LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Quite Frankly), The Go Skate Day Concert Preview, And Epic Rush Concert Videos!!

Let's close out this weekend's known hard rock concert previews tonight, along with new videos from a recent tribute band concert, so here's what you should know for this late Friday night post!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Quite Frankly will return to The Water Tower Pub for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the band quietly announced the show on their Facebook page on June 2nd and it slipped us by until this week. Last seen on May 1st at Beck's Bar, this will be Quite Frankly's first Water Tower Pub stop in two months. This talented group should have another wide array of entertaining rocking covers in store for central fans TOMORROW, so keep this one-nighter in mind if it piques your interest! The Water Tower Pub never hosts the same band on consecutive nights, and as such, funk rock cover band The Rhythm Junction are playing there tonight (replacing the cancelled Yuk Yuk's comedy night). Linsaey, Frank, Harley, and Joe take the stage TOMORROW at 8:00 PM with a 19+ age limit and no cover. See above for more details, and for a preview, here's Quite Frankly live at The Water Tower Pub!

Next up, here's this weekend's last known hard rock concert preview, and it takes us to Queen Elizabeth Park outside of the John Rhodes Centre, where Go Skateboarding Day returns on SUNDAY! After promoters Underground Events SSM's planned debut as hosts of this event last year were severely impaired by heavy rain, I am pleased to report that 9&10 News is calling for sunny skies on Sunday with temperatures ranging from 16-19°, with no likelihood of rain, so Mikhal "Cha" Muto finally gets to put on the Go Skate Day he intended last year! Sponsors and vendors will be on site at the skatepark, and skaters of all ages & skill levels are encouraged to come down to hit the ramps and rails, play games, have fun, and of course, listen to live music! After last year's program was abruptly moved to a private event with late replacement bands, Mikhal has secured six acts this year, the largest Go Skate Day lineup in a decade, so who all can you expect on Sunday afternoon?

The presented lineup order lists the apparent headliners as Half Scoundies (Josh and Todd from The Golden Scoundrels) in an acoustic folk/bluegrass set. Preceding them are this year's two returning acts from Tidal Records-era Go Skate Days, including Shane "DJ Seith" Erickson with his fan favourite turntable mixes, as well as party metal trio The Apocalypse Afterparty (featuring Mikhal on bass). Fast-rising teenage hard rock quartet 5 Dollar Bribe will make their multi-band/outdoor debut on Sunday, preceded by Mikhal's ska punk trio A.S.D.P., who were a late addition to last year's private Go Skate Day rainout concert. Local jazz/EDM solo artist Mario "Yecharo" Kwan is listed last for this year's bill, and while he is a bit of a wild card, he does appear on Underground Events SSM's compilation album. Nicely varied lineup for sure, and the weather should hold up for the duration!

Admission is FREE whether you are skating or not, and this is definitely an all ages event, with bands presumably set up on top of the big ramp at the skatepark like they were under Tidal's supervision. Things seem to be shaping up well on musical and logistical fronts this year, and hopefully things go well at the skatepark on Sunday! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's The Apocalypse Afterparty live!

Let's close today with videos from last week's Epic Rush concert at The Full Throttle Saloon! Like at the Crazy Babies show there, a representative of the venue was filming videos for their Facebook page, but unfortunately, they were all shot vertically. We do get some longer videos this time though (all run for at least 3:45), and they include the former Rust playing the Rush classics "Time Stand Still", "Freewill", and as embedded below, "Red Barchetta". Notably, the latter cover was filmed from the back corner of the stage, giving us a unique angle of the proceedings, especially to really show off drummer Eric Kuthy channelling the late Neil Peart with gusto, but his playing comes off very loud as a result. I do wish that more fans were on the floor close to the band, let alone that the house lighting was at least darkened, but Rush fans got their fill from this talented Sudbury-based trio, so check out all three videos!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Peril, Tarnished, And Go Skateboarding Day!!)

Tonight's news post gives us some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, including a big returning Sault Ontario event later this month and some intriguing concerts in the E.U.P. in the coming months. Here's what you should know!

The annual local Go Skateboarding Day concert returns to Queen Elizabeth Park outside of the John Rhodes Center on Sunday, June 21st! After nine prior installments (eight with live music) were held by Tidal Records from 2014-2019 and 2022-2024, local promoter and musician Mikhal Muto inherited the reins of this annual event last year, only for Go Skate Day to be rained out as intended, the first time that the local version was ever called off for a reason other than the pandemic. An indoor skateboarding event at Prince Township was held on short notice, with a partial lineup of bands playing a private event afterwards, but weather permitting, the original format of Go Skate Day is back for 2026 via Mikhal's new promotional agency Underground Events SSM. This includes all-ages and free skateboarding for all skill levels from 12:00-5:00 PM, plus skate games and giveaways from sponsors.

For the first time since 2016, the local Go Skateboarding Day concert will have six advertised acts atop the half-pipe at the skate park, and while the performance order isn't clear from the Facebook event page, there will be two (kinda three) returning acts. Local party metal trio The Apocalypse Afterparty (who played in 2024) and Shane "DJ Seith" Erickson (who played in 2015 and 2016) are back, while ska punk trio A.S.D.P. will play their first John Rhodes Centre gig on the 21st, though they (and DJ Seith) played at last year's private fill-in event. Go Skate Day newcomers will include Half Scoundies (Josh & Todd from folk/bluegrass quartet The Golden Scoundrels going acoustic), new local hard rock quartet 5 Dollar Bribe (in their first ever public multi-band concert), and local jazz/EDM solo musician Mario "Yecharo" Kwon, who is on Underground Events SSM's compilation album.

