LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Soundcheck) And Weekend Concert Previews, Part 1!!

This is an unusually busy weekend for concerts at this time of year, so much so that I'll have to break up our hard rock/punk concert previews into three posts! Today's will look at bands playing tomorrow and/or Saturday in some description, but larger events on Saturday (namely Oktoberfest, Punk Rock Fiesta, Quite Frankly, Curtis McKenzie, Dos Amigos, and shows in the EUP) to follow. We're on it, and we're starting with SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, so here's what you should know to start things off!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck (7.3?) will reportedly return to Reggie's Place for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, these shows have not been publically announced on social media by the band or venue, and I only learned about the shows via personal Facebook postings. Soundcheck most recently rocked the Queen Street East tavern early last month, with this being their second weekend there with their current lineup. Should be a fun weekend for classic and hard rock cover action, assuming the personal Facebook postings are accurate! This AI-generated image was made by Reggie's for their shows there in May, but intentionally or not, it's not dated so it can be reused (though if the guys really have tacked 7.3 onto their name, why not make that official on their public social media pages? They should use social media more regardless.)

TOMORROW & SATURDAY's concerts are at 9:30 PM with 19+ age limits and no announced cover charges, and the shows were not advertised as "epic crossovers" with their sister band Separate Wayz, but that doesn't necessarily mean that Nicole won't turn up. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Soundcheck live!

Next up, a packed weekend at the resurgent Rockstar Bar kicks off TOMORROW NIGHT with the one-off supergroup Hard Rock Review taking the stage there! For one night only, staples of local hard rock bands of the 1990s will join forces for a night full of 1980s-leaning rock covers, and for recent SMS coverage's sake, the most familiar names here will be (former?) Dodge This/Phatstick frontman Jason Taillefer and Flathead Ford/ex-Gsis Murphy drummer Anthony Fabiano. Good to see Jay in a plugged in band again after way too long! Bassist Robert Iacoboni (who later made his way to Taiwan in his extensive musical journey) and drummer Jeff See will round out their full lineup, but Robert's friend Dallas Crockett (of the Kelowna-based AC/DC tribute band High Voltage) will guest for a six song mini-set of AC/DC hits. Dallas isn't local, but his guest turn will add some zest to the proceedings!

One night before punk reunions take place at the same venue with Punk Rock Fiesta (preview coming tomorrow), Hard Rock Review will have no announced cover charge tomorrow night, but bring cash just in case given that most of the performers are living out of town. This is a 19+ concert with doors opening at 8:00 PM. Obviously, I have no videos of Hard Rock Review (shouldn't it be "Revue?") to preview the show with, but the Facebook event page lists bands that the guys will be covering, and with the talent on display, fans of this era of local hard rock bands should have a blast tomorrow night! See above for more details on the Hard Rock Review's debut!

Also taking place TOMORROW NIGHT is the return of local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations to The Water Tower Pub for one night only! While the band did announce the shows last month as part of their slate of (at least) three October gigs, the shows have been confirmed anew via the venue's October concert calendar, and we'll address its unaddressed hard rock shows in an upcoming post. After skipping this central nightclub last month, fans will get to see Generations back there tomorrow, and hopefully their classic and hard rock covers go over well as usual! As The Water Tower Pub hosts different acts nightly, country singer/guitarist Jeffrey Wright is headlining there on Saturday. Tomorrow's concert will be an 8:00 PM affair as usual with a 19+ age limit and no cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's a brand new video of Generations live!

This was shot at their Gateway Casino concert last month, and was uploaded to guitarist Joe Miller's personal Facebook page before being shared to the band's Facebook group. It features him, Valerie, Pierre, and Tony covering Amanda Marshall's "Let It Rain", which I don't recall them covering in past media. Not badly handled, and Valerie's voice is more than up to the task of this mid-1990s slice of Cancon. Well filmed and horizontal to boot, so give it a watch below, and don't miss them at The Water Tower Pub tomorrow!

Finally for preview post #1, we'll go west to Beck's Bar, where local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 will take the stage on SATURDAY NIGHT! Just Saturday though, as despite their website still listing the Sunday matinee for an "uncorked" concert, Beck's has since confirmed on their Facebook page that Curtis McKenzie is playing that day instead (preview forthcoming). A reason for the switch was not announced, but hopefully it's just a simple scheduling conflict. The full electric Bone Yard 225 experience awaits on Saturday though, with this being their first full plugged-in ("corked") concert since their one-off with Spencer Pine early last month, and their first typical weekend nightclub gig in city limits in two months. Now that the fall season is firmly in place, "the dirty three" should have a solid night of hard rocking covers and originals in store for fans at the Goulais Avenue nightclub on Saturday!

