LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Silent Nine & Greg Simpson), The Crazy Babies Concert Preview, And More!!

Possibly due to the long weekend ahead, this weekend's hard rock concert previews are pretty quiet, but we still have SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS to touch on, so here's what you should know for this weekend as well as a new live-streamed video from a local band's recent gig on the road!

Bone Yard 225 frontman Greg Simpson will return to the stage when he debuts at The Dive Gastro Pub TONIGHT before serving as the acoustic matinee performer at Beck's Bar on SUNDAY! Apologies for the short notice, both shows were only announced via the venues' respective Facebook pages yesterday and on Monday respectively. Fans haven't seen "the ranting rockstar" on a public stage since Bone Yard's acoustic St. Patrick's Day gig at Smitty's, and with your local 225's indefinite break still ongoing (our best wishes are still with Alex and family), it looks like Greg is ready to hit the stage again in the interim, with these shows likely to be similar to Bone Yard's "uncorked" acoustic gigs, albeit sans Alex and Warren. Take The Dive's AI poster claim of "live DJ / singer vibes all night" with a grain of salt, but as usual for non-summer gigs at The Dive, TONIGHT's "Think It Over Thursday" show will be indoors in "the naughty corner".

As for SUNDAY at Beck's, this does seem like it might be a replacement for a planned Bone Yard matinee gig there. Note that they're not hosting a band on Saturday. rather a blacklight dance party featuring DJ Dark Mark, so were Bone Yard supposed to play the double shot there like they have before? In any event, TONIGHT'S Dive show downtown is at 9:00 PM, SUNDAY'S Beck's show (which coincides with a euchre tournament) is at 3:00 PM, and both have 19+ age limits and no cover. Good to see Greg back at it after a couple of months away from the stage, so expect "uncorked" southern hard rock covers at both venues ahead! Visit the above links for more details, and we'll let you know if solo videos of Greg live surface publically!

Next up, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Silent 9 will return to the public stage on SATURDAY NIGHT at DeMarco's Boots & Saddles Roadhouse! Again, apologies for the short notice, the band only announced this concert via their Facebook page on Monday, though it was quietly added to their website's concert calendar in recent weeks. After taking April off, this will be Silent 9's first show since rocking Beck's Bar two months ago, but it won't be their debut at the Boots & Saddles, as they made the drive deep into the west end for at least one private gig in January. Like in recent years, the band is taking the summer off from standard bar gigs, instead focusing on festivals and private events, so if you want to see Jess, Ryan, Paul, and Steve rock out in a nightclub, and you're in the area/up for the drive, keep SATURDAY'S show in mind! This is an 8:00 PM and 19+ show with no cover. See above for more details, and here's Silent 9 live!

Lastly for known hard rock concerts this weekend is the local debut of Toronto-based Ozzy Osbourne tribute band Crazy Babies on SATURDAY NIGHT at The Full Throttle Saloon! Apologies for erroneously crediting them as being the Detroit-based Ozzy ReBourne in our initial coverage, Ozzy tribute band marketing confused me a bit at the time. The first real stab at hosting a touring headiner at the former Primavera Hall, this tribute to Ozzy's solo career and Black Sabbath work has received acclaim in their travels for their faithful stage show and Rod Clarke's closely matched vocals, so definitely keep this show in mind if you love the Prince of Darkness! Local support will come by way of classic/hard rock cover quintet Headrush, who are no strangers to the Full Throttle Saloon or as openers for a touring tribute band, so don't be late for their 1980s-leaning sets! They are playing sets before Crazy Babies' set and afterwards at midnight.

Now, this 19+ concert takes place at 9:00 PM on Saturday, but tickets cost $70 in advance at this link, at the saloon, or by calling them, and there will reportedly be no admission at the door. The high cost of tickets (higher than Triumph & April Wine at the Gardens!) has not gone unnoticed on social media, and while I won't pass judgment as to how the venue/headliners landed on that number, I just hope the show meets or exceeds expectations for turnout. Visit the above links for more on what should be a fun night for Ozzy and Sabbath fans, and for a preview, here are the Crazy Babies live!

Finally for today, here's a new live-streamed video from Sault Michigan hard rock trio Crush's Facebook page! This comes from their most recent gig, which saw them head downstate to open for Tribe989 at The Ann Arbor Music Festival at The Blind Pig this past Friday. Like at their show at The Merch last month, the Tarnished splinter group live-streamed it for local fans to check out, but as Facebook's current rules for live-streamed videos mean that they'll be deleted after a month, you guys have until around June 1st to see it unless Crush convert it or re-upload it as a regular video. You can tell it's a live-stream though because the 50 minute video doesn't start until 9:30 in, so skip there unless you want to observe them setting up. Their set features the guys playing "SDR&R", "Fire", "Intoxicated", "Hey You", their covers of AC/DC's "Big Balls" and Shania Twain's "Man! I Feel Like A Woman!", ...

..."Capitol Gain", "Too Close",  the original not introduced by name that may be titled "Fuck It", and an original that wasn't in the Merch livestreams that I think is named "Call It A Night" (Alex sang lead on that one). Alas, this video was shot vertically, and attendees can block the view for parts of the set, but the audio is clear and Crush show a good sense of humour and rapport with the Metro Detroit fans! They're actually opening for Tribe989 downstate again tomorrow (in Battle Creek, click here for details), but give their Ann Arbor video a watch this month while you can!

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

Saturday Night Concert Previews (Including Mammoth) Plus New Videos!!

As promised, here's the second half of our final batch of weekend concert previews for March 2026, all concerning shows with advance notice tomorrow night, but we also have a couple of new videos to look at, so here's what you should know on this frigid Friday morning!