Quite an eclectic lineup of musicians (I never would have connected the Scoundrels... er, Scoundies with extreme sports) will be on hand, but of course, Mother Nature is very much a factor as to if Go Skate Day 2026 will occur as planned, and part of me is surprised that it took until 2025 for one to be impaired due to weather. I do hope that everything goes off without a hitch for Mikhal and crew this time, so visit the above links for more on all of the action one week from Sunday!

Next up, Traverse City, Michigan classic metal trio Peril have announced their concert calendar through September via new schedule images on their Facebook page! We knew about their car show-weekend gigs in St. Ignace on the 26th and 27th, but when else will Jeff, Howard, and Brooks be rocking a stage within an hour of the Soo? Their next shows in our coverage area will be on Friday, July 10th and Saturday, July 11th at The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino, and they will be rocking out after the Steve Earle concert at The Dreammakers Theater on the 11th, so if you wanna keep the party going, head to the lounge afterwards! In August, they have two shows in St. Ignace, but not at Kewadin Casino. They'll instead set up shop at American Legion Park for one-nighters on Thursday, August 6th and Friday, August 21st as part of the Music By The Bay concert series!

 

Those are outdoor shows (bands play under a canopy at the park), and while these are rare non-Kewadin gigs for Peril in our neck of the woods, they have played at the Music By The Bay series before, weather permitting. Hopefully things go well for the guys in all six of their regional concerts this summer! The Kewadin dates next month are at 9:00 PM with 21+ age limits, the St. Ignace outdoor shows run from 7:00-8:30 PM with no age limits, and none have a cover charge. Visit the above links for more on this hard rocking veteran group's regional shows ahead!

 

Finally for this post, we'll stay in St. Ignace, where local classic/hard rock cover quartet Tarnished will return for some non-Kewadin shows of their own in a few months! They too will return to American Legion Park for St. Ignace's Music By The Bay series on Friday, July 31st and Saturday, September 5th, with the latter falling over the Labour Day long weekend (they'll actually be the penultimate band of this series for 2026). As best as I can tell, Tarnished and Peril are the only heavier-leaning bands playing Music By The Bay shows this year, but there are other familiar names that you can see on the daily schedule at this link. Alex, Josh, Chris, and Ron will make another hour's drive south on Friday, September 18th when they rock The Driftwood Sports Bar again, this time during the Richard Crane Memorial Truck Show weekend! You may recall seeing Tarnished play three different locales during this event last year.

 

No word on if they'll be similarly busy in 2026, but if you love big rigs and transports, this truck show will be up your alley, and kudos to The Driftwood for capitalizing on all of these vehicle shows in St. Ignace by booking bands during them! We'll address the band playing there on Thursday, September 17th in an upcoming post. Like with Peril, the Music By The Bay shows are at 7:00 PM with no age limit or cover charge (weather permitting), while the Driftwood concert during the truck show weekend is at 9:00 Pm and will be 21+. See above for more on Tarnished's Mackinac County shows ahead, and look for weekend concert previews and our next Defunct Local Band Profile on the SMS in the coming days! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Bon Jovi Forever), One More Weekend Concert Preview, And More Updates!!

Before we begin this post, I wanted to apologize for missing a late concert cancellation on the SMS, as Go Skateboarding Day did not take place as planned at Queen Elizabeth Park outside of the John Rhodes Centre due to yesterday's very rainy conditions. The worst of it was in the morning, but it rained off and on all day, which isn't safe to skateboard in, let alone play plugged-in live music. As far as I can recall, this is the first time that the local Go Skate Day was ever cancelled by rain, but organizers did have a back-up plan to keep the annual June 21st festivities going. They were able to host an indoor Go Skate Day 20 minutes east at the Prince Township Community Center's skating rink, while a concert did take place, albeit at a private house party last night. Unfortunately, Hails and Pillory were not able to play the delayed concert, and they were replaced by a new mystery act named Adam Smith Death Parade and... The Sole Aggressors?

How they were able to swing getting the Sault Michigan punk band to play across the border on short notice, I don't know, but that would have been fun to see if you were able to get the address and come out! Our source for much of the above info is Spaceship Opening member Ralph Barber's personal Facebook page. As for the Queen Street Cruise events yesterday (including Bone Yard 225's concert under The Roberta Bondar Pavilion tent), that all went on despite the rain, so hopefully the car show and other events went as well as they could for all involved!

Today's post otherwise features one more weekend concert preview, some assorted updates, and to start, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, as Oshawa-based Bon Jovi tribute band Bon Jovi Forever will return to the Soo on Saturday, September 13th at the Sault Community Theatre Centre! Since the SMS launched, at least four different Bon Jovi tributes have came here (the others being Bed Of Roses, Keep The Faith, and the hybrid Bon Journey), but Bon Jovi Forever are the ones that played at The Rockstar Bar in May 2016. What distinctions you can make between them will depend on personal preference of their talents and appearances, but Bon Jovi Forever have the classic sound down, both for their early hair metal hits and their later songs, and fans should have a good time in their return to the Soo after nine years! As best as I can tell, there is no opening act. This all ages concert has an 8:00 PM start time.

