2025: A Look Back In The Year Of Local Metal, Hard Rock, And Punk

Happy New Year! As usual for the SMS at year's end, I have cobbled together a lengthy "year-in-review" post, and after a quite busy and eventful 2025, here's a window into the big events, news stories, and so forth during that span! I'm sure I missed things (I always do), but hopefully this is a fun and informative look back at the year that was!

2025's biggest hard rock concert in Sault Ontario has to have been the Our Lady Peace/Collective Soul concert at GFL Memorial Gardens in March, and very well timed with The Fox now on the airwaves to get the word out for it! Across the past 12 months, other notable touring acts like B.A. Johnston, Bon Jovi Forever, Cory Marks, Damage Case, The Dayglo Abortions, Epic Rush (née Rust), Ikons Of Rock, Insurrection, Just Leppard, Kaonashi, Mean Bikini, Queen: It's A Kinda Magic, Selias, Virvum, and Who Made Who (among many others) made their presences known on local stages. This year saw the returns of Toystock, Rotaryfest, and (despite very bad weather) The Northern Vibe Festival, plus a healthy number of touring tribute bands at multiple venues, Mike Haggith's high profile Downtown Plaza show in September with his Big Finish Band, and a number of big Soo Blaster shows, with and without touring acts. There was a lot going on as usual!

Over in Sault Michigan and the Eastern Upper Peninsula, they had no shortage of interesting concerts in a busier year than recently normal! At The Dreammakers Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino, fans were able to see Tesla in February, Clutch in June, and both Night Ranger and Trixter headlining separate hair metal concerts in October, while touring bands like Driving Dawn, Fyrbird, Ghidora, Oz, Peril, Scarkazm, The Sky Pilots, Spun, Tribe989, and Violet Scum (among others) all made their way to smaller local venues in this calendar year. Despite the lengthy Sault Ontario drought for such events, two battles of the bands hit the E.U.P. in 2025, with the debuting Crush winning the Superior Whitefish Festival battle in Brimley in July, and the debuting Dynamic Duo defeating About:Blank and other regional acts at the third annual Lake Superior State University Battle. 

Multi-band E.U.P. concerts happened at a wider clip this year in general, including a bunch of mixed genre shows from Serious Business in Brimley and at Pizza Hut(!), while Heavy Lies The Crown played their annual St. Ignace show in August for frontman Brandon West's birthday, and nine acts gathered at Bird's Eye Outfitters in March for the Musicians Unite benefit in honour of Project 906 guitarist Joe Jenkins' wife Mary Jo's cancer battle. Not to mention all of the solo shows from local hard rock acts in 2025, and this was a really solid year for Sault Michigan and area that bodes well for 2026!

For general news items outside of concerts, there was arguably nothing bigger for local rock fans than the format change of Country 104.3 in January, transitioning into 104.3 The Fox, and giving us two rock radio stations on the FM dial, one on each side of the border! With local bands, the likes of Bone Yard 225, Crush, Exit 808, Heavy Lies The Crown, Spades GT, and Tarnished hit the road for gigs outside of our coverage area, while Sault Michigan's Sole Aggressors joined the rare list of E.U.P. bands to play gigs in Sault Ontario in the past two decades! 2025 saw the former Vibe Lounge and Primavera Hall relaunch respectively as Beck's Bar and The Full Throttle Saloon with new regular band lineups, though The Distraction closed indefinitely in July due to fire code violations discovered during the planned Ripcordz show that month. Sault Ontario wasn't able to get planned battles of the bands at Jay's Piston Broke Pub and the Downtown Plaza off the ground, and for the first time, Go Skateboarding Day was completely rained out.

The Northern Vibe Festival was severely compromised by a major rainstorm that rendered the Forest Stage unusable on the Saturday, and the planned Headstones concert (booked opposite Rotaryfest Saturday) was cancelled a few days prior. In a positive light, we did see new music videos from HeadF1rst and The Bear Hunters, the beginning of work on a Woods of Ypres biography, and new Convergence frontman Stephen Gagnon-Ruscio's runner-up run at The Soo's Got Talent, so this was certainly not an uneventful year! Hopefully we get more big news and notes in the next 12 months!

Unfortunately, the last third of the year saw three deaths among local hard rock musicians, starting with Stone Smyth founder and veteran local guitarist Troy Isaac, who lost his battle with cancer in September at the age of 63. In just the past week, we learned of the passing of two more familiar faces, including Rebel Priest/ex-Glass Statues guitarist Ben Kemp-Reynolds (a.k.a. Benny Blitz) at the age of 35 over the weekend, while former Brutally Fatal frontman and Far From Fine drummer Austin McCrea also passed away at the age of 30 after a three month battle with worsening medical concerns in hospital. We also mourned the deaths of former local journalist and concert videographer Mike Caruso, Queen Street Cruise founder Gary Trembinski, and Darsombra synth player/vocalist Ann Everton, just one week before the Baltimore psych-hard rock duo was supposed to play at The Downtown Plaza. May all of them R.I.P.!

Like last year, 2025 was abnormally strong for new local metal, hard rock, and punk albums. Seventeen by my count, and we still have seven of them to review next year! No one was busier this year than Matt Hicks' new solo industrial metal act The Realignment Project, who released three EPs ("Afterthought", "The Frustration Sessions", and "War Songs") throughout the year, while the ever prolific Mike Haggith released his fan club exclusive album "Frequent Flyer" and his new full-band live album "Under A Moonlit Sky". This year also saw the sophomore albums from the reunited Fuller ("II"), hard rock quintet HeadF1rst ("Road Trippin'"), and alt-rock favourites Handsome Sandwich ("Collage"), while we also got local/Barrie crossover thrashers Spades GT's second post-move album "United", the posthumous physical release of grunge trio No Arrow's album "Souls For Sale", Agnosticism's new folk punk EP "Atticcore Fornication", ...

 ...their frontman Mikhal Muto's band Hails' self-titled album, "the original crash band" Sykotyk Rampage's latest "WYRD Radio 3: The Midnight Horror Show", Pillory's long-awaited death metal album "Old Soul", and new ska punk trio A.S.D.P.'s debut album "Atom Bombs & Lemonade". Meanwhile, Sault Michigan's X's & Y's put out their second album "Ruination Coactive", and Theatre Of Night reunited with session vocalist Gaby Koss on this month's "Christmas Night 3". Hopefully 2026 is similarly bursting at the seams with new albums from local talent! 

A bumper crop of new bands made their debut across the Twin Saults this year, and some of those emerged quickly with their own material, including the aforementioned Realignment Project and A.S.D.P., while Sault Michigan newcomers Crush and About:Blank (both featuring Tarnished alumni) also debuted with their own songs right away. While they have existed as a studio band for years prior, Sault Ontario progressive metal band Convergence made their live concert debut in the spring, and other new bands to the live scene this year included hard rock quartet Maynard Hayes, BookcluB's acoustic side project Dos Amigos, classic/hard rock sister bands Separate Wayz & The Guilty Party, and just last week, new local punk quartet P.R.O.D.. We also saw the debuts of bands like Bards With Beards, Pearl Jam tribute Even Flow, One Shot, Spun Out, and The T.R.I.P. that could have big 2026s ahead, and hopefully that holds true on all fronts!