We'll start with this weekend's main event, as Los Angeles hard rock/metal band Mammoth will make their local debut TOMORROW NIGHT at The Dreammakers Theatre at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino! The former MammothWVH have been breaking through on rock radio beyond frontman (and former Van Halen/Tremonti bassist) Wolfgang Van Halen's lineage, netting #1 hit singles like "Distance", "The Spell", and "Don't Back Down" throughout the 2020s so far, and with Wolf's multi-instrumental talent and a strong live band, they should deliver a fun night of original rock tomorrow! Joining Mammoth on their The End Tour is Knoxville, Tennessee alternative metal band 10 Years in their third appearance at the Soo Kewadin, following sets opening for Sevendust in 2010 and Seether in 2018. Prepare for familiar hit songs like "Wasteland", "Novacaine", and "Beautiful" tomorrow night as they continue this unintended 8 year pattern between local gigs! 

Also joining the tour from Wales are alt-punk band James & The Cold Gun, and while a looser and more indie-influenced band than what's ahead, they'll set the tone well tomorrow! An Allstar Promotions event presented by Rock 101, this all ages show kicks off tomorrow at 8:00 PM, and tickets remain on sale at this link, at 1-800-KEWADIN, or at the in-person box office. All center section seats are sold out, but sixth-tenth row seats in the left & right sections are still available for $54.50 USD, plus seats further back for $44.50. Consider coming out if you can to support major touring bands like this in Sault Michigan! See above for more details, and here's Mammoth live!

Next up, we'll head north to Sault Ontario and go west.... waaaay west, as reunited local classic/hard rock cover quartet Quite Frankly will make their debut at De Marco's Boots & Saddles Roadhouse at 2667 Second Line West on SATURDAY NIGHT! The first ever hard rock-leaning concert that we've covered at this locale (a 5 minute drive from the airport), this will be Quite Frankly's first gig since rocking The Water Tower Pub two months ago. It'll be interesting to see how this show goes over, both for its remote locale and for a kinda new band hitting the stage at Boots & Saddles, so don't miss out if you're up for a little bit of a drive or will already be that far west! This will be an 8:00 PM event with a presumed 19+ age limit and no cover charge. For a preview, here's a brand new video of Quite Frankly at The Water Tower Pub, courtesy of their Facebook page, so what can you see here?

This compilation video sees Linsaey, Frank, Harley, and Joe covering an assortment of songs from the likes of Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Journey, Shania Twain, Semisonic (shouldn't that have been last?), Carrie Underwood, Steppenwolf (with Frank on lead vocals), and Tom Petty, though each cover is only seen for an average of 21 seconds apiece. The first four covers were (sadly) shot vertically, and while the latter three are horizontal, all three were edited together in vertical dimensions with pillarboxing, and I'd have at least made these into two videos with different orientations if they were set on highlights rather than full songs. Quite Frankly sound good though, if with too deep lighting, so give this a watch below!

Lastly for known and advertised hard rock concerts in the Twin Saults this weekend, local classic/hard rock cover quintet Headrush will return to the stage TOMORROW NIGHT at The Full Throttle Saloon! Last seen at the same venue at the end of January, this show will end a nearly two month break for this talented veteran group, partly due to bassist John Amendola going on vacation in Aruba, highlights of which can be seen on their Facebook group. He even got to play some music while there! Now that he's back, the 1980s-leaning rockers should have lots of fun and crowd-friendly covers in store for Steelton fans, so keep this show in mind if you're a classic and hard rock fan, and/or missed Headrush lately! This concert goes down tomorrow night at 9:00 PM with a 19+ age limit and no announced cover charge. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and for a preview, here's Headrush live!

Finally, here's a new 27+ minutes long rehearsal video of local death/thrash metal trio Pillory, courtesy of drummer Bret Shuttleworth's YouTube channel! This video was uploaded after the band opened for Demon King at Soo Blaster on Tuesday, but unlike at many of their shows last year, they admitted on their Facebook page that "we were unable to capture any of the set last night" for unannounced reasons. Possibly to make up for that, this jam video was posted to YouTube, as shot by attendee Lucas McNally. It makes no attempt to contain or label full songs, with fade-outs between clips, but the video captures raw and loose performances from Robert, Devon, and Bret, and you will hear song fragments from "Old Soul". No idea why the Pillory logo had to be faintly overlaid on the video in post-production, and Lucas' view is sometimes obscured by a wall on the far right, but this is a solid glimpse behind the scenes that you can watch below! 

That's all for now, but stay tuned for this month's YouTube Channel Profile next! Thanks everyone!

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

Before we begin this weekend concert preview post, just a heads up that in-person advertising at The Esquire Club reportedly had Bone Yard 225 playing there this weekend, but the shows are not taking place, and the band never confirmed them on social media. Your local 225 have only played one show (the acoustic St. Patrick's Day gig at Smitty's) in the past month, so hopefully things are well behind the scenes, and we'll let you know when they announce new gigs! Now, here's what you should know to start this weekend's hard rock concert previews, including SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, with Saturday's Mammoth, Headrush, and Quite Frankly concerts to be previewed in our next news post!

Prolific local classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison will make his return to the live concert stage TONIGHT at The Dive Gastro Pub! Apologies for the short notice, this show was only announced via his official Facebook event page on Monday, though note that the venue has not corroborated this "Think It Over Thursday" booking at press time. As you may know, Tym broke his pinky finger last month, which has knocked him out of all announced and scheduled concerts since February 7th, but after what has to be his longest break from concerts since the pandemic, he's back TONIGHT. It will be good to see Tym on stage again after over 6 weeks on the shelf, and hopefully he has lots of entertaining rockin' covers in store for "The Naughty Corner"! While he was advertised to play at Misty's Fifties on Saturday as well, he has quietly removed both that show and his announced April 4th matinee there from their batch Facebook event page.

