LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Matthew Good & The Nameless) Plus New Videos!!

Before we resume weekend concert previews by looking at Sunday's tenth annual Toystock, let's address some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS and new videos from both sides of the border. Here's what you should know!

Sault Michigan hard rock cover quintet The Nameless will play their last show of the year on Sunday, December 31st when they rock a New Year's Eve party at The Merchants Bar! Last seen at the same venue for their Halloween party last month, this will be their third gig at The Merch in the fall/winter, so this is developing into their favourite local venue, The Merch's lack of Facebook posts about scheduled concerts acknowledged. No word yet on holiday frills for the occasion, but surely there will be something for New Years revelers to ring in 2024 with beyond just alcohol and live music. Hopefully The Nameless deliver a solid night of hard rocking covers next month, so don't miss out! This is a 21+ event with a 9:00 PM start time and no announced cover charge. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details on this show!

Next up, Coquitlam, British Columbia alternative rock musician and political activist Matthew Good will make his long awaited return to Sault Ontario on Thursday, April 25th when he headlines at The Machine Shop! This concert comes over four years (exactly 213 weeks, in fact) since Matthew's planned show at The Sault Community Theatre Centre in March 2020, which was one of the first casualties of the pandemic lockdown-related cancellations that spring. As such, this will be Matthew's first local date since his infamous acoustic gig at The Speak Easy in October 2007, which I won't rehash here, but click here for both sides of that dispute. 16+ years later, it seems clear that Matthew wants to let bygones be bygones with Sault Ste. Marie, so hopefully he'll break out hit Matthew Good Band & solo songs like "Load Me Up", "Hello Time Bomb", and "Weapon" for local fans!

Replacing Ria Mae as the opening act in April is Guelph hard rock solo artist Vilivant, who notably dropped out of this past Tuesday's Big Wreck show & its tour due to logistical issues. Clearly those are lesser/nonexistent with Matthew's tour, and it'll be good to see Vilivant here at last! Presented by Cabin Media Entertainment, tickets for this all ages show went on sale this morning at this link, and they run for $44.50 (first 100 seats), $54.50 (later buyers), and $64.50 (balcony), all with the usual online processing fees. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and hopefully everything goes according to plan for Matthew Good's long awaited local return in April, and that everyone makes up for 2007!

Hopping back over to Sault Michigan briefly, here's a new live-streamed promo video for local metal trio Tarnished's concerts at The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT, as per the band's Facebook page earlier today! The 72 seconds-long video was shot with drummer Josh Fair's cell phone, but be advised that as the video started filming while vertical, it didn't matter when he flipped it horizontally, so it's both vertical and sideways. Otherwise, the video features Alex, Parker, and Josh hyping up TONIGHT & TOMORROW'S concerts, and while we don't learn much new from them, it does mark the first time that we've heard Parker speak on camera in official Tarnished media. While we're on the subject, it's as good a time as any to remind readers that the recent departures of guitarist Nathan Webber & bassist Isaac Royer were amicable, and we have photo proof!

The band posted pictures on their Facebook page last Wednesday of Isaac and his replacement Parker squaring off in a bass duel! Amusing pictures, and proof that there were no hard feelings behind the lineup split and Nathan & Isaac forming Double Jack afterwards. Check those out above, and give their promo video for this weekend's Kewadin gigs a watch below!

Finally for today, I wanted to embed this video proper on the SMS due to it being new footage of a prominent local band, but uploader Mandi Dolle made it age restricted, and thusly, it's not viewable when embedded on external websites. The only questionable thing for content is swearing in the lyrics, but I've heard much worse from other local concerts, so who is to say why that choice was made for this video. Mandi uploaded this video in June, and it features Sault Ontario crossover thrash band Jack Spades (now the Barrie-based Spades GT) covering The Inner City Surfers' "Commandments", which later appeared on 2015's "Fed Up!" split in studio form. As far as I can tell, this video was shot at The Rad Zone's 30th anniversary bash at The Rockstar Bar on October 11th, 2014, where they played alongside The Ripcordz, Destroilet, and DJ Seith. I reviewed this concert for the SMS, which you can read at this link.

