Recent Local Concert Videos, Plus A Unique Drum Solo!!

Today's post is devoted to some recent videos, mostly from cover-centric musicians, and let's begin with bands recently seen in concert, starting with two live-streamed videos from local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard's Facebook page at Shooters Downstairs Lounge on Friday night! One is a 30 second clip of the guys covering ZZ Top's "La Grange", but embedded below is a much longer (if not full) rendition of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Simple Man". Alas, both were filmed vertically, but the person behind the camera got good angles of Bone Yard in action, especially on "La Grange" while it lasted, and the guys sound solid overall on both! Give Bone Yard's newest concert videos a watch above & below!

Next up, here's some newer videos of local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations' show at Shooters on Friday the 13th, as filmed by attendee Monique Chartrand and uploaded to the band's Facebook group the following day! One is a cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Bad Moon Rising" with drummer Tony Santoro on lead vocals, but the video embedded below is longer and features frontwoman Valerie Powley on vocals. I admittedly cannot identify this cover, but that's not the fault of Monique or her camera, as there's an abnormal level of audience chatter during it that really complicates trying to hear Valerie's singing in any detail. Like with Bone Yard's video above, these were filmed vertically, but more distantly from a table, so keep that in mind. Well performed all around, if not entirely ideal to viewing quality depending on what you prefer, so give these a watch above & below!

Also today, here's some new videos from local alt-punk trio A Dire Setback's Facebook page in the past week! Well, less videos and more "Reels", as all of their recent uploads are as such, making them all permanently vertical, unable to be played in background tabs, and unable to be embedded on external websites. Interestingly, these "Reels" mostly feature footage shot when they opened for The Nameless Friends at Reggie's Place earlier this month, despite the band never plugging the concert on Facebook. Despite being brand new concert footage, four of the "Reels" just feature edited clips set to audio from their 2020 self-titled debut album ("Faded", their self-titled song, "Kicking & Screaming", and "Everlasting"), along with lyrics for included song snippets laid on screen. Local bands that post exclusive video footage in "Reels" rarely post the raw/full video separately, but it'd be neat if A Dire Setback did!

The only other new "Reel" was made to promote "Kicking & Screaming" music video and their debut album, with a (pillarboxed) clip from the video and more lyrics superimposed. It is great to see A Dire Setback ramp up their online presence this month after largely being quiet on Facebook post-pandemic, and while I've never been fond of "Reels", at least they're giving fans some new media. Check them out above!

We'll close today with a video that I should have covered on here months ago just on novelty factor alone, and it features Double Down/ex-That's Chester drummer Ric Datson playing a drum solo.... inside the Sault Ste. Marie Museum?! Yes, the museum at the corner of Queen & East hosts live concerts occasionally as well as the Fringe North festival, but it's still not the first locale you think of for a drum solo. Of course, Ric is the assistant curator of the museum, so he had an in to get his gear inside! Ric set up his Crush acrylic drumkit inside an empty gallery during a changeover in temporary exhibits, and was mainly filmed for fun to see how this newer kit sounded in a big, empty room. As uploaded to his YouTube channel in June, the video starts with 38 seconds of sped-up footage of Ric setting up his drums, before jumping to him drumming for almost four minutes.

The main view is an overhead shot from behind him, while the other (seen in an inset window in the upper left) is from a straight-on view to his left. This is a neat video for fans of Ric's (let alone drum solos), and while I'm sure you'd better appreciate the acoustics of the room in person, the echo and reverb does come through in the video, and it's certainly a unique way to see a local drummer show his stuff! Give it a watch for yourselves below!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Tym Morrison & Shit Liver) And Weekend Concert Previews!!

Hey everyone, I'm still battling a pretty bad cold, but the news keeps coming in, so I've got it for you guys! Today is mostly a preview post for this weekend's scheduled and announced local metal/hard rock concerts, but kicking things off are some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, so here's what you need to know!

The first of the new shows is admittedly short notice, but this was out of my hands. Presumably due to the success of the metal nights there, The Roosevelt Hotel is now hosting punk nights on the open Thursdays, with the first one taking place TONIGHT! The lineup was originally announced to feature local rock trios RedD Monkey and The Fury, with stoner rock band Whiskey Skidoo potentially on as well. Why does this make it on the SMS though? Because the third band isn't Whiskey Skidoo, it's Shit Liver! Theirt crusty brand of death metal also has a lot of punk influence and themes, so they're one of the local bands that can fit in on metal and punk concerts alike, so they should find a good audience at tonight's show! They're opening this debut punk night at 10:15 PM, with RedD Monkey following them and The Fury headlining. There's no cover charge, and you must be 19 to attend. Remember, this show is TONIGHT! For more details, visit the official Facebook event page. Sounds good, hopefully this starts a good string of punk shows just like the metal ones! I'd consider going if I wasn't so sick, stupid cold. Check the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Shit Liver covering The Dead Kennedys' "Forest Fire" at a recent Rosie metal night! Only fitting that I pick a punk cover, right?