A reason for both shows being cancelled wasn't publically announced, but things are definitely amicable, and he will return to Misty's after two months away on April 18th, and he has a lot more Saturday matinees planned there in 2026! As for TONIGHT'S return at The Dive, this is a 19+ event with a 9:30 PM start time and no announced cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Tym live!

Next up, in more Thursday acoustic action, Soundcheck bandmates Terry Eaton & Travis Sharpe will join forces for another unplugged two-man concert TONIGHT at The Full Throttle Saloon! Again, apologies for the short notice, this show was only announced via the venue's Facebook page this past Thursday. While not a weekly occurrence, the former Primavera Hall has hosted Thursday matinee concerts with unplugged artists in the past, and they're branding this as "Happy Hour" (well, four of them) with specials, so if you want to enjoy some unplugged rock from the singer/guitarists of Soundcheck, keep TONIGHT's show in mind! While we're on the subject, I did want to apologize for missing their St. Patrick's Day-themed Misty's Fifties concert on March 14th, which that venue only plugged once on the Tuesday prior, and if Travis & Terry have a social media or band page to promote their gigs with, I haven't seen it.

Advertising for the March 14th gig, which was originally supposed to go to Tym Morrison, does refer to this two-man-band as TNT, as in Terry N' Trav... or Trav N' Terry (Misty's and The Full Throttle both called him "Trav" rather than Travis when plugging these two shows). Apologies again for missing the concert two weeks ago, I'd have happily covered it had I known, but here's your encore TONIGHT! The action in Steelton goes down from 5:00-9:00 PM with no cover charge, and The Full Throttle Saloon confirmed that they are open to all ages until 9:00 PM. Visit the above links for more on TNT, and we'll let you know when/if pages or media for this side project turn up!

Also, the aforementioned Soundcheck will take over Jay's Piston Broke Pub for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies again for the short notice, these shows were first announced via the venue's Facebook page on Sunday, and despite the timing of the show in relation to a special day for half the band, Soundcheck proper have yet to corroborate these bookings publically on social media. Whether coincidental or not, TOMORROW & SATURDAY's concerts take place a few days prior to the birthdays of the aforementioned Terry Eaton and Travis Sharpe, which are a day apart next week, so if you make your way to the Korah Road nightclub this weekend, give one/both an early birthday greeting! One week removed from Terry, Trav(is), Jim, and Johnny's gigs at Reggie's Place, these will be the reunited local classic/hard rock cover quartet's first shows at the former Roosevelt Hotel in over a month.

As usual for bands at Jay's, these are 9:30 PM concerts with 19+ age limits and no announced cover charges. Visit the above links for more details on Soundcheck's month-ending concerts this weekend, happy early birthday to Travis & Terry, and here's Soundcheck live!

Finally, here's a concert that was publically announced before this week, as we'll head downtown to Soo Blaster, where new local Pearl Jam tribute band Even Flow will play their second concert TOMORROW NIGHT! This new tribute debuted at Beck's Bar in October for that venue's Halloween party, but they weren't a seasonal one-off, and they have the talent to deliver the grunge goods for their local encore! In case you missed that show or our prior coverage, their lineup consists of Barbarians/ex-Elements frontman Rob Speers, Odd Man Out/ex-Sense of Truth guitarist Steve Myers, newer local guitarist Cameron Brock, and Rob's old Side FX bandmates Mike Bird & Derek Turner (both formerly of Papa Fogals Chair) on bass and drums. Very talented collection of artists, but they have yet to post media of them live in any form, so come out TOMORROW to see what Pearl Jam classics they cover, and how their stage show looks!

Coming not long after Soo Blaster upgraded their entertainment offerings with laser tag, bowling, and new arcade games, tomorrow's concert is an all ages event with an advertised 7:00 PM start time, and tickets run for $10 in advance at this link or through band members. See above for more on this grunge/alternative throwback tribute's sophomore outing, and we'll let you know when videos of them surface! That's all for now, but stay tuned for our Mammoth, Headrush, and Quite Frankly previews next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Tym Morrison & Tarnished) And The First Half Of This Weekend's Concert Previews!!

Another busy weekend of concerts is upon us to end February with, so much so that I have broken things into two posts, with this one focusing on hard rock acts playing today or tomorrow in some fashion. Our previews of this Saturday's 415E, Barely Covered, and (late notice) Project 906 concerts will be coming in our next post, with room for another short notice booking if it crosses our wires. Now, here's what you should know to start off the weekend, starting with acts with LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for next month!

Sault Michigan hard rock band Tarnished are expected to continue their "every Thursday" arrangement at Biggby Coffee with another matinee show there TODAY, but while we're on the subject, let's add their March slate of Thursday gigs to our concert calendar as well! Unless the band or venue says anything to the contrary (remember, every Thursday), look for Alex (and Josh or Nathan?) to rock the Ashmun Street coffee shop with unplugged cover sets on March 5th, 12th, 19th, and 26th. Tarnished have been very quiet on social media in the past month+, but assuming there's nothing wrong, Alex and crew should have another great batch of hard rocking afternoon tunes in store, so keep these Thursday afternoons in mind! Today's and next month's shows are all 12:00 PM affairs with no cover charges or age limits. See above for more details, and here's Tarnished live!