If you want to see your local 225 in "uncorked" mode, their next acoustic gig will be next Friday at the aforementioned Water Tower Pub. Saturday's concert is at 9:00 PM with a 19+ age limit and no cove charge, so see above for more details, and here's Bone Yard live!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more weekend concert previews tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Soundcheck) & Weekend Concert Previews!!

Before we begin this weekend concert preview post, just a heads up that Sault Michigan hard rock cover trio Nate's Chow are not playing at The Merchant's Bar on Saturday anymore, as per this updated concert calendar that removed the gig (but added three more Merch shows for later in the year that we will look at in an upcoming post). A reason for this Saturday's cancellation wasn't announced, but we'll have more on their returns soon, as they'll be back before you know it! Now, here's what you should know for most of this weekend's pre-Sunday hard rock concert previews for this weekend, starting with SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to Jay's Piston Broke Pub for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, these shows were only confirmed on members' personal Facebook pages yesterday, and have not been publically announced on their (nor the venue's) Facebook pages at press time. TOMORROW & SATURDAY's shows got an AI-generated poster on personal accounts again giving their name as Soundcheck 7.3, which has still not been publically corroborated on the band's social media accounts, but it does promise "live classic rock" and "timeless hits" that are "always loud", among other promotional taglines. The shows will mark Soundcheck's second weekend at the former Reggie's West with new bassist Dan Beaupre, and he has finally been confirmed to have also joined their sister band Separate Wayz, as per a live photo and a "Story" from their Facebook page.

If you Hollow fans have missed this reunion of Dan & Terry so far, then keep TOMORROW & SATURDAY'S Jay's shows in mind! These are not promoted as "epic crossover" gigs with Separate Wayz, but that doesn't necessarily mean that Nicole won't pop in. Also, no word if the song used to soundtrack said AI poster (Three Days Grace's "Just Like You") is a teaser of their planned sets. Both of this weekend's shows are at 9:30 PM with 19+ age limits and no announced cover charges. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Soundcheck (7.3?) live a few years back!

Next up, let's head a half hour or so east of town to Echo Bay, where local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 will headline their Elks Lodge #535's "End Of Summer Bash" on SATURDAY NIGHT! Last seen at the Bruce Mines Fall Fair even further east on Highway 17, this Saturday's show will send out the summer (which officially ended on Monday) in style with a night full of classic, hard, and southern rock favourites from "the dirty three", and while I'm not sure if there any other frills or perks to this event, the music may be all you need. If you'd rather see Greg, Alex, and Warren in city limits, they'll be rocking Beck's Bar next Saturday. The Elks Lodge in Echo Bay is located at 96 Church Street off of the old Highway 17B, and admission is $15 via the hosts on the Facebook event page or at the door. There is no stated age limit, and the show starts at 8:00 PM. See above for more details, and for a preview, here's Bone Yard live in concert last year!

Also on SATURDAY NIGHT is the latest concert from local promoters Underground Events SSM, as Ottawa extreme metal bands Salem Trials and The Jenova Projekt will both make their first stop in the Soo at Blaster Powerhouse! The former's brutal brand of deathcore and the latter's sharp metalcore sound will be a solid complement on Saturday, so don't bypass what will be a devastating one-two punch for metalheads at the former Soo Blaster this weekend! Local support will come by way of space/hard rock duo The Spaceship Opening and party metal trio The Apocalypse Afterparty (kinda sorta making up things after dropping out of the 94Fatso show there last month). Neither is gonna do much yelling or growling, but they're both talented bands, so don't be late! Promoted by A.A. bassist Mikhal Muto, advance tickets are still on sale for $25 at The Rad Zone or through members of the local opening bands.

Admission at the door will jump to $30 for this all ages concert, which is slated to have doors opening at 8:30 PM. The Saturday timing is certainly advantageous for Mikhal and all involved performers, so if you love brutal extreme metal, this show will deliver the goods! Visit the official Facebook event page for more on this stop on the Ottawa bands' Heavy Is The Head Tour, and for a preview, here's Salem Trials live!

Finally, let's head south to Sault Michigan for the latest concert from Soo Tang Records, as local hardcore punk trio Viscera will headline another concert in the basement of Pizza Hut on SATURDAY NIGHT! Now named "Sault Slaughter" on the new poster, this concert will again pair Viscera with touring Michigan bands, but one fewer than we realized, as Marquette "ghostcore" band Particle Thrower dropped out of this concert, as per Viscera's Instagram page on Sunday. A reason for their withdrawal was not announced, but hopefully nothing too serious happened, and that we see Particle Thrower make the 3 hour drive east in the future! Possibly due to the short notice, they were not replaced on Saturday's bill, but there will still be two touring acts here, namely Grand Rapids death metal quartet Life Sentence and Marquette progressive deathcore quartet SilentLife, both in their local debuts. Three bands worth of extreme metal and hardcore punk sounds like a fun way to spend your evening if you wanna head to Pizza Hut!

