A New Local Punk Band, Crush Updates, And More Recent News & Notes!!

As we wrap up the busiest month (for post count) in the 19+ year history of the SMS, here's one more news post for the end of August before we go into autumn, and it includes updates from an EUP hard rock band, clarifications on who played a recent all-day charity concert, and some assorted shorter updates, but we'll lead off with a debuting supergroup that will be intriguing for many local punk and hard rock fans! Here's what you should know!

We have a new local punk band to add to our links, and they are Dead II Society! While their Facebook page was only launched yesterday, they were one of the two mystery bands announced for October's Punk Rock Fiesta at The Rockstar Bar (we are still waiting for details on The Baby Rails). Self-described as "an outlaw punk rock (band) specializing in loud, high energy, foot-stomping songs", their lyrics are planned to revolve around members' personal lives, health, and relationships. The band features former Garden of Bedlam/Changing Lanes singer/guitarist Erik "Buzz" Boissineau alongside former Northwest/Terminal guitarist Mike Yakasovich, veteran local bassist Andrew Torgerson (most recently seen down south in The Epifats and Grant Boyer's backing band), and Billy Bastards drummer Charlie Yanni (he will be pulling double duty with both bands on October 3rd).

Dead II Society are working on original music for major streaming services and Bandcamp, and your first teaser is this video featuring an instrumental track and silent footage of the guys meeting up and jamming. Their first single and full-length video (presumably both for this song) premiere on September 16th, 2½ weeks before their Punk Rock Fiesta debut. Sadly, the video is both vertical and black & white, aspects that I hope don't translate to what we get in two weeks, but it's great to see this promising band full of established names making their debut shortly, and it'll be interesting to hear how Buzz's long-teased original punk songs turn out! See more from them above and below, and stay tuned for updates!

Next up, let's bolt across the border to Sault Michigan for the latest updates from local hard rock trio Crush! It's been a few months since we last talked about Tarnished's original-heavy splinter group, who haven't played a local concert in over four months (or downstate since May), but they haven't been completely idle. After jokey posts, AI-generated memes, and more love for Big Boy restaurants over the summer, they have announced two tour dates for September on their Facebook page, one being a show on Friday at Bemo's Bar in Bay City (3½ hours south of here, outside of Saginaw). Best of luck on the road trip for sure! The other gig is technically outside of our coverage range (an hour's drive from the Soo), but it will be their closest show since April at The Merch, and it will see Alex, Josh, and Iggy open for their friends in Rose City metal band Tribe989 at Bates Corner Bar & Grill in Gould City on Thursday, September 24th.

Hannahville "rez metal" band Ghidora (who Heavy Lies The Crown fans will know well) are also playing this show 90 minutes west of the Soo. If you can make the drive to western Mackinac County, this show may be of note, and despite Gould City being pretty small, they can book big names at Bates Corner (Buckcherry played there earlier this month!) Click here for details on the Gould City concert. Lastly, they posted this short teaser video for the Bay City show on Friday, with Iggy promoting it from an... unexpected place, while the caption at the end notes that Crush have been busy in the studio recently working on original material. Hopefully we hear more soon, so get Crushed above and below, and I hope next month's shows go well!

Also today, here's some clarification of the lineup for Maddy's Mighty Mutts Family Fun Day at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion in Sault Ontario on August 5th! The advertising for the event had conflicting details on who was and wasn't playing, but organizer Paige Dennie listed off performers in a personal Facebook post shared to Maddy's Facebook page the next day to thank everyone for volunteering. Ten acts ended up playing the Wednesday outdoor-ish concert under the big tent, with this AI-generated poster being accurate to the final bill aside from omitting Tex Riviera & The Relix Ride for one reason or another (not only did they play, they were up first!). The acts that dropped out (both for unannounced reasons) were solo musicians Arin Karki and Leslie Cook, with Tym Morrison being a last minute replacement for one of them. Of note, Jason Taillefer's sister Kelly guested for part of his solo set, which was implied to be keyboard-heavy.

Paige noted that 5 Dollar Bribe donated their drum kit and PA system for the day's full band's to use, which was nice of them, while TNT singer/guitarist Travis Sharpe helped with sound and managing set changes, and Bone Yard 225 were the headliners. It does sound like things went well, and Paige was very appreciative of everyone helping out, both from the concert aspect and towards supporting the dog rescue charity itself, so visit the above links for more on what went down four weeks ago!

Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items from the last while, and as usual for our short-form story blocks, these are in alphabetical order by artist or company name:

 

• A memorial concert for late local musician Dale Corcoran will be held at the resurgent Rockstar Bar on Saturday, September 19th! Proceeds will go to his widow Clare for her own recent expenses, and the show is implied to largely be an informal and unrehearsed jam featuring friends and former bandmates rather than something with firmly scheduled and advertised bands (though I'd assume that we'll see members of Tex Riviera & The Ride). Could we see throwbacks to his local metal and hard rock work of the 1980s? Tickets cost $20 + processing fees at this link, and I do hope that this celebration of life is a huge hit across the board!
• I apologize for missing this among our backlog clearout, but a demonstration named Navigating the Modern Music Business As An Independent Artist was held at The Art Hub At Spring this past Tuesday. Hosted by local musician and manager Ryan St. Pierre of The Lonely Listeners Club and the upstart music management program Lisinin, the program was to promote his work and help encourage independent artists to explore today's music industry and better network in music communities. All are definitely good plans to help aspiring musicians in their career, so click here for more on what went down last week, and what Ryan continues working on!
• The performance order for the aforementioned Punk Rock Fiesta at The Rockstar Bar on October 3rd has been unveiled via this poster shared on the Punk Canada Facebook group two weeks ago! The running order is mostly what you'd expect given band notoriety, with everyone but headliners Random Killing having a half hour timeslot (the debuting Baby Rails lead off at 6:30 PM), but local crossover thrash trio Hails will surprisingly get the 10:30 PM co-headlining slot over the Billys and Fist Magnet reunions. This will be a huge show no matter when bands are on, so visit the above links for more on what to expect in just over a month!