Loads of tickets are on sale for this newly announced concert in all rows (the balcony is not open for this one), so click here to buy yours, or visit the in-person box office! Prices are much higher than in 2016, running $54.24 for adults, $42.94 for seniors over 65 years of age and students 14-21 years old, and $22.60 for kids 13 and under, but the former Kiwanis Theater is also a much larger venue. Visit the above links for more details on Bon Jovi Forever's long awaited local return this fall! 

Also today, here's one more weekend concert preview that really fell through the cracks while we jumped into our Rotaryfest coverage, and it goes down TODAY, as local alternative/punk cover sextet Bookclub and veteran R&B/soul band The Hustle Brothers will both return to Thomson Farms Cider & Winery at 4057 Third Line West for their second annual teddy bear picnic! Once again, this special matinee concert will see outdoor performances alongside family friendly entertainment at the cider mill. Of course, kids are welcome to bring their teddy bears for the picnic proper, but attendees and families will also get lots of activities to enjoy, exhibits from Entomica, prizes, vendors, food and drinks, tractor rides, and much more, so visit the Eventbrite ticket page and the above links for complete non-musical details! Admission is $10 per person, though babies 2 years old and under will be admitted free.

The teddy bear picnic begins at 1:00 PM (running until 4:00 PM), and if you do come to Thomson Farms, please prepare for the weather given today's heat warnings, including a 40° humidex, so dress accordingly and drink lots of fluids. It's great to see Bookclub and The Hustle Brothers back for year #2 of this fun family event, so keep it in mind this afternoon, and hopefully Bookclub's varied blend of covers finds another willing audience, humans and teddy bears alike! See above for more details, and here's Bookclub 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 name:

 

• Toronto deathcore band Beguiler have been added as an extra act on the Insurrection-headlined concert at Soo Blaster on July 30th, as per promoter Mikhal Muto on the Facebook event page on Thursday. If the name Beguiler rings a bell, it may be because they were slated to play at the cancelled Crucifest metal festival in Leeburn in July of last year, making them the first of the planned five touring bands at Crucifest to land a new booking in the Sault Ste. Marie area. Very cool to see Beguiler finally make their way here next month, and they should add to the brutality well!
• In another instance of an additional act on a Mikhal Muto-promoted concert next month, Sylo frontman Eli Russell will also be performing at the Ricky Mullen/Washout-headlined folk punk show at The Distraction next Friday, as per the Facebook event page on June 14th. While Eli's solo material doesn't really cross our radar, his original acoustic folk material will fit that side of this concert, so don't miss him on the bill next week!
• I will likely be moving local industrial metal solo project Molten Imp to our inactive band links tomorrow. Led by former AlgomA guitarist Boyd "Lord Unterbiss von Wigwaus" Rendell, Molten Imp had retreated from updating most social media in recent years, with their most recent public update (to my knowledge) being the upload of their song "Diesel On The Steamship 1 & 2" to their Bandcamp page on June 23rd of last year. Hopefully all is well with Boyd, and that we hear more from him musically when the time is right, as Molten Imp were a very unique and distinct project with lots of potential! 

 

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Curtis McKenzie) & The First Of This Weekend's Concert Previews!!

Another busy concert weekend is upon us, so we'll have to break up this round of hard rock and punk concert previews in two, so look for our CO2, Tym Morrison, and Bookclub concert previews next. Here's what you should know to start, including a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!

Former Haggith/Eclipse frontman Curtis McKenzie will return to The Dive Gastro Pub TONIGHT for another "Think It Over Thursday" acoustic concert! Apologies for the short notice, Curt first announced this show via its official Facebook event page on June 3rd but it completely slipped me by in the past two weeks. Last seen at Beck's on June 1st, TONIGHT's gig will be Curtis' first at the former Low & Slow in three weeks. If you like hard and alternative rock covers from a familiar and experienced local musician in a more intimate setting, then you won't want to miss Curt's latest stop in the "Naughty Corner" TONIGHT! As usual for The Dive, this show has a 9:00 PM start time, no cover charge, and a 19+ age limit. Visit the above links for more details on TONIGHT's concert, and here's Curtis live!

Next up, local acoustic classic/hard rock trio Dodge This will return to The Water Tower Pub for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT! Fresh off of their most recent stop at The Dive on Saturday (apologies again for missing that one here), this will be their first stop at this long-standing Great Northern Road venue since March, unless I missed something else in the interim. It will be good to see Jason and the Julys setting up shop in a more central venue than normal for them, and hopefully their unplugged covers go well tomorrow with a solid turnout! With The Water Tower Pub historically hosting different bands nightly, don't go there on Saturday expecting to see Dodge This (classic rock cover trio The Sidekicks are playing there that night). Tomorrow's Dodge This show is at 8:00 PM with a 19+ age limit and no cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, and here they are live!

Also this weekend, local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 will take things to The Roberta Bondar Pavillion TOMORROW & SATURDAY as the musical entertainment for this year's Queen Street Cruise once again! For an eighth straight year, and third under the big tent downtown, "The Dirty Three" will be rocking out for attendees at home base for the annual Cruise and its related Show-N-Shine car show, with tomorrow's concert being at 6:30 PM during the cruise proper and Saturday's being a 12:30 PM matinee during the car show itself. Visit the official schedule for the full daily itineraries to know what's going on when, whether you're a spectator or entering a classic car for any official events. As community events go, the Queen Street Cruise is right up Bone Yard's alley, and hopefully they provide another apt soundtrack for all of this weekend's downtown action! This is FREE & ALL AGES unless you registered for the vehicle-involved events.