Jack Spades' classic 2013-2016 lineup is present for this video, with current frontman J.D. Pearce joined by guitarist Tiffany Stocco (now of Sudbury's Knuckle City Dusters), Bear Hunters bandmates Justin Lam & Johnny Belanger, and Johnny's Handsome Sandwich bandmate Jesse Cook. Kudos to Mandi for uploading this after so long, and while the overly red lighting doesn't help the visual quality, Jack Spades sound good as you'd expect, let alone from the rare sight of a local band covering another local band! Give it a watch above or at this link, and that's all for today, but stay tuned for our Toystock preview next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (HeadFirst), The Big Wreck Concert Preview, And More!!

We'll take a brief break from our Sault Michigan/battle of the bands coverage to look at some recent Sault Ontario topics in today's post, including a new video, a preview of a major concert taking place tomorrow, and leading off, LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for next month, so here's what you should know on this Monday night!

New local classic/hard rock quintet HeadFirst will return to Reggie's Place for concerts on Friday, December 22nd & Saturday, December 23rd! These dates were announced at the end of their post on their Facebook page on Tuesday where they talked about their Reggie's debuts this past weekend and thanked everyone for coming out. Photos were attached from the gigs, allowing us to see (if not via a video) how they look on a public stage, and for what it's worth, bassist Claire Jeffrey appeared to sing lead without playing bass on at least one song during the weekend. Landing gigs on Christmas weekend may be a mixed blessing for both weather and for many attendees having family commitments for the holidays, but hopefully this talented young group sets a festive tone with a good crowd! These are 9:00 PM shows with 19+ age limits & no cover. See above for more details, and don't miss HeadFirst at Toystock on Sunday!

Next up, here's a big mid-week concert preview, as Juno Award winning Toronto hard rock band Big Wreck will return to The Machine Shop for a headlining concert TOMORROW NIGHT! Best known for hits like "That Song" and "Blown Wide Open", this will be Ian Thornley & crew's first concert in town since they headlined at the same venue back in February 2018. This will also be their first local date since Chris Caddell & Sekou Lumumba replaced Brian Doherty (R.I.P.) & Chuck Keeping in their lineup. With songs from their upcoming EP "Pages" as well as fan favourite originals & Thornley holdovers to be expected, this should be a great time for domestic hard rock fans! London pop rock quartet Texas King (who headlined at Odeno at Sault College in the mid-2010s) will return to the Soo as openers, with their own distinct original sound sure to be welcomed back by fans!

Guelph hard rock solo artist Vilivant pulled out of Big Wreck's North American tour two weeks ago due to logistical issues (source here), but hopefully she can make it to the Soo down the road! This concert will still have three acts, as Watchmen frontman Daniel Greaves was added to this tour as an extra performer before Vilivant dropped out. Look for classic Watchmen songs like "Stereo" & "Any Day Now" in Daniel's show-opening set! This all ages concert takes place at 8:00 PM tomorrow, and while this show is all ages unlike 2018, ticket prices have jumped to $49.50 (plus online processing fees) if bought at this link rather than chancing the door. It's been well over five years since Big Wreck played in town, and while the Tuesday night scheduling is not ideal, hopefully there's another solid turnout at The Machine Shop tomorrow for their high energy hard rock hits! Visit the above links for more details, and here's Big Wreck live in 2018!

Finally for today, while local/Barrie alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith has confirmed that The Soo's Got Talent finals was the final gig for his solo band in 2023 (as per his Facebook page two weeks ago), we haven't heard the last from him, Chris, Jacob, and Brandan this year! While Mike was in town for the finals, everyone took part in a "top secret" video interview that saw a preview clip uploaded to Mike's Facebook page on Wednesday, where you see everyone sitting in what looks like someone's jam space. The clip does not capture a specific question from the interview, nor does it give away who is doing the interviewing and for what outlet, but we do see bassist Jacob Quarrell eat a purportedly seven-months-old slice of pizza! If nothing else, this will be reason to see the full interview to gain context, assuming it isn't cut from the final product. Give the teaser video a watch below!

That's all for today, but we'll pick up our recent Sault Michigan coverage on the site next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Big Wreck & Silent 9) And Tarnished Lineup Updates!!

Before we dive into a busy concert weekend, here's a new news post for your Wednesday evening, featuring surprising lineup depatures from a prominent local metal band, and leading off, LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for this fall. Here's what you should know!

