Josey Scott's Saliva & Northern Echoes Concert Previews!!

As promised, let's wrap up this weekend's hard rock concert previews by looking at two very different shows coming up at high profile locales, so here's what you should know!

We'll start at The Machine Shop TOMORROW NIGHT, where Josey Scott's Saliva will make their local concert debut in a big outdoor concert! I am unsure if this is where The Yard is/was or not, organizers haven't made the distinction. Josey Scott's Saliva is the new alternate version of the platinum-selling Memphis, Tennessee hard rock band that is led by their original frontman, and who do not share any members with the original version of Saliva that played at Muddfest at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino in 2019. Very much an L.A. Guns-type scenario here, but Josey is the original voice behind all of Saliva's biggest hits like "Click Click Boom", "Always", and "Ladies & Gentlemen", so it will be neat to see him in Sault Ontario tomorrow! Detroit hard rock quintet Sponge (of "Plowed" and "Molly" fame) will make their local debut as the co-headliners, and fans of radio alternative rock should enjoy their set!

Local support will include local/Barrie crossover thrash quintet Spades GT in just their second local gig since they relaunched in Barrie in 2021 and changed their name from Jack Spades. Of course, their post-relaunch gig at last year's Northern Vibe Festival won't have been accessible to all, so their first show in city-limits since late 2019 should be worth noting! This will also be Spades GT's first local gig with new bassist James Roy Daley and since Jay Sarrazin moved to guitar. While a belated release party for their new album "Sewer City Radio" is coming next month in Barrie (more on the site soon), this is basically the de facto release party for local fans, so look for Spades GT's newest material during their set and presumably at the merch table! Local southern hard rock quintet Fort Creek will return from the studio as this concert's opening band, so look for a fun batch of hard rock covers & originals from them!

Louisville, Kentucky post-grunge quartet Tantric were slated to play at tomorrow's concert as well, but they were forced to withdraw from the bill due to frontman Hugo Ferreira being currently unable to enter Canada. They were not replaced, but advance ticket prices were lowered in response. Originally advertised as being at The Rankin Arena before being moved downtown, tomorrow's concert is courtesy of Sault Michigan promoters Superior Entertainment in their post-pandemic return to concert booking, and their first show on this side of the border since hosting Dokken & Firehouse at what's now GFL Memorial Gardens in 2017. Sponsored by Rock 101, this all ages concert is advertised to kick off tomorrow at 6:00 PM, and the contingency plan of moving things indoors for bad weather shouldn't be an issue, with 9&10 News calling for partly cloudy weather in the mid-low 20s Celsius, albeit with a 10-20% chance of rain.

Tickets are on sale for $43.50 at this link, down from the $53.50 price when Tantric was still scheduled, and anyone who bought their tickets at that price point will be refunded $10. You can buy your tickets at the gate or at this link, and there will be food and drinks available on site. I hope this show does well, and given Saliva's track record for big hit radio singles in the early-mid 2000s, they should be very recognizable to many readers, especially as Josey Scott himself is touring with this version! Should be a fun time for fans of live rock music, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Josey Scott's Saliva live!

Finally for this weekend's known hard rock concert previews, let's jump ahead to SUNDAY NIGHT, where local musicians will join forces for Northern Echoes, the Sault Community Theatre Centre's second all-local musician showcase concert of the month! Answering questions about how these two linked events at the former Kiwanis Theatre with similar branding came together, this SooToday article by Chris Belsito from June 5th reveals that the shows are courtesy of a Re-engaging Audiences Fund for Professional Arts Presentation Organizations from the Ministry of Canadian Heritage towards stimulating live performance arts post-pandemic (source here). Good read that spotlights local artistic talent and the S.C.T.C. as a host venue therein! Unlike Soo Soundcheck two weeks ago, Northern Echoes will highlight covers-centric acts, including local funk/hard rock cover sextet The Wyld Stallyns and online page-less alternative/punk quintet Bookclub, in their fourth shared concert since the latter's debut.