Next up, let's head back to Sault Ontario, where prolific local hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison will return to Gliss Restaurant for his own regular supper-time matinee concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY, sandwiching his latest return to The Roadhouse Bar & Grill TOMORROW NIGHT, but like with Tarnished, that's not all! With March approaching just as fast up here, I'll add Tym's own March slate to our concert calendar today, including returns to Gliss for more weekend sets there on March 6th-7th, 13th-14th, 20th-21st, and 27th-28th. Meanwhile, Tym will play consecutive Fridays at The Roadhouse when he rocks the Trunk Road nightclub again next Friday, March 6th, while returning there once more on March 27th. Finally, Tym will play his third (and last?) announced matinee date at Northern Superior Brewing Company's on-site tap room on Saturday, March 14th. Busy month as usual for this veteran solo artist, so keep all of these dates in mind!

The Gliss shows are all at 6:00 PM, the Roadhouse shows are at 10:00 PM, and the Northern Superior show is at 3:00 PM. None of these have announced cover charges, and while only the Roadhouse has a firm age limit, mind the locales elsewhere. Tym's hard rocking cover selection should go over well at each venue next month, plus at Gliss this weekend and at The Roadhouse tomorrow. so visit the Facebook event pages linked here, here, and here for more details, and here's Tym live!

Also this weekend, new local hard rock quartet The Uncanny Valley will make their LopLops Lounge debut TOMORROW NIGHT when they open for Kawartha Lakes alt-rock quartet Heaps and Hamilton indie rockers Basement Revolver in those bands' own local debuts! With their own comparatively heavier, classic rock-influenced sound, The Uncanny Valley are somewhat outliers on the bill tomorrow, but this should be a great showcase to see this rising young group at a popular downtown locale, and they should set the tone before the touring bands hit the stage tomorrow night! Heaps and Basement Revolver aren't heavy acts, but each bring their own atmospheric and accessible sound to the LopLops stage, so whether you like your alternative music with more melody or trance elements, definitely give both bands a listen to see what they have in store! This stop on Heaps' Live Debut Tour has a 19+ age limit, a $10 cover charge, and a likely 9:00 PM start time.

For more details, visit the official Facebook event page, and for a preview, here's a new video of The Uncanny Valley that was posted on their Facebook page earlier this week! A short jam session clip where they play their newer original "This Love Is Psychedelic", this again harbours 1970s hard rock influences to good effect, but the angle is way too tight and not optimally angled to capture the guys (Adam's not in frame at all!) The song sounds good while it lasts, so give it a listen below!



Finally for today's concert preview post, local alt-punk cover trio Handsome Sandwich will return to The Rockstar Bar in a rare weekend bar band capacity via headlining dates TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Last seen at Room 21 in unplugged format, this will be Johnny, Jesse, and James' first electric concert since their late notice fill-in date at The Rockstar Bar four weeks ago, but with advance notice and more time to prepare, this weekend's concerts should be even better for them and fans alike! With their eclectic cover selection and sense of humour, these will be can't miss events for fans, so keep tomorrow & Saturday night's shows under advisement! As usual for The Rockstar Bar, these are 19+ concerts with 10:00 PM start times and no cover charge. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Handsome Sandwich at Acoustic Heartstrings!

 
That's all for now, but stay tuned for our 415E, Barely Covered, and Project 906 concert previews next! Thanks everyone!

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

Let's dive straight into our (non-Tarnished) concert previews for this weekend! Due to the amount, I am holding our preview of Peril's St. Ignace Kewadin concerts for our next news post, which will hit the site by Friday morning. Also, note that the Sault Music News Letter page lists both classic/hard rock veterans Fluid 5ive & cover rock quintet Chunks of Manh as playing at The Esquire Club this weekend, shows that neither band nor the venue have corroborated online. If we hear confirmation re: Fluid 5ive there, we'll let you know. Now, here's most of the hard rock previews, starting with LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, some on SHORT NOTICE!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to Reggie's West for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT, while also returning to The Rockstar Bar on Friday, February 21st & Saturday, February 22nd! Apologies for the short notice on this weekend's Reggievelt gigs, they were only confirmed via their Facebook event page yesterday. TOMORROW & SATURDAY's concerts will be Soundcheck's first at Reggie's West in four weeks, and the guys are hyping up new songs in their setlist, so what's added this time out? Be there this weekend to find out, and of course, at The Rockstar Bar next month, in their first shows there with new frontman Cameron Oliver! Speaking of which, Cameron will be playing a solo concert at The Water Tower Pub next Thursday (source here), though his solo shows tend to skew towards country. All four of these shows are 19+ affairs with no cover charges and 10:00 PM-ish start times.

Despite the short notice this weekend, it's great to see Soundcheck back in the west end TOMORROW & SATURDAY, but circle those February dates on your calendar if you want to make plans to see Cameron, Terry, Paul and Glen's classic and hard rock mix downtown! See above and The Rockstar Bar's Facebook event page for more details, and here's Soundcheck live!

Next up, prolific local hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison (pictured with his old hair) will return to Gliss Restaurant for matinee concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY, as well as a regular nighttime show at The Roadhouse Bar & Grill TOMORROW NIGHT, but we might as well add his February concert slate to our calendar today too! Saturday the 1st aside, obviously. Tym will return to Gliss like clockwork for evening matinee gigs on February 7th-8th, 14th-15th, 21st-22nd, and 28th-29th, so if you enjoy his dinner-time acoustic jams at this popular restaurant, you know where to go next month! Tym will also hit The Roadhouse Bar & Grill on Trunk Road twice in February, playing Friday nighters there on the 7th & 28th, so nighthawks and east enders won't want to miss those! Finally, Tym will play his second gig at Northern Superior Brewing Co. at 50 Pim Street on Saturday, February 22nd, giving double the downtown matinee action on this day.