Doors open at 7:00 PM with a $15 cover charge, and this show is absolutely all ages. Visit the above links for more details on all of Saturday's action, and for a preview, here's a new video of Viscera live! This was uploaded to frontman "Blind" Bob Quinn's personal Facebook page before being shared onto the band's Facebook page by drummer Mitchell Leon on September 3rd, and it features vertical (alas) video clips of their gig at Three One Three On Ashmun last month set to live background audio with some grainy filtering in post-production. No attempt to sync the audio, but it's an effective sampler with some neat panning camera angles of the action at the former Back Door, so give it a watch for yourselves below!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for a new news post next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Soundcheck, Headrush, And Silent 9), And A New Bone Yard 225 Video!!

Before we begin this post, just a heads up that Silent 9 (who are leading things off today as it is) do not appear to be playing at The Tap Room at Northern Superior Brewing Co. on Saturday anymore, as per the show's deletion from their website's concert calendar. It's possible that the date was a remnant of their Wolf Fest II booking last week, as that event was later in the year last year, but regardless, they're not playing there on Saturday. However, today's post has LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for later this year and a new video to check out, so here's what you should know!

The Esquire Club at 103 Second Line West has resumed hosting concerts on weekends after their annual summer break! After experimenting with week-by-week show announcements in the spring, they have posted a schedule through Christmas onto their Facebook page, albeit an AI generated one (note that none of the bands use the assigned logos). The fall band schedule started last week with Mid Life Crysis, and we'll address this weekend's band (it's not technically Soundcheck) in this weekend's concert previews, but the first of the non-short notice hard rock bookings is courtesy of classic/hard rock cover quartet Silent 9! In their only Esquire Club gigs for the rest of the year, they have secured the Thanksgiving long weekend, so you can see them there on Friday, October 9th and Saturday, October 10th. Still riding high on the success of Wolf Fest II (a shareable, non-"Story" video is coming soon), don't miss out on their west end gigs next month!

In one more new Silent 9 show announcement, their website's concert calendar confirms that Silent 9 will return to Beck's Bar on Friday, October 30th! This has yet to be corroborated by the venue (it may not be until the week of), but the timing hints that this could be a Halloween-themed event. Of course, October 31st is a Saturday this year, but we'll let you know when/if confirmation is made about spooky goings regardless of day! Next month's Esquire Club shows are at 9:30 PM, Devil's Night at Beck's will be at 9:00 PM, all are 19+, and none of the three have age limits. See above for more on this fan-favourite cover hard rock band's October gigs!

Next up, we'll jump ahead one week at The Esquire Club, as local classic/hard rock cover quintet Headrush will return there for a weekend in all three months ahead! They'll rock the west end nightclub on October 16th & 17th, November 13th & 14th, and December 11th & 12th, giving fans of the Johns, Wes, Gino, and Frank lots of opportunities to see their 1980s-leaning cover attack in the last quarter of 2026. Given the venue's summer break, Headrush haven't played here since April, so consider welcoming them back in mid-October after six months away, but you have no shortages ahead! As with Silent 9's shows there next month, expect all six upcoming dates to have 19+ age limits, no cover charges, and 9:30 PM start times. See above for more details, and stay tuned for more Headrush updates when they roll in!

After October finishes out with bands that largely don't cross the hard rock line (the aforementioned Mid Life Crysis drew the Halloween weekend this year), local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck (no space) will pick things back up at The Esquire Club with scheduled weekends on November 6th-7th and December 18th-19th! Note that this weekend's shows are technically not Soundcheck, but a "separate" band will be playing then (details forthcoming). The November weekend will be Soundcheck's first at The Esquire with new bassist Dan Beaupre, while December's will be the venue's last concerts for 2026, as Christmas and Boxing Day are on a Friday & Saturday this year (as such, that may be a very quiet weekend locally but time will tell for other venues). Good to see Soundcheck (7.3?) getting some more publically advertised bookings this year!

At press time, neither Esquire Club weekend is branded as an "epic crossover" with their sister band Separate Wayz, but that doesn't mean that we won't see Nicole pop in as a guest singer either. Regardless, all four of Soundcheck's upcoming shows there are 19+ with 9:30 PM start times and no cover charges. See above for much more on all of the hard rock-leaning shows hitting The Esquire Club to end the year, and look for more from Terry, Travis, Dan, and Johnny (and Nicole) in both bands soon! 

Finally for today, here's a new video of local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 live at the Bruce Mines Fall Fair this past Friday! Live-streamed to their Facebook page (alas, so you have until around October 11th to see it before it is deleted), the video sees Greg, Alex, and Warren covering Van Halen's version of John Brim's "Ice Cream Man". Shot vertically (though at least zoomed out enough to show the full band on stage simultaneously), this is a fun cover for what we see, and the stage for this post-demolition derby concert looks huge, so give it a watch below while you can, and we'll have more from last week's Beck's show in an upcoming post!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Soundcheck) & Labour Day Weekend Concert Previews!!