Public promotion largely doesn't note the third act on Sunday, but the SooToday article confirms that Soo's Got Talent finalist Juliana Regan & ex-Id Iota bassist Blair St. John will play a joint set, as they have off and on together since 2021. Tickets for Sunday's all-ages, 6:30 PM concert run for $16 (adults), $12 (students & seniors 60+), or $8 (kids 12 and under), and there are plenty of great seats still available at this link, the Station Mall box office, or at the door. This should be a fun night for fans of eclectic live cover music, with The Stallyns and Bookclub bringing more of the rock edge, so keep a trip to White Pines in mind on Sunday, see above for more details, and here's The Wyld Stallyns live!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Just Leppard), Josey Scott's Saliva Concert Updates, And More!!

Got a new news post to check out on this Monday night, which includes updates on a big upcoming concert, a new original song teaser, and leading off, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for this fall, so here's what you should know!

Sudbury-based Def Leppard tribute band Just Leppard will return to Sault Ste. Marie on Saturday, November 11th (yes, Remembrance Day) for a special double header of tribute band action at Soo Blaster! It was around that time last year when Just Leppard made their third local stop (and first at Soo Blaster) for a date with AC/DC tribute The AC/DC Show, but this time, they'll take the stage alongside fellow Sudbury tribute band Saturday Night Special, who pay homage to southern rock legends Lynyrd Skynyrd! I'll admit that neither source band is my favourite, but Just Leppard have gotten a solid response in their prior local stops, and Saturday Night Special seem to have the Skynyrd sound down well, so this should cover a wide range of classic rock fans this fall! Advance tickets for this 19+ event (which starts at 8:00 PM) run for $40 at this link, which is up from the $32 advance price last year.

No word on a price hike at the door, but last year's Just Leppard/AC/DC Show concert jumped to $35 if you waited to buy until you got there, so I'd at least prepare for the possibility. This should be a good time for Def Leppard and Lynyrd Skynyrd fans (especially if you happen to be both), so visit the official Facebook event page for details on what to expect!

Next up, here's some updates on the Josey Scott's Saliva-headlined concert at The Machine Shop on Saturday night, starting with a band withdrawal, as Louisville, Kentucky post-grunge quartet Tantric have dropped out of this event, according to promoters Superior Entertainment on the Facebook event page yesterday. This is due to frontman Hugo Ferreira being unable to enter Canada, and while they didn't go into specifics as to why, he has had legal issues in the past that may be a factor, and other rock websites will go into detail on that if you are so inclined. Disappointing to hear, but hopefully Tantric can come back this direction again when able! A replacement band has not been announced, but Superior Entertainment has asked ticket sale host Etix to adjust show prices to the pre-sale discount rate rather than the week-of price of $53.50 (as of this writing, the price has not visibly been lowered). Click here to check on any potential price adjustments, in any event!

In terms of promoting the event, (this version of) Saliva's frontman Josey Scott has made some video appearances to get the word out, including via this brief clip uploaded to Superior Entertainment's Facebook page last week, where he invited fans to "party with us" and "shake the lake" on Saturday night. Not the best audio quality, he didn't mention any of the other bands, and he pronounced "Sault" like "salt", but any direct promotion is cool to see, so check it out above! For longer-form promotion, Josey was interviewed by Ernest Skinner of the local YouTube interview series Border City Rock Talk on Friday, so what comes up here? In the 18 minute interview, Josey talks about why he left the original version of Saliva, ex-Motley Crue singer John Corabi saving him from a bar fight, the passing of his old Saliva bandmate Wayne Swinny earlier this year, how they united musically, new material plans, ...

... working with Nickelback's Chad Kroeger on the "Hero" single, his love of ketchup chips, and more. This was recorded before Tantric dropped out, but neither Ernest nor Josey remembered the local openers' names (Josey did pronounce "Sault" right here though!) Good and laid back interview that will be a good primer for the show on Saturday night, so check it out below, and also give Border City Rock Talk a watch for much more video interviews, if not always with musicians playing locally in the near term!

