won't make an assumption in case I'm incorrect.

Weather-wise, 9&10 News is calling for a high of 22° dipping to the mid teens on Saturday night, and there is a chance of showers in the afternoon, though they're not expected for most of the day (skies are projected to be mostly cloudy early and partly cloudy late). Note that 2023 Forest Stage performer and local magician Ryan McFarling will be back this weekend as a general performer on the festival grounds and does not have a formal timeslot, so keep an eye out for him! Even with no A Dire Setback this year, this year's Northern Vibe lineup is stacked, and after it briefly looked like last year's festival would be the final one, it's great to see everything back and in full swing for the tenth installment! This 19+ festival goes on rain or shine, and if you haven't bought your tickets yet, online sales closed yesterday, so you'll need to buy yours at the gate. The in-person rate isn't given online, but it will be higher than the advance fee was.

For reference, advance tickets cost $125 in advance (for the full weekend) and $80 (Saturday only; there were no Friday-only passes), and while Sunday is part of the schedule, that's strictly for campers to pack up and wrap up, there's no bands that day. There's a lot to take in off the grid once again this weekend, so visit the above links for full details on Northern Vibe in 2025, and for a Saturday preview, here's Don't Tell Sarah live! 

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

Bone Yard 225 Concert Previews, Northern Vibe Festival Lineup Updates, And More!!

This weekend's slate of hard rock concert previews is very quiet, possibly a calm after the storm (so to speak) following the Civic Holiday weekend. I had only seen publically advertised hard rock shows from two acts so far, and one has quietly been cancelled, as Tym Morrison is not playing at Beck's Bar tomorrow afternoon despite still advertising the matinee show on his own Facebook event page. Rather, former Soundcheck singer/guitarist Cameron Oliver has the honours as he continues his local farewell run before his teased move to Nashville. Keep that in mind for country fans, and while I don't know what happened with Tym's show there, he is scheduled to return to Beck's on September 28th, and he will be live again next week!

As such, here's this weekend's only known hard rock previews, as southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 have a split weekend with two very different shows, starting with their one-night-only return to Reggie's Place TONIGHT! After spending most of July on the road or at festivals, this will be their first show at the venerable Queen Street East nightclub since late June, and hopefully Greg, Alex, and Warren keep the good vibes going with this latest "sermon"! If you want to enjoy their southern fried rock covers (and three originals) indoors this weekend, this is your sole chance, as their concert on SATURDAY NIGHT is very different, namely their role as headliners of Algoma Tree Services' community meet & greet for a second straight year! After replacing Soundcheck as this event's featured act last year, your local 225 are back at the company's Goulais River headquarters on Saturday for this publically attendable event.

This annual event will feature a charity barbecue as well as a bonfire, a meet & greet with Algoma Tree Services staff, and family activities, so there will be a lot to take in! Like last year, classic rock veterans Angry Joe & The Growlers (who have been playing this event longer than Bone Yard) will open the proceedings at 1:30 PM before "the dirty three" headline at 7:00 PM. This is a free event at 1313 Haviland Shores Drive, and 9&10 News is currently calling for weather ranging from 25-29° tomorrow, with mostly cloudy skies. However, be advised that there is a 30% chance of rain during Bone Yard 225's scheduled 7:00-11:30 PM timeslot, so keep tabs on your preferred weather forecast for updates. Tonight's Reggie's show is at 9:30 PM with no cover charge and a 19+ age limit, and if you're curious, country music veteran Leslie Cook will be playing at Reggie's tomorrow night.

Visit the above links for more on both Bone Yard shows this weekend, and for a preview, here's a new video from their Kirkland Lake show to close last month's Stéphane Léveillé Memorial Poker Run there! Live-streamed by attendee Marcy Catherine (so you have until Wednesday to see it unless she converts it to a regular video) and shared to their Facebook page, this features the guys covering Golden Earring's "Radar Love" at their Royal Canadian Legion hall, and true to form for their live renditions, the 9:49 length is apt! Sadly, this video is vertical (let alone a now-time limited livestream), but Greg and crew are in fine rocking form in this rare stop at his hometown, and fans were definitely into it, so check everything out below!

Next up, here's some lineup clarifications for the Northern Vibe Festival's Forest Stage over the August 23rd weekend in nearby Ophir! First, regarding debuting local alternative/punk quartet Spun Out, I can confirm that their guitarist is Joe Skouris, a relative newcomer to local bands. Thanks to bassist Ryan Disano (an alum of Caveman Morrison like frontman Dean Duguay is) for confirming his identity with me earlier this week! As for the drummer, as best as I can tell, it's Disciples Of Rock/Stoned To Deaf alum Jamie Labreche behind the kit. Joe's an unknown yet, but this should be a solidly talented band, so keep them in mind in two weeks! The advertised Josh Norling Psycho Jazz Infusion have been renamed to The Josh Norling Quartet, with this promotional image from the festival's Facebook page confirming that they play jazz and standards, while downplaying the prior psycho branding. With they & SoundSxvad both getting fresh confirmations of their festival involvement this week, who is left?