The other new shows can be combined with cancellations, and these all relate to the same artist. Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison has announced a new bi-weekly concert arrangement at a new local establishment, this being The Eagles Club on Trout Lake Road. The shows taking place here are on the weeks where he's not at The Big Cheese in Heyden, including TOMORROW NIGHT, February 25th, March 11th, and March 25th. Shows there in April and beyond aren't known yet, his calendar on his official website is only updated through March. He'll also be back at The Big Cheese on March 4th and 18th as well, so those are new as well! With all that said, his weekly arrangement at Foggy Notions on Mondays has been completely cancelled. Tym confirmed this with me by e-mail, and previously scheduled Foggy's shows are now removed from his website. No word as to why, but seeing as it was already moved to a different night before this came out, I imagine there may have been an issue with the attendances or profits from his acoustic shows there. Shame too, it seemed like a good fit! No matter though, he'll be rocking the area every Friday through March at the very least, so make note! All of the new shows should have 19+ age limits, 10:00 PM start times, and there's no announced cover charges for them. For more details, check the above links and the official Facebook event page for TOMORROW'S show at The Eagles Club!

Hopefully this new arrangement at The Eagles Club works out! I know Tym recently had a successful show there for a birthday party of some kind, and it could be an untapped spot for some good music, so head on up there tomorrow if you want some acoustic hard rock! For a preview, here's Tym's new acoustic love ballad "Someday"!



Now to previously announced new shows, and we'll start across the river in Sault Michigan where a local progressive metal quartet return to the stage! That band is Hammerspace, who are fresh off of their successful set at The Bird last week at the I-500 Pub Crawl! Now they're back in a headlining slot, as they return to Zim's on Ashmun Street, in their Underground bar! This will be their first headlining concert since guitarist John Bergeron officially took vocal responsibilities in the band, and they're sure to leave an impression tonight! If you miss them at Zim's, don't worry, as they'll be back for another concert next Saturday at The Merchant's Bar on West Spruce Street to deliver their brand of metal for another concert! Sounds good, these should be some interesting concerts! Tonight's show has a 10:00 PM start time, you must be 21 to attend, and there's no announced cover charge. For more details, visit their official Reverbnation page! Hammerspace are definitely a promising local band, check out the above links for more on them, including lots of demo material! No videos yet though, but when I find some, I'll let you guys know!

Back to Sault Ontario for the next few shows, starting with a Bon Soo event featuring a local classic hard rock band! Turner Up will hit The Nicolet Tavern tomorrow night to headline this year's 70's & 80's night! This is an official Bon Soo event that's featured in the programs that you may have recieved for Bon Soo, and attendees are encouraged to dress up in 70s and 80s fashions, maybe even as your favourite rock stars from back then! There will be a costume contest as well, so there's even more reason to head to The Nic tomorrow with your best costume! Everything starts at around 9:30 PM tomorrow, you must be 19 to attend, and there's no advertised cover charge. Just in case though, have your Bon Soo button, I don't know how mandatory it is. For more details, check your Bon Soo programs and click here for the Facebook event page! It's always good to see events like this at Bon Soo, maybe music will get more attention there in future years. Maybe the return of the battle of the bands? As for Turner Up, this should be another fun night of music for them, hopefully a big crowd turns 'er up tomorrow night! For a video preview, here's Turner Up covering Guns N' Roses' "Mr. Brownstone" from a show last month!

Finally for today, we have the latest shows from local classic hard rockers That's Chester, who hit Docks Riverfront Grill once again tomorrow night at Saturday night for some entertaining nights of hard rock and metal covers! Docks has been That's Chester's most frequent stomping ground so far this year, and their fans should be out in full force once again to hear this talented quintet of local music veterans! Like their past shows, there is a 10:00 PM start time, no announced cover charge, and a 19+ age limit. For more details, visit That's Chester's official Facebook page and the above links! For a preview, a video of That's Chester covering AC/DC's "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" is linked below! But before that, I just wanted to note a high honour for a member of That's Chester. On Sunday at The Riuniti Hall, drummer Ric Datson will be honoured for his induction into The Great Northern Opry for his past work as a local country musician! This is part of a show n' celebration preceding this year's Northern Ontario Country Music Awards ceremony that same night, and will feature local country bands and performers. The actual induction isn't until the fall, but congratulations to Ric for this honour! He's a great drummer no matter the genre, and he should be a welcome member into the Opry!

(Quick personal note: My step-grandfather Len Nevin is a member of The Great Northern Opry and the Northern Ontario Country Music Hall of Fame! Bet you didn't know that!)



I was going to close today with Marquette hard rockers Nudge's concerts this weekend at The Satisfied Frog, but according to their Facebook page, both shows were cancelled, along with frontman Danzo McCracken's planned acoustic solo set tonight. The band said the reason was "an unfortunate situation in the Nudge family" but they didn't elaborate further. Hopefully nothing too serious happened, but at least they'll be back in April! That's all for today, but I have more news to come tomorrow, hopefully with my cold improving! Stay tuned!