A busy month lies ahead as usual for Tym, but he has the talent, experience, and extensive setlist to pull everything off flawlessly, so don't miss him at any of the above dates! The Gliss shows are at 6:00 PM, the Roadhouse concert is at 10:00 PM, and the Northern Superior taproom gig is at 3:00 PM. The matinees are all ages, the Roadhouse show is 19+, and while none of these have cover charges, remember where they are all being held. Visit the official Facebook event pages linked here, here, and here for more details, and here's Tym live at Gliss last year!



Also this weekend, TOMORROW is the kick-off for this year's annual Bon Soo Winter Carnival at The Machine Shop, and the opening night's musical entertainment will primarly be comprised of finalists from last year's Soo's Got Talent competition, including third place finishing party metal trio The Apocalypse Afterparty! It's great to see Paul, Amanda, and the presumed guest bassist back for the first time on a public stage since the finals, and they should add a solid blast of irreverent heaviness tomorrow night! Five of the seven finalists will perform at The Machine Shop, including winner (and Uncanny Valley frontman) Adrian Sullivan, runner-up Juliana Regan, beatboxer Robert "Killabeatz" Drolet, and vocal group The Dancing Divas, so if you missed the finals, this could be seen as an encore! Note that an earlier plug by organizers indicating that The Lock Cities Chorus of the Sweet Adelines would also be performing has quietly been removed for unannounced reasons. They wouldn't have fit the the Soo's Got Talent theme, but hopefully nothing bad happened to force their withdrawal!

Of course, there's much more going on for Bon Soo opening ceremonies beyond music, including guest speakers, a fire show, and fireworks, so click here for full details on that front. Also, country veterans The Jeff & Jeff Show will be playing in The Machine Shop after the fireworks, but this is being advertised as a separate concert from The Soo's Got Talent block.  The concert proper starts at 6:00 PM, this is absolutely ALL AGES, and admission is free with the purchase of an $8 Bon Soo button either upon entry or from select local retailers. Bon Soo's a wonderful event, and this should kick it off right, so see above for more details, and here's the finalists live!



Finally for today's previews, we'll head to the aforementioned Rockstar Bar, where local funk/hard rock quartet The Elements will headline a concert TOMORROW NIGHT! This one-night-only event marks a rare, though not unheard of, solo showcase for this fan favourite group, which coincides with frontman Rob Speers' birthday. What better way to celebrate than with a live concert and all of the frills therein? If you enjoy The Elements and have missed them as The Wyld Stallyns have gained more and more live dates, don't bypass this show to help end January on a high note with their hard rock, funk, and punk covers & originals! If there's a musical act playing at The Rockstar Bar on Saturday, I don't know who they are. Tomorrow's Elements concert has a 9:00 PM start time and no announced cover charge, and you must be 19 or older to attend. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's The Elements live!



That's all for now, but stay tuned for our Peril previews and more in our next news post, either before or after this month's CD review! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Scarkazm, Soundcheck, And Tym Morrison) & Weekend Concert Previews!!

Here is our first traditional news post of 2020, and it's devoted to the first batch of weekend concert previews in this new year! This does include LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, some on SHORT NOTICE, plus a few removals from our concert calendar. Things aren't as flashy as they could get over the holidays, but there's a lot of talent to see, so here's what you should know!

Local acoustic hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison will kick off yet another year in his long-term arrangement with Gliss Restaurant with more solo concert sets TOMORROW & SATURDAY, but that's not all, as he will also be back at The Roadhouse Bar & Grill on Trunk Road for traditional nighttime gigs TOMORROW NIGHT and also on Friday, January 31st! Apologies for the short notice on TOMORROW'S show, remember that we take his bookings a month at a time due to his prolific long-term scheduling. Of course, Tym's skilled & prolific roster of covers will surely entertain fans and Gliss patrons this weekend, as they did on New Year's Eve, but if you'd rather see him after supper in a less formal setting, TOMORROW'S Road House concert (his first there in almost a month) should do the trick, as well as at month's end!

As usual, the Gliss shows are 6:00 PM matinees with no age limits or cover charges announced, but remember that this is a formal sit-down restaurant, not a nightclub. Meanwhile, the Roadhouse gigs TOMORROW and on the 31st are both 10:00 PM affairs with no cover and 19+ age limits. Visit the official Facebook event pages linked here & here for more info, and here's Tym live!



Next up, local classic hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will get 2020 started with concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT at Reggie's West! Again, apologies for the short notice, these dates were only announced via their Facebook event page yesterday, and time will tell if they post a 2020 concert calendar on social media like they did last year. This will be Soundcheck's first concert weekend at the Reggievelt in three weeks, and will be their second and third gigs in a five day span, following their Water Tower Pub show on New Year's Eve. With Cameron settling in by now in their lineup, Soundcheck should be even more polished and ready to go TOMORROW & SATURDAY, so don't miss their hard rocking covers there! As usual, expect 9:30 PM start times, no cover charges, and 19+ age limits. See above for more details, and here's Soundcheck live!



Also, I was planning to cover Sault Michigan hard rock band Tarnished's continuation of their "every Thursday" run of acoustic matinee concerts at Biggby Coffee next, but their official website's calendar does not list anything past December 19th there, in spite of listing 2020 concert dates, and neither band nor venue even plugged shows on the 19th or 26th on their Facebook pages. I could be wildly off base, but I am tentatively removing the Biggby dates in January from our concert calendar until/unless someone publically confirms that they are still on. However, the aforementioned website calendar does list five new 2020 dates that are definitely occurring, and they include four acoustic returns to The Signatures Lounge at the Sault's Kewadin Casino branch on January 16th & 29th, and then on June 18th & 24th! Those include two Thursday nighters and two Wednesday nighters, so plan accordingly. No word on whether Alex will be playing solo or with Josh/Nathan, but their unplugged mettle was well tested last year!