Of the bands from April's tentative lineup, Northern Vibe organizers still have not plugged touring bands Hellrager and Don't Tell Sarah and locals Rob Speers, The CSWS Crew, and "Benny's Acoustic Thing" anew, so if Spun Out have replaced one of the five, we'll likely learn in due course based on who isn't freshly promoted with a new promotional picture or shared link (this is how the festival lineup was officially confirmed last year too, if not the days and timeslots until that week). Stay tuned for more when it rolls in!

Finally, here's a new jam session video from Sault Michigan hard rock/punk trio About:Blank's Facebook page in May! Apologies for the delay in this making the site, especially as it features the guys working on a new original song named "Why". This video isn't the easiest thing to watch for two reasons: non-ideal band member placement (we're staring behind Parker for most of it, who is completely obscuring Kade from view), and the baffling decision to upload this horizontal video into vertical letterboxed dimensions, rendering it tiny. How do so many bands upload videos like that? However, About:Blank sound good here, and Parker lets off some impressive screams late in this 72 second sampler, which kinda sounds grungier than I'm used to them sounding from prior videos. We still have (at least) two live concert videos of theirs to share in upcoming posts, but check out their "Why" jam for yourselves below!

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

Cory Marks Concert Videos & Northern Vibe Festival Lineup Updates!!

Before we begin this post, I wanted to apologize for missing a late concert cancellation on here, as classic/hard rock cover trio Dodge This dropped out of their planned Beck's Bar show on Saturday night. A reason for the cancellation wasn't announced, but Beck's Facebook page only confirmed the news at 10:00 PM that night, after the show was to have began. Hopefully all is well in Dodge This' camp, and that we see them again on stage soon!

Today's post otherwise takes us to updates on an upcoming concert festival, but first, here's some long overdue videos from North Bay country/hard rock musician Cory Marks' last two shows here! This first one is actually from his Machine Shop gig in September of last year, and I think this one slipped me by until now because it was uploaded as a "Shorts" video (a.k.a. YouTube "Reels"). While it is brief and vertical, at least you can embed it on external websites and play it in a background tab! This actually comes from the YouTube channel of Ben Bullett Mortlock, who was a session guitarist in Cory's live band, and it features 56 seconds of footage from that night, including arrival at the venue, and black & white soundcheck clips. All of this is set to the studio version of Cory's song "Whiskey For Sale". I say this a lot for highlight videos, but I hope the raw footage of this gets uploaded at some point!

Beyond my usual complaints about vertically framed videos, the quality of the video footage here is great (I couldn't tell you if the audio matches up), with lots of strong angles of the band, venue, and fans, so hopefully someone is sitting on the fuller (and maybe not vertical) raw materials? Kudos to Ben for this "Short" regardless, so give it a watch below!

Next up, let's transition to Cory's third local concert, a special acoustic event at the Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre in June as part of the Hope Air Day charity initiative for improving remote health care access in northern communities. This intimate event (which had free admission) was actually live-streamed by the Hope Air Facebook page, but alas, I wasn't able to cover it here as hoped due to our busy existing summer schedule. Facebook now has a 30 day time limit for hosting and viewing live-streamed videos, unless they're re-uploaded or converted to regular videos prior, which Hope Air did not do for the Cory Marks concert here, so it vanished from Facebook around July 6th. We're not completely stuck in terms of covering it now though, as attendee DJ Chris Mat uploaded two videos from that night to his YouTube channel! One is of local folk musician Matthew James, who replaced The Dust Covers on short notice for unannounced reasons as the opening act.

Cory's 1:41-long video features him covering Bryan Adams' "Cuts Like A Knife", another good sign towards his country/rock crossover appeal if you weren't familiar with his rock radio crossover singles already. I get the sense that Chris zoomed in a lot, but you see what you need to see for Cory's one man performance here, and he sounds good on this domestic rock classic, so give it a look below, and apologies again for not being able to cover the full live-streamed concert in time! Hope Air is a great charity, and I hope the local festivities helped their goals and promotion in the area! 

Lastly for today, here's some clarifications and updates re: the lineup for the Northern Vibe Festival in Ophir over the August 23rd weekend! Like last year, organizers are posting individual promotional images for the musical performers on their Facebook page on a sporadic basis, and one is a brand new addition to the lineup, namely debuting alt-rock/punk quartet Spun Out! Confirmed for the festival on July 11th, the band features former Caveman Morrison vocalist Dean Duguay and former Half Past/Winkstinger bassist Ryan Disano, alongside a guitarist named Joe and a drummer named Jamie. I am not 100% on their identities, not aided by the lack of an online page, let alone the horror movie effects on their first band photo, but it will be neat to hear how they sound! I don't know who, if anyone, Spun Out are replacing at Northern Vibe, but seven of the Forest Stage bands on the tentative April lineup have yet to get a Facebook promotional image at press time.