We'll close today with a new video from local progressive metal duo Convergence's YouTube channel! The first unequivocally new upload there (not counting Kraken Mara-era videos that they left up/rebranded), this was uploaded as a "Shorts" video (a.k.a. YouTube's answer to "reels"), but at least you can embed "Shorts" externally and play them in background tabs! The video features a snippet from a new original song named "Chimera" courtesy of their computer tracking program, and it certainly sounds the part for prog metal fans, but it's worth noting that their Facebook post about the video says that "we're working on another track for our album". Now, their debut EP "One" is on sale on Wix, but are implications correct that "One" is a work in progress that they're going to add to as songs get completed? I can't say for public certainty, but give Convergence's new song snippet a listen below!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for Wednesday concert previews and more tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Josey Scott's Saliva & Generations)!!

(Updated at 4:09 PM) Two topic post on this Monday afternoon, devoted to LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS on two fronts, including expected weekend cover action and some unexpected attractions at a relatively underutilized locale, so with all of that said, here's what you should know!

New local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations have announced their third and fourth public concert weekends, which will take place on Friday, May 19th & Saturday, May 20th at Reggie's Place over the Victoria Day long weekend, and then on May 26th-27th at The Esquire Club! The Jus' Chillin successors were last seen at The Esquire Club in late April (with guest Michael Yurich subbing in for Brandon on a few songs), and while I'm a little surprised that it took this long to book new gigs, hopefully their next shows are even better! Remember that this is the new band from ex-Obsession singer Valerie Powley, but unlike their last Esquire Club gigs, the Memorial Day weekend is not one that Obsession announced for their scuttled 2023 concert slate last year. All four of Generations' May shows have 9:30 PM-ish start times, no cover charges, and 19+ age limits. Visit their Facebook group for more details on Generations' upcoming live dates!

Next up, a very surprising show was announced this morning for The Machine Shop (well, outside of it, weather permitting) on Saturday, June 24th, as Memphis hard rock band Saliva will return to our area for a headlining concert on that night... kind of! While the version of the band that we saw at Muddfest at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino in November 2019 plans to live on after the death of guitarist Wayne Swinny earlier this year, we are instead getting Josey Scott's Saliva, a new alternate version of the band led by their original frontman, who left Saliva in 2013 and was not at Muddfest. Last month, Josey began announcing a tour under the Josey Scott's Saliva name (I'm not sure if this is the same band as his recently announced Shade Violet or a separate act), so while no one from Muddfest will perform with this version of Saliva next month, the original voice will be here doing hits like "Click Click Boom" & "Always"!

Note that in the above tour poster, the show is listed to be taking place at The Rankin Arena on Batchewana Street, which would be interesting, but the Facebook event page confirms that it'll be at The Machine Shop. Two more touring bands will make their way north for this show, including Detroit hard rock quintet Sponge (best known from their mid-1990s hits "Plowed" and "Molly [16 Candles Down The Drain]") and Louisville, Kentucky post-grunge quartet Tantric (of "Breakdown" fame), who did play at Muddfest. A lot of hard rock radio favourites are in store from those three bands, so don't miss their Sault Ontario debuts next month! Local support will come from two bands, including local/Barrie crossover thrash quintet Spades GT in their first show in Sault Ste. Marie city limits since the former Jack Spades' last pre-pandemic gigs in late 2019, and their first local show since The Northern Vibe Festival last year!

This will also be your first local chance to see them with new bassist James Roy Daley and since Jay Sarrazin moved to guitar, and of course, it'll be their first local date since the expected release of their "Sewer City Radio" album later this month, so how's this for a return? Remember, Spades GT are not playing Northern Vibe this year. Local southern hard rock quintet Fort Creek will open the proceedings, and given their studio work and their own rising profile, they'll set the tone well next month! This event marks the post-pandemic return to hard rock concert promotion by Sault Michigan-based promoters Superior Entertainment, who are not completely new to cross-border bookings, having presented the Dokken/Firehouse concert at GFL Memorial Gardens in 2017. The show will be moved inside The Machine Shop at 83 Huron Street if weather permits, but it'll ideally be outdoors.