There weren't many severe lineup changes in local bands in 2025, but there were still a number to note. One of the bigger departures was guitarist Brandon Ruch from both Handsome Sandwich and BookcluB in advance of his move out of town, while we also saw Dan Beaupre replace Brad Stephen on bass in Double Down, Sean MacNab finally fill Spades GT's bassist vacancy, a returning Devon Lucier replace Blair St. John on bass in Pillory, Spencer MacGillivray replace Justin Pregent on vocals in the former Sault Side Squad, and Joe Miller replace Tony Kajnar as Generations' guitarist. In the E.U.P., the now-defunct Exit 808 welcomed back original guitarist Nathan Webber and (briefly) bassist Brad Pringle, while Jaxon Massaway returned to Heavy Lies The Crown after a year's hiatus as their new second guitarist, and Jamie Costner replaced Justin Lawless as The Nameless' drummer. I'm sure there's more big lineup turnover ahead in 2026!

In terms of major band breakups, Sault Michigan had the biggest finite and publically addressed losses, with hard rock bands Exit 808 and Dirty Musky both dissolving in 2025, while 2023 LSSU battle-winning punk trio The Sole Aggressors went on hiatus in August in advance of members leaving the area for college. Sault Ontario didn't have band breakups on that scale, but the likes of Treble Charger, Vanity First, Slumshine, and Mikey & His Uke have all been publically inactive for over a year as of last fall. At least the Vanity & Slumshine itches can be scratched with Hails! A number of notable bands have been publically inactive for the past 6+ months and will be kept an eye on in early 2026, including A Dire Setback, The Bear Hunters, Bullet Train, Crucify The Whore, Hollow Sky, The Northwest, and Rhythm & Brews. Hopefully these bands or their members therein turn up in new projects in the new year!

As always, let's end with comebacks, and there were a number of big ones from bands on the shelf for a year+ in 2025, with one of the most notable being the dual reunions of 1990s punk bands Fist Magnet and The Spigots for an ARCH benefit concert at Soo Blaster this past Saturday! Room 206 had to drop out of that event, but fans weren't entirely left out in the cold, as that band & The Inner City Surfers also reunited in April for 206 drummer Allan Watson's stag & doe at the same venue! In the interim, 2000s emo/post-hardcore notables Fuller reunited for a new album and a Rotaryfest Stage 2 headlining set, and local classic/hard rock cover band Quite Frankly reunited after 15 years themselves! We also saw a one-off Mike Haggith & The Din reunion in January in honour of Daniel Horton's late mother, while The Northwest emerged from a year+ hiatus to open for Our Lady Peace, and The Isolation Sessions also returned for a gig in March after a few years away. 

I hope you guys liked this look back at 2025 in the local metal, hard rock, and punk scenes, and we're picking things back up right away tomorrow with the first weekend concert previews of 2026, so stay tuned for those then! Thanks everyone, and please celebrate and party responsibly tonight! 

2024: A Look Back In The Year Of Local Metal, Hard Rock, And Punk

Happy New Year, everyone! After a slight delay for personal matters and just the sheer wattage of research and editing that this annual post takes, here is our 2024 year-in-review post, as we take one more expansive look at the year that was before we dive headfirst into 2025 at large! It was an eventful year for local metal, hard rock, and punk musicians, concerts, and related entities, so here's a good chunk of what went down last year!

As always, we'll start with concerts in Sault Ontario, and where there were no major hard rock shows at the Gardens in 2024, lots of familiar and high profile faces rolled through last year on tour, like B.A. Johnston, BALM Squad, Blood Opera, Cory Marks, Cross Dog, The Damn Truth, The Hazytones, K-Man & The 45s, Matthew Good, The Ripcordz, Selias, Teenage Head, Total Chaos, The Trews, Wax Mannequin, and many more! On the festival circuit, the Go North Music Festival, Rotaryfest, the Poutine Feast, Toystock, and The Northern Vibe Festival all came back with stacked lineups, while the inaugural It's The Pits Festival rocked Robbie Adamson's church in Leeburn in June. Also this year: Lime frontwoman Madii Schomogyi won the fifth annual The Soo's Got Talent, The Distraction ramped up their upstairs and downstairs bookings to local and touring bands alike, the Downtown Plaza began occasional use as a concert venue, the split between the Dragonfly Run and Jay's Piston Broke Pub leading to the similar ARCH Run that same weekend, ...

...the return of extreme metal to the former Roosevelt Hotel when Vaegon headlined at Jay's in July, the Band Together To Rock Cancer fundraiser for Mustang Heart guitarist Lorenzo Fabbri in September, the debut of the Fraternal Order of Eagles Club as an occasional venue last fall, and many more shows from local and touring artists alike with varying degrees of hype and attention. A lot more is sure to be on the docket in 2025!

Meanwhile, Sault Michigan and the Eastern Upper Peninsula had an eventful year in 2024 for concerts! Three major hard rock concerts hit The Dreammakers Theatre at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino last year (Saint Asonia & Black Stone Cherry on February 24th, Skid Row & Buckcherry on March 23rd, and ex-Ratt singer Stephen Pearcy on September 21st), while Ace Frehley, Great White, and Slaughter toplined the '80s Rock Invasion outdoor concert at the St. Ignace Kewadin on July 20th. A surprising number of multi-band shows happened in the EUP last year, including the second annual Lake Superior State University Battle of the Bands in October (won by Molly & The Other Guys), the H.L.T.C.-headlined 2nd Street Music Festival in St. Ignace in August, and two Serious Business-promoted shows at Pickles Bar & Grill in Brimley late last year featuring The Nameless, The Sole Aggressors, and touring headliners

Of course, many single-band concerts also happened across the river last year, with touring bands like Fyrbird, Oz, Peril, The Rock Show, Scarkazm, and Sunspot all making their way to our neck of the woods, while many local hard rock bands played solo shows of their own. from Dirty Musky to Unfortunate Sun.  2025 should be another strong year for Yooper bands and their fans alike, so follow along for updates!

There was certainly no shortage of general news items beyond concerts to take note of in the past year! Beyond the local stage, groups like Bone Yard 225, Exit 808, Hails, Handsome Sandwich, Heavy Lies The Crown, Spades GT, Tarnished, and Treble Charger all played shows outside of our coverage range, and Ha!ls' shows were notable in particular, as many of their road gigs were in Michigan (downstate, even!) The border crossover extended to a handful of punk acts from Michigan playing shows at The Distraction and Soo Blaster in 2024, something long welcomed at this scale, and there's more ahead next year, including from Sault Michigan talent! In 2024, we lost veteran local musicians Jeremey Salatuk and Dennis Becker, while we said goodbye to FirstLocalNews (nee Sault Online), Tazzi's Cafe, the planned Crucifest in Leeburn, and Sault Michigan's Crooked Music, but we also saw the complete Mikey & His Uke series of covers of Green Day's album "Dookie", ...