Regarding the advertised Tool tribute band, they are not a Parabol reunion, nor are they even local. They are Avessel, a joint Tool/A Perfect Circle tribute band from Sudbury, who will be making their local concert debut off Poplardale Road in three weeks. Avessel don't have a website or social media page beyond Instagram, but what I have heard points to a strong take on songs from Maynard James Keenan-fronted bands, so don't bypass them! Lastly for updates on advertised bands, the rap performance by Soundsxvad isn't a renaming of Fvksxvad, rather a one-night-only merger of MCs from that collective as well as Sound Syndrome. Apologies for any confusion from our initial coverage of this year's lineup, and thanks to members for clarifying on Facebook! Time will tell if there any other lineup adjustments, so stay tuned for more updates on the lineup and who exactly is playing on what day when things come out, and we will keep you posted!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Unfortunate Sun) And More Weekend Concert Previews!!

Before we begin this preview post, just a heads up that I'm not covering tomorrow's ARCH Bucket List Ball in this weekend's previews. The hospice charity event at The Machine Shop (which was to feature Bookclub as musical entertainment) is no longer listed on the venue's events page, nor has it been promoted on social media remotely recently by organizers or Bookclub, so I am assuming that it was quietly cancelled. Disappointing news, but support ARCH where you can, and as we continue this weekend's hard rock concert previews, there is a Sault Michigan hospice fundraiser tomorrow that you shouldn't bypass! Here's what you should know!

Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Unfortunate Sun will return to the stage TOMORROW NIGHT at The Merchants Bar, but they also have some newly confirmed dates to note on here! The Fake Chow successors revealed shows of theirs into early 2025 via this concert calendar poster on their Facebook page earlier today, and while we knew about their fall dates in Rudyard and Hessel already (including that pre-Thanksgiving Wednesday nighter at The Islander Bar), the winter show are new to us. On Saturday, December 14th, the guys are slated to return to The Merch for one night only, and they'll also return to the downtown Soo staple over the International 500 snowmobile race weekend on Friday, January 30th & Saturday, February 1st! I don't know if these shows are officially tied to the I-500 or not (their past pub crawls acknowledged), but playing gigs with all these people in town for that weekend is never a bad idea!

Long before then, Unfortunate Sun will bring their proficient hard rock cover attack to The Merch for the first time tomorrow, so keep this show in mind if you want to enjoy some solid local musicians! All four of their scheduled Merch shows have presumed 9:00 PM start times, 21+ age limits, and no cover charges. Visit tomorrow's official Facebook event page and the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Unfortunate Sun live!

Next up, if you do want to see live rock music while supporting a local hospice, you should consider coming to Sault Michigan to see hard rock sextet Exit 808 live as the headliners of A Night Of Music TOMORROW NIGHT at Three One Three On Ashmun! Tomorrow's fundraiser is in support of the Hospice of the EUP, and they're just as deserving of support from the community as ARCH is on the Canadian side of the border, so don't bypass this event for the musical and charitable sides of it! Exit 808 will be headlining at the former Back Door alongside three acoustic solo musicians, namely Gabe Menard, country veteran Paul Perry, and Project 906 frontman Billy Bernier (no word on if this will basically be an unplugged 906 set or if he spreads his wings moreso). Presented by Team Century 21 (who are also supporting the Hospice of the EUP during next month's Dancing With The Stars fundraiser), A Night Of Music has a 7:00 PM start time, 21+ age limit, and $10 cover charge.

Note that it is still not clear which of the three distinct stages inside Three One Three will be hosting this event, but it should be a great time for fans of live local music in the E.U.P., and hopefully Exit 808 will end things with a bang and help raise lots of money for the hospice in the process! Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's a new Facebook video of Exit 808 live at The Rapids Lounge at the local Kewadin Casino last month! The video sees them covering Skid Row's "18 & Life" with Amy Beach on lead vocals and Dillion Semasky backing. It's very fuzzy visually, but at least it's horizontal with clear audio, and the cover isn't badly handled, so give it a watch/listen below!

We'll close this preview post with our extended preview of tomorrow's big metal concert at Soo Blaster in Sault Ontario, which will mark the rebirth of promoters Heavy North Entertainment after a seven year hiatus! For their first show back, they're bringing a very Oddfellows Hall-esque lineup to the stage, and it will be toplined by Toronto melodic death metal quintet Selias in their local debut! Readers should recognize Selias drummer Tyler "Jeeb" Reiner from multiple past local stops with Caym and the Soo's half-own Spades GT, so it will be neat to see him in town for the first time since the Josey Scott concert in August of last year, let along with a much more brutal sound! Note that ex-Spades bassist James Roy Daley also left Selias in July. Barrie blackened death metal trio Out Of Spite will also make their local concert debut as the co-headliners tomorrow night, and their in-your-face original extreme metal onslaught should make lots of fans as well!