Despite this being the Labour Day long weekend, it's quiet for hard rock/punk concerts in the Twin Saults and EUP, so barring a surprise show announcement, our weekend previews fit in only one post! Note that Double Jack are playing at the soon-to-close Rapids Lounge at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino this weekend, and I don't mean the former Exit 808, as the Bay City-area classic rock cover band of the same name (who the local band changed their name over) are playing there this weekend. Confusing, but good to see the original Double Jack making their way north! 

We'll start our previews in Sault Ontario with SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, as local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will take the stage at Reggie's Place TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, these shows first came to my attention via personal Facebook postings, and neither the band nor venue have publically advertised the gigs on social media. This weekend's shows will be Soundcheck's first there with their new bassist, as Sidekicks/ex-Double Down bassist Dan Beaupre has joined the group, replacing the now-retired Jim Michaud. I have not seen a 100% confirmation that Dan has also joined their sister band Separate Wayz (whose lineup is 75% identical), but it seems quite likely given how often they play "epic crossover" dates. Of course, this also reunites Dan with his old Hollow bandmate Terry Eaton, so fans of that 1990s group should like that!

Dan was present at their last two weekends at Jay's Piston Broke Pub too. Note that AI-generated artwork on personal accounts is referring to the band as "Soundcheck 7.3", but if they have tacked a Bone Yard 225-esque number onto their name, there hasn't been a public confirmation yet. Dan is a solid and experienced rock bassist who should fit Soundcheck (and Separate Wayz?) like a glove, so welcome him to the fold TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT if you haven't yet! Both shows are at 9:30 PM with 19+ age limits and no cover charges. See above for more details, and here's Soundcheck live!

Next up, let's head to The Art Hub At Spring (technically at 504 Queen Street East) TOMORROW NIGHT, where local hard rock quartet The Reeves and space/hard rock duo The Spaceship Opening will join forces to open for Saskatoon indie rock quartet Autopilot! In something that completely slipped me by when this show was announced, this is actually a sequel to a concert from last fall, as Autopilot and The Spaceship Opening played at Piecing It Together Shows' pop-up venue on Wellington Street West in November, which I didn't cover here because I couldn't verify The Spaceship Opening's genre at the time (that may have been the final hard rock-included concert from the former Dryer Fire). 10 months later, they're rolling it back at a different downtown locale, but this time with The Reeves as a second opener, in what they referred to on their Facebook page as "our 2nd show" (did their debut at Toystock this past November go badly or did it just get forgotten?)

Regardless, their new originals should pair well with Andrew & Ralph's minimalist hard rock before Autopilot's distinct indie/alternative sound hits the stage! Promoted by Hails frontman Brenton Ellis as part of his slate of events and art exhibits at The Art Hub this month, this stop on Autopilot's Name That Tour! 2026 is an ALL AGES concert at 6:00 PM tomorrow, and admission is $15 or "pay what you can", which is down from last fall's $20 door charge (though it did have $15 advance tickets). Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's The Reeves live!

Now to Michigan's Eastern Upper Peninsula for the back half of our long weekend previews, and we'll start an hour south in St. Ignace, where Sault Ste. Marie classic/hard rock cover quartet Tarnished will take the stage TOMORROW EVENING for the penultimate night of the town's Music By The Bay concert series at American Legion Park! This annual seasonal run of outdoor concerts daily from June-September wraps up with Nancy Kelel there on Sunday, but Tarnished are back once more before the fall truly begins, having last played at the park at the end of July. Presumably the full band with Chris and Ron in tow after they missed the band's acoustic Bay Mills Casino show last week, you can enjoy Tarnished's old school-leaning rocking covers tomorrow from 7:00-8:30 pm, and this is absolutely an all ages concert with no cover charge. If you can't make it, the guys will be at The Driftwood Sports Bar there in two weeks!

Weather-wise, 9&10 News is calling for 68-70° temperatures (20-21° Celsius) tomorrow evening with sunny skies, which sounds like a perfectly cromulent way to end the season if you like outdoor concerts. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Tarnished live!

Finally(?) for this weekend's previews, we'll head to The Islander Bar in nearby Hessel, where local hard rock cover trio Nate's Chow will play their third post-renaming show TOMORROW NIGHT! Fans may recall seeing Jody, Brett, and Jason debut the former Unfortunate Sun's new name and Skip-less lineup at The Islander Bar last month, with a late notice gig downstate in Alanson in the interim. That show went well, complete with a bachelorette party concurrent with the concert, and now Nate's Chow are back home in the UP, so expect a fun night of hard rocking covers tomorrow! Unless The Islander Bar has had heavy renovations, I wouldn't believe how it's depicted in the AI-generated poster. "Nates Chow" (someone forgot the apostrophe in the prompt) are on tomorrow at 8:00 PM with a 21+ age limit and no cover. See above for more details, and for a preview, here's our first live video of Nate's Chow in concert!