Ticket prices are not out for this all ages concert yet, but Superior Entertainment head Robin Cook said on the Facebook event page that "I'm keeping prices as low as possible". Definitely a surprising announcement on multiple fronts, and hopefully it's a huge show for Sault Ontario hard rock fans, especially with this intriguing lineup, so visit the above links for continuing updates, and we'll have more on "Sewer City Radio" on the site shortly, and more news and notes tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Candlebox), The Rad Zone Updates, And New Videos!!

Let's get a new news post up on this cold Friday night, and it includes some new videos, big updates from a fan favourite retail establishment with many ties to the local music community, and leading off, a big LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next year! Here's what you should know!

Seattle grunge/alt-rock notables Candlebox will make their local concert debut on Saturday, April 18th, 2020 when they headline at The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino! One of the biggest alternative hard rock bands of the 1990s thanks to hit songs like "You", "Simple Lessons", "It's Alright", and of course, the Rock 101 staple "Left Behind", their familiar and hard-edged brand of original music should be more than welcomed to the local stage in the spring, so don't miss out on this one if you can help it! Potential opening acts have not been announced at press time. Tickets for this all ages, 8:00 PM concert go on sale on Friday morning at this link, at 1-800-KEWADIN, and at the in-person box office, and they will start at $30. If you've ever wanted some big name 1990s grunge or alternative bands to roll through, this is definitely a nice change of pace, so visit the official Facebook event page and the above links for more details!

Next up, we have some sad, if not entirely unexpected news from a Sault Ontario retail mainstay, as local record (et al) store The Rad Zone and it's attached Hole In The Wall Bookstore will be leaving The Wellington Square Mall at the end of the month, with plans to move to a new location in 2020. If you follow local news media, you may be aware of announced plans to heavily restructure the Trunk Road complex into a modern strip mall (source here), which left the future of the mall's non-Food Basics tenants in doubt. It's not 100% clear whether The Rad Zone is leaving on their own accord or if they weren't part of the mall owners' future plans there. Paul "Monk" Muncaster has owned The Rad Zone (née Radical Records) for 32 years, including the past 17 at this location, but he does plan to move the store elsewhere next year, location and re-opening date to be announced. For what it's worth, their secondary "Rad Zone 2" location at Vintage Games 'N Junque on Queen Street East seems to be unaffected by these developments.

That said, before the big move, The Rad Zone is having a 2 week closeout sale starting tomorrow and running through Friday, November 29th, with most used items running 50% off, new items 40% off, and VHS tapes for 99¢ each, not counting consignment items. Visit the official Facebook event page for full pricing details. This is disappointing news, but hopefully Monk, Mel, Evan, and crew find a great new location next year, as we need a great record, gaming, skateboarding, collectible, and book store here, and they fill that niche exceedingly well, while also being great supporters of local musicians. Best of luck all around, and get down to The Rad Zone while you can!

We'll close today with new videos, starting with the last upload from Christopher Paci's footage from Muddfest at the aforementioned Dreammakers Theater in Sault Michigan on November 1st, namely his clip of opening Kentucky hard rock quartet Tantric playing their song "Down & Out." It's not as well known as "Breakdown", but it's a catchy enough rocker, and it's well filmed like the rest of Chris' Muddfest videos, so give it a look below, and see much more at his YouTube channel!



Finally, here's a brand new original song from local hard rock/metal solo musician Tym Morrison's YouTube channel yesterday, entitled "Street Preacher"! If you know Tym personally at all, you may be aware that he has embraced Christianity in recent months, and while this song does retain his heavy music background, the lyrics definitely have a (positive) religious bent. That said, I can barely hear his singing in this recording, but the music holds up and has a solid chugging riff, plus a quality solo. Give it a listen below, and don't miss Tym at Gliss tomorrow evening!



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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Parabol & Soundcheck), Plus More Assorted News & Updates!!