...the rebranding of Dryer Fire as Piecing It Together Shows, the Rendells' purchase of Case's Music, numerous local bands judging Shooters' Talent Quest karaoke competition, Bone Yard tacking "225" to their name, and numerous local musicians releasing new studio material not yet tied to full albums. I'm sure 2025 will be just as eventful as 2024 was, if not moreso!

While our immense two year+ backlog of new album releases to review on the SMS was finally cleared out in November, 2024 was still a very healthy year for new local metal, hard rock, and punk CDs, albums, and EPs! In terms of shows that had release parties, we saw relocated local solo project Sell This!' new album "Empires Everywhere", punk trio Vanity First's full length album "Identity Crisis", and HeadFirst's... first EP "Head Trauma" in early-mid 2024, while Vanity First guitarist Mikhal Muto also put out new albums by his solo projects Agnosticism and Choking On Appendages last year. Progressive metal duo Convergence started 2024 with their new EP "Dead & Dreaming" one year ago, while Late & Loud released their second soundtrack for their D&D podcast Late & Legends, and Sykotyk Rampage released their first "Waerlogas Sagas" concept album with an attached comic book to accompany its triple length runtime!

Meanwhile, Michigan's Eastern Upper Peninsula wasn't left out for new albums, with Heavy Lies The Crown quietly releasing their second full length album "Built For Us" in January, while veteran metal guitarist Jason Mills put out his solo project X's & Y's' debut EP "The Obsidian Dream" last fall. Good stuff by some very talented artists, and we should see more new albums & studio material ahead this year!

A relatively small but talented roster of new and debuting local metal, hard rock, and punk acts cropped up in 2024, and as a live concern, none were seen more than veteran classic/hard rock cover duo Dodge This, who played often in the second half of the year! Studio-wise, new bands like Bullet Train and Choking On Appendages immediately made a local splash with original music, while the previously Winnipeg-based Sell This! delivered their own politically charged cello punk shortly after making their live debut here in January. We also saw the live debuts in 2024 of online page-less metal quintet The Sault Side Squad, tech metal band (and Them successors) Bardo, and (as a live band) Jason Ladouceur's long-gestating project Without Compromise. Yoopers also welcomed Fake Chow successors Unfortunate Sun to Sault Michigan this year. Look for them and more new bands ahead in the coming 12 months!

The past year saw no shortage of lineup changes in local bands, with none seeing as much of a metric shift as the Sault Michigan band who began the year as Double Jack. After just one 2023 set, they were nigh unrecognizable by the spring, with a new name (Exit 808) and, aside from drummer Jackie Moon, a completely different lineup now led by two singers, and they've showed no signs of slowing down in the EUP and beyond! Frequent Exit 808 guest bassist Blaze Beairl also found himself part of big changes with St. Ignace's Heavy Lies The Crown, as they switched lead guitarists twice and Blaze joined on drums when Jaxon Massaway moved to rhythm guitar. Sault Michigan also saw big changes with Tarnished, as Josh Fair permanently left the drumkit to play guitar and the band parted ways with bassist Parker Talentino, while singer Henry Boucher left rising young punk band The Sole Aggressors. Sault Ontario had its own fair share of turnover!

Among others, Brandon Ruch replaced Mitch Sirie & Dave Bahun in Handsome Sandwich & Bookclub respectively, Beej Syrette replaced Adam King in Double Down, Matthew Voros joined & James Roy Daley left Spades GT, Matt Fronzi & Elly McWatters joined Mike Haggith's newly named Big Finish Band, Frank Deresti & David Peredun became Treble Charger's new rhythm secton, Carmen Muto joined Hails (and maybe Vanity First?) on second guitar, Redundant parted ways with bassist Andrew MacDonald, and Phil Greco joined the new look Fort Creek lineup on drums. Look for more lineup shifts from local bands in the coming 12 months!

2024 also saw a handful of notable local bands and solo projects end their active runs or fall inactive, with none doing so more prominently than classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck, who spent much of December on a farewell tour leading up to their final gig at the YNCU Curling Centre on New Year's Eve. The SMS also moved acts like Far From Fine, Tattoos & Scars, and solo artists Bold Noize & Mike Cliffe to our inactive links in the past 12 months. More familiar groups have been publically inactive since early-mid 2024 and could be moved to our defunct links this year, notably including Sylo (with frontman Eli Russell attending college out of town) and The Wyld Stallyns (with frontman Rob Speers focusing on solo gigs for much of the year), not to mention The Bear Hunters, Galactic Alignment, Hollow Sky, Mike McCleary, Molten Imp, The Northwest, and Sell This! as well. Hopefully we see some of these talented artists return to activity in due course!

As always, we'll end things with comebacks and reunions, and in terms of sheer time since we last saw the band in question, none ended a hiatus as long as local hard rock quartet Half Past, who played their first show in 12 years in February, and have followed that up with multiple notable concerts since! A few other acts ended 4+ year breaks in 2024, including Treble Charger at their Algoma University fundraiser concert in March, Pillory with some high profile metal concerts in the Soo and Leeburn this summer, and former Haggith frontman Curtis McKenzie's return as an acoustic solo musician for the first time since before the pandemic. Last year also saw the returns of A Dire Setback, Crucify The Whore, The Karstens, Redundant, and Sylo after a year or more away from the stage, while Heavy North Entertainment returned to local concert promotion after seven years away with the Selias concert in September. Here's to more big returns and reunions in the Twin Saults 2025!

With 2024 now well and truly in the books, we now look ahead to 2025 starting with this weekend's hard rock concert previews and our first "Where Are The New Albums?" post of the year, so look for those next and for much more as we begin another exciting year at the SMS! Thanks everyone, and again, Happy New Year!

Last Month's Poll Results & Our New Poll!

It's now time to wrap up last month's poll on the SMS and launch a new one! As you may recall, we posed this question to you guys last month: What was your favourite new local metal, hard rock, or punk album of 2020? Only 10 votes, which is disappointing, but thanks to everyone who did vote, especially with a fairly interesting final tally, which you can see below!

