LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Quite Frankly, Generations, And Viscera) And More Recent Updates!!

As my Rotaryfest review will be quite long, here's a news post to fill some time while that gets written, and it includes LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS and some other shorter updates, so here's what you should know!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations have announced their August concert calendar via their Facebook group this past Wednesday! After opting to take July off (with a Jus' Chillin reunion gig and Pierre playing with Mudfoot Mike & The Muckrakers at Rotaryfest Stage 2 in the interim), Generations will return to action on Saturday, August 1st at Gateway Casino, in their first concert there in almost two months, with said gig falling on the Civic Holiday long weekend for many. Valerie, Joe, Pierre, and Tony will pack their bags for The Water Tower Pub (the site of their most recent concert) on Saturday, August 8th for another one-nighter, and they'll end the month at Reggie's Place on Friday, August 28th & Saturday, August 29th. Surprisingly, these will be their first Reggie's stops in over a year (and thusly their first there with Joe Miller on guitar), so if you're a fan of this downtown staple, keep this full weekend in mind for your concert planning!

The classic and hard rock covers will be flowing at all four of these 19+ gigs, none of which have an announced cover charge, and while the first two are 8:00 PM shows, the Reggie's weekend starts at 9:30 PM. Good to see Generations back at it, so visit the above links for more details!

Next up, fellow local classic/hard rock cover quartet Quite Frankly will make their debut appearance at Outspoken Brewing on Friday, August 14th! Fresh off of their Rotaryfest debut on Friday (fallout forthcoming), this rare double header weekend for Linsaey, Frank, Harley, and Joe will see them kick things off at the 350 Queen Street East microbrewery and nightclub, which only infrequently hosts concerts. Street parties aside, we last caught wind of a hard rock or punk concert there when Dos Amigos played there in May of last year. It's an intimate spot that is arguably better suited to acoustic artists, but hopefully there's a strong turnout for Quite Frankly downtown next month! If you can't make that date, they will return to the aforementioned Gateway Casino the following night. The Outspoken show on the 14th is at 9:00 PM (only for two hours at that) with a 19+ age limit and no announced cover. Visit the above links for more on Quite Frankly's upcoming dates!

Also newly announced is a new fall date from Sault Michigan hardcore punk trio Viscera, who will return to the basement of Pizza Hut on Saturday, September 26th! Unlike recent shows at the 225 Ashmun Street restaurant space, this show is a presentation of Viscera's new in-house promotion agency Soo Tang Records, and like their Three One Three show next month, they are the advertised headliners. The concert will see Marquette "ghostcore" band Particle Thrower open in their local debut, returning the favour after Viscera open for them in Marquette on August 1st. Their sound and imagery lean heavily into the original Ghostbusters movie, at least so far, so that will be a fun pull beyond their hard hitting brand of metalcore in two months' time! At least one more band is to be announced. This concert has an 18+ age limit and a 7:00 PM start time, but admission fees have not been announced yet.

The increase in eclectic original concerts in the E.U.P. in the past year has been very welcomed, and Viscera are making solid waves with their brutal genre mix, so visit Viscera's Instagram page for more details on this intriguing concert, and to get details on how to get their debut EP on CD!

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

 

• In a minor spring cleaning note, these are songs recently seen in Facebook "Story" videos posted by band or venue that I was able to see, but alas, not feature here due to their self-destructing nature after one or two views: Bone Yard 225 covering The Marshall Tucker Band's "Can't You See" at their last "uncorked" gig at Beck's Bar, Silent 9 covering DNCE's "Cake By The Ocean" and Elton John's "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting" at The Esquire Club in May, and TNT (Travis Sharpe n' Terry Eaton) covering Dishwalla's "Counting Blue Cars" and Kim Mitchell's "Patio Lanterns" at Beck's last month. I strongly dislike "Stories", but these are setlist hints!
• If you're wondering who The Korner Monsters (the mystery band at this weekend's ARCH Run) are, they are actually a reunion of a local rock band from the 1990s featuring prolific local drummer and Rising Tide alum Chris Johns on guitar. Kudos to him for confirming some details about this band, but will anything extra public come out about them? Stay tuned for our preview of the ARCH Run later this week for more on the festivities in any event!
• New local alt-hard rock band Riverside Stasis will be parting ways with guitarist Liam Dinsmore following this weekend's ARCH Run and Blaster Powerhouse concerts, as per their Facebook page earlier today. A reason for Liam's impending exit wasn't announced, but things are 100% amicable, and it comes off to me like he's moving out of town, but don't take that as gospel. Liam had joined this new band alongside Raine & Anthony when HeadFirst disbanded earlier this year, and while not the loudest or most front-facing member of either band, he is a talented musician that will be an asset at whatever comes next! See him off in style this weekend!

 

That's all for now, but stay tuned for our Rotaryfest review and more on the site soon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Bone Yard 225 & Oktoberfest) And More Weekend Concert Previews!!

Let's keep the weekend concert previews rolling on this Thursday evening with more concert action in downtown Sault Ste. Marie, particularly from two concurrent outdoor community festivals promoted by local breweries. One is a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, and we have more new dates to touch on, so here's what you should know for concert preview post #2!