While your local 225 are playing under The Roberta Bondar Pavilion's tent, it is not a fully indoor locale. Tomorrow evening is looking like mostly cloudy weather at around 20° but with a 30% chance of rain after 8:00 PM, as per 9&10 News. At present, the temperatures are projected to be similar on Saturday afternoon, albeit with a risk of thunderstorms, so while the tent is acknowledged, double check the weather forecast closer to if you are at all concerned about the car show. Check the above links for more details on the Cruise, and here's Bone Yard 225 live!

Finally for this preview post, the tenth annual local celebration of Go Skateboarding Day (and ninth with an attached concert) is scheduled to go down on SATURDAY! Of course, I just mentioned that there was currently a thunderstorm risk for the Queen Street Cruise, but there's even less protection from that at Queen Elizabeth Park outside of the John Rhodes Center, so definitely keep tabs on local weather forecasts in the next few days to see how that pans out. For 2025, promotional duties have passed from Dustin Jones and Tidal Records to Mikhal Muto, though Tidal remain sponsors of the event, which features free & all ages skateboarding with local vendors and sponsors on-site, some with refreshments on sale as usual. This year's music lineup at the stage atop the big ramp will feature Mikhal's crossover thrash quartet Hails (in their record-tying third set at Go Skate Day) and death/thrash metal trio Pillory.

Newer and online page-less space rock duo The Spaceship Opening will also rock the ramp on Saturday, while Shane "DJ Seith" Erickson will perform turntable mixes at Go Skate Day as well, in his first appearance at this annual June 21st event since 2016. This year's festivities take place from 1:00-5:00 PM on Saturday, this is completely free whether you're skating or not, and again, double check the weather forecast closer to just in case the current forecast bears out. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Ha!ls live at last year's Go Skate Day!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for our CO2, Tym Morrison, and Bookclub previews next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Ethereal Tomb & Go Skateboarding Day), Plus New Sault Michigan Videos!!

Here's another news post to check out before another weekend concert preview cycle begins, and it includes new videos from the E.U.P. and two interesting LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for Sault Ontario fans, so here's what you should know on this Wednesday night!

The tenth annual local celebration of Go Skateboarding Day goes down on Saturday, June 21st at Queen Elizabeth Park outside of the John Rhodes Center, and for a ninth straight installment, there will be live bands! In a big change from past years, the advertised promoter this year is local punk/metal guitarist Mikhal Muto, with Dustin Jones/Tidal Records nowhere to be found on the Facebook event page. No public word as to why Dustin isn't visibly involved with this year's local Go Skate Day, but Mikhal has loads of promotional experience to keep the free and all-ages skateboarding action going! Like in past years, there will be contests, prizes, and snacks from sponsors and supporters. Local crossover thrash quartet Hails will play Go Skate Day for a third straight year on the 21st, joining The Cover-Up as the only bands to play this event three times, though all members but Carmen also played there in 2022 with different bands.

Two bands new to Go Skate Day will hit the stage atop the big ramp on the 21st, namely death/thrash metal trio Pillory in a rare outdoor concert from them, as well as newer local space rock duo The Spaceship Opening (featuring ex-Redundant bassist Andrew MacDonald), who still don't have a known online page. As well, Shane "DJ Seith" Erickson will bring his turntable mixes back to Go Skate Day for the first time since 2016, so don't miss his skilled tunes as well! This is a FREE & ALL AGES event, skaters do not need to register to take part in that way, and things run from 1:00-5:00 PM. Weather permitting, this should be a fun time, so visit the above links for more details!

Next up, Ha!ls have one more show announcement to take note of, this time indoors at Soo Blaster on Wednesday, July 16th, where they will open for a touring trifecta of metal bands! Making their local debuts on this night are Barrie/Toronto doom metal band Ethereal Tomb, Brampton hardcore quartet Mile End, and Chilliwack, B.C. hardcore punk quintet Smuther, which presents an interesting style contrast with all three bands having distinct sounds that may not gel with all listeners, though Ethereal Tomb & Mile End do play together often. Stoner and screamo fans will find a lot to like here, let alone with Hails' locally tested fury as they continue the lead-up to the Ripcordz show late next month! Another Mikhal Muto-promoted concert, this is all ages as usual for Soo Blaster, with doors opening at 6:30 PM and an admission fee of $15 at the door or via online tickets to be revealed. Visit the Facebook event page for more on this intriguing concert!

The second half of today's post takes us to Sault Michigan, starting with lots of new videos of local hard rock quartet The Nameless at The Merchants Bar on Saturday night! These were first uploaded to new drummer Jamie Costner's personal Facebook page on Sunday, with the band sharing them publically a couple of hours later. The five videos are all included in a batch post, though lengths are inconsistent. Therein, you will see The Nameless covering Kenny Wayne Shepherd's "Blue On Black" (the only one of the five shot vertically), The Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Dani California" and "By The Way", Nena's "99 Red Balloons" (perhaps the Goldfinger version?), and Wolfmother's "Joker & The Thief". "By The Way" is embedded below as it is the longest of the five videos, and notably, frontman Joshua LaCoursiere just sang on the Chili Peppers covers without playing guitar, which is true to the Peppers' lineup.