The Bear Hunters - The Dead Testament (3 votes, 30%)
A Dire Setback - A Dire Setback (3 votes, 30%)
Mike Haggith - If Ever Comes The Day (2 votes, 20%)
Other (2 votes, 20%)
9 Times Dark - Vicissitude (0 votes)
As It Stands - The Lost Tapes (0 votes)
Either of Crucify The Whore's new albums (0 votes)
Tarnished - Down To The Wire (0 votes)

What do you guys think? Regarding the albums with no votes, I'm most surprised that As It Stands' long-belated EP didn't get any votes, especially knowing how popular they were a decade ago. The other three options were tempered by lower-profile release methods, or in Tarnished's case, not being based on this side of the border. I can't speak for the two "Other" votes, but the three top vote-getters predictably got the most positive attention in the poll, validating their contemporary fandom and successes! Mike's positive votes show that he has maintained his local following since moving west, and with A Dire Setback & The Bear Hunters tying for the lead, both metalheads and punk fans had their say! In ties like this, my tiebreaker is to give the edge to the newer album (as it had less time to garner the same votes), so I'd consider "The Dead Testament" as the winner, but both were very solid new albums that deserve to be checked out!

Thanks to everyone for voting! As for this month's poll, you may recall me mentioning last month that I was condensing our 2020 wrap-up polls from five to two due for obvious pandemic-related reasons. One is now in the books, and this month's poll poses this question to you guys: COVID-19 aside, what was the biggest local metal, hard rock, or punk news story of 2020? This was a tricky poll to narrow down choices for, given how different of a year 2020 was in pretty much every facet, but it certainly wasn't boring! As noted above, the COVID-19 pandemic alone will not be an option in the poll, as that is a wide-sweeping blanket topic that, in & of itself, isn't a local music story. It certainly impacted everything, and it undoubtedly defined 2020, but we're trying to be specific to newsworthy events. Similarly, I'm not including specific concert cancellations as options, because pretty much everything after mid-March had an identical fate, and where do you draw the line?

I narrowed down your choices this year from our usual 25 to 20 (hopefully we can bump back up for 2021), and of course, "Other" is back too if you would prefer. Now, here's a little on the final options!

A Dire Setback release their self-titled debut CD: As alluded to above already, local punk trio A Dire Setback put out their long awaited studio album in March, early into the pandemic, and it recieved a strong reception from fans despite their release party being forced into a virtual setting. This was a fun album from this prominent local band, but was this the most newsworthy item in the poll?

As It Stands posthumously release "The Lost Tapes": Another of last year' new album crop, defunct local hardcore quintet As It Stands surprised many fans when they finally mixed and released their 2011 Mississauga recording sessions for their planned EP almost a decade after the fact. This was a nice surprise, even minus the Blink-182 cover, but would it earn your vote here?

The Bear Hunters release "The Dead Testament": Winners of the above poll (using the release date tiebreaker), local death metal standouts The Bear Hunters finally released their sophomore album in a sudden Bandcamp posting in November, opting to just get it out in some form despite the pandemic. The improved production quality accentuated the brutality well, but would you vote for it?

The Borderline Internet Radio hits the airwaves: Back in February, a new locally-focused radio alternative debuted when The Borderline launched with a large rotation of Sault-area musicians plus a number of scheduled programs featuring live hosts. While not on AM or FM, The Borderline has already developed a good following, but was it's launch #1 of these choices?

Concerts resume on a limited basis in the summer: For obvious reasons, live concerts did not take place for much of 2020, but select bands returned to some semblance of a live schedule from July through the second Ontario lockdown in December, with artists like Fort Creek, Soundcheck, and Tym Morrison playing to multiple socially distanced crowds. Would the return of concerts get your vote?

Eric Martin from Mr. Big hits Kewadin Casino in February: One of three major venue headlining concerts we got in 2020 before things turned upside down, former Mr. Big frontman Eric Martin and Trixter alum P.J. Farley played a special unplugged concert at The Dreammaker's Theater one year ago. The biggest was yet to come for hair metal fans, but did this top 2020 for you?

The Hair Scare Live rocks Kewadin Casino in February: Just a week after Eric Martin's Kewadin Casino gig in Sault Michigan, Rock 101's Hair Scare and host Scott Cook helped bring a hair metal feast to the same venue, courtesy of Cinderella's Tom Kiefer, Kix, and Faster Pussycat. This was the last major hard rock concert before the pandemic, but was it your biggest news story?

The Inner City Surfers release their new single: Over a year after recording three new songs locally in conjunction with their 2019 reunion show, local punk veterans The Inner City Surfers released "Excess Express" on YouTube and major streaming platforms. Fans took to the bluegrass-influenced punk song like it was 2005 all over again, but was it the most newsworthy item of all included here?

Live-streamed & virtual concerts gain wider popularity: With normal concerts out of the cards from mid-March onward, many local bands and event organizers shifted their focus to the internet to continue performing for an audience, notably including Mike Haggith, Tarnished, and Tym Morrison's regular weekly at-home gigs. Did this emerging trend strike you as newsworthy?

Long & McQuade moves to MacDonald Avenue: Moving during a pandemic can't be ideal, but local chain music store Long & McQuade (merged from Northland Music & Thomas Walls School Of Music) opened in the former Northshore Sports & Auto site in July, giving local musicians a new larger location and inventory for all of their needs. Would you vote for this story?

Mike Haggith releases "If Ever Comes The Day": After opting to postpone his planned "Bridges" album, former Din frontman Mike Haggith released his 50th canon solo album and first in 5 years back in May, complete with it's own release party shoved to a digital format. This intensely personal concept album recieved many positive reviews, but were you among them?

Mikey & His Uke launch his quarantune video series: A surprise daily treat during the first lockdown came via Inner City Surfers drummer and prolific local/Toronto punk frontman Mikey Hawdon's increasingly popular series of short vocal/ukelele song uploads, which slowly grew in prominence and quality into their current far-flung juggernaut. Was this #1 for you?

The Rad Zone moves to Queen Street East: After two decades at the former Wellington Square Mall, local record/skateboarding/video games/etc. store The Rad Zone packed it's bags and moved downtown into the former Foch Cleaners location in February. The pandemic didn't make for an ideal first year there, but was The Rad Zone's big move last year's biggest news story?

Reggie's Place re-opens under new ownership: After being closed for a year, popular Queen Street East bar & concert venue Reggie's Place was bought by Randy Lapossie, re-opened in September, and became one of the few repositories for a concert calendar last fall, even booking more hard rock than they once did. Would you vote for the return of Reggie's here?

Room 21 closes after Acoustic Heartstrings concert: A venue closure that had nothing to do with the pandemic, Albert Street West acoustic nightclub Room 21 announced that they were shutting their doors in February due to their host restaurant Low & Slow's move downtown, ending their two year run with a three band Valentine's Day show. Is this your preferred choice?

Rotaryfest music lineup takes place virtually in September: Ensuring that our annual summer festival took place in some form in 2020, Rotaryfest was delayed to the early fall and held virtually, with a pre-recorded YouTube concert headlined by Crystal Shawanda. No hard rock bands played (cover songs aside), but did Rotaryfest's 2020 changes top last year for you?