Six diverse local bands will open tomorrow's concert, including alt-punk trio A Dire Setback (last seen opening for The Damn Truth at Soo Blaster earlier this month), hard rock quartet Half Past (in their first of two Soo Blaster dates this fall), and the Sault Ste. Marie debut of The Sault Side Squad, the online page-less supergroup that debuted at the all-local metal show in Leeburn in July. New local death metal quartet Bardo will also make their first live appearance here, succeeding frontman/promoter Tyler St. Amour's briefly revived band Them in the process. Bass-less teasers of their more technical sound have been featured on their Facebook page, but how will this union of Fountain of Betrayal and March Into Regression alumni come together in 2024? Grindcore solo project Crucify The Whore (a regular at H.N.E. shows in the 2010s) will also play a rare live concert set tomorrow night as well, so prepare yourselves!

Finally, ex-Winkstinger guitarist Jason Ladouceur's long-gestating rap metal project Without Compromise are slated to open tomorrow night. I am way past overdue to talk about the former Less Than Zero more on the SMS, but it'll be interesting to see how Jason (and crew?) sound live! Tickets for this ALL AGES show run for $15, and can be bought via most of the local bands, at Soo Blaster, The Rad Zone, Rest In Pieces Tattoo Studio nearby, or online at this link, and presumably at the door. Given that there are eight bands playing tomorrow, doors open at 5:00 PM. If you miss the 2010s death metal Oddfellows Hall shows, you will not want to miss this one, so visit the Facebook event page for more details, and here's Selias live!

That's all for now, but stay tuned tomorrow for the Dany Laj/Handsome Sandwich concert preview, that new concert coming to the Soo next year, and more! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Selias & Wax Mannequin!!)

Now that we have escaped four posts of weekend concert previews and gotten this month's Defunct Local Band Profile up on schedule, let's start playing catch-up for the items that lapsed during the past few days and beyond, and we'll start with two big LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, so here's what you should know on this Sunday afternoon!

Eighteen days after their well received local return at "Adrian's House", Hamilton "weird folk art punk" solo project Wax Mannequin will return to the Soo on their way back home when they headline at The Whisky Barrel on Sunday, August 25th! It's been a while since we've heard about a concert at the Gore Street nightclub, let alone one with a touring band, but stay tuned for an even bigger outlier there in an upcoming post! Chris Adeney's creative and genre-fluid originals got a solid reception in their relocated return date this past Wednesday, and now setting up shop at a proper downtown venue again, hopefully there's a good crowd to see Wax Mannequin in action once again in two weeks, in spite of also being on a work/school night! Yes, promoters Piecing It Together Shows did post photos from the show on Wednesday on Facebook, albeit solely as "Stories", so they are impossible to share here.

What I saw pointed to a well laid out locale in this downtown backyard with string lighting, but alas, "Stories" can only be viewed once or twice before vanishing forever, and I really have never seen the point of the conceit. Wax Mannequin's return has a 19+ age limit, no cover (thought tips are welcome), and an 8:00 PM start time. It's not unheard of, but certainly not common, to see out-of-town musicians play the Soo going both directions on tour, so if you enjoyed Wax Mannequin on Wednesday or are sad that you missed out, take advantage of the encore! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details on this concert!

Next up, a big extreme metal show was announced last week that was announced as we was beginning that busy stretch of weekend concert previews, so what should you know here? On Saturday, September 28th, Toronto melodic death metal quintet Selias will make their local concert debut when they headline at Soo Blaster! A relatively new band, Selias (named for guitarist Steve Elias) do feature two familiar faces, as Spades GT bassist & drummer James Roy Daley & Tyler Reiner are in their ranks, so if you've missed them locally since the Josey Scott show last summer, keep this in mind! Granted, Selias are much heavier with harsh vocals and an assortment of extreme metal influences, and they'll definitely get the pit opened up next month! Note that Spades guitarist Daniel Horton guested on bass for a recent Selias gig in Toronto too, and yes, we will have more on recent Spades GT news soon.

Joining Selias on tour are Barrie blackened death metal trio Out Of Spite in their own local debut, and while also relatively new to the GTA metal scene, their intense and distorted brand of in-your-face death metal should be welcomed by local metalheads with open arms! A healthy & diverse roster of local openers includes alt-punk trio A Dire Setback (in their second Soo Blaster show in under two weeks), hard rock quartet Half Past (in their Soo Blaster debut and their first multi-band concert since Hempfest in 2011), new & online page-less hardcore quintet The Sault Side Squad (as seen in Leeburn last month), and grindcore solo project Crucify The Whore, who have only been seen sparingly at public concerts post-pandemic, so it'll be good for old Blood Shed diehards to see Tyler back at a formal public stage! Also returning next month are local death metal/punk band Them in their first public concert set in over seven years!