Make it two Oktoberfests that local alternative/punk cover supergroup Bookclub are playing at this fall, as they have been added to the lineup for SATURDAY'S Outspoken Brewing-hosted Oktoberfest street party on Queen Street East! Apologies for the short notice, the band was only confirmed for the festivities on Outspoken's Facebook page on Monday (they were obviously the "more TBA" when the brewery first announced the street party on September 4th, and there are no other punk/hard rock-leaning bands scheduled). Still riding the momentum from the Forever Seger concert earlier this month, BookcluB should be a fine and crowd pleasing fit on Queen Street (closed between Elgin and Bruce) on SATURDAY evening, so don't miss this stacked sextet then! It is worth noting that guitarist Brandon Ruch was present with the band at Forever Seger despite his announced move to Barrie, and he is pictured in the Oktoberfest advertising.

I don't know what's Brandon's status with BookcluB is going forward, but we'll let you know when/if we learn who was playing guitar with Mikey and crew on SATURDAY! BookcluB are slotted in the middle on SATURDAY at 5:30 PM, with local DJ/EDM duo Flummoxx closing the festivities at 10:30 PM, and indie rock quartet Lucy's Diner (the former Hollow Heads) scheduled in between at 8:00 PM. Local polka band Nein German Guys (who are also playing at Soo Falls' Oktoberfest at The Machine Shop with BookcluB on October 18th) will keep the Oktoberfest vibes rolling at 3:00 PM, and the day begins with folk singer/guitarist and Dustcovers member Tom Peer at 2:00 PM. Beyond the music, there will be lots of games and competitions (with prizes) to take in, plus food, beer (as you'd expect), vendors, and more German-flavoured entertainment, so definitely visit Outspoken Brewing's Facebook page for full details on SATURDAY'S events!

Tickets run for $30 at this link (plus processing fees) and presumably at the gate on SATURDAY. Weather-wise, 9&10 News is calling for a high of 19° with mostly cloudy skies and a 10% chance of rain, which should bode well for Oktoberfest revelers, but do follow up with your preferred local weather outlets for updates closer to. Visit the above links for more on SATURDAY'S first of three Oktoberfest parties in the Soo this fall, and for a preview of all of the action, here's BookcluB live!

Next up, local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 will return to their favourite local stomping grounds (Reggie's Place) TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Two weeks removed from their last stops at Reggie's, "the dirty three" should be in fine spirits with some gritty and in-your-face covers and originals all weekend long, plus with lots of merchandise and hoodie orders in store for fans, so don't bypass this weekend's action if you're up for it! While we're on the subject, Greg, Alex, and Warren have some newly announced dates ahead at The Esquire Club, which resumes hosting live bands this weekend after their summer break, and as per the venue's Facebook page, they'll be back there on on November 7th-8th! The band already announced their Thanksgiving weekend shows there. We'll have more on the other hard rock-leaning new shows at this Second Line West staple in an upcoming post, but it's good to have The Esquire Club hosting concerts again!

Your local 225 are on at 9:30 PM tomorrow and Saturday at Reggie's and for their November dates at The Esquire Club. All four shows are 19+ affairs with no announced cover charges. See above for more on Bone Yard's upcoming concerts, and here they are live!

Finally for weekend concert preview post #2, let's re-answer the viral question: What is Wolf Fest? Running head to head with Oktoberfest for downtown outdoor concert action from a local brewery on SATURDAY, Wolf Fest takes place at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion, and will be hosted by Northern Superior Brewing Co. to help give back to the community and their customers. Along with live music, attendees under the big tent will get to enjoy local vendors and artisans, beer, a charity auction, barbers, tattoo artists, an arcade, and more, so definitely visit Northern Superior's Facebook page for full non-musical details! SMS readers will likely be most drawn to classic/hard rock cover quartet Silent 9 in the 7:00 PM timeslot (their prior scheduling of a Northern Superior show on Saturday was clearly this and not at the Tap Room), but the headliners at 8:15 PM are pop rock cover quartet The Killer Hooks, who do have some heavier covers.

Online page-less local Tragically Hip tribute band The Luxury will take the stage at 5:45 PM, preceded by indie rock band Jupiter Marvelous (led by Killer Hooks frontman Tony Marcello's son Anthony) at 4:30 PM. In a late confirmation, the "special guests TBD" are actually The Royal Canadian Navy Band, believe it or not, so don't miss them leading off Wolf Fest at 3:00 PM! The weather should hold up identically (tent acknowledged) for Wolf Fest, which has admission by donation to the Alzheimer Society of Sault Ste. Marie, which is a wonderful cause. Saultites have a lot of options for live music, beer, and varied entertainment downtown on Saturday, so see above for more on Wolf Fest, and here's Silent 9 live!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for our Double Down and Tym Morrison previews (and more) on the site next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (B.A. Johnston) & The First Of This Weekend's Concert Previews

Before we begin today's post, just a heads up that the expanded Cruisin' The Dub car show was planned for today at both A&Ws on Great Northern Road, with Soundcheck playing the car show at the new one as normal, while Bone Yard (more on them in a bit) would headline a motorcycle show concurrently at the old one. This would have been a Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada fundraiser, as is often the case for A&W car shows locally. While the advertising online for this one was minimal, it doesn't matter now, as Cruisin' The Dub was cancelled on Tuesday due to today's weather forecast, as per Soundcheck drummer Glen Thomas' personal Facebook page. Unlike past A&W car shows, this was going to be held between 5:00-8:00 PM today, and while they would have dodged this morning's rain, they wouldn't have made it until 8:00 PM before the rain came back (and with wind to boot.)