Shit Liver upload their 2016 tour documentary: After a four year wait, local/St. Catharine's grindcore trio Shit Liver finally posted the video of all of their antics from their cross-Canada tour run in the second quarter of 2016, including highlights from their Oddfellows Hall sho that April. It was great to see this video at long last, but would you vote for it here?

Tarnished release their "Down To The Wire" EP: The only high profile album to come out last year from a Sault Michigan hard rock act, "Down To The Wire" gave fans a nice compact package of five upbeat and heavy original music, and it gotr some strong publicity in the area during the first lockdown! Was this EP last year's top story of these choices?

Theory Of A Deadman rocks Sault Ontario in February:A rare hard rock concert hit The Sault Community Theater Center last year when Canadian rock radio mainstays Theory Of A Deadman returned to the region for a well recieved headlining date alongside openers W3apons. As the last high profile Sault Ontario event before the pandemic, does it earn your vote?

We Will Rock You musical takes place in January: While not a concert in the traditional sense, the touring production of the Queen musical We Will Rock You made it's way to GFL Memorial Gardens last January, featuring Queen's classic songs in a jukebox musical format. Definitely an interesting way to experience Queen, but would you vote for it in this poll?

Other: Did we miss something you'd rather vote for? Was a specific unlisted concert or album more to your liking? Was there a pandemic-influenced event that struck you as more newsworthy? Remember, the question begins with "COVID-19 aside,". If, for whatever reason, we missed your own top news story of 2020, then "Other" is for you!

VOTE TODAY! You have until March 19th or so to cast your votes, and as always, it will be interesting to see what comes out on top here, perhaps more than ever given how screwy of a year that 2020 was! That's all for today, but stay tuned for a new news post tomorrow. Thanks everyone!

Last Month's Poll Results & Our Newest Poll!!

Continuing our daily post streak, here's this month's new poll and the results of last month's poll! As you may recall, I posed this question to you guys last month: What was the biggest local metal, hard rock, or punk news story of 2019? Sadly, this poll only got 8 votes, but there is a definite winner, so with all of that said, here are the final tallies! 

Puddle of Mudd headline Muddfest in Sault Michigan (3 votes, 37½%)

The Offspring & Sum 41 rock GFL Memorial Gardens (1 vote, 12½%)
Long & McQuade music store begins local operations (1 vote, 12½%)
Oh!No festival expands to 2 nights in Leeburn farewell (1 vote, 12½%)
Sailor's Tongue reunite for Rotaryfest Stage 1 set (1 vote, 12½%)
The Killer Dwarfs headline at Soo Blaster (1 vote, 12½%)
The Apocalypse Afterparty place 3rd in The Soo's Got Talent (0 votes)
Banned dissolve & are succeeded by Tarnished (0 votes)
Crooked Music moves across Ashmun Street (0 votes)
Danger Cats alum Summer Stevens passes away (0 votes)
Dave Evans (ex-AC/DC) rocks The Rockstar Bar (0 votes)
Drowning Pool concert in Sault Michigan postponed (0 votes)
Dryer Fire open Bruce Street pop-up venue twice (0 votes)
The Inner City Surfers reunite for LopLops Lounge concert (0 votes)
Joni Radford memorial concert held at Algonquin Hotel (0 votes)
Late & Loud hold one-off reunion concert (0 votes)
Michale Graves returns for reschuled Canadian date (0 votes)
Mike Haggith releases "Ashes of K" soundtrack album (0 votes)
Music City Sault Ste. Marie project launches (0 votes)
Pop Evil & Buckcherry play outdoors at Kewadin Casino (0 votes)
The Rad Zone announces move to Queen Street (0 votes)
The Sick Sons debut at Random Killing concert (0 votes)
Slaughter & Autgraph rock the St. Ignace Kewadin (0 votes)
The Tea Party returns for show at The Machine Shop  (0 votes)
Tripod the Dog permanently reunite (0 votes)
Other (0 votes)

What do you think? Alas, at this rate, I can't be too surprised as to the low vote totals, but for the options that didn't get any vote, I am most surprised that the Inner City Surfers and Late & Loud reunions, and the Pop Evil/Buckcherry and Michale Graves concerts didn't get any votes. For the five choices that tied for second with a single vote (sigh), I'm most surprised that Sailor's Tongue's reunion got some attention, but I'm not overly shocked with the others, as all were big deals in their own way. I didn't expect that a Sault Michigan concert would win out, but November 1st's Muddfest at The Dreammakers Theatre was the victor, as the only option with multiple votes over the past month. That concert had a stacked lineup for fans of nu-metal and 2000s radio hard rock, and despite that Puddle of Mudd cover of "About A Girl" and Trapt's frontman's divisive social media postings as of late, the music on this night clearly won out here. Thanks to everyone for voting!

As for this month's poll, we are winding down our "favourite _____ of 2019" polls, and that continues by posing this question to you guys: What was your favourite local metal, hard rock, or punk concert in the second half of 2019? I know, it seems like forever ago when concerts took place, but maybe jarring the memory to some of the big shows that took place late last year will bring back some positive memories! Besides, I still have to hold our poll covering all of 2019, featuring the vote-getters from our early 2019 poll! To be included in this poll, concerts must have taken place in Sault Ontario and the surrounding area between July 1st and December 31st, 2019, and anything that was held in 2020 before the shutdown will be addressed in a future poll. Concerts must have had a performer lineup at least half comprised of metal, hard rock, and/or punk bands, so events like Rotaryfest, The Soo's Got Talent, and Toystock are not included, though "Other" is back as an option if you are so inclined. Here are your final 15 choices!

Bands: Random Killing, Jack Spades, and The Sick Sons
Venue: The Rockstar Bar
Date: July 5th
Info: Well over five years after the well received Hardcore Homecoming concert at the same venue, Toronto hardcore punk legends Random Killing (and Saultite frontman Andrew Kiteley) returned for another hard hitting night of old school punk action in July, with support from Jack Spades and the debuting Sick Sons to get things started on the right foot. This was another hit for punk fans, but was it your favourite local concert of late 2019?

Bands: The Inner City Surfers and Love & Rehab
Venue: LopLops Lounge
Date: August 3rd
Info: A packed house was on hand for the long awaited reunion of local punk quartet The Inner City Surfers after a 10 6+ year hiatus in early August, with their fan favourite original songs and chemistry more than welcomed for the occasion! Also featuring Brad's Toronto-based band Love & Rehab as openers, this concert was a major success, with plans for new studio material and future gigs following, but would you vote for this one?

Bands: Black Crown Initiate, Inferi, Warforged, and Pillory
Venue: The Rockstar Bar
Date: August 3rd
Info: While it's scheduling opposite The Surfers on August 3rd can't have been ideal, this rare Live705 concert will have appealed to any technical death metal fans last summer, with a trifecta of touring bands ready to melt faces, including the returning Inferi from 2018's Rivers of Nihil show. Local death metal trio Pillory also opened in their last live concert to date, helping make this a must-see extreme metal concert, but can you vouch for it?