Singer/guitarist Tyler St. Amour (who is promoting this concert in his first full booking since relaunching his agency Heavy North Entertainment) had announced last month that Them had reunited with a four-piece lineup and "a list of brutal original works", but they have yet to reveal who is joining Tyler in the new lineup. For reference, current HeadFirst drummer Anthony Boudreau was a constant during their original 2014-2017 run, and while they did have stints as a four-piece band, they were best known at the time as a duo. It's great to see Tyler back as a promoter and musician after seven years away, so stay tuned for more on Them 2.0, and they're back in our active band links! The other band playing next month is Without Compromise, the rap metal project formerly known as Less Than Zero, In The Sun, and Failure To Remain, as continuously led by former Winkstinger guitarist Jason Ladouceur.

It's been way too long since we've talked about Jason's current project on the SMS, so look for more on them on the site soon, as he has been quite busy, but it will be neat to see him back on a concert stage, though in what form? This ALL AGES show has doors opening at 5:00 PM, and admission will be $15, though they are on sale for $10 online on Eventbrite right now, so click here to buy yours in advance! No word on if the price would be hiked at the door. If you have missed a very Oddfellowsy night of extreme metal and local talent, this show should fill the void very nicely, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and stay tuned for more news and notes on the site this week! Thanks everyone!

Details On Brand New Albums From Spades GT & Jonesy Land!!

Today's post is devoted to two brand new album releases from this week, both from punk-adjacent acts led by very familiar faces, so here's what you should know about each one before you give them a whirl!

Online page-less local folk/punk solo project Jonesy Land's debut album "Zoom - Out" was released as planned on Wednesday, so what should you know here? Recorded at Mission Control Studios and released through Tidal Records, the album was mixed by Kyle Whittaker at Strange Pumpkin Studios in St. Catharines. This is the first completed album from veteran local musician Dustin Jones since his non-local punk supergroup The Conspirators' self-titled 2020 album, though three standalone Jonesy Land songs were put out in 2021 & 2022 which are not on "Zoom - Out". SooToday's Chris Belsito spotlighted Jonesy Land and the album in this article from Wednesday, where Dustin noted his songwriting process as he gets older, the recording process, inspirations for the songs & themes therein, how the album name was conceived, and much more, and it's a good read to see how everything came together over the last few months!

Notably, Dustin co-produced the album with Lake Effect frontman Frank Deresti, who appears throughout. The final album cover can be seen above, following lots of promotional images that turned out to be just that and not the final product. The Indiana Jones font is timed well to both match Dustin's last name and the release of Dial of Destiny later this month! Eight songs made the cut for "Zoom - Out", which is described as "a singer-songwriter record" focusing primarily on more mature, folk-leaning styles with less of a punk or drinking song influence compared to his prior local band work ("Moral Blackout" and Jonesy Land's mid-2021 live dates acknowledged). Frank aside, guest appearances on the album include singer Shannon Moan on "Keep Trying" (not "Old Man", as it turns out), and Dustin's Bookclub bandmates Al Watson (drums) on "Ode To The Boys" and Erin Antonello (trumpet) on "Superior Sons".

Surprisingly, Dustin's old Surfers and Tide bandmates do not appear, at least not publically. You can now stream "Zoom - Out" in full on Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music, and Amazon, among other sites. Yes, you can buy the album through Amazon and Apple on mp3, with Amazon copies running for $9.49. Be advised that this image shows a lot of website/application logos, implying that the album is available on hosts like TikTok, Snapchat, and Twitch, so take that with a grain of salt. Personal Facebook postings suggest that bigger plans are afoot for the release beyond just dropping online, but I'll wait for public word on that front. With new albums from No Funeral and Handsome Sandwich beating it to market, I have "Zoom - Out" pencilled in for an August review on the SMS, but buy or stream it at the above links, and check out the new lyric video for "Old Man" courtesy of Tidal Records' YouTube channel below! Uploaded on Tuesday, the video was made by Loathing Hearts Productions.

Without reviewing the song (I'll hold comment until August), the video features slowly rotating images and scenes of musicians and beachfront scenery, with some of the latter being familiar from social media teasers for the album. Well made and nicely layered, so give the video a watch below, and stay tuned for more from Jonesy Land soon, especially if they finally launch a social media page beyond Dustin's personal Instagram page. Alas, Bookclub and The Cover-Up don't have one (yet) either, but neither of them have a brand new album to hype up!

Finally for today's post, another new punk-related local album was released as promised earlier today, namely local/Barrie crossover thrash quintet Spades GT's studio album "Sewer City Radio"! While the local press hasn't as big for this one yet (moving to Barrie arguably didn't help in that respect), you can now stream the eight included songs on Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music, and Amazon Music, possibly among other services. Oddly, there's no visible sale point through Amazon, but the album is on sale through iTunes for $7.92, which is the same price as "Zoom - Out" there. Released through bassist James Roy Daley's imprint Books Of The Dead Press, this is Spades' first album since the former Jack Spades took part in 2015's "Fed Up!" split, and their first album with every band member aside from frontman J.D. Pearce. No word yet on the music video for "Final Girl", but you can hear the studio copy below while you wait!