This is hardly the first time that an outdoor local concert was cancelled due to a gloomy weather forecast, but given that this is an annual event for a great cause, hopefully A&W reschedules in some form! Alas, August 17th each year is A&W's Burgers To Beat MS Day, hence the timing for this event. We'll let you know if it gets a do-over, but now let's dive into shows this weekend, sans Sault Michigan & area, plus the late notice (as bands go) street party on Sunday. Let's start with a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT that some of you will be eagerly anticipating!

Hamilton outsider folk/punk musician B.A. Johnston will return to Sault Ste. Marie for his fourth headlining concert appearance on SATURDAY NIGHT at Outspoken Brewing! Apologies for the short notice, this show was announced when B.A. confirmed his fall tour slate on August 8th, but I was waiting for information from the local promoters that have surprisingly never came (it must have been booked in house). Personal Facebook postings confirm that the show is on, so if you've missed B.A.'s amusing and eclectic brand of one-man punk rock, audience participation, and oddly relatable music, be at the 350 Queen Street East brewery on SATURDAY! This will be B.A. Johnston's first local date since rocking the temporary Legion Bar at The Marconi Club just under a year ago, with all four of his Soo gigs being at different venues.

Despite the minimal local advertising, fans who saw B.A. locally in 2015, 2019, and last year will know why you can't miss his live show, so be there on SATURDAY to see what he has in store! This is a 19+ concert with no advertised openers, and note that his Legion Bar show last year had an 8:30 PM start time and $12 admission. Visit the above links for more details, and here's B.A. Johnston live (though you'll want to see him for yourself)!

Next up, local classic/hard rock solo musician Tym Morrison will continue his weekly run of acoustic solo gigs at The Mike Case Memorial Stage outside of The Trading Post TOMORROW NIGHT! As it turns out, last week's show there was indeed cancelled due to (you guessed it) rain, as per Tym's personal Facebook page. This is why I've included weather forecasts for outdoor concerts in our weekly concert previews in the past few years, just to warn everyone in the event that weather affects the proceedings, and Tym did confirm that it was off after our preview post went live. Apologies for missing that! As such, tomorrow's show will be his sixth in his weekly arrangement at The Trading Post this summer, with at least one more to go, but note that in his prior weekly runs here, Tym did continue playing into early September. We'll let you know when/if any September dates there are announced!

Note also that Tym is not playing with The Nostalgic Band this weekend, after playing dates with his classic metal trio for four straight weekends, necessitating Tym playing two different shows on Fridays lately, but not tomorrow. This concert has a 7:00 PM start time, no age limit, and no cover charge, while 9&10 News is calling for sunny weather of around 17°, so it'll be a little cooler and much drier than last week. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Tym live at The Mike Case Stage!

We'll wrap up this preview post with local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard, who may not have been able to rock the old A&W today as planned, but they still have a busy weekend at Jay's Piston Broke Pub! As has been the case for their weekends at the former Reggie's West this summer, they'll be subbing in as the jam night hosts rather than Soundcheck tonight, and while we don't count jam nights as fully fledged "concerts" for our purposes, it is good to see that Greg, Alex, and Warren can still play somewhere despite the car show cancellation! In terms of traditional concerts, they will be rocking out at Jay's TOMORROW NIGHT, but the big event will actually be on SATURDAY, when Bone Yard serve as the headline musical entertainment for the Dragonfly Run, which is the relaunched Ride For ARCH motorcycle rally for the Algoma Residential Community Hospice. For full details on the bike rally proper, click here!

Along with music inside Jay's, there will be a street party outside of the Korah Road nightclub, local vendors, and family entertainment, and in a late confirmation, Bone Yard will have an opening band, namely new local rock band Skinbox (featuring Pixo Control/Vol. alum Steve Edwards). We still don't know anything on Skinbox's sound or membership beyond Steve, but this will be their first public concert set, so come out on Saturday to check them out! Their set begins at 7:00 PM, Bone Yard are on at 9:00 PM all weekend, these are 19+ concerts, and there's no cover charges beyond any ARCH donations. Great cause, solid hard rocking music, what's not to love? See above for more details, and for a preview, here's a brand new video of Bone Yard live at Shooters Downstairs Lounge this past Friday! This was live-streamed to their Facebook page.

The video sees Bone Yard covering Roger Miller's "Me & Bobby McGee", which is (was?) a staple of their acoustic side project The Bearded Lounge's set, and to that end, frontman Greg Simpson plays guitar rather than drums here. It's a fine cover of this oft-covered song by local classic rock-leaning groups, but alas, the filmer shot this vertically, not that I can be too shocked, as their last horizontal video posted on Facebook was shot in August 2022. Give Bone Yard's new video a watch below, and don't miss Bone Yard at Jay's this weekend!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for the rest of this weekend's known hard rock concert previews tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Bone Yard, Double Down, The Northwest, And Soundcheck!!)

It appears to be one of those weekends, namely a busy one full of SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS! Alas, all of today's hard rock/punk weekend concert previews are of shows that were only publically announced on social media in the past five days, so I'm pushing the previously announced Fort Creek & Peril concerts to our next preview post hitting the site by tomorrow morning. With all of that out of the way, here's what you should know to start off the weekend!