These are all 6:00 PM matinees with likely 21+ age limits and no cover charges. If you want to see Tarnished plugged in with drums, then head to their other new date, as they will return to Moloney's Alley on Thursday, January 30th as that venue's musical entertainment during the International 500 snowmobile race's annual pub crawl! Alex and his old group Banned used to enjoy playing I-500 weekend events, so expect another fun set as you frequent area nightclubs at month's end! Click here for more on the pub crawl itself, but attending just Moloney's Alley should mean a a 9:00 PM start time, no cover, and a 21+ age limit. Visit the above links for more details!

Finally, let's preview Traverse City metal trio Scarkazm's return to The Rapids Lounge at the aforementioned Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino, where they will play their first shows of the new year anywhere TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT, but that's not all for them in 2020! We knew about this weekend's and next month's St. Ignace shows already, but as part of Kewadin Casino's new concert listings on the Soo and St. Ignace branch's entertainment pages through July, we can confirm two extra concert weekends from the Peril side project for the spring, as they'll be back at The Rapids Lounge on March 13th & 14th, before playing at The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino on April 10th & 11th. One weekend a month for the first third of the year isn't a raw deal, so look for Adam, Dave, and Jeff at both regional Kewadin lounges through April! And yes, we will touch on the other new hard rock Kewadin lounge gigs soon.

For what it's worth, Scarkazm have not posted their traditional promotional image on social media for this weekend's gigs at press time, but the Facebook event pages (linked here and here) confirm that the shows are on, so don't bypass their hard rocking metal covers this weekend. Those, March's, and April's dates all have 9:00 PM start times, 21+ age limits, and no cover charges. See above for more details, and here's Scarkazm live!



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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Scarkazm & Tym Morrison), Weekend Concert Previews, And More!!

As promised, here are this weekend's un-tarnished hard rock concert previews, including some attached LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS from two of the acts in question! This is a relatively quiet weekend, so to round things out, I have some updates from a prominent local punk band at post's end. With all of that said, here's what you should know!

Local acoustic hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison has another typically busy weekend of concerts ahead, including his regular weekly matinee gigs at Gliss Restaurant TOMORROW & SATURDAY bookending his return to The Roadhouse Bar & Grill on Trunk Road TOMORROW NIGHT! Fans of Tym's skilled and experienced blend of hard and classic rock covers should find a lot to like this weekend, whether you're a supper-time regular at Gliss or enjoy his more traditional nighttime gigs at The Roadhouse, so keep all three in mind! While we're on the subject, let's add Tym's December concert slate to our concert calendar today, which will include Gliss matinees on December 6th-7th, 13th-14th, 20th-21st, and 27th-28th, plus a return to The Roadhouse Bar & Grill next Friday, December 6th, and we'll start approaching his 2020 dates at the end of next month.

Note that shows Tym has advertised on his personal Facebook page at churches and retirement homes are not advertised publically, and as such, are not covered as public concerts on the SMS. This weekend's and next month's Gliss shows are 6:00 PM matinees with no age limits, tomorrow's and next week's Roadhouse concert is at 10:00 PM with a 19+ age limit, and none of these gigs have an announced cover charge. Visit the official Facebook event pages linked here & here for more details, and here's Tym live!



Next up, Traverse City, Michigan metal trio Scarkazm will return to The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT, but they have more in store for 2020! This weekend's previously announced concerts will be Scarkazm's final ones in the Soo for this year (though they will be in St. Ignace in three weeks), and if you can't come out for their hard hitting covers and possible originals, the band has confirmed their dates through February on this calendar image shared on Facebook earlier today, which will include Rapids Lounge gigs on January 3rd-4th and February 21st-22nd. Nice to see Adam, Dave, and Jeff back so soon with more high energy concerts in the U.P., so don't bypass those dates along with this weekend's! Their sister band Peril also have regional dates announced there, which we'll cover on the site separately, and as usual, their acoustic side group Project 6 are not scheduled to play up here during this timeframe.

For what it's worth, Kewadin's entertainment page does not list any 2020 lounge concerts yet, we will let you know when they do. Tomorrow, Saturday, and next year's Rapids Lounge shows have 9:00 PM start times, 21+ age limits, and no cover charges. Visit this weekend's Facebook event pages linked here & here for more details, and here's Scarkazm live!



We'll close out this weekend's announced hard rock concert previews back in Sault Ontario, where local classic/hard rock cover quintet Fluid 5ive will rock The New American Pub for a matinee concert THIS SATURDAY! A one-day-only engagement due to or because of The Algo Rhythms' early show there tomorrow, the early timeslot is due to The New A's regular weekly karaoke nights on Saturdays, so don't expect to hear of too many bands playing Saturday nights there, regardless of genre. Fluid 5ive debuted here with a Friday nighter last month, and hopefully they entertain the early fans well with their classic and hard rock favourites on Saturday! Of course, just a disclaimer that Fluid 5ive's Facebook page has not been updated since early September, in case anything changes without a statement. This 4:00 PM concert has no announced cover charge and I would assume a 19+ age limit still applies. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Fluid 1ive!



Finally, here's some updates from local indie/punk quintet Northwest, who will play an increasingly rare live date at LopLops next month, but what else is new from their camp? As per their Facebook page last week, the guys recently received a music recording grant from the Ontario Arts Council, which means that they will have new music in the works for 2020. Great news, but does this mean a third album will follow suit? In the meantime, you can now order band t-shirts and merchandise packs (with can koozies, stickers, and pins) through their Bandcamp page, though you can also order them through private messaging of band members on Facebook, or at their merchandise table at live concerts. All online orders will come with a free digital copy of last year's "Songs From 2015-2017" EP, so keep that bonus in mind! Lastly, Northwest shared this video onto their YouTube channel last week for their 2018 original "Hangover Habits", so what should you know here?