It's good to see some new videos of The Nameless in concert (they had only uploaded two of their own to Facebook prior to these), and they have a good handle on all five songs on offer here, with the Chili Peppers covers having an extra aggression to them that adds to both songs! Jamie slots in well behind the drumkit, and Mike has some solid guitar work in particular here, so don't miss these new Nameless clips at The Merch above and below!

Finally, here's an advance single from local metal solo project X's & Y's' upcoming sophomore album "Ruination Coactive"! Uploaded to their YouTube channel yesterday, this video is for the album's opening track "Arrival", with the song set to spacey yet cubist visualizer effects. I won't comment on the song yet, as I plan on reviewing "Ruination Coactive" on the SMS this month, assuming it is released as planned on June 13th, but check out X's & Y's newest song for yourselves below!

That's all for now, but another busy round of weekend concert previews begins next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (HeadFirst & The Nameless) And The First Of This Weekend's Concert Previews!!

An unusually busy concert weekend is upon us, so just to clarify the schedule, I have to break up this weekend's hard rock/punk concert previews into three posts! Today's will focus on SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS and gigs taking place earlier tomorrow than others, so if you're looking for the It's The Pits festival, the teddy bear picnic at Thomson Farms with Bookclub, Inconsistent Me, Bone Yard 225, Double Down, Soundcheck, or anything else that I may have missed, check back in the coming days! Now, here's what you should know to start!

Sault Michigan hard rock quintet The Nameless will make their Bird's Eye Outfitters debut TONIGHT during the outdoors store/venue's summer kickoff party! Apologies for the short notice, The Nameless' involvement was first confirmed via the official Facebook event page last week but it didn't cross our radar until the last few days. Presumably scheduled for TONIGHT to coincide with the summer solstice (literally making this a summer kickoff party), this is curiously themed after summer camp, so attendees at "Camp Bird's Eye" TONIGHT will get to tell ghost stories, have s'mores, and make bracelets, while also trying food/drink specials, including craft cocktails/mocktails and wine. Should be a fun evening, so definitely consider a run to the site of the former Golanka's Bar/Bird nightclub TONIGHT for all of the action! Given the alcoholic beverages on tap, I would expect this to be a 21+ event, but it should be an early night.

There is no cover charge at 107 East Portage Avenue for TONIGHT's event, and everything starts at 6:00 PM. Scheduling this on a work night won't be ideal for many, but hopefully it's a blast whether you're in it for the music, the refreshments, the summer camp vibes, supporting Bird's Eye Outfitters, or a combination thereof! Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, click here to watch The Nameless' sole public concert video! It remains unembeddable here due to content matched background audio.

Next up, let's head to Sault Ontario, where local hard rock quintet HeadFirst will return to Jay's Piston Broke Pub for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice, these shows were only announced via the band's Facebook page on Tuesday. HeadFirst have a busy weekend ahead, as not only are they rocking Jay's both nights, TOMORROW will see them play two concerts, as they are also playing at Go Skateboarding Day TOMORROW beforehand! We are previewing that next, so scroll down a little bit for that event. Last seen at Jay's at the end of April, hopefully HeadFirst's hard rocking cover slate and quickly developing originals get another solid audience TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! These are 19+ events with no cover charge and 9:00 PM start times. Visit the above links for more on the west end action this weekend, and here's HeadFirst live!

Moving to shows that did have advance notice, we'll next head to Queen Elizabeth Park outside of The John Rhodes Center, where Tidal Records will host their ninth annual Go Skateboarding Day event TOMORROW, with bands present for year #8! June 21st is on a Friday for the first time since the local Go Skate Day began, which should be huge for encouraging turnout for local skateboarders and extreme sports practitioners to bring their gear to the skatepark to enjoy themselves! Three bands will rock the top of the big ramp this year, including punk/crossover thrash trio Hails in their second straight Go Skate Day set and first of two shows this weekend (stay tuned for our It's The Pits Festival preview tomorrow), alongside guitarist Mikhal Muto's party metal/double bass trio The Apocalypse Afterparty, and the aforementioned HeadFirst, both making their first Go Skateboarding Day appearances tomorrow evening.

Beyond the music, expect refreshments, vendors, and skate games to encourage (especially) young skaters to come out to enjoy all of the festivities! Go Skate Day is absolutely ALL AGES, everything starts tomorrow at 6:00 PM, and there is no cover charge whether you're in it for the skating or music. 9&10 News is currently calling for 22° temperatures and cloudy weather with a 30% chance of rain tomorrow evening, so if you are at all concerned about possible rain during the event, keep tabs on your preferred local forecast as we inch closer to showtime. Visit the above links for more on Go Skateboarding Day in Sault Ste. Marie tomorrow, and for a preview of all of the action, here's Ha!ls live!

Finally for concert preview post #1, local classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison will continue his currently weekly arrangements at The Mike Case Memorial Stage outside of The Trading Post TOMORROW NIGHT and at Misty's Fifties on SATURDAY! This is quite a crammed weekend for hard rock fans, but if Tym's unplugged stage show full of classic covers is your cup of tea, you will have two options to see him this weekend, in the fourth week of his current double duty at the Great Northern Road outdoor stage and the Second Line West nightclub, so keep both shows in mind! If you can't make it to either, Tym will be back at both venues (almost) weekly through at least September. Tomorrow's Trading Post show is at 7:00 PM for all ages, and like at Go Skate Day, 9&10 News is calling for cloudy 22° weather with a 30% chance of rain, so if you have any worries about Tym getting rained out, watch for updates as we get closer to showtime.