With their debut at the Cory Marks concert last month now in the books, new local classic/hard rock cover quartet Silent 9 have announced their first batch of solo headlining dates as they finally enter the weekend bar circuit! As partially announced via this picture on their Facebook page (and further via a series of Facebook event pages), the Obsession successors have dates lined up through May of next year, but it's still a little early yet to be covering 2024 concerts, so we'll pause on those for the time being. Obsession were ones to announce distant concert bookings like this too, for the record. Their next gig will actually be at Algoma Steel on Saturday, September 9th when they serve as musical entertainment for the steel plant's postponed annual Family Day. As that is geared towards Algoma Steel employees & their families, I won't treat it as a "public" concert, but keep it in mind if you're going!

Fans won't have to wait long to see Silent 9 in truly public confines, as they are playing that same night via their debut at The Water Tower Pub! They will also return there for a one-nighter (as is standard for the Great Northern Road nightclub's band rotation) on Friday, November 3rd, so if you like this central venue, then this is your next truly public chance to see Jess, Ryan, Paul, and Steve on stage! Their other September date will see Silent 9 debut at Shooters Downstairs Lounge on Friday, September 22nd with a return there booked on Friday, November 17th (I don't know why these are one-nighters). Shooters is not overly far from The Machine Shop, which hosted their debut gig, so it'll be good to see everyone rocking out downtown again! The other current 2023 dates will see them rock The Esquire Club for their first full weekend engagement, and they landed on Friday, October 27th & Saturday, October 28th.

As you may recall, Obsession landed the Halloween weekend at The Esquire Club last year, with a costume contest and all of the seasonal frills were absolutely on hand, so expect more of the same when Silent 9 head west in a couple of months! The currently announced 2024 dates are all also at The Esquire Club, but again, we'll wait until closer to to list those on the site. All of these new shows have 19+ age limits, no cover charges, and 9:00 PM-ish start times. Visit the above links for much more on Silent 9's upcoming concert schedule, and stay tuned for updates!

Next up, here's the big one that was announced this week, as Juno Award winning Toronto hard rock quartet Big Wreck will return to The Machine Shop for a headlining concert on Tuesday, November 21st! Fans will likely recall seeing the Ian Thornley-led group at the same venue back in February 2018, and with songs from their new album "7" and existing hits like "The Oaf (My Luck Is Wasted)", "Albatross", and "That Song" in store, their hard rocking originals and strong talents will be more than welcomed back to town in three months! This will be their first local date with Chris Caddell & Sekou Lumumba on guitar and drums in place of the late Brian Doherty and the departed Chuck Keeping. Support on this tour will include London pop rock quartet Texas King, who you may recall from headlining dates at Odeno and LopLops in the mid-2010s, and their energetic original sound should be welcomed after six years away!

Guelph hard rock solo artist Vilivant will make her local debut as the first act on November 21st, and her dark & hard hitting brand of music should turn some heads at The Machine Shop! Tickets for this show will go on sale at 10:00 AM on Friday, so click here for the likely online purchase link when it goes live. For reference, Big Wreck's 2018 show here had $35 tickets, and also wasn't all ages. It'll be great to see Big Wreck in the Soo again, especially given how well things went the last time out, so be sure to visit the above links for more details on this huge show!

We'll close things by jumping to Sault Michigan for some very surprising news from local metal band Tarnished, as they have parted ways with both guitarist Nathan Webber and bassist Isaac "Iggy Storm" Royer, as per their Facebook page yesterday. A reason for their departure was not publically announced, but the band assured fans that they left amicably and they wished Nathan & Isaac the best in the future. Nathan had joined Tarnished in November 2019 as their first ever second guitarist for electric gigs, while Isaac replaced Donald Alexander as their bassist in August 2021. It seemed like Tarnished had finally found a strong & stable lineup in the last couple of years, which makes losing half of the band that much more surprising, especially having just played in Grand Marais this past Friday night, but hopefully we haven't heard the last of Nathan and Isaac in the local scene, as they definitely were assets to the band who would fit in elsewhere!

Frontman Alex Traynor and drummer Josh Fair vow to continue performing as Tarnished, who are still scheduled for an outdoor gig at Huck's Pub & Grill in Rudyard on Saturday night (we'll let you know if plans change on that front). No word yet on replacement members, but remember that Tarnished started in 2019 as an acoustic duo with just Alex & Josh, so they could revert to that short-term if they wanted to keep gigging beforehand. Also, note that Alex (guitar and bass) and Josh (guitar and drums) have bounced between instrument roles as show and lineup needs dictated. Stay tuned for more on Tarnished's Huck's show in this weekend's concert previews starting tomorrow! Thanks everyone!