Filmed by an uncredited attendee at last month's Hessel concert and posted to their Facebook page, this sees the band covering The Barenaked Ladies' "The Old Apartment" with Jody on lead vocals, and it's always neat seeing a Sault Michigan area band covering Canadian content! The audio is somewhat muffled, and the video is only 30 seconds long, but the performance isn't bad at all, and Jody's singing suits the original track, so give it a watch below, and don't miss the guys back at The Islander tomorrow night! 

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site in the coming days! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Soundcheck & Curtis McKenzie) And Weekend Concert Previews!!

Time got away from me yesterday, so between that and arguably the last mega-busy concert weekend of the summer, we'll push this month's YouTube Channel Profile up slightly to dive into what will be at least four posts with weekend concert previews as we wrap up August 2026! Today's previews look at shows from bands in Sault Ontario playing shows tomorrow in some form or fashion, but we'll start with SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!

Former Project 421/Eclipse frontman Curtis McKenzie will reportedly return to The Dive Gastro Pub for one night only TONIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, Curt only announced this show via his Facebook page on Monday, and as increasingly usual, The Dive has not corroborated this gig on their Facebook page at press time. Last seen at Beck's earlier this month, fans were last able to see Curtis at the former Low & Slow in early July, and hopefully there's a decent crowd at The Dive TONIGHT for his unplugged hard rock and grunge covers once again despite the few days' notice! While not firmly stated, this should be a "Patio Play" gig based on the recent Thursday gigs that The Dive did actually promote, so weather-wise, 9&10 News is calling for clear skies with 13-15° temperatures TONIGHT. The show begins at 9:30 PM with no cover, so see above for more details, and here's Curtis live!

Next up, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will reportedly rock Jay's Piston Broke Pub for a second straight week TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice, I only learned of these bookings via personal Facebook postings on Wednesday, and Jay's has not newly confirmed the shows (this AI-generated poster was made by the venue for prior bookings). The band has dropped out of their planned Friday-only Water Tower Pub concert for unannounced reasons, with his weekend's apparent return to Jay's being Soundcheck's second pair of concerts since announcing the retirement of bassist Jim Michaud, but they nor their sister band Separate Wayz have confirmed if Jim has been replaced yet or not. You can find out for yourself who (if anyone) is on bass at Jay's TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! These shows are not "epic crossovers" with Separate Wayz, but Nicole will be back with Terry, Johnny, and *insert bassist here* (and Travis?) next month.

For what it's worth, I believe I have identified former Korner Monsters guitarist Rusty Barrel as the synth player seen in some prior live photos. Rusty guested with former Soundcheck singer/guitarist Cameron Oliver on cajon at many of his final local gigs before moving to the USA, and he also played cajon for TNT (Travis & Terry's acoustic side project) during their Nicole-bolstered set at Maddy's Mighty Mutts' Family Fun Day earlier this month. As best as I can tell, he is a guest performer regardless of band name (he didn't make the Chapleau trip), but it's good to fill in that blank! TOMORROW & SATURDAY's concerts are at 9:30 PM with 19+ age limits and no cover. See above for more details, and here's Soundcheck live!

Now to shows that did have advance notice, and we'll start with local acoustic punk duo Dos Amigos, who will kick off a busy end-of-summer weekend with shows at Thomson Farms Cider & Winery TODAY and at The Whisky Barrel TOMORROW NIGHT! Doubling these up here because they're both standard concerts, just at two very different locales, with Mikey & Dustin first heading north to the Third Line West cider mill, farm, and winery for another evening of acoustic punk covers outdoors this evening, though the end of summer doesn't necessarily mean the end of shows there for 2026, as Thomson Farms will remain open through the end of October. The BookcluB side project will then head downtown tomorrow night for a concert at The Whisky Barrel on Gore Street, marking their first stop at this Irish pub since early last month, so if this is better located or timed, keep this show in mind for tomorrow!

Our preview of Saturday's Prince Fest will be in our third weekend concert preview post, as Northern Vibe will be next given that its Friday lineup begins sooner than the cover bands that night in city limits. This evening's Thomson Farms show is at 6:00 PM (9&10 News has light clouds and temperatures of 16-19° during the three hour showtime on the patio), while tomorrow's Whisky Barrel concert is at 8:00 PM indoors. The former is all ages, the latter is not, and neither has an announced cover charge. See above for more details on stages #1-2 of their busy weekend, and here's Dos Amigos live!