As for the Misty's show is a 4:00 PM matinee and 19+, and neither show has a cover charge. Hopefully Tym draws a good attendance for both of this weekend's shows, and if they were paid events, you'd definitely be getting your money's worth with his talents! Visit the official Facebook event pages linked here and here for more details, and here's Tym live!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for our second weekend concert preview post either tonight or tomorrow morning, which will cover the Double Down and Soundcheck concerts, the It's The Pits Festival, and maybe more, so stay tuned then! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Silent 9, Half Past, And Go Skateboarding Day!!)

For today's SMS post, we're entirely tackling LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for the coming months, including a big returning annual show next week and some covers-friendly action for later this summer and into the fall, so here's what you should know!

Tidal Records' annual Go Skateboarding Day event returns to Queen Elizabeth Park outside of The John Rhodes Center for its ninth installment (and eighth with live bands) on Friday, June 21st! As newly announced on social media yesterday, this will be the first installment of the local Go Skate Day to take place on a Friday, believe it or not, so that should help bring out a solid crowd compared to past mid-week installments, weather permitting! For the first time since 2017, just three bands will be playing on June 21st as opposed to the usual 4+ acts, and while it's ambiguous who's headlining, local skate punk trio Hails will return from last year's festivities, so look for another hard hitting set of original thrash punk next Friday! Guitarist Mikhal Muto will pull double duty with his party metal trio The Apocalypse Afterparty in their Go Skate Day debut, and rising hard rock quintet HeadFirst will round out the lineup.

Like in past years, bands will be stationed on a stage atop the big halfpipe at the skatepark, and of course, the skateboarding and extreme sports are the main attraction, with skaters of all ages and disciplines encouraged to come out to enjoy themselves. There will be contests, prizes, and refreshments as usual, so see above for more on the non-musical activities! Everything goes down from 6:00-9:00 PM next Friday, and there is no cover charge or entry fee to attend as a fan or skater. This should be a fun time as usual for punk and hard rock fans, let alone skateboarders, so definitely visit the above links for more details!

Next up, here's another outdoor show announcement, as local classic/hard rock cover quartet Silent 9 will be performing at Strathclair Park at 639 Black Road on Saturday, July 6th as the musical entertainment during that day's COPPA Giovanni Soccer Tournament! Silent 9's performance comes during day 2 of this event, which sees local soccer teams (men's and women's) compete in a World Cup-style tournament, and the band will reportedly be playing near the main field. It's rare when soccer crosses paths with our coverage, but hopefully Jess, Ryan, Paul, and Steve deliver some solid tunes for fans! Note that the final day of the soccer tournament (Sunday, July 7th) coincides with this year's Giovanni's Italian Festival, which expands to The Roberta Bondar Pavilion that day with its own huge slate of events (free to the public ones, at that), and they will reportedly be playing under the tent that day at 3:30 PM!

I have only seen sporadic mention to the performer lineup on July 7th, with Elvis Presley tribute artist Larry Tschekalin being the only artist that day currently advertised by Giovanni's Facebook page, but Silent 9 confirmed their involvement on their website's calendar. Hopefully this busy weekend goes well as they pause their summer break! They'll be playing at 7:00 PM at the COPPA tournament on the 6th, both events are all ages, and neither has an admission fee for spectators (if you're interested in signing a soccer team up or sponsoring the COPPA tournament, click here). While we're on the subject, now that other bands have confirmed shows that far ahead in the year, let's add their remaining fall 2024 dates to our calendar, as they'll head to The Water Tower Pub for Friday nighters on September 27th and November 22nd, bookending a full weekend at The Esquire Club on November 1st & 2nd, so keep those shows in mind!

It's too soon to say whether the Esquire Club gig on November 1st will have a belated Halloween theme or not (it is closer to Halloween than Saturday, October 25th is), but we'll keep you posted either way! The other new show will see them hit the road 3½ hours north for White River to play at this year's Winnie's Hometown Festival (a.k.a. Poohfest) on August 17th, much like Jess and Steve did with their prior band Obsession in 2022. As for the new local dates, all four are 19+ with no cover charge, with 8:00 PM start times at The Water Tower Pub and 9:30 PM kickoffs at The Esquire Club. Visit the above links for more on Silent 9's summer/fall slate, and stay tuned for more on their teased Rotaryfest debut next month!

Finally for today's post, we have a new show announcement and cancellations to note all at once, as reunited local hard rock quartet Half Past will return to Shooters Downstairs Lounge for one night only on Saturday, August 3rd! Fans at the Dennis Street nightclub will have seen Half Past play their first public concert in over twelve years there in February, and while we have to wait almost two more months for their Shooters encore, it's good to see Jordan, Alain, Arthur, and Johnny back at it later this summer! This is another one-nighter due to Shooters hosting DJ nights on Fridays this year. Where we gain a show, we also lose two, as Half Past have quietly cancelled their advertised Reggie's Place gigs on July 5th & 6th, as per the deletion of those shows' promotional poster from their Facebook page. A reason for the cancellation wasn't announced, but note that Reggie's hadn't confirmed the dates that I had seen, even if they were almost a month away.

Hopefully nothing bad happened, and that we see Half Past there in time! The Shooters show on August 3rd is a 9:30 PM event with no advertised cover charge and a 19+ age limit. Visit the above links for more details on the hard rock cover action ahead, and stay tuned for weekend concert previews on the site next! Thanks everyone!

Wednesday Concert Previews, Plus Soundcheck/Obsession Concert Videos!!