Primarily, this features live footage shot behind them from their set at the Rock on the River festival in Timmins in July, as intercut with local clips from The Rockstar Bar and some video of the guys on the road to the festival and their experiences in Timmins & at the festival proper before their set. The audio is the studio copy, aside from scratchy crowd cheering at the start. While this is well made and edited, it makes me wish that Northwest would post fuller copies of the Timmins videos for a vlog looking back on the festival and their set. Maybe in time, but give this a look below for now!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates on the site tomorrow, with a CD review to come also! Thanks everyone!

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

Before we begin, just an apology for missing a pair of shows in last weekend's concert previews, namely Highway 63's St. Ignace Kewadin shows last Friday and Saturday. We did cover them on the site in May, but they completely slipped us by last week. That's on me, I profusely apologize, but hopefully the shows went well! They will be back there in early December. Now, let's dive into this weekend's Halloween/early November concert previews, aside from Saturday's Who Made Who show (coming tomorrow), and we'll start with LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, some on SHORT NOTICE!

With a new month almost upon us, let's roll Tym Morrison's November concert slate into our concert listings today! First up, his long-term weekly concert arrangement at Gliss Restaurant on Spring Street marches on with matinee gigs TOMORROW & SATURDAY, and then on November 8th-9th, 15th-16th, 22nd-23rd, and 29th-30th! As well, he will return to The Roadhouse Bar & Grill on Trunk Road TOMORROW NIGHT and then again on Friday, November 29th as part of his slate of occasional Friday nighters there through at least March. Finally, his seasonal run of Thursday matinees at Thomson Farms Cider & Winery on Third Line West will conclude with concerts next Thursday and on November 14th, joining his previously listed Halloween gig TODAY, so keep all of these dates in mind for the 30 days ahead! Apologies for the short notice on this weekend's Gliss and Roadhouse shows, I should have rolled them in last week to preclude that. The veteran hard rock musician's busy schedule should be welcomed by his fans, so don't miss out on seeing him!

The Gliss and Thomson Farms shows are all ages events with early start times of 5:00 PM at the mill's on-site Wine Barn, and 6:00 PM at Gliss, while the Roadhouse shows are 10:00 PM affairs with 19+ age limits, and none of these concerts have announced cover charges. Also, I cannot confirm if Thomson Farms will have any special Halloween events today, but they have had no shortage of seasonal frills in the lead-up. Visit the official Facebook event pages linked here, here, and here for more details, and here's Tym live!



Next up, local classic hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will apparently be returning to The Water Tower Pub for headlining concerts TOMORROW AND SATURDAY NIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice, we only learned of these shows via the venue's November concert calendar on your left, as shared on the Sault Music Newsletter Facebook page on Tuesday. These were not listed on Soundcheck's 2019 concert calendar, but more shockingly, these are consecutive gigs at The Water Tower Pub, a venue that historically books different acts nightly, festivals aside. I presume Soundcheck are a late replacement on one night, hence the change in format, but in any event, fans of Terry, Travis, Paul, and Glen's old school covers should be right at home at this familiar central venue TOMORROW and/or SATURDAY! As usual for The Water Tower Pub, these are 9:30 PM & 19+ gigs with no announced cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Soundcheck live in concert earlier this year!

Moving to previously announced concerts, Sault Michigan hard rock band Tarnished will return to Biggby Coffee for the latest show of their "every Thursday" matinee run there TODAY! We'll wait to cover November shows there until the band or venue confirms them publically, just in case there are any changes to this still-relatively new arrangement. No word on possible Halloween frills for the concert proper, but Biggby Coffee will have free kids drinks for any children who stop by in costume, so parents might want to keep that in mind! Of course, Alex & Josh should have another entertaining afternoon of hard and classic rock covers in store for fans and patrons alike, so keep this show in mind if you want some live music before you head out trick or treating! As recently the case, today's show is at 12:00 PM with no age limits or cover charges, but mind the locale, as this is a coffee shop & restaurant, not a nightclub. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Tarnished live!



Finally for today's previews, let's head back to Sault Ontario, where local promoter J.D. Pearce's 15th annual Halloween party goes down TOMORROW NIGHT at The Rockstar Bar! Yes, this is taking place (slightly) after Halloween, though after a two year run of having this event on two consecutive nights, this year's installment returns to a one-night-only format upstairs. However, the post-2013 focus on cover bands will continue this year, as three local tributes will take the stage, including the revival of Foo Fighters tribute The Soo Fighters, who we last saw at this venue and event in 2017. Only frontman Jules Cote is back from their first run, so how will new members Wes Greco, Max Ambeault and Jonas Gasperas sound? We'll know tomorrow! New local Volbeat tribute band The Guitar Gangsters (featuring Garden of Bedlam's Buzz & Derek Turner and Jack Spades alumni Jesse Cook & Tiffany Stocco) will also make their own local concert debut here, which already has a lot of people's attention.

It'll be very interesting to see Buzz & Derek back together after a 4 year absence, and we should be in good hands from this talented foursome! The third band is a Me First & The Gimme Gimmes tribute (replacing a planned Rob Zombie tribute), and while their identity is not public, I'd put my money on this being Jack Spades doing Me First-style punk covers of non-punk songs, given that J.D. fronts them. Should be interesting to find out, either way! Expect a costume contest as usual for this 19+ event, which has a $10 cover charge and a 9:30 PM start time. Visit the above links for more details, I will see you there, and here's The Soo Fighters live two years ago!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for our Who Made Who preview and more on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Theory Of A Deadman & Tym Morrison), Concert Previews, And More!!