Guest appearances come from guitarist Daniel Horton's Fast Life bandmate Andrew Moorehouse on "XS" and Anvil frontman Steve "Lips" Kudlow on a yet-specified song (though you can easily pick it out once you hear it). No word yet on the teased physical release of the album, but if ready, your first chance to buy it in the Soo will likely be at the Josey Scott's Saliva concert in three weeks. I'll hold comment on the album for now pending our planned review of "Sewer City Radio" in September, but buy or stream the whole thing above and below, and stay tuned for this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post on the site next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (The Wyld Stallyns & Soundcheck), Plus Jonesy Land Updates!!

This weekend is shaping up to be relatively quiet as heavier bands go (it being the Easter long weekend doesn't help), but we do have LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS to address, including SHORT NOTICE ones for this weekend, plus updates on an upcoming punk album. With all of that said, here's what you should know!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to Shooters Downstairs Lounge for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT, as well as a standard concert at Jay's Piston Broke Pub TONIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the Shooters gigs were only announced via the venue's Facebook event pages (linked here & here) on Saturday, while TONIGHT'S show at Jay's was only confirmed on the band's Facebook page yesterday. Yes, TONIGHT is typically jam night hosted by Soundcheck at the former Reggie's West, and while the band explicitly said that jam night is cancelled this week, they said that they were still playing a normal concert there TONIGHT. Why, I have no clue, but keep in mind that singer/guitarist Cameron Oliver doesn't typically take part in jam nights, so if this is a traditional cover gig for Soundcheck, will the full lineup be present TONIGHT?

With the debuting Generations playing at Jay's this weekend, Soundcheck will return to Shooters TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT for their first gigs there since mid-February, so whether you're available on a Thursday night TONIGHT or want to head downtown over the weekend, Soundcheck's hard & classic rocking party covers should be an apt soundtrack! Expect 9:00 PM start times, no cover charges, and 19+ age limits across the board. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Soundcheck live!

Next up, while this is another quiet heavier concert weekend, there is more on the horizon at Shooters, and as the above poster indicates, local funk/hard rock cover sextet The Wyld Stallyns are returning there for one night only on Friday, April 21st! This show comes less than a month after The Stallyns' last appearance at the Dennis Street nightclub, and it should be another fine opportunity for fans to take in their crowd friendly & often heavy array of covers, so don't miss the Speers' and company then! Like on March 25th, this is a one-nighter, this time due to or resulting in pop rock cover band L!me's show there on Saturday the 26th. Like with Soundcheck above, The Wyld Stallyns will be on at 9:00 PM on the 21st with no cover charge and a 19+ age limit. Should be a good time for fans, "no repeat" theme or not, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and stay tuned for more updates!

Let's close with some overdue updates (as far as normal SMS posts go) on online page-less local punk/folk solo project Jonesy Land's upcoming debut album "Zoom - Out"! While project leader Dustin Jones has posted a lot about the album on his personal Facebook page, public updates have been limited to teasers on his label Tidal Records' Facebook page as of late. On February 21st there, Dustin shared a "Reel" of local folk musician Shannon Moan tracking vocals for an unidentified song from "Zoom - Out", complete with lyrics for her verses on the screen. I can't embed "Reels" here, but it's nicely sung and it'll be interesting to hear how Shannon factors into the full track! Dustin has previously said that Jonesy Land has a fluid come-and-go musician makeup, and while a guest list isn't out yet, note that aside from "Sunshine Parades", their initial singles had credited guest bassists & drummers.

Note that there is a picture on Dustin's personal Facebook page showing what appear to be eight song titles for "Zoom - Out" (if accurate, the one with Shannon is named "Old Man"), though note that the project's initial three original songs are not among them. Regardless, the image is not public (yet?), but if you are Dustin's friend on Facebook, you can see it thusly. On March 29th, another "Reel" (cross-posted from Dustin's personal TikTok page) revealed that "Zoom - Out" will be released on Wednesday, May 31st (my birthday!) and features a very Tool-ish image set to a new song clip, likely "Shine On" if the image with the track listing is anything to go by. I'll hold comments on the sample pending our eventual review of the whole album, but it is a folksier song on average. Interesting stuff all around, and while I again can't embed "Reels", follow Jonesy Land above to see how "Zoom - Out" is coming together!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Tarnished & Tym Morrison), Slumshine/Ghostly Hounds Preview, And More!!