 

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERS (Fefe Dobson & Greg Simpson), One More Weekend Concert Preview, And New Videos!!

On this Friday night, let's wrap up what might be the last mega busy concert weekend until Halloween season, with a couple of linked unpl... "uncorked" concerts ahead (one a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT), along with another big new show and some newly found live concert videos. With all of that now outlined, here's what you should know!

Just over a week after rocking The Dive, Bone Yard 225 frontman Greg Simpson will return to Beck's Bar for another acoustic matinee concert on SUNDAY! Apologies for the short notice, this show was only announced via Beck's weekly schedule announcement on their Facebook page on Monday, and remember that Greg doesn't have a social media page dedicated to his "Ranting Rockstar" persona/solo act where he can announce shows in advance. SUNDAY'S concert is effectively a re-booking of a briefly advertised show that Greg was supposed to play at Beck's this past Sunday, only to be replaced by Whiskey Hippy for unannounced reasons. Did Beck's err on the date, or did Greg legitimately withdraw/have to reschedule? Regardless, you have another block of "uncorked" southern and hard rock covers in store at the former Vibe Lounge to go along with the weekly euchre tournament!

The Ranting Rockstar will be on stage SUNDAY at 3:00 PM, this is a 19+ concert, and there is no announced cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, we'll have more from Greg this weekend in a bit, and for a preview, here he is live earlier this month!

Next up, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Silent 9 will play their second show of the fall on Friday, September 18th, when they open for Toronto pop rock musician Fefe Dobson in a FREE concert at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion! We'll have Wolf Fest details when someone firmly posts the lineup outside of "Stories". This show takes place during the third annual Vivid Art Festival (successor to the Summer Moon Festival), a yearly celebration of the arts and culture, and while full details are forthcoming, this concert is the main attraction this year. I could have swore that Fefe Dobson had played here previously, but you may recognize her for hit singles like "Bye Bye Boyfriend", "Don't Go (Girls & Boys)", and "Stuttering", and her early material frequently crossed the pop punk line, with many Avril Lavigne comparisons, for better or worse. If you watched MuchMusic frequently in the mid-late 2000s, this will be a huge throwback!

Also playing this date are Toronto pop rock duo Goodnight Sunrise, who you may recognize from last year's Poutine Feast and 2022's Northern Vibe Festival, and it'll be good to see them back in our area! Presented by Kiss 100.5 (a better fit than 104.3 The Fox when you consider her newer material), this is an ALL AGES and FREE concert at 7:00 PM in three weeks, and it should be a fun mix of pop and rock with (hopefully) agreeable temperatures, so visit the above links for more on this concert!

Next up, let's finish up this weekend's concert previews with a show that had lots of advance notice, as the aforementioned Greg Simpson will be joined by Alex & Warren for an "uncorked" concert with their southern/hard rock band Bone Yard 225 TOMORROW NIGHT at The Water Tower Pub! While all of their shows at this Great Northern Road venue are acoustic in spite of electric bands playing there often, this will cap off their summer season schedule ("end of summer" bash in Echo Bay next month acknowledged), and comes three weeks after their Algoma Tree Services gig, and almost three months after their last Water Tower Pub booking. Hopefully things go well for the guys tomorrow before Greg disembarks and heads west for his Beck's matinee on SUNDAY! If you're curious, the band who replaced Soundcheck tonight (due to them jumping to the full Jay's weekend) was North Channel Sound.

Tomorrow's show at The Water Tower Pub is at 8:00 PM with a 19+ age limit and no cover charge, and if you prefer seeing the guys in local nightclubs, this is your last (scheduled) chance for over a month, so don't bypass this one! See above for more details, and for a preview, I found three new videos of your local 225 at The Water Tower Pub in May 2024! These were shared in the comments of this photo on Bone Yard's Facebook page from earlier that day, and they were filmed by attendee Wanda Wanda. Alas, all three are short and (sadly) vertical, but they include the guys covering Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Simple Man" (with Alex on vocals), Pink Floyd's "Young Lust", and as embedded below, their staple cover of Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show's "The Cover Of 'Rolling Stone'", as it is the only video to exceed 46 seconds in length. Orientation and duration aside, these videos all suffer from deep/hazy blue lighting, but this isn't an isolated problem re: videos shot there.

If you have to shoot vertically, this was at least optimal to get all three guys in frame, even if Warren is very much in the background. The audio quality isn't bad from what we hear, and these are well handled covers, but you should expect nothing less from Bone Yard after over 15 years. Give Wanda's videos a watch above and below, and apologies for missing them for this long! Videos explicitly posted in/shared to comments can be tricky!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Hard Rock Revue), Fort Creek Updates, And Much More!!