New local classic/hard rock cover quartet Double Down will play their second live concert weekend TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT at Reggie's Place! Apologies for the short notice, these shows were only announced on the band's Facebook page on Saturday, though be advised that Reggie's has not publically confirmed them at press time. TOMORROW & SATURDAY'S shows come three weeks after this talented foursome debuted at Reggie's, and with Bone Yard, Mojo, Griphook, and Mustang Heart alumni in their ranks, you know that Double Down will deliver the goods for classic and hard rock fans! These are 9:00 PM gigs with no cover charge and 21+ age limits once again. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's a new video from Double Down's first concert! Drummer Ric Datson uploaded this to his YouTube channel on April 24th, so what do you see/hear?

After a post-production intro featuring the sound of a jet flying by, we get a montage of clips and no full songs, which may be disappointing for some, but this conceit is not brand new for Ric's channel if you recall some videos of his old bands. Filmed on a stationary camera at different zoom levels (and different levels of crowd involvement as the night wore on), the video is full of snippets of familiar covers that will please fans of members' prior projects, but the lighting is surprisingly dark by default unless stage lighting is in action. Good teaser of what to expect TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT at Reggie's, so check it out below, and stay tuned for some more videos from weekend #1 from other sources soon!

Next up, local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard will return to Shooters Downstairs Lounge for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice, the band only announced these gigs via their Facebook page on Tuesday, and the venue had not followed suit whatsoever at press time. This is basically the re-booking of their cancelled Shooters weekend in early March, which was a casualty of 2/3rds of the band falling ill that weekend, meaning that TOMORROW & SATURDAY's shows will be Bone Yard's first at the Dennis Street nightclub in over three months. Good to see them downtown again, and hopefully their southern fried hard rock covers find another strong audience TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! These are 9:00 PM shows with 19+ age limits and no cover charges. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's a brief new video of them live earlier this year!

Uploaded on Saturday, this was filmed by attendee Trevor James at Shooters in February (I think) for his Tiktok page, and while his page there has either been deleted or made ultra private since, the band was able to save it for a Facebook upload. It features the guys covering all of Golden Earring's "Radar Love", and it sounds good with lots of nice angles, though the vertical-only limitations of TikTok videos do a disservice to how Trevor shot this. I'd have cropped the black bars out for Bone Yard's upload, but it's still a solid performance of this live staple, so check it out below, and don't miss Bone Yard at Shooters TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT!

Also this weekend, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to The Esquire Club for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies again for the short notice, these shows have not been announced publically by either the band or venue (at least as far as Facebook goes), and I only know about them because of plugs on personal Facebook accounts. Last seen at The Esquire Club via a show(s?) in early April that similarly had no public notice online (well, not until 7 hours prior), TOMORROW & SATURDAY's concerts follow Shooters gigs last week, and should provide fans with more fun hard rocking covers and good times! Be advised that Soundcheck had to cancel their usual jam night hosting duties at Jay's Piston Broke Pub tonight due to a band member falling ill (they didn't specify who, but it's not singer/guitarist Cameron Oliver, who typically doesn't appear at jam nights).

How this will affect TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT's shows, if at all, is to be determined, but stay tuned to band members' personal Facebook pages for details if you are able. Yes, this weekend's Soundcheck gigs were originally scheduled for bassist Jim Michaud's old band Obsession when they announced their now-scuttled 2023 concert slate. As usual, they have 9:30 PM start times, 19+ age limits, and no cover charges. Visit the above links for more details when/if they surface, and here's Soundcheck live!

Finally for today's previews, we'll head back downtown to Outspoken Brewing, where local indie/punk quintet The Northwest and alternative/indie rock quartet Man Feelings will reportedly join forces for a special matinee concert on SATURDAY! Once again, apologies for the short notice, this show was only announced via Man Feelings' Facebook page last night. Like every show above, the venue hasn't confirmed it publically that I have seen, and neither have The Northwest, who haven't posted on their Facebook page in over a month, despite being the ostensible headliners on SATURDAY. No word on why this is a matinee concert (Man Feelings gave a 2:00 PM start time, with Outspoken normally opening at 3:00 PM on SATURDAYS), but remember that the 350 Queen Street East microbrewery is a smaller venue that has lent itself more to acoustic acts in the past, so this should at least be a more intimate event than you may be used to.

Still good to see The Northwest back on a local stage for the first time this year, and Man Feelings should still have momentum on their side following their set at The Loft last week! This will also be our first previewed concert at Outspoken since their January-February closure and all of the rumours therein, but they have bounced back and hopefully more good times are ahead! This 2:00 PM event has no cover charge and a presumed 19+ age limit. Visit the above links for more details, and here's The Northwest live!

That's all for now, but look for our Fort Creek and Peril previews (and more) next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Soundcheck & Project 906), Weekend Concert Previews, And More!!

Before we dive into this weekend's concert previews, just a heads up that I have removed The Wyld Stallyns' show at Outspoken Brewing tomorrow night from our calendar. While the band had agreed to play the first Friday of "every month" at their Taproom late last year, the venue has been closed since early January, with their Facebook page being cagey on the reasons, and there's no sign that they've re-opened this month. Maybe I'm wrong and they just haven't announced it, but I doubt The Stallyns are playing tomorrow, at least at Outspoken, but stay tuned if we hear anything! Now, here's this weekend's concert previews and new videos, starting with SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!