I know I'm behind for a number of things on the site, so let's kick off a hopefully busy week with some assorted recent updates, a new (if short) video, and leading off, a pair of LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to Reggie's West on Saturday, August 17th when they play at the fifth annual Ride for ARCH! While not listed on the Facebook event page, the performer lineup for this year's Algoma Residential Community Hospice fundraiser was posted on the motorcycle rally's Facebook page proper back on June 26th (apologies for the delay), which confirms that Soundcheck will be playing at 5:00 PM on this day for an hour-long set outside of The Reggievelt on Korah Road, before heading inside for a proper nighttime concert at 9:30 PM. This will be Soundcheck's second straight year playing at this event, which will feature a street party with local vendors to help send off the bikers for this year's rally, so see above for full non-musical details! Bands after Soundcheck this year will include country cover quartet (and fellow 2018 performers) Bone Yard as the 9:30 PM headliners, with classic rockers Flathead Ford at 8:00 PM, ...

...and blues rock trio The Dell Brothers (a.k.a. The Paul Dellavedova Band) at 6:30 PM, while two more 2018 returnees (acoustic country duo The Bearded Lounge and folk/classic rock veterans The Algo Rhythms) will open at 3:30 & 2:00 PM respectively. In fact, only Stone Orchid and Amanda Jeffreys are not back from last year, so if you liked that event, here you go! The indoor Soundcheck set at 9:30 PM is a 19+ affair, but everything else seems to be FREE & ALL AGES, fees assoiciated with the bike rally aside, and of course, ARCH donations would be heavily accepted. Visit the above links for more details on all of the action in almost two weeks!

Next up, local Tool tribute band Parabol will play a solo headlining concert on Saturday, October 12th at Soo Blaster! For a local headlining concert with no openers or visible frills beyond who's performing, it's very interesting to see a venue the size of Soo Blaster hosting Parabol alone like this, but if you know Parabol's faithful and massive Tool tribute show, you'll know they'll fill the room as much as possible! No word on if Parabol will rush to learn songs from Tool's long awaited new CD "Fear Inoculum" in time for this show, but they have the skills to do so! Featuring 705Live (not Live705) behind the soundboard, admission for this 10:00 PM & presumably 19+ concert will be via $5 tickets or $8 at the door. While not available yet, advance tickets will be on sale at Soo Blaster, through Parabol members, at Case's Music, and (believe it or not) at Myers Chiropractic Clinic at 143 Great Northern Road.

In scope, this could be Parabol's biggest local concert yet, so if you love John, Steve, Al, and Anthony's tribute to the progressive metal masters, don't miss out on all of the action in two months' time! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details as they roll in!

Also today, here's a brief video hyping up the huge Muddfest concert at The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino on November 1st, courtesy of the Meridian Entertainment YouTube channel. In this case, the video features Tantric frontman Hugo Ferreira (the video proper is a still image) giving an 11 second plug for their set that night, with no mention of the other bands on this stacked lineup, aside from Saving Abel in the video title. Fans of the Kentucky hard rock band and their big hit single "Breakdown" should give it a listen below, and get tickets at this link!



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

• As briefly alluded to in yesterday's "Where Are The New Albums?" post, local alt-punk trio A Dire Setback strongly hinted on their Facebook page on Saturday that their debut album is currently being mastered... in New York. Very intriguing news, we'll have to see how things continue to progress for their long awaited CD, so see above for more info as it rolls in!
• Local indie/punk quintet Northwest have shared photos and videos from their road trip to Timmins last month for the Rock on the River festival onto their Facebook page! The photos are of great quality, but note that the videos are live streams of The Trews' set that same night, and as such, are not embedded here, as this wasn't a local concert. I do like The Trews (especially "So She's Leaving"), hopefully they play here down the road!
• Destroilet drummer Matt Waples has relaunched his graphic design company (previously known as Sonigraphix Design Solutions) under the new name Underdog Grfkdzn Co. A reason for the name change wasn't announced, but the new Facebook page features a very professional looking portfolio outlining his extensive work in this field, including many high quality concert posters and band logos. I can't say I'm a fan of the vowel-less corruption of "Graphic Design" in the new name, but it's great to see Matt's company back up, so give them a look above, and our link is corrected on the site!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Puddle Of Mudd), A New EP Release, And More!!