Here's another packed news post to check out on this Tuesday evening, and here, we have some recent assorted updates, a look at a unique concert from earlier this month, and big lineup changes from a local hard rock band, but let's lead off with a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!

The day before the Punk Rock Fiesta goes down in October, The Rockstar Bar will signal their return to hosting regular public concerts on Friday, October 2nd when they host the one-off Hard Rock Review! This is a supergroup of veteran local rock musicians led by Dodge This singer/guitarist Jason Taillefer in his first local concert appearance with a plugged-in hard rock band since Phatstick broke up in 2012, so that alone will be a pull for many. Other 1990s local rock veterans will join him here, including guitarist Jeff See, bassist Robert Iacoboni (later seen in Master Steven and the Taiwanese Pink Floyd tribute band In The Flesh), and former Gsis Murphy/Fort Creek drummer Anthony Fabiano, so local rock fans who were around then should be quite interested! As well, they will have a guest singer for six songs, namely Dallas Crockett, a friend of Rob's who sings for the Kelowna-based AC/DC tribute band High Voltage.

Dallas isn't local, but it will be interesting to hear how he does on six AC/DC classics during his planned guest spot in October! Hard Rock Review (isn't "Revue" more accurate in this context?) are advertised to play a 1980s-leaning hard rock set on October 2nd, including acts like The Scorpions, Judas Priest, Journey, The Cult, and even "a couple of one-hit-wonders". Doors open at 8:00 PM for this 19+ concert, and an admission fee or potential ticket sales are not known yet. The first weekend of October is shaping up to be huge for fans of hard rock and punk of the past, and an ideal way to kick off The Rockstar Bar's full relaunch as a proper concert venue, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details!

Next up, we have some big lineup news from local southern hard rock band Fort Creek, who announced two new additions to their ranks via their Facebook page on Sunday! First, they have enlisted Half Past bassist Arthur Lacasse to replace the long-since departed Robin "Bones" Lee. Art is a good fit based on his musical background, though does him joining Fort Creek mean anything negative for Half Past's status? That band has yet to play live this year following drummer Johnny Amendola's departure and move to Soundcheck/Separate Wayz, but we'll let you know if anything is clarified from their camp! Meanwhile, in a surprise, Fort Creek have also brought in former Stillbroke/Borderline Divine alum Sam DeDominicis as their new drummer, replacing Phil Greco. A reason for Phil's departure was not announced, though if you recall Bones and Anthony's quiet departures in 2023, this won't be shocking.

Fort Creek were recording their long-awaited debut album at Phil's own Jettison Studios though, so does this signal anything bad re: the album sessions, or will he still work with the band behind the scenes? Again, we'll let you know! We last heard from Sam when Borderline Divine teased a reunion in 2016 that never got off the ground (the former Stillbroke last played live in 2012), so it's been a while regardless, but it's great to see him in a new local band after all these years, let alone Justin, Shane, and Bill having a full lineup again after almost three years! Stay tuned for more from Fort Creek in live and studio contexts hopefully soon!

Now to the oldest topic in our backlog that we hadn't yet covered in an SMS post, namely fallout from this year's Government Bay Barge Bash in Cedarville, Michigan! As you may recall, three bands play this annual Les Cheneaux Islands summer concert on a floating barge in Government Bay, with swimming and boating to the event and the stage encouraged among the revelry, and for the rain-delayed event on August 2nd, their official Facebook page did get two videos highlighting what went down four Sundays ago. One features quickly cut clips from the Barge Bash, including very brief looks at The Mark Bowen Band's set. Alas, this video is both vertical and 14 seconds long, but it is an effective teaser! The longer of the two captures Cedarville classic rock veterans Shipheads On Shore covering (as best as I can tell) Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers' "Running Down A Dream" for 51 seconds.

Shared from attendee William Maloney's personal Facebook page, he panned the camera around in a circle, and you can see that the barge isn't that far from shore, so you can walk around in the water (just don't slip!). The aesthetics alone make this video worth a watch, as you don't often get concerts where boats are parked so close to the stage, let alone the wide forest sightlines, so if you don't mind getting a little wet, this deserves more attention as a summer destination concert. Sadly, no public videos of Project 906's headlining set that I am aware of, but see above for more from this year's Barge Bash, and here's to another big one next year!

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:

 

• Local hard rock cover trio Nate's Chow have added a new gig to their calendar, but it will be on the road this Saturday at the Jerk-N Depot in Alanson, which is 90 minutes south of here (give or take Mackinac Bridge traffic) and 20 minutes northeast of Petoskey. According to the band's AI-generated poster, this is a "last minute add on show" due to a previously scheduled band cancelling. This will now be just the second gig since the former Unfortunate Sun rebranded as Nate's Chow, and while anything in the Lower Peninsula is out of our coverage range, hopefully things go well on Saturday night!
• While we await confirmation of who their new bassist is, Sault Ontario classic/hard rock cover quartet Separate Wayz shared videos of their "epic crossover" gig in Chapleau with their sister band Soundcheck via this batch post on their Facebook page last week! Unfortunately, both videos are 7 seconds long and do not have audio whatsoever, but from what we can see, it looks like a lot of fun was had by the bands and fans alike at the Gold Rush Nationals, and stay tuned for more from both bands!
• Former Spades GT bandmates J.D. Pearce, Matthew "Fang" Voros, and Sean "Skull" MacNab will reunite for the first time since their abrupt dissolution in December this Thursday at The Queens Nightclub in Barrie, when they play a one-off Misfits tribute set as Fiend Club! This show is an all-tribute band affair featuring six bands, mostly punk and emo ones, plus the amusingly named headliners Rage Against The Poutine. Matthew and Sean have remained active this year in their psychobilly band The House of Haunt, and it is good to see J.D. (a.k.a. Johnny Pints) back on stage again with them, but could this lead to more in some fashion?