Finally for weekend concert preview post #1, we'll head to Reggie's Place, where local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations will take the stage TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! For as experienced and frequently seen as Generations are, these will surprisingly be their first Reggie's concerts since July of last year, and thusly their first stops at this Queen Street East staple with new guitarist Joe Miller (who hasn't played at Reggie's in way longer than that). Hopefully there's a solid turnout tomorrow and Saturday for their old school rock favourites, and the band has teased maybe debuting some new songs in their sets this weekend! Both shows are at 9:30 PM with 19+ age limits and no cover. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's a new video of Generations live at The Water Tower Pub last month! This was shared to their Facebook group via Joe's personal Facebook page.

The 2+ minute video sees Generations covering most of The Headpins' "Don't It Make Ya Feel", which is some welcomed hard rockin' Cancon that Valerie sings with gusto, and while the song isn't fully captured via this stationary camera, at least it's horizontal. There is a couple blocking our view of Pierre and Tony, but they're enjoying their evening at a provided table, so I blame the camera placement. Still a solid cover, so give it a watch below, and see more from Generations at Reggie's this weekend!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for our extended Northern Vibe Festival preview next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Soundcheck & Dos Amigos), A Concert Cancellation, And Related Updates!!

Before we get into this weekend's concert previews, just a heads up that tonight's Angelmaker-headlined concert at Blaster Powerhouse has been cancelled. Local promoters Heavy North Entertainment finally confirmed on Tuesday that it wasn't taking place, though Angelmaker quietly dropped the show from their tour routing at some point between July 15th and 31st, and H.N.E. hadn't promoted it on social media since July 8th. As well, tickets never went on sale for the local date, and the search for local opening bands had no public follow-through. A reason for the cancellation wasn't announced, but note that Heavy North Entertainment haven't hosted a concert since late last year, though company head Tyler St. Amour has played occasional solo concerts in recent months. It is worth noting that North Carolina deathcore band Larcenia Roe were tapped to replace Disfiguring The Goddess on tour, which was quietly confirmed in the local advertising. 

The cancellation is very unfortunate, especially as local promotion was hyping this as "the ultimate metal concert", but the lack of postings about the show for over a month was a tell that something was up, and even with no tickets to refund, Heavy North should have announced the cancellation well sooner than they did. Hopefully nothing too serious happened with Tyler or the bands, and that Angelmaker, Ingested, and Larcenia Roe try again here down the road, as deathcore fans were interested in coming out!

This post otherwise dives into the first half of this weekend's concert previews, and we'll look at this weekend's Stones & Crows, Peril, Tarnished, and Viscera shows in our next preview post due to this being a busier stretch. Today's all involve LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, mostly SHORT NOTICE ones, and we'll start at Northern Superior Brewing Co., where local acoustic punk cover duo Dos Amigos will play at their on-site Tap Room TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the band only confirmed this show via their Instagram-only schedule poster last week, and Northern Superior have not corroborated this booking on their own social media at press time. No major frills or tie-ins that I am aware of TOMORROW, but fresh off of their Canopy gig with BookcluB at the Downtown Street Party tonight, hopefully Mikey & Dustin deliver some solid unplugged punk favourites in the Tap Room!

Note that I am well aware that Northern Superior are teasing the return of Wolf Fest at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion on Saturday, September 12th, complete with a promotional video featuring Trish Rainone in character as Jan from Jan's Not Movin!, but we await an official announcement of the lineup and other events in three weeks. TOMORROW'S Dos Amigos concert is at 8:00 PM with a 19+ age limit and no cover charge, and if you can't make it, they have three shows in three days next week. See above for more details, and here's Dustin & Mikey live at The Tap Room!

Finally, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will rock Jay's Piston Broke Pub TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT, and they'll also return to The Water Tower Pub on Friday, August 28th! Again, apologies for the short notice on TOMORROW & SATURDAY'S concerts, they were first announced via this AI-generated events calendar for this week on Jay's Facebook page (Soundcheck have not posted on their own Facebook page since early May). While ostensibly a normal weekend now that the guys are back from their Chapleau road trip, this weekend's shows come fresh off of the news that they are parting ways with bassist Jim Michaud (a.k.a. "Jimmy Sweetz"). The news was revealed on their sister band Separate Wayz' Facebook page on Tuesday, where their singer Nicole Thibodeau confirmed that Jim is amicably retiring from both groups, and "band line up announcements for both bands (are) coming soon". 

Best known for his near two-decade run as Obsession's bassist, Jim replaced Paul Belair in Soundcheck at the beginning of 2023, and he had been a constant presence in Terry Eaton's plugged in cover rock bands ever since, including Separate Wayz and the short-lived Guilty Party. What's unclear is who is playing bass at Jay's TOMORROW & SATURDAY... is Jim hanging on short term? Will they debut the new bassist this weekend? Will there be a temporary fill-in, or even no bassist? Regardless, hopefully Jim enjoys time away from the live grind, and if he is definitely retiring from bands, he will be missed! For the record, next week's Water Tower Pub show was announced via that venue's August concert calendar, and it is a one-nighter as usual there (Bone Yard 225 go "uncorked" there next Saturday). These are all branded as Soundcheck-only gigs and not "epic crossovers", but of course, that doesn't necessarily mean that Nicole won't pop in.