While we dig out from the latest blizzard, here's a new news post for your Monday afternoon, so what's in this one? Big updates regarding an upcoming concert and it's opener search, details on a new album and when you'll see it's review, and leading off, a huge LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for this fall!

A blast of early-mid 2000s hard rock and nu-metal is hitting The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino on Friday, November 1st, with Kansas City alt-rock/post grunge quartet Puddle of Mudd headlining in their local concert debut! Best known from hit singles like "Blurry", "Away From Me", and "Psycho" among others, these Rock 101 staples should put on a solid show at this installment of their ongoing "Mudd Fest" tour run, so don't bypass this one, especially assuming that there's no on-stage issues! The stacked opening lineup will feature Memphis nu-metal quartet Saliva (of "Click Click Boom", "Always", and "Ladies & Gentlemen" fame), and while Josey's no longer their lead singer, they have plenty of familiar tracks to bring to the table! Two returning hard rock bands will also rock Sault Ste. Marie on November 1st, including Mississippi hard rock quintet Saving Abel (best known for their hit single "Addicted"), in their fourth local concert appearance and first since 2015's Superior Festival.

The other returning band is California alt-hard rock quartet Trapt, who you'll best know from their debut single "Headstrong", and who last played here in 2013 when they opened for Hinder (a band that Saving Abel also opened for locally.) Finally, the lineup will be rounded out by Kentucky hard rock quartet Tantric (of "Breakdown" fame) in their apparent local debut. If this isn't a stacked lineup for fans of 2000s radio hard rock, I don't know what is, and it'll be great to hear so many hit singles live this fall! While not yet confirmed by Kewadin Casino proper, this is the first major concert announcement of 2019 for Allstar Promotions, who confirmed this show on their Facebook page this morning after word leaked out before Rock 101's planned announcement next week. Ticket prices are not out yet, but they go on sale on Friday, March 8th at 9:00 AM at this link, 1-800-KEWADIN, and at the in-person box office.

Meet & greet packages are also planned for later announcements, as are ticket giveaways, so keep posted for details on those. Mudd Fest is looking like a huge event, reminding me very much of the P.O.D.-headlined Kewadin concert from July 2015 in scope, size, and genre, and hopefully this one lives up to the hype after Halloween! For more details, visit Saving Abel's Facebook event page and the above links!

Next up, Sault Ontario hard rock solo artist Mike McCleary released his new EP "Propaganda Model" to his Bandcamp page last week! Apologies for the slight delay, but it's great to see Mike back to his usual prolific ways after an 8 month wait from the "What You've Done To Me" release! After prior material teasers, we can now confirm that this EP (his sixth paid original solo album) features six songs, including the previously shared "The Hand That Feeds",  "Opposite Opus", and "Y.V.L.M.", as well as "High Horse", a title track, and an untitled instrumental intro. If you are curious, each song has information on their lyrical and thematic inspirations on Bandcamp, though keep in mind that Mike's political and social messages are often very blunt. "Propaganda Model" is on sale on Bandcamp for a "name your price" model, and can be streamed free there too. With time ticking on this month, I will confirm that we will review this album by Thursday, so look for that this week, and buy/stream the whole EP above!

Finally for today, remember the plans for a battle of the bands at Soo Blaster this Friday to find an opener for the Killer Dwarfs concert there on April 27th? Well, that event has been cancelled, as per the deletion of it's Facebook event page yesterday, and local power rock quintet Re:Born have been acclaimed as the show's openers as a result, as they were the only confirmed entrants, according to their Facebook page. A public statement by organizers regarding the lineup never came out, hence why we never plugged their involvement, but the Project 421 successors did strongly hint that they'd be competing. As such, this is their first announced concert since Elly McWatters became their new lead singer, but will this be their first show with her on the mic, and will Frank be back from out of town in time for April 27th? This is a huge opportunity for Re:Born, and while the battle cancellation is disappointing, maybe directly gearing it to 1980s rock acts limited the pool. See above for more details on this well anticipated concert!

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