 

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Generations & Greg Simpson) And New Videos!!

Today's post is half devoted to wrapping up our look at a local musician's recent original music output, but first, here's some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, one on SHORT NOTICE!

Despite the cancellation of his planned Beck's Bar matinee gig tomorrow, you can still see Bone Yard 225 frontman Greg "The Ranting Rockstar" Simpson live this weekend, as he will be rocking The Dive Gastro Pub with a solo acoustic concert TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, Greg only announced this gig via his personal Facebook page earlier this evening, and at press time, The Dive has not corroborated this booking. As per Greg's post about the "uncorked" concert TOMORROW, this concert will be indoors in "the naughty corner" rather than on the patio, but regardless, if you like Bone Yard's acoustic concerts and enjoyed Greg's past solo dates (at The Dive or otherwise), keep TOMORROW'S concert in mind for some more entertsaining southern and hard rock covers! The Ranting Rockstar takes the stage at the former Low & Slow TOMORROW at 9:30 PM with a 19+ age limit and no announced cover charge. See above for more details, and here's Greg live earlier this month!

Next up, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations will return to Gateway Casino for one night only (as usual there) on Saturday, September 12th! Drummer Tony Santoro newly announced this show on their Facebook group on Monday, and it marks their first show at the downtown casino since early August. Generations have been taking a few weeks off from the stage this month, aside from some fill-in gigs by Pierre and Tony, so if you've missed their, Valerie, and Joe's tried and tested batch of old school covers, go check them out next month (and this fall!) We already knew about their Reggie's Place gigs next weekend, so look for more in next week's round of weekend concert previews. The Gateway Casino show in three weeks is at 8:00 PM with a 19+ age limit and no cover charge. See above for more details, and look for more from Generations on the SMS next week!

Finally for this post, let's conclude our look at Tym Morrison's recent original solo music from his YouTube channel! Six songs (with videos) were left to look at after our all-Tym post, and in this case,  all six songs/videos here reference socio-political issues and opinions that may be seen as divisive, so I won't comment on the bulk of the lyrics or views here (this isn't that kind of site). Also, remember that Tym uses some AI-generated imagery in his videos, but he wrote and sang every part of the actual songs, give or take some spoken word sections from included videos. All uploaded 2-3 weeks ago, the oldest of the six videos is for "The Harvest", referencing the joyous harvests as seen in the Bible, but the video imagery gets heavier than the song, let's say. Musically, it showcases his guitar skills well, but it's deceptively laid back and mid-tempo. Next is "Save The World", which is about his view on vaccines, and that's all I'll say there.

The song itself is livelier and a little heavier with fuller guitar riffs but it can be a tad repetitive structurally. Lyrically, the next song ("The Right Side Of History") is very much on the same track for its messaging and video content. Musically, it is the heaviest of the three songs yet with strong guitar soloing and energetic, melodic singing, so fans of his older metal material will enjoy the instrumental aspect! "Declassified" focuses on Tym's take on political corruption and declassifying government documents, and this song has an Iced Earth vibe to it at points (if that's fair) with well programmed percussion and good melodies. "The Calm Before The Storm", is about child trafficking, and it goes from there. In terms of the music, it's an intense 1980s-inspired metal song that old Hollow and Carbon Black fans will like on that basis.

The last of the six songs is "COVID-19", and you can guess what that song is about from the title. Tym's vocals come off a little like early-1990s Dave Mustaine with how he approaches the verses here, and while not his fastest or most freewheeling original, it gets the job done as a composition. Tym's songwriting and vocal abilities are definitely present across these songs, but all deal with political, social, or public health content that I really don't want to get into here, so just keep that in mind whether you'd be inclined to agree with the viewpoints or not. Give them a listen/watch above if you want, and that's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the SMS this weekend as our backlog shrinks down! Thanks everyone!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Hells Bells & Tym Morrison), More Concert Previews, And Recent Updates!!

Tonight's post wraps up this weekend's hard rock concert previews, with the major exception of Toystock, which gets an extended look on the SMS tomorrow! For now, we also have some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (one on SHORT NOTICE), plus recent updates, so here's what you should know! 

Joining his previously announced Fraternal Order Of Eagles Club concert TOMORROW NIGHT, local classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison will also rock Misty's Fifties TOMORROW with a matinee gig prior! Apologies for the short notice, I had held off on adding Tym's end-of-year gigs to our listings when there weren't any other concerts of note to add to our listings, but I forgot to add them before tomorow's was short notice. In terms of Tym's lengthy relationship with Misty's, fans will be able to catch the former Caveman Morrison frontman at the Second Line West nightclub TOMORROW and then thrice next month (December 6th, 20th, and 27th), all also Saturday matinees. Busy end of year for Tym, so don't miss out on his final four Misty's gigs this year, not to mention tomorrow night's Eagles Club show, as he plays his final double header of 2025, so he'll be heading to Steelton after things wrap up at Misty's.