Terry, Travis, Johnny, and ?????'s Jay's Piston Broke Pub shows are at 9:30 PM, next Friday's Water Tower Pub concert is at 8:00 PM, and all are 19+ with no cover (though I somehow doubt that Soundcheck all wear fedoras and look alike nowadays, based on Jay's AI poster). Visit the above links for more on all three new Soundcheck dates (TOMORROW & SATURDAY included), best of luck to Jim in the future, and here's Soundcheck live!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for the rest of this weekend's hard rock concert previews either tonight or early tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Ethereal Tomb), Soundcheck/Separate Wayz Updates, And New Videos!!

I think our backlog is sufficiently addressed enough where we don't have to post twice a day regularly (famous last words), but there's still stuff to cover, new and old alike! For this post, we have new live videos, recent updates from a local weekend cover staple, and leading off, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, so here's what you should know on this Tuesday morning!

Barrie doom metal trio Ethereal Tomb will return to Sault Ste. Marie for a "DIY garage show" on Monday, September 28th at Unnecessary Noise! Remember, this is the house party venue at a private residence that began being used as a location for select Underground Events SSM concerts this year, so while the address is not publically listed, the show is being publically marketed as a normal concert event at a specific venue otherwise. Fans may recall seeing promoter Mikhal Muto bring Ethereal Tomb to the former Soo Blaster in July of last year, and while this is a smaller scale event, their brand of "Turtle Island street metal" should deliver the sludgy intensity for local fans next month! The local openers will be really varied from the extreme metal to cap off the evening, including ska punk quartet ASDP (fronted by Mikhal, who opened last year's Ethereal Tomb show while still a member of Hails) and young hard rock quartet 5 Dollar Bribe.

This all ages concert has a 6:00 PM start time, admission is $10 or "pay what you can", and as this is at Unnecessary Noise, "ask a punk" for the address (though note that ASDP are the only punk band on this particular bill). Definitely a talented spread of sounds to be had at Unnecessary Noise late next month, so visit the above links for more details!

Next up, let's touch on some recent news and notes from local classic/hard rock cover band Separate Wayz, who have technically been quiet this month as a local concern, but they've been busy in informal and out-of-town ways. On August 8th, a stripped down acoustic version of the band made the 3½ hour drive to Sudbury to perform at Her Northern Voice, a week-long concert festival honouring female singers, with Nicole, Terry, and frequent guest guitarist Travis Sharpe (Terry's Soundcheck/TNT bandmate) performing there at the Grace Hartman Amphitheatre. This is basically why Nicole guested with TNT at the Maddy's Mighty Mutts Family Fun Day here a couple days prior, as it served as a local teaser and warmup. Separate Wayz (+ Travis) played on the penultimate Saturday lineup, where they technically opened for Susan Aglukark, though they were part of the free matinee block before ticketed admission was enforced for the closing acts.

For what it's worth, the Sunday the 9th concert at Her Northern Voice featured a set by Lime frontwoman "Miss" Madii Schomogyi in the identical 2:00 PM timeslot, while Sudbury psychedelic hard rock band The Dirty Mystics (who debuted at The Northern Vibe Festival in 2024) also played that day. Celebrating women in the arts (not just singers) is a fantastic idea, and it's great that so many local and non-local ladies were able to rock Sudbury that weekend! Among various "sneak peaks" (sic), a video from promoters The Sudbury Performance Group was posted on Facebook of Nicole, Terry, and Travis covering The Weeknd's "Blinded By The Light", though it is unfortunately vertical and only 30 seconds long. The side-stage vantage point is sure unique. if not supremely indicative of where they were, but they sounded good here! Nicole also just hit the road again with Soundcheck (Jim & Johnny included) for an "epic crossover" gig.

The five-piece combined band headlined at the Gold Rush National Drag Race in Chapleau (this time 3½ hours north of here) on Saturday, but media and teasers from that trip north did not follow on either band's page. There is big lineup news concerning both groups that I'll touch on in this weekend's concert previews, as Soundcheck have late notice gigs this weekend (with or without this band member, I don't yet know), but visit the above links for more on Separate Wayz & Travis (or Soundcheck & Nicole), and here's the live video from Her Northern Voice!

