Given that one of the remaining un-previewed hard rock/punk concerts in the Soo area this weekend is an afternoon matinee tomorrow, let's get our last weekend concert preview post up tonight to avoid putting things off any further! This last preview post looks at three shows tomorrow of varying appeal levels, so here's what else you should know!
We'll pick things back up TOMORROW with the second annual Salty Marie Trails Fest, which returns to Hiawatha Highlands with a bigger and better installment, now including live music! While the Trails Fest proper is a mountain biking/foot racing event featuring local vendors and family activities (click here for full details on how to attend or participate in the festivities), two local covers-centric bands will grace the "salty stage" tomorrow afternoon! Coverage of the bands hasn't been paramount in the recent festival promotion, but alt-punk cover sextet Bookclub are your headliners in their first show since Rotaryfest Stage 1 last week, and they should provide a fun soundtrack of scarcely heard covers for fans at Hiawatha tomorrow afternoon! No word on if bassist Dustin Jones (who missed Rotaryfest while on vacation) will be back in time for the Trails Fest or not, but note that ex-guitarist Dave Bahun returned to fill in for him last week.
Newer local pop rock cover band The Dead Stops (led by ex-Garden of Bedlam frontman Erik Boissineau) will open at 12:00 PM, and hopefully they leave a good impression! The "salty stage" will be set up behind Hiawatha Ice Cream at 780 Landslide Road, and 9&10 News is calling for sunny weather of around 16-24° during the Salty Marie Fest, so weather should be great for the outdoor bands, running, and biking, humidity aside! Attendance is free for spectators (click here to see what race events have openings, but most are booked solid), and while things begin in the morning, both bands play in the afternoon. Visit the above links for more on all of tomorrow's action, and here's Bookclub live!
Next up, after a quiet two months with only sewing events being promoted there, The Distraction on East Street returns to host a formal concert TOMORROW NIGHT, as Vaughan, Ontario "punkabilly" solo project Neither Could Dylan will be making their local concert debut! Neither Could Dylan blend many disparate genres into their original material and live show, with punk, power pop, and indie rock all being detectable in their live show, and it'll be interesting to see how Jaimee goes over to Saultites tomorrow! Sylo frontman Eli Russell will open with his indie rock project launched between Raincourt/Sylo's 2023 hiatus, so if you heard his solo album or saw him solo already, prepare for some talented singer/songwriter material! This concert takes place at 7:00 PM, there is no age limit, and admission is "$10 or pay what you can". Visit the Facebook event page for more details, and here's Neither Could Dylan live!
Lastly for known hard rock concerts this weekend, we'll head to Shooters Downstairs Lounge, where local hard rock quintet HeadFirst will headline their EP release party TOMORROW NIGHT! While attendees of last week's sets at Rotaryfest Stage 2 and Loud & Proud had first crack at buying advance copies of "Head Trauma", tomorrow is the full wide release of the EP beyond the 20 copies brought to the downtown festivals for early birds. If you didn't buy a copy last week (like I did), they cost $15 and feature four songs: "Hot Blooded Woman", "Take You (Down)" (which Liam & Anthony trade roles for live), "Little Darling", and the advance single "Don't Care, Don't Mind". At the moment, "Head Trauma" is exclusively available at their concerts, with the band noting on their Facebook page on Monday that there's "no online store yet", but availability of the full EP on major streaming services is expected tomorrow or soon after.
For the record, "The Walk" is not on the EP (singer Red Jettison told me that it's more intended as a live jam for now), but the band will be playing multiple non-EP originals tomorrow along with the four included songs and some covers, as this is a four set deal a'la weekend headliners on the cover band circuit. There will also be giveaways of signed gear and free CDs to "three lucky winners who rock out with us", so if you want to win some swag, stay until midnight for the reveal! Remember, Shooters hosts DJs on Fridays this year, hence why this is a one-nighter. Tomorrow's concert has no cover charge, a 19+ age limit, and a 9:30 PM start time. See above for more details on HeadFirst's big night, and note that the official trailer for the EP release is online, and it happens to feature live performance footage of the guys at what appears to be Robbie Adamson's old church in Leeburn!
No, this wasn't from a public concert (that I know of), but HeadFirst aren't the only band to use the church for a shoot. Remember The Bear Hunters' music video? Opening with lit firecrackers, the video (uploaded to their Facebook page on Tuesday) features clips of the guys playing live there, but "Hot Blooded Woman" aside, the songs seem like they were edited to look synced up and actually weren't. Lots of post-production graphics and effects (including a filmstrip motif) spice things up, and it's a good teaser of what's to come tomorrow, so check it out at this link! I can't embed it here due to Facebook content matching the studio material clips, but for a preview, here's HeadFirst live at Shooters!