Bands: Mike Haggith & Jacob Quarrell
Venue: Outspoken Brewing
Date: August 10th
Info: In his only local concert appearance of 2019, former Din frontman Mike Haggith returned home for a late notice show at Outspoken Brewing, which was notable for fans and Mike alike, especially as that Soo trip helped instigate his upcoming studio album "If Ever Comes The Day" in more ways than one. Also featuring folk musician Jacob Quarrell (who will be in Mike's band for his eventual CD release party), did this show earn your vote?

Bands: The Therapists, Kodex, Jack Spades, Planet Rock, Stegadeth, and Slumshine
Venue: Robbie Adamson's church in Leeburn
Date: September 6th
Info: Expanded to a two-day schedule for it's third and final installment before it's planned Sault Ste. Marie move in 2020, the Oh!No concert festival in Leeburn welcomed 5 varied local act to the stage for it's first night in September (including Stegadeth's last concert set to date), before Sudbury "party violence" quintet The Therapists returned for a second straight year as Friday headliners. Did you like Oh!No III's first night the most?

Bands: Pisser, Cross Dog, Lightmares, Femur, Wrecker, Pointless, Garbageface, Lord Hidetora, The Franquilizers, Forest City Aurora, The Dynowaves, Telephone & Address, The Elements, Conika, The Angry Spells, Hannah Lindsay, The Speed Humps, Shae Tull, and Malignant Neoplasm
Venue: Robbie Adamson's church in Leeburn
Date: September 7th
Info: A whopping 19 of the scheduled 25 acts for Oh!No III were booked for the Saturday lineup last year, including all but one of the touring acts, such as headliners Pisser, the return of Mark Rand's Cross Dog, and sets from festival regulars like Lightmares, The Franquilizers, and Forest City Aurora, plus select local acts, including the reunion of indie/punk project Telephone & Address. Was night 2 of Oh!No III worthy of the piano bonfire?

Bands: The Cancer Bats, The Single Mothers, Sharptooth, Forever Dead, and Redundant
Venue: Soo Blaster
Date: September 12th
Info: The last show in Thunder Bay promoters Loffredo & Associates' 2020 streak of local bookings saw a stacked lineup of touring headliners at Soo Blaster last fall, including the Juno-nominated Cancer Bats & Thunder Bay rockers Forever Dead's first local concert sets in many years, plus the local debuts of The Single Mothers & Sharptooth, and the Soo's own Redundant's first official set with Andrew on bass. Was this your #1 show in the poll?

Bands: Michale Graves, Frightlight, and A Dire Setback
Venue: The Canadian Nightclub
Date: September 28th
Info: A year and a day removed from the former Misfits' frontman's scuttled first try at a local concert, Michale Graves fans got a windstorm-free night of classic Misfits songs last fall, as both of his albums with them were played from start to finish! The receptive crowd also got to enjoy the latest return of local horror punk favourites Frightlight, plus a solid opening set from A Dire Setback, but was it your favourite concert here?

Bands: Late & Loud and Planet Rock
Venue: The Rockstar Bar
Date: October 10th
Info: Five years after their "farewell concert", classic metal quartet Late & Loud reunited one more time to help fundraise for and support bassist Benn Garside's wedding that same month, and fans got to enjoy one more night of heavy rockin' hard metal at The Rockstar Bar! Opened in somewhat surprise fashion by DJ Seith's hip hop project Planet Rock, it was great to see Late & Loud back one more, but would you vote for it?

Bands: Parabol 
Venue: Soo Blaster
Date: October 12th
Info: In their final live concert appearance before quietly closing their social media accounts, local Tool tribute band Parabol booked Soo Blaster for a huge headlining concert, featuring their proficient renditions of Tool's back catalog. This was a must-see show for fans of these progressive metal legends, and Parabol had the chops, but was their (unbeknownst to us) farewell show your favourite local concert in the second half of 2019?

Bands: The Elements, The Guitar Gangters, and The Soo Fighters
Venue: The Rockstar Bar
Date: November 1st
Info: J.D. Pearce's 15th annual Halloween party returned to The Rockstar Bar for a rare post-Halloween date last fall, and while it was contracted to a single day, punk and hard rock fans still got their fill from The Elements' turn covering songs already covered by Me First & The Gimme Gimmes, plus the debut of Volbeat tribute supergroup The Guitar Gangsters, and the return of The Soo Fighters. Would you cast your vote here?

Bands: The Ripcordz, A Dire Setback, and The Sick Sons
Venue: The Rockstar Bar
Date: November 9th
Info: Despite the late withdrawal of Jack Spades, hardcore punk fans came out in full force in November to welcome the legendary Ripcordz back to the Soo after over 2 years away, and they delivered another attitude-fueled set of original favourites! Also featuring A Dire Setback's fast-rising attack and the second live set from The Sick Sons, this will surely have had a great reception, but would you agree with that?

Bands: Dany Laj & The Looks and B.A. Johnston
Venue: The New American Pub
Date: November 9th
Info: If your musical tastes didn't lean towards hardcore punk, you may have been at The New A on November 9th instead, where Girl Friday Productions brought Hamilton comedy/folk punk musician B.A. Johnston back to town for another set of irreverent and polarizing originals, as well as headlining Montreal power pop band Dany Laj & The Looks in their (at least) fifth Soo appearance. The musical talent was here, but were you?

Bands: The Offspring, Sum 41, and Dinosaur Pile-Up
Venue: GFL Memorial Gardens
Date: November 19th
Info: The only major punk or hard rock concert to take place at the Gardens post-renaming, many local punk fans flocked to the arena in November to see The Offspring and the long awaited return of Sum 41, with both bands unleashing sets full of their classic original songs for the occasion! Also featuring rising English alt rockers Dinosaur Pile-Up, this concert was very well received despite high admission, but was it your favourite?

Bands: Dustin Jones & The Rising Tide and The Elements
Venue: LopLops Lounge
Date: December 21st
Info: Of all of the seasonal punk concerts to take place at LopLops in December, the biggest was arguably the pre-Christmas show headlined by local Celtic punk quintet Dustin Jones & The Rising Tide on the 21st, and with new material from their forthcoming studio album in tow, this was another hit for this infrequently seen but very talented ensemble! Also including The Elements as support, was this your favourite late-2019 show?

Other: Did we miss your favourite concert from late 2019? For reference, artists like The Apocalypse Afterparty, The Bear Hunters, Black Mastiff, Bon Jovi Forever, Chase Wigmore, The Cover-Up, Doreen, The Faps, Fluid 5ive, Griphook, Just Leppard, Life Like Fire, The Long Nines, Northwest, Re:Born, Sailor's Tongue, Seax, Soundcheck, The Strange Coyotes, Tripod the Dog, Tym Morrison, The Uncanny Valley, Warsenal, Who Made Who, Whoop-Szo, The Wyld Stallyns, and Zoon also played shows in this time period, while other shows featuring bands in the poll also took place. If, for whatever reason, your favourite concert isn't in the poll, vote for "Other"!