We'll close this post with some new videos from local space/hard rock duo The Spaceship Opening! As you may recall, the "east end rock n' roll" act (featuring ASDP drummer Ralph Barber) played their first public gig of 2026 at an all-locals concert at Blaster Powerhouse on August 1st, and they began uploading official videos of their set to their Facebook page last week. The guys plan to "post the whole show in bits", and they clearly meant it when they said "the whole show in bits", as the first video features just Andrew and Ralph setting up before their first song! Embedded below is their first song from this set, an original named "Everyone's Gotta Pay", and at press time, they have not uploaded any more songs, videos, and/or bits from the set. This is an instrumental hard rocker that Andrew plays virtually the entire time while facing Ralph with his back to the audience, but the video was filmed side-stage, so it doesn't hurt the home viewer experience.

You don't see a lot of videos from the former Soo Blaster shot like this, so it gives a unique look at the action! I hope this is a fair comparison, but I was reminded a bit musically of Helmet from this performance, and while there were no vocals, it has a spark and a catchy groove, so give it a look below, and hopefully more official videos of this Spaceship Opening set surface!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for a busy slate of mid-week concert previews and more on the SMS soon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Bone Yard 225!!)

Local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 have announced new concerts for September and October, as per their website's calendar, so where will fans be able to see them next? We'll get into their "uncorked" show on Thursday during our next round of concert previews due to the proximity of the event, as the band did not publically confirm their involvement early enough for us to plug it without being considered "short notice". We already knew about their August 29th show at The Water Tower Pub, and we'll address the band playing there on Friday, August 28th in an upcoming post this week if able, given the ongoing backlog clearout here. The first brand new show will be on Friday, September 11th, when your local 225 will kick off the fall season by headlining the annual Bruce Mines Fall Fair (a.k.a. Central Algoma Exhibition)! Technically, this is the first time that we have covered an SMS-amenable band playing at this event.

However, classic/hard rock cover trio The Sidekicks were among the opening bands for last year's Saturday concert headlined by The Luxury. Apologies for missing that, but remember, I didn't know that they leaned towards hard rock last fall. This year, the band aspect of the Fall Fair an hour southeast of the Soo (basically on the edge of our coverage range going east on Highway 17) will allegedly include a Saturday concert again, even though I cannot find public confirmation of who yet, but Bone Yard will be performing right after the annual demolition derby on the opening Friday night program. If you like seeing cars get smashed up, let alone Bone Yard's hard rocking sound, keep this in mind! Bone Yard's concert and the demolition derby will both take place at the Bruce Mines Fairgrounds at Highway 638 in Bruce Mines, and the only start time given is for the derby at 7:00 PM (implying that they'd prefer if you come for that too and stay for the band.)

This is all ages, but there will be a beer garden on-site, and while admission is $10 for a day pass and $25 for the three day festivities (kids 12 and under are free), the concert tickets specifically are $30, but will include admission to the Saturday concert, whoever is playing. Despite the costs, it sounds like a fun day, so visit the above links for more details, including all of the other family activities at the Bruce Mines Fall Fair in four weeks! Two weeks after this trip east, Bone Yard will also hit the highway (albeit just 20 minutes away) to Echo Bay for a special "End Of Summer Bash" at the Elks Lodge #535 there on Saturday, September 26th! While this really isn't summer anymore by then, the southward equinox is earlier that week, so the shoe fits in that way.  We haven't covered an Echo Bay concert on here since Soundcheck played a couple of shows there in 2024, but alas, I missed one.

As it turns out, Soundcheck played at their slo-pitch tournament again on June 27th of this year, as confirmed via this AI-generated poster on the Echo Bay Elks Lodge's Facebook page. It's tougher to catch some Soundcheck bookings when they update their social media so scarcely, but apologies again, and I hope the guys had a good time and crowd in June! I don't know if there's an official reason for Bone Yard 225's booking next month beyond the end of summer, but hopefully they rock the lodge well and have a strong turnout! The Elks Lodge is located at 96 Church Street off of Highway 17B (that's the old highway.) That concert has an 8:00 PM start time, no stated age limit, and an admission fee of $15 (contact the names on the Facebook event page if you want advance tickets). In terms of typical nightclub gigs in the Soo, Bone Yard 225 will play a rare double header weekend at Beck's Bar in early October!

The former will be a regular nighttime show (their first plugged-in public concert in the Soo in two months) on Saturday, October 3rd at 9:00 PM and the latter will be an "uncorked" matinee on Sunday, October 4th at 3:00 PM. Finally, fresh off of their "uncorked" gig at The Water Tower Pub in two weeks, they will return there for another acoustic show on Friday, October 9th, which will take place on the Thanksgiving long weekend. As always, they exclusively play here "uncorked", so keep Greg, Alex, and Warren's softer side in mind for this upcoming one-nighter, which is 19+ at 9:00 PM with no cover. Busy times ahead for Bone Yard 225 as they round out their summer calendar and enter the autumn, so visit the above links for more on the southern fried hard rock action ahead! Thanks everyone!