Before we begin today's post, yet another concert cancellation to take note of, this time for a short notice gig we hadn't yet covered on the SMS. Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck were supposed to return to the A&W at 659 Great Northern Road tomorrow as part of the planned Cruisin' The Dub charity car show, but it was reportedly cancelled due to tomorrow's poor weather forecast, as per drummer Glen Thomas' personal Facebook page. Truth be told, 9&10 News are currently calling for thunderstorms all day, so clearly this is a "better safe than sorry" approach, especially given how Soundcheck were rained out after an hour the last time they played an A&W car show gig.

Look for Soundcheck back on stage next week, but as for today's post, we have the rest of this weekend's hard rock concert previews (one being a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT), and we'll start there, as local acoustic classic/hard rock musician Tym Morrison will return to Reggie's Place on Queen Street East for a matinee concert TOMORROW! Apologies for the short notice, Tym only announced this show via its Facebook event page earlier today. If you want an indoor respite for some live cover action on TOMORROW, this will do the trick, with this being Tym's first announced show since his apparent 2022 finale at The Mike Case Memorial Stage last week. Should be a solid concert for fans of his unplugged classic and hard rock covers, so don't miss this Sunday matinee despite the late notice! This show has a 3:00 PM start time, no cover charge, and a 19+ age limit. See above for more details, and here's Tym live!

Next up, here's one more LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for later this month, as Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Tarnished will make their debut at Northern Light Cannabis Co.(?!) in nearby Dafter on Friday, September 30th! Not every day you hear of a local band playing at a marijuana dispensary, but this is hardly a new proposition for Tarnished, who had previously planned to play there back in July, only for the show to be cancelled without ever being 100% publically finalized. How a live band will go over at Northern Light (Michigan's first tribally-owned provisioning center) is to be determined, but the show coincides with the dispensary's Fire Up Fridaze events, including an open consumption lounge, board games, and product discounts. Located at 2736 West M-28 in Dafter (15 minutes south of the Soo) this 21+ event has no cover charge, and I'm unsure when exactly Tarnished's set begins given the event timeframe of 12:00-8:00 PM.

That seems inflated to match the Fire Up Fridaze timeframe, and Tarnished's solo gigs usually have them blocked for four hours, so I'd expect this to be a 4:00 PM matinee, but we'll let you know if that was an incorrect guess. Given the venue, this show will surely play more towards active marijuana users than people who don't partake, but it'll definitely be a unique locale for Tarnished's hard rocking covers & originals at month's end, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details!

Back to Sault Ontario now for one last weekend concert preview, this time with plenty of advance notice, as local acoustic punk solo project Slumshine will open for British Columbia folk solo project Ghostly Hounds at Dryer Fire's temporary rental venue at 285 Wilson Street TONIGHT! This is effectively a sequel to a September 2017 concert that both acts played at the former Gore Street Cafe, so it is neat to see Brent and Francesca pairing up on a local stage with Nicole promoting once again! Unlike there, Ghostly Hounds are a solo act now, and their darker, highly personal brand of folk rock should fit the Dryer Fire oeuvre well tonight! Slumshine had just returned to the stage for the first time in well over two years at the Sault Ste. Marie Museum during Fringe North, but attendance was highly restricted over pandemic safeguards there, so hopefully Brent's ski mask-clad originals find a solid audience here!

Tonight's all ages concert has a 7:00 PM start time, and admission runs for $15 in advance at this link or $20 at the door (a sharp increase from 2017, where it was a $10 or "pay what you can" affair). Not the heaviest show out there, but Ghostly Hounds honest and affecting originals and Slumshine's unplugged punk stylings should keep Wilson Street rocking tonight, so visit the Facebook event page for more details, and here's Slumshine live!

Finally for today, here's the latest from revived local hard rock quartet Half Past! After seven months of public dormancy aside from a couple of picture uploads, they posted the Facebook video embedded below on August 28th, giving us our first new audio of the band's current lineup, here covering Chevelle's "Joyride (Omen)". It's not an overly polished cover, but Jordan Rains handles the vocals well, and new drummer Jamie Labreche fits in throughout! Nice hearing a local band covering Chevelle too, you don't see them tackled a lot. Be advised that a Facebook page surfaced last week for a different band featuring Jamie and bassist Arthur Lacasse named Fade Out, with them joined by singer Drew Borchardt and former Fitswitch guitarist Lee Slater. That band's Facebook page was launched after the Half Past video went online, so I don't know if Fade Out is an entirely separate project or if Art & Jamie left.

In any event, Fade Out played a private event earlier this month where they covered Weezer's "Say It Ain't So", with Jamie using his Half Past (or "Past Half") drumkit for the gig, and the video is up to watch. Not a bad rendition! Again, no word on what Fade Out's existence means for Half Past, let alone if Fade Out lean heavier in their set, but get the early details above, and give Half Past's Chevelle cover a listen below!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (FireHouse, Havadder, and Tym Morrison), And Canada Day Concert Previews!!