Sault Michigan blues/hard rock quartet Project 906 will return to Jack's Pub & Grub in Brimley for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the band only announced this show via its Facebook event page on Tuesday. Project 906 made their first appearance at the Willabee's Motel sister venue in November, and from what I have heard, the guys had a good debut there, so hopefully Billy, Joe, Dustin, and Odin deliver more of the hard rock goods with their covers-heavy sets TOMORROW! Note that advertising on the Facebook event page hypes up to "come join us to start the I-500 weekend right", even though Brimley is a 20 minute drive away (some attendees may be exploring the E.U.P. while in town, of course). TOMORROW'S show is at 8:00 PM with no announced cover charge and a 21+ age limit. See above for more details, and here's Project 906 live in concert!

Next up, we'll head back to Sault Ontario for two more late announcements, as local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to Reggie's Place for shows TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice, we only heard firm details about these dates via the venue's Facebook page on Tuesday, but when Soundcheck announced their bassist change on their Facebook page on Monday, they alluded to playing live this weekend without naming the location. Soundcheck just played at Reggie's three weeks ago, so this is a relatively quick turnaround for them, but hopefully their rocking blend of old school rock covers and select country favourites find another strong audience TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Note that while Obsession's Jim Michaud is their new bassist, Soundcheck did jokingly ask if regular fill-in Rob Gilmar was free this weekend in their Facebook post on Monday, implying no immediate changes.

Remember that Jim may not know their whole set for a double header weekend yet, let alone Thursday jam nights at Jay's (and Obsession still have their own farewell gigs to prepare for next week), so I can absolutely see Rob filling in short term. We'll let you know if anything concrete comes out! TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT's concerts are 9:00 PM affairs with no cover charge and 19+ age limits. See above for more details, and for a preview, here's Soundcheck live last year!

Lastly for known and announced hard rock concerts in the Twin Saults and area this weekend is the previously announced return of Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Tarnished to The Rapids Lounge at the local Kewadin Casino branch TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Their first local gigs of 2023 (following a Grand Rapids road trip last month), this weekend's shows coincide with the aforementioned International 500 snowmobile race, which goes down on Saturday and has attached events taking place all weekend long, with many tourists coming in to check this one out as usual. Click here for full I-500 details if you're interested in checking out the race and other events in person! Tarnished's shows are not expressly tied to the I-500, but Kewadin Casino is home base for many indoor pre- and post-race functions, so anyone who wants to stick around late for some hard rocking originals and covers should know to head to The Rapids Lounge tomorrow and/or Saturday night! 

Tarnished will be on both nights at 9:00 PM, there is a 21+ age limit, and there are no cover charges, but expect it to be much busier than normal given the I-500 festivities in and around the casino. Visit the above links for more details on what should be a great weekend for exposure's sake for Tarnished, and here they are live last year elsewhere at Kewadin!

Finally for today, here's some new videos from a Sault Ontario band who are not playing live this weekend, namely southern hard rock cover trio Bone Yard! This is their off weekend in their previously announced run of February-March shows (they'll be at Shooters with more band t-shirts in tow next weekend), but you can still see them via these live-streamed videos on their Facebook page from their show this past Saturday at Jay's Piston Broke Pub, one seeing them cover The Beatles' "Come Together". The other video is embedded below, and it is their cover of Golden Earring's "Radar Love" from the end of the first chorus onward. Alas, both videos were shot vertically, but Bone Yard sound good in both, and the filmer did get some nice angles and shots of both the band (who have their own distinct & matching band shirts) and Jay's, which is definitely getting spruced up slowly with the new ownership!

Note that, when promoting this show on Facebook last week, Bone Yard noted that "we got a special guest making his first appearance" this weekend, and that "something tells me this guy is going to be hanging around there for a while". This wasn't an allusion to a band member addition, rather the return of the taxidermed moose head that was a fixture at The Rosie/Reggie's West for years, and at that patrons were known to kiss on their birthdays. Good to see it back on display under the new regime, but give Bone Yard's live-streamed videos a look above & below!

That's all for today, but 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), Weekend Concert Previews, And More!!

The first concert weekend of 2023 is upon us, and while things are predictably quieter than last weekend, hard rock fans still have a couple of options! This post includes LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, some on SHORT NOTICE, plus some new videos, a cancellation, and an apology for a missed event last week, so here's what you should know!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will play their first concerts of 2023 (Thursday jam night duties excepted) when they return to Jay's Piston Broke Pub for headlining gigs TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, these dates were only announced via the venue's Facebook page on Tuesday. While we're on the subject, Soundcheck will also return to The Esquire Club for newly advertised concerts on January 20th & 21st and then on February 24th & 25th, all as confirmed via the venue's Facebook page's poster advertising bands playing in the first quarter of 2023. It's great to see Soundcheck (no space) kicking off the year on a busy note, and it'll be interesting to see where else and how often we'll see them in a traditional concert setting! TOMORROW & SATURDAY's shows at the former Reggie's West have 8:00 PM start times, and the Esquire Club dates begin at 9:30 PM.

All six of these gigs have 19+ age limits and no cover charges. West end fans will have lots of chances ahead to take in Soundcheck's old school and heavier rock covers (and some country) in the next two months, including TOMORROW & SATURDAY at Jay's, so see above for more details on them all, and for a preview of this weekend's gigs, here's Soundcheck live!