Tym ends 2025 back at The Eagles Club on New Year's Eve, for the record. TOMORROW'S and next month's Misty's shows are all 4:00 PM events, tomorrow night's show at Aerie #3991 is at 8:00 PM, the Misty's gigs are likely 19+, and none have an announced cover charge. Visit the official Facebook event pages linked here for more on Tym's year-end acoustic hard rock cover shows at both venues, and here he is live!

Next up, Barrie-based AC/DC tribute band Hells Bells will return to Sault Ste. Marie on Friday, April 10th at The Sault Community Theatre Centre! One of a handful of different AC/DC tribute bands to play here over the years, local fans will have last seen them as original AC/DC frontman Dave Evans' backing band in May 2019 at The Rockstar Bar, where they also played an opening set on their own accord, but they last played a full headlining date of their own here in 2015. Definitely moving up in the world to book the former Kiwanis Theater, and it will be interesting to see how big of a crowd packs White Pines for their brand of high voltage rock n' roll in the spring! This show has a 7:30 PM start time, it is definitely all ages, and tickets are now on sale for a flat $45.20 at this link, with all rows having seats available at press time. Visit the above links for more on Hells Bells' return next year!

Also, let's resume this weekend's hard rock concert previews by heading to Soo Blaster, where local party metal trio The Apocalypse Afterparty will once again be the rock outliers on an otherwise all-hip hop concert TOMORROW, this time headlined by Guelph rapper Robbie G! This is effectively the sequel to Robbie G's shows here in April and in 2023 that The A.A. also opened for, not to mention the Tech N9ne, Madchild, and Afroman shows where Robbie and the band's paths also crossed. Clearly, these rap bookings for The Apocalypse Afterparty are going well, and hopefully they carve out another solid niche and make some more cross-genre fans tomorrow night with the double bass attack! Paul, Amanda, and Mikhal remain unacknowledged on the Facebook event page despite ample social media promotion on personal accounts (clearly they are the "& more"), but former As It Stands/Sault Side Squad frontman Justin "Nadj" Pregent is hosting.

Also performing tomorrow are Southern Ontario rappers M For The Movement with Capital "A" Plus and Lumberjack Pat, local MC Bold Noize, unspecified rappers from No Filter Records, and KG Tha SunGod. This is an all ages concert taking place tomorrow at 8:00 PM, and base tickets are $20 at this link or at the door, with VIP packages also available. If you like rap, there will be a lot of strong MCs here dropping rhymes, with a bit of a rock chaser from The Apocalypse Afterparty, so visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's the band live!

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

 

• Sault Michigan hard rock trio (and Tarnished's all-original side project) Crush's most recent concert was out of town, as they opened for Tribe989 at Benet's Benefit Ride at the Bluegill Festival Pavilion in St. Helen (2 hours south of here) on November 8th. Not a lot was said about it on social media from what I found, but hopefully Crush and crew had a great show for the cause! 
• In a post on their Facebook page on Wednesday, The Algonquin Hotel's upstairs nightclub The Rockstar Bar revealed that they're looking for a DJ to work weekends there, and to send contact information if you're interested. Comments inquiring if the 864 Queen Street East venue was re-opening were not denied, so could we be seeing The Rockstar Bar opening to normal service for the first time since the summer of 2022? They spent the past 3+ years only hosting occasional private and ticketed events, as Silent 9 know well. This is encouraging news for sure, so we'll have to see what The Rockstar Bar has in store for 2026!
• I have replaced the link for 2012-2018 local hard rock quintet Skeyes of Seven from their (sadly) now deleted Facebook page to their still-up Bandmix page. Successors to the late 2000s hard rock band Sense of Truth, Skeyes of Seven had a lot of promise and solid original material, but only played five sporadic concerts. Don't miss Cory in Bullet Train or Alain & Johnny in Half Past nowadays though!

 

That's all for now, but stay tuned for our Toystock preview on the site next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Silent 9, Double Down, And Generations) & Weekend Concert Previews!!

This weekend is a tad busier for hard rock concerts in Sault Ste. Marie, so our preview of Saturday's Selias concert will be in tomorrow's post. With that said, today's focuses on covers-leaning bands, including LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, some on SHORT NOTICE, so here's what you should know as we enter mid-November!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Double Down will return to Jay's Piston Broke Pub for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! In a way, I apologize for the short notice, but these shows have been announced since August via their Facebook event page. I erroneously listed them for next weekend when we first covered them, despite knowing that they are playing at The Water Tower Pub next Friday. That's on me, I'm sorry, but at least I caught the error! TOMORROW & SATURDAY's shows will end a month-long break for this skilled veteran outfit, last playing at Jay's over the October 11th weekend, and they should have a good array of classic and hard rock covers in store for west end fans! As has been the case for all of their fall dates so far, bassist Dan Beaupre will be absent as he continues recovering from an undisclosed ailment, so his "stunt double" (Mid Life Crysis bassist Lori Reinholtz) will be back for both nights.

Lori has played all but one of Double Down's concert weekends so far since they ended their summer break, and she has fit in well with the Syrettes and Ric, so hopefully things go well again TOMORROW & SATURDAY, and that Dan gets better soon! These shows are at 9:30 PM with 19+ age limits and no cover charges as usual. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Double Down live!