Another week, another batch of pre-Friday unplugged hard rock concerts to tackle on the site, so we're again stretching out our weekend concert previews. Tomorrow will feature Scarkazm, Bon Jovi Forever, Soundcheck, and Fluid 5ive in one post, and our last round of Soo's Got Talent coverage in another, while we'll cover Saturday's Femur concert and Arts Against Homelessness on Friday. Busy stretch once again, so keep tabs in the coming days! Along with the mid-week concert previews, we have LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (one on SHORT NOTICE), and a local musician's big album updates, so here's what you should know!

Joining his previously announced shows TOMORROW at Thomson Farms Cider & Winery and FRIDAY & SATURDAY at Gliss Restaurant, prolific local hard rock solo artist Tym Morrison will also return to The Roadhouse Bar & Grill on Trunk Road THIS FRIDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, Tym only announced this show via this Facebook event page yesterday. FRIDAY'S Roadhouse show will be his first of the fall at this popular east end tavern, and he created that event page to elaborate his upcoming Friday night schedule there, with a now-deleted event page only listing dates there in November, February, and March. Well, the shows there this week and in December & January are newly confirmed, so keep those in mind, but again, we'll cover them month by month due to his always prolific scheduling. Meanwhile, his previously announced Gliss run marches on this week as usual, and his seasonal engagement at Thomson Farms continues tomorrow at their on-site Wine Barn as his run there enters it's final month, so keep those previously announced gigs in mind too!

Expect a 5:00 PM start time tomorrow at Thomson Farms, 6:00 PM this weekend at Gliss, and 10:00 PM on FRIDAY at The Roadhouse. None of these shows have an announced cover charge, and expect the Roadhouse show to be 19+. Tym's skilled and fan-friendly blend of covers should go over well at all four of these concerts, so keep all three in mind for east end, downtown, and west end entertainment! Visit the official Facebook event pages linked here, here, and here for more details, and here's Tym live!



Next up, British Columbia hard rock/post-grunge quartet Theory of a Deadman will return to our area for a headlining concert on February 16th at... The Sault Community Theatre Center?! It's not every day that you hear of a major touring rock band headlining at White Pines Collegiate's on-site theatre (at 1007 Trunk Road), but it is a nice and high-end events centre that you think would see more usage in this regard. Of course, Theory (of a Deadman) are no strangers to our area, following headlining dates at Kewadin Casino in Sault Michigan in 2012, 2015, and 2017, but this will be their first time playing live in Sault Ontario. If you weren't able to hear them play such radio hits as "Santa Monica", 'Bad Girlfriend", and "Rx (Medicate)" across the river, then Canadian fans will have a passport-free chance to see them here in 2020! No word as of yet on an opening band. Presented by SL Concerts, tickets go on sale on Friday at The Sault Community Theatre's box office at the Station Mall or at (705) 945-7299.

I reckon this will be an all ages event, and a 7:30 PM start time is advertised. As for prices, the pre-sale tickets are currently going for a flat $52, but I don't know if that will maintain for general attendees come Friday. I am very curious to see how this show does, especially at a venue like the former Kiwanis Theatre that we don't see used for rock concerts all that often, but Theory have lots of hits and a built-in fanbase! Visit the above links and the official Facebook event page for more details!

Moving back to our previews with mid-week elements, Sault Michigan hard rock band Tarnished will kickstart a busy week with another acoustic two-man matinee TODAY at the Sault Ste. Marie Farmers Market, before returning for another "every Thursday" gig at Biggby Coffee TOMORROW MORNING! Continuing their Tym-esque run of acoustic matinee shows at otherwise atypical locations, today's Farmers Market set at Ashmun & Portage should provide more solid entertainment for patrons and fans alike, while their morning concert for tips and coffee at the chain coffee-shop should do more of the same for early risers! These shows will serve as the warm-up for their big road trip to Mount Pleasant for a show at the Soaring Eagle Casino there, so best of luck to him, Josh, and Tommy(?) on the road! As for their local gigs, they'll be at the Farmers Market today at 4:00 PM and at Biggby Coffee tomorrow at 10:30 AM. These are FREE & ALL AGES, but mind the locales. See above for more details, and here's Tarnished live!

Finally, remember how Sault Ontario/Thompson, Manitoba solo artist Mike Haggith had teased a new album named "If Ever Comes The Day" on his Facebook page last month?  Well, Mike addressed what was going on in this Facebook video from September 23rd (apologies for the delay), confirming that his upcoming studio album "Bridges" has been completely recorded for over a year and is still planned for release, but it has "been sitting on the mixing board for quite a while", and Mike admitted that this is "kind of out of my hands." However, Mike has been busy writing new material as of late towards "If Ever Comes The Day", which he indicated would be released before "Bridges" due to it's quick recording pace, though acknowledged craziness in his personal life could be a factor too. Mike also addressed his planned live album "Carnival" (from this year's Nickel Days festival in Thompson), saying that he plans to mothball it for now as well.

In that case, it's due to that concert containing new songs from the new CD that aren't fully representative of their final copies, preferring to release the studio versions first/only, though he hopes to at least share a couple of standalone songs. No word on the "A Place Of Our Own" remaster, but it's great to hear honest updates, even if some of the reasoning (re: the "Bridges" delay) is a little vague unless you know Mike personally. We'll have more to share soon regarding "If Ever Comes The Day", but give his full announcement video a look below!



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