Next up, let's add the next expected date from local funk/hard rock band The Wyld Stallyns at Outspoken Brewing as part of their "first Friday of every month" arrangement there, which comes on Friday, February 3rd! Adding this to our calendar comes in the wake of learning that their planned Outspoken Brewing show tomorrow night is not taking place. According to the venue's Facebook page on Tuesday, they reasoned that "we figured everyone still needed to recoup from New Year's Eve", though note that the announcement was included in details on reduced hours this month. If Outspoken are rescheduling The Stallyns for later this month, they haven't firmly said yet, stay tuned to their page if you are at all curious. Hopefully things resume on schedule for the monthly Friday series next month! Shows at Outspoken Brewing's on-site Taproom generally have 6:00 PM evening start times, 19+ age limits, and no cover charges.

This six-piece fan favourite band should have more fun cover action in store for fans at the Queen Street East nightclub/brewery on the first Fridays of months ahead (Good Friday in April acknowledged), so visit the above links for more on The Wyld Stallyns and/or Outspoken Brewing!

Let's head back to this weekend's still-on concert previews now for local classic/hard rock cover quartet Obsession's first shows of 2023, as they'll return to The Esquire Club themselves TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Unlike many of their weekend nightclub cover cohorts in town, Obsession announced a year's worth of gigs at The Esquire Club and Shooters on their website last year, so we already knew about this weekend's shows, with Jess, Gabe, Jim, and Steve scheduled to play at the Second Line West venue one weekend a month for the first half of 2023. Three weeks removed from their last shows, also at The Esquire Club, hopefully Obsession deliver the classic hard rock goods for fans once again tomorrow & Saturday! Like with Soundcheck later this month, these are 19+ events with no cover charge and 9:30 PM start times. Visit the above links for more details!

For a preview, here's a new video of Obsession live at The Esquire Club last month covering Neil Young's "Keep On Rocking In The Free World", as posted to their Facebook page last week! This isn't an ideal preview of Obsession proper both from the 30 second runtime only really capturing the repetitive chorus, and the fans on the floor largely obscuring the band, but it sounds good while it lasts, and everyone's clearly having fun dancing to the music, which is always welcome to see. Check it out below, and don't miss Obsession back there this weekend!

Finally, I wanted to belatedly apologize for missing a concert for coverage on the SMS on New Year's weekend, as Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Tarnished returned to The Islander Bar in Hessel this past Saturday for their New Year's Eve party! I profusely apologize for not covering it on the site proper, but the band only announced the show on their Facebook page that same day (The Islander Bar's Facebook page first plugged it early last week, but their announcement slipped me by at the time). I was able to get the word out about this one via our Facebook page, as December 31st was devoted to our year-in-review post, but again, I apologize for not getting on the site proper, I would have had I known about it even the day beforehand! Usually, I start posts with such apologies, but I put this one at the end because there's more to say than just acknowledging the missed show, as Tarnished put up a video to promote it!

While they waited until that afternoon to plug it themselves, Tarnished at least went all out to make a final push, with Alex (I think) putting guitarist Nathan Webber on the spot mid-practice to answer some big questions about the show. Fun and energetic little clip that does have some solid guitarwork in the background, so check it out below, and apologies again! I hope Tarnished impressed fans and revelers alike to send out 2022!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Soundcheck) And Sault Ontario Weekend Concert Previews!!

The first concert weekend of December is upon us, so let's kick off the month right! Due to the amount of shows this weekend, I'll hold the Rhythm & Brews shows in Sault Michigan for tomorrow's post, so don't worry, they are coming! Now, here's what you should know in Sault Ontario for hard rock concerts, starting with SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to Shooters Downstairs Lounge for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the band only announced these gigs via their Facebook event page earlier today, and at press time, the venue has not confirmed the dates online. Fresh off of their return to Toystock this past weekend, TOMORROW & SATURDAY'S concerts will be Cameron, Terry, Paul (or Rob?), and Glen's first shows at the Dennis Street nightclub since a one nighter in mid-November, but it's been a wait since the summer for them to double up for a weekend at Shooters like this. Despite the late notice, hopefully Soundcheck's classic, hard rock, and country covers find solid audiences TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! These are 8:00 PM gigs with 19+ age limits and no cover. See above for more details, and here's Soundcheck live in concert earlier this year!

Next up, local funk/hard rock cover sextet The Wyld Stallyns will return to Outspoken Brewing for a concert at their Taproom TOMORROW NIGHT as previously announced, but following that, their new run of gigs on the first Friday of every month will take them back to the same venue on Friday, January 6th! The description on event posters confirms that The Stallyns have agreed to play the first Friday each month there, end date unclear, hence us listing the January gig. Last seen at The Whiskey Barrel a couple of weeks ago, the Speers & company have ingratiated themselves well with Outspoken this year, and hopefully tomorrow's show at the newly confirmed January date both go swimmingly with their hard rocking cover set! Both shows have 8:30 PM start times, 19+ age limits, and entry to the Taproom has a suggested $10 cover, though "pay what you can" is also offered. Visit the Facebook event page for more details, and here are The Wyld Stallyns live!

Now, we'll stick entirely with this weekend's hard rock concert previews by heading to Reggie's Place, where local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard will return for headlining concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Fresh off of their headlining duties at Toystock (fallout forthcoming), these will be Bone Yard's first shows at the Queen Street East mainstay nightclub in three weeks, and these comprise the penultimate weekend in Bone Yard's six week run of steady weekend concerts. Of those six weekend bookings, Reggie's is the only locale to be booked twice, so hopefully existing and new Boneheads alike come out for Bone Yard's southern fried hard rock covers tomorrow and/or Saturday night! As usual, expect 9:00 PM start times, no cover charges, and 19+ age limits. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Bone Yard live!