It's unusual where two concerts that cross our radar take place on a Wednesday, let alone both outdoors, so let's preview those to start this Tuesday evening post, which is capped off with live videos from a unique recent concert. Here's what you should know!

We'll start with Tidal Records' ninth annual Go Skateboarding Day festivities at Queen Elizabeth Park outside of The John Rhodes Centre TOMORROW, and for a seventh year, live music will be on tap for skaters and fans to enjoy! Along with the skating, refreshments, vendors, and games, four local bands will take to the stage atop the big ramp tomorrow, all new to Go Skate Day, with online page-less punk trio Hails (featuring These Magnificent Tentacles & Vanity First alumni) headlining. Their sound is tailor-made for extreme sports like this, so they're a fine pick! Support bands include also-online-pageless alternative/punk quintet Bookclub (featuring event organizer/ex-Cover-Up frontman Dustin Jones), rap collective Sound Syndicate (featuring ex-As It Stands singer Justin "Nadj" Pregent), and young local metal trio The BAG. Nice array of current music for all tastes, including rap for the first time since 2016, so keep this event in mind!

Whether you're skateboarding or not, Go Skate Day is FREE and ALL AGES, and a 4:00 PM start time is advertised. Weather-wise, 9&10 News is calling for sunny conditions in the 25° range, so unless you hate summer, this should be optimal for both skating and seeing an outdoor concert. Go Skateboarding Day is always June 21st, so the Wednesday timing won't be ideal for many on work/school schedules, but at least it'll be an early event with good weather, and hopefully a solid array of established and new skateboarders turn up for all of the fun, let alone the music! See above for more details, and in lieu of a public video of Hails, here's Bookclub live!

Next up, there's more hard rock-leaning live music taking place outdoors downtown TOMORROW, as Baltimore, Maryland psychedelic hard rock duo Darsombra will return to the Soo for a special gig at a pop-up stage on March Street! The second and final concert in Dryer Fire's summer concert series that crosses our genre radar, this will be Darsombra's third local appearance, following indoor gigs at separate venues in 2017 & 2019. Given their audio/visual presentation and extended jams in their set, it will be interesting to see how Darsombra do in an outdoor setting, though at least by the time their set is slated to begin at 9:45 PM, it will be getting darker! Local folk punk/extreme metal solo musician Chase Wigmore will open tomorrow, presumably in acoustic folk punk confines, and his guitar wizardry should be more than welcomed by fans, especially following his Dryer Fire set opening for Hails in March!

As best as I can gather, this show will be held at or near the corner of March Street and Queen Street East (somewhere near The Queen's Tarts), and was moved from the Bellevue Park Bandshell for unannounced reasons. This is also a FREE & ALL AGES concert (the crowd-funding campaign worked!) with Chase opening at 8:30 PM, preceded by a local vendor's market with food by Jiggs & Reels at 6:30 PM. 9&10 News is calling for sunny-clear skies at this later point tomorrow, with temperatures in the low 20s Celsius. Should be a very memorable show on musical and visual fronts, as Darsombra have to be seen to be fully appreciated, so visit the Facebook event page for more details, and here they are live!

Now let's look at a bunch of videos from local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck's special Esquire Club show on Saturday, June 10th alongside three former Obsession singers! Drummer Glen Thomas uploaded nine videos from the gig to his YouTube channel last week, all labelled as "Soundcheck with (the) Obsession Angels" (presumably as there were three of them, like Charlie's Angels). A commemoration for the 18 year run of Obsession (featuring Soundcheck bassist Jim Michaud), the videos show Soundcheck playing alongside Obsession's first three lead frontwomen (Kim Liguori, Lorrie Lynn Bolduc, and Valerie Powley), who appear to have sung together on stage for the duration rather than trade off for solo songs. Seven people on stage must have gotten crowded! The nine videos include renditions of April Wine's version of Hot Chocolate's "You Could Have Been A Lady", ...

Nick Gilder's "Hot Child In The City",  Electric Light Orchestra's "Rock N' Roll Is King", The Eagles' "Heartache Tonight", two different versions of Shania Twain's "(If You're Not In It For Love) I'm Outta Here!" (this one and an updated version with multiple camera angles), Trooper's "Raise A Little Hell", and Janis Joplin's version of Roger Miller's "Me & Bobby McGee", which also had the two upload treatment by Glen, but this time, both versions were composites from multiple camera angles (this is the original, the final updated copy is below). Mileage varies, but it is clear that Soundcheck didn't know all of these songs equally. Still, it is fun seeing them rock out in a relatively unique setting like this, and the ladies pair up well together! You can see why they all were remembered from their tenures in Obsession, though it would have been nice to see their final singer Jessica Amadio also involved here.

Credit to Glen for going the extra mile for the Shania and Janis covers by cobbling together available video footage (as best as I can tell, none uploaded publically on their own elsewhere) so we can see lots of angles of Soundcheck, the Obsession singers, and the audience in action, and even if some footage was vertical, he at least tiled it over horizontal clips! Give everyone tackling "Me & Bobby McGee" a watch below, and look for more from Soundcheck when we hear it!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for formal weekend concert previews on Thursday, and more news and notes otherwise soon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Soundcheck & Go Skateboarding Day), New Videos, And More!!

With a couple of big LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS coming to my attention in the last few days, let's spotlight those in today's news post, as well as clearing out some backlogged news items and videos. Here's what you should know!