Next up, fellow local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations will return to the stage THIS SATURDAY NIGHT at Beck's Bar! Again, apologies for the short notice, drummer Tony Santoro only announced this show via the band's Facebook group on Monday. Last seen at The Water Tower Pub two weeks ago, this marks just their second show at the Goulais Avenue nightclub, last playing there in June. SATURDAY'S concert also marks the debut of their new guitarist, as veteran local musician Joe Miller has joined Generations, replacing the already-departed Tony Kajnar. Joe has been a presence in the scene dating back four decades, and while blatant credits for his band work aren't easy to find on social media, hopefully he fits in well with Valerie, Pierre, and Tony S. on SATURDAY! The matinee act that evening at Beck's is new local duo Silver Strings, who are not "opening" for Generations, and have their own full timeslot from 3:00-7:00 PM.

This is a one-nighter as usual for Beck's, but that's just as well for singer Valerie Powley, as she will be judging the finals of this year's The Soo's Got Talent tomorrow at Soo Blaster. We didn't cover it this year because it was full-on karaoke for 2025, partially thanks to it's The Voice-inspired audition rounds, but note that Convergence frontman Stephen Gagnon-Ruscio is one of this year's six finalists. Good luck to him and the other finalists tomorrow! Generations' Beck's concert on SATURDAY is at 9:00 PM with a 19+ age limit and no cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Generations live!

Also, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Silent 9 will rock The Esquire Club TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT, but that's not all for them in 2025! While their website's calendar only lists three private gigs for the rest of 2025 (making this weekend's shows their last traditional bar gigs of the year), one of them isn't as private as you may think. On Friday, December 5th, you can see Jess, Ryan, Paul, and Steve set up shop at The Rockstar Bar when they headline the Searchmont Ski Runners' holiday mixer! This may sound odd, but they did the honours for the S.S.R.'s fall social in October 2023, which also took place at The Rockstar Bar, which remains available to host special ticketed or private events, but has been closed as a standard nightclub since mid-2022. Despite the band claiming it's private, the Ski Runners' Facebook page is publically advertising the mixer, which is a fundraiser for the youth alpine skiing organization.

Sounds like a fun time for a worthy cause, so keep this in mind if you want to support the Ski Runners and/or enjoy an all-too rare Rockstar Bar concert! Tickets run for $35 but that also enters you into a contest to win passes to Searchmont, and you can buy tickets for this 19+ event at 7:30 PM at this link. Before then, they wrap up their normal nightclub slate for 2025 tomorrow & Saturday at The Esquire Club, so don't miss Silent 9's crowd and party-friendly mix of rocking covers this weekend! Both shows are at 9:30 PM with no cover charge and 19+ age limits. See above for more details, stay tuned for more on Silent 9's 2026 plans, and here they are live!

Finally for this preview post, veteran local classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison is slated to rock The Fraternal Order of Eagles Club on Wellington Street West on SATURDAY NIGHT! Before we get too far, just a note that Tym was originally advertised to be playing the matinee timeslot at Beck's Bar on Saturday himself, but the venue is listing the aforementioned Silver Strings from 3:00-7:00 PM that day. A reason for Tym's withdrawal from the Beck's booking was not publically announced, but his batch Facebook event page for shows there still lists this Saturday's matinee. He is currently slated to return to the former Vibe Lounge as their matinee performer next Sunday, so I'll let you know if that goes on as planned! And no, Tym's not in Silver Strings, here's a video of them from earlier this year. While Tym has pulled double duty for his solo acoustic act in the past, he'll just be rocking Aerie #3991 on Saturday night.

Regardless of venue or timeslot, Tym's prolific setlist and clear-as-day talents as a vocalist and guitar player will bode well for attendees at the Eagles Club on Saturday, so don't miss out! If you do however, he'll be back in two weeks. As usual there, this is an 8:00 PM start time, no cover, and no advertised age limit. See above for more details, and here he is live!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for our Selias preview and more next! Thanks everyone!

Talk Shit/Nebraska Arms Video Showcase!!

Today's post spotlights videos on a YouTube channel brought to my attention last month when the channel's owner filmed an unlisted video at a recent concert, and while I don't share/post unlisted videos here without the video(s) in question being publically shared in some form, the channel in question has a bunch of public SMS-relevant videos! The channel (named Skwunch) is owned by Honest Work/ex-Nebraska Arms drummer Adam Sauve, and his bands have been featured in uploads for the past decade. How did I not know about it before now? Not counting his 2014 re-posting of Nebraska Arms playing "Lighthouses" at The Speak Easy (first uploaded to guitarist Wayne Watkins' own channel in 2008), Adam's first unique videos of one of his bands came in 2015, when he posted two videos of his now-defunct punk band Talk Shit playing two jam session covers.

These two videos feature Adam alongside guitarist Marc LaFrance and bassist Ian Robinson, and they seem to have been filmed before Steve Shaw replaced the long-since-relocated Andrew Angelic on guitar. Uploaded over a year before Talk Shit ended their 7 year hiatus from live gigs, the videos feature the guys covering NOFX's "Linoleum" and as embedded below, Propagandhi's "A Speculative Fiction". Very cool hearing Propagandhi covered by a local band, for the record! Adam sings here, and while they're obviously short-handed, these rough jam covers aren't bad for what they are, though the cymbals are way too loud in the recording. Check out Talk Shit's 2015 jam session covers above & below!