Finally for today, new local metal trio The BAG will reportedly make their public concert debuts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT when they headline at The Esquire Club! For full disclosure, the band has not posted on their Facebook group for any reason since November 13th, and The Esquire Club still haven't acknowledged The BAG as playing this weekend, but unless given reason otherwise, we'll cover these shows as normal. After months of house/backyard parties and recording sessions towards a handful of singles on streaming platforms, this will be The BAG's first test in front of a public audience, and if you want a sampling of what Spencer, Austin, and Bradley bring to the table, check out this setlist from one of their private gigs. Their original material so far points to a solid groove/thrash metal hybrid sound, but hopefully their covers will carry them to a strong reception in the west end (assuming these are still on!)

Originally scheduled for online page-less local cover band Buzzsaw Jaw before dropping out for unannounced reasons, tomorrow & Saturday night's shows have 9:00 PM start times, no cover charges, and 19+ age limits. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and for a preview, here's one of two brand new songs from The BAG! Quietly posted on their YouTube channel on November 12th and recorded in their Mission Control Studio sessions in the summer, the new tracks are "Roadkill" (which is a short groove metal rocker with a nice guitar solo) and embedded below, "Get Out", a slower and thrashier track that delivers a promisingly intense sound, so definitely check both out above & berlow!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for our Rhythm & Brews preview and more on the site next! Thanks everyone!

Local Metal/Punk Video Showcase!!

Before we resume our Soo's Got Talent finals coverage, let's tackle some other recent videos from unrelated events on the site today, so we don't fall too behind on everything else going on! These include live footage from two big concerts that took place last month, but first, here's a new cover song featuring a very familiar face... and his uke!

After skipping October, local/Toronto punk covers project Mikey & His Uke's newest collaboration was posted to their YouTube channel earlier today, this time being a cover of AC/DC's "Shoot To Thrill"! In their fourth video since project leader Mikey Hawdon moved back to the Soo, he plays ukelele (at first) and guitar here, alongside Mikey's old Merves/Gabba Heys bandmate Amy Zuccheto (a.k.a. Amy Gabba) on lead vocals. If you haven't followed her since her last turns covering Joan Jett and The Runaways with Mikey's otherwise Ramones-centric cover bands in their local gigs, Amy has since fronted an AC/DC tribute band named AMY/DC that Mikey also played in while still living on Toronto, so she's a natural choice for this cover! Other performers are Frenzal Rhomb guitarist Lindsay McDougall (who also featured in August's NOFX cover), Chats bassist Eamon Sandwith, and past Frenzal Rhomb touring drummer Kye Smith.

As usual for the Mikey & His Uke series, this video is very well edited, and everyone is clearly having fun with this remote collaboration! Amy handles the verses slightly more leisurely than the original, but she has a great voice for Bon-era AC/DC, and the instrumental performances are all exactly what you'd hope for. Nice to see Mikey dip into heavier waters here too, so give the newest Mikey & His Uke cover a watch below!

Next up, let's dive into a pair of videos that I'm three weeks late to talk about on here (my apologies), as prolific local concert filmer Christopher Paci was in attendance for the two closing bands at Outspoken Brewing's second annual Oktoberfest on Saturday, October 15th, uploading four videos to his YouTube channel the next day! No luck on The Wyld Stallyns, Nein German Guys, or Frankly Speaking, alas. Chris' videos at The Rink outside of The Machine Shop include two of headlining psychedelic hard rock quartet The Uncanny Valley, who he filmed covering Jet's "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" and as embedded below, the back half of their original song "Stuck In Rotation". The audio is a little tinny, but Chris got a good vantage of the stage, and it looks the like the crowd turnout and the weather were both good for Oktoberfest! Solid performances from Adrian & crew, so give The Uncanny Valley's new videos a look above and below!

The other new videos take us back to the aforementioned Mikey Hawdon, as his new local old school indie rock cover band Bookclub made their live concert debut as the Saturday co-headliners at Oktoberfest! Still online page-less, this band features 3/4ths of The Inner City Surfers in mostly shuffled roles (Mikey on vocals & guitar, Dave Bahun on guitar, and Dustin Jones on bass), plus Dave's old Room 206 bandmate Al Watson on drums, as well as trumpet player Erin Antonello. Very odd seeing a trumpet in a non-ska band, but as we've seen with Josh Norling in numerous local rock bands, a little brass never hurt anyone! Despite early teasers of Bookclub covering 1980s-1990s indie rock bands that you don't tend to see tackled around here, both of the songs that Chris filmed are ones I've seen performed locally, including The Refreshments' "Banditos" and, as embedded below, Cheap Trick's "Reach Out".

While not a full-on punk band like we're used to seeing from most of the Bookclub members, power pop like Cheap Trick specialize in is not far removed, and their established talents are on full display on both songs! The recording quality is similar to the Uncanny Valley video, so keep that in mind, and Erin wasn't always very audible in the mix, but it'll be interesting to see where Bookclub go from here, especially as Mikey is actually in town full-time again, not commuting from Toronto steady. Give their videos a watch above & below, and stay tuned for updates!