VOTE TODAY! You have until May 18th to make your voices heard, and then we will combine the shows with votes from the first half of 2019 poll and this poll for one final poll on the complete year that was. Until then, let's see how this poll goes in the month ahead, so cast your votes while you can, and stay tuned for more news and notes next week! Thanks everyone!

Last Month's Poll Results & Our Newest Poll!!

For the first time since this past Thursday, here's a post that has nothing to do with the news story everyone's talking about, as it has the results of last month's poll and the launch of our newest poll! As you may recall, we posed this question on the site last month: What was your favourite new local metal, hard rock, or punk album released in 2019? Only 7 votes, which is down from this poll last year, alas, but there are some interesting results ahead, so here is the final tally from the past month!

Mike Haggith - Ashes of K (Official Movie Soundtrack) (3 votes, 43%)

Other (2 votes, 29%)

Black Cloud - Abstract Sounds (1 vote, 14%)

Either of Chase Wigmore's formal debut albums (1 vote, 14%)

Alex Traynor - Crazy World (0 votes)

Either of Awokest's debut albums (0 votes)

Crucify the Whore - Crucifiction Inquisition (0 votes)

Heavy Lies The Crown - Scatter Brain (0 votes)

Mike McCleary - Propaganda Model (0 votes)

What do you guys think? I wasn't sure what to expect going in, as while a lot of albums were released on sale, none really had a massive physical push locally or a formal release party of note. As such, I can't be surprised that Mike Haggith's soundtrack for the movie Ashes of K won out by a single vote, but on the other hand, this was a compilation with no new material that did not recieve a physical release in the Soo. That said, Mike's a known commodity with lots of good will, and the material on the album was well recieved on his and The Din's prior CDs, so the shoe fits in that way! Second place went to "Other", and while it's hard to say what those voters had in mind, I concede in hindsight that Slumshine's debut album "SLMSHN" should have been included (this poll was constructed before we rolled them into our full coverage), so I wouldn't put it past Slumshine fans being the "Other" voters. Local death metal solo projects got the other votes courtesy of Chase Wigmore and Black Cloud fans, validating that their fanbases paid attention!

Of the albums with no votes, I'm not overly surprised that the Sault Michigan-area bands (less readership) and Mike McCleary (his album was de-listed online) fell this way here, and the Chase Wigmore voter may have went that route over Awokest, but C.T.W. not getting any love was the most surprising to me, given that project's devoted following and long track record. Interesting results all the same, and thanks to everyone for voting! As for this month's poll, we are posing this question to you guys once again: What was the biggest local metal, hard rock, or punk news story of 2019? This 12 month period was as eventful as ever, and it'll be interesting to look back at this quarantine-free year of local metal, hard rock, and punk action! It was as tough as ever picking 25 distinct options (plus "Other") for the poll, but to be included, the story in question must have occurred or peaked in the 2019 calendar year.

As such, do not look for news stories from 2020 in the poll, especially not the pandemic. Also, just as a reminder, this poll is designed to judge you guys as to the biggest SMS-relevant news story of 2019, not necessarily the happiest or best. Eventful things that aren't good happen every year, it'd be dishonest to not acknowledge them. Now, here are your final choices!

The Apocalypse Afterparty place 3rd in The Soo's Got Talent: Despite being massive stylistic outliers, not to mention their lengthy preceding hiatus, local rap/metal trio The Apocalypse Afterparty surprised many attendees with their podium finish at the second annual Soo's Got Talent competition last fall, with the Stanghettas and Alice leaving quite an impression with their high energy originals and creative covers! Would this event and The A.A.'s finish win your vote here?

Banned dissolve & are succeeded by Tarnished: After a successful 8 year run that saw them play numerous concerts in the Eastern U.P. and afar, Sault Michigan classic/hard rock trio Banned announced their dissolution in March, though frontman Alex Traynor was far from finished, with his new hard rock band Tarnished launching that summer, and numerous unplugged and electric gigs followed well into 2020. Was this transition your big story in the poll?

Crooked Music moves across Ashmun Street: Compared to the music store upheaval in Sault Ontario, this pales in comparison, but it was still a huge adjustment for Sault Michiganders last year when Crooked Music moved from the long-time Grooves Music location at 540 Ashmun Street across the road to 539 Ashmun. The new (yet familiar) location seems to have been doing well for Zac & Christy, staff, and fans, but can you vouch for it this month?

Danger Cats alum Summer Stevens passes away: Many fans and friends in Sault Ontario were shocked by the loss of original Danger Cats singer Summer "Snow-Leopard" Stevens on Christmas Day at just 30 years of age. While not a member of the band for their peak, Summer's late 2013 appearances with the band were fondly looked back on in the aftermath, and she is still missed by everyone who knew her. Was this the biggest story?

Dave Evans (ex-AC/DC) rocks The Rockstar Bar: There were bigger concerts locally in scope to be sure, but a lot of interest and curiosity surrounded this one, as original AC/DC frontman Dave Evans made his way to the Soo in May for a headlining concert featuring both early AC/DC originals and his own later solo work, with Barrie tribute band Hells Bells returning as his backing band. This concert seemed to go over well, but would you concur?

Drowning Pool concert in Sault Michigan postponed: Back when postponed and cancelled concerts were a rarity around here, the biggest show to be lost locally in 2019 was the planned Drowning Pool concert at The Dreammakers Theater at the Soo's Kewadin Casino branch in August. Opening act Joyous Wolf rebounded quick by being added to the next day's Pop Evil show, but a new Drowning Pool date remains in limbo. Was this your #1 topic?

Dryer Fire open Bruce Street pop-up venue twice: While Sault Ontario promotion agency Dryer Fire have booked at many spots following The Gore Street Cafe's closure, they got a semblance of permanence again when they opened for a few months in mid-2019 at a rented Bruce Street location, returning for two more weeks in December. Fans seemed to enjoy the new space and the concerts & events that followed, but would you choose it here?

The Inner City Surfers reunite for LopLops Lounge concert: After being on public hiatus for the past 10 6½ years, fan-favourite local punk quartet The Inner City Surfers came back in August to rock a packed house at LopLops. It was 2005 all over again on this night, and the success of The Surfers' reunion show led to plans for a Toronto return gig in 2020, plus recording sessions for new original material. Did The Inner City Surfers' return rank as the most newsworthy option?

Joni Radford memorial concert held at Algonquin Hotel: After a lengthy battle with cancer, noted local punk fan and bartender Joni Radford passed away last February, leading to a huge memorial concert in her honour on both floors of The Algonquin Hotel simultaneously, with a stacked array of punk bands on hand, including downstairs headliners Jack Spades, Rockstar Bar headliners The Cover-Up, and many others. Would you vote for this show?