Tidal Records' annual Go Skateboarding Day festivities return to Queen Elizabeth Park outside of the John Rhodes Centre on Wednesday, June 21st, and live music is planned once again! As announced via a "Reel" shared to Tidal Records' Facebook page yesterday, this will be the seventh installment of the local Go Skate Day to have bands playing atop the big ramp, and all four bands are new to the event this year, so who can you expect? In advertised order, they include two online page-less local bands, namely punk trio Hails (in just their second announced gig) and alternative/punk supergroup Bookclub. Members of these bands played last year with The Cover-Up, Vanity First, and These Magnificent Tentacles, so there will be some familiarity there! For the first time since 2016, hip hop will be part of Go Skate Day via local rap collective Sound Syndrome, who feature ex-As It Stands frontman Justin "Nadj" Pregent in their ranks.

I'm a bit surprised that it's taken this long for rap to return to this event, but hopefully the Sound Syndrome crew delivers a fitting soundtrack during their block! Rising young metal trio The BAG will open in their first show since rocking The Esquire Club in March, and they should set things off on a heavy foot later this month! As always, expect food, local vendors, games, and more at Go Skate Day on Wednesday the 21st, absolutely an ALL AGES event with all skaters welcome of any skill level, plus general attendees too! This remains a FREE event, which starts at 4:00 PM. Should be a fun time as always, so visit the above links for more details!

Next up, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will make a rare trip to The Moose Lodge on Friday, June 30th when they honour singer/guitarist Terry Eaton's induction into the Great Northern Opry this fall! The ceremony is in November, but inductees traditionally get celebration concerts set up by the Northern Ontario Country Music Association a few months prior where they are the sole guest of honour. Of course, Terry has a long history as both a rock and country musician in the Soo, notably playing with Asylum Country and as a backing musician with other artists, and he still covers select country songs in Soundcheck's setlist. Thusly, this show will no doubt skew quite heavily towards Soundcheck's country covers, but it's a big platform regardless, and Terry deserves this honour after all of his work in the local music community! He will join SMS-familiar names like Kyle McKey and Ric Datson in the Opry once inducted at The Quattro Hotel in November.

Given the purpose of this event, there will be advance tickets running for $20 (call the number on the poster if you don't want to chance getting them at the door), and a 6:00 PM start time is advertised. My late step-grandpa Len Nevin was an Opry inductee in 2003, so I'm familiar with the honour even without covering local music, so this will definitely be a big night for Terry, and don't miss out on Soundcheck's presumably quite country-centric set at 543 Trunk Road for the occasion! See above for more details!

We'll close today with SaultOnline's coverage of both the Sault Ste. Marie Festival of Beer at the Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre on May 6th! Heidi Ivany was on hand to cover this event, via an article you can read at this link, Her comments on the Festival of Beer bands were summatively general, if positive, but she does give good insights into the craft beer and local vendor aspect, so fans on that wavelength will like her coverage! Nine pictures are included, with two of the aforementioned Bookclub's headlining set and one from The Wyld Stallyns (though none of The Hollow Heads). That sure looks like Odd Man Out/ex-Sense of Truth guitarist Steve Myers filling in for Jesse Cook in the Stallyns picture, but I have heard nothing about any lineup changes, temporary or otherwise. No sign of Josh Norling either, but he has missed Wyld Stallyns gigs before. Also, there was one concert video shot for SaultOnline's Facebook page!

Heidi (I presume) shot 9+ minutes of Bookclub's set, with Mikey, Dave, Dustin, Al, and Erin's cover of Sloan's "Everything You've Done Wrong" in progress when recording began (watch for The Northwest's Wayne Watkins on guest backing vocals). The only full song captured is Vampire Weekend's "A-Punk" (with Mikey just singing), and they closed with most of Doug & The Slugs' "Making It Work". Despite the unfortunately vertical camera and just the middle song being complete. True to their early descriptions, they had an eclectic group of covers here that you don't hear covered locally very much, if at all, and it's a lively performance with good crowd response, so check it out below, and look for more from SaultOnline soon!

From a Go Skate Day band this year to the 2016 headliners (then as Jack Spades), we'll close with the latest from local/Barrie crossover thrash quintet Spades GT, so what have they been up to this month, album release aside? Well, "Reels" have come hard and heavy on their Facebook page, starting with this one to hype "Sewer City Radio" being on sale, even on platforms like Tidal, Google Play, and Deezer, so if you'd rather stream it there, you know where to go! A clip of the title track can also be heard. Starting on Wednesday, they've gotten in the "one reel per day" mode again, including this montage of live footage set to the studio copy of "Black on Black", followed by three videos shot by attendee William Wai Yun Lum at the Indie Night In Canada concert in Toronto on Tuesday, including clips of their cover of Turbonegro's "All My Friends Are Dead" and their original "Negative Headspace", ...

...and in today's "Reel", another song from that night with the camera focused on singer J.D. Pearce and drummer Tyler Reiner. William's footage is really solid, but they were uploaded as "Reels", of which my complaints are unchanging until Facebook lets you embed them externally, play them in background tabs, and let them be longer and horizontal... but then it's just a video, right? Speaking of which, they did upload just a video on May 31st of them playing "Final Girl" at the Anti-Queens show in Barrie in April (the same footage was used for the "Black on Black" "reel"), which has excellent side-stage footage of the full song at The Rec Room, so give it a look below, and look for more from Spades GT soon!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile on the site next! Thanks everyone!