We'll close today with some more recent live cover action, this time from local classic/hard rock quartet Obsession, who made their local & public debut with new lead singer Jessica Amadio at The Esquire Club on Halloween weekend! Two videos from the Halloween party on October 29th were posted to their Facebook page since, including a 44 second clip of them covering Trooper's "Raise A Little Hell" that was posted yesterday bunched in with live photos, but embedded below is the longer 90 second clip of them covering Poison's "Nothing But A Good Time". Yes, Obsession had costumes for the occasion, with Jess going as Kiss' Paul Stanley and Gabe as AC/DC's Angus Young, but I am not 100% positive on if Jim and Steve had a specific person that they were dressed as. This video was edited with Capcut and has lots of professional cuts to different camera angles with post-production effects, and views of the costumed attendees.

The Achilles heel with this video is that it was compiled and uploaded in portrait orientation despite a heavy use of landscape footage, so big chunks of it are tiny unless they fill the space with post-production effects. That said, Obession sound good in both videos, and Jess is definitely at ease on the stage and has a strong voice to match! Good first public outing for the new lineup, so look for them back at The Esquire Club next weekend, and give their Halloween weekend clips a look above & below!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for our continuation of our Soo's Got Talent finals coverage next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (The Wyld Stallyns & The Bearded Lounge), New Videos, And More!!

Today's post was supposed to start our Soo's Got Talent finals coverage, but a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT fell into my lap, so this is now a standard news post with the T.S.G.T. coverage now planned for tomorrow. As such, today's post has one more new concert (with a related apology) and new videos, so here's what you should know!

Local acoustic southern hard rock duo The Bearded Lounge will reportedly play a matinee concert at Jay's Piston Broke Pub (née Reggie's West) TOMORROW! Apologies for the short notice, the band has not confirmed this booking on their Facebook page, and the venue only mentioned it on their Facebook page yesterday. Surprisingly, this will be The Bearded Lounge's first advertised show at 306 Korah Road since January 2020, when they played a Saturday matinee during the final triple header weekend there featuring Bone Yard nighttime shows & their old sister blues rock band Mojo's Thursday jam night duties. Pre-pandemic, The Bearded Lounge were primarily seen at Reggie's West, so this is natural, especially given the Sunday matinee timing used elsewhere. You can enjoy Greg & Alex's old school unplugged hard rock TOMORROW at 1:00 PM with a 19+ age limit and no cover. See above for more details, and here's The Bearded Lounge live!

Next up, here's another apparent new show (and a related apology for missing one), as local funk/hard rock band The Wyld Stallyns will apparently perform at Outspoken Brewing's on-site Taproom at 350 Queen Street East on Friday, December 2nd, after previously playing there yesterday! I profusely apologize for missing yesterday's show, it completely fell through the cracks when writing this weekend's concert preview post, and it was on short notice on both the band's and venue's ends (the venue first plugged it on Tuesday). If you believe the Facebook description for the event poster, The Stallyns will be playing at the Taproom "the first Friday of every month", so clearly their Oktoberfest sets went well to get a regular arrangement! That said, much like Tym Morrison's old weekly runs at atypical venues, I'll take these a month at a time, especially if there are any schedule changes to note.

If this continues into the spring, they likely couldn't play on the first Friday in April, as that's a statutory holiday next year (Good Friday). For what it's worth, the above-linked poster only shows an early Rob/Christina/Jesse lineup, but the full band (including frequent guest saxophonist Josh Norling) was advertised in Outspoken's November events calendar. Their expected return on December 2nd will have an 8:30 PM start time, 19+ age limit, and a suggested $10 cover, but "pay what you can" is also offered, a standard offer for Taproom events. Visit the above links for more details, and I apologize again for missing yesterday's show, hopefully it was a big hit!

We'll close today with new videos, starting with our first look at the interior of the aforementioned Jay's Piston Broke Pub! This comes from their Facebook page at midnight today, and it features local classic/hard rock cover band Soundcheck (minus Cameron) at their weekly jam night on Thursday, which is continuing uninterrupted under the new regime. In fact, SooToday spotlighted the ownership change in this article last night, which didn't get into why Reggie Daigle sold the former Roosevelt Hotel, but we did learn more about new owner Jay Scott's plans. Jay (who also owns Scootz) explained how he came up with the Piston Broke Pub name, his plans for gradual (but minor) interior changes, and how he's bringing back Sunday karaoke nights and hoping to host events mid-week along with what sounds like an unchanged weekend band slate. In many respects, he's not fixing what isn't broke, so existing patrons should be happy!

As such, the video looks about the same as Reggie's West did, but fresh paint and new flooring are plans for the future. In the video itself, Soundcheck are seen performing with two jam night guests (a singer and a saxophonist), and while the song sounds like a country cover, the 10 seconds long runtime doesn't leave a lot of time to identify it, but it is the ending of the song in question. Good view of the interior and fans dancing, if not band focused, so give it a look below!

Finally, here's three new live-streamed videos from The Bearded Lounge's plugged-in sister band Bone Yard's Facebook page! All filmed at their Shooters Downstairs Lounge concert last night, the videos include covers of Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show's "The Cover of 'Rolling Stone'", Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Simple Man" (with guitarist Alex D'Ettore on lead vocals), and embedded below, a much closer shot video of them covering Golden Earring's "Radar Love" that gives us some nice angles of the guys rocking out. The audio quality isn't super crisp on these videos, but Bone Yard have good energy and rock out as strongly as you'd expect, so give these a watch, and catch them back at Shooters TONIGHT!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for our delayed Soo's Got Talent finals coverage beginning tomorrow! Thanks everyone!