The Killer Dwarfs headline at Soo Blaster: In a year full of notable concerts at Soo Blaster, arguably none got as much buzz as The Killer Dwarfs' concert there in April, marking their first local appearance in decades. Wawa-News columnist Ernest Skinner did good in bringing the Oshawa hair metal icons back for a night of old school power rock, complete with new local quartet Re:Born opening in one of their first live gigs. Does our vote go here?

Late & Loud hold one-off reunion concert: Five years after their initial "farewell" show, local glam/classic metal quartet Late & Loud came back for one night only in October to help support bassist Benn Garside's wedding to Danger Cats bassist Jamie VanSchooneveld. Another large crowd turned out to The Rockstar Bar to congratulate the happy couple and enjoy one more night of heavy rockin' hard metal, but did it top all other stories in this poll?

Long & McQuade music store begins local operations: Musicians in the Soo got some very cool news in May when it was announced that Northland Music and the Thomas Walls School of Music would merge operations as the local branch of the Canadian music store chain Long & McQuade, with plans to move both locations to 647 MacDonald Avenue at some point in 2020. For inventory and name reccognition alone, this was a huge deal, but was it the #1 subject?

Michale Graves returns for rescheduled Canadian date: One year and one week after postponing his local concert due to severe winds closing the Mackinac Bridge, former Misfits frontman Michale Graves finally made his way to Sault Ste. Marie in September, complete with a set comprising of both of his Misfits albums played in their entirety! A very vocal crowd turned up on Saturday night for the horror punk action, but would you vote for it?

Mike Haggith releases "Ashes of K" soundtrack album: The somewhat surprising winner of last month's poll on your favourite 2019 album releases, prolific local/Manitoba solo musician Mike Haggith belatedly released the soundtrack to the 2018 independent movie he was a part of in April, featuring most of his last solo album "The Warinside" and four Din songs. The musical quality was sound, but would a soundtrack make noise over other stories listed in this poll?

Music City Sault Ste. Marie project launches: Last fall, music industry professionals from the Soo and elsewhere got together to launch Music City Sault Ste. Marie, an ambitious project designed to help grow Sault Ste. Marie's music industry and make the city a destination for music-related tourism, jobs and overall growth, perhaps leading to the Soo hosting the Juno Awards. There are a lot of question marks yet, but does Music City SSM lead the way for your vote this month?

Oh!No festival expands to 2 nights in Leeburn farewell: For it's third year at Robbie Adamson's church in nearby Leeburn, the former Six, Two, Oh. brought 25 musical acts to the stage over two days in early September, with such familiar acts as Cross Dog, Lightmares, The Therapists, and many, many more taking the stage that weekend. Organizers have announced that Oh!No IV will take place in multiple Soo venues, but would you vote for Oh!No III?

The Offspring & Sum 41 rock GFL Memorial Gardens: In the first major hard rock or punk concert at the newly renamed Gardens, punk fans got to enjoy The Offspring's local debut in November, with Ontario's own Sum 41 opening in their first local concert appearance in 15 years. Also featuring fast-rising English alternative trio Dinosaur Pile-Up, this concert was a big hit for fans, but would you say it was last year's top story?

Pop Evil & Buckcherry play outdoors at Kewadin Casino: One of the biggest local hard rock concerts of 2019 couldn't be contained indoors, as Muskegon's own Pop Evil and Anaheim hard rock quintet Buckcherry joined forces outside at the Sault Michigan Kewadin, delivering their own diverse takes on the genre to gathered fans! Also featuring Drowning Pool's planned openers Joyous Wolf, this was another big hit, but does it have your vote?

Puddle of Mudd headline Muddfest in Sault Michigan: Despite a lack of media attention in the lead-up, a nu-metal and modern hard rock feast hit The Dreammakers Theater in November when Puddle of Mudd's eponymous Muddfest tour rolled through Sault Ste. Marie, with Saliva, Tantric, and the local returns of Trapt & Saving Abel also on hand for good measure. These five bands have loads of familiar rock radio hits between them, but can you vouch for Muddfest here?

The Rad Zone announces move to Queen Street: Though their Wellington Square Mall location lingered on into February with close-out sales, Sault Ontarians were rocked in November when the local record/video games/skate/etc. store announced that they were leaving their home of the past two decades in advance of the mall's heavy restructuring. We'll get into the new location in next year's poll, but was the move and massive sales enough to win this poll for you?

Sailor's Tongue reunite for Rotaryfest Stage 1 set:  Six years after their last live concert set at Rotaryfest's Second Stage, local hard rock band Sailor's Tongue resurfaced for one night only at last year's Rotaryfest in July, albeit graduated to Stage 1 in it's increasing friendliness of original acts. It was great to see the McKey brothers & Jeff back together for at least one more night, but was their reunion your biggest story of 2019 in this poll?

The Sick Sons debut at Random Killing concert: Most local bands don't get this high of a platform for theier live concert debut, but for a local punk supergroup of this pedigree, it made perfect sense, even with their then-lack of a social media presence. The Sick Sons left a strong first impression in July when they opened for Random Killing at The Rockstar Bar, and with more big opening sets ahead, their future looks bright! Does your vote go to them?

Slaughter & Autograph rock the St. Ignace Kewadin: Major touring bands don't play often at the events center at the St. Ignace, Michigan branch of Kewadin Casinos, but hair metal fans got a massive exception to that rule in June when Slaughter played their third recorded local concert set in this headlining show, with Autograph tagging along for good measure! Admission was just $10, ensuring a cheap night of hair scares, but did this show highlight these 12 months for you?

The Tea Party returns for show at The Machine Shop: Almost two years removed from their free downtown ONTour gig here, Windsor hard rock icons The Tea Party returned to Sault Ontario for a paid indoor gig at The Machine Shop last March, garnering another strong reception from assembled fans for their established and newer originals alike! Also featuring an opening set by The Proud Sons, did The Tea Party's 2019 show here earn your vote?

Tripod the Dog permanently reunite: The seeds for this were planted when Mark Oliverio brought the ska punk/hard rock band back as part of Rotaryfest's Rewind lineup on Stage 1 in July 2018, but it wasn't until April of last year when Tripod the Dog returned in full with new headlining cover sets at The Esquire Club and The Rockstar Bar, as well as father and son Amendola backing Mark up. Time will tell when we see them again in 2020, but was their return your pick here?

Other: Did we miss your preferred metal, hard rock, or punk story of 2019? Did you want to vote for shows like Theatre of Night's Christmas tour stop in Sault Michigan, or perhaps the Anvil, Cancer Bats, or Monster Truck shows at Soo Blaster? Did Rock of Ages or the local We Will Rock You production get your attention? How about another album release, or perhaps a band's lineup change? If we missed our #1 story last year, vote for "Other"!

VOTE TODAY! You have until April 18th to cast your votes, and it will be interesting to see what wins out, as usual, from this busy past year in the Soo area. That's all for today, but stay tuned for a new news post on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!