Next up, Adam belatedly posted a video in 2019 of Talk Shit's second reunion-era concert set, where they were among the performers at the first Guy Thiffault memorial concert at The Rockstar Bar in December 2016! Steve was now in the group, but Guy's old Bondar bandmate Mark Rand (now of Cross Dog) filled in for Ian here for unannounced reasons. An attendee filmed the guys covering Guy's old band The Hangdowns' song "Separation Anxiety", and this is a fun rendition with lots of impromptu guest vocals from Guy's friends and old bandmates, as filmed from a close spot on the floor. Good stuff that Guy would have been very proud of, so give Talk Shit's Hangdowns cover a watch below!

Today's other two videos are also from the 2016 Guy Thiffault tribute concert, but were filmed from a far more distant stationary camera angle, and were surprisingly only posted onto Adam's channel in December of last year. One is of Talk Shit covering NOFX's "Don't Call Me White", and if you just want to hear Steve, Marc, Ian, and Mark rocking out, this will do the trick! The audio quality makes up for how far away the stage is given where this camera was set up, but you do get a sense of the solid turnout for this memorial concert, and a nice reminder of the holiday season given the obvious Christmas tree in the lower right. Strong cover with Steve acquitting himself well vocally, so check it out below!

We'll close today with a band that actually played earlier that evening at The Rockstar Bar, namely 2008-2010 indie punk quartet Nebraska Arms, who Guy also fronted and played bass for in their original run. It was nice to see Adam and guitarists Wayne Watkins & Dave Prendergast bring the group back for a night in Guy's memory! Mark Rand filled in on bass here too, while Wayne sang lead, a'la The Northwest. During their short reunion set, Nebraska Arms were filmed playing their original song "I Was A Writer", and while the same visual deficiencies exist for this video, it's a solid performance of this melodic punk original from their heyday, especially given the circumstances. Give it a look below, and R.I.P. Guy!

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

New Videos From Late 2023 Of Fuller & Silent 9!!

Before we begin this post, I wanted to offer our deepest condolences to the family & friends of veteran Toronto punk bassist Phil Page, who passed away earlier this week, as per numerous personal Facebook postings. While not a local musician, Phil was known to many in the local punk scene via his friend and long-time bandmate Mikey Hawdon, with the two collaborating musically for the past 15 or so years during Mikey's time living in Southern Ontario. SMS readers will best recognize Phil as the bassist in Mikey's first Ramones tribute band The Merves, who played five concerts in the Soo from 2010-2015 before reuniting at Soo Blaster in November during Mikey's pre-wedding concert. Original music-wise, Phil played with Mikey in The Fairmounts, who came here for a single show at The Algonquin Pub in 2012. Mikey also drummed in Phil's band Teenage X, who I don't believe ever played up here.

Phil was also known from GTA bands like The Outbred Inlaws and The Downbelows, and was also an avid skateboarder. My interactions with Phil during his local concerts were limited, but he was a good man and a proud father, and my thoughts are absolutely with his wife Hollie and their kids at this difficult time. If you're a fan of modern skate punk and/or The Ramones, do check out Phil's back catalog to hear some very solid performances both on stage and in studio. R.I.P. Phil!

Today's post otherwise focuses on new videos, and we'll actually start with another ex-bandmate of Mikey Hawdon's, namely his old Lion Ride/Detroit cohort Mark Rand & his emo/punk band Fuller, who reunited after an 18-ish year hiatus for a one-off concert at LopLops Lounge in December! As I noted in our post last week about Jimmy Polnick's live-streams from that night, the Facebook event page saw an abnormal usage as a bulletin board for videos from the event (remember, the bands that night either don't have a Facebook page or barely post on theirs), with two more attendees posting videos there from the show! Ashley Lace also filmed Fuller's entire set for the event page, posting her footage on January 2nd. Now, her videos were split in two chunks (the second video begins with their Moneen cover with guest vocalists), but thankfully, hers were shot horizontally!

It's always more ideal to shoot a band in landscape orientation, so kudos to Ashley for going widescreen for her footage! Even beyond that, I'd say that her videos are better quality for visuals and audio than Jimmy's, but of course, thanks to both for filming everything that they did! I won't do another blow by blow of the set, as I covered that ground last week, but definitely give Ashley's Fuller videos a watch above & below!

The other video was posted by Mark on New Year's Eve, but was shot by his wife & Cross Dog bandmate Tracy Ashenden. It features their last song (whose name was obscured in the setlist picture from his personal Facebook page), which was more of an extended jam compared to what came before it. Tracy got more of a central angle than what Ashley filmed concurrently, and while the audio is a little muffled by comparison, you can't go wrong with the crystal clear visuals and horizontal orientation! It does feel like there was a stabilization setting added to it, based on how some of the motion looks, but it's another solid video, so throw back to Fuller's long awaited return concert again below!

We'll close with a new video from local classic/hard rock cover quartet Silent 9's Facebook page! Filmed at one of their Rockstar Bar fundraiser gigs from late last year (they did not specify which one), the video features guitarist Ryan Robb playing 19 seconds of the guitar solo from their cover of Metallica's cover of Thin Lizzy's "Whiskey In The Jar". Note the fan laying on his back giving "moral support", which hopefully was sent accurately! The drums are a little loud given the camera setup and focus on the guitarist, but what we see is well performed, so give it a look for yourselves below!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews on the site next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Soundcheck, Generations, Double Down, And Silent 9!!)