For our last post of the month of June 2016, we're tackling concert previews for this Canada Day weekend largely, including SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, but we also have additional shows for later this month from one act playing this weekend, and enough details on a big August show to call it for our listings, so here's what you should know!

With a new month drawing near, we'll add Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison's July slate of acoustic solo concerts at Gliss Steak & Seafood to our concert listings, starting with shows TOMORROW & SATURDAY! Apologies for the short notice on this weekend's gigs, we were waiting for public confirmation of the July dates in his ongoing weekly arrangement with Gliss, which came via this weekend's Facebook event page. As usual when approaching this long-term run of shows, we've added Tym's presumed remaining July shows as well, so look for him at The Quality Inn's house restaurant as well on July 10th & 11th, 17th & 18th, and 24th & 25th for three more full weekends of unplugged classics! You can check out Tym's solo matinee concerts each Friday & Saturday this month (including TOMORROW & THIS SATURDAY) at 6:00 PM each, with no announced age limits or cover charges. For more details, see the above links, and here's Tym live!



Next up, local classic/hard rock cover trio Havadder will return to The Rockstar Bar for one night only THIS SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the band only announced the show via the official Facebook event page yesterday. Seen less frequently this year than we have in the past, this will be Jason, Travis, and Scott's first concert in about a month, and just their fourth of the year, all at The Rockstar Bar. Of course we've seen 2/3rds of Havadder recently with The 3 Day Millionaires, but if you miss Havadder's blend of classic and hard rock covers, be at The Rockstar Bar THIS SATURDAY! Note that this is a one nighter due to a previously announced Canada Day concert tomorrow by country rock cover band The Ride (formerly The Border City Band), whose current lineup notably features ex-Havadder drummer T.J. Case. Admission for SATURDAY is likely free, there is a 10:30 PM start time in effect, and you must be 19 to attend. See above for more details, and here's Havadder live!



Before we round out this weekend's previews, here's one more new concert announcement, as we now have fuller details regarding Superior Entertainment's previously announced FireHouse concert on Saturday, August 6th in Sault Michigan, so where is it being held? Outdoors, behind Moloney's Alley, the Irish pub at 227 West Portage Avenue, which is just seconds down the road from The Satisfied Frog. Moloney's Alley isn't a frequent sight for hard rock concerts in the area, but it's great of them to host this huge outdoor show! In the event of rain, promoters will apparently "work with Kewadin (Casino) as a back up venue", even though The Dreammaker's Theater has a British Legends tribute show that night, but details would be fleshed out if need be. As for the lineup, North Carolina glam metal veterans FireHouse will of course headline in their third local concert appearance, while Saginaw rap rock band Redburn and Rochester, New York post-hardcore band Lights Out Paris will also return to the Soo as featured acts.

The show will apparently be an all-day event starting at 12:00 PM and ending at 8:00 PM, and "many more acts" are to be announced, so we'll let you know when they're confirmed! This Downtown Days event (which isn't being advertised as a sequel to last summer's Superior Festival) will be ALL AGES, and tickets are now available online at this link for $25, while children 14 and under can get in for $15, and babies 2 years and under will get free admission, though I can't confirm if you can get tickets at Moloney's Alley or not. It's great to see a huge summer concert event in Sault Michigan, in what has otherwise been a quiet stretch, so see above, click here, and stay tuned for continued details on this huge show!

Finally for today's previews, here's the biggest show of the Canada Day weekend in Sault Ontario, as Abbotsford, B.C. power pop/punk quartet Hedley will headline at The Yard at 75 Huron Street for a huge outdoor show TOMORROW NIGHT in the first half of the venue's Canada Day Kicker! This will be Hedley's first local concert appearance since headlining at The Essar Center in the fall of 2010, and with hits like "She's So Sorry", "Crazy For You", and "On My Own" in their repertoire, the Juno Award winners' diverse and fan friendly hits should attract a huge audience tomorrow! All-female Toronto indie rock quartet The Beaches are joining them on tour as openers with their poppy and skilled originals, while local/Toronto Celtic punk quartet Dustin Jones & The Rising Tide will play their first local concert of 2016 to kick things off, and it'll be great to see them back on a local stage! For what it's worth, Dustin's personal Facebook posts for the show have tagged Mikey Hawdon in them, who is the band's most recent permanent drummer, but hasn't played with the band in their recent shows.

Nothing has been publically confirmed otherwise regarding who'll be behind the kit tomorrow, but be there to find out! Notably the first concert of any kind since The Tech bought The Yard from the Mill Square developers, this half of the Canada Day Kicker will be complimented by Saturday's Kira Isabella show, which should be entertaining for country & pop fans! This ALL AGES event has gates opening at 6:00 PM, with tickets going for $59.89, plus extra VIP & dual show passes from $82,49 & up, so click here to get yours online! Hedley are a huge attraction for pop and punk fans, and this should be a big hit, so see above for more details, and here they are live in the Soo!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes next month! Thanks everyone!