Quite a backlog is developing on the SMS that I blame partially on holiday season commitments (I'm not even in town writing this), so let's try and remedy some of that today with a post solely devoted to LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS! All involve veteran cover rock bands playing what could end up being their last shows of the year, so here's what you should know!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Silent 9 have announced their first shows for early 2024, but before then, you can see them at least one more time this month! The band did announce that their final 2023 dates would be private events, but that isn't true in one case, as they will return to The Algonquin Hotel (likely upstairs at The Rockstar Bar) on Friday, December 15th! The event is not a standard concert, rather a fundraising pub for Soo City United girls soccer teams (specifically the teams for next season whose players have 2010 or 2011 birth years). Despite Silent 9 saying that this is private, the Facebook event page is public, and prospective attendees are welcome to buy a ticket to support the local girls soccer program. The holiday theme is via an ugly sweater party, so bring your ugliest Christmas sweater to fit in for the festivities! No word on if there will be a contest for the ugliest one of all or not.

This is presumably a 19+ event, and tickets are on sale for $35 (if you're unable to attend, but wish to support the teams, they recommend $20 donations). Scan the QR code on the poster to be sent to a ticket sale page! This event is not entirely new territory for Silent 9, as they played at the Searchmont Ski Runners' fall social at The Rockstar Bar (which has been opening sporadically for one-off bookings this year) in October, and this appears to be along those lines. Hopefully it goes swimmingly for Jess, Ryan, Paul, and Steve in a couple of weeks, see above for more details, and look for more on Silent 9's 2024 schedule soon!

Next up, fellow local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations will end their recent break from the stage when they return to Shooters Downstairs Lounge for one night only on Friday, December 29th! First announced by Shooters in this updated concert calendar posting on their Facebook page on Tuesday, this will be Generations' first show since playing at Jay's early last month, and their first gig at Shooters since mid-October. No word on why they're in the midst of a near two months-long break, but if you want to see the band (sans guitarist Tony Kajnar) before then in bluesier confines, all will be at Soo Blaster one week from Friday as part of this year's Blues For Food fundraiser! Pierre and Tony S. are joining past Generations fill-in guitarist Mike McDonald as part of the one-off Mudfoot Mike & The Muckrakers, with Valerie and fellow fill-in guitarist Michael Yurich among the guest performers. Click here for details on that special event!

Meanwhile, Generations' Shooters show is a one-nighter due to the Dennis Street nightclub's continuation of DJs on most Saturdays. Expect a 9:00 PM-ish start time, 19+ age limit, and no cover charge. If you;ve missed seeing Generations' classic and hard rock cover selection as of late, keep their final show of the year in mind later this month, and do consider attending Blues For Food if you want to support both St. Vincent's Place and the Soup Kitchen at this needy time of year!

Also that same weekend, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Double Down will reportedly return to The Esquire Club for concerts on December 29th & 30th! These were announced in a concert calendar post on the venue's Facebook page on Thursday, despite Double Down announcing on their Facebook page on November 21st that their shows at Reggie's on November 24th-25th were their "last gig(s) of 2023". I have no idea whether the Esquire Club bookings came late or if they're incorrect/now cancelled, but if someone publically confirms that Double Down are not playing there at month's end, we will let you know! The band's full lineup will presumably be present if things are a go, as bassist Brad Stephen had to miss their Reggie's concerts this past weekend for unannounced reasons. Sidekicks bassist Dan Beaupre (who played in 100 Gran with singer/guitarist Joel Syrette) filled in for both shows.

Dan's a very skilled bassist with hard rock experience, so I'm sure he fit in just fine with Double Down at Reggie's! If Double Down are playing at The Esquire Club at month's end, it will be their first ever weekend there, after dropping out of planned gigs there in September, but note that the band never promoted the bookings online. We'll let you know if things get clarified the other way, but expect 9:00 PM start times, no cover charges, and 19+ age limits. Visit the above links for more details!

Finally for today, fellow local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will cap off 2023 by toplining a  New Year's Eve party on Sunday, December 31st at... the Delta Hotel?! Concerts at the waterfront hotel at 208 St. Mary's River Drive are not completely uncommon, as the then-Holiday Inn hosted Bon Soo's Battle of the Bands back in 2007, but it is definitely not a venue used with any regularity for public concerts. On the side of New Year's parties, Soundcheck are no strangers to rocking out on December 31st, having done so at Shooters last year (back when Shooters booked bands on most Saturdays), but this will hew closer to the New Year's party that Soundcheck toplined at The Water Tower Pub in 2019. This ain't just a concert, as paid attendees will get a full course dinner, cocktails, a cash bar, and discount rates on hotel rooms if you are so inclined. Needless to say, attendees will be ringing in 2024 in style!

This 19+ event starts at 5:00 PM with Soundcheck's set beginning and 8:00 PM, and semi-formal/dress attire is encouraged given the locale and amenities. As such, the ticket price is a whopping $100, and limited tickets are available, so contact the Delta A.S.A.P. if this interests you! Granted, this will be above the price range for many, but if you want to go all out for the holiday, this would be a fancy way to do it, and Soundcheck's hard and classic rock covers would be a fine soundtrack throughout! Visit the above links for more details, and look for this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post on the site next